Mid Table Beckons After Home League Defeat

Well that was bloody frustrating to say the least, seriously what`s the point in resting the entire first team in the cup when most of them hardly lifted a leg for the first half hour?

Thought we deserved a point just for the last 10 minute bombardment of their goal, where was it for the previous 80 minutes?

Rafael 6 didn`t do too much wrong, but some of the short passing out is scarey.

Gunter. 6 actually one of our better players in a lack lustre first half.

Morrison. 6 did ok,

Moore. 6 ditto.

Blackett. 5 cross the bloody thing.

Obita 6 constant threat down the left, especially in the last 10, when he was swinging in dangerous crosses.

Swift.5 worse game for quite some time tbh, trying to be too fancy on many occasions

Pele 7. the best of a mediocre bunch tonight. quite reminds of the the leigerwood

Ejaria. 4 , very poor, didn`t get into the game for me.

Olise 6, showed alot of good touches, promising, one for the future.

Puscas 5, hard to blame him for tonight, simply can`t play as a lone striker, but he`s come with a big reputation one way or another we have to get the best out of him.

Subs

Aluko 5 showed up quite well when he came on, not scared to run at players, had a shot headed off the line.

Baldock 5, had his work cut out against Williams

Meite. 7 put himself about, unlucky on a few occasions in that hectic last 10.
Oh and it was bloody cold.

Poor display, only turned up in the last 10 minutes.
Swift back to his form from the last two seasons, unfortunately. One good shot but twice he had the chance to do something with the ball on the break away and did nothing, allowing them to counter us. Awful corners from him and Obita as well.
Ovie should have buried his chance just before they scored and that changed the game. He is out of sorts at the moment.
We badly need a Joao replacement. Puscas was atrocious and Baldock was the best Brizzle defender at the end, brilliant tackle on Meite as Yaks was bearing down on goal.
Aluko should be sent on loan to China again, preferably to Wuhan Zall FC. Only kidding, wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
Even if we do get a striker it is possibly too little too late. Maybe keep our powder dry until the Summer.
Roll on May.

Ejaria - decent first half then AWOL in the second.

Swift - poor, caught in possession too often or misplaced passes

Puscas - static and contributed nothing......replaced by Baldock (yay) who proceeded to contribute nothing either

Nobody else stood out for me, good or bad.
The goal?...........shambolic defending and lack of tracking back by Blackett.
Crowd...........low, very low.
At least dreams of the playoffs can be put back in the drawer now.

That was so poor, particularly second half.
How are City in the play offs. Bang average

I put tonights defeat down to Bowen. Puscas on his own up front when we are at home. It was a very defensive and negative formation. If we don't believe we can beat teams like City when we are at home then we deserve to be where we are. Another defeat at Cardiff and we could be back in the relegation pack. When we decided (too late) too put bodies up front we looked like scoring. Bowen we should at least give it a go from the off!

Very disappointing against a side there for the taking.

The side we played against Cardiff would put on a better display than that lot!
Puscas needs dropping. Bloody terrible.

Swift and Ejaria, for what ever reason didn’t turn up.

Moore, Olise, Pele and latterly Meite did Ok.

The rest were pretty crap!
At least we might put a better team out next Tuesday as this season is just about a write off :|

I thought it was an enjoyable well contested game between two good Championship teams who pretty much cancelled each other out. The difference was they took their only chance whereas Ejaria fluffed our best one.
At this level teams huff and puff but don’t generally have enough quality. Obviously we desperately miss Jaoa up front but I equally see Bowen’s dilemma. If we are going to play a holding midfielder in Pele - who I thought was good - then you cannot play two up front or you risk getting overrun in midfield. Equally Puscas cannot play effectively up front on his own.
Might be time for plan B or C whichever it is.
We are 10 points off the play offs so think we have to play the first team in the Cup replay now.

