MATCHWATCH : Carlisle United (h)

[leon]

Well. that manager change didn't go well did it? Perhaps Neol was good and the players are useless after all. I wonder what club1871 will be chanting on Thursday.
When were we not the last Berkshire team left in the FA Cup?

So you were expecting an entirely revised approach to tactics, formation, attitude and application after <checks notes> FOUR days?

I know most football fans aren't clever but really.....tbf I think the players have a great deal of responsibility for this whole shambles.

I agree with others comments - he should now rip through this side - a few home truths, I would question a lot of their commitment and professionalism after this shitshow.

[Orion1871]

Well. that manager change didn't go well did it? Perhaps Neol was good and the players are useless after all. I wonder what club1871 will be chanting on Thursday.
When were we not the last Berkshire team left in the FA Cup?

Clyde will find out.

[Snowflake Royal]

I would argue that this is pretty much the perfect result for Richardson.

He can be absolved of all blame having been in charge for only a matter of days. The only criticism one could offer would be the timing of his subs but I don't believe that had any effect on the result.
He can tear the players apart in the dressing room without any comeback after such an abject performance.
He can drop who he likes without any complaint from any of them.
The team is rock bottom and the only way is up.
The fans are in despair and if there's notable improvement he will be hailed as the new messiah.
He has an extra weekend without a game to work with the players.

I suspect he's inwardly delighted.

Agree with this

Yep some truth in that. As I said whilst watching, doubt we’ll see a number of these lads in the near future (or again) in the first team

Who, and what are the alternatives?

[Snowflake Royal]

You all take this far too hard and personally. It’s just a not very important match.

Shit happens. We've lost out on some money. It's not like we were in with a chance of winning the thing. Everyone gets turned over by a non-league team sometimes.

The beauty of football is as long as there's life in the club there's a better future out there eventually.

Your right but that’s now 3 times in the last few years how many times have we Beaton teams higher than us in the cup?
Clearly you enjoy being humiliated.

I haven't been humiliated, my team just lost a match.

[Clyde1998]

Well. that manager change didn't go well did it? Perhaps Neol was good and the players are useless after all. I wonder what club1871 will be chanting on Thursday.
When were we not the last Berkshire team left in the FA Cup?

Clyde will find out.

Doing a quick look, so may not be 100% accurate.

I think the last time a Berkshire side progressed further than us was in 1982-83 when Slough reached the second round and we were knocked out by Bishop's Stortford in the first round. Not sure if Slough was in Berkshire by that stage, rather than Buckinghamshire, though.

Seems to have happened twice in terms of date since then:

1. 1998-99 - R1 by Stoke (14 Nov); Slough: R1 replay by Macclesfield (24 Nov).
2. 1983-84 - R2 by Oxford (10 Dec); Windsor & Eton: R2 replay by Bournemouth (19 Dec).

[Hound]

Agree with this

Yep some truth in that. As I said whilst watching, doubt we’ll see a number of these lads in the near future (or again) in the first team

Who, and what are the alternatives?

Stickland would be one. Prob get a few more chances due to injuries but I don’t think we’ll see too much of Camara, maybe Kyeweraa going forwards

They both don’t seem to able to cross the ball

[The Royal Forester]

Well. that manager change didn't go well did it? Perhaps Neol was good and the players are useless after all. I wonder what club1871 will be chanting on Thursday.
When were we not the last Berkshire team left in the FA Cup?

Clyde will find out.

Doing a quick look, so may not be 100% accurate.

I think the last time a Berkshire side progressed further than us was in 1982-83 when Slough reached the second round and we were knocked out by Bishop's Stortford in the first round. Not sure if Slough was in Berkshire by that stage, rather than Buckinghamshire, though.

Seems to have happened twice in terms of date since then:

1. 1998-99 - R1 by Stoke (14 Nov); Slough: R1 replay by Macclesfield (24 Nov).
2. 1983-84 - R2 by Oxford (10 Dec); Windsor & Eton: R2 replay by Bournemouth (19 Dec).

It was in 1974 that Slough moved from Bucks. to Berks., in the local government reshuffle., so in in 1982-83 they were a Berkshire club. Thanks for the info.

[tmesis]

the only disappointments were Doyle and Kyeweraa who I can’t see LR sticking with at all

It could just be "off the top of my head" thinking, but Kyeweraa might just be the worst ever wide player I've seen in a Reading shirt. I can't think of a single thing he does adequately, let alone well.

