BFTG Bournemouth - sponsored by no midfield

[RoyalBlue]

Excuse after excuse yet again for Guthrie. He made the mistake for the second goal, him, no one else. Dorothy didn't come down from Oz and land on him, there wasn't a sudden gust of wind and it wasn't Gorkss fault either. Much like the man himself, when he stops to have a moan at those around him, his fans are great at blaming others but not quite so quick to look at where the fault really was and that is Danny Guthrie.

We've had some great midfielders at the club since I've been going like Osborn, Sidwell and Harper, players who the likes of Guthrie can only dream of being as good as for this club.

F8Ck me! How many passes did they play after your scapegoat lost the ball? How many opportunities did we have to get a tackle/clearance/block in?!

Yes the midfielders you cite were good but I think you have a really strong pair of historic RTGs on if you believe the gulf between them and Guthrie is as large as you suggest.

Drenthe 5 - no impact.
Le Fondre N/A - I left before the goal.

.

Had you not left before the goal, you would have known that Drenthe did have an impact and created the goal!

[Maguire]

Guthrie's had a poor week, I think we can all agree on that?

Dropping Pogrebnyak, deary me. Sharp looked alright and offers more outside the box than ALF although the latter once again showed that he's one of the dealiest penalty box players we've ever had.

Thought we outplayed Bournemouth tbh but made a couple of mistakes and that was that. Biggest worry is the lack of pentration going forward.

[RoyalBlue]

Ok to get irritated by his interviews but it doesn't make a lot of sense to blame Adkins and lose all patience full stop.

He has been successful almost every season before he came here, exceeding expectations time after time. What is different at Reading?

Obviously given time, Rodgers would have got it right here, same applies to Adkins. Probably.

Have patience. Supporting a football team is all about rough and smooth, good and bad. Too many people have got too used to the good times and throw toys all over the place when the going gets tough. Look at Man Utd right now. Their supporters have no real appreciation of the last 25 years, it was just their right - and now things are difficult for the 1st time in donkeys' years they are shouting and screaming like a bunch of spoiled twats.

Accept it was crap, look at the manager's record and have a bit of faith. It doesn't always click in Season 1. But his record suggests he is worth sticking with.

Not that often that we agree but I agree fully with the above.

[paddy20]

We looked like a team of automatons. Did anyone else notice the number of times players were looking at Adkins to see if they were in the right position? I think we are too concerned with blackboard tactics rather getting players to think for themselves. Also have we lost a bit of our fitness? We have looked quite lethargic in the last 2 games - anything to do with new sports scientist? Just a thought

[Handsome Man]

It was the worst game I have seen since the Wigan or Villa games last season. I thought you had all been over-reacting about Charlton - how wrong I was.

McCarthy 5 - Should have stopped the second one
Gunter 7 - man of the match
Gorkss 6 - Ok and played one superb curling pass on the ground down the wing to show up Guthrie
Pearce 5 - Defended ok, but it can't be fun receiving the ball from a frightened Guthrie so many times in a match
Cummings 7 - he looked good, but then he usually does
McCleary 5 - can't remember much he did
Guthrie 4 - not irreparably bad, but two assists confirm this was his worst game for us
Williams 6 - ok
Obita 5 - as good as me in central midfield
Sharp 6 - about 5% better than Alf would have been
Robson-Kanu 6 - high-quality scapegoat performance

Pogrebnyak 5 - nothing
Drenthe 2 - so worrying to see a professional sportsman in that condition
Le Fondre 7 - did nothing and then scored

[PieEater]

It was the worst game I have seen since the Wigan or Villa games last season. I thought you had all been over-reacting about Charlton - how wrong I was.

It was a lot better than the second half at Charlton.

Still pretty shit, though.

I thought we played OK in the first half but then we let them score with their first attack and then stand off and let them knock in a second. WTF was Gorkss doing?

After that it just highlighted how blunt our attack is and that we seem to be incapable of winning a header or causing any sort of chance from a set piece.

I'm regretting buying Huddersfield tickets

[Wycombe Royal]

After that it just highlighted how blunt our attack is and that we seem to be incapable of winning a header or causing any sort of chance from a set piece.

I'm regretting buying Huddersfield tickets

I don't agree about the set pieces, yes we had an off day on Saturday, but normally we are at our most dangerous from set pieces. What we lack is runners from midfield. We never break quickly and when we do it is normally McCleary who has no option but to shoot as no-one else has bothered to get into the attack with him. We never seem to have midfielders arriving into the box and that in my opinion is why we get so few shots on goal.

Take Saturday how many times did Guthrie or Williams arrive in the box to support the strikers? I can't remember a single occasion. There is no point having wingers and overlapping full backs if there is no bugger in the box to get on the end of a cross.

