I just checked and Mauricio is the 74th longest serving manager out of the 92 clubs. That's craaaazy.
This is at least intelligible, so I'll answer you We have performed poorly in some games, and not got results we should have. But Reading are as bad as any of those teams and how many times do you expect lightning to strike? It's not impossible for Reading to win, but I would rate their chances as slim. I think that's entirely justifiable.
Too many people getting carried away with our recent form. We're only 4 points above the relegation zone for a reason.
I'm by no means getting carried away with anything, but our recent form (12 points from 9 games since MP took over) is mid-table form. Our form for the first half of the season is why we are only 4 points above the relegation zone.
My gut says we won't win; they've lost their last six or so and are due a draw, at least. Then again, they are very bad and one of the criticisms with Adkins was that he went for games too much with us and left us very open. Saying that, I don't think we'll have to worry about having to break them down and should score a few, but I doubt we'll keep a clean sheet. Head: 2-2. Heart: 3-1.
Referee - Mr Mike Jones Assistant - Mr Peter Kirkup Assistant - Mr Stuart Burt 4th Official - Mr Phil Dowd Original post now updated too.
Might have a punt on jay rod fgs and shaw anytime. Surprised how short the odds are for us considering the occasion but we are playing the better football and the bookies are always right!
Mike Jones is fine with me. Rather have Jon Moss though - we have a 100% win record with him in the middle.
Reading when Jones has refereed: 2 wins - 6 draws - 0 losses Saints when Jones has refereed: 0 wins - 2 draws - 6 losses So, if you're one for omens....
Our form has coincided with Villa's and Wigans which is why we haven't been able to pull away as much as we would have liked. Our form is slightly better than the other two and we had a bit of a headstart in terms of points on the board before our good runs. Reading are in terrible form so I think it should be a straightforward win for us, however there is always the Saints factor which can screw it everything up. However I think we can finish as high as 10th and this should be our aim.
Adkins' style of football will suit us much more than McDermott's. Nigel won't sit back at home and he'll try and play football. Reading's defenders don't appear to be very good at coping under pressure from attackers. We could run riot if we get an early goal. I predict Reading 1-3 Saints.
We had 65% possession against them in the first game http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/615067/Live Similar in possession and chances for both teams to the 2-1 defeat against QPR http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/615208/Live QPR didn't seem willing to park the bus at Home which meant we had space and won comfortably 3-1. When they came to us they parked the bus which frustrated us. I expect Adkins isn't going to want to play too defensive at home either. That'll give us more space and more clear cut chances than the first meeting. I'll go for a 3-1 win to Saints.
Tough one. Adkins will know our flaws and is clever enough to exploit them. On the other hand, he may not have the talent to carry out his plans or even if he does he may not be familiar enough with the team to implement the right move. Also, I think it's too early for Reading to have bought into Adkins' positive mojo style especially given their loss to Arsenal and what looks like near certain relegation. I think we should win, but it may not be easy. Scoring early is a cliche but in this case I think it's true. Go up early and it'll ease the NA-awkwardness, fill the side with confidence, and Reading probably just don't have the fight in them (I don't blame them). If Reading go up early, we can still win but I think that's where NA can really use his understanding of our side to his advantage. I'm pretty cautious by nature, but if we do win I will finally feel somewhat comfortable about us staying up. Not just because of the points, but also because beating bad teams is supposedly our last remaining bugaboo. And I just feel like the whole squad will be relaxed and confident and we'll have all the kinks ironed out so we'll play better the remainder of the season so I don't have to worry about if 37 points or 40 points will be enough. We'll get more than that.
