BFTG - Brum

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Oh, I forgot-the ref.
Hooper is dreadful but at least he gave us a penalty, however he bottled sending off the Birmingham fair-haired defender who had already been booked.

IIRC he hasn't sent anybody off this season which must mean that he is not following the rules (laws?) correctly and I don't think he is now doing so many Prem. games.

I found it hilarious (afterwards of course) that he gave Birmingham a corner when Gardner's shot from about 22 yards bobbled wide of the goal when nobody touched it. I think he thought Hein turned it around the corner when, in truth, he wasn't even close to it.

[NathStPaul]

If you take the likes of Lewis-Potter out of Hull's side, Hernandez and Bela out of Birmingham's side and Weimann out of Bristol City's side they'd be relegation candidates for sure.

I thought Holmes did pretty well yesterday, wasn't always steady, a couple of nervy moments but overall he wasn't bad.

What I would say is we were pretty poor from the restart in the 2nd half and we didn't get going nearly as quickly as we should have, Birmingham really could have taken advantage at that point in the game. They also had a good spell from the 20th minute until about the 35th. Of course teams will have spells in the game, but they were building some real momentum at that point.

Hernandez stuck out like a sore thumb in the first half, ripped us to pieces early on. Fortunately he ran out of steam quite badly in the 2nd half.

[Zip]

Once he stops making really bad mistakes like he did with the Birmingham goal last night I'm sure he will stop being a target. You can't just ignore the fact he cocked up massively because we won the game.

He needs to be cut some slack - being pounced on left right and centre - this is after being in the team that has collected 7 points from 9 when the the last time that happened was 25 September 2021!!

He got done when that phase of play was just a mess contributed by that mong of a fan....

He also made saves where no-one would of moaned if they actually had gone in.

All of the above is true but you also have to call what you see. It isn't good enough to throw out phrases such as "Hein is shit" or "not good enough" like some are because we just don't know that yet. It also isn't right that mistakes are ignored because we won a game or are on a good run, it can't be glossed over that he is very flappy on crosses and high balls into the box. I'm sure he is disappointed with the goal he let in so I don't think it is an issue for anyone to point out he should have done better, he will know that more than anyone.

He hasn't cost us a game yet, he has made saves which are both positives. I hope Paul Ince brings in a keeper coach who has experience of working with young keepers and can improve the distribution and crosses.

I don’t think anyone is calling Hein shit. He certainly isn’t another Virginia and is a good shot stopper but he has two big weaknesses. He flaps at crosses and his distribution is awful.

He is not better than Southwood who himself is still developing as a keeper.
He doesn’t fill me with any confidence.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Thought Hein did alright last night, but I also don't see him as any better than Southwood

[Zip]

Forgot how much of a bellend Lyle Taylor is. Thought in the first half we did well to keep very close to him, especially Holmes. Could see he was getting more and more frustrated.

Giving the shush to C1871 while losing was a lol moment for sure.

He really is a cock.

[Hendo]

Oh, I forgot-the ref.
Hooper is dreadful but at least he gave us a penalty, however he bottled sending off the Birmingham fair-haired defender who had already been booked.

IIRC he hasn't sent anybody off this season which must mean that he is not following the rules (laws?) correctly and I don't think he is now doing so many Prem. games.

I found it hilarious (afterwards of course) that he gave Birmingham a corner when Gardner's shot from about 22 yards bobbled wide of the goal when nobody touched it. I think he thought Hein turned it around the corner when, in truth, he wasn't even close to it.

Also gave us a throw on the East Stand side when it was 100% never our throw-in.

Agree he bottled sending their number 3 off, who I thought was absolute garbage anyway.

[NathStPaul]

Not going to slag off Lyle Taylor too much. He is exactly the sort of player we will try and sign this summer.

[Hendo]

Forgot how much of a bellend Lyle Taylor is. Thought in the first half we did well to keep very close to him, especially Holmes. Could see he was getting more and more frustrated.

Giving the shush to C1871 while losing was a lol moment for sure.

