Listened to the game on cafc player. Sounded like we didn't again have much luck with the ref. Surprised sarr didn't come on when Bauer was sent off for second yellow, guess he's not ready? JBGs internationals clearly drained him, good to have moussa back so cousins can play central. Was expecting worse but disappointed not to come away with a point. Badly need a bit of luck and a win
Not long back from Reading and my overall feeling is that the referee ruined the game. Until the sending off of Baur, neither team looked like scoring and we were having a good spell. The ref blew up for every tackle we made and booked too readily but not vice versa. Diarra and Baur are immense. Pope had a good game, as did Solly. Not so sure about Bergditch at LB but suspect Fox was not fit? (It didn't help that Reading didn't even announce the Charlton line up, never mind the subs!) First half Reading had a lot of space down the right as Bergditch and McAleny let their RB run rampant. Cousins and JJ worked hard as ever. However hard Kag and Moussa tried they were lacking real impact. JBG looked tired and Reading marked him out of the game. Luzon got his subs wrong today. Didn't really expect more than a draw but a bit disappointed. Some fans need to grow up and watching grown men gesticulating at the team at the end is ridiculous.
Interesting that at the start of the season Luzon said we would attack and go for the win every week and then this was served up today
THIS, The guy is useless & although sacking managers every 6 months is far from ideal I think my nan could do a better job than Luzon........and she's been dead for 20 years !!
Perhaps its my age , or football is changing, but 20 years ago I don't remember going away from home & only having 1 shot on target, 1 off target & 1 corner all game. We lost anyway so we might have as well gone out and attacked - esp after going 1 nil down. Reading werent all that - tidy maybe but their shooting was awful & I don't reckon they will go up this season.
we were insipid & boring. If we don't win our nest 2 games, both of which are at home, we are going down.
Not fully feeling the post match drama to be honest. Most expected us to get dicked. Had we kept 11 men we may have got a point and everyone would be saying solid return. Win today and we would have been up to about 13th.
Things are clearly strained at the mo. Starting with just a rookie up top supported by a player not fully match fit leads you to know it's going to be a negative approach and an uphill battle.
We've big games coming up. Keeping my pallet dry to see where we are post them, but not going to go overboard on today's result, disappointing another defeat is.
Miserable afternoon but Luzon not to blame - with the meagre resources at his disposal he came with a decent gameplan ie. don't give the ball away cheaply (virtually no pointless long balls), keep two solid banks of four and frustrate.
It worked for an hour but JBG's injury and Bauer's red blew our chances, though it was odd Luxon went with Ba not Sarr immediately after Bauer went. No surprise we lost to a free header.
Final ten minutes was dire as others have rightly pointed out.
Not fully feeling the post match drama to be honest. Most expected us to get dicked. Had we kept 11 men we may have got a point and everyone would be saying solid return. Win today and we would have been up to about 13th.
Things are clearly strained at the mo. Starting with just a rookie up top supported by a player not fully match fit leads you to know it's going to be a negative approach and an uphill battle.
We've big games coming up. Keeping my pallet dry to see where we are post them, but not going to go overboard on today's result, disappointing another defeat is.
Just to add, I wasn't there today.
Very much appreciate it is ten times easier to take a pragmatic approach when you are not there.
I don't understand what people were expecting? Reading are flying and beat Boro 2-0 in their last home game. We are having a massive wobble and are missing a number of key players. Why on earth would Luzon do anything other than set us up to get a point and perhaps nick it late on?
If we'd gone there and been open and expansive we'd have been beaten out of sight with the players we had available today.
Reading had loads of shots, but the vast majority ended up in the stands behind either goal. I only remember Pope making 1 save in the first half.
If we'd have had 11 players on till the end I firmly believe we would have come away with what we went there to get - a point.