I guess he can play a good safe backpass from an attacking position, but that's not a major plus.

I also struggle to recall a Reading side less effective in the final third. Maybe the last season under Tommy Burns.

The shocking thing really is how the spirit there's been among the players for the past couple of seasons seems to have completely gone.

Maybe the sadest thing is that the only thing that surprised me about this defeat was that we looked comfortable winners until injury time. The fact that yet another embarrassing result stepped up to piss on the corpse of this once-proud club didn't surprise me at all.

[Orion1871]

Well. that manager change didn't go well did it? Perhaps Neol was good and the players are useless after all. I wonder what club1871 will be chanting on Thursday.
When were we not the last Berkshire team left in the FA Cup?

Clyde will find out.

Doing a quick look, so may not be 100% accurate.

I think the last time a Berkshire side progressed further than us was in 1982-83 when Slough reached the second round and we were knocked out by Bishop's Stortford in the first round. Not sure if Slough was in Berkshire by that stage, rather than Buckinghamshire, though.

Seems to have happened twice in terms of date since then:

1. 1998-99 - R1 by Stoke (14 Nov); Slough: R1 replay by Macclesfield (24 Nov).
2. 1983-84 - R2 by Oxford (10 Dec); Windsor & Eton: R2 replay by Bournemouth (19 Dec).

Great work as usual, Clyde.

[West F]

Yep some truth in that. As I said whilst watching, doubt we’ll see a number of these lads in the near future (or again) in the first team

Who, and what are the alternatives?

Stickland would be one. Prob get a few more chances due to injuries but I don’t think we’ll see too much of Camara, maybe Kyeweraa going forwards

They both don’t seem to able to cross the ball

We shall see if the new manager notices their lack of end product. Kyerewaa is quick and looks like a player. But, there is a reason why he was bombed out by Preussen Munster. Camara has spent years delivering nothing, can only assume he was a really good lad and not remotely a ‘bad actor’. We shall wait with baited breath to see if Couhig and Jacobson’s back their man in January. While I hope that they do, I would ask why they didn’t do this for Noel.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yep some truth in that. As I said whilst watching, doubt we’ll see a number of these lads in the near future (or again) in the first team

Who, and what are the alternatives?

Stickland would be one. Prob get a few more chances due to injuries but I don’t think we’ll see too much of Camara, maybe Kyeweraa going forwards

They both don’t seem to able to cross the ball

Stickland's days are certainly up. Have been for a while. It's such a shame, a player whose come through with a big potential ticket on him, Unders captain, and he just doesn't look FL standard. I'd far rather Borgnis got his minutes now, looks far more comfortable and natural on the pitch.

Camara's only just back from injury and seems to have 9 lives. A bunch of mediocrity then something to save him. Him and Garcia back at least give some options with Ritchie and now maybe Lane out, especially with Big Kelv covering striker too.

I don’t think LR is going to bin many of them off on the basis of a terrible 10+ minutes when the game was seemingly won at 90 mins.

Just watched the highlights....

Iirc from the comms, Garcia gave away a cheap freekick near our box for the first. Loose ball off the wall and we're too busy stepping up to try offside from the ball in to track their forwards going in to pick the ball up.

Second is typical early season farce of a straightball down the middle. Stickers gets sucked up wrestles for and whiffs. Then Stevens fumbles a shot in at his near post.

The final one is a break and cracking finish.

I really don't get the Jacob complaints, not at fault for any of the goals unless maybe he gave away the first fk... but I guess he's a favourite scapegoat.

[Lower West]

To add insult to injury I went to the early Norwich game today, which they lost 0-2, with the fans attempting to storm the directors box after the game.

Another club where there's been a culling of managers by the American Owners when targets aren't met. Apparently £55 million was spent in the summer transfer window. Why are manager's always made the scape goats for other people's fantasy football teams ?

[BRO_BOT]

I would argue that this is pretty much the perfect result for Richardson.

He can be absolved of all blame having been in charge for only a matter of days. The only criticism one could offer would be the timing of his subs but I don't believe that had any effect on the result.
He can tear the players apart in the dressing room without any comeback after such an abject performance.
He can drop who he likes without any complaint from any of them.
The team is rock bottom and the only way is up.
The fans are in despair and if there's notable improvement he will be hailed as the new messiah.
He has an extra weekend without a game to work with the players.

