Team to face Barnsley (H)

[Wimb]

McAnuff
Gunnarsson
Karacan
Kebe

what a p*ss-poor central midfield that is.

It's not the best it's a shame Davies is away from the club, but I believe we can't recall him during the first month?

[Tony Le Mesmer]

In all honesty, i dont hink N Hunt has a future with us. Hes only on the bench cos weve got fck all else. We might only have Long and Church, but Hunt has serious limitations due to his fitness. He must have completed 90 mins no more than about 3/4 times for us in 2+ seasons. Lame duck with limited ability and a poor goal scoring record.

Long is frustrating, but the only match winner we have up front. had his best ever game for us v Palace, won us the game. That was just 8 days ago. Look at our win at Anfield. Did f all 93 mins, wins a pen, wins us the game. He must have won 20 pens for us since he joined. saved our unbeaten run with his 1st touch for us. The guy wins matches. Church and Hunt wont and dont, but Church at least looks like a goalscoring threat. Maybe hes missing his mate already?

Releasing Rasiak is now starting to look very stupid.

Long to start with some support up front please.

[Wimb]

In all honesty, i dont hink N Hunt has a future with us. Hes only on the bench cos weve got fck all else. We might only have Long and Church, but Hunt has serious limitations due to his fitness. He must have completed 90 mins no more than about 3/4 times for us in 2+ seasons. Lame duck with limited ability and a poor goal scoring record.

Long is frustrating, but the only match winner we have up front. had his best ever game for us v Palace, won us the game. That was just 8 days ago. Look at our win at Anfield. Did for 93 mins, wins a bin, wins us the game. He must have won 20 pens for us since he joined. saved our unbeaten run with his 1st touch for us. The guy wins matches. Church and Hunt wont and dont, but Church at least looks like a goalscoring threat. Maybe hes missing his mate already?

Realising Rasiak is now starting to look very stupid.

Long to start with some support up front please.

Are you serious? He got 13 goals in 27 starts his first year. He's then missed around a year with an injury and is making his way back to fitness, it will take a while for that match sharpness. As for Long, he's scored one penalty in six matches, hardly on fire is he? I realise he's been doing good work around the penalty area and wins penalties but he has a worse overall goalscoring record then Hunt and hasn't proved himself as a goalscorer since he joined the club.

[Royalee]

In all honesty, i dont hink N Hunt has a future with us. Hes only on the bench cos weve got fck all else. We might only have Long and Church, but Hunt has serious limitations due to his fitness. He must have completed 90 mins no more than about 3/4 times for us in 2+ seasons. Lame duck with limited ability and a poor goal scoring record.

Long is frustrating, but the only match winner we have up front. had his best ever game for us v Palace, won us the game. That was just 8 days ago. Look at our win at Anfield. Did f all 93 mins, wins a pen, wins us the game. He must have won 20 pens for us since he joined. saved our unbeaten run with his 1st touch for us. The guy wins matches. Church and Hunt wont and dont, but Church at least looks like a goalscoring threat. Maybe hes missing his mate already?

Releasing Rasiak is now starting to look very stupid.

Long to start with some support up front please.

Rasiak was the player Evening Post Reading fans voted they'd most like to get rid of in the summer, sums up how thick the majority of our fanbase are.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

In all honesty, i dont hink N Hunt has a future with us. Hes only on the bench cos weve got fck all else. We might only have Long and Church, but Hunt has serious limitations due to his fitness. He must have completed 90 mins no more than about 3/4 times for us in 2+ seasons. Lame duck with limited ability and a poor goal scoring record.

Long is frustrating, but the only match winner we have up front. had his best ever game for us v Palace, won us the game. That was just 8 days ago. Look at our win at Anfield. Did f all 93 mins, wins a pen, wins us the game. He must have won 20 pens for us since he joined. saved our unbeaten run with his 1st touch for us. The guy wins matches. Church and Hunt wont and dont, but Church at least looks like a goalscoring threat. Maybe hes missing his mate already?

Releasing Rasiak is now starting to look very stupid.

Long to start with some support up front please.

Rasiak was the player Evening Post Reading fans voted they'd most like to get rid of in the summer, sums up how thick the majority of our fanbase are.