We didn't look overly troubled by what was, until we went down to 10 men, a pretty average looking Reading team. I agree that the last 10 mins weren't great, but put it into context. We worked our nuts off for the proceeding 80mins to keep tight and to stifle Reading. That was done with two players who have barely played and one who was carrying a knock from 20mins in and who was playing his 3rd game in a week. Reading played 10 men well and simply kept the ball.
I've noticed the current scapegoat (Bergdich) getting a hammering again. He did little wrong today, but people have decided he's shite and that's him potentially screwed. Why hasn't Jordan Cousins, who did nothing but give the ball away for the first half, been called out?
Plus points for me, were a busy performance from Moussa and Jackson adding some organisation. Diarra MOM by some distance. Also relieved to see that Bauer was two yellows and not the straight red I thought it was at the time.
To say we aren't trying is nonsense and to me indicates that Luzon still has the dressing room. At the moment our paper-thin squad is over stretched. We just need to ride it out and hope that Makienok, Kashi, Igor and Henderson are back sooner rather than later.
Encouraging that we are looking at free agents, hopefully if things don't improve on the injuries front we'll see some short-term deals sorted out.
Not fully feeling the post match drama to be honest. Most expected us to get dicked. Had we kept 11 men we may have got a point and everyone would be saying solid return. Win today and we would have been up to about 13th.
Things are clearly strained at the mo. Starting with just a rookie up top supported by a player not fully match fit leads you to know it's going to be a negative approach and an uphill battle.
We've big games coming up. Keeping my pallet dry to see where we are post them, but not going to go overboard on today's result, disappointing another defeat is.
Just to add, I wasn't there today.
Very much appreciate it is ten times easier to take a pragmatic approach when you are not there.
On a whole it was pathetic. So hard to swallow such lack of fight when we went one down regardless of circumstances.
You could almost feel everyone shouting "AT LEAST EFFING TRY!!"
But it was an attitude of "we have a man sent off therefore we will just hide".
Pathetic. No character and a squad destined for the drop unless some minerals are shown.
It doesn't hurt quite so much when you lose every week, but Luzon's not there to motivate me personally. Is he motivating the team ?(clearly not). Is he winning matches or even trying to?(little current evidence)... Well it's time to pack your bags then, before matters get a whole lot worse. If only our unspeakable owners would fall on their sword too!
Came for a point (the right thing to do) with 11 I think we'd have got it. Haven't seen the sending off close up, so don't know if it was a red, but the ref was gunning for us and was quick with his yellow cards all day.
Only read as far as Clem's post as we're just back from the match.
And his short but sweet summary of this afternoon says it all for me.
Of course we didn't set the world alight ....we don't have enough fit players or a settled team to be capable of doing this.
But , for the first 70 mins, we did OK.
JJ made a huge difference in midfield & his very presence seemed to have a calming influence when the Royals threatened to out muscle and unsettle us. Young Jordan was his usual industrious self , Alou & Patrick did little wrong at the back ( although the ******ref clearly didn't agree ) and Nick coped well with any shots they had on target , which were few TBH. Row Z seemed to be their favourite target on the whole...
For the remainder of the team, I have to admit that I was surprised to see McAleny exit the tunnel after the break. The general opinion around us was that Guy would replace him with TWW, whilst pushing Moussa wide but what do we know ? The opposition appeared to target our left side where Bergdich & our Toffee loanee were somewhat lightweight, I'm afraid. But the former was as gobsmacked as those of us in the away end when the ******ref booked him for repositioning the ball as he was about to take a corner right in front of us! Unbelievable ! But only one of the many times we had reason to question the clown in the middle's parentage this afternoon. 12 men versus 11 is always going to be a clear advantage ....
But when our fecking big German had a 2nd yellow waved in his face, the disadvantage became insurmountable. And the rest is history. The Royal faithful, full of meaningless jeers in our direction all afternoon , raised the roof- possibly more in relief than anything else as we were odds on for a point until the sending off. Certainly, theirs is NOT the best team we've encountered thus far this season.
Two final points ( I wish !) from Fanny....