That was one of the worst home performances of the season and definitely the worst under Mark Bowen. We were casual, soft, lacking energy and lost to a pretty dreadful side and I'm really frustrated and angry. We didn't really go for it until it was too late and even then we got what we deserved.
Ratings
Rafael - 5. No fault for goal but poor decision making with kicking

Gunter - 6 solid

Moore - 5 average

Morrison - 6 played ok

Blackett - 3 poor tonight

Obita - 5 good crosses but didn't protect Richards enough

Pele - 5 average at best

Ejaria - 4 frustrating and out of form

Swift - 2 was absolutely dreadful and rightfully subbed

Olise - 4 didn't notice him much

Puscas - 3 poor but no service. He can't play in this formation. His form has faded massively without Joao
Subs

Aluko - 6 not bad

Meite - 7 was a threat

Baldock - 5 worked hard but no threat
Thought it was a really odd team that Bowen put out tonight. I blame him for the defeat and couldnt work out the game plan or formation. The poor performance looked to me like the players had no idea what they were meant to be doing.
Worse still, because of tonight, if we lose the next 2 games vs Cardiff coming up our season is basically over and the remaining games will be totally pointless.
Another note. I hate our stewards

Might want to edit that one a bit quick, Jimmy.

As much as I like to watch him. Does Ejaria offer enough attacking threat?
Olise looks ahead of Loader by some margin.
Desperately need a presence upfront to hold the ball up.
Resorting to Aluko shows how bare the options are.

Just so disappointing, similar to the Millwall away game , Bristol City much better work rate and probably the better team on the night . Our crossing was abysmal apart from the last ten minutes when we had a go and was very unlucky with Ejaria’s miss and the two off the line . Swift can be excused a poor game, thought Pele had a great game as did Morrison. Hope our little bubble of hope and expectation hasn’t burst.

That was a poor game of football. The style of play was terrible, non existent pressing throughout and terrible decision making on the ball. Really poor
Rafael - has nothing to do
Gunter 6 - got forward well a few times, and was unlucky with his shot cleared off the line

Morrison 6 - did OK on the whole, think he was playing them onside for the goal but it wasn’t really his fault

Moore 6 - defended well but his tempo on the ball is poor, constantly slows things down

Blackett 5 - struggled to begin with and cost us the goal not following his man. His attacking prowess has diminished since Obita has gone to LM, I don’t know why Bowen hasn’t seen this
Pele 6 - that was a Pele performance under Gomes on the ball, painfully slow but as usual did well defensively in a 1 man midfield tonight
Olise 5 - didn’t offer anything really, worked hard

Swift 3 - woeful. Wasn’t tracking his man, terrible set pieces, ruined two or three good counters, took too long on the ball etc. When he’s not on his game, we may as well turn around and give up

Ejaria 4 - the midfield doesn’t work with those two in the centre of it. It rarely has and it rarely will. 3 million is a good price for him but he can do a lot more

Obita 4 - got to go at the end of the season. Genuinely offers nothing
Puscas 4 - predictably didn’t do anything, waste of time and space as a lone striker
Baldock 4 - came into life minute 89, was as limited as Puscas the rest of time

Meite 7 - made a difference and in hindsight should have started because he was a danger in the air against Da Silva

Aluko 5 - really should have been Adam on, but he did OK, was never going to really add too much
It must be disheartening for Morrison and co coming forward just to see every set piece hit the first man. It isn’t difficult
Ejaria needs to play on the left of midfield or on the bench. It’s as simple as that. He works well with Blackett on the left side of midfield because he drags defenders away and gives him the time and space to deliver an accurate Cross. Obita and Blackett too often want to take up the same space and it simply doesn’t work
We’re still, as a team, too reliant on Swift and it isn’t healthy. When he’s off colour, there has to be a plan B. We didn’t show it until minute 88, spending most of the game pointlessly passing it around

Yeah I felt really sorry for Richards ... no protection whatsoever.

That was absolutely dire - back to Stam days IMO. Stupid unnecessary passing from the back that got us constantly into trouble, then a long ball to a striker who on his own is never going to be able to control and lay the ball off. I know Puscas gets loads of stick but think about it - he is a striker that needs the ball in front of him and we just don't have the players or tactics to execute this - very sad waste of his talent (and I do believe his has a lot) and also £10M wasted if we keep playing this way.
No-one came out of the game with any real credit so can't be arsed to mark individually. They can all have a 2
Season over for the league so play the U23s saturday and have a real pop on Tuesday
Going back to wine now.............

The first thing that surprised me was how poor the attendance was. Less than 10,000 Reading fans at the game. Woeful.

