MATCHWATCH : Blackpool (a)

[Hound]

I do find it strange that people claim Kelvin is low effort

He has his faults - wouldn’t say that was one of them.

[RoyalBlue]

Thought I'd have a quick look on here to enjoy all of the praise for Kyerewaa for his outstanding performance and attitude.

It's a bit muted. Perhaps humble pie isn't to everyone's taste.

Weird attitude

He was playing shite - but it was clear he could play a bit

He now has a couple of good games and people say he’s played well

Which is totally fair

I'm in the AR camp and I disagree that he was playing shite. IMO he was never that poor, always worked hard and caused opposition defenders problems. More often than not, he was let down by the failure of his teammates to make decent runs/get in good positions and perhaps too often he himself was looking to pass rather than have a go on his own. Today he was excellent as highlighted by the Sky commentator who has no axes to grind.

[Snowflake Royal]

I do find it strange that people claim Kelvin is low effort

He has his faults - wouldn’t say that was one of them.

Well, he has a fairly laconic style. And he's not an all action run his heart out on lost causes type. Though he does put in a shift.

Plus, he's black and there is that tendency for black players to be described as lazy more than white players.

[Hound]

Thought I'd have a quick look on here to enjoy all of the praise for Kyerewaa for his outstanding performance and attitude.

It's a bit muted. Perhaps humble pie isn't to everyone's taste.

Weird attitude

He was playing shite - but it was clear he could play a bit

He now has a couple of good games and people say he’s played well

Which is totally fair

I'm in the AR camp and I disagree that he was playing shite. IMO he was never that poor, always worked hard and caused opposition defenders problems. More often than not, he was let down by the failure of his teammates to make decent runs/get in good positions and perhaps too often he himself was looking to pass rather than have a go on his own. Today he was excellent as highlighted by the Sky commentator who has no axes to grind.

I’ve no axe to grind. I’m delighted to see him play well. Seems a good lad as well. He’s always worked hard, stayed very fit and given 100%

He’s had more assists in the two games than he did in the previous 20 or whatever it was however which tells it’s own story

Fully agree too often he looked to pass though. That was 100% his main flaw and showed a general lack of confidence

[Royals and Racers]

Doesn’t seem to have been any post match interviews with Leam Richardson or anyone else from the management team which i find odd.

[Orion1871]

Doesn’t seem to have been any post match interviews with Leam Richardson or anyone else from the management team which i find odd.

Interviews with Richardson and Kyerewaa on the club youtube

https://youtu.be/Y3ktI-4Rrs0?si=B79D36mLLExL3-ZV

https://youtu.be/dQEgnKio1IY?si=znpE1vOm7BL8BGKt

[Clyde1998]

Just got home and have to say Kyerewaa was absolutely brilliant today. He was consistently looking to drive the team forward and take on the defender. Felt like a proper winger and the Blackpool defence simply didn't know how to deal with him.

Will do a longer write up soon, but he has to be praised today.

[PieEater]

BFTG

I think you have to give Richardson some credit for his tactics - Blackpool play with 352 so we just needed Kywera to get 1:1 with the centre half and they were in trouble.

There was a lot of hoofball and we seemed to lose a lot of midfield battles but I was always pretty confident we'd win after scoring the first goal. It makes a pleasant change from the usual drubbing we get there.

Just on tarnish on the day, I stupidly got a burger for lunch before the game from a chippy, it was disgusting - they deep fried it in the chip fat and it tasted like it.

A shout out to the "Cask and Tap" pub, I'll be back there again on my next visit

[72 bus]

I do find it strange that people claim Kelvin is low effort

He has his faults - wouldn’t say that was one of them.

Well, he has a fairly laconic style. And he's not an all action run his heart out on lost causes type. Though he does put in a shift.

Plus, he's black and there is that tendency for black players to be described as lazy more than white players.

It's not his fault that he his not cut out to be a central striker, I think we can all see that. He is probably just as aware of that as we are.
But any way Ian, just play the race card, that normally shuts down any discussion on here.
You win the internet tonight, well done.

[Snowflake Royal]

I do find it strange that people claim Kelvin is low effort

He has his faults - wouldn’t say that was one of them.

Well, he has a fairly laconic style. And he's not an all action run his heart out on lost causes type. Though he does put in a shift.

Plus, he's black and there is that tendency for black players to be described as lazy more than white players.

It's not his fault that he his not cut out to be a central striker, I think we can all see that. He is probably just as aware of that as we are.
But any way Ian, just play the race card, that normally shuts down any discussion on here.
You win the internet tonight, well done.

You can bury your head in the sand all you like, but its hardly a secret it happens.

[From Despair To Where?]

Well, he has a fairly laconic style. And he's not an all action run his heart out on lost causes type. Though he does put in a shift.

Plus, he's black and there is that tendency for black players to be described as lazy more than white players.

It's not his fault that he his not cut out to be a central striker, I think we can all see that. He is probably just as aware of that as we are.
But any way Ian, just play the race card, that normally shuts down any discussion on here.
You win the internet tonight, well done.

