BFTG - Brum

[kwik-silva]

Some of these posts crack me up. People were crying out to see some new blood tonight given we're safe. He does it & then gets a load of grief. Stacey didn't mark well for the corner & they scored. These things happen.

We played really quite well. Some fresh faces in, clear some deadwood out & no reason why we can't compete next season. No reason at all.

Please get Chalobah on a season long loan if you can Clarke. He was excellent again tonight.

What new blood was there actually? Two substitutes?

Cooper started & then Andrea Novo..... & Stacey came on. Stacey looked alright actually & Cooper won a decent amount of headers.

Sorry yes I forgot Cooper but for me that's not really enough players to justify the team's inability to score.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Yeah you can blame that on the woeful set of strikers we have. Probably the worst collection since I've had an ST.

Where's Schards old thread "Worst attacking options since 2001" or whatever its called. I think it's due a bump!

[sandman]

Obita put in the best cross of the match. Shame none of his team mates could be bothered to get in the box and take a gamble.

And so he should've done, he had enough chances, but one cross from the ridiculous amount of opportunities he had isn't good enough.

One more than McCleary came up with. I mean if we're going to pick on players for poor crossing then first in the queue should be McCleary who, for months, even when he beats a player proceeds to stuff the resulting cross into the shins of the nearest defender.

[kwik-silva]

Obita put in the best cross of the match. Shame none of his team mates could be bothered to get in the box and take a gamble.

And so he should've done, he had enough chances, but one cross from the ridiculous amount of opportunities he had isn't good enough.

One more than McCleary came up with. I mean if we're going to pick on players for poor crossing then first in the queue should be McCleary who, for months, even when he beats a player proceeds to stuff the resulting cross into the shins of the nearest defender.

not saying McCleary is blameless but Obita took double the amount of crosses to produce one decent one. It doesn't change the fact that 1 in 12 isn't good enough.

[sandman]

Obita put in the best cross of the match. Shame none of his team mates could be bothered to get in the box and take a gamble.

And so he should've done, he had enough chances, but one cross from the ridiculous amount of opportunities he had isn't good enough.

One more than McCleary came up with. I mean if we're going to pick on players for poor crossing then first in the queue should be McCleary who, for months, even when he beats a player proceeds to stuff the resulting cross into the shins of the nearest defender.

not saying McCleary is blameless but Obita took double the amount of crosses to produce one decent one. It doesn't change the fact that 1 in 12 isn't good enough.

So you admit McCleary has to take some blame for poor crossing but you are only going to single out Obita for it and call him the worst player on the pitch? None at all is definitely not good enough for someone playing as an out and out WINGER. When you say Obita "took double the amount of crosses" are you saying McCleary only put in 6 crosses during his time on the pitch? If so that is diabolical for someone playing as an out and out winger.

At the end of the day for either of them to put in a good cross they need some players in there to aim at.

[Cureton's Volley]

First half obita ran their right back ragged. Left him on his arse in the box as he cut along the byline at one point. Were you not at the game

[Coppelled_Streets]

What was the point of the loan players playing, how does that benefit the club at all now, ahead of giving our younger players more opportunity?

Perhaps one of the conditions on them coming here was that we had to play them. Ake's gone back now, so it opens the door to another opportunist.

[loyalroyaldaz]

Some tidy and play at times but i got the feeling both teams are just playing out the season now. Reading dominated but Brum didnt look like they could be arsed half the time. Meaningless game and it was played like that as well.
Cant blame Clarke for wanting a look at the younger players though, i've a feeling we will be using a few of them next season, and as for Chalobah and Ake? Neither will be here next season but i reckon part of their loan deals was that they must play if fit which as it turned out was just fine.
I dont think Saturday will be much better..........

[Ian Royal]

Some of these posts crack me up. People were crying out to see some new blood tonight given we're safe. He does it & then gets a load of grief. Stacey didn't mark well for the corner & they scored. These things happen.

We played really quite well. Some fresh faces in, clear some deadwood out & no reason why we can't compete next season. No reason at all.

Please get Chalobah on a season long loan if you can Clarke. He was excellent again tonight.

No one has criticised Stacey or Cooper or Jem playing.

They've ctiticised the same shit from the likes of Obita, McCleary, and the continued use of players who are unlikely to be here and add noyhing going forward.

