20-08-2015, 12:16
IMPOTENT BUT STILL PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE, IF WE REMAIN PATIENT
Patience is something we should have in abundance at S6 but some fans appeared to have none last night. From the fans calling for players to hump it after five minutes, booing players that retained possession by passing sideways through to two Wednesday fans fighting in the North Stand at the final whistle.
The game was poor but it was light years ahead of the dirge we produced last season. Sure, little worked but you could at least see that we were playing to a sensible plan & trying to do the right thing. Several of our key players played well below par but that will happen as we try to adapt to a new formation, a new playing style and largely a new team.
In many ways the team performed like their surroundings. The giant screen was a bright beacon shining across a pristine playing surface but the new plasma screens in the North Stand weren't working. It turned out that the match would be pretty much the same.
The early talking point was Reading's lilac kit with a couple of players having boots to match.
We started brightly with Wallace & Hunt prominent on the right. Very little went down the left & Joao became increasingly isolated up front. Lopez & McGugan had little influence on proceedings and Matias struggled to get involved at all. The first half was pretty much jostling for position but neither side threw any kind of punch in anger.
Reading should have scored when Price fumbled a shot but the rebound was hit over. Danny Williams (23) was by far the most outstanding player on the pitch so it was probably no surprise when he put Reading ahead. Wiggins made it easy for him by going to ground and I can't help thinking that a fit Westwood would have stopped his fierce shot.
Sasso seemed to be a more than adequate replacement for Loovens but we lacked any sort of penetration until Sougou replaced McGugan. Sougou offered more life and we immediately had a few minutes pressure before a Reading injury took the sting out of things.
Reading seemed to be coping comfortably as we tried to attack more down the left through Wiggins with Hunt & Wallace fading from the game. For all our possession, we hardly produced a worthwhile chance until the Reading keeper, Bond, fumbled a routine Wiggins cross and Sougou proficiently poked it home just as the stoppage time was being announced.
Price - 5 - had little to do but looked shaky
Hunt - 6 - bright opening but faded
Lees - 6 - not much to do but lacked urgency
Loovens - 5 - never really at the pace of the match
Wiggins - 5 - led a merry dance by Williams and partly at fault for goal
Hutchinson - 6 - brightest of the midfield and always offered a passing option
Lopez - 5 - struggled to get into the game
McGugan - 4 - no influence, same as Saturday
Wallace - 6 - bright start but faded
Joao - 5 - isolated, again bullied by big defenders
Matias - 4 - never got involved
..................................................................
Sasso - 6 - slotted in comfortably
Sougou - 7 - great impact substitution, pace, power & scored equaliser
Bus
It wasn't a great performance (far from it) but there was a lot that we could take from the game as promise for the future. We managed to get a point from a match where none of our key players were firing and we showed commendable spirit to keep going on the pitch when many fans had given up. The low crowd for a match with cheap tickets knocked the argument of those complaining about high ticket prices for the Bristol City match.
I have heard that some thought we didn't deserve a point. Maybe but Reading weren't any better (other than doing their homework and keeping our dangerous players quiet) - two decent chances to our one. I thought a draw was about fair. We played better on Saturday & lost.
We have to accept that there will be a fair few days like this in the first half of the season and that there is a job for the fans to support the team & not give up on them like many did last night. Thankfully there were still about 17,000 there to support the team at the death. I expect that we will improve as the season goes on & we may hand out a severe beating or two when we fire collectively.
Joao needs to be treated more gently and will surely be more effective coming on after an hour against tiring defenders than chasing for 90 minutes and being knocked about. CC needs to research how Wilko gradually introduced Hirsty into the first team & do the same with Joao.
Sougou is another game changer who can do a great job from the bench, who if handled sympathetically could be a big player for us in the second half of the season.
Hopefully Hutchinson has come through the game unscathed because we will need him against Leeds on Saturday. I liked the way that he dropped deep to pick up the ball, allowing the FBs to play as wing backs, effectively making us 352 in possession. It didn't work last night but it will work on other days.
Whilst the match was disappointing & the result "so so," I still believe that we are moving forward and will not be a million miles away from a Playoff spot by the end of the season.