Rasiak didn't bring much to the table. Took up most of our wage bill and generally put in poor performances.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Some observations Wimb:

Hunt scord 13 goals with with Doyle alongside him and he didnt have a fckd knee. Not to mention S Hunt playing out his skin at the start of that season. We dont have that now.

Long has been playing on his own up front. N Hunt will be dead on his feet after 30 mins doing that. He could barely last an hour when he was half fit.

Hes been out for a year with a cronic knee problem. He didnt just get to his knee like Sonko. You tend not to ever fully recover from problems like that.

Long has played far more games than Hunt and will always have a worse goals to mins on the ptich ratio.

Playing up front on your own means you will do more donkey work and score less goals.

Hunt DOES have a poor goalscoring record. Take out pens and hes scores 1 in 5.

Not saying Long is a superstar or anything, but hes the best we have im afraid and the only one of our 3 strikers who is a match winner.

[26-10-06]

Some observations Wimb:

Hunt scord 13 goals with with Doyle alongside him and he didnt have a fckd knee. Not to mention S Hunt playing out his skin at the start of that season. We dont have that now.

Long has been playing on his own up front. N Hunt will be dead on his feet after 30 mins doing that. He could barely last an hour when he was half fit.

Hes been out for a year with a cronic knee problem. He didnt just get to his knee like Sonko. You tend not to ever fully recover from problems like that.

Long has played far more games than Hunt and will always have a worse goals to mins on the ptich ratio.

Playing up front on your own means you will do more donkey work and score less goals.

Hunt DOES have a poor goalscoring record. Take out pens and hes scores 1 in 5.

Not saying Long is a superstar or anything, but hes the best we have im afraid and the only one of our 3 strikers who is a match winner.

Might just be an idiot, but did Hunt really score that many penalties?

[Royalee]

In all honesty, i dont hink N Hunt has a future with us. Hes only on the bench cos weve got fck all else. We might only have Long and Church, but Hunt has serious limitations due to his fitness. He must have completed 90 mins no more than about 3/4 times for us in 2+ seasons. Lame duck with limited ability and a poor goal scoring record.

Long is frustrating, but the only match winner we have up front. had his best ever game for us v Palace, won us the game. That was just 8 days ago. Look at our win at Anfield. Did f all 93 mins, wins a pen, wins us the game. He must have won 20 pens for us since he joined. saved our unbeaten run with his 1st touch for us. The guy wins matches. Church and Hunt wont and dont, but Church at least looks like a goalscoring threat. Maybe hes missing his mate already?

Releasing Rasiak is now starting to look very stupid.

Long to start with some support up front please.

Rasiak was the player Evening Post Reading fans voted they'd most like to get rid of in the summer, sums up how thick the majority of our fanbase are.

Rasiak didn't bring much to the table. Took up most of our wage bill and generally put in poor performances.

Nothing besides 10 goals in 30 appearances...

[Wimb]

Some observations Wimb:

Hunt scord 13 goals with with Doyle alongside him and he didnt have a fckd knee. Not to mention S Hunt playing out his skin at the start of that season. We dont have that now.

Long has been playing on his own up front. N Hunt will be dead on his feet after 30 mins doing that. He could barely last an hour when he was half fit.

Hes been out for a year with a cronic knee problem. He didnt just get to his knee like Sonko. You tend not to ever fully recover from problems like that.

Long has played far more games than Hunt and will always have a worse goals to mins on the ptich ratio.

Playing up front on your own means you will do more donkey work and score less goals.

Hunt DOES have a poor goalscoring record. Take out pens and hes scores 1 in 5.



Not saying Long is a superstar or anything, but hes the best we have im afraid and the only one of our 3 strikers who is a match winner.

I understand the points but how can you judge his knee without seeing him play on it would be my argument. Is there a chance he doesn't rediscover the same form? of course, but in my eyes he's worth a chance as on his day he's a better goalscorer then Long is. I saw Hunt play up front on his own at Barnsley last season and he scored twice (one a pen yes) and had just a good a game as Long had against Palace. Hunt's goalscoring ratio from the past is also misleading given that he was a winger for a lot of his early career. As for the penalties argument, how many pens did he take for Reading in 08/09? I think you might be getting his confused with his brother who took a fair few of our pens that season. By my memory he scored a free kick or two but no pens... happy to be proved wrong mind.

