BFTG - Luton

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Weird game that.

Depressed after 5 min and over the moon at HT. 10min into the 2nd half and we knew a late winner was gonna come

We looked really good going forward in the 1st half, but Dorsett, PoC & Ward were clearly there for the taking. They were just saved by us attacking so much and hence Luton not getting too much of a run at the defence. No way could we keep that up, and we couldn't

RW looks good to me, but the left is still a real issue. We really need an Mbengue or similar to provide some pace at the back. Dorsett is too muscly, slow and always stood on his heels instead of his toes. PoC & ward just too slow generally

[leon]

The defence looked incompetent all game. O'Connor is not the right defender for us. He has been a massive disappointment. Too slow, resorts to fouls and moronic long balls that give possession right back to the opposition. Dorsett is not good enough. Loses concentration, slow to react and doesn't seem like a natural defender.

We're still letting teams play through our midfield with ease as we don't close down and harry. This in turn puts more pressure on the defence. We're still playing a 64 formation that cedes possession and relies on accurate long balls that never get there.

Without Marriot this team is in trouble.

[Orion1871]

Game turned on Kyerewaa missing a great chance at the start of the second half. He's 25 in October, and I can't see him ever improving enough to be consistent in and around the box.

Wing had a terrible game. Air kicks, losing the ball, and the stupid mix up with Rinomhota.

Pereira and O'Connor almost had another calamity like last week, but O'Connor put a sliding tackle in, and the result was different. It summed up for me how shaky we are at the back just as much as the goals.

UGM and Lisbie look promising on the right, but faded out of the game in the 2nd half. On the other side poor Dorsett is just out of position and out of his depth. To be going into another season with him at LB is a big question mark even accounting for Roberts not playing, on the planning of the squad behind the scenes.

Very little difference to notice from the stadium upgrades in the Dolan, apart from a new pair of bins. Considering how much Couhig goes on and on about "bathrooms" they are still crap, even the same cobwebs were there.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The defence looked incompetent all game. O'Connor is not the right defender for us. He has been a massive disappointment. Too slow, resorts to fouls and moronic long balls that give possession right back to the opposition. Dorsett is not good enough. Loses concentration, slow to react and doesn't seem like a natural defender.

We're still letting teams play through our midfield with ease as we don't close down and harry. This in turn puts more pressure on the defence. We're still playing a 64 formation that cedes possession and relies on accurate long balls that never get there.

Without Marriot this team is in trouble.

Not sure how you define "in trouble". Luton are one of the favourites for promotion and Kasey Palmer was excellent as you would expect. We have enough to not be the slightest concerned about relegation.

But if promotion/play-offs really is the ambition, we're a long way off. You can't really use the excuse "well they're promotion favourites" if you have promotion ambitions yourself.

So if "in trouble" is defined as toxic atmosphere, Leam sacked and certain players seeing their Reading career end after this season, then yes this team could well be.

[leon]

The defence looked incompetent all game. O'Connor is not the right defender for us. He has been a massive disappointment. Too slow, resorts to fouls and moronic long balls that give possession right back to the opposition. Dorsett is not good enough. Loses concentration, slow to react and doesn't seem like a natural defender.

We're still letting teams play through our midfield with ease as we don't close down and harry. This in turn puts more pressure on the defence. We're still playing a 64 formation that cedes possession and relies on accurate long balls that never get there.

Without Marriot this team is in trouble.

Not sure how you define "in trouble". Luton are one of the favourites for promotion and Kasey Palmer was excellent as you would expect. We have enough to not be the slightest concerned about relegation.

But if promotion/play-offs really is the ambition, we're a long way off. You can't really use the excuse "well they're promotion favourites" if you have promotion ambitions yourself.

So if "in trouble" is defined as toxic atmosphere, Leam sacked and certain players seeing their Reading career end after this season, then yes this team could well be.

I mean having close to zero attacking threat.

Which means minimal goals.

Which means we have to not concede goals and hope to get something up the other end.

