Sent Off From The Bench

New manager, new Reading. Right? Wrong. The same frailties were further emphasised by Watford's loss of a man in first half stoppage time, with Reading still unable find a goal at home. The Royals now haven't scored at home in a month and a half since Simon Cox's goal just after the hour mark against Rotherham. Games against Charlton, Watford, and Bolton have only produced two goals in total, with Reading scoring neither. Not being able to make games I've been relying on reports from family, and based off those it seems like business as usual at the Madejski. Obita being pushed back to left back, with Blackman coming in in front of him was exactly what I've been calling for, and in the first minute it almost proved fruitful, with a delicious cross from Blackman being volleyed over by Murray at the back post. With the good coming down the left it's hard to see why so much of our focus was down the right. Gunter, admittedly freed up without the captaincy,...

After the dismissal of Brian McDermott in March 2013 the obvious candidate was Nigel Adkins, who had been fired in his own slightly outrageous circumstances from Southampton but a couple of months earlier. He faced an impossible task saving us from relegation back to the Championship, but over the summer the rebuilding started for his first, and only full season in charge. Undoubtedly promises made to him by Zingarevich never materialised, and glamour signing Royston Drenthe hinted at the manager not being the one completely in charge. Equally the loss of club talisman Jimmy Kébé just days after a 6-0 hammering in the League Cup away at Peterborough wasn't the start anybody wanted. Despite the setbacks Reading mounted a spirited play-off challenge, but failed to get over the line missing out on the final day of the season with scenes that we'd all rather forget. The hangover from last season never really lifted, with attendances down and, again, having key members of t...

Should preface this with the fact I wasn't actually at the game Going into the game Cardiff had won four on the bounce at home, so a loss was to be expected but it was the manner of the defeat that is disappointing for Reading fans. Alex Pearce putting the ball in the wrong net - again - before dragging Le Fondre back for a penalty, an incident he as sent off for after the referee finally found a red card to show him. Yet again defensive lapses cost The Royals in a game they dominated for large periods. The first half saw Reading have 61% possession, and still went in 2-0 down thanks to Pearce. Worse still is that Cardiff were woeful , winning a measly 55% of challenges and hitting wayward passes a third of the time. Pearce's sending off saw Obita drop to LB, with Gunter moving into the middle. Cox came off for McCleary, and in the one positive he looked good despite being out for 6 months. One of our better chances came when he ran at the defense and played the ba...

Despite good wins over Rotherham and Blackpool Saturday afternoon's loss to Charlton Athetlic means that The Royals have only picked up 8 points from a possible 33, and only won twice in the last 11. The latest result comes despite Reading having 61% possession, twenty shots, and all twelve corners in a game which they dominated but rarely threatened - as the fact that only two of those twenty shots hit the target illustrates perfectly. The game started well for the home side, Murray nodding a cross from the right just over the bar. His link up play with Mackie and Cox was one of the positive points, although as the stats show it never led to much. Part of this was down to overplaying, ' the trouble with Arsenal is... ' style. Nobody seemed to want to shoot from the edge of the area, and thus Charlton could easily regroup and frustrate us. Obita's crossing didn't help much, almost every ball in from the left was easily dealt with. In fact, if you want a cas...

[Hopeful] Prediction: 2-1 Reading are not on a good run, that's obvious to everyone. Winless in 6 with only four goals to show for it, and goalless in four of the games. Pressure is quite clearly on, with the early season done and dusted it's placed Reading 17th in a league that many fans would have expected to do better in, irrespective of injuries. Some selections have been peculiar, especially away at Brentford, but there's also been good teams - Derby, Bournemouth, and Sheffield Wednesday will all be pushing for, at least, the play-offs this year. That's why the next three fixtures are crucial. A broken Blackpool travel to the Madejski in a game that should be a simple win for The Royals, but stranger things have happened. 1 away win in 22, The Tangerines were utterly dominated in a 5-1 thrashing in January that saw Adam Le Fondre bag his second hat-trick in as many home games. However the 'Opposition View' on The Tilehurst End seems to think that P...

Pre-Match Prediction: 0-3 After having seen Reading been dominated by Derby away at Pride Park in the cup it was obvious that Derby were going to be tough opposition in the league, especially with key players still out of the Reading squad. As the line-ups were announced it became clear just how many ex-Forest players we have; Cox, Gunter, and Mackie all set off the away end. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember a lot of the game as I’m clearly very late putting up this report but here's a breakdown of the goals and the one thing I do remember: Obita being caught out on the Derby counte r: Rather than being on the half way line for attacking corners Obita would stand just in front of the attacker and, presumably try to stop the ball before it got to him. This never worked. Every single time all that happened was that Obita was bypassed and the attacker had a one-on-one with whoever was on the halfway line – normally Gunter if I’m right. Obviously Gunter’s incredibly competent, b...

Reading will feel suitably robbed in a match where Sheffield Wednesday managed aboslutely nothing of note. Glenn Murray's missed penalty proved crucial, and a couple of good stops from Wednesday's man between the sticks, Keiren Westwood kept Wednesday in the game. The game started slowly, and quickly Mikkel Andersen - in for the injured Adam Federici - took his first touch in a Reading shirt, seven years after joining the club. Pearce was fairly lucky to not give away a penalty himself, blatantly pulling shirts from a corner. Luckily the referee - who had a poor game - didn't take action. Down the other end however he was more active; Murray broke through and was felled in the box. The perpetrator received a yellow for his troubles, and may be lucky to have remained on the field considering the nature of the foul. Unfortunately Murray's penalty - while well struck - was straight off the legs of the keeper, and cannoned out. Although a lot of the Akpan scapegoat...