[paddy20]

It was the worst game I have seen since the Wigan or Villa games last season. I thought you had all been over-reacting about Charlton - how wrong I was.

McCarthy 5 - Should have stopped the second one
Gunter 7 - man of the match
Gorkss 6 - Ok and played one superb curling pass on the ground down the wing to show up Guthrie
Pearce 5 - Defended ok, but it can't be fun receiving the ball from a frightened Guthrie so many times in a match
Cummings 7 - he looked good, but then he usually does
McCleary 5 - can't remember much he did
Guthrie 4 - not irreparably bad, but two assists confirm this was his worst game for us
Williams 6 - ok
Obita 5 - as good as me in central midfield
Sharp 6 - about 5% better than Alf would have been
Robson-Kanu 6 - high-quality scapegoat performance

Pogrebnyak 5 - nothing


Drenthe 2 - so worrying to see a professional sportsman in that condition
Le Fondre 7 - did nothing and then scored

Not sure I would give Gorks 6? Surely he was at fault for their second goal. He seemed to freeze! Why didn't he throw his body in front of the shot? Ritchie had ages to miscontrol it, control it and then pick his spot.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Can't help but think the manager lost this game for us. We seemed to be carving out some form and beginning to gel as an 11; bemusing to see this 11 change and Reading drop their best performer in recent weeks, especially for a player (HRK) who has thus far this season proven to be fairly weak.

I appreciate a club can't rely on one player and sometimes you need to rest your best, give others a go and keep people in the mix to be better prepared but in my opinion this was not the right time to be tinkering.

The best should be stringing a long run of games together, getting us the confidence and form and only then can we handle the pressure of missing one or two integral players from the starting line-up for soft reasons.

You don't just miss the player when you lose a cog in the machine.

[paddy20]

Can't help but think the manager lost this game for us. We seemed to be carving out some form and beginning to gel as an 11; bemusing to see this 11 change and Reading drop their best performer in recent weeks, especially for a player (HRK) who has thus far this season proven to be fairly weak.

I appreciate a club can't rely on one player and sometimes you need to rest your best, give others a go and keep people in the mix to be better prepared but in my opinion this was not the right time to be tinkering.

The best should be stringing a long run of games together, getting us the confidence and form and only then can we handle the pressure of missing one or two integral players from the starting line-up for soft reasons.

You don't just miss the player when you lose a cog in the machine.

Totally agree. How must players feel if they have won the last game, played well and come in to find they have been dropped because thats the way a player will see it. Yes you have to be aware of the opposition but wasn't as if we were playing Arsenal or Chelsea. We were playing a team at the bottom with one win in 11 games. Let other teams worry about us not the other way around!

[Cureton's Volley]

The Midfield lacks any bite. Guthrie shouldnt be chasing the ball all over the park he should be playing around the centre circle. We need somebody in there to actually tackle, win the ball and then give it to Guthrie. Missing Jem alot right now i think, Williams is way to inconsistent and Akpan? Well dont get me started on him....

We need a player in the Parkinson mould

[bradleylewsrfc]

I know it's a minor issue, but that said can have a big impact. Our throw ins seem to be taken so slow. Every one of Bournemouth's throw ins on Saturday were taken quickly, catching out our players every time. We take so long to actually take a throw in that all of our players are marked by our opposing players each and every single time! Most of the throw ins in their half resulted in Sharp having to to come deep to acquire the ball! We eventually sped them up towards the final 10-15 minutes but by then it was too late. Again minor issue but can have a big impact in terms of retaining possession and catching the opposing team out.

[Cureton's Volley]

Can't help but think the manager lost this game for us. We seemed to be carving out some form and beginning to gel as an 11; bemusing to see this 11 change and Reading drop their best performer in recent weeks, especially for a player (HRK) who has thus far this season proven to be fairly weak.

I appreciate a club can't rely on one player and sometimes you need to rest your best, give others a go and keep people in the mix to be better prepared but in my opinion this was not the right time to be tinkering.

The best should be stringing a long run of games together, getting us the confidence and form and only then can we handle the pressure of missing one or two integral players from the starting line-up for soft reasons.

You don't just miss the player when you lose a cog in the machine.

Totally agree. How must players feel if they have won the last game, played well and come in to find they have been dropped because thats the way a player will see it. Yes you have to be aware of the opposition but wasn't as if we were playing Arsenal or Chelsea. We were playing a team at the bottom with one win in 11 games. Let other teams worry about us not the other way around!

It's clear he has ruffled a few feathers and the players are not 100% committed to playing for him. Luckily some players have other motivations to perform - most likely to put themselves in the shop window in January. You have to wonder with the lack of loyalty shown to players in form, and poor spirit generally, how many players would be happy to stay if someone comes in for them in the transfer window?

