MATCHWATCH : Bolton Wanderers (a)

[Sutekh]

While Selles is not perfect he is doing the very best he can and has earned some time. Once all the mess has finally settled and the FL allow Reading to trade as a proper club again then we'll see how he properly stacks up. So he's going to be manager for at least another couple of years, unless he decides otherwise.

[windermereROYAL]

While Selles is not perfect he is doing the very best he can and has earned some time. Once all the mess has finally settled and the FL allow Reading to trade as a proper club again then we'll see how he properly stacks up. So he's going to be manager for at least another couple of years, unless he decides otherwise.

So how much patience does he have to see out this whole sorry saga until the very end?

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Games like this will happen particularly away against a competent side with experienced pros.

Need to remember we sold 3 centre halves in Jan, and our experienced captain, who can play across the whole back line, is still out.

I feel our backline lacks experience/nous in certain situations; maybe games like this it may be time to give Dean another go?

[Harry Bo]

Well that was a bit of a turnaround for us yesterday guys and probably just what Wanderers needed to get back on track. If anything it was actually a really entertaining game and but for your generosity with the penalties could have been a completely different score line. I just hope that the off field shenanigans don’t spoil the season for you football wise and you can quickly resolve the ownership issues and get back to just talking about the sport we love. Anyway, good luck for the rest of the season and judging by results yesterday it could be a very open one so we can both make it back to the top with just a bit of luck and endeavour.

[morganb]

Also our away form has been famously poor in recent seasons and we tend to lose to teams on a poor run of form - all the pointers were there for a loss

[Uke]

Also our away form has been famously poor in recent seasons and we tend to lose to teams on a poor run of form - all the pointers were there for a loss

We need celebrity fans, it’s worked for Wrexham and Birmingham. Were they in the Reading end?

[andrew1957]

Every side we have played so far this season is likely to finish in the top half. Assuming we finish the season at all it will be defined by how we perform against the likes of Burton and Shrewsbury and not the top teams.

[Snowflake Royal]

While Selles is not perfect he is doing the very best he can and has earned some time. Once all the mess has finally settled and the FL allow Reading to trade as a proper club again then we'll see how he properly stacks up. So he's going to be manager for at least another couple of years, unless he decides otherwise.

So how much patience does he have to see out this whole sorry saga until the very end?

As much patience as it takes for him to get a decent job offer.

[Millsy]

Who's a big reason why we're 2 goals behind because the dozt twat couldn't just put his foot through the ball and clear it.

No, the reason we're two down is because Bindon and Mbengue pulled down strikers in the box unneccessarily.

And because Kelvin is a dozy twat who couldn't put his foot through the ball and clear it. "You defend from the front" as Coppell used to say about Kitson Kelvin is a constant liability when he's back in defensive areas.

Kelvin screwed up you're right.

But a) that's not the reason we lost as Ian says and b) unless you think he's a liability and likely to do the same freak crap clearance (not his job anyway - he's a striker) then ridiculous to take him off. When the game is crying out for more firepower to take off someone like him, who hit the crossbar, and replace him with a non-striker is almost Southgate levels of incompetence.

[Clyde1998]

We started off poorly and that's what cost us yesterday. From about the first minute, our passing was all over the place - recall Mbengue passing straight to an attacker standing within ten yards of him at least twice.

All the goals we conceded were poor; our defensive performance in general was the biggest concern about yesterday:

1. We couldn't get the ball clear ahead of the free-kick for the first, despite having three or four opportunities to simply punt it up the pitch and reset. Would argue our attacking players were far too deep though - think Sam Smith was the most advanced player on about 25 yards. Good finish by the Bolton lad; Button did seem wrong footed by it (looked like he moved to his right before diving left) and was probably not expecting the shot to be towards that side of the goal.
2. Mbengue grappling with the attacker in the box; attacker falls over and you're always risking giving away a penalty in that scenario. IIRC, Mbengue was already on a yellow card at that point and was lucky not to have got a second after it was given as a foul. The only vague argument as to why it shouldn't be a penalty (also see goal four) is because referees don't usually give those as penalties, but that's down to lack of enforcement rather than it not being a penalty under the rules.
3. Ahead of the third goal, Dorsett was sitting far too high on the left and didn't work to cover for Bindon who'd had to come across to close the winger down. The ball was played into the space left, attacker turned away from Wing's tackle well and slotted under Button.
4. The second penalty was for Bindon holding on to the attacker in the box. Attacker falls over (didn't look anywhere near enough contact to make him fall over) and a penalty is given, but again if you're putting your hands on the attacker in the box you're risking giving a penalty way.
5. Free header from a corner. Completely left at the back post; not sure who was supposed to be dealing with him, but Wing ended up closest.

