BFTG - Cardiff

[Winston Smith]

Just all a bit meh really. Maybe we have been a bit spoilt over the last 10 years.

Hector looks horrible to play against. Wins almost every header and is very good at using his body strength to make sure he wins tussles and forces people out of the way. With that in mind, he really should be a better footballer.

[RG7Fan]

We played well and deserved to win but lacked quality at the crucial time. Couple that with a dreadful referee who missed an obvious handball and at least one definite penalty missed as well and it just wasn't our day.

Al Habsi - Nothing to do . 6

Gunter - Not as bad as usual still let one or two crosses in with minimal effort to stop them. 6
McShane - Good performance, kept them quiet and should have been given a penalty. 8
Cooper - Did well on his return, more solid than in recent weeks. 7
Taylor - Solid but not spectacular, as always. 6

HRK - Unfortunate to go of injured. 5
Hector - Fine, count down on the flash harry stuff. 7
Quinn - Love his industry, less keen on his passing as he gives the ball away a little too much for my liking. 7
Williams - Off the pace. 6
John - Constant danger, just a shame he can't finish. 7

Kermogant - Held it up quite well but needs to offer more imo. 6

McCleary -Thought it was the McCleary from two seasons ago for a while there. Excellent goal. 8 Motm
Vydra - Please send him back, had enough. 4
Cox - Unlucky at the end there, the ball was just a little too far for him. Put himself about well. 6

Have to disagree on a few of those ...

Cooper - no way a 7. Not a shocking performance but quite a few woeful passes today so 6/5. I was nervous in the second half pretty much everytime he got the ball in case he lost it / stuffed up.
Vydra - much better than a 4. Really seemed up for it and the twisting punt he took just after coming on looked good and could have been the winner, just needed to be 6 inches further to the side of the goalie. I would say a 6.

Otherwise
Kermie - BBCRB were talking about how he was flicking on well, just no-one there for it. Seems to me he needs to be in a 4-4-2 set up. Maybe Brian should have swapped Vydra for Quinn (or Williams) instead.
McCleary - is the old GMac back? Looked so much better than he has recently.
John - still dangerous, and great to see a full 90 mins. Think hes better as an impact sub though.

Quinn and McShane show real passion and pretty much for the full 90 mins, if only the whole team could do that.

Interesting that Brian is persisting with Hector (who I think has found his right position) given he is a loaner. Wouldn't be surprised to see Norwood and / or Williams leave (for various reasons - wages / cash / not in long term plans) in the summer and if Hector goes back as well then there will be a big hole there.

[RG7Fan]

Players - 6

Tactics - 1

Ref - 0

Ref wasnt that good

[P!ssed Off]

Vydra for Kermorgant was the game changer.
'Super' Vydra offers nothing, send him home.

[bobby1413]

I've not kicked a ball in the last 17 years. The last time was in school where I couldn't even get into the second team as I was that terrible.

However...

I still believe I could put a better cross or corner in than most of the current Reading players.

In fact my Mum probably could too

[marlowuk]

Strange how opinions vary so much by those of us at the game. For me this was the best performance from us for a long time. There was more passion, more togetherness from the squad and fewer unforced errors. Yes we should have won comfortably and missed two (I think) open goals but we were also playing against an awful referee!!

One thing most of us agree with is that McShane was MOTM. Great to see G Mac get a goal (brilliantly taken!) after which he visibly grew in confidence. Ola John plays with such enthusiasm it is difficult to criticise his finishing but really ....

Taylor was OK but I'm not sure why Obita was dropped. I though Jordan had done pretty well against some tricky wingers recently (Zaha and Sessignon for example) and he seemed to be building a good understanding with OJ. Hector had a good game but Cooper seems to think he is Hector and lingers on the ball too long at times. Gunter was Gunter.