He really is a cock.

Don't know whether he is like that to other teams, but seems to have been that way towards us since his Charlton days. I wonder why he has such a chip on his shoulder about us.

[Zip]

Oh, I forgot-the ref.
Hooper is dreadful but at least he gave us a penalty, however he bottled sending off the Birmingham fair-haired defender who had already been booked.

IIRC he hasn't sent anybody off this season which must mean that he is not following the rules (laws?) correctly and I don't think he is now doing so many Prem. games.

I found it hilarious (afterwards of course) that he gave Birmingham a corner when Gardner's shot from about 22 yards bobbled wide of the goal when nobody touched it. I think he thought Hein turned it around the corner when, in truth, he wasn't even close to it.

Also gave us a throw on the East Stand side when it was 100% never our throw-in.

Agree he bottled sending their number 3 off, who I thought was absolute garbage anyway.

Yep that throw in was amusing, It clearly came off Rino.

[Zip]

Forgot how much of a bellend Lyle Taylor is. Thought in the first half we did well to keep very close to him, especially Holmes. Could see he was getting more and more frustrated.

Giving the shush to C1871 while losing was a lol moment for sure.

He really is a cock.

Don't know whether he is like that to other teams, but seems to have been that way towards us since his Charlton days. I wonder why he has such a chip on his shoulder about us.

Not sure he is the smartest. The BLM is a Marxist organisation etc suggests he doesn’t see the wider picture.

[CountryRoyal]

Well I mostly really enjoyed that. I think Ince’s interview was spot on. It wasn’t vintage and we did ride our luck at times but you could see the marked difference already (no surprise, new manager bounce etc). We played some nice stuff at times and we’re clearly working much harder in defence. Even when we conceded we looked like we had more about us and I was fairly confident we would hold on.

That being said, defeat was harsh on Brum who carved out some really good chances. It’s not going to happen over night but it’s a really good start and no loss in 3, 2 wins on the bounce and 8 pts clear it’s starting to look promising.

I thought the fans were excellent although pissing about with the ball before their goal was just so tinpot Reading. Other clubs do that and it winds us up but it wastes time and they get away with it, we do it and fcuk it up the oppo score and we have egg on our face. That being said, surely the goal shouldn’t have stood because there were 2 balls on the pitch? Don’t particularly blame Hein, it was a fairy distracting period and I thought overall was decent.

Highlight of the night was “he’s got bird shit on his head”. Lyle Taylor is such a pcunt.

[Hound]

I’d hope by the game after Blackpool, no midweek game next week - we’d have at least 2 of Ejaria, Dann, Azeez, Halilovic or Laurent back

Can't say I really want Ejaria back tbh, not sure he will be what Paul Ince will want in his team. Has a lot of talent but I don't think he puts enough of a shift in. Can see him being sulky on the bench too. Definitely one to sell in the summer imo.

We need to start thinking about moving forward and having more pace...which we have missed. Hoilett, Meite and Ince give us that pace. Sadly Ejaria is slow and although good around the box he doesn't offer enough.

I’m not sure that’s true. He isn’t particularly slow and isn’t that great round the box as the stats show

What he can do is hold the ball up - severely lacking last night, and he is perfectly capable of being disciplined defensively- so yes I’d happily have him back in the squad

[Zip]

Can't say I really want Ejaria back tbh, not sure he will be what Paul Ince will want in his team. Has a lot of talent but I don't think he puts enough of a shift in. Can see him being sulky on the bench too. Definitely one to sell in the summer imo.

We need to start thinking about moving forward and having more pace...which we have missed. Hoilett, Meite and Ince give us that pace. Sadly Ejaria is slow and although good around the box he doesn't offer enough.

I’m not sure that’s true. He isn’t particularly slow and isn’t that great round the box as the stats show

What he can do is hold the ball up - severely lacking last night, and he is perfectly capable of being disciplined defensively- so yes I’d happily have him back in the squad

Ovie takes the pressure off the defence more than any other player. He wins a lot of free kicks. He is very frustrating though as he has barely played this season with no sign of returning any time soon.