Patience is something we should have in abundance at S6 but some fans appeared to have none last night. From the fans calling for players to hump it after five minutes, booing players that retained possession by passing sideways through to two Wednesday fans fighting in the North Stand at the final whistle.
The game was poor but it was light years ahead of the dirge we produced last season. Sure, little worked but you could at least see that we were playing to a sensible plan & trying to do the right thing. Several of our key players played well below par but that will happen as we try to adapt to a new formation, a new playing style and largely a new team.
In many ways the team performed like their surroundings. The giant screen was a bright beacon shining across a pristine playing surface but the new plasma screens in the North Stand weren't working. It turned out that the match would be pretty much the same.
The early talking point was Reading's lilac kit with a couple of players having boots to match.
We started brightly with Wallace & Hunt prominent on the right. Very little went down the left & Joao became increasingly isolated up front. Lopez & McGugan had little influence on proceedings and Matias struggled to get involved at all. The first half was pretty much jostling for position but neither side threw any kind of punch in anger.
Reading should have scored when Price fumbled a shot but the rebound was hit over. Danny Williams (23) was by far the most outstanding player on the pitch so it was probably no surprise when he put Reading ahead. Wiggins made it easy for him by going to ground and I can't help thinking that a fit Westwood would have stopped his fierce shot.
Sasso seemed to be a more than adequate replacement for Loovens but we lacked any sort of penetration until Sougou replaced McGugan. Sougou offered more life and we immediately had a few minutes pressure before a Reading injury took the sting out of things.
Reading seemed to be coping comfortably as we tried to attack more down the left through Wiggins with Hunt & Wallace fading from the game. For all our possession, we hardly produced a worthwhile chance until the Reading keeper, Bond, fumbled a routine Wiggins cross and Sougou proficiently poked it home just as the stoppage time was being announced.
Price - 5 - had little to do but looked shaky
Hunt - 6 - bright opening but faded
Lees - 6 - not much to do but lacked urgency
Loovens - 5 - never really at the pace of the match
Wiggins - 5 - led a merry dance by Williams and partly at fault for goal
Hutchinson - 6 - brightest of the midfield and always offered a passing option
Lopez - 5 - struggled to get into the game
McGugan - 4 - no influence, same as Saturday
Wallace - 6 - bright start but faded
Joao - 5 - isolated, again bullied by big defenders
Matias - 4 - never got involved
..................................................................
Sasso - 6 - slotted in comfortably
Sougou - 7 - great impact substitution, pace, power & scored equaliser
Bus
It wasn't a great performance (far from it) but there was a lot that we could take from the game as promise for the future. We managed to get a point from a match where none of our key players were firing and we showed commendable spirit to keep going on the pitch when many fans had given up. The low crowd for a match with cheap tickets knocked the argument of those complaining about high ticket prices for the Bristol City match.
I have heard that some thought we didn't deserve a point. Maybe but Reading weren't any better (other than doing their homework and keeping our dangerous players quiet) - two decent chances to our one. I thought a draw was about fair. We played better on Saturday & lost.
We have to accept that there will be a fair few days like this in the first half of the season and that there is a job for the fans to support the team & not give up on them like many did last night. Thankfully there were still about 17,000 there to support the team at the death. I expect that we will improve as the season goes on & we may hand out a severe beating or two when we fire collectively.
Joao needs to be treated more gently and will surely be more effective coming on after an hour against tiring defenders than chasing for 90 minutes and being knocked about. CC needs to research how Wilko gradually introduced Hirsty into the first team & do the same with Joao.
Sougou is another game changer who can do a great job from the bench, who if handled sympathetically could be a big player for us in the second half of the season.
Hopefully Hutchinson has come through the game unscathed because we will need him against Leeds on Saturday. I liked the way that he dropped deep to pick up the ball, allowing the FBs to play as wing backs, effectively making us 352 in possession. It didn't work last night but it will work on other days.
Whilst the match was disappointing & the result "so so," I still believe that we are moving forward and will not be a million miles away from a Playoff spot by the end of the season.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.