v Reading (a) - 17/8/22 - Mark 1

[alcd]

A flukey start to the season has come to an end and this squad will head rapidly towards the bottom half of the table. Holes and gaps all over the place. Gregg needs to pull his finger out and be given some proper financial backing. 

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

If JDT is planning on playing it out from the back, he may as well walk now.  We know this squad can't do it. 

We lack pace in wide areas (both full backs given a chasing tonight) and physicality in the middle.  We've been like this for several years now.

Must be the slowest team in the championship. 

[BigBar]

1 minute ago, alcd said:

A flukey start to the season has come to an end and this squad will head rapidly towards the bottom half of the table. Holes and gaps all over the place. Gregg needs to pull his finger out and be given some proper financial backing. 

Bit extreme.

[OldEwoodBlue]

After 10 games, we will know if this is the real us, or the side that won the first 3.

I fear it may be this one but too early to say.

[Darwen Rover 007]

Be very interesting to hear our managers thought.. I suspect will be, bad day at the office, we live and learn 

[Darrenbot]

1 minute ago, alcd said:

A flukey start to the season has come to an end and this squad will head rapidly towards the bottom half of the table. Holes and gaps all over the place. Gregg needs to pull his finger out and be given some proper financial backing. 

Could be a blessing in disguise,they can now go to the owners and say we're nowhere near strong enough for a 46 game season,give us some more money

[DE.]

Accepting these types of performances is why we've spent our entire Championship tenure in mid-table at best and relegated at worst. I very much hope JDT doesn't just see this as "one bad night" and instead looks very deeply into some of the serious flaws we've had as a club and as a team for far too long. I'd begrudgingly accept a slim 1-0 or 2-1 defeat where things just didn't quite go our way, but this has been so far below acceptable that no manager with any ambition would just shrug their shoulders and say "oh well, it happens sometimes". I don't expect JDT will, either. With the type of career he had he isn't going to just give that performance from our team a pass. A couple of players may have had their cards marked tonight. JDT needs to be making it clear to Broughton tonight that action is needed now, not in two weeks time. 

[Beanie01289]

They wanted it more we probably had more possession but we're slow knocking it around at the back anytime we went forward we gave it away. We should probably have had a pen at 1-0 but tbh we did not deserve anything from that it was utterly woeful

[Andy]

Just now, Darrenbot said:

Could be a blessing in disguise,they can now go to the owners and say we're nowhere near strong enough for a 46 game season,give us some more money

I doubt the owners are the stoppers here - funds will be available.

It's identifying the players, then convincing them to sign for us that's been the problem so far...

[yankfan]

Absolutely shite. Should have been 5-0. Second best all across the pitch. Simply not good enough. 
 

with that said still too if the league. Take a lashing from the gaffer and come back better Saturday 

[booth]

At least there's one thing we don't need to worry about, they won't be knackered at the weekend. Everyone had their feet up tonight.

[slowmo]

Rail Roaded , what on earth was that , hopefully a big kick up the ass . 

[imy9]

Ref was dire and we should have had a pen at 1-0 down but shocking performance.

The biggest issue tonight was massive gaps between defence- midfield-attack.

for all the wide players we have, we need a Bowler type of player who has pace and can run past people. Big two weeks for us now.

Give me 10th now and i would take it. We haven’t got the squad to last 46 games.

[rigger]

2 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

Could be a blessing in disguise,they can now go to the owners and say we're nowhere near strong enough for a 46 game season,give us some more money

It doesn't matter what is said to the owners. It is how the owners respond that is crucial.

[bluebruce]

A real wakeup call for fans who seemed to think we'd be challenging for automatic promotion this season just because of a good start (with some luck involved...QPR battered us for the first 25 then we dominated and earned that one, Swansea did have the better chances - I watched the extended highlights - and the scoreline flattered us immensely, and WBA we were mostly outplayed but more clinical). The squad is too thin and many of them are fairly untested at this level, and we don't have enough in the tank to play 3 games in a week yet. A mediocre Reading side fully deserving of their win.

