MATCHWATCH : Birmingham City (h)

[Snowflake Royal]

That's a shocking signing.

[Vision]

Just to reiterate that we're really not that different in make up to the average Championship set up.

Birmingham's substitutions yesterday were :-

18 year old starter replaced by a 20 year old.
21 year old starter replaced by a 17 year old.

and at the the other end of the scale

34 year old starter replaced by a 30 (31 in a couple of days) year old.

We'll play Preston on Monday and face pretty much the same mix of Championship stalwarts, kids, loanees, journeymen and veterans.

[Franchise FC]

Was the ref to blame?

That’s Pince usual scapegoat

The referee certainly was out of his depth

[AthleticoSpizz]

Reiterated by players from both teams not just our manager.

[Royal_jimmy]

That's a shocking signing.

He'll be solid in league one and help us challenge for the playoffs

[blythspartan]

Sarr was dreadful. Nearly gave 2 goals away from mistakes that a better side would have taken. He should have got a 2 year deal at best, we're stuck with him for 4 years. He's poor.

FOUR YEARS?!?

Yes, Reading are the proud owners of Naby Sarr until June 2026.

I must admit that I wanted us to sign him but I’ve not been impressed so far. 4 years is a oxf*rd long deal but maybe his better days are yet to come. If we go down I’d look at Van Veen at Motherwell as a striker option.

[Notts Royal]

Huh? Both Sarr & Holmes played well. They were exposed by the lack of coverage in front of them, but they were decent

Mbengue was very exposed. He’s excellent in the air for such a small chap, but not brilliant on the ground. Ince failed to identify that he was getting rinsed by Khadra regularly. Should’ve pulled him off for NGW, and switched sides with Yiadom

[Snowflake Royal]

FOUR YEARS?!?

Yes, Reading are the proud owners of Naby Sarr until June 2026.

I must admit that I wanted us to sign him but I’ve not been impressed so far. 4 years is a oxf*rd long deal but maybe his better days are yet to come. If we go down I’d look at Van Veen at Motherwell as a striker option.

He's 29, his best footballing days are behind him.

You're a club in financial difficulty, expected to struggle against relegation. Do you:
Sign a 29 year old centreback who has generally played for teams struggling at the bottom for 4 years having just spent the last few years stuck with a bunch of overpaid failures on long contracts, or
Not do that?

At the same time do you sign a 31 year old who has never played above L2 to be your reserve keeper on a 3 year deal, blocking your well rated youth keepers from your Academy conveyor belt, or
Not do that?

Sarr should probably be ok in L1 though.

[Franchise FC]

Yes, Reading are the proud owners of Naby Sarr until June 2026.

I must admit that I wanted us to sign him but I’ve not been impressed so far. 4 years is a oxf*rd long deal but maybe his better days are yet to come. If we go down I’d look at Van Veen at Motherwell as a striker option.

He's 29, his best footballing days are behind him.

You're a club in financial difficulty, expected to struggle against relegation. Do you:
Sign a 29 year old centreback who has generally played for teams struggling at the bottom for 4 years having just spent the last few years stuck with a bunch of overpaid failures on long contracts, or
Not do that?

At the same time do you sign a 31 year old who has never played above L2 to be your reserve keeper on a 3 year deal, blocking your well rated youth keepers from your Academy conveyor belt, or
Not do that?

Sarr should probably be ok in L1 though.

Agree that 4 years seems excessive, but that may have been the price to pay for getting anyone at all given the other constraints that we now have knowledge of

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Was the ref to blame?

That’s Pince usual scapegoat

The referee certainly was out of his depth

Hi Paul Ince

[Franchise FC]

Was the ref to blame?

That’s Pince usual scapegoat

The referee certainly was out of his depth

Hi Paul Ince

Do you not think so ?

[RoyalBlue]

The referee certainly was out of his depth

Hi Paul Ince

Do you not think so ?

He indeed was but probably no more so than our 'Manager' and coaching team.

[RoyalBlue]

Excellent atmosphere yesterday and crowd were behind the team. Just th frustrated boos at the end.