[Pepe the Horseman]

We need to start thinking about moving forward and having more pace...which we have missed. Hoilett, Meite and Ince give us that pace. Sadly Ejaria is slow and although good around the box he doesn't offer enough.

I’m not sure that’s true. He isn’t particularly slow and isn’t that great round the box as the stats show

What he can do is hold the ball up - severely lacking last night, and he is perfectly capable of being disciplined defensively- so yes I’d happily have him back in the squad

Ovie takes the pressure off the defence more than any other player. He wins a lot of free kicks. He is very frustrating though as he has barely played this season with no sign of returning any time soon.

He's also a player magnet, so creates a lot of space for ya other mans.

[Kitsondinho]

As you've said and I agree, there's really not much between them and in my opinion success or failure of our relegation campaign certainly doesn't depend on which keeper we use at the moment. I couldn't give a flying flamingo really who's in goal. Seems to be more people with agendas to defend "one of our own" and not happy about the odd (I agree it's a bit odd) signing who are keeping the 'debate' alive. I literally can't think of a more pointless one in recent times. Of course like any player if there is a series of mega-howlers costing points then changes will be made. If not, meh. Take your pick.

We can all agree none of them is up for it and we need a new keeper.

This +1000

Yeah that is definitely fair comment. Would hope the club will be going into the free agent market in the summer for an experienced keeper.

As long as it isn't Ben Hamer.....

Reading are delighted to announce the return of Ben Hamer on a 7 year deal…

[RoyalBlue]

A lot to take in from that game.

First the negatives.
Brum should have scored a lot more, there were chunks of both halves where they were cutting us open so easily, getting it out wide and putting really dangerous balls across the box. Terrible kicking out from Hein

Don't think Hein's kicking out is any worse than Southwood's. He also seems to be making more of his own decisions and going long when circumstances demand. There was an superb kick in the second half when he picked out Ince out wide right deep inside Birmingham's half, probably no more than 25 yards from their goal-line. He also seemed to pick out Joao quite often but struggled more when asked to pick out Meite wide right. To be honest I think that's quite a tough ask for most keepers when their target man is literally running forward about a yard from the touchline.

As for the abandonment of zonal marking, it looks like we've gone to a hybrid with some man to man marking and other defenders (usually closer to our goal) marking space, This was something that Paunovic appeared to introduce v Peterborough IIRC.

[Snowflake Royal]

Once he stops making really bad mistakes like he did with the Birmingham goal last night I'm sure he will stop being a target. You can't just ignore the fact he cocked up massively because we won the game.

He needs to be cut some slack - being pounced on left right and centre - this is after being in the team that has collected 7 points from 9 when the the last time that happened was 25 September 2021!!

He got done when that phase of play was just a mess contributed by that mong of a fan....

He also made saves where no-one would of moaned if they actually had gone in.

I personally don't think the saves he made were anything I wouldn't have expected him to make really. Taylor's effort in the first half and a couple by Hernandez, but I wasn't sat there thinking he's made a save I wouldn't have generally expected. Of course, the saves he made were good and he had a decent game overall, it's just being a goalkeeper is a volatile position and you will get picked up on when you make errors or you're unconvincing, which he was on a couple of occasions last night.

My memory isn't great, but I don’t really recall him making more than one or two max really good saves in all his appearances. Most have been routine or at the harder end of routine imo.

I think there's an element here of opinion polarising. You have to think one or the other keeper is better or great / awful with little room for nuance or middle ground. With preferences being entrenched and blinkers put on. Maybe partly more about who prefers what and reacting to that than genuinely geld views.

I think there's two elements to who should play. Firstly, actual ability and performance. And secondly, long term benefit to club.

In terms of ability, him and Southwood are close. I see it as Southwood is overall a bit better but has made worse mistakes, Hein is a little weaker but not dropped any huge howlers that have been punished, a little luckier maybe.

