"Maybe in the summer, we'll see"

[John Smith]

Good comeback. If you're going to make daft statements like the one above then at least have something to support it with other than an emoji.

[RoyalJames101]

Good comeback. If you're going to make daft statements like the one above then at least have something to support it with other than an emoji.

Sorry but which hour-long cameo vs League One opposition are you referring to?

[Ian Royal]

Decent player, but no good in a midfield 4. Runs around a lot but this is usually his downfall as he's always out of position leaving us light at the back. Can't pass or shoot.

Much rather Evans/Tish in the midfield to make us a much more solid unit. Saturday proved this was the case with Hector in there alongside Norwood.

Based on what?! His hour-long cameo vs League One opposition. You are mad

When did Wednesday get relegated?

But the sentiment of going for Evans after an hour of ok play is indeed bonkers

[RoyalJames101]

Decent player, but no good in a midfield 4. Runs around a lot but this is usually his downfall as he's always out of position leaving us light at the back. Can't pass or shoot.

Much rather Evans/Tish in the midfield to make us a much more solid unit. Saturday proved this was the case with Hector in there alongside Norwood.

Based on what?! His hour-long cameo vs League One opposition. You are mad

When did Wednesday get relegated?

But the sentiment of going for Evans after an hour of ok play is indeed bonkers

The main point I was trying to make is that we lack of defensive midfielder in the side when we have just Williams and Norwood.

Fair enough we haven't seen much of Evans, but the point still remains with Tish or Hector in there.

[Ian Royal]

Hector has demonstrated he's no midfielder in his last two performances.

Tish, maybe. I consider him far more an all rounder.

As I've said before/elsewhere, give me good all round midfielders like Harper, Sidwell, Gunnarsson, Norwood etc over a specialist defensive midfielder any day of the week.

Our defensive record is excellent. We don't need to defend better.

[RoyalJames101]

Hector has demonstrated he's no midfielder in his last two performances.

Tish, maybe. I consider him far more an all rounder.

As I've said before/elsewhere, give me good all round midfielders like Harper, Sidwell, Gunnarsson, Norwood etc over a specialist defensive midfielder any day of the week.

Our defensive record is excellent. We don't need to defend better.

I think Hector has done OK, he's done what you would expect from a DM, granted he does have flaws in that role though, mainly his distribution.

I think Tish is the perfect example of a defensive midfielder if anything.. He sits in front of the back 4 and mops everything up, gives the ball simple and lets the people around him play. I haven't seen him get forward much and he doesn't make any defence splitting passes to class him as a playmaker.

Not sure why you think our defensive record is excellent, its bang average.

[SCIAG]

Tshibola is a box-to-box midfielder. Slightly more conservative than Williams.

Norwood and Kuhl (and maybe Evans) are the most natural defensive midfielders in the squad. They sit deep and they're good in the tackle.

If we're worried that the midfield isn't protecting the defence enough then I'd much rather we put an extra body in there than signed a defensive equivalent of Williams or kept using Hector there.

[Ian Royal]

Hector has demonstrated he's no midfielder in his last two performances.

Tish, maybe. I consider him far more an all rounder.

As I've said before/elsewhere, give me good all round midfielders like Harper, Sidwell, Gunnarsson, Norwood etc over a specialist defensive midfielder any day of the week.

Our defensive record is excellent. We don't need to defend better.

I think Hector has done OK, he's done what you would expect from a DM, granted he does have flaws in that role though, mainly his distribution.

I think Tish is the perfect example of a defensive midfielder if anything.. He sits in front of the back 4 and mops everything up, gives the ball simple and lets the people around him play. I haven't seen him get forward much and he doesn't make any defence splitting passes to class him as a playmaker.

Not sure why you think our defensive record is excellent, its bang average.

8 goals, 4 clean sheets and not more than 2 goals in a game. That's a very good record over 10 games. You're deluded if you think that's bang average.

I think Tish has much more to him than you say and I want my midfielders to pass well, Hector hasn't. That's at least debateable though. Our defensive record under McDermott isn't.

[Longhorn1970]

Hector has demonstrated he's no midfielder in his last two performances.

Tish, maybe. I consider him far more an all rounder.

As I've said before/elsewhere, give me good all round midfielders like Harper, Sidwell, Gunnarsson, Norwood etc over a specialist defensive midfielder any day of the week.

Our defensive record is excellent. We don't need to defend better.

I think Hector has done OK, he's done what you would expect from a DM, granted he does have flaws in that role though, mainly his distribution.

I think Tish is the perfect example of a defensive midfielder if anything.. He sits in front of the back 4 and mops everything up, gives the ball simple and lets the people around him play. I haven't seen him get forward much and he doesn't make any defence splitting passes to class him as a playmaker.

Not sure why you think our defensive record is excellent, its bang average.

8 goals, 4 clean sheets and not more than 2 goals in a game. That's a very good record over 10 games. You're deluded if you think that's bang average.

