Back from the game - Scunthorpe (A) - COC Rnd 2

[The Rouge]

Hi guys, would love to hear thoughts from those dedicated brave soldiers that went...

Who played well? Who played badly?

How did Tanner look?
Mackie?
Kuhl?
Cooper?


Cheers.

[The Quiet Man]

Outplayed by Scunthorpe who had the better chances (struggling to recall any RFC chances bar the goal). We looked like the struggling league one side, great going sideways but clueless going forward. A fair bit of punt down the channels and up to the forwards. Reminded me a lot of our early cup rounds under McD.

Feds one great save from a free kick and a couple of other decent ones. Good game.

Pearce solid, Cooper solid and future centre half (Hector to defensive midfield when fit), Cummings suffered bad tackle in first 30 seconds and subbed at HT but OK, Gunter looked ill at ease maybe lacking a bit of confidence after Saturday. Long looked very composed in the second half and did the simple things well.

Midfield - one gigantic black hole that struggled to function and failed to close Scunny down hence their ability to pass through us. Akpan OK passing but doesn't tackle, Kuhl very average OK passing but struggled to impose on rest of game, Tanner completely lost and hardly aware he was playing.

Forwards - Close your eyes and you can imagine Simon Cox as Noel Hunt, had plenty of balls lobbed up to him and in the channel and rarely won anything and didn't hold the ball up. Mackie fairly anonymous. Blackman tries hard occasionally shoots but he should surely play through the middle as his crossing is poor OK.

Goal - Pearce (?) wins back post corner and Taylor pokes in from 2 yards out.

Grateful there was no extra time. It's a win which is pretty much all you could say for the game.

[RG30]

Got better as the game went on, substitutions of Edwards and Taylor made a difference. Impressed with Cooper he gives us a physical presence with his height and looks comfortable on the ball. Relieved the match was over in 90 minutes.

[arthurfondrelli]

Fair play and well done to anyone who attended this. Anyone know how many made the trip?

[tidus_mi2]

I seem to recall the number 289 being banded around but I'm not too sure.

EDIT: OK, Reading FC Facebook page says 219.

[Platypuss]

Midfield - one gigantic black hole that struggled to function and failed to close Scunny down hence their ability to pass through us.

Will this racist scapegoating never end?

[Mr Angry]

I thought there were at least 250-300 Reading fans there last night.

Friendly away fans - had a pint in the Iron Bar before the game with no problem. The area arou d the ground is a massive retail zone with lots of parking and all the usual fast food places.

As for the game,1st half we were battered, and Scunthorpe looked the better team - how they only have 1 point in the League is a surprise. Their movement up front was exceptional and caused us problems. I'm surprised Madden is at League 2 level to be honest.

Cummings got clattered after 10 seconds and had ti cone off at half time, Gunter got passed outside a couple of times and a great save from Feds kept us in it at half time, without a single shot on target, and with the highlight being a Gerrardesque long crossfield pass from Kuhl to Cummings that led to our sole 1st half corner.

I thought Cooper looked good with Pearce, though needs to bulk up - reminded me of Chris Casper.

The 2nd half was a lot better, Cummings was rellaced due to the knock he got in the first minute, Gunter moved to the left and got forward.more, whulst our midfield, which had barely created anything 1st half, came more into the game. Apart from a couple of half devent chances midway through the half; Scunthorpe rathrr ran out of ides and we were looking stronger and stronger as the half went on, thougj the goal whennit came was still a surprise; poor defensive goal really, but they all count .

A few observations; Blackman pkayed wrll but needs to look up and see the outside runner more; a couple of times he could have moved thr ball wide buy chose to take it on hinself; Kuhl exudes class, Edwards was livley when hr camr on and Cooper assured with Pearce at the back. Akpan did ok, giving some solifity in the centre though not a lot of creativoty, whilst up front bot Cox and Mackie huffed and puffed but don't look eithrr match fit nor match sharp to my eyes (Mackie guilty of 2 or 3 air shots which is always a sign that the player isn't quite there).

All in all, not a gane tgat will last long in the memory but a welcome away win against a tough side which will only be a good thing in the development of the younget pkayers.

[Royal Lady]

Mr Angry - have you got fat fingers? You're pressing all the wrong keys here!

[Mr Angry]

Sorry - on my Smartphone rather than a PC!!!

[Upper West Ginger]

Cooper was quietly impressive throughout, and Pearce made several important blocks too. Gunter swapped to Left Back in the 2nd half, with Long coming on RB to replace Cummings. That back 4 worked well. Credit to Feds for some excellent saves. One in particular was going into the top corner and he tipped it clear.
We lack any sort of midfield enforcer. Nobody was able to take control of the game. Tanner was anonymous. Edwards injected some pace when he came on, and had some nice touches, but it wasn't quite happening for him.
We were fortunate to win this match, having been outplayed for much of the match. Perhaps we have just found our natural level.

