Sent Off From The Bench

I don't think I've ever been as heartbroken about a player leaving as Nick Blackman. Sure, we've sold key players before - Gylfi, Shane, Kevin to name but three - but those players have, on the whole, moved out of the division and progressed their careers rather than go to serial-bottlers Derby. To make things worse, Blackman will make his league debut for Derby against us assuming he plays. Perhaps my disappointment stems from the fact that I can, rather smugly, say "I was right." Almost nobody had faith after his, admittedly poor, first couple of seasons but I stayed resolute. I am firmly of the opinion that, had he been managed better, he would have shown this sort of form far earlier in his Reading career. @TheTilehurstEnd @WilliamOwain if Blackman fulfils his potential he'll blow Kebe out the water, & HRK can be solid. Still, atm Id take Kebe! — Matthew Williamson (@Photomattic) June 24, 2015 You should see a couple of the replies to t

Three wins in the last fourteen games would suggest that Reading aren't playing at their best, and Steve Clarke paid the price after a lacklustre 1-0 defeat to Queen's Park Rangers. Brian McDermott came in, and has had a less than perfect start. A Danny Williams screamer beat Blackburn, and scraping past Bristol City bookended defeats to Wolves and Brentford. This, somehow, comes from a team that has a rather respectable record against the top 6: P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 F 11 A 6 GD +5 Bearing in mind that both defeats saw The Royals finish with fewer men than they started the matches with. That is quite remarkable, and it backs up my belief that this team should be easily good enough to finish within the play-off positions, if not better. However, at the moment, the team is clearly not living up to its potential. Why? Michael Hector Our Chelsea loanee has the worst footballing brain I've ever had the displeasure of seeing in a footballer. Constantly losing hi