jim mk2

Reading look a top side, big, strong, quick all over the pitch. Everything we're not

..... you forgot the most important In 3 years Mowbray has never shown he can set up a defence

Flat track bullies exposed. Can we play Coventry every week?

Same old story ......come up against a decent side and we come up short

I forecast a 1-1 ...... after 90 mins not 4 mins

So was Ken Buchanan, but he couldn't half pack a punch

Tony's square pegs in round holes again. Rarely ends well

Buckley should have started instead of Evans, surely?

Yep, exhibit No 1: Rovers away to Watford last week Mullered them off the pitch with possession and good football but lost 3-1.

Suggests they're a counter attack side who defend deep and then hit on the break .... a bit like us in fact. Mowbray needs to be canny.

So can the "flat track bullies" beat a team in a much higher position than them? This is a good test for Rovers, who need to show they aren't just a team who smash the poor sides but lose to the better ones. Odds must be on a draw. Rovers 1 Reading 1

It comes from cricket, in particular batsmen who score heavily when the pitch is "flat", ie not offering any assistance to the bowlers. The term was first used I think in reference to Graeme Hick, who used used to punish bowlers when the ball wasn't doing much but struggled when the ball seamed off the pitch or swung in the air. "Flat track bullies" has since become a general sporting term for teams who pummel lesser opposition but lose against better ones. At the moment, flat track bullies is a perfect way of describing Rovers.

We've lost to 2 decent teams and a poor one. In what parallel universe will we make the top 2?

I'd take a long line of 1-0s and no defeats any day

...not been there for 20 years either

Shame about today, never been to Coventry, one of the fixtures I was looking forward to attending in a normal world Tuesday is a proper test. We need to beat the likes of Reading to show we're not just flat track bullies

Reading ahead 1-0, they're romping away at the top If we can beat those sort of teams I might believe we're getting somewhere

Looking that way. Flatten the poor teams but come up short against the better ones.

Some you win.....

Just stuck some money on a 1-1 draw. Easy pickings

1-0 until 85th min and then they equalise?

Armstrong needs 10 chances to score one at the moment

Tony desperately needs to win this. The excitement of the new signings has gone following 2 defeats and the knives are out for him again on social media. A top performance doesn't cut it either. Three points please

Williams is a poor left back but decent enough at centre back for a lower Championship side. He wouldn't be in the team though with any club that had aspirations for promotion.

You should have ended it there. We played badly against Forest and lost. We played well (apparently) against Watford and lost more heavily. Perhaps it would be better to play badly and not lose by so many? This obsession with performances makes no sense and is just comfort seeking to disguise the fact we're an average team that will likely finish no higher last season.