[Snowball136]

If you argue that Chalobah and Ake shouldn't have started, why doesn't that apply to Mackie?

SC isn't only thinking about the immediate 90. He has to think more strategically. So keep in with Chelsea, maybe get Chalobah for a season, maybe get Ake or maybe get a good young striker for a season.

Not every decision is clear-cut and knee-jerk.

After the game he said he "Needed to take a look at Appiah" which suggests he's considering him for a season's loan. (Cue the hump ties writing him off already)

Apart from bringing on subs to take a look (actually a freebie) SC did nothing wrong yesterday. we played with freedom and style for all the first half and made enough chances to have wrapped up the game. Individuals failing to score is hardly down to management.

The defence looked totally in control for 80 minutes and both Cooper and Hector were excellent. It was only in the last ten minutes when our superiority had failed to turn into a goal, that, classically, a relieved away team went looking for a winner and got it.

All that was wrong yesterday was we didn't take our chances. We made PLENTY, and if you can get 20+ shots away, 8 on target, how can you say we played badly?

[Winston Smith]

What was the point of the loan players playing, how does that benefit the club at all now, ahead of giving our younger players more opportunity?

Perhaps one of the conditions on them coming here was that we had to play them. Ake's gone back now, so it opens the door to another opportunist.

After the match Clarke said that playing the loan players will help him make decisions in the summer.

could be they are all available for either another loan or a purchase then

[Chelsea/Royal]

Really impressed with the improvement Hector has made this season. He has the potential to become quite a classy centre back.

Cooper is very tall. That's about it.

The 2 Chelsea boys head and shoulders better than anyone else on the pitch.

Appiah quite frankly dreadful.

Obita disappointing.

Blackman, well if I was playing for my Reading future I would have tried a lot harder to impress the boss last night.

Brum fans made me chuckle with the inevitable taunting of Fedders. My son was outraged until I pointed out that we would have done the same.

I can't go on Saturday which I think May be a good thing!

[Brum Royal]

Given some of the dross that's been served up over the past couple of months I actually came away from the game last night not too disappointed. Yes, we lost, but the performance was much better than say Wigan at home when we were absolutely dire. The two Chelsea boys are head and shoulders above the rest, and Chalobah and Ake's range of passing last night was majestic at times with 40 or 50 yard cross field passes dropping straight to a man to switch play and put us on the front foot. Some of the build up play was very good at times, and up to the edge of the box we looked a decent side for the most part. However, once we crossed the white line into the box we seemed to either a) be scared to shoot or b) try and be too precise with the pass that it was either blocked, intercepted or misplaced. Blackman was a prime example (plenty of others were guilty too) - just before he was subbed he got past two or three defenders into a decent position to shoot with seemingly only the keeper to beat from maybe 8-10 yards out, however he decided to cut inside again, lost the ball and the move broke down - a confident striker hits that first time and probably scores. Like quite a few games I've been to this season (Cardiff on Easter Saturday springs to mind), with a decent in form striker we walk off the pitch with a comfortable 2-0 or 3-0 win - Randolph was much the busier keeper last night, and was forced into at least four decent saves that I remember. As it was, we get caught napping from a corner and a decent ball in is nodded home from close range to undo all the good work at the other end.

Feds - looked very solid and hardly put a foot wrong all game, I certainly wouldn't blame him for the goal, and his left foot reaction save with Gray in one on one was top drawer.
Gunter - pretty solid, if unspectacular performance. That's not a criticism at all.
Cooper / Hector looked a decent partnership - I'd guess the last time those two played at CB together was Brum away, and this was a considerable step up from that. Hector is developing into a very good player, and I particularly enjoyed his mazy run out of the back where he ended up at right wing.
Obita - seems to have lost quite a lot of confidence from the player he was last season. For the most part he seemed quite loathe to actually take on his full back, wanting to cut back onto his right foot and lay the ball off, which was more frustrating as the few times he did have a go at the fullback, he generally beat him (including sitting him on his backside midway through the first half)
Chalobah/Ake - ran the show, and have a phenomenal range of passing. Won lots of tackles and kept play ticking over
Jem - I thought he looked pretty good considering he's still coming back from his injuries - a first full 90 mins back at this level (I believe) and showed some signs of the full throttle player he can be/was before his injuries
Blackman - just shoot! Please. Some of his build up play was ok, but just have a shot at goal!
McCleary - saw a lot of the ball, but his delivery needs to be better once the initial bit of skill to beat the fullback has worked
Mackie - just wouldn't quite run for him in the box tonight, a couple of times Randolph made saves but they just dropped out of his reach

Stacey - lots of energy, got up and down well
Novakovitch - didn't get a lot of the ball really in his 10 minute cameo
Appiah - doesn't seem to have settled as well as the Chelsea lads so far. I've not seen a lot so far to make me think he'd be worth getting back in next season

14k according to the official attendance last night, I'd say closer to 12k personally.