I suspect he's inwardly delighted.

Agree with this

Yep some truth in that. As I said whilst watching, doubt we’ll see a number of these lads in the near future (or again) in the first team

^^^cope

[Clyde1998]

Who, and what are the alternatives?

Stickland would be one. Prob get a few more chances due to injuries but I don’t think we’ll see too much of Camara, maybe Kyeweraa going forwards

They both don’t seem to able to cross the ball

Stickland's days are certainly up. Have been for a while. It's such a shame, a player whose come through with a big potential ticket on him, Unders captain, and he just doesn't look FL standard. I'd far rather Borgnis got his minutes now, looks far more comfortable and natural on the pitch.

Camara's only just back from injury and seems to have 9 lives. A bunch of mediocrity then something to save him. Him and Garcia back at least give some options with Ritchie and now maybe Lane out, especially with Big Kelv covering striker too.

I don’t think LR is going to bin many of them off on the basis of a terrible 10+ minutes when the game was seemingly won at 90 mins.

Just watched the highlights....

Iirc from the comms, Garcia gave away a cheap freekick near our box for the first. Loose ball off the wall and we're too busy stepping up to try offside from the ball in to track their forwards going in to pick the ball up.

Second is typical early season farce of a straightball down the middle. Stickers gets sucked up wrestles for and whiffs. Then Stevens fumbles a shot in at his near post.

The final one is a break and cracking finish.

I really don't get the Jacob complaints, not at fault for any of the goals unless maybe he gave away the first fk... but I guess he's a favourite scapegoat.

Stickland (and Holzman) were both left in the U21s for too long on the basis of our limited squad depth. Neither could progress much beyond their level once they’d established themselves at U21 level as a result.

Problem with Borgnis is twenty-one himself now (a year younger than Stickland mind), so really has to be making some major advance to senior football in the next few months or he’ll be stagnating too. Agree I’d rather have him over Stickland now though from what limited amounts I’ve seen of him; think he was playing midfield over his last two U21 seasons too (not centre-back).

Stickland’s out of contract in the summer anyway, so perhaps keeping him as cover and sending Borgnis out on loan in January would be the best option. I imagine Kanu will be replacing Stickland in our first team squad next year.

Similarly Camara will probably be off in the summer too, as he’s not really advanced since reaching first team football (although injuries would’ve played a part). He’s fine as an squad option for now, but probably doesn’t have a long term future unless he pushes on.

IIRC, it was Jacob who lost the ball high up the pitch for their third. He’s certainly not the only one to blame, as their attacker was allowed to advance sixty-odd yards without anyone engaging him - I’d argue that’s a bigger issue than losing the ball initially.

Richardson has a big few days ahead of Stevenage and I do wonder if he just left the tactics broadly alone for this game as he didn’t have enough time to reasonably adjust things towards what he ultimately wants.

[Hound]

Who, and what are the alternatives?

Stickland would be one. Prob get a few more chances due to injuries but I don’t think we’ll see too much of Camara, maybe Kyeweraa going forwards

They both don’t seem to able to cross the ball

Stickland's days are certainly up. Have been for a while. It's such a shame, a player whose come through with a big potential ticket on him, Unders captain, and he just doesn't look FL standard. I'd far rather Borgnis got his minutes now, looks far more comfortable and natural on the pitch.

Camara's only just back from injury and seems to have 9 lives. A bunch of mediocrity then something to save him. Him and Garcia back at least give some options with Ritchie and now maybe Lane out, especially with Big Kelv covering striker too.

I don’t think LR is going to bin many of them off on the basis of a terrible 10+ minutes when the game was seemingly won at 90 mins.

Just watched the highlights....

Iirc from the comms, Garcia gave away a cheap freekick near our box for the first. Loose ball off the wall and we're too busy stepping up to try offside from the ball in to track their forwards going in to pick the ball up.

Second is typical early season farce of a straightball down the middle. Stickers gets sucked up wrestles for and whiffs. Then Stevens fumbles a shot in at his near post.

The final one is a break and cracking finish.

I really don't get the Jacob complaints, not at fault for any of the goals unless maybe he gave away the first fk... but I guess he's a favourite scapegoat.

