BFTG - Forest

[St Pauli]

Not only are these threads annoying and pointless but this thread was picked up by the Forest fans on their forum and is being shown as representative post for Reading fans and further evidence of how embarrassing a set of fans we are. You're embarassing us all ST P!

[Hendo]

Interesting game yesterday and one I really enjoyed. Thought it was a good battle between two evenly matched teams, and with them sitting in the play offs, that is very encouraging.

Thought we did well right at the beginning of the first half and then towards the end as well. Morrison having a very good chance very early on but couldn’t quite make contact. They threatened in the middle bit but without ever really troubling Rafael. There were some critical blocks though, one from Moore (I think) and an excellent tackle from Swift which I thought was as good as in. Swift seemed to come from nowhere to make the block.

We then came out a totally different side in the second half, much quicker, more intensity and more desire to win the second ball. This showed in the way Forest started to slow the game down at every opportunity. We created some great chances, Blackett very unlucky hitting the post and their ‘keeper somehow kept out a point blank range shot. Rafael also made a wonderful stop on Grabban to hold him up and push him wide. Goal was a sucker punch, couldn’t really tell if it was a corner from where I was but the ball did look out and the way the players remonstrated you have to think something was wrong, they don’t all react as one unless there is a clear mistake. A wonderful response though, something which is so pleasing to see in this side now. I think Puscas puts that in if the defender doesn’t get a touch on it.

Standout players for me were Blackett, Pele and Adam. Some of Adam’s passing was outrageous and he can put in an almost unplayable set-play at times.

Thought Swift had a bit of an off day and Ejaria is nowhere near as effective stuck out on the left as he is in the middle, but he did ok.

Meite is a bit of an odd one, he struggles to do the basics sometimes but you can not fault his willingness to run and the effort he puts in. Plus he can cause the defenders so many issues, he must be a bit of a nightmare to play against sometimes because he is powerful and if he doesn’t know what he is going to do at times, then the defender isn’t going to know either.

Anyway, a very enjoyable 1-1 draw, and I’m looking forward to Millwall next weekend.

[Hound]

Find some of the Puscas criticism odd - he did well and his control was good. Looking at the stats, he only lost the ball once so his hold up play was fine. Decent effort on goal as well

Meite was typical Meite really. Worked hard, causes problems, defended well, almost scored - yet was frustratingly spending half the game on his backside on the ground and a number of clumsy touches/poor decisions along the way. I’d like to see McCleary come on for him a bit more often tbh to give a bit more crossing threat

[Snowflake Royal]

I really felt for Meite as well (our MotM?) who was booked for walking near a player but got kicked constantly in the second half.

I didn’t go but the majority have rated him poorly. Out of interest why do you think he wasn’t just poor, he was the MOTM?

Happy to say my bit for Meite. He was a real nuisance. He may not be the most gifted of players but he fights hard. He won at least four free kicks in the first half alone allowing Swift the chance of some set pieces in dangerous positions. He slid an excellent ball through to Baldock. He had our only decent effort on goal in the first half.

In the second half I thought he was fouled inside their box and went down. It looked like a pen to me. He also worked hard to track back and won the ball on a number of occasions. He didn’t create much but did plenty to keep us competitive.

That's how I saw it apart from the pen.

[windermereROYAL]

Watched replays of Jeff Stelling saying it was a wretched afternoon before their reporter described the ending, 0-0 equals poor in the eyes of those people, even if it ended goalless it was a good game.

https://twitter.com/SoccerSaturday/stat ... 2930975747

[Snowflake Royal]

Find some of the Puscas criticism odd - he did well and his control was good. Looking at the stats, he only lost the ball once so his hold up play was fine. Decent effort on goal as well

Meite was typical Meite really. Worked hard, causes problems, defended well, almost scored - yet was frustratingly spending half the game on his backside on the ground and a number of clumsy touches/poor decisions along the way. I’d like to see McCleary come on for him a bit more often tbh to give a bit more crossing threat

I thought Puscas looked a revelation in his first couple of touches.