There was a deal of moaning from our fans during the final 10 mins or so of the game. Why didn't we go for it ? Why weren't we busting a gut to get the equaliser ? As you are all aware, I know nothing but my grey cell still functions well enough to tell me that the game was lost - end of. Our final line up was a shadow of that which started the match due to substitutions of players either out on their feet ( JJ) or not doing the business (McAleny) and as such, posed little threat and with 2 important home games over the next 7 days, we could ill afford any further injuries to our threadbare squad through ill timed tackles etc. I didn't see that final period of play as capitulation but more as common sense in the circumstances. Of course I want the lads to play their hearts out until the final whistle and give themselves every chance of gaining something from a game but today I was willing to turn a blind eye to their shortcomings towards the end. But come Tuesday evening there'll be no such generosity.
Finally, I wondered what Steve Clarke would have to say at the post match press conference. He's always struck me as an honest , straightforward kind of guy - no mind games for him - and I'll be interested in his take on the game. He'll know that his team was forced to shoot from distance and at times must have wondered if they'd score at all. He'll also be aware of the number of free kicks awarded to his team and , more contentiously , the yellow cards shown to our players. Without doubt, he'll praise his lads for their long periods of possession and in the end, for scoring the crucial goal. But I won't be surprised if his positive comments are tinged with some degree of embarrassment at the antics of some of his players in gaining numerous soft free kicks and at the generosity of the blinkered *******ref. Just my opinion of course.
I AM concerned about the way this season is starting to falter and, more pertinently, with the small, injury prone squad we have currently. As to turning our fortunes around, apart from continuing to give as much support as we can from the sidelines, it's in the hands of our owner, our manager and our players themselves. Our next 2 games before the trip to Boro' are crucial as we are well aware. Let's hope that they provide a springboard for the rest of the season & that with hard work & dedication we slowly, but surely claw our way up the league.
Interesting that at the start of the season Luzon said we would attack and go for the win every week and then this was served up today
Wasnt it mentioned by Luzon after we lost at Wolves that we wouldnt always be able to go for the win and that he realised that in that game, we lost because we didnt shut up shop and the Championship to get points you have to be defensive sometimes?
Even the two shots we had were not threatening in any shape or form.
Truly awful. Guy Luzon lost us that match the moment he thought it would be a good idea to play KAG up front on his own. To play that lone front role you have to be strong or have some pace, and KAG doesn't really have either. And no I'm not trying to dig him out here, this is aimed solely at the manager and his awful tactics.
We were never going to score, even with 11 men and a 0-0 draw was the absolute best we could have hoped for.
The most excitement to be had was when we did the whole 'ole' thing when we played about 30 passes around - in our own half. Then nothing happened.
That performance (managerial and on the pitch) was the absolute epitome of powderpuff.
The fact that a shot ilicited a song sums up our intent. That approach was largely successful but losing Bauer, who was immense, ended any hope of a draw. Unless some of the injured players come back for Tuesday I can't see a win coming any time soon.
Not fully feeling the post match drama to be honest. Most expected us to get dicked. Had we kept 11 men we may have got a point and everyone would be saying solid return. Win today and we would have been up to about 13th.
Things are clearly strained at the mo. Starting with just a rookie up top supported by a player not fully match fit leads you to know it's going to be a negative approach and an uphill battle.
We've big games coming up. Keeping my pallet dry to see where we are post them, but not going to go overboard on today's result, disappointing another defeat is.
Listened to the game on cafc player. Sounded like we didn't again have much luck with the ref. Surprised sarr didn't come on when Bauer was sent off for second yellow, guess he's not ready? JBGs internationals clearly drained him, good to have moussa back so cousins can play central. Was expecting worse but disappointed not to come away with a point. Badly need a bit of luck and a win
When we have 2 shots to their 20 I don't think the ref or luck has anything to do with it
Another loss. Reading one of the better teams but far from unbeatable.
The team is not great with the injuries but it is not so bad as our last 7 games of results.