That fan shat himself at the end and was seen Scurrying to the toilets at the end of the match. Didn’t quite go to plan for him and well done on Carroll coming over.

As for what’s on the pitch, it’s just an ugly mess. No plan, no cohesion, it’s just a mishap of styles.

Meite had such a poor game. Fornah is scared to cross and he as lost out on the left. Sarr a rock, caroll and Joao could work together. Azeez needs to start.

Sarr a rock apart from the time when he inexcusably crumbled to pieces at a critical point and left their guy with a completely free header in the centre of the box.

[Franchise FC]

Excellent atmosphere yesterday and crowd were behind the team. Just th frustrated boos at the end.

That fan shat himself at the end and was seen Scurrying to the toilets at the end of the match. Didn’t quite go to plan for him and well done on Carroll coming over.

As for what’s on the pitch, it’s just an ugly mess. No plan, no cohesion, it’s just a mishap of styles.

Meite had such a poor game. Fornah is scared to cross and he as lost out on the left. Sarr a rock, caroll and Joao could work together. Azeez needs to start.

Sarr a rock apart from the time when he inexcusably crumbled to pieces at a critical point and left their guy with a completely free header in the centre of the box.

Is that the guy being marked throughout the rest of the game by Holmes ?

[Snowflake Royal]

Excellent atmosphere yesterday and crowd were behind the team. Just th frustrated boos at the end.

That fan shat himself at the end and was seen Scurrying to the toilets at the end of the match. Didn’t quite go to plan for him and well done on Carroll coming over.

As for what’s on the pitch, it’s just an ugly mess. No plan, no cohesion, it’s just a mishap of styles.

Meite had such a poor game. Fornah is scared to cross and he as lost out on the left. Sarr a rock, caroll and Joao could work together. Azeez needs to start.

Sarr a rock apart from the time when he inexcusably crumbled to pieces at a critical point and left their guy with a completely free header in the centre of the box.

Is that the guy being marked throughout the rest of the game by Holmes ?

Basically what you're saying is Holmes kept him quiet and the one time Sarr had to do something he failed?

A good centreback doesn’t follow their man all over the pitch ignoring everything else. They have zones of responsibility to maintain shape and organisation.

[Franchise FC]

Sarr a rock apart from the time when he inexcusably crumbled to pieces at a critical point and left their guy with a completely free header in the centre of the box.

Is that the guy being marked throughout the rest of the game by Holmes ?

Basically what you're saying is Holmes kept him quiet and the one time Sarr had to do something he failed?

A good centreback doesn’t follow their man all over the pitch ignoring everything else. They have zones of responsibility to maintain shape and organisation.

Basically, what I’m saying, from a position of actually being at the game not just listening on the radio, that Holmes was man for man throughout the game, loses his man to concede the goal and Sarr gets the blame.
Holmes had a very good game, but that was his responsibility

[Snowflake Royal]

Is that the guy being marked throughout the rest of the game by Holmes ?

Basically what you're saying is Holmes kept him quiet and the one time Sarr had to do something he failed?

A good centreback doesn’t follow their man all over the pitch ignoring everything else. They have zones of responsibility to maintain shape and organisation.

Basically, what I’m saying, from a position of actually being at the game not just listening on the radio, that Holmes was man for man throughout the game, loses his man to concede the goal and Sarr gets the blame.
Holmes had a very good game, but that was his responsibility

I was watching the game thanks. And just to make sure, I've re-watched the highlights, and it turns out being at the game apparently doesn't help. Because you've got it completely wrong.

Jutkiewicz pulls away from Holmes and goes to Sarr. Holmes hands over and steps towards the right flank to cover the big hole between him and the RB out trying to defend against the cross, exactly as he should. Jutkiewicz is very clearly Sarr's man at this point. Then he drops off Sarr to get a run on him and runs and jumps to win an uncontested header from the cross whilst Sarr is stood like a statue waiting for the ball to reach him.

So yes, Holmes successfully defended against Jutkiewicz and one of the times Sarr had to do the job instead, he failed miserably.