You’re forgetting extra time. We were horrific in it. Maybe players won’t be totally binned off but I think their limitations were very obvious. DK got 70 mins to unimpress

Don’t really know on Jacob. I didn’t see him do a lot wrong. He was excellent first half but wasn’t anywhere near as effective from ht onwards going forward though

[windermereROYAL]

I`m seeing Jacobs get some horrendous abuse but for me he`s no worse than a few players I could mention. as for Stevens he`s right up there with one of the worse keepers I`ve ever seen play for us. what`s Simon Sheppard up to these days?

[Snowflake Royal]

Stickland would be one. Prob get a few more chances due to injuries but I don’t think we’ll see too much of Camara, maybe Kyeweraa going forwards

They both don’t seem to able to cross the ball

Stickland's days are certainly up. Have been for a while. It's such a shame, a player whose come through with a big potential ticket on him, Unders captain, and he just doesn't look FL standard. I'd far rather Borgnis got his minutes now, looks far more comfortable and natural on the pitch.

Camara's only just back from injury and seems to have 9 lives. A bunch of mediocrity then something to save him. Him and Garcia back at least give some options with Ritchie and now maybe Lane out, especially with Big Kelv covering striker too.

I don’t think LR is going to bin many of them off on the basis of a terrible 10+ minutes when the game was seemingly won at 90 mins.

Just watched the highlights....

Iirc from the comms, Garcia gave away a cheap freekick near our box for the first. Loose ball off the wall and we're too busy stepping up to try offside from the ball in to track their forwards going in to pick the ball up.

Second is typical early season farce of a straightball down the middle. Stickers gets sucked up wrestles for and whiffs. Then Stevens fumbles a shot in at his near post.

The final one is a break and cracking finish.

I really don't get the Jacob complaints, not at fault for any of the goals unless maybe he gave away the first fk... but I guess he's a favourite scapegoat.

You’re forgetting extra time. We were horrific in it. Maybe players won’t be totally binned off but I think their limitations were very obvious. DK got 70 mins to unimpress

Don’t really know on Jacob. I didn’t see him do a lot wrong. He was excellent first half but wasn’t anywhere near as effective from ht onwards going forward though

I've ignored ET because it's a cup only deal, it's not going to feature for us again this season. And conceding 2 in injury time followed by a third almost immediately in ET is an absolute hammer blow to morale. It's going to effect performance, especiallly with a weak bench.

[Hound]

Just watched the highlights as well now. Yeah Jacob not to blame for any of them. First was a bit unfortunate, ball just dropped perfectly for the striker. The third was a good strike but somehow evaded 3 defenders blocking and the keeper from 25 yards. The second is all on Stevens I’m afraid, unacceptable to let that go in. He had a really poor game, not just the goals

Linney looks class tbf

Shame that Kelvin header was superbly saved. That was very much the pattern of play first half, and a good header. Good goal from MoM as well and a decent cross from Doyle. Again the type of goal I think LM is looking for

[traff]

This feels like the weakest squad we’ve had since 98/99.
I’m struggling to think of a more ineffectual left side than Lane and Jacobs.

That team under Burns and his third-rate Jock jokes still managed to finish 11th that season and honestly, I can’t see us bettering that this time around.

And by the way, how is Couhig’s pet project ( Joe Jacobson) the rookie joint CEO, still flying under the radar of criticism? It’s starting to feel like sentimentality has replaced sound judgement at the top.

We’ve never properly replaced Nicky Hammond’s role, and the club’s suffered for it ever since. The lack of proper football governance and direction is plain to see.

[bloody Volvo driver]

The whole narrative on this thread would have been so different if Stevens had done what he should have done and saved the second goal, it was a shocking error that ultimately cost us the game (and £30k with potentially more too boot). Something along the lines of decent performance apart from first 15 minutes of second half and hanging on a bit in added time.

Certainly seems to have been scapegoats due to the results, some of which I don’t believe warrant the tag. Jacobs, solid first half, got much further forward, second half got peggged back due to a switch from Carlisle and that blunted our attacking options, but that’s a conundrum the bench need to sort. Stickers (and Dorsett for that matter) did okay. Cannot see either pulling up trees anytime soon, but steady enough and as Mick and Adie say, you cannot have too many centre backs or centre forwards (which the latter we do). Kelvin is not a forward full stop, when LR switched him wide right for a short period, looked much more at home.

Only “agree” is on Danny K. Just cannot see anything there, people say he is quick, he simply isn’t, so not sure what he brings to the party.