Back from whatever that was.

[72 bus]

Is there any other team in the division that entered the season with only two senior centre backs and only one semi decent goal keeper ?

[windermereROYAL]

Raphael , nothing to do , not a single save to make but gifted them the 2nd goal 5.

Yiadom, wasn`t the worse player out there. 6
Morrison, just lost without Moore next to him, played Fletcher onside for the 2nd 5
Gibson, can`t be too critical , just thrown in, awful mistake for the last goal. 5
Richards. best of the back 4, but apart from one his crossing was woeful. 6

We conceded 3 awful goals and none of the back 5 get less than 5... what planet are you on

All 3 right through the middle, no blame to the full backs at all.

[Royality creeps In]

Despite the disappointing result today we are still top Yay!
To make it a happier weekend Both the Pox (out of the FA Cup) and Trump defeated

Not all bad folks!

[Westwood52]

O Neill has bugger all to work with and we were the only team that played any football.That said they were well organised and worked their socks off.I get a bit annoyed with these refs who allow two pull backs before booking a player on the third.Their tactics in the first half to obstruct us were very noticeable.Their only card being for a lunge.TBF in the second half they didn’t need to use the same strategy,as all they had to do was press and get behind the ball,leaving no gaps.Two nil down why did Pauno leave it so late to bring on Olise and Alukho?
Can we afford to continue with the Laurent Rino axis ?They are not the most creative of players and we have now given away nine goals in three games.

[Gunny Fishcake]

I think if you'd had asked 20,000 Reading fans where we'd be after 11 you could have counted on one hand how many would have said top. It's been a bitterly disapointing three defeats but we're still in a great position, and that early season form and confidence is there somewhere, we're probably better away than home so let's keep the faith , though it is so hard at times

[URZZZZ]

In short, mistakes at the back cost us as Stoke didn't get through us once. We missed good chances again but didn't show enough ideas on how to break them down.

This team has not suddenly got crap due to 3 defeats, just like we weren't world beaters 2 weeks back. This division is super tight with most teams pretty well matched, until this week we have been on the right side of those tight margins but at the mo it's going the other way.

Any team who cannot call on players of the quality of Swift, Ejaria and Meite going forward as well as Moore at the back is going to struggle a bit. We need this break and despite this run, we will hit the restart in the top 2 and possibly still top.

Agree with this

First goal was always going to be crucial today. Stoke were obviously going to pack their box with their 7 foot giants if they took the lead and we didn’t have the creativity to break them down

[karbota]

Bring in too many foreign players, management, coaching staff, what do you expect?. No passion, no fight, white flag again. Gomez mark 2, mid table at best.


Rafael 7 Did nothing wrong
Yiadom 4 Rubbish, drop.
Gibson 4 who?, drop
Morro 7 good solid performance
Richards 8 Another good game.
Laurent 7 okish but very lazy.
Rino 5 poor again, drop
Semedo 4 lost, drop.
Esteves 6 shows a lot of promise but too many costly mistakes.
Joao 4 drop, he is not interested.
Puscas 2 Remind me again who said hes getting better, get rid.
Olise 6 not living up to his early promise.
Baldock 7 Skilful player has a lovely touch, If only he had started.
Aluko 6 Effort has improved this season.

We really are paying the price for the loss of the likes of Swift, and Gunter.

[retro royal]

Can't believe some people have even given Esteves 5 I have never seen a professional player look like a school boy scared to get involved, can he sprint ? Only thing I've seen him do well is a few pops at goal. He isn't ready for championship football, our midfield are being pulled out of position trying to cover his poor positional play, he's always looking to play the ball backwards. I wish him luck in his career but right now we can't afford to carry him, also hope he proves me wrong, just don't see it happening any time soon.

[Vicky Pollard]

Wouldnt usually say this after a defeat but the international break has come at a good time.

Regroup, get players rested and back from injury and put the last 3 games behind us. It's still been an excellent start.

[AthleticoSpizz]

TOT oxf*rd L!!

(just to add to the posts of speaking the bl00dy obvious’s)

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I think for me, and maybe others is the way the season has gone, yes out start was amazing and enjoyable but it’s the fact it’s three defeats in a row and not just by a single goal.

Had we had the start we’ve had, lost three but those defeats had been dotted around the first 11 games it wouldn’t feel as bad as it does nor would it be such a concern

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Only thing I've seen him do well is a few pops at goal.

he's always looking to play the ball backwards.

[Snowflake Royal]

It's weird, but for the most part I think we played fairly well for much of that. We just made calamitous individual errors at the back again and failed to take any of our decent chance.