He then proceeded to spend the rest of the game basically standing up front alone looking lost and reacting to everything too slowly so Forest's defence just played around him with ease.

For me, if Puscas isn't scoring, he just isn't involved. Seems to play the game on his heels standing still.

[windermereROYAL]

Find some of the Puscas criticism odd - he did well and his control was good. Looking at the stats, he only lost the ball once so his hold up play was fine. Decent effort on goal as well

Quite consistantly the same people that criticise him after every game.

[Nameless]

That's why you should never leave! I think the Forest goal did go out but to be fair to the linesman it would have been imposible for him to spot from his position. If he can't see it he can't give it. At least justice was done and it turned an ordinary afternoon in to a memerable one. Ref was terrible we counted Sow commited 7 fouls was not booked. Swift one foul booked. Overall a fair result.

Surely the linesman is in the perfect position to see these things ? He was stood at the corner flag looking along the line, it’s his job to call these things.
Conclusion would be that being correctly positioned and actively looking he got the call correct.
Unless he didn’t.

Glad you said linesman.
I saw that particular linesman (East stand side, second half) watch the ball put out of play twice - one a corner and one a throw in. It was obvious what they were, but he waited until the ref pointed to the corner and then he pointed his flag at the corner.
If you are awaiting the ref’s direction all the time, then you are not assisting and therefore you are simply running the line, you are certainly not an assistant referee.

To be honest I think that's unfair.
Remember the officials are miked up so we aren't aware of the communication.
I believe they work differently these days in that to avoid the daft situation of the ref pointing one way and the lino the other then someone changing they communicate directly before actually giving the decision. The lino is probably not following the ref, he's told the ref it's a blue / red ball then they both indicate. Or if he doesn't know for sure he's said so and the ref then does make the final call.
These lino's are experienced refs in their own right, they really won't get away with basically doing the job they way a club linesman would on the parks.

[URZZZZ]

Find some of the Puscas criticism odd - he did well and his control was good. Looking at the stats, he only lost the ball once so his hold up play was fine. Decent effort on goal as well

Quite consistantly the same people that criticise him after every game.

Maybe that’s because he hasn’t been playing well this season? Not saying that it’s just down to him but that period of domination we had yesterday in the second half died down when he swapped Baldock for Puscas

I don’t quite think he understands the lone striker role quite enough yet. Time is on his hands, he’s young and has the chance of development, but he doesn’t seem to have the intelligence to know when to stick and when to twist and as a result, there was a period in the second half where we weren’t retaining the ball and it kept coming back at us

Baldock wasn’t great at it yesterday either to be fair, but the quality levels did drop when he was subbed off for Puscas

[Zip]

Agreed about Puscas. He put in a decent shift when he came on. Nothing exceptional but he was always involved. There were a couple of occasions when he could have worked a bit harder to close down their players but he linked up pretty well.

[Zip]

I do think we missed Joao yesterday. He is the best forward we have at holding up the ball and linking up with others. A shame he is injured just as he was making an impact.

[URZZZZ]

I do think we missed Joao yesterday. He is the best forward we have at holding up the ball and linking up with others. A shame he is injured just as he was making an impact.

His injury was avoidable too, you could tell he was tiring and I think he was about to be subbed off anyway, thirty seconds later we play a through ball and he pulls up. Frustrating because he was actually playing really well these last couple of weeks

[Snowflake Royal]

What Baldock lacks in hold up play, he more than makes up for in running and hassling. On or off the ball his movement and work rate is excellent and IMO it's no surprise we stopped winning the ball back as quickly and controlling the game as well once he went off.

Joao offers the stronger link up play and holding up, but his work rate off the ball is much weaker.

And Puscas doesn't really do either very well IMO. There's clearly a good player in there, but he hasn't really adapted to the pace and quality of the championship and needs to play more on his toes and work harder and smarter.

[Millsy]

My talking points

1) João my man of the match. Absolutely amazing ability to get on the end of a ball (according to Dellor) when he wasn't even on the pitch.