Shane's a decent player with the potential to get even better but he's never consistently found the net and he should be scoring more then he has. Nicky Forster played the lone man up front and didn't have any problems scoring goals.

Obviously it's all opinion and speculation but right now I can't see we've got much to lose by giving Hunt a run considering how little threat Long is in front of goal recently.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

When i say pens & scoring 1 in 5, i meant in his career.

As for fitness, we only see him on the pitch, usually for 10 mins when chasing. The manger sees him in training every day and based on team selection and his performance v Northampton, there are serious doubts.

Long and Church up front for me.

[Row Z Royal]

Rasiak didn't bring much to the table. Took up most of our wage bill and generally put in poor performances.

Nothing besides 10 goals in 30 appearances...

Spot on. Plan B player.

I don't know if this bloke is just on a permanent wind up, but everything he says is wrong. Absolutely everything.

[Royalee]

Rasiak didn't bring much to the table. Took up most of our wage bill and generally put in poor performances.

Nothing besides 10 goals in 30 appearances...

Spot on. Plan B player.

I don't know if this bloke is just on a permanent wind up, but everything he says is wrong. Absolutely everything.

Isn't that what most people think of me on here?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Rasiak didn't bring much to the table. Took up most of our wage bill and generally put in poor performances.

Nothing besides 10 goals in 30 appearances...

Spot on. Plan B player.

I don't know if this bloke is just on a permanent wind up, but everything he says is wrong. Absolutely everything.

[roadrunner]

Drop Pearce and give the McAnuff a kick up the arse. He hasn't been himself since QPR's reported interest.

[Row Z Royal]

Nothing besides 10 goals in 30 appearances...

Spot on. Plan B player.

I don't know if this bloke is just on a permanent wind up, but everything he says is wrong. Absolutely everything.

Isn't that what most people think of me on here?

Yeah But there's a new hate figure in the RZR camp.

[floyd__streete]

In all honesty, i dont hink N Hunt has a future with us. Hes only on the bench cos weve got fck all else. We might only have Long and Church, but Hunt has serious limitations due to his fitness. He must have completed 90 mins no more than about 3/4 times for us in 2+ seasons. Lame duck with limited ability and a poor goal scoring record.

Have to agree with this in the main. Hunt is a crock; almost an entire year out through injury and then he instantly got injured again after a decent pre-season.

[Big Foot]

Federici

Harte
Pearce
Mills
Cummings

Karacan
Gunnarsson

McAnuff (left)
Antonio (right)
Kebe (centre)

Long

[Snowball]

McAnuff (left)
Antonio (right)
Kebe (centre)


The thing about all three of these is they can beat 1-2-3 men when they are flying

[Jeffers217]

Drop Pearce and give the McAnuff a kick up the arse. He hasn't been himself since QPR's reported interest.

I think McAnuff's performances are influenced by those around him- The Sig got the best out of him and in Rasiak, he had a focal point to cross the ball to. Now he has 2 clowns next to him in Long and Howard

[Hoop Blah]

McAnuff (left)
Antonio (right)
Kebe (centre)


The thing about all three of these is they can beat 1-2-3 men when they are flying

...and then more often than not stuff up the final delivery!

I think we'll probably see Robson-Kanu come in on the left, with McAnuff moving into the central role to see if that can provide a bit more spark. He played there for Watford quite a bit I think, and he has all the attributes. The only issue I have with it is that we're weakending the left hand side by shifting him in the middle.

Neither Kanu or Antonio are up to standard in my eyes, but there's no point having them in the squad if we don't use them now. Antonio seems to have jumped ahead of Kanu in the pecking order a bit, but I don't see Kebe as being as effective in the middle as starting on the right and by moving him you're detracting from currently our most potent attacking threat.

Back four probably picks itself, with Griffin to come back in if fit. I'd still be playing Khizanishvili at right back over Cummings in the meantime, but it seems Cummings is being given his chance.

Upfront I still don't think it matters who we pick as all 3 are average and too similar that it's almost pot luck as to which one might have a decent game. Long will undoubtedly start though.