Cabral - 5 unsighted from the first catalogue of errors goal, and couldn't do much with the third except give away a penalty, but awful attempt at playing out under pressure once again for the second.
Yiadom - 6 okish performance, through did drop a clanger for a counter attack trying to take someone on unnecessarily
Morrison - 6 not as commanding as normal, but ok don't think he was at fault for a goal
Gibson - 5 for the most part played fairly well and added some pace to the centre of defence, but oxf*rd up at both ends of the pitch, if he cores, I can't recall if it' 1-0, 1-1 or 1-2 but it changes the dynamic of the game. Least said about that back pass the better
Richards - 7 don't recall him being at fault for anything, at least one peach of a cross
Esteves - 5 poor header for the first goal, generally poor all game with the odd nice moment. There's a player there, but the last thing you want in a poor run of form is an exciteable 18 year old who is a RB because they aren't quite up to being a RWer
Rinomhota - 6 good for the most part but some uncharacteristic poor moments
Laurent - 6 pretty decent but nothing decisive
Semedo - 6 started well, but fades out of games when they're going badly. Greater player in a winning team, not one to get you out of a rut, probably why Forest didn't rate him
Joao - 6 bit of an enigma, so talented and capable, but quite often doesn't look arsed. Didn't pull any magic out today
Puscas - 6 worked hard, not much to show for it

Baldock - 6 good running, made a couple of chances but not going to come on and win us many games by creating or scoring
Olise - 7 got us going a bit better, but couldn't pull anything off
Aluko - 6 some lovely stuff, but as always seems to be the case with Aluko, none of it actually leads to anything concrete.

Paunovic - 5 bullshit passing out from the back continues, and listened to the fans dropping McIntyre and switching shape. Well, didn't work did it. Looks a bit devoid of ideas if we aren't flying.

Stroud - mostly good, but feel we should have had a penalty and he could have been a bit handier with his cards... though I do like a ref that keeps them in his pocket.

[PieEater]

It seems that all the critics were right, we shouldn't have been getting all those goals and we'd not cope with going behind. We missed chances, leaked soft goals from defensive mistakes then really didn't look up for fighting to get back into the game.

[Zip]

We’ve now conceded 11 in our last 4 games. No goals scored in our last two games. So problems at both ends. Would prefer we went to Bournemouth with a view to frustrating them and try and pick up a point.

[Hound]

We’ve now conceded 11 in our last 4 games. No goals scored in our last two games. So problems at both ends. Would prefer we went to Bournemouth with a view to frustrating them and try and pick up a point.

Think Bournemouth will really come at us which may suit us tbh

Just about building the confidence back up. We still look a decent team to me, just one that is making silly mistakes at both ends

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Can't believe some people have even given Esteves 5 I have never seen a professional player look like a school boy scared to get involved, can he sprint ? Only thing I've seen him do well is a few pops at goal. He isn't ready for championship football, our midfield are being pulled out of position trying to cover his poor positional play, he's always looking to play the ball backwards. I wish him luck in his career but right now we can't afford to carry him, also hope he proves me wrong, just don't see it happening any time soon.

Ummm, I gave him a 4 and that after I added an extra point for a decent effort and being generous.

But hey, we are still top - which none of you Knobheads would have predicted at the start of the season - Pauno has rapidly built some sort of belief and a style which should pay dividends when we get folk back from injury - even the Bag of Cement that is Meite *ahem* (that's for you, SWLR) - and anyone can beat anyone.

But yeah - I would have played Holmes at CB today with Yiadom at RB and Esteves dropped - although Yids struggled with the pae first game back.

Baldock is like a breath of fresh air every time he comes on. What a pro.

[TiagoIlori]

Gibson will learn from his mistake, looked solid otherwise. Esteves is also going to make mistakes. Rafael on the other hand is just inexcusable and should know better, been very poor lately. Semedo is not a playmaker oxf*rd sake Pauno stop playing him as one. The system needs to be tweaked so we can dominate games, absolutely no good when the opposition doesn’t come at us.

[Crowbar6753]

let us be honest here, our squad is paper thin and we are suffering for it. Our first choice 11 and bench is a match for every team in this league, period!!
However, as soon as we get some injuries we have no depth whatsoever, and the absence of Moore and Meite has really highlight the fact. Moore has been a massive loss, as his partnership with Morrison was immense..... and Meite brings so much power and goalscoring threat to our front line.
I thought Gibson played ok today, and looked stronger and more composed than McIntyre and with gametime could be a tidy player until Moore gets back to fitness, wouldnt mind Holmes getting a go when and if fit before Moore.
Esteves isnt a right winger or a great right back yet and is a little unfair to judge him as he is only 18. So its Yiadom and Aluko for me until Meite is fit.
With injuries we are at best a middle of the league side, however, if we kept most of the squad fit then i really believe the top six is within our reach.

[Lower West]

Gibson will learn from his mistake, looked solid otherwise. Esteves is also going to make mistakes.

Not going to win Championships with loan players or academy stand in's. Simply too inconsistent, lacking both experience and maturity.