We have no experience at CEO and little as manager/First team coach. I would change both but RD would only bring in another couple of no marks so little point I guess.
Interesting that at the start of the season Luzon said we would attack and go for the win every week and then this was served up today
THIS, The guy is useless & although sacking managers every 6 months is far from ideal I think my nan could do a better job than Luzon........and she's been dead for 20 years !!
Perhaps its my age , or football is changing, but 20 years ago I don't remember going away from home & only having 1 shot on target, 1 off target & 1 corner all game. We lost anyway so we might have as well gone out and attacked - esp after going 1 nil down. Reading werent all that - tidy maybe but their shooting was awful & I don't reckon they will go up this season.
we were insipid & boring. If we don't win our nest 2 games, both of which are at home, we are going down.
Remember going to Exeter 1st game of the season a few years back and the game was as bad as today on 4 hour drive home I questioned my sanity today I feel the same another wasted day I'm never getting back but tonight just feel empty and can't see a way forward with the squad we've got?
Looking forward to another interview in the local press from an out of form player/manager saying "we need to do this, we need to do that, blah blah, blah, look how honest we are"
Looking forward to another interview in the local press from an out of form player/manager saying "we need to do this, we need to do that, blah blah, blah, look how honest we are"
Well lets get rid of the interviews then... The fans will then moan and say we're being lied to blah blah blah, we get no communication... can someone throw me my toy so I can throw it back out the pram!!
Looking forward to another interview in the local press from an out of form player/manager saying "we need to do this, we need to do that, blah blah, blah, look how honest we are"
Well lets get rid of the interviews then... The fans will then moan and say we're being lied to blah blah blah, we get no communication... can someone throw me my toy so I can throw it back out the pram!!
Looking forward to another interview in the local press from an out of form player/manager saying "we need to do this, we need to do that, blah blah, blah, look how honest we are"
Well lets get rid of the interviews then... The fans will then moan and say we're being lied to blah blah blah, we get no communication... can someone throw me my toy so I can throw it back out the pram!!
Not saying that won't be the case either.
Me personally am sick of the talk.
Sadly there is no winning as too many people will want to hear comments from the club whilst the Newspapers have to fill their pages
Wellwickman As JGB was tired there was little point in starting him. Bearing in mind we held them for > 60 mins he could have been brought on at 55 thereafter running his sox off. Luzon's job is to manage meagre resources to best effect. Wasting our best creative talent for 70 mins not done JBG or GL any favours with Tuesday barely 72 hours away.
I know everyone is entitled to a life outside of work but not sure it's wise of Patrick Bauer to be posting pictures of himself on a night out at the O2 with his arms around a couple of young ladies on a day when the fans are so pissed off at a performance like that.
Wellwickman As JGB was tired there was little point in starting him. Bearing in mind we held them for > 60 mins he could have been brought on at 55 thereafter running his sox off. Luzon's job is to manage meagre resources to best effect. Wasting our best creative talent for 70 mins not done JBG or GL any favours with Tuesday barely 72 hours away.
Had Johann been left out today though the fans would have been in a mutinous mood come Tuesday before the match started, we all saw what happened when Luzon was forced to pick the squad that played Palace!!
dallas we need JJ behind the front two the no 10 roll at least he has a goal in him.
wickmanhead no 10 role only effective if a) played by a striker, & b) has pace. JJ excellent in the air but has no pace therefore anticipation. I would have him deep protecting the back 4 with Cousins alongside.
Comments
The next two are must not lose at the very least though in my view.
Have we the character?
Diarra and Baur are immense. Pope had a good game, as did Solly. Not so sure about Bergditch at LB but suspect Fox was not fit? (It didn't help that Reading didn't even announce the Charlton line up, never mind the subs!) First half Reading had a lot of space down the right as Bergditch and McAleny let their RB run rampant. Cousins and JJ worked hard as ever. However hard Kag and Moussa tried they were lacking real impact. JBG looked tired and Reading marked him out of the game.