Which means.......well, you can do the rest

[yuomi]

Half heartedly:
JP - 3. Without actually having much to do, he messed up pretty much everything. His movement for their first goal was almost as bad as Dorsett's, and he could have done better for the second.
Dokes - 6. Had Lawrence in his pocket in the first half, and every time he looked like he was going to get caught out had the pace and presence of mind to get back. An absolute unit at marshalling the ball out. Struggled as the game stretched in the second half and Lisbie tired ahead of him.
PoC - 4. First half it looked like it could be his best game for us. Second half was pure 25/26. Slow, ponderous, physical yet lightweight. Wrong CB retired imo.
Ward - 4.5. I remembered him as having more pace than that before the injury?
Dorsett - 2. We all love a bandwagon but, seriously, this has to be up there with one of the worst individual performances for a while. Wrong-footed for their first by a player putting it onto his stronger foot, headed the ball directly to Palmer for the second, and God knows what he thought he was doing for the equaliser. Cold comfort that LR and his teammates were as disgusted with him there as the fans. LB has been a problem for years. Roberts can't play more than 20 games a season. Has to be a priority because this cannot be allowed to happen again.
Wing - 5. Meh. Preseason showed, when the system works, Rino will allow him to get forward more. But today it was a lot of stop/start midfield haggling. With nothing more ambitious close to coming off.
Rino - 4. Better than Bromley, but still not quite where he needs to be. Couple of iffy bits of passing. Definitely still a player there and, when fit and firing, could be a real asset to this system.
Lisbie - 7. Raw, but enthusiastic, and with energy to burn. Having wingers who can run at defenders is such an asset. Looking forward to seeing how he develops as the season goes on. Should have scored.
Stokes - 5. Quiet start. Marriott seemed keen to get him pressing more. Definitely noticed a drop in our intent when he went off.
DK - 5. Ditto with Lisbie on the running at defenders, but he's still scattergun with his distribution and a poor finisher. Chance at the start of the second half was the turning point for me. They scored immediately after.
Marriott - 9.5. -.5 for fitness but, my God, where would we be without him?

Subs:
Brown - 3. Being kind, he might've been so unenthusiastic because it was Luton? Looked way off it, and clearly not a 9.
Williams - 3. Not a CAM, and didn't look much better when he shifted out wide either.
Lane - 3. Hope springs eternal. But what's left to say about him at this point?
Savage - 3.5. Given 15 minutes to do something with nothing.
Fraser - 2. Came on, we conceded.

[Hound]

We’re not making the play offs with that side, simple as that

I don’t think we sat back - I thought we were much more attacking generally. The front 4 pressed well and Marriott was a LOT less isolated than last year in his time on the pitch and he was responded with a hattrick

I don’t think we were awful second half other than appalling 5 mins (though on another day that wasn’t a foul against Marriott for the 2nd and 3rd did look close to offside). We definitely lost the fluency and didn’t press as well - Stokes, Marriott and Lisbie didn’t have the energy of the 1st half - and their replacements were downgrades

Luton weren’t creating a lot and we didn’t go to a low block though

Wing had a shocker - had a decent chance at a shot he fluffed from a corner near the end as well

Paudie is a big worry. Defensively he’s been disappointing and he’s cowardly in possession - constantly knocking it back to JP 2nd half which really didn’t help us

I’m partly encouraged by the first half - though let’s be honest we were gifted 3 goals there no matter how good the finishes were. But we look unfit in places, lacking in any depth and yes hugely reliant on Marriott for goals

[West F]

Paudie is slow. He is like Herman Munster when it comes to agility. He wants to play up against a target man for a physical battle. He is never going to change. The reason he is here is down to his agent being the manager’s brother.

Kyerewaa has virtually no end product. This is not going to change or improve at his age. There is a reason why he was released by a club facing relegation to the German amateur leagues.

Dorsett is doing his level best to be a professional footballer. He is barely a centreback and is in no way a fullback at any level. Today is what would be construed as a solid performance by him. He is not going to change or improve.

I fail to see what Stokes does that Savage can’t do. He has not really been involved in either of the games I have seen him play.
.

[MR. CYNICAL]

The defence looked incompetent all game. O'Connor is not the right defender for us. He has been a massive disappointment. Too slow, resorts to fouls and moronic long balls that give possession right back to the opposition. Dorsett is not good enough. Loses concentration, slow to react and doesn't seem like a natural defender.

We're still letting teams play through our midfield with ease as we don't close down and harry. This in turn puts more pressure on the defence. We're still playing a 64 formation that cedes possession and relies on accurate long balls that never get there.

Without Marriot this team is in trouble.

