BFTG Gillingham

[genome]

On bus back. Second half much better than the first. Not a game to write home about, but a win to get us going.

The team went up a gear when Quinn came on, very glad to have him back. Kelly's first goal was a screamer, second not so bad either.

Very impressed with Rinhomota first half, and Andresson in the second.

Other than that, not much to say! Pleased to get the season up and running.

[genome]

Unbelievable save by Jakkola in the second half by the way, he'll be pleased with pulling that off on his chance to impress the manager

[Hound]

Yep, posted my thoughts on the other thread

Quinn definitely made a big difference. Clement, Kelly 2nd half, Rinhomata and Anssi all did well. Moore very untroubled as you'd expect

[genome]

Btw, is it just me, or was that the fattest referee ever to grace the Mad Stad?

[Lower West]

A win is a win. Far better performance than I expected on seeing the starting line up. The youngsters gained invaluable experience tonight. Good to see Mendes and Quinn get run outs. Barrow has the pace to trouble defences. Playing Kelly further up the pitch was a tactical masterstroke. Job done.

[Royality creeps In]

First half was dreadful. Lots of sideways and backwards passing going nowhere fast and a continuation of Saturday.
Second half improved with the introductions of Quinn and Barrow, which enabled Kelly and Clement to get more involved.

Was not the most entertaining game, but a wins a win a the end of the day.

[Royal Ginger]

Btw, is it just me, or was that the fattest referee ever to grace the Mad Stad?

He was good value. Could hear every word he said.

[Royal Ginger]

How do you power a horned African beast?

[Woodcote Royal]

Light years better than Saturday!

Having been allocated the front row in the lower section at Loftus Rd, meaning my head was little more than 2ft above the turf, and having spent the best part of 2 decades in the back row of the Upper West, perhaps even Barcelona would have looked crap in my eyes. Sadly, however, the highlights confirmed just how poor we were.

Step forth a side packed with youngsters, average age 22, and there was much scope for things to go from bad to worse this evening.

As it happens, they didn't.

In fact, the game followed a similar pattern to so many last season where we ended up taking all 3pts. A first half almost bereft of offensive goal mouth incident from us, with much backward/sidewise movement going down like a lead balloon around my loftier perch at the back of the Lower West, where proceedings were not being viewed as £7.00 well spent

However, Gillingham clearly ran out of steam in the last 20 minutes and, along with the introduction of Barrow and Quinn, this turned the whole game on it's head. Finally, there was room to make all that possession count.

It's not always pretty, and I understand why it frustrates so many but, it came very close to getting us promoted last season and it won't be changing while Stam is in charge . Some still need to deal with this bald fact.

The plus side tonight was a young team so comfortable on the ball. Notably, I, too, was impressed with Rinomhota and this was yet another occasion when Jaakkola really looked the part; did we replace Al Habsi with indecent haste

Everyone knows we need a striker but, given the length of our current injury list, tonight should bode well for the future.

[maffff]

It was a game.

Highlight during the game was the pie I destroyed shortly after half time.

Saw Steven, Dave, Sam, Harry and a few others. Which made it worth going.

Nice to see our fans finally piping up on 78 minutes. Pretty embarrassing that tbf.

More action in the hotel than on the pitch tonight.

[maffff]

Best player Rinomhota.

Barrett, Clement and Gunter morphed together into one completely irrelevant blur.

Smith improved later on. Kelly was probably our second or third best player but was average goals aside. Moore and Jaakkola were fine, nor that there was much to do. Evans untroubled but I never want to see him as CB in 2 at the back again. Richards looked like a good winger, no awareness or defensive presence. Anyone else I didn't mention I forgot was even on the pitch. Apparently Mendes played.

Subs. Quinn and Barrow decent.

Andrésson existed. Didn't notice him. As a CB that's not a complaint.

[St. Brynjar]

First half started well, but quickly turned to one of the most dreary 45 mins I've seen at the Madejski. Felt like a friendly.

Second much better with the introduction of Barrow and Quinn, great goals from Kelly.

Stand out performances: Moore, Barrow, Quinn, Clement, Kelly, Evans, Rinomhota
Poor: Richards, Smith

Andresson a massive improvement on the disappointing Richards. Smith a bit lightweight and invisible for long stretches. Rinomhota really impressive, tenacious player. Barrett didn't do much wrong, hope to see more of him. Jaakola seemed solid, good to know we have a #2 capable of pushing Mannone.

[tee peg]

Dull game although the two goals from Kelly were impressive.

[Bob1871]

Good

Rinomhota - looked the most accomplished of the youngsters, comfortable on the ball, capable of putting a tackle in. Got himself in a good position in the first half but dragged his shot.

Kelly - Went missing in the first half, second half was a completely different player and seemed to be playing with more pace. Finish for the first goal wa superb.

Jaakkola - Made a great save at 0-0. Looked assured all night, could have got the ball out quicker on the break in the first half. Could push Manonne for a start this season.

Bad

Richards - Was making some great runs in the first half but wasn't being found. First touch let him down and when it came to any 50/50 he losses out as he isn't physically strong enough

Barrett - You can tell he fancies himself a bit, a few 30 yard shots high and wide. So obviously one footed that meant he was pretty easy to defend against

Fair play to the club on a £7 ticket price. Cheapest I can remember for a cup game

[genome]

Andrésson existed. Didn't notice him. As a CB that's not a complaint.

Really? He made several good passes and won a lot of headers.

[Hound]

Very much noticed him. Bit of 'school team captain' about him - lots of pointing and shouting etc - good sign of his confidence

Didn't get to see whether he has any pace to go with his size though - we were well in command when he was on

[Jim Royal]

To sum up. The game was very boring. It took Reading best part of an hour to get their first shot on target. Gillingham managed two shots on target in that period.

Kelly's first goal was an excellent strike. I missed the 2nd goal as I was leaving the stadium at that point.

I thought Evans looked pretty cool and composed at centre back.

A disappointing crowd of under 6,000.

[Sutekh]

I note that Richards is now on the injury list.

Got a whole team out injured now and it's only the first week of the season and Quinn isn't one of them

[Snowball]

After QPR that was enjoyable.

The quiet first half didn't worry me as it's fairly standard Reading these days.

Thought Evans looked very comfortable at centre-back and I like that he and Moore were happy to break forward into space.

Gunter still frustrates me. I think if he was made to be more forward-thinking he could be immense. One good run and a shot deflected wide but didn't seem to work at all well with Clement first half at least.

Rinomhota showed real promise but I was very taken by Andresson. He got on the ball a lot, made some nice through passes, slotted into the system perfectly, looked very composed, very assured, was good in the air. He's genuine cover for defence IMO.

Superb reaction save at 0-0 from Jaakkola.

Apart from his goals, I thought Kelly had a very good second half, and overall, the second half showed the difference in class. It was great to see Quinny back. The game turned when he came on. Whether that was all down to him, or down to Kelly being further forward, or Gills tiring, I dunno. but we played some sweet stuff and, in the end deserved win to nil.

The kid up front didn't look ready. Not sure about Barrett. Richards looked OK until his injury

[Snowball]

I note that Richards is now on the injury list.

Got a whole team out injured now and it's only the first week of the season.

It's a plan, like keeping your elite soldiers hidden in the woods...