Luzon got his subs wrong today.
Didn't really expect more than a draw but a bit disappointed.
Some fans need to grow up and watching grown men gesticulating at the team at the end is ridiculous.
Perhaps its my age , or football is changing, but 20 years ago I don't remember going away from home & only having 1 shot on target, 1 off target & 1 corner all game. We lost anyway so we might have as well gone out and attacked - esp after going 1 nil down. Reading werent all that - tidy maybe but their shooting was awful & I don't reckon they will go up this season.
we were insipid & boring. If we don't win our nest 2 games, both of which are at home, we are going down.
Things are clearly strained at the mo. Starting with just a rookie up top supported by a player not fully match fit leads you to know it's going to be a negative approach and an uphill battle.
We've big games coming up. Keeping my pallet dry to see where we are post them, but not going to go overboard on today's result, disappointing another defeat is.
It worked for an hour but JBG's injury and Bauer's red blew our chances, though it was odd Luxon went with Ba not Sarr immediately after Bauer went. No surprise we lost to a free header.
Final ten minutes was dire as others have rightly pointed out.
Very much appreciate it is ten times easier to take a pragmatic approach when you are not there.
I don't understand what people were expecting? Reading are flying and beat Boro 2-0 in their last home game. We are having a massive wobble and are missing a number of key players. Why on earth would Luzon do anything other than set us up to get a point and perhaps nick it late on?
If we'd gone there and been open and expansive we'd have been beaten out of sight with the players we had available today.
Reading had loads of shots, but the vast majority ended up in the stands behind either goal. I only remember Pope making 1 save in the first half.
If we'd have had 11 players on till the end I firmly believe we would have come away with what we went there to get - a point.
We didn't look overly troubled by what was, until we went down to 10 men, a pretty average looking Reading team. I agree that the last 10 mins weren't great, but put it into context. We worked our nuts off for the proceeding 80mins to keep tight and to stifle Reading. That was done with two players who have barely played and one who was carrying a knock from 20mins in and who was playing his 3rd game in a week. Reading played 10 men well and simply kept the ball.
I've noticed the current scapegoat (Bergdich) getting a hammering again. He did little wrong today, but people have decided he's shite and that's him potentially screwed. Why hasn't Jordan Cousins, who did nothing but give the ball away for the first half, been called out?
Plus points for me, were a busy performance from Moussa and Jackson adding some organisation. Diarra MOM by some distance. Also relieved to see that Bauer was two yellows and not the straight red I thought it was at the time.
To say we aren't trying is nonsense and to me indicates that Luzon still has the dressing room. At the moment our paper-thin squad is over stretched. We just need to ride it out and hope that Makienok, Kashi, Igor and Henderson are back sooner rather than later.
Encouraging that we are looking at free agents, hopefully if things don't improve on the injuries front we'll see some short-term deals sorted out.
At the moment I'm genuinely not worried.
You could almost feel everyone shouting "AT LEAST EFFING TRY!!"
But it was an attitude of "we have a man sent off therefore we will just hide".
Pathetic. No character and a squad destined for the drop unless some minerals are shown.
Two months without a win now.
And his short but sweet summary of this afternoon says it all for me.
Of course we didn't set the world alight ....we don't have enough fit players or a settled team to be capable of doing this.
But , for the first 70 mins, we did OK.
JJ made a huge difference in midfield & his very presence seemed to have a calming influence when the Royals threatened to out muscle and unsettle us. Young Jordan was his usual industrious self , Alou & Patrick did little wrong at the back ( although the ******ref clearly didn't agree ) and Nick coped well with any shots they had on target , which were few TBH. Row Z seemed to be their favourite target on the whole...