It was reflected in a subdued atmosphere and lethargic start by the team
The first half was cagey and a bit of a non event. We started the second half more brightly and Ejaria had a great chance which he struck over the bar. We then concede the softest of goals out of nothing with dreadful positioning by our defence allowing their player a simple finish. Thereafter we fell apart. This really felt like shades of the dregs of the Stam era and Clement’s time at the club. Yet another soft home defeat of which there have been far too many in recent years.
In the final few minutes we finally managed to put them under concerted pressure and would have been good value for the draw. City were bang average but defended very well. They dominated our strikers inside their penalty box winning virtually every header.
Bowen got it wrong tonight. We were crying out for Adam in the second half to give us a measure of control as both Swift and Ejaria were very poor. We also desperately lack an out and out winger which should be our focus alongside a big striker in this transfer window.
So what next? Surely the formation has to change? We need to play two upfront unless we can bring in somebody who can hold up and lay off the ball. With just two points from our last four League games we can forget about the play offs so Bowen needs to rethink his team selection for the Cup game because it has backfired. We haven’t won in the League since he decided to play our reserves v Blackpool.
Pele was for me our best player by miles tonight showing real vision with his passing and being one of the few players to win some tackles. Most of the rest were either average or poor

Yeah I felt really sorry for Richards ... no protection whatsoever.

Yeah felt sorry for him as well - must have been really cold on subs bench.....

Yes their work rate was noticeable. They pressed us right from the start. We didn’t work as hard and there were a number of occasions in the first half when they had a player free either inside or outside the box. Very disappointing tonight. Two tough games coming up against a team who will be highly motivated to beat us.

So glad we rested our player’s for our play off push. A depressing night all round a truly dreadful game of football the ground less than half full but hardly surprising given the crap that was served up. The only difference between two average teams was they wanted it more worked harder while we just seemed to jog around and not put them under any pressure when they had the ball.

Anyone know what’s happened to Boye?
Hasn’t set the world alight but seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth after what seemed like a decent display at Blackpool. Bit disappointed that both Loader and Aluko have jumped ahead of him in the pecking order
Given that McCleary wasn’t in the squad and is probably ahead of him, same with Loader and Bowen talking about a couple of incoming transfers, I reckon he’s done here and we’ll terminate the loan in the next couple of days

It is the legacy of about 5 or 6 years of nothingness bar one play-off run and the fact most can see we are not going to do anything this season barring a ridiculous run of form. Add in a bitterly cold night and you have a recipe for a small turnout.
If we'd had 4 or 5 points more, crowd may well have been healthier last night but as is we are unlikely to have any "big" home games again this year so smaller crowds will be the norm unless something significant happens on the pitch.

Thought we looked briefly good for the last 5-10 minutes of the first half and the first 5-10 minutes of the second.
After they scored we looked awful for a good bit. Then a late, late resurgence that, I gotta be honest, never looked like it would result in a goal.
Very disjointed in attack and something very wrong with the centre left of our defence. Seemed to be a lot of space throughout the game. Couldn't figure out if Moore wasnt coming out, Blackett wasnt coming in or Pele wasnt coming across. Whichever it was we looked poor there.
Thought Obita looked decent. Olise looked okay. Morrison had a very good game. Pele had some very good quality moments. The rest were meh. Not bad but not good.
Particularly poor commentary for this one. Tim went off on his usual tangents during important passages of play. Mick identified the issue at the back and explained it from a coaching standpoint very well. I wish he did that more instead of talking shit about players he doesnt like. He clearly has actual insight into tactics and formations but rarely talks about it. Spends far too much time saying "That wasnt good enough for this level".
There was a funny moment after several minutes of the 2 of them criticising Puscas (some of which was correct to be fair) Tim, clearly thinking it was time to pile on him for everything, gave out about him doing something which wasnt his fault and Mick corrected him on it. There was a second of silence from Tim where you could sense he was thinking about how he just agrees with everything Mick says and wished he got the same in return.