[Guest]

I said this was a banana skin and so it turned out. More like a reality check for JDT and his staff, because tonights performance showed how limited our repertoire actually is, and how just like last season, we can be bullied out of a game.

Still, that is football for you!

Onwards and hopefully upwards to Bramall Lane!

COYB!

[Bethnal]

Honest assessment with time to digest how shit we were in that final ten minutes:

beaten in midfield, two on their three was never gonna go.

major mistakes in starting Vale and Dolan, I don’t think we’ll see that again for a while, although you can forgive it based on how knackered players will have been.

Trav worked very hard but was fighting a losing battle. Same goes for Ayala and it could have been far worse without him.

Phillips isn’t the second coming, as it happens.

If we’ve been sussed in the fourth game by Paul ‘Shoot’ Ince then we’re gonna need quite a few plans.

It’s a learning experience and it gives JDT a lot of leverage in terms of getting Broughton to hurry up with signings. Not one to place blame with him as yet but if he doesn’t close deals this week, I will wonder what exactly he’s currently up to.

A shocker, abject, embarrassing to some extent, but not by any stretch the end of the world. It only matters what we do on Saturday as a response.

[DeeCee]

The only way is up after this, hopefully we'll have some JDT/Broughton positive reaction . 

Possible complacency from the players?

[roversfan99]

Absolutely embarrassing. Broughton and co need to pull their fingers out.

That being said, from what he has available, Tomasson got it badly wrong tonight. 

Vale nowhere near good enough, get him loaned out to the lower leagues.

Phillips is nowhere near ready.

Ultimately no one comes out with any credit.

[Crozzy]

Wasn’t a good performance but we’ve got a new manager who’s obviously still figuring things out. He’s not gonna come in and snap his fingers and we’re going to win every game.  We are top of the league with 3 good performances and 1 really bad one. 
it’s sport, it happens, some of you have some seriously unrealistic expectations 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Crozzy

[BigBar]

Again, lots to address after tonight. Left back is a must end of story. 2 centre backs but minimum one. Central midfielder. If we keep BBD I'm not as concerned with our attacking options as I am midfield and defence. You can get overrun like that in the middle of the park and expect to win many games and starting with Pickering is handing the opposition a massive advantage.

[Jimmy612]

Crash landed.  That transfer window thread will see some squabbling after this. 
 

I had in my mind that tonight would be tough after the exertions of Sunday, especially after they got murdered by Rotherham. Just felt like we might falter.  Not perhaps to the tune of 3-0, completely outrun and outplayed but there we go. 
 

4 games in 10 days coming up and all of a sudden Saturday feels like a real challenge. Without doubt JDTs first real test after tonight and a real wake up call for some fans thinking this squad is anywhere near good enough at the moment. 

 

[rovers11]

2 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

A real wakeup call for fans who seemed to think we'd be challenging for automatic promotion this season just because of a good start (with some luck involved...QPR battered us for the first 25 then we dominated and earned that one, Swansea did have the better chances - I watched the extended highlights - and the scoreline flattered us immensely, and WBA we were mostly outplayed but more clinical). The squad is too thin and many of them are fairly untested at this level, and we don't have enough in the tank to play 3 games in a week yet. A mediocre Reading side fully deserving of their win.

I completely agree. We've been poor all season and were going to get well beaten sooner or later imo. 

[booth]

Some unfair comments on here, "we've been poor all season". They ran their asses off in freakishly hot weather on Sunday to beat a decent team. It was bound to take its toll on the players tonight.

Edited August 17, 2022 by booth

[BG1492]

Stinking performance, but give me one person who wouldn’t of took 3 wins from 4, top of the league, at the start of season.

Few signings, Vale & Dolan sent to Cowdenbeath FC, go again.