Positives (YMMV):

1. We got two goals and maybe could've got more; Ehib hitting the bar at 4-2 is the most notable chance, but there were a number of times we had blocked shots in the box and the ball just wouldn't bounce the right way after getting on the end of crosses.
2. We played well in spells - although that was when Bolton were two or three goals up. Felt like Bolton were never really out of second gear beyond the first twenty minutes.
3. Abrefa looked better than Dorsett after he came on. Even if Dorsett is fit for next week, I'd probably have Abrefa starting ahead of him on that performance. I don't know if Dorsett is getting found out at left-back or whether he's simply on a bit of a bad run of form.
4. Akande did cause a few issues when he came on and got balls into the box.
5. Campbell's run into the box in the first half, going past about three players in the process. His effort at the end of it was incredibly tame and too close to the keeper though.
6. We got the exact same result at Bolton as last season with a weaker team/squad.

[Sutekh]

We started off poorly and that's what cost us yesterday. From about the first minute, our passing was all over the place - recall Mbengue passing straight to an attacker standing within ten yards of him at least twice.

All the goals we conceded were poor; our defensive performance in general was the biggest concern about yesterday:

1. We couldn't get the ball clear ahead of the free-kick for the first, despite having three or four opportunities to simply punt it up the pitch and reset. Would argue our attacking players were far too deep though - think Sam Smith was the most advanced player on about 25 yards. Good finish by the Bolton lad; Button did seem wrong footed by it (looked like he moved to his right before diving left) and was probably not expecting the shot to be towards that side of the goal.
2. Mbengue grappling with the attacker in the box; attacker falls over and you're always risking giving away a penalty in that scenario. IIRC, Mbengue was already on a yellow card at that point and was lucky not to have got a second after it was given as a foul. The only vague argument as to why it shouldn't be a penalty (also see goal four) is because referees don't usually give those as penalties, but that's down to lack of enforcement rather than it not being a penalty under the rules.
3. Ahead of the third goal, Dorsett was sitting far too high on the left and didn't work to cover for Bindon who'd had to come across to close the winger down. The ball was played into the space left, attacker turned away from Wing's tackle well and slotted under Button.
4. The second penalty was for Bindon holding on to the attacker in the box. Attacker falls over (didn't look anywhere near enough contact to make him fall over) and a penalty is given, but again if you're putting your hands on the attacker in the box you're risking giving a penalty way.
5. Free header from a corner. Completely left at the back post; not sure who was supposed to be dealing with him, but Wing ended up closest.

Positives (YMMV):

1. We got two goals and maybe could've got more; Ehib hitting the bar at 4-2 is the most notable chance, but there were a number of times we had blocked shots in the box and the ball just wouldn't bounce the right way after getting on the end of crosses.
2. We played well in spells - although that was when Bolton were two or three goals up. Felt like Bolton were never really out of second gear beyond the first twenty minutes.
3. Abrefa looked better than Dorsett after he came on. Even if Dorsett is fit for next week, I'd probably have Abrefa starting ahead of him on that performance. I don't know if Dorsett is getting found out at left-back or whether he's simply on a bit of a bad run of form.
4. Akande did cause a few issues when he came on and got balls into the box.
5. Campbell's run into the box in the first half, going past about three players in the process. His effort at the end of it was incredibly tame and too close to the keeper though.
6. We got the exact same result at Bolton as last season with a weaker team/squad.

Can't help but feel with the penalties that you've got attackers also grappling and behaving ungentlemanly, so perhaps defenders should look to fall over as well - or instead of - as long as they can hit the ground first they should get the free kick

[Clyde1998]

Can't help but feel with the penalties that you've got attackers also grappling and behaving ungentlemanly, so perhaps defenders should look to fall over as well - or instead of - as long as they can hit the ground first they should get the free kick

I thought for a while we've been too 'nice' and honest. Most clubs have an element of 'tactical un-sportsmanship' in their game. Typically if both players fall over in those scenarios, it's a free-kick to the defending team.

[stealthpapes]

Can't help but feel with the penalties that you've got attackers also grappling and behaving ungentlemanly, so perhaps defenders should look to fall over as well - or instead of - as long as they can hit the ground first they should get the free kick

I thought for a while we've been too 'nice' and honest. Most clubs have an element of 'tactical un-sportsmanship' in their game. Typically if both players fall over in those scenarios, it's a free-kick to the defending team.

Strong tendency to appeal to ref and maybe not quite play to the whistle. Last game I went to was Wrexham and their third goal started when two similar decisions didn't go our way and we had some players not reacting and others out of position. Last season, it was pretty endemic, even in the better games that I saw (i.e. post-Christmas).

The turd cherry on top of the icing was Carroll at Port Vale fwiw.