Back from the game - Burnley Away

[The Prisoner]

You could of course argue that Cort was lucky to stay on the pitch after conceding the penalty. That was a goal scoring opportunity, and I think that the covering defenders would not have been back in time.

The FL show on BBC seemed to think that Church's goal was a cross gone wrong (but that might have just been Liam's dad cocking up!). The celebration is a bit "ooops! never meant that!"

Seriously though.....4-0 away from home and people moaning. Get a grip! We were never gonna go there, dominate and stop them playing completely!!! It was a classic away performance. We all seem to think 8-12th is about right, but results like this could make the difference.

[Wycombe Royal]

Simon Church's goal looked like a suspiciously good finish. I'm not convinced that was Simon Church.

I think he was trying to cross it for Long but miscued it. He celebration was a little "sheepish".

[brendywendy]

I thought it was a great win - but a middling performance.

I don't believe it was a penalty and have seen photos proving the tackle was outside the area. Still such is football and you take the ones you shouldn't be given - as long as you are accepting of the bad decisions against you!

If it wasn't a penalty then it wasn't a booking... so not a sending off.

That really does not follow! If a player is tripped/fouled when breaking forward towards the edge of the box and well positioned to shoot, why wouldn't the ref be justified in punishing the offender with a yellow card? I suspect the majority of refs would book the offender, regardless of whether the offence took place inside or outside the area.

It was a step in the right direction. For me this team needs to be allowed a couple of sesons on the fringe of the playoffs before we are ready. There are lots of younger players who will be excellent by then.

Provided, of course, they haven't been sold to fill another mysterious black hole.

its not mysterious. each year we spend more than we bring in. whats mysterious about that?

[Silver Fox]

If it wasn't a penalty then it wasn't a booking... so not a sending off.

How so?

[brendywendy]

hes made up a new rule

[Silver Fox]

Skillz

[old woman]

The Burnley fan in the Observer was upset that Cort was sent off. He felt the Ref should have realised he hadn't been booked for 5 years and just told him off!!

[Maguire]

Simon Church's goal looked like a suspiciously good finish. I'm not convinced that was Simon Church.

I think he was trying to cross it for Long but miscued it. He celebration was a little "sheepish".

Yep, I buy that. The way he kicked it seemed a bit odd for a shot. What a terrible cross!

[Silver Fox]

Boooo Simon Church

It's pretty clear it wasn't a shot as it didn't go straight into Jensen's midriff

[RobRoyal]

this is a rather bizarre league and Reading are one of many teams who could look lightweight for two games in a row and then go and spank someone, anyone in the division. The latter point all seems to indicate a midtable finish, which given the apparently diabolical financial situation the club has found itself in must be seen as a decent achievement.

This is absolutely right, and shows the danger of judging the squad on a result like ours away to Bristol City or, alas, on saturday. We'll lose games we should win, win games we should lose and finish, I think, somewhere between 12 and 8. With a bit of luck we could make the playoffs - one or two average teams do it every year. It makes it even more regretful that we can't loosen the purse strings, because we're not too far off being one of the 6 best. Oh well.

[RobRoyal]

Simon Church's goal looked like a suspiciously good finish. I'm not convinced that was Simon Church.

I think he was trying to cross it for Long but miscued it. He celebration was a little "sheepish".

Yep, I buy that. The way he kicked it seemed a bit odd for a shot. What a terrible cross!

I didn't realise it at the time - thought his sheepishness was because he thought he was offside - but I think this is right. It would make sense because when he came on he absolutely shanked everything, including smacking a 6-yard pass hopelessly out of play. Twice.

[Murts-is-Lej]

I thought it was a great win - but a middling performance.

I don't believe it was a penalty and have seen photos proving the tackle was outside the area. Still such is football and you take the ones you shouldn't be given - as long as you are accepting of the bad decisions against you!

If it wasn't a penalty then it wasn't a booking... so not a sending off.

That really does not follow! If a player is tripped/fouled when breaking forward towards the edge of the box and well positioned to shoot, why wouldn't the ref be justified in punishing the offender with a yellow card? I suspect the majority of refs would book the offender, regardless of whether the offence took place inside or outside the area.

