Southampton v Reading (Friendly)

[Ian Royal]

A few points from me:
1 - I hope Church starts in place of Long next week as I think he's more in form - although Long was the victim of an outrageous assault by the Sampton CB which left him concussed - the other guy pretended to be injured as well, of course.
2 - Hunt N. came and sat in the crowd for 20 mins or so - seemed only too happy to chat and pose for pics. He then persuaded the stewards to let him go over to the dugout at 1/2 time.
3 - Do you think if Sonko hadn't already signed for Portsmouth he would have been good to sign as CB cover?
4 - McD and Mils had another quite animated and shouty conversation while still on the pitch after the final whistle - lots of arm waving.
5 - it should be Antonio had an "effect", not "affect" - the standard of spelling and grammar on this board is atrocious. Yes I'm a 'newbie', but I've already been told to "oxf*rd off" thankyou.

3) Hell no.

5) Darn.

[facaldaqui]

As for Tabb, I'm not sure he's the sort of player that's likely to play at quite the same level in a friendly, as he is in a competitive match. Him or Karacan, for me, is a bit of a toss up based on all I've seen of them. Both plenty good enough.

I agree that at their best they're as good as each other. But on the evidence of the last two seasons Karacan cannot keep it up beyond a certain number of games and needs a time out of the team every so often. Therefore I'm really glad we've got both of them, so that we always have an effective terrier in midfield.

[facaldaqui]

3 - Do you think if Sonko hadn't already signed for Portsmouth he would have been good to sign as CB cover?

At his best, Sonko would be an excellent addition. But his best was a few years ago. Unfortunately, Sonko's effectiveness was reduced by injury, long before he left us. We were lucky that Stoke didn't realise this and paid us a big sum for him. I don't think he did anything last season at Hull, either. He's lost a bit of pace, and I hope our nippier players will take advantage of that when they come up against him. I can see him giving away a penalty against us.

[The Positive One!]

Apparently Southampton FC would not allow any coverage - that is why there are no photos of the game on the Reading FC, Get Reading etc websites. The only pictures they have shown on their website are those of the goals they scored - nothing showing Readings goals!!

[sandman]

5 - it should be Antonio had an "effect", not "affect" - the standard of spelling and grammar on this board is atrocious. Yes I'm a 'newbie', but I've already been told to "oxf*rd off" thankyou.

Says the person who in the same post spelt the name Mills with one l.

[richierock]

5 - it should be Antonio had an "effect", not "affect" - the standard of spelling and grammar on this board is atrocious. Yes I'm a 'newbie', but I've already been told to "oxf*rd off" thankyou.

Says the person who in the same post spelt the name Mills with one l.

Hrmmm - good point, well made! (just noticed that the smiley description is spelled wrongly)

[Still Hate Futcher!]

A few points from me:
1 - I hope Church starts in place of Long next week as I think he's more in form - although Long was the victim of an outrageous assault by the Sampton CB which left him concussed - the other guy pretended to be injured as well, of course.
2 - Hunt N. came and sat in the crowd for 20 mins or so - seemed only too happy to chat and pose for pics. He then persuaded the stewards to let him go over to the dugout at 1/2 time.
3 - Do you think if Sonko hadn't already signed for Portsmouth he would have been good to sign as CB cover?
4 - McD and Mils had another quite animated and shouty conversation while still on the pitch after the final whistle - lots of arm waving.
5 - it should be Antonio had an "effect", not "affect" - the standard of spelling and grammar on this board is atrocious. Yes I'm a 'newbie', but I've already been told to "oxf*rd off" thankyou.

1. Agreed, I like Shane Long but you pick strikers on form. Church finshed last season strongly and has scored a few pre-season. Long usually makes an impact from the bench so I'd go with that next week.
3. Christ no! I agree we need another good centre back but unfortunately Sonko is not the player he once was. I'm surprised we haven't been charged with Obtaining Money by Deception after robbing Stoke of several million!
5. Oh good, the board needs another Spacey!

[Fox Talbot]

Apparently Southampton FC would not allow any coverage - that is why there are no photos of the game on the Reading FC, Get Reading etc websites. The only pictures they have shown on their website are those of the goals they scored - nothing showing Readings goals!!