[Snowball]

Really impressed with the improvement Hector has made this season. He has the potential to become quite a classy centre back.

Cooper is very tall. That's about it.

I thought Cooper was excellent, particularly as he was targeted by Brum.

Won just about everything (I remember one ball over him) and played very calmly once he settled, didn't hoof, but looked for a pass. he will be a very good CB and already, it wouldn't worry me if he was picked.

[Maguire]

Chalobah and Ake were decent.

That's me done for the season now so I'll be expecting a totally different team on the pitch the next time I come along.

[Angry Shed Sex]

Listening to Radio Berks last night our top scorer on the pitch when the game finished, bearing in mind we were supposed to be chasing the game at that point, was Cooper with 2 goals.

Says just about everything about the night and the season.

Can't end soon enough.

[ladida_gunner_graham]

Cooper is very tall. That's about it.

I think that's unfair, and simply not backed up by what we've seen to date. We could point to mistakes in games this season, for sure, but he's young and shows a huge amount of promise. His passing is at times excellent (he showed that last night), and his defensive work is largely solid. Like Hector, he needs to eradicate occasional errors but also, like Hector has done already, I think he could be capable of doing just that.

Obita disappointing..

That is fair. He's been disappointing all season. My PotS last year....this year, he's gone backwards.

Blackman, well if I was playing for my Reading future I would have tried a lot harder to impress the boss last night..

I don't think Blackman's issue is effort. I think it is ability. He lacks a right foot, makes too many bad decisions (usually involving not passing when he should), poor execution of basic footballing skills like control, passing and shooting. If nothing else I hope Clarke gives him the rest of the season to demonstrate he's not good enough. Two games should do it.

[bobby1413]

We did have some decent efforts on target, I think Chabolah had a few from outside the box didn't he. We had a goal scramble in the second half too, and about 100 other opportunities, but just no one there to stick the ball in the net. That as we have all said is the issue at present, no one to score goals.

I listened to BBCRB and it was mentioned MK DONS have scored 93 goals. Having checked the Championship table I see Bournemouth have scored 92. We have scored just 44, which is equivalent to just over 1 per game.

I think SC knows what the priority over the summer is, and just hope the funding is there.

In regards to the game, Stacey looked really good, Chabolah looked good and had a really decent impact. Cooper I think was solid and Gunter had a good game.

[BR2]

Well that was, just like the last home game, a mirror of a pre-season friendly and not worth the effort after a day's work and then being diverted off the M3 once more on the way home meaning getting in at midnight and can't wait for the season to end.
For the record this calendar year we have played 9 home games and scored just 6 goals with 5 of those games seeing us score 0.

Last night there was no craft again-if only Norwood or Guthrie could have lived up to what we had hoped for.
Plenty of possession because Birmingham stood off-that's easy to do and I'm surprised how some on here were so easily pleased by that performance.
Incidentally somebody said on BBCRB last night that we are the worst form team in this division with 7(?) points out of a possible 33 in the last 11 games-proper relegation form with generally our best team being available and added loan signings.

As somebody posted earlier Blackman had another opportunity to shine last night but failed again-I once yelled at him to go onto his left when running at their defence and he chose to go onto his incredibly weak right side and of course lost possession.
He and Kanu are almost twins being totally one-footed, cowardly in the tackle and just don't do enough including not scoring the number of goals that they should.

Good to see the two young lads get brief runs and Cooper who did well-my only fear for him is that he is too big like the lad Burn from Fulham and therefore awkward so time will tell whether he turns out to be a power house of a defender or clumsy.
Just one more home game thank goodness-will it be karma for Brentford to atone forTHAT 1-1 draw?

[Brum Royal]

That's true. I'd forgotten we had a goalmouth scramble first half when we managed to hit our own player on the line...