For the remainder of the team, I have to admit that I was surprised to see McAleny exit the tunnel after the break. The general opinion around us was that Guy would replace him with TWW, whilst pushing Moussa wide but what do we know ? The opposition appeared to target our left side where Bergdich & our Toffee loanee were somewhat lightweight, I'm afraid. But the former was as gobsmacked as those of us in the away end when the ******ref booked him for repositioning the ball as he was about to take a corner right in front of us! Unbelievable ! But only one of the many times we had reason to question the clown in the middle's parentage this afternoon. 12 men versus 11 is always going to be a clear advantage ....
But when our fecking big German had a 2nd yellow waved in his face, the disadvantage became insurmountable. And the rest is history. The Royal faithful, full of meaningless jeers in our direction all afternoon , raised the roof- possibly more in relief than anything else as we were odds on for a point until the sending off. Certainly, theirs is NOT the best team we've encountered thus far this season.
Two final points ( I wish !) from Fanny....
There was a deal of moaning from our fans during the final 10 mins or so of the game. Why didn't we go for it ? Why weren't we busting a gut to get the equaliser ? As you are all aware, I know nothing but my grey cell still functions well enough to tell me that the game was lost - end of. Our final line up was a shadow of that which started the match due to substitutions of players either out on their feet ( JJ) or not doing the business (McAleny) and as such, posed little threat and with 2 important home games over the next 7 days, we could ill afford any further injuries to our threadbare squad through ill timed tackles etc. I didn't see that final period of play as capitulation but more as common sense in the circumstances. Of course I want the lads to play their hearts out until the final whistle and give themselves every chance of gaining something from a game but today I was willing to turn a blind eye to their shortcomings towards the end. But come Tuesday evening there'll be no such generosity.
Finally, I wondered what Steve Clarke would have to say at the post match press conference. He's always struck me as an honest , straightforward kind of guy - no mind games for him - and I'll be interested in his take on the game. He'll know that his team was forced to shoot from distance and at times must have wondered if they'd score at all. He'll also be aware of the number of free kicks awarded to his team and , more contentiously , the yellow cards shown to our players. Without doubt, he'll praise his lads for their long periods of possession and in the end, for scoring the crucial goal. But I won't be surprised if his positive comments are tinged with some degree of embarrassment at the antics of some of his players in gaining numerous soft free kicks and at the generosity of the blinkered *******ref. Just my opinion of course.
I AM concerned about the way this season is starting to falter and, more pertinently, with the small, injury prone squad we have currently. As to turning our fortunes around, apart from continuing to give as much support as we can from the sidelines, it's in the hands of our owner, our manager and our players themselves. Our next 2 games before the trip to Boro' are crucial as we are well aware. Let's hope that they provide a springboard for the rest of the season & that with hard work & dedication we slowly, but surely claw our way up the league.
Keep the faith.
Truly awful. Guy Luzon lost us that match the moment he thought it would be a good idea to play KAG up front on his own. To play that lone front role you have to be strong or have some pace, and KAG doesn't really have either. And no I'm not trying to dig him out here, this is aimed solely at the manager and his awful tactics.
We were never going to score, even with 11 men and a 0-0 draw was the absolute best we could have hoped for.
The most excitement to be had was when we did the whole 'ole' thing when we played about 30 passes around - in our own half. Then nothing happened.
That performance (managerial and on the pitch) was the absolute epitome of powderpuff.
The team is not great with the injuries but it is not so bad as our last 7 games of results.
We have no experience at CEO and little as manager/First team coach. I would change both but RD would only bring in another couple of no marks so little point I guess.
Me personally am sick of the talk.
As JGB was tired there was little point in starting him. Bearing in mind we held them for > 60 mins he could have been brought on at 55 thereafter running his sox off.
Luzon's job is to manage meagre resources to best effect. Wasting our best creative talent for 70 mins not done JBG or GL any favours with Tuesday barely 72 hours away.
we need JJ behind the front two the no 10 roll at least he has a goal in him.
wickmanhead
no 10 role only effective if a) played by a striker, & b) has pace.
JJ excellent in the air but has no pace therefore anticipation.
I would have him deep protecting the back 4 with Cousins alongside.