Back from I Follow Luton

[Westwood52]

Bizarre game really.Luton hit the bar,have a good shout for a pen and then we ram in five in response.I just have this feeling that Luton were unbelievably bad defensively;however we fully exploited how bad they were.You only play what’s in front of you.
IMHO

Rafael 7 Not really tested.
Osho 6 Very nervous start,but then grew into it.Did a lot for( I think) the second.
Blackett 7 The best of Blackett,never under pressure.
McIntire 9 Never put a foot wrong.
Morrison 8 Very solid.
Rino 8 Heart beat of the team.
Gomez 8 Tightened up the midfield.
Swift 7 Bit Hollywood at times,but took on the responsibilities of being captain really well.
Meite 9 MOM.Four goals says it all.The second was taken really well.
Puskas 7 One great through ball.One of his best games,and got his goal.
Ejaria 7 Did well stringing the moves together.

Ref Seen worse.

[PieEater]

The difference was that they didn't press us and let us play, it turns out we've actually got quite a talented team if teams let us play.

[Royal_jimmy]

That was a decent performance and a good result! needed it after Brentford. I don't have much I can analyse as a weakness as I thought Luton were really poor and were unable to hurt or bully us at all. I hope we keep it up Tuesday vs Hudderfield. It'd be nice if we can finish the season with a 2-3 more wins and get top half.

Was confident we'd win today as we really exploited Luton's weaknesses at the Madejski and we did so again. Luton are the worst side at this level that I have seen in a very long time.

Meite isn't a world beater but he's someone we need to keep if we sell Puscas or Swift. Great day for us!

Fair play to Bowen too. I'll reserve my judgment for him until the season ends.

Let's not get carried away though. Luton really were dreadful. We weren't as strong as the scoreline suggests.

[Lower West]

Mid table team in mid table position. Ship steadied. Just need to keep the core together for next season. There's something to build on.

[Hound]

Mid table team in mid table position. Ship steadied. Just need to keep the core together for next season. There's something to build on.

Basically that

Again convinced we can lose 15+ players and still have enough to tread water next season

[Royal_jimmy]

Mid table team in mid table position. Ship steadied. Just need to keep the core together for next season. There's something to build on.

Basically that

Again convinced we can lose 15+ players and still have enough to tread water next season

I honestly wouldn't get carried away today. Luton were as poor as we played well

[Hound]

Mid table team in mid table position. Ship steadied. Just need to keep the core together for next season. There's something to build on.

Basically that

Again convinced we can lose 15+ players and still have enough to tread water next season

I honestly wouldn't get carried away today. Luton were as poor as we played well

I don’t think you can get any less carried away than ‘mid table team in a mid table position’

[Simon's Church]

Luton were terrible but they drew with Leeds during the week and beat Swansea so we must have done something right

[Snowflake Royal]

Fair warning, this is probably not going to be popular.

Cabral - 6 decent but looked beaten a couple of times only for Luton to fluff, not much to do
Osho - 6 looked out of place and uncomfortable against a terrible side. Not a RB on that showing
Blackett - 7 some good interplay and crossing under easy circumstances
Morrison - 7 untroubled mostly
McIntyre - 7 very comfortable
Pele - 7 in control
Rinomhota - 7 classy
Swift - 6 some really really good stuff and some really really poor stuff.
Ejaria - 6 some really nice stuff
Meite - 9 MotM imperious
Puscas - 7 good goal, some good play, some unintentionally good play

Everyone else decent, but not really worth more than a six.

Luton were one of the worst Championship sides I've ever seen. Slow and disorganised. No work rate or team work. No defensive shape.

We walked through them at will without much effort.

[One Beer is never enough.]

A decent performance against a poor team, pleased for Meite and Puscas - hopefully, this will give them the confidence to push on.

From my point of view, I'm not a Bowen fan and unfortunately, this result means there is no chance of him being relieved of his duties this season. So I will hang fire and give him the opportunity to get through this period and see how he adapts/ develops the team for next season.

[Zip]

We could do easily have been pushing for the play offs. A wasted opportunity. Derby were below us in the table on New Years Day.
Anyway

Rafael 7 Didn’t have much to do again. EDIT brilliant save in second half which I mistook as a McIntyre block.
Osho 7 Always liked him since Boro debut. Shaky start but looked strong as game wore on
Morrison 8 Strong at the back. Good assist
McIntyre 8 Changing of the guard today. Lovely, strong, no nonsense game. Must start from now on
Blackett 8 Showed what a high class player he can be when he is on his game
Pele 8 Always in the right place at the right time. He has been missed
Rinomhota 8 Lovely unselfish performance. Back to his best
Swift 8 A really mature performance. Some great tracking back
Ejaria 7 A sublime assist and the usual trickery
Meite 9 MoTM has to be man of the match. Now 16 for the season which he should be proud of
Puscas 8 A little ungainly at times but a real team performance. A goal and two assists

[Jack Celliers]

Mid table team in mid table position. Ship steadied. Just need to keep the core together for next season. There's something to build on.