2) More seriously now, our style really misses João.

3) Post, great saves by their keeper. We deserved to win that with our second half performance.

4) Possibly the worst refereeing I've seen this season.

5) Some of our passing was all over the place, not sure why.

[Zip]

What Baldock lacks in hold up play, he more than makes up for in running and hassling. On or off the ball his movement and work rate is excellent and IMO it's no surprise we stopped winning the ball back as quickly and controlling the game as well once he went off.

Joao offers the stronger link up play and holding up, but his work rate off the ball is much weaker.

And Puscas doesn't really do either very well IMO. There's clearly a good player in there, but he hasn't really adapted to the pace and quality of the championship and needs to play more on his toes and work harder and smarter.

You can’t fault Baldock’s work rate and movement. He is a subtle, clever player and has something to offer this squad. I don’t think he is a lone striker though. He is more effective working alongside someone.

[Snowflake Royal]

What Baldock lacks in hold up play, he more than makes up for in running and hassling. On or off the ball his movement and work rate is excellent and IMO it's no surprise we stopped winning the ball back as quickly and controlling the game as well once he went off.

Joao offers the stronger link up play and holding up, but his work rate off the ball is much weaker.

And Puscas doesn't really do either very well IMO. There's clearly a good player in there, but he hasn't really adapted to the pace and quality of the championship and needs to play more on his toes and work harder and smarter.

You can’t fault Baldock’s work rate and movement. He is a subtle, clever player and has something to offer this squad. I don’t think he is a lone striker though. He is more effective working alongside someone.

Would not disagree with that ziperoonie.

[URZZZZ]

My talking points

1) João my man of the match. Absolutely amazing ability to get on the end of a ball (according to Dellor) when he wasn't even on the pitch.

2) More seriously now, our style really misses João.

3) Post, great saves by their keeper. We deserved to win that with our second half performance.

4) Possibly the worst refereeing I've seen this season.

5) Some of our passing was all over the place, not sure why.

Listened to the commentary on BBC Berks yesterday and they were pretty clueless. In another instance, the ball
clearly went out for their corner, and they thought it was a goal kick. They consistently got players mixed up, like the Joao one yesterday. At one point Mick shouted “penalty” to which I thought the ref has given the one on Meite

I know it can’t be easy for them but they don’t even get the basics right at times

[leon]

Not only are these threads annoying and pointless but this thread was picked up by the Forest fans on their forum and is being shown as representative post for Reading fans and further evidence of how embarrassing a set of fans we are. You're embarassing us all ST P!

For a team that relies so heavily on history for their self worth they’re a bunch of deluded twats then aren’t they?

[AthleticoSpizz]

That’s part of the charm of it. It is only local radio after all, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of passion and the occasional howler.

Still better than the alternative

[Snowflake Royal]

My talking points

1) João my man of the match. Absolutely amazing ability to get on the end of a ball (according to Dellor) when he wasn't even on the pitch.

2) More seriously now, our style really misses João.

3) Post, great saves by their keeper. We deserved to win that with our second half performance.

4) Possibly the worst refereeing I've seen this season.

5) Some of our passing was all over the place, not sure why.

Listened to the commentary on BBC Berks yesterday and they were pretty clueless. In another instance, the ball
clearly went out for their corner, and they thought it was a goal kick. They consistently got players mixed up, like the Joao one yesterday. At one point Mick shouted “penalty” to which I thought the ref has given the one on Meite

I know it can’t be easy for them but they don’t even get the basics right at times

My favourite Dellor moment was calling out that Gomes had picked up a loose ball and passed to someone (Ejaria or Swift maybe, I forget) who then passed the ball to a completely different player further up the pitch, who was also Gomes.

I may be making this bit up, but I think the ball may have then been cleared and picked up by Gomes in our half again.

Think it was Pele - Ejaria - Blackett on the interchange in actual fact.

I can understand mistaking players for each other, they're a long way a way and I certainly do it... but thinking two separate players in the same move, in different parts of the pitch is a new low for Dellor.

Cricket really is more his pace.