Not sure how you define "in trouble". Luton are one of the favourites for promotion and Kasey Palmer was excellent as you would expect. We have enough to not be the slightest concerned about relegation.

But if promotion/play-offs really is the ambition, we're a long way off. You can't really use the excuse "well they're promotion favourites" if you have promotion ambitions yourself.

So if "in trouble" is defined as toxic atmosphere, Leam sacked and certain players seeing their Reading career end after this season, then yes this team could well be.

I mean having close to zero attacking threat.

Which means minimal goals.

Which means we have to not concede goals and hope to get something up the other end.

Which means.......well, you can do the rest

Today was a classic example of how much we depend on Marriott's fitness. Once he went off we had no attacking threat.

[windermereROYAL]

Just got home, pissed, short summery, first half prime Barcelona, second half the dog and duck.
Without Marriott we`ve got nothing through the middle, Brown looks like a carthorse compared to him.
What can I say about that defence? played like a load of strangers, didn`t see too much in Stokes that will tell us he`ll become a fans favourite.
Without another 3 new faces I saw nothing todays that`ll keep us above 16th position.

[Pepe the Horseman]

What is Brown's best position?

[jonnyroyal1871]

There were 20 minutes in the first half where we looked Championship standard. The other 70 were a complete mis-mash from the majority of the first half where we looked ok, to the back tracking of Dorsett that cost their first goal, to our CBs being on the bus home for their second and third goals.

So what have we learned? Firstly, we *still* have one striker in the building. A year + later. That's shocking, and completely unforgiveable. JM is a top end champ / lower prem finisher, who's been blighted by injuries his whole career, and is 32 in a few weeks. The complete incompetence should be costing somebody their job. It's literally priority number 1, and no excuse is good enough. If our main target(s) have fallen through, we should have taken an academy prem youngster on loan to do Jack's running, and/or produce pace and positivity in the second half. I'm totally unsure what our staff have seen in Brown, I hope I'm proved very wrong with him. If we don't sign 2 more strikers, young and pacy, and a robust older head, our season is mid table mediocrity right now.

POC - he's our level mid table L1m but no more. There is more potential in Ward, but playing next to Paudie isn't helping. If we think Roberts will get and stay fit, until he is, I'd play Ward at LB - we can't afford to play Dorsett anymore.

Stokes (so far) offers less than Savage does, when Savage isn't played in a tight pair with Wing. I suspect a sale has either gone on the long-arm or fallen apart, if it has, he'd be back in the starting line up for me.

Lisbie is clearly a player, pacy and dangerous. He looks a good addition, and melded well with Dokes in the first half.

Overall, there was for me improvement in how Richardson set up and wanted to play. In the second half we just didn't have the squad strength to make the required substitutions needed. Some reasons for positivity, but I return to my main point. It's critical.

[Brogue]

What is Brown's best position?

[Brogue]

What is Brown's best position?

Which is obvious when looking at his scoring record

[West F]

What is Brown's best position?

Browns best attribute is taking minutes away from Marriot. He is an atrocious bit of business for a club who profess to being one intent on promotion. I would rather see Patton when fit.

[windermereROYAL]

Half heartedly:
JP - 3. Without actually having much to do, he messed up pretty much everything. His movement for their first goal was almost as bad as Dorsett's, and he could have done better for the second.
Dokes - 6. Had Lawrence in his pocket in the first half, and every time he looked like he was going to get caught out had the pace and presence of mind to get back. An absolute unit at marshalling the ball out. Struggled as the game stretched in the second half and Lisbie tired ahead of him.
PoC - 4. First half it looked like it could be his best game for us. Second half was pure 25/26. Slow, ponderous, physical yet lightweight. Wrong CB retired imo.
Ward - 4.5. I remembered him as having more pace than that before the injury?
Dorsett - 2. We all love a bandwagon but, seriously, this has to be up there with one of the worst individual performances for a while. Wrong-footed for their first by a player putting it onto his stronger foot, headed the ball directly to Palmer for the second, and God knows what he thought he was doing for the equaliser. Cold comfort that LR and his teammates were as disgusted with him there as the fans. LB has been a problem for years. Roberts can't play more than 20 games a season. Has to be a priority because this cannot be allowed to happen again.
Wing - 5. Meh. Preseason showed, when the system works, Rino will allow him to get forward more. But today it was a lot of stop/start midfield haggling. With nothing more ambitious close to coming off.
Rino - 4. Better than Bromley, but still not quite where he needs to be. Couple of iffy bits of passing. Definitely still a player there and, when fit and firing, could be a real asset to this system.
Lisbie - 7. Raw, but enthusiastic, and with energy to burn. Having wingers who can run at defenders is such an asset. Looking forward to seeing how he develops as the season goes on. Should have scored.
Stokes - 5. Quiet start. Marriott seemed keen to get him pressing more. Definitely noticed a drop in our intent when he went off.
DK - 5. Ditto with Lisbie on the running at defenders, but he's still scattergun with his distribution and a poor finisher. Chance at the start of the second half was the turning point for me. They scored immediately after.
Marriott - 9.5. -.5 for fitness but, my God, where would we be without him?