[Cureton's Volley]

I know it's a minor issue, but that said can have a big impact. Our throw ins seem to be taken so slow. Every one of Bournemouth's throw ins on Saturday were taken quickly, catching out our players every time. We take so long to actually take a throw in that all of our players are marked by our opposing players each and every single time! Most of the throw ins in their half resulted in Sharp having to to come deep to acquire the ball! We eventually sped them up towards the final 10-15 minutes but by then it was too late. Again minor issue but can have a big impact in terms of retaining possession and catching the opposing team out.

This is a very good point, as this has been a real cornerstone in RFC's ability to put pressure on opponents for many years. The difference this season is so stark in this specific area, yet highlights a lack of urgency across the board.

[loyalroyal4life]

Still baffled why he went that starting line up!! We are 6th even though we have played to the best of our ability for about 60 mins this season in total.

We will do well just to hang on to a play off place, passing, possession game is not going to work with these players.

I do not know why he takes Mcleary off. For me he is our most creative player (sure stats will back this up) and he has most chance of serving up chances for Sharp/Pog.

Need a CB with some pace, Gorkss is shockingly slow

[Cypry]

I know it's a minor issue, but that said can have a big impact. Our throw ins seem to be taken so slow. Every one of Bournemouth's throw ins on Saturday were taken quickly, catching out our players every time. We take so long to actually take a throw in that all of our players are marked by our opposing players each and every single time! Most of the throw ins in their half resulted in Sharp having to to come deep to acquire the ball! We eventually sped them up towards the final 10-15 minutes but by then it was too late. Again minor issue but can have a big impact in terms of retaining possession and catching the opposing team out.

This is a very good point, as this has been a real cornerstone in RFC's ability to put pressure on opponents for many years. The difference this season is so stark in this specific area, yet highlights a lack of urgency across the board.

The slow throws started under McDermott, I've been moaning about them for a couple of years. They're always the same, wait for fullback to come up and take throw, he either throws it long down the line for a flick header, or to a player who knocks it straight back to the fullback who took the throw.....

As far as dropping Pog for HRK is concerned, he didn't, certainly not to start with. Obita was playing through the middle with HRK on the right, I commented on it at the time. I reckon there's a good chance Pog might be off in January anyway, we're less than 4 weeks from the window now, if that's the case, then you can understand why he not be the preferred option, let's face it, if you're going to play one striker, you've got Pog, who's been much better recently, but not exactly prolific, ALF who seems to struggle when he starts and is a great impact player, or Sharp who had scored 1 in 1 start......

I'm not sure what people want Adkins to do - we'd just come off arguably our worst half of football vs Charlton, where we were completely over-run in midfield, and then he gets slated for dropping a striker and playing 5 in midfield?
Incidentally a member of my family met him on Wednesday, and he actually apologised for the performance on Tuesday.....yes, we won that game, but it was hardly a performance to be proud of, so changing things was surely exactly the right thing to do?

Even Dellor was defending him this morning on BBCRB against the moronic bellends calling for his sacking....

[Jano]

Frustrating. Agree with others regarding Guthrie's less than impressive display, genuinely do not understand why he was made captain, and wouldn't surprise me to see us perform better with him out of the team. Also agree that the only positive to be taken from the game was Drenthe's come back, but even that was highly frustrating by the fact that the rest of the team insisted on passing down the side he wasn't on, despite him being in acres of space.

First time I've really seen Sharp and can't understand why he's been brought in. He's almost the same player as Le Fondre and there is no way someone of his stature can play up top on his own.

[ZacNaloen]

Guthrie's had a poor week, I think we can all agree on that?

Dropping Pogrebnyak, deary me. Sharp looked alright and offers more outside the box than ALF although the latter once again showed that he's one of the dealiest penalty box players we've ever had.

Thought we outplayed Bournemouth tbh but made a couple of mistakes and that was that. Biggest worry is the lack of pentration going forward.

Mostly agree with, although thought at the time he was resting Pog rather than dropping him because of the busy period, but we were just toothless without Pog up there and even worse the midfield (not just Guthrie) just lacked any forward drive. 2 mistakes, 2 goals and then back to be being toothless.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

the lack of pentration going forward.

ooo err missus

[maffff]

Thought we outplayed Bournemouth tbh but made a couple of mistakes and that was that. Biggest worry is the lack of pentration going forward.

After 65 minutes I could still see us getting something out of the game.

Yep, nailed it. Although Guthrie was poor and looked like he could have lost his head and got sent off, HRK had an awful game and needed to be subbed off. Obita was quiet. Gorkss got his head on everything, straight back to Bournemouth, Grabban gave him the runaround, just couldn't keep up. Cummings was ok and supported, Gunter was alright. Great seeing Drenthe back.

-----ALF----
-Pog--Sharp--

Looked like something worth trying again. Once the goal went in momentum was with us and on another day we would have won that.

No idea why Pog was dropped for Kanu though.