If Hein were ours and Southwood the loanees, I'd probably be seeing its worth persisting with the slightly weaker player as it'll benefit the club more longer term. As it is, I think Southwood is a little better and will benefit the club more long term.

I expect Ince will have Southwood back between the sticks in the next 2 to 4 games.

[RoyalBlue]

Well I mostly really enjoyed that. I think Ince’s interview was spot on. It wasn’t vintage and we did ride our luck at times but you could see the marked difference already (no surprise, new manager bounce etc). We played some nice stuff at times and we’re clearly working much harder in defence. Even when we conceded we looked like we had more about us and I was fairly confident we would hold on.

That being said, defeat was harsh on Brum who carved out some really good chances. It’s not going to happen over night but it’s a really good start and no loss in 3, 2 wins on the bounce and 8 pts clear it’s starting to look promising.

I thought the fans were excellent although pissing about with the ball before their goal was just so tinpot Reading. Other clubs do that and it winds us up but it wastes time and they get away with it, we do it and fcuk it up the oppo score and we have egg on our face. That being said, surely the goal shouldn’t have stood because there were 2 balls on the pitch? Don’t particularly blame Hein, it was a fairy distracting period and I thought overall was decent.

.

It's interesting that in his interview with Sky Sports Ince did put it down to a mistake by the keeper but immediately qualified that by saying how well he'd played aside from that.

[RoyalBlue]

He needs to be cut some slack - being pounced on left right and centre - this is after being in the team that has collected 7 points from 9 when the the last time that happened was 25 September 2021!!

He got done when that phase of play was just a mess contributed by that mong of a fan....

He also made saves where no-one would of moaned if they actually had gone in.

I personally don't think the saves he made were anything I wouldn't have expected him to make really. Taylor's effort in the first half and a couple by Hernandez, but I wasn't sat there thinking he's made a save I wouldn't have generally expected. Of course, the saves he made were good and he had a decent game overall, it's just being a goalkeeper is a volatile position and you will get picked up on when you make errors or you're unconvincing, which he was on a couple of occasions last night.

My memory isn't great, but I don’t really recall him making more than one or two max really good saves in all his appearances. Most have been routine or at the harder end of routine imo.

I expect Ince will have Southwood back between the sticks in the next 2 to 4 games.

I don't think it's just your memory at fault. He made more than that just in last night's game. Williams and Gooding were full of praise for his performance and both expressed the view that after a shaky debut he's come on really strong. Both quite clear that he warrants being first choice keeper and that the defence will be feeling far more comfortable with him. Williams' view is particularly pertinent IMO, given that he was a centre back and played with countless different keepers. He knows what's required of a keeper.

So I would suggest that your crystal ball may also prove to be faulty and that, baring an absolute howler or injury, Hein is likely to see out the season as first choice keeper.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Well I mostly really enjoyed that. I think Ince’s interview was spot on. It wasn’t vintage and we did ride our luck at times but you could see the marked difference already (no surprise, new manager bounce etc). We played some nice stuff at times and we’re clearly working much harder in defence. Even when we conceded we looked like we had more about us and I was fairly confident we would hold on.

That being said, defeat was harsh on Brum who carved out some really good chances. It’s not going to happen over night but it’s a really good start and no loss in 3, 2 wins on the bounce and 8 pts clear it’s starting to look promising.

I thought the fans were excellent although pissing about with the ball before their goal was just so tinpot Reading. Other clubs do that and it winds us up but it wastes time and they get away with it, we do it and fcuk it up the oppo score and we have egg on our face. That being said, surely the goal shouldn’t have stood because there were 2 balls on the pitch? Don’t particularly blame Hein, it was a fairy distracting period and I thought overall was decent.

.

It's interesting that in his interview with Sky Sports Ince did put it down to a mistake by the keeper but immediately qualified that by saying how well he'd played aside from that.

Which is probably a fair assessment overall really in short. He had a good game but he made a mistake leading to a goal and just one or two other minor issues with his distribution being a bit wayward and looking to deal with a deep ball into the box that wasn't really needed. He did play well though, just room for improvement, as with probably most that played last night.