Subs:
Brown - 3. Being kind, he might've been so unenthusiastic because it was Luton? Looked way off it, and clearly not a 9.
Williams - 3. Not a CAM, and didn't look much better when he shifted out wide either.
Lane - 3. Hope springs eternal. But what's left to say about him at this point?
Savage - 3.5. Given 15 minutes to do something with nothing.
Fraser - 2. Came on, we conceded.

Agree with most have what you`ve said here, but to say JP could have got near their fist 2 goals are total nonsense, the first was placed just inside the post, and the second was hit and rising into the corner.
He didn`t do too much wrong today apart from some of his distribution which hasn`t always been that great.

[Sutekh]

What is Brown's best position?

Not on yesterday he isn’t and his strike rate of approx 1 goal every 6.5 games would bear that out - I’ve seen him identified as mainly an AM and even a wing back. He sees himself as a 9 that can also bring energy to either flank if required, perhaps we’ll see that as the season develops but there was precious little yesterday - did he even set foot in the Luton box?

It was plainly essential this club’s priority in preseason was to bring in a striker - someone with a proven ability but instead they’ve done nothing despite knowing this fact for about 12 months & so should have had a planned list of targets to work through, one after another, which I’m sure the AI data wizards could have formulated if not the footballing experts at the club. Instead what the club did was acquire someone who looks more like an AM and then make the utterly insane move of selling the big E with no replacement for him coming in, let alone the backup for Jack that was needed in the first place. One has to say that this hardly looks like the steps a club looking for promotion would be making.

This next two weeks is going to define the club’s season, screw that up and we’ll be lucky to make the top ten let alone the PO’s.

[Marcel]

What is Brown's best position?

Not on yesterday he isn’t and his strike rate of approx 1 goal every 6.5 games would bear that out - I’ve seen him identified as mainly an AM and even a wing back. He sees himself as a 9 that can also bring energy to either flank if required, perhaps we’ll see that as the season develops but there was precious little yesterday - did he even set foot in the Luton box?

It was plainly essential this club’s priority in preseason was to bring in a striker - someone with a proven ability but instead they’ve done nothing despite knowing this fact for about 12 months & so should have had a planned list of targets to work through, one after another, which I’m sure the AI data wizards could have formulated if not the footballing experts at the club. Instead what the club did was acquire someone who looks more like an AM and then make the utterly insane move of selling the big E with no replacement for him coming in, let alone the backup for Jack that was needed in the first place. One has to say that this hardly looks like the steps a club looking for promotion would be making.

This next two weeks is going to define the club’s season, screw that up and we’ll be lucky to make the top ten let alone the PO’s.

You refer to footballing experts at the club, but in truth there are no longer any such people. They have all been replaced by a computer and so called head of AI.

[morganb]

I wouldn't trust AI to pick my FPL team let alone a real life football team

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I'm overall on the side of giving Richardson a chance. But I think he takes the lion's share of the blame for yesterday.

The same players who blew Luton away in the first half looked like Woodley Wanderers U12s after half time. Same players, but completely unable to adapt to Luton's tactical change. Obviously if he had a huge squad of Championship players we would have adapted better, he'd have had more options.

But the truth is, Luton saw what was going wrong for them, changed, and Richardson had no answer. They went for a much higher press, cut the supply lines to the wings, and got far more bodies forward when in possession. Interestingly, they didn't double up on Wing that I could see - they didn't seem to think he was a much of a threat as others have.

The weakness in the squad are there to see, but the first half showed it's not just down to that, it's also being able to change when the opponent changes.