Bang average Championship game of football between two teams that will be competing in the Championship next season.
Thoughts:

- Not a good game for Puscas, BUT, like last week at Forest, he’s not a lone striker and shouldn’t be played as one. He’s young and inconsistent, but has shown flashes of ability and they’ve always been when he’s played as a two, literally no point playing him alone unless you’re putting balls into the channels for him to run on to (which we did once and he spun his man and got a cross in)
- Pele was outstanding
- Charlie Adam for me was key to our run over Christmas, now can’t even get on the pitch. Surely has to start Friday night
- Ejaria - quiet game, really cant decide if he’s better on the wing, the best we see of him is in a one on one situation (Fulham away, or his showreel doing the rounds on Twitter). Would try him on the wing Friday with Adam back in
- Swift - had an off night, it happens, been one of our best players all season
Transfer window - desperate for a hold up striker if Bowen wants to persist with one up top as Puscas and Baldock (seemingly his preferred strikers) cannot play that role
FA Cup - after tonight’s result and the 5th round draw I really hope we go for it at Cardiff next Tuesday night

I thought the first hour ebbed and flowed in 10 minute spells. Bristol started better, then we had a good 10, then they would have a stronger 10 - there was nothing in the game really. The first goal was going to be so crucial, and when Ovie blazes over from three yards and they score two minutes later, it was never going to be our day.
After the goal I thought Bristol controlled the game very well for the next 20 minutes before we threw the kitchen sink at them for the final 10 - I’m still not sure how we didn’t score when we had that trio of chances.
Frustrating night all told, Club 1871 was in good voice until they scored and then dropped off a cliff.

When Swift and Ejaria are off their game we are completely toothless and useless. Sadly Ejaria has been missing for a few weeks now.

Didn't think we were good, didn't think we were overly poor. Thought after about half an hour that one goal would win the game, but couldn't tell you which way it was going to go.
Neither team looked that threatening, I don't think Rafael had a meaningful save to make, but nor did their 'keeper really. Although it was a good save from Swift in the first half, getting down low. They took their chance, Ovie missed ours. I think if that goes in, it stays 1-0 to us.
Quite how we didn't score towards the end is beyond me, 2(?) cleared off the line in one passage of play, just not going to be your night when that happens.
Must play 2 upfront going forward, just look so toothless with only 1 up there. Thought everyone did some good stuff and everyone did some bad stuff, no one really stood out for the whole game, but I was impressed with Pele, had a range of passing that I don't think I have seen before. Olise also looked promising, agree with a previous poster that he offers more than Loader.
Had to LOL at the end of the first half when they had that free-kick about 30 yards out, only to pass it sideways and the ref blows the whistle :lol:
Both teams will be in the same division next year, of that I have no doubt.
Made it home to SE London before midnight, which I consider an achievement.

It is the legacy of about 5 or 6 years of nothingness bar one play-off run and the fact most can see we are not going to do anything this season barring a ridiculous run of form. Add in a bitterly cold night and you have a recipe for a small turnout.
If we'd had 4 or 5 points more, crowd may well have been healthier last night but as is we are unlikely to have any "big" home games again this year so smaller crowds will be the norm unless something significant happens on the pitch.

What was the crowd last night ? Can't ever find attendances reported , it did look sparse

It is the legacy of about 5 or 6 years of nothingness bar one play-off run and the fact most can see we are not going to do anything this season barring a ridiculous run of form. Add in a bitterly cold night and you have a recipe for a small turnout.
If we'd had 4 or 5 points more, crowd may well have been healthier last night but as is we are unlikely to have any "big" home games again this year so smaller crowds will be the norm unless something significant happens on the pitch.

What was the crowd last night ? Can't ever find attendances reported , it did look sparse

Thought BBCRB said it was eleven and a half thousand

Really confuses me why the club aren't doing more to encourge higher midweek attendances, we always seem to struggle to get the crowds in for the bog standard league games. Maybe do half price tickets midweek, get the people through the door and recoup some of the money on extra food sales etc.

It is the legacy of about 5 or 6 years of nothingness bar one play-off run and the fact most can see we are not going to do anything this season barring a ridiculous run of form. Add in a bitterly cold night and you have a recipe for a small turnout.
If we'd had 4 or 5 points more, crowd may well have been healthier last night but as is we are unlikely to have any "big" home games again this year so smaller crowds will be the norm unless something significant happens on the pitch.

What was the crowd last night ? Can't ever find attendances reported , it did look sparse

11,633 of which around 2,000 were away fans as that section of the South Stand was close to selling out. Decent turnout by 1871 in the other part of the South Stand but they were on the quiet side last night.

I don’t think it would have made much difference last night. Not a lot to play for in the League on a cold January evening.