Where do I start? Pre Match Going into the game I felt very confident and I should have been. Reading are a newly promoted side in the bottom 3, have not spent anything on players and basically have a championship team at best. They got âtonkedâ at home to Arsenal reserves after being 4-0 up and I canât think of a slower team. However putting all that aside I bumped into my football mate who was at the Reading/Fulham game and asked him what he thought? He told me that âReading are the worse side he has seen and will get relegatedâ. With all this and our recent game at Arsenal I expected 3 points? How wrong I was. Match The first half was woeful and Reading fully deserved the lead (especially with great saves from McCarthy). Within 5 minutes I knew something was not right. Reading did their best to play long ball and ârough itâ and tbh I expected nothing else as they donât have the players to pass the ball. However what got me was us trying to play âtheir wayâ instead of walking around them. Our players looked lethargic and were not making enough runs or making decent space. How we can change so much in a week is beyond me? The crowd were flat and it was the worst atmosphere at Rangers for a long time. Maybe it was because it was Sunday or that the team were crap, I donât know. The Reading fans did their bit on occasions but were also a bit flat. Maybe it was to do with the fact that only a few that turned up? Next time we should offer them 170 tickets instead of 1700? It was a bit ironic that they sang the song âwe all follow the Reading over land and seaâ yet they canât travel 30 miles to London? Funny lot of fans I must say. The second half was much better and credit should go to Adel (who was class) Diakite and Traore. Zamora is a waste of space who cannot jump or win a header. Why did Helguson go? Some of our passing was great or was that because Reading were so bad? They booâs at the final whistle should tell both MH and TF that something is not right. Did I think we should have won? Yes I do. Did I think that they could have scored from just about every corner, set piece? Yes I did. Aftermath On the train home I was depressed, annoyed, upset and couldnât work out how we didnât win that game? Just my luck two Reading fans sat opposite and were discussing how well they played and that how in January the Russian owner is going to âsplash the cashâ and they can beat the likes of QPR and the bottom teams? I didnât have the heart to tell them they are deluded and will be playing Bristol City and Hull next year because that could be us also? The thing I learnt today is that it was a better result for them than us and is Gorkss going to score past us every time we play them?
It was desperate, but has been for weeks. As soon as the ball comes near our goal we look like conceding. Gelling?!!!! We just look like we are getting more and more ungelled every week. Tony F please open your eyes and change this.
Thanks for the update ellers. TFs stubbornness is giving me the sh**s and I'm tempted to devote the rest of the year to break him.
Crap game, not relishing a trip to old trafford at this rate. We are so one dimensional. Stayed after the game to get some photos with my son and a few of the players, SWP is a really nice bloke Bosingwa is a rude twat. Junior is a good laugh
I couldn't go to our home game at Reading but I thought they were one of the worst sides I've seen. They scored twice, one to a freak goal against run of play and a howler from Cech but all the hysteria around one offside goal overshadowed how defensively inept they were. Today they seemingly put in one of their best performances of the season and escaped with a draw. No disrespect to them but I'm more certain Reading will go down than I am tomorrow will be Tuesday. Things don't appear to be good for you guys know but the only thing I can say to you is that others around you are no better. Everybody from Norwich downwards is in the mix. Villa will get nothing from their next 3 games. Sunderland will most definitely lose their next 2 if not all 3. The only teams I can see climbing the table from now to December are Southampton and Stoke. The rest are going nowhere so it's way in your hands
Fair play to you for coming on here with those encouraging words District. Are you sure you're a Chelsea fan???
agree Ellers i shuddered every time a corner or free kick came over as they looked like scoring & for some reason we have trouble defending them, but when we have corners or free kicks we don't look like penetrating them, when was the last time we scored from a corner?
Totally agree Ellers. I managed to make it to my first game of the season and was so disappointed. I was disappointed with the atmosphere in the stadium...I was sitting near my old season ticket in the upper loft, but it just wasn't rocking in the same way I remember, but I guess that is to be expected given our position. I was also disappointed with the effort from the team...there just didn't seem to be the same desperation to find space, to make the runs and work off the ball. My only positive from the day is that I left saying to my Dad and brother that in Nelson, I think we have a solid captain. I watched him a lot and he was always shouting encouragement or instruction and was vigilant throughout. Quite a change from our last captain. I said to my brother at half time that for me the second half would say a lot about how the manager was doing. We obviously pushed, and were the most likely to score, but the team didn't respond to what Hughes said at half time, or they are simply not good enough. Fault for both of these problems must lie with the manager. That said, it seems harsh to blame Hughes for the chances that were missed. As for a depressing train ride home, try watching what we all watched, then sitting on a train back to Paris...a VERY depressing journey.
Best thing about threads like this is the first person individual experiences. Well written OP Ellers. Interesting read. Keep 'em coming. Cheersh mate!!
With the greatest of respect, Reading always start badly, and always turn it around - they won't go down without a fight, that's for sure, but I myself did say that if they start this season poorly, they'll still get relegated. They have done. Also, to pick up on your point that everyone from Norwich down will be in the mix - I agree, but I actually think that, with the exception of Liverpool (unless they lose Suarez), everyone from Swansea (who are no better than anybody else) down will be fighting relegation this season. Also, and I hope people on here take this the right way, West Ham were comfortably worse than QPR when they came to Carrow Road so I wouldn't rule them out yet. It's a marathon, not a sprint etc. etc. guys. If you sack Hughes and get in Redknapp (which has to be a possibility) I think you'll be fine.
Christ it must be bad, Chelsea and Norwich fans on our board, feeling our pain and in some ways empathising with us, (fair play guys).
Dave i pop over to Paris a bit for work. So next time i will let you know and maybe meet for a beer and discuss the Rangers.