You can bury your head in the sand all you like, but its hardly a secret it happens.

I seem to remember Ron Atkinson getting sacked for saying as much and it was definitely a commonly expressed trope in the 80s and 90s

[Brogue]

In the anthropology of English football, few phenomena are as bleakly instructive as an away day at Blackpool. Scholars might classify it as a form of voluntary cultural punishment: a pilgrimage into a seaside town that appears to have been trapped in permanent architectural stasis since 1974, preserved heroically by an unwavering commitment to structural decay and wind speeds normally reserved for offshore oil rigs.

Arriving at Bloomfield Road offered our supporters a rare opportunity to study the limits of human optimism. The away stand—an open invitation to hypothermia—constitutes a built environment so hostile that even first-year archaeology students might assume it was an unfinished Roman fortification abandoned due to uninhabitable conditions. The matchday ‘atmosphere’ functions less like a sporting event and more like a live demonstration of coastal erosion.

Against this backdrop, our 3–0 win possesses all the prestige of pushing over a deckchair in a hurricane. Blackpool’s current form—occupying the relegation zone with the enthusiasm of a club determined to explore the sociological boundaries of collapse—renders the result not a triumph but a mandatory housekeeping task. It would be wrong to call it a victory; it is better understood as ‘routine maintenance.’ More donkeys on the pitch than on the beach.

Indeed, beating Blackpool right now provides roughly the same level of achievement as winning an argument with someone who has already agreed with you. One cannot meaningfully claim superiority when the opposition are performing a season-long ethnographic study into how far a League One club can fall before gravity gets bored.

If this was meant to be a statement win, the statement reads: ‘We turned up. They didn’t.’ Nothing more. Nothing less. And anyone attempting to extract prestige from a 3–0 at Bloomfield Road this season should be gently reminded that this is the footballing equivalent of submitting your name correctly on an exam and receiving full marks for it.

Reading Football Club’s current existence in League One can be likened to a middle-class family who accidentally took the wrong motorway exit and now find themselves living on an estate they spent 30 years carefully avoiding. Reading were once thoroughly working class—tinpot stadium, small budgets, and aspirations that never rose higher than “maybe finish 12th.” But over the past few decades, the club painstakingly acquired the trappings of football’s middle class: a modern stadium, a decent academy, and a fanbase that learned to pronounce “infrastructure” without irony.

This wasn’t some sudden jackpot moment where a club wins promotion once and declares itself aristocracy. No, this was a slow, grinding process of cultural gentrification—like a family who climbs the ladder inch by inch until suddenly they’re drinking flat whites, correcting people’s grammar, and insisting their children call them “Mummy” and “Daddy” in public. By the time Reading fell back into League One, they had already developed the kind of institutional self-esteem that does not cope well with away days involving temporary stands and chip vans.

On paper, the win at Blackpool may look impressive. Culturally? It’s the footballing equivalent of a privately educated teenager effortlessly humiliating the local lads at a spelling bee. Nothing about it is surprising. Reading have spent thirty years converting themselves into the kind of club that *expects* to beat teams like Blackpool, even when everything else around them is falling apart like a cheap council flat extension.

The victory is not an upset but an affirmation: despite the EFL’s best efforts, Reading’s footballing identity still believes it belongs somewhere between “Championship respectability” and “mild Premier League delusion.” And no amount of relegation can fully erase that institutional smugness.

[leon]

I do find it strange that people claim Kelvin is low effort

He has his faults - wouldn’t say that was one of them.

Well, he has a fairly laconic style. And he's not an all action run his heart out on lost causes type. Though he does put in a shift.

Plus, he's black and there is that tendency for black players to be described as lazy more than white players.

Is that last bit is aimed at my comments? If so I’d like you to take it back please.

My issue is he doesn’t win 50 50s when the ball is loose or chase down. It’s frustrating. To say I think black players are lazy is an unacceptable accusation.

I think he’s a good player but not suited to what he’s being asked to do.

[Snowflake Royal]

In the anthropology of English football, few phenomena are as bleakly instructive as an away day at Blackpool. Scholars might classify it as a form of voluntary cultural punishment: a pilgrimage into a seaside town that appears to have been trapped in permanent architectural stasis since 1974, preserved heroically by an unwavering commitment to structural decay and wind speeds normally reserved for offshore oil rigs.

Arriving at Bloomfield Road offered our supporters a rare opportunity to study the limits of human optimism. The away stand—an open invitation to hypothermia—constitutes a built environment so hostile that even first-year archaeology students might assume it was an unfinished Roman fortification abandoned due to uninhabitable conditions. The matchday ‘atmosphere’ functions less like a sporting event and more like a live demonstration of coastal erosion.

Against this backdrop, our 3–0 win possesses all the prestige of pushing over a deckchair in a hurricane. Blackpool’s current form—occupying the relegation zone with the enthusiasm of a club determined to explore the sociological boundaries of collapse—renders the result not a triumph but a mandatory housekeeping task. It would be wrong to call it a victory; it is better understood as ‘routine maintenance.’ More donkeys on the pitch than on the beach.