Who do they think they are - North Korea?

Or is Annie Bassett in charge there?

[Dirk Gently]

Apparently Southampton FC would not allow any coverage - that is why there are no photos of the game on the Reading FC, Get Reading etc websites. The only pictures they have shown on their website are those of the goals they scored - nothing showing Readings goals!!

Who do they think they are - North Korea?

Or is Annie Bassett in charge there?

They probably would have allowed coverage - at a cost!

[rfcjoe]

Its a hideous lie. There are pics on the OS now.

[parky]

Why did Mills have a Premier League captains armband on?

[Isaac Hunt]

Apparently Southampton FC would not allow any coverage - that is why there are no photos of the game on the Reading FC, Get Reading etc websites. The only pictures they have shown on their website are those of the goals they scored - nothing showing Readings goals!!

Anyone with RFC Player can view the goals on Southampton's Player site

[UpNorth]

Highlights of the game are also on RFC player.

Gylfi and Church scored a couple of excellent goals.

[Uke]

Why did Mills have a Premier League captains armband on?

To wind up the pedants?

[havoc]

5 - it should be Antonio had an "effect", not "affect" - the standard of spelling and grammar on this board is atrocious. Yes I'm a 'newbie', but I've already been told to "oxf*rd off" thankyou.

you tedious prick

[Lower West]

Went yesterday - we were poor for the first 65 minutes

As an observation it seemed as we were set up for an away game from the kick off. The back four rarely strayed out of line for the first half. Neither Griifin nor Williams made any attempt to push forward.

What was concerning was playing in that formation we had a total inability to hold or pass the ball. Meaning even a poor physical Southampton team were allowed plenty of chances.

Until the formation changed, and the players unleashed to push forward and the tempo increase did we look a Champoionship team.

[handbags_harris]

...we passed the ball far better once Karacan was on - he HAS to start

Genuine question - are you still happy to have Karacan in the side after the individual performance yesterday as well as numerous dubious competitive performances in the past?

[rob the royal]

...we passed the ball far better once Karacan was on - he HAS to start

Genuine question - are you still happy to have Karacan in the side after the individual performance yesterday as well as numerous dubious competitive performances in the past?

He's also had some great displays e.g. the Liverpool home cup tie. Karacan is the midfield version of Long, good on his day but inconsistent at the moment... just like Kebe and he seems to have turned a corner.

To play him continually in midfield he has to perform consistently... so I'm afraid I'd be tempted to drop him and switch to Tabb and Howard for the next game, but I still reckon Karacan has the ability to displace either of those in the future.

[handbags_harris]

...we passed the ball far better once Karacan was on - he HAS to start

Genuine question - are you still happy to have Karacan in the side after the individual performance yesterday as well as numerous dubious competitive performances in the past?

He's also had some great displays e.g. the Liverpool home cup tie. Karacan is the midfield version of Long, good on his day but inconsistent at the moment... just like Kebe and he seems to have turned a corner.

To play him continually in midfield he has to perform consistently... so I'm afraid I'd be tempted to drop him and switch to Tabb and Howard for the next game, but I still reckon Karacan has the ability to displace either of those in the future.

Inconsistent at the moment? I don't dispute he's had some good displays but you can probably count those on one hand. I wouldn't call him inconsistent at all. Karacan is no better than Cisse and I used to worry when Cisse was named in the side...

[rob the royal]

He's also had some great displays e.g. the Liverpool home cup tie. Karacan is the midfield version of Long, good on his day but inconsistent at the moment... just like Kebe and he seems to have turned a corner.

To play him continually in midfield he has to perform consistently... so I'm afraid I'd be tempted to drop him and switch to Tabb and Howard for the next game, but I still reckon Karacan has the ability to displace either of those in the future.

Inconsistent at the moment? I don't dispute he's had some good displays but you can probably count those on one hand. I wouldn't call him inconsistent at all. Karacan is no better than Cisse and I used to worry when Cisse was named in the side...

What i meant was he is inconsistent at the moment because he fails to put in good displays consistently when picked (as opposed to meaning that he has ever been consistent in the past... if you get my drift)