Basically that

Again convinced we can lose 15+ players and still have enough to tread water next season

+1 for us be adequate

[Lower West]

Basically that

Again convinced we can lose 15+ players and still have enough to tread water next season

I honestly wouldn't get carried away today. Luton were as poor as we played well

I don’t think you can get any less carried away than ‘mid table team in a mid table position’

Be an improvement on the last few seasons...........

[SCIAG]

If four goals only gets you 9/10 then something is wrong. Meite 10/10 for me.

McIntyre was very good in his own half and got a little unlucky a couple of times when he went up for corners. Aside from kicking the ball against a Luton player at the start of the second half, he looked every bit the first team player.

Not sure about Osho at right back - he's got the athleticism and a good touch but needs to work on his crossing and movement, both offensively and defensively.

I hated Tim calling Pele "Gomes", until they showed a close-up - hadn't realised that it says Gomes on his shirt before today, so fair play. On the other hand the meta-commentary ("last week someone called me a clown!") is tiresome, just do your job.

[Zip]

Let’s not forget this was only Osho’s second start in League football and he was playing out of position. I thought he did well after a shaky start. He needs a run in the side now until the end of the season. He could be a very handy back up to Yids as well as covering at centre back. I’d like to see him get a new contract.

[The Royal We]

Luton were terrible but they drew with Leeds during the week and beat Swansea so we must have done something right

Exactly. Let’s give ourselves some credit. The looked like they could create chances, then we put them to the sword with 2 quick goals and they crumbled.

[Old Man Andrews]

Bizarre game really.Luton hit the bar,have a good shout for a pen and then we ram in five in response.I just have this feeling that Luton were unbelievably bad defensively;however we fully exploited how bad they were.You only play what’s in front of you.
IMHO

Rafael 7 Not really tested.
Osho 6 Very nervous start,but then grew into it.Did a lot for( I think) the second.
Blackett 7 The best of Blackett,never under pressure.
McIntire 9 Never put a foot wrong.
Morrison 8 Very solid.
Rino 8 Heart beat of the team.
Gomez 8 Tightened up the midfield.
Swift 7 Bit Hollywood at times,but took on the responsibilities of being captain really well.
Meite 9 MOM.Four goals says it all.The second was taken really well.
Puskas 7 One great through ball.One of his best games,and got his goal.
Ejaria 7 Did well stringing the moves together.

Ref Seen worse.

Imagine giving Meite 9 after scoring 4 goals and Puscas a 7 after 3 assists and a goal.

Completely clueless supporter.

[RoyalBlue]

Rafael may not 'have had much to do' but, as Bowen pointed out, made a great save when we were 4 (or was it 5?) up. Maintaining that focus/concentration and pulling out a great save like that, despite having very little to do up until that point, is the mark of a good keeper. He also had that time when he came fast & strong for a ball in the air, completely focused on the ball and completely wiped out the challenging forward to take the ball. IIRC he also came out quickly to close down a Luton player and deny him the opportunity of a goal quite early in the game.

I'm also completely bemused by a comment such as 'looked to have been beaten on a couple of occasions, only for Luton to fluff'.

Dellor I can understand, but I'm struggling to understand why some of our supporters appear so critical of Rafael. He might not be as good as Martinez but he's still a very good keeper at this level.

[Lower West]

Let’s not forget this was only Osho’s second start in League football and he was playing out of position. I thought he did well after a shaky start. He needs a run in the side now until the end of the season. He could be a very handy back up to Yids as well as covering at centre back. I’d like to see him get a new contract.

Need to cut the wage bill. Utilising the academy has to be the way forward.

[Millsy]

Great to see Ejaria's trickery surrounded by players lead to a goal. Bound to happen.

Great to see Blackett I thought he'd gone.

Great to see Osho, he really grew in confidence and was class.

Great to see Puscas score, you could see what it meant for him.

Great to see Pele, really a player I'd like us to keep but it's unlikely.

Great to see everyone doing well.

I prefer 5-0 wins to 3-0 losses, if I'm honest.