Indeed, beating Blackpool right now provides roughly the same level of achievement as winning an argument with someone who has already agreed with you. One cannot meaningfully claim superiority when the opposition are performing a season-long ethnographic study into how far a League One club can fall before gravity gets bored.

If this was meant to be a statement win, the statement reads: ‘We turned up. They didn’t.’ Nothing more. Nothing less. And anyone attempting to extract prestige from a 3–0 at Bloomfield Road this season should be gently reminded that this is the footballing equivalent of submitting your name correctly on an exam and receiving full marks for it.

Reading Football Club’s current existence in League One can be likened to a middle-class family who accidentally took the wrong motorway exit and now find themselves living on an estate they spent 30 years carefully avoiding. Reading were once thoroughly working class—tinpot stadium, small budgets, and aspirations that never rose higher than “maybe finish 12th.” But over the past few decades, the club painstakingly acquired the trappings of football’s middle class: a modern stadium, a decent academy, and a fanbase that learned to pronounce “infrastructure” without irony.

This wasn’t some sudden jackpot moment where a club wins promotion once and declares itself aristocracy. No, this was a slow, grinding process of cultural gentrification—like a family who climbs the ladder inch by inch until suddenly they’re drinking flat whites, correcting people’s grammar, and insisting their children call them “Mummy” and “Daddy” in public. By the time Reading fell back into League One, they had already developed the kind of institutional self-esteem that does not cope well with away days involving temporary stands and chip vans.

On paper, the win at Blackpool may look impressive. Culturally? It’s the footballing equivalent of a privately educated teenager effortlessly humiliating the local lads at a spelling bee. Nothing about it is surprising. Reading have spent thirty years converting themselves into the kind of club that *expects* to beat teams like Blackpool, even when everything else around them is falling apart like a cheap council flat extension.

The victory is not an upset but an affirmation: despite the EFL’s best efforts, Reading’s footballing identity still believes it belongs somewhere between “Championship respectability” and “mild Premier League delusion.” And no amount of relegation can fully erase that institutional smugness.

[Snowflake Royal]

I do find it strange that people claim Kelvin is low effort

He has his faults - wouldn’t say that was one of them.

Well, he has a fairly laconic style. And he's not an all action run his heart out on lost causes type. Though he does put in a shift.

Plus, he's black and there is that tendency for black players to be described as lazy more than white players.

Is that last bit is aimed at my comments? If so I’d like you to take it back please.

My issue is he doesn’t win 50 50s when the ball is loose or chase down. It’s frustrating. To say I think black players are lazy is an unacceptable accusation.

I think he’s a good player but not suited to what he’s being asked to do.

Not aimed at anyone specific leon.

And, not all bias is conscious.

[PieEater]

I think Kelvin is probably just too nice a person to play the target man, you have to a bit of git and get in the centre half's face and scrap. That's not his game, or apparently winning headers. He doesn't try for 50/50s and backs out of challenges, he's just way too polite.

He's best with the ball at his feet running at players.

[Hound]

I think Kelvin is probably just too nice a person to play the target man, you have to a bit of git and get in the centre half's face and scrap. That's not his game, or apparently winning headers. He doesn't try for 50/50s and backs out of challenges, he's just way too polite.

He's best with the ball at his feet running at players.

He certainly isn’t the finished article and I’ve said plenty of times that we should get a proper target man in

But to give KE his dues, I think he’s improving in that role and has done it pretty well last 3 games. He is starting to get to grips with big strong defenders and winning a decent number of duels

And our results when he plays there have been pretty good overall this year

[Snowflake Royal]

I think Kelvin is probably just too nice a person to play the target man, you have to a bit of git and get in the centre half's face and scrap. That's not his game, or apparently winning headers. He doesn't try for 50/50s and backs out of challenges, he's just way too polite.

He's best with the ball at his feet running at players.

He certainly isn’t the finished article and I’ve said plenty of times that we should get a proper target man in

But to give KE his dues, I think he’s improving in that role and has done it pretty well last 3 games. He is starting to get to grips with big strong defenders and winning a decent number of duels

And our results when he plays there have been pretty good overall this year

I think a bit like Joao, he's much better dropping off and picking up ball to feet or trying to get in behind from the shoulder than getting in a physical contest for a ball to head/chest.

But that's at least partly because we don’t actually play in a way that assumes he'll succeed. There's never a run in beyond him to pick up a flick on, and when he does manage one, there'snever really any thought to directing it. There's rarely someone stood off to pick up a knockdown either.

He's never looked the fittest or most atheletic. He's certainly not someone you'd say could run all day, like a Long, Smith, Savage, Harper etc. Or someone who relishes the battle like Smith, Morley etc.

He certainly seems to play to conserve his running a fair amount.

But he does track back, and close down, just not so much for lost causes.

[Hound]

He is also relatively new to the role and still learning. Probably getting physically stronger as well. He’s still pretty young and played the majority of games on the wing.

Considering he’s played just about 90 mins in every game for LR so far, except for the cup game which looked won at 2-0, I suspect LR is also pretty happy with how he is going

[Snowflake Royal]

Yeah fair.