[Brum Royal]

With lots of changes through the side, it was always going to take us a while to settle into the game. Had Scunny taken one of their early (half) chances I think they would have run out comfortable winners, but credit to the youngsters, they stuck at it and eventually managed to break through. The first half was fairly dull, certainly as far as we were concerned, scrappy in parts, with Scunny playing some neat passing football through the huge gap in our midfield, whilst we lumped the ball forward too often and with no midfield presence, had Scunny come right back at us. You can see Adkins is trying to get the players to play the slick passing football, and the youngsters seem a lot more comfortable with it, but some of the older pros look to get it forward a little too quickly at times and end up wasting possession. We were also not helped by a referee who I think gave us three freekicks in the first half, whilst blowing up for the slightest of contacts with Scunthorpe players, especially round our box.

Feds - did everything expected of him, caught well under pressure, one good save on a shot from range, one great save to get a big left paw on a freekick curled right into the top corner. Distribution decent, never rushed, only one slight dodgy moment second half when a bouncing ball got big on him and he sliced a clearance up in the air.
Gunter - Right back first half, left back second half. Bit shaky first half, maybe still reeling a bit from his iffy game at Forest. Looked more settled second half, good going forwards, but like Cummings, too right footed. That said he won one vital header when he got flattened with the striker looking certain to head towards goal.
Cummings - Took a huge whack on the knee in the opening twenty seconds, and never looked really comfortable for the rest of the half, despite fighting on.
Pearce - Solid, if unspectacular. Very vocal.
Cooper - Impressive debut, don't think he put a foot wrong all night. Tall lad, too.
Akpan - The good, the bad and the indifferent. Several first touches resembling mishit passes, one or two good storming runs on the ball through their midfield, but also not a lot of presence in the middle of the park to stop Scunny passing through us.
Kuhl - I've seen all three of his performances thus far, and been impressed every time. Very calm on the ball, fantastic range of passing, perhaps a little lightweight, but he's going to be a star. Some great cross field passes to play in the wingers.
Blackman - looks ok going forward, didn't give Gunter much protection defensively. A few tricks here and there, but only managed a couple of crosses, and not very threatening ones.
Mackie - largely anonymous on the left wing.
Cox - virtually zero service provided to him in the first half, lots of balls lumped in the vague vicinity of him so very tough for him to do anything with.
Tanner - similar to Cox really.

Long - looked ok when he came on. Slightly surprising to see him (I'm told he's a left back) play the second half at right back and Gunter switched to left back. Fairly solid.
Taylor - scored the goal, ran around a bit.
Edwards - full of energy, he really made the difference when he came on. His high work rate, combined with Kuhl's ability to pick a pass, really caused Scunny problems - he won the corner we scored from with some good work down the right wing.

Good subs from Adkins again, made the difference (I know there wasn't many options), not sure why Long was played at right back though.

[winchester_royal]

Long is a right back. Griffin is the left back.

[Brum Royal]

Ah ok, that makes sense then. Ignore my comments on that. The guys around me said he was a left back.

[Ian Royal]

Cheers chaps and well done on making the effort to sit through that.

Really positive to hear Kuhl getting praised despite everyone saying our midfield was poor. Which also seems to question whether Akpan really would have made much difference against Forest. Pleased to see Cooper and Long performing well too, as well as Edwards and Taylor having an impact.

It does seem a little like if you're not an academy player you won't play well though... which is worrying. If we can survive the next year or so, we'll look very strong with some excellent prospects coming into the team and looking to have lots of potential.

[From Despair To Where?]

I'm surprised Madden is at League 2 level to be honest.

He dropped 2 divisions from Yeovil to Scunny in January.

The suggestion from Yeovil was that he had a shit attitude to training.

[Royal Lady]

Instead of inundating me with requests for a life in Candy Crush, Sassima needs to start concentrating on this football club, if, indeed, it is ever ratified that her and the consortium are owners.

[winchester_royal]

Should also be pointed out that Scunthorpe are now L1

[floyd__streete]

Who played well? Who played badly?

How did Tanner look?
Mackie?
Kuhl?
Cooper?

Tanner, quiet.
Mackie, very disappointing but at least he showed some apetite and was barking out instructions. The young players need leadership so this was good to see.
Kuhl, quietly effective.
Cooper, outstanding.

What was pleasing was that - despite conceding so many freekicks due to our own naivety - we defended the near post brilliantly, Cooper was winning every header.

Second half Blackman finally came into the game more. Edwards livened things up when he came on. This was miles better than a dreadful showing witnessed against Forest, albeit against weak/limited League 1 opposition.

If we were in League 1 we'd be top 6 certs

[Big Foot]

If we were in League 1 we'd be top 6 certs

Encouraging for next season, perhaps Adkins will be able to put another promotion on his CV

[Will95]

Alright game, Feds made some very good saves, good to win and hopefully get some confidence back after the Forest battering. Nothing else to say really.