Correct - the decision to issue a caution is based on the offence committed, not where on the pitch that offence occurred.

If the offence "denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity" it's a straight red. So a mis-timed tackle on a player going away from goal might be a yellow or even nothing at all whereas the same tackle when the striker's through on goal should be a straight red.

[Kitson12]

Just listening to the Reading FC Podcast on BBC Berkshire, wtf is Tina going on about? We won 4-0 away, and she thinks that'll help. LOL, bet she didn't even go.

[Ian Royal]

I think he was trying to cross it for Long but miscued it. He celebration was a little "sheepish".

Yep, I buy that. The way he kicked it seemed a bit odd for a shot. What a terrible cross!

I didn't realise it at the time - thought his sheepishness was because he thought he was offside - but I think this is right. It would make sense because when he came on he absolutely shanked everything, including smacking a 6-yard pass hopelessly out of play. Twice.

Looked like he mishit a cross from the replays. He may miss a fair few chances, some of them easy. But Long's missed some easy ones too and seems to be involved in shooting chances less frequently. I like Church, even if just for comedy value.

[Silver Fox]

Just listening to the Reading FC Podcast on BBC Berkshire, wtf is Tina going on about? We won 4-0 away, and she thinks that'll help. LOL, bet she didn't even go.

I hate the fact that I'm no longer surprised when idiots like that come out with what they do

[Ian Royal]

Oh, and pleased to see Howard come back in and get an assist.

He may fall over too much and be a bit lightweight... But he's providing goals and offers us some decent passing skill in the middle.

Also very pleased to see Tabb back and apparently putting in such a quality performance from the reports on here. I look forward to seeing some slightly extended highlights of the game when I get my PC back from the shop.

[Kitson12]

I think Tabby was probably man of the match to be fair, everything positive (until he went off) seemed to go through him, such as the through ball to Shane for the pen. It made such a difference, and our midfiled looked much more assured than they have wihout him in there.

[phil in cornwall]

I went to the game with a friend who is a Burnley fan and we sat in the James Hargreaves Stand near the middle but towards the end the penalty was given, so I can make a few comments from a different viewpoint to most Reading fans.

We were very close to the penalty incident and it looked a clear foul in the area. The Burnley fans around us complained about the referee all the game but they didn't complain much about the penalty.

During the first half Hal R-K ran rings round Tyrone Mears and got past him every time. I thought he played really well.

I was exactly in line with McAnuff's shot for his goal. I was beautifully hit. I thought it was going to go wide but it swerved inside the left hand post. The OS says it was "stabbed home from 6 yards". It looked a bit cleverer than that from where I was.

I thought Long played really well in the role he was given. Every time the ball was kicked up to him (and Federici did little else with it) he went up with Cort, risking a battering, and he won a fair number of them. Unfortunately there wasn't always anyone around to pick up the ball. The Burnley fans around us got really fed up with him so he must have been doing something right.

I thought Howard, Tabb and Karacan played well in the midfield. The defending was also good and generally the ball was played out well.

The Church goal was great, intentional or not. And I was pleased Antonio got his goal. He worked very hard when he came on.

The Burnley fans around me were really moaning. Their team were inferior in every department.

Reading just need to find the secret of performing like this every week.

I could post some pictures if I knew how to do it. Can anyone help?

[Snowball]

4-0 against any team away from home is a great result.

If the performance didnt match the score line then fine as it means we can still win comfortably not playing the greatest

Were Burnley not undefeated up to this point at home?

All games, awesome record P8 W7 D1 L0 19-4




1-0 H Nottm Forest
3-0 H Leicester City
4-3 H Preston
0-0 H Bristol City
4-0 H Hull City
3-0 H Barnsley

15-3 (the 3 conceded in one game)

Five clean sheets
Five wins and a draw.
Previous match they were "sublime"

They also had 2 cip wins

1-0 H Bolton Cup
3-1 H Morecambe Cup

P8 W7 D1 L0 19-4

[Snowball]

Looked like he mishit a cross from the replays. He may miss a fair few chances, some of them easy. But Long's missed some easy ones too and seems to be involved in shooting chances less frequently. I like Church, even if just for comedy value.

This Season? When?

Last Season? How many?