I think Tish has much more to him than you say and I want my midfielders to pass well, Hector hasn't. That's at least debateable though. Our defensive record under McDermott isn't.

Generally if you don't concede goals you win games, but there lies the problem ... PS. A defensive midfielder (holding role) is worth their weight in gold and gives others the freedom to get forward and get those all important goals.

[Ian Royal]

You've got to score to win, you plank. Not conceding gets you draws.

We need to score more. Our scoring record is apalling. You don't fix that by swapping an all round midfielder for a defensive one. You fix it by improving your attack.

Get our goals for up a bit and we will win much more games. We're at about the bottom of where we can realistically drop our goals against already.

Over a season these 10 games translate to under 40 conceded. Only Middlesbrough matched the equivalent to this run over the whole of last season.

We've done the new manager tighten up defence thing. We now need to start imptoving up the pitch and sorting out scoring.

It's baffling how people think our problems are defensive and caused by the lack of defensive midfielder. Just baffling.

[Jack Celliers]

It's lovely to see somebody slagging off Marek - easily the worst player I have ever seen in the hoops - but Williams is good. This would have been a much grimmer season without his box-to-box efforts, and I hope we can keep him for next year. He doesn't set up quite enough goals and some of his passes can go astray, but your can't have everything. I was delighted to hear he is not out of contract in the summer.

[SydenhamRoyal]

It's lovely to see somebody slagging off Marek - easily the worst player I have ever seen in the hoops - .

You didnt see Mass Sarr then

[leon]

It's lovely to see somebody slagging off Marek - easily the worst player I have ever seen in the hoops - .

You didnt see Mass Sarr then

I'd say he's had it easy if Matejovsky is the worst player he's seen.

[RoyalJames101]

Hector has demonstrated he's no midfielder in his last two performances.

Tish, maybe. I consider him far more an all rounder.

As I've said before/elsewhere, give me good all round midfielders like Harper, Sidwell, Gunnarsson, Norwood etc over a specialist defensive midfielder any day of the week.

Our defensive record is excellent. We don't need to defend better.

I think Hector has done OK, he's done what you would expect from a DM, granted he does have flaws in that role though, mainly his distribution.

I think Tish is the perfect example of a defensive midfielder if anything.. He sits in front of the back 4 and mops everything up, gives the ball simple and lets the people around him play. I haven't seen him get forward much and he doesn't make any defence splitting passes to class him as a playmaker.

Not sure why you think our defensive record is excellent, its bang average.

8 goals, 4 clean sheets and not more than 2 goals in a game. That's a very good record over 10 games. You're deluded if you think that's bang average.

I think Tish has much more to him than you say and I want my midfielders to pass well, Hector hasn't. That's at least debateable though. Our defensive record under McDermott isn't.

Under McDermott the defence has improved massively, I thought you were referring to the whole season so apologies on that one.

I don't understand your point about Tish. I think he's a decent player and he does all the simple stuff which is what you want from a defensive midfielder. He certainly doesn't create numerous chances with his range of passing, but I wouldn't expect him to be doing that anyway in the role that he plays.

I wouldn't say Hector's passing ability is that much worse than Williams though, they're both awful

[Vision]

I think Hector has done OK, he's done what you would expect from a DM, granted he does have flaws in that role though, mainly his distribution.

I think Tish is the perfect example of a defensive midfielder if anything.. He sits in front of the back 4 and mops everything up, gives the ball simple and lets the people around him play. I haven't seen him get forward much and he doesn't make any defence splitting passes to class him as a playmaker.

Not sure why you think our defensive record is excellent, its bang average.

8 goals, 4 clean sheets and not more than 2 goals in a game. That's a very good record over 10 games. You're deluded if you think that's bang average.

I think Tish has much more to him than you say and I want my midfielders to pass well, Hector hasn't. That's at least debateable though. Our defensive record under McDermott isn't.

Under McDermott the defence has improved massively, I thought you were referring to the whole season so apologies on that one.

I don't understand your point about Tish. I think he's a decent player and he does all the simple stuff which is what you want from a defensive midfielder. He certainly doesn't create numerous chances with his range of passing, but I wouldn't expect him to be doing that anyway in the role that he plays.

I wouldn't say Hector's passing ability is that much worse than Williams though, they're both awful

I think Tish is an interesting one because he was used in two very specific but completely different ways by Clarke.

If tactically we wanted to go with a high press then it was Tish who was engaged as the furthest forward and setting the tone for that high press.

However if we specifically wanted to play with someone to shield the back four then he would be Clarke's go to guy for that. It's also my perception that during our very good run under Clarke early season, when we had leads to defend Tish was often used in this manner for the last 20 minutes or so.

I think it's a bit too easy to try and pigeonhole players "Championship Manager" style into DM's or AM's or whatever. It's fair to say that in both the above scenarios he was used as a way to stop the strengths of the opponents rather than to hurt them himself but I've seen enough to suggest that he does possess the ability to prove potent going forward as well.

