Didcot Town AWAY Wec 15 July 2009 KO 7.30pm

[Deathy]

Looks to me as if the second half team is BR's current first choice team.

4-4-1-1 oh dear

That's the sort of formation most people are expecting...

We played it for one half.

Didcot Town 1 (Bartley 71)
Reading 5 (Sigurdsson 23, Bignall 27, Henry 52, Harper 65, Church 80 pen)


Reading first half (4-4-2): Hamer, Davies, S Hunt, Bikey, Gunnarsson (c), Tabb, Robson-Kanu, Sigurdsson, Bozanic, Bignall, LOLong.

Reading second half (4-4-1-1): Federici, Rosenior, Armstrong, Cisse, Pearce (c), Karacan, Harper, Henry, Kebe, Matejovsky, Church.

Ref: G Scott
Attendance: 2,100

Interesting to see Marek just behind Church, and Pearce as captain in what looked like a first eleven!

[Muskrat]

didn't know we could play 2 first halfs? and love it how in the actual first half, 3 of the defenders were actual midfielders, Shunt, Gunnar, and Davies, brilliant...

It's more about fitness at this stage. doesn't really matter where they play. Hence Feds playing upfront in a game last year.

What - against Cardiff?

[West Stand Flash]

Reading first half (4-4-2): Hamer, Davies, S Hunt, Bikey, Gunnarsson (c), Tabb, Robson-Kanu, Sigurdsson, Bozanic, Bignall, LOLong.

Reading second half (4-4-1-1): Federici, Rosenior, Armstrong, Cisse, Pearce (c), Karacan, Harper, Henry, Kebe, Matejovsky, Church.

Ref: G Scott
Attendance: 2,100

Interesting to see Marek just behind Church, and Pearce as captain in what looked like a first eleven!

IF we signed no new players & none leaved, I would have:?

Federici
Rosenior Pearce Bikey Armstrong
Henry Harper Tabb Kebe
....Matejovsky
....Long

[Plymouth_Royal]

didn't know we could play 2 first halfs? and love it how in the actual first half, 3 of the defenders were actual midfielders, Shunt, Gunnar, and Davies, brilliant...

Any idea why Julian Kelly didn't play

Injury I guess. Davies wasn't due to play and was a late replacement for kelly.

[Ian Royal]

didn't know we could play 2 first halfs? and love it how in the actual first half, 3 of the defenders were actual midfielders, Shunt, Gunnar, and Davies, brilliant...

It's more about fitness at this stage. doesn't really matter where they play. Hence Feds playing upfront in a game last year.

What - against Cardiff?

no, he was playing in goal and went up for a corner. In a pre season game, I guess it may not have been last pre-season but the one before (Time blurs the memory), Fed played upfront and scored.

[Ian Royal]

You can't Flash, Bikey is suspended for 4 games.

[Muskrat]

It was againt Bromley away, season before last at least IIRC.

[Ian Royal]

It was againt Bromley away, season before last at least IIRC.

what's a year between friends...

[West Stand Flash]

You can't Flash, Bikey is suspended for 4 games.

Its OK, Cork to partner Pearce, until Bikey back.

[Deathy]

didn't know we could play 2 first halfs? and love it how in the actual first half, 3 of the defenders were actual midfielders, Shunt, Gunnar, and Davies, brilliant...

It's more about fitness at this stage. doesn't really matter where they play. Hence Feds playing upfront in a game last year.

What - against Cardiff?

No, he meant a pre-season game. But wasn't that only because we had no-one else to come on and didn't want to be down to 10?

[Muskrat]

At least the art of sarcasm is not lost on the world of Hob Nob.

Oh hang on...

[Plymouth_Royal]

You can't Flash, Bikey is suspended for 4 games.

Its OK, Cork to partner Pearce, until Bikey back.

would prefer cisse or a natural CB. Cork is primarily a DM.

[Ian Royal]

You can't Flash, Bikey is suspended for 4 games.

Its OK, Cork to partner Pearce, until Bikey back.

would prefer cisse or a natural CB. Cork is primarily a DM.

If he can play right back that's where I'd put him, seeing as Rosenior has a disciplinary issue and can't pass to save his life.

[Ian Royal]

At least the art of sarcasm is not lost on the world of Hob Nob.

Oh hang on...

Sorry, tired.

[windjammer]

Anyone know what has happened to Mooney? Is he injured as he didn't appear tonight?

[winchester_royal]

Anyone back who can give us some insight into how we played, player performances etc...?

[Deathy]

Anyone back who can give us some insight into how we played, player performances etc...?

Yeah, Robson Kanu was excellent - head and shoulders above the rest in the first half and probably man of the match. Good with the ball at his feet, never looked like getting knocked off it, was strong and picked his passes excellently. A very good prospect by all accounts and I think he's got a part to play this season. Also, the guy who was at Aldershot (Davies?) looked decent on the right, again strong on the ball, used it well and was lightning quick.

[Royalee]

Back from the game - pretty unremarkable for the most part, although it's very early days and I wasn't expecting much given the players have only been in training for a week.

Good points:
Robson-Kanu looked excellent and was for me the best player on the park. He played centrally and ran the show in the first half - picking up the ball and running at the defence, looking very strong and skillful on it always in control. He picked his passes well and always looked dangerous.

Davies (?) who was on loan at Aldershot looked a very good prospect on the right hand side, he's lightning quick and again looked good in possession and going forward.

Pearce, Henry and Karacan all gave relatively good performances and Harper was allowed to push forward more than usual, resulting in a very well-taken goal and a much improved performance. I do feel he's far better when going forward although he can't defend.

Bad Points:
Shane Long - dreadful all round. Poor touch, poor intelligence and movement, dreadful finishing.

Stephen Hunt still being at the club.

Gunnarsson getting skinned by Didcot's strikers.


Overall it was very interesting - obviously it's very early so it's difficult to know what to read into it, but with a couple of additions being talked about I'm very confident for this season.

[winchester_royal]

Let's hope Royalee is cooking up a more detailed post as we type.

[Ian Royal]

Back from the game - pretty unremarkable for the most part, although it's very early days and I wasn't expecting much given the players have only been in training for a week.

Good points:
Robson-Kanu looked excellent and was for me the best player on the park. He played centrally and ran the show in the first half - picking up the ball and running at the defence, looking very strong and skillful on it always in control. He picked his passes well and always looked dangerous.

Davies (?) who was on loan at Aldershot looked a very good prospect on the right hand side, he's lightning quick and again looked good in possession and going forward.

Pearce, Henry and Karacan all gave relatively good performances and Harper was allowed to push forward more than usual, resulting in a very well-taken goal and a much improved performance. I do feel he's far better when going forward although he can't defend.

Bad Points:
Shane Long - dreadful all round. Poor touch, poor intelligence and movement, dreadful finishing.

Stephen Hunt still being at the club.

Gunnarsson getting skinned by Didcot's strikers.


Overall it was very interesting - obviously it's very early so it's difficult to know what to read into it, but with a couple of additions being talked about I'm very confident for this season.

Thanks!

It does look like Long is the sort of player who needs 4 or 5 games in a row starting to really get int the swing of things and play to his best.