Sent Off From The Bench

Paul Clement's first game in charge saw Reading's first win in 10 games. However the performance still left something to be desired.  Sone Aluko finally seems to be showing why Reading shelled out for him. He was instrumental in the last home game against Leeds, and he can add a terrific long range strike to his haul. Leeds doubled up on Aluko, but QPR had no such worries which seems like an error. He managed to turn Bidwell easily before cutting inside and hitting The Top Corner ™. At the other end there were real problems - and it was luck more than skill that QPR didn't manage to capitalise. Mannone - who was obviously the hero at the end - looked poor for the majority. Weak punches and flapping at the ball made the decision to drop Jaakkola seem harsh. He also managed to slip up and almost present a goal to QPR - although he can hardly be blamed for the surface. Ilori and Blackett also had heart-in-mouth moments. Ilori basically passed a cross straight to Wszolek,...

The decision to sack Stam seems obvious, in many ways. Our terrible run is well documented, and you only have to look at the table to understand that we haven't been good enough this season. There is, however, a lingering doubt in my mind about whether it was the correct decision. You only have to look at the players to know that the Dutchman was almost universally loved and admired. As I mentioned back in September - Stam was the heart of this team. Players who wouldn't have had a second look at Reading suddenly found themselves donning blue and white hoops. I'm certain that defensive additions wanted to learn from a world class centre-back, and the motivations for the Dutch contingent seem obvious. I would love to be wrong, but I can see this causing a further dip in form where the players have lost morale. Yes they 'should be professional', but sometimes life isn't that simple. A change of management can be tumultuous in any occupation. The style wasn...

After a dismal opening to the season there are signs that Reading are improving, even in a 2-0 loss to league leaders Wolves. Reading started strongly, as Ruddy in the Wolverhampton goal didn't. A fairly straightforward long range shot from Swift could only be tipped onto the post, before Barrow closed down a poor attempted clearance by the keeper - and the ricochet almost found the net. Against the run of play the midlanders took the lead. Frankly, letting a player clean through with a back three is disappointing. Tiago Ilori had, loosely, tracked the run of Cavaleiro but made a ridiculous decision to step up and allow his fellow countryman clean through. Manone went down early and made it easier, but in truth it was a foregone conclusion. Ilori then made almost the exact same mistake. Letting Cavaleiro in behind, and he was lucky he didn't make contact with the striker because it would have been event worse. It wasn't surprising then to see Ilori make way after h...

A first win in eight as Reading beat a surprisingly dull Leeds side. In many ways the story was not so different to matches within our winless run, but thankfully we came up against a far more profligate outfit. Much like against Norwich the first half was excellent. There was much more cohesion going forward, although there weren't many chances. The best coming from Aluko, who forced a good save down low to the keeper's right. It must be said, at times Leeds made Beerens seem like Messi, but the final ball was often lacking. Perhaps surprisingly with only four at the back, Reading excelled defensively. The most complete performance at the back that I have seen in quite a while - Leeds basically didn't have a sniff. There were a couple of chances that they managed to get behind, but Ilori and Bacuna managed to get back and make the tackle. Bacuna was particularly impressive all game, after half time there was a chance where three Leeds players were bearing down on Manon...

September was not a particularly good month for Reading Football Club. Two points from fifteen see us (quote, unquote) languishing toward the wrong end of the Championship. Poor football has exacerbated the fans' annoyance, but are things really as bad as they seem? Played five, drawn two, lost three. It sounds bad, but when you consider the goal difference over those five matches is only -3 (or the same as our loss away to Brentford last year) it's clear that we're much closer than our points haul makes out. We're not shipping goals in blow out losses like last season. Instead all our problems are at the other end. Four goals in the same period is a serious issue, and thus we come to the start of our bad run - game one, Bristol City at home. Now this, unequivocally, was a game that we should have won. Bodvarsson allowed the critics in with a fairly substandard performance that allowed ex-Swindon centre back Aden Flint to win it late on. Bristol went into the intern...

29 May 2017, 17:49 - Liam Kelly hammers a penalty into the roof of the net in front of the Huddersfield end of Wembley to put Reading 3-1 up, and on the verge of the Premier League. Stam's side had been brushed off as promotion contenders for most of the year, but after a third place finish - made all the more remarkable by three successive managerial failures, and finishes of 17th and 19th in the two previous seasons - it seemed they would, like John Cena, overcome the odds once more to reach the promised land. Of course, it wasn't to work out like that, but Stam instilled a new feeling of genuine hope that hadn't been at the Madejski since, arguably, McDermott guided the team to the Championship title half a decade prior. Just four months down the line and there are some calling for his head. Of the team that started the final Williams and Al Habsi have left, Swift and Kermorgant injured, and Grabban's loan expired. Then Obita, an integral part of the squad la...

Back to Earth with a bit of a bump, a 4-1 loss to Brentford signalling the end of eight games unbeaten. Although disappointing, I'll definitely take more 4-1 losses if they sandwich runs of eight games without loss. To be honest, and this may sound ridiculous given the scoreline, I didn't think we played that much worse than against Huddersfield, but Brentford's parity in terms of numbers, combined with the ability to actually punish mistakes. It didn't really start well when within thirty seconds Liam Moore had already punted the ball downfield, and Reading never really managed to get hold of it again in the first half, culminating in two late goals. The first was a fairly nice flowing Brentford move, where the home side's continual man over eventually paid dividends. However, Obita constantly let his man inside of him which gave the opportunity to begin with. He consistently tries to read the pass into the feet of the man on the outside, which allows the ball...