[Coppelled_Streets]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/danny-williams-happy-reading-fc-10876094

Danny Williams fancies getting away then.

For me he is one of the most overrated Reading players ever, although Marek Matejovsky wears the overall crown.

He would have gone in January had he not been asking for too much in wages. Not fussed about him going. We're pretty strong in central midfield, plus I've never taken to him. Another stroppy so and so who waves his arms around and points blame when the going gets tough. Also another big wage gone.

[Ian Royal]

I think Hector has done OK, he's done what you would expect from a DM, granted he does have flaws in that role though, mainly his distribution.

I think Tish is the perfect example of a defensive midfielder if anything.. He sits in front of the back 4 and mops everything up, gives the ball simple and lets the people around him play. I haven't seen him get forward much and he doesn't make any defence splitting passes to class him as a playmaker.

Not sure why you think our defensive record is excellent, its bang average.

8 goals, 4 clean sheets and not more than 2 goals in a game. That's a very good record over 10 games. You're deluded if you think that's bang average.

I think Tish has much more to him than you say and I want my midfielders to pass well, Hector hasn't. That's at least debateable though. Our defensive record under McDermott isn't.

Under McDermott the defence has improved massively, I thought you were referring to the whole season so apologies on that one.

I don't understand your point about Tish. I think he's a decent player and he does all the simple stuff which is what you want from a defensive midfielder. He certainly doesn't create numerous chances with his range of passing, but I wouldn't expect him to be doing that anyway in the role that he plays.

I wouldn't say Hector's passing ability is that much worse than Williams though, they're both awful

Williams has the best passing accuracy of any of our regulars. Only Evans (less than 90 mins) Rakels (2 subs) and Fenandez (2 starts 6 subs) have better than his 86.3% accuracy. By comparison, Hector is 68.2%

His passing isn't the problem, his profligate shooting and running into a blind alley are his weaknesses.

[3points]

8 goals, 4 clean sheets and not more than 2 goals in a game. That's a very good record over 10 games. You're deluded if you think that's bang average.

I think Tish has much more to him than you say and I want my midfielders to pass well, Hector hasn't. That's at least debateable though. Our defensive record under McDermott isn't.

Under McDermott the defence has improved massively, I thought you were referring to the whole season so apologies on that one.

I don't understand your point about Tish. I think he's a decent player and he does all the simple stuff which is what you want from a defensive midfielder. He certainly doesn't create numerous chances with his range of passing, but I wouldn't expect him to be doing that anyway in the role that he plays.

I wouldn't say Hector's passing ability is that much worse than Williams though, they're both awful

Williams has the best passing accuracy of any of our regulars. Only Evans (less than 90 mins) Rakels (2 subs) and Fenandez (2 starts 6 subs) have better than his 86.3% accuracy. By comparison, Hector is 68.2%

His passing isn't the problem, his profligate shooting and running into a blind alley are his weaknesses.

If you pass the ball as little as Williams hen it's no surprise his "accuracy" is high. Football isn't about stats. Watch the games and you'll realise that Wiliams is a dreadful passer of the ball except for the 5 yarder to Norwood.

[Ian Royal]

Under McDermott the defence has improved massively, I thought you were referring to the whole season so apologies on that one.

I don't understand your point about Tish. I think he's a decent player and he does all the simple stuff which is what you want from a defensive midfielder. He certainly doesn't create numerous chances with his range of passing, but I wouldn't expect him to be doing that anyway in the role that he plays.

I wouldn't say Hector's passing ability is that much worse than Williams though, they're both awful

Williams has the best passing accuracy of any of our regulars. Only Evans (less than 90 mins) Rakels (2 subs) and Fenandez (2 starts 6 subs) have better than his 86.3% accuracy. By comparison, Hector is 68.2%

His passing isn't the problem, his profligate shooting and running into a blind alley are his weaknesses.

If you pass the ball as little as Williams hen it's no surprise his "accuracy" is high. Football isn't about stats. Watch the games and you'll realise that Wiliams is a dreadful passer of the ball except for the 5 yarder to Norwood.

Averages 43.4 passes a game, 4th most of any of our players. Averages a 'key pass' a game and has 2 assists. Our top assister is on 5

I know football isn't only about stats, I do watch the game and I've never seen anything to make me think Williams is a particularly poor passer, or that he passes very little. But when someone makes a claim that is clearly in the realm of stats (Williams passes very little, Williams' passing is poor), I like to use them to see if the view holds up, be it mine or someone elses.

As I say, there are genuine reasons to criticise Williams, not passing enough, or not passing accurately enough are not them. Getting dispossessed, yes. Shooting waywardly, yes.

[leon]

OK let's be clear here Team Boarders - Williams is very good at close midfield passing as a central midfielder who has a defensive remit (to an extent) ie short passing, shuffling the ball around at the back.

However when he gets further up the pitch his final ball (bar that one he did in the FA cup iirc) after typically he's overrun the ball so that his teammates runs are now all wasted, is shit or pointless.