Quinn had a pretty forgettable 1st half but improved in the 2nd and I was pleased to see Williams back - he didn't disappoint. Kermorgant was in the game more today. He was the assist for our goal and nearly scored from a delightful through ball from OJ. The defender gave a slight tug on his shirt which was just enough to enable the keeper to smother the shot. He went off the boil as the second half wore on so I don't criticise BM for subbing him. Vydra did OK and would have scored but for a reaction save from Moore.

All in all, though, a frustrating game and I hope HRK isn't badly injured.

[tmesis]

Things we need to work on when on the break

1) when a teammate has the ball and is running forwards, run into a space so you can be passed to, rather than trying to run into you own player

2) when you try to pass to a player in space, try to pass to where you think he'll be when he makes his run, not where he was before he made his run

3) when a winger is on a break and looking to cross the ball into the box, it helps to run towards their goal, into the penalty area, rather than jogging over the halfway line.

4) if a player has made a break into the box, and is looking to cut the ball back, try to move into a space to be able to receive the ball, rather than standing still and just waiting for your teammate to lose the ball.

[Ian Royal]

The game changed on 2 substitutions for me. taking Kermo off who was holding up the ball well was a crime, they bring on the tall black guy who creates a goal with his first touch.
Cardiff looked anything but play-off contenders, hit the bar with a great chance in the first half, but created very little after that. John is so f*cking frustrating. should have buried an easy chance after doing all the hard work at the end of the 1st half. 2-0 and we would have won.
Hold your hands up Brian. you f*cked up again. I am yet to be convinced by his return.
And yes the ref was shit again.

Out of interest, why did you have to point out that the tall guy who creates a goal with his first touch was 'black'?

Just a thought, but it may be a feature that acts as an easy identifier of who he was talking about.

[quickwingerswife]

Marvellous game, end to end mistakes, brilliant. Can't wait for the next one. Brian's "what we're about" should be very readable tomorrow.

[Winston Smith]

The game changed on 2 substitutions for me. taking Kermo off who was holding up the ball well was a crime, they bring on the tall black guy who creates a goal with his first touch.
Cardiff looked anything but play-off contenders, hit the bar with a great chance in the first half, but created very little after that. John is so f*cking frustrating. should have buried an easy chance after doing all the hard work at the end of the 1st half. 2-0 and we would have won.
Hold your hands up Brian. you f*cked up again. I am yet to be convinced by his return.
And yes the ref was shit again.

Out of interest, why did you have to point out that the tall guy who creates a goal with his first touch was 'black'?

Is referring to a black person as black now offensive? Or are you just one of them people that likes the whole offended on behalf of someone else thing?

[Royal_jimmy]

People saying that today's a good point shows how far the club has declined in the past few years

[genome]

The game changed on 2 substitutions for me. taking Kermo off who was holding up the ball well was a crime, they bring on the tall black guy who creates a goal with his first touch.
Cardiff looked anything but play-off contenders, hit the bar with a great chance in the first half, but created very little after that. John is so f*cking frustrating. should have buried an easy chance after doing all the hard work at the end of the 1st half. 2-0 and we would have won.
Hold your hands up Brian. you f*cked up again. I am yet to be convinced by his return.
And yes the ref was shit again.

Out of interest, why did you have to point out that the tall guy who creates a goal with his first touch was 'black'?

Is referring to a black person as black now offensive? Or are you just one of them people that likes the whole offended on behalf of someone else thing?

Tbf, would he have said "tall white guy" if he was white?

[oldebiscuit]

The game changed on 2 substitutions for me. taking Kermo off who was holding up the ball well was a crime, they bring on the tall black guy who creates a goal with his first touch.
Cardiff looked anything but play-off contenders, hit the bar with a great chance in the first half, but created very little after that. John is so f*cking frustrating. should have buried an easy chance after doing all the hard work at the end of the 1st half. 2-0 and we would have won.
Hold your hands up Brian. you f*cked up again. I am yet to be convinced by his return.
And yes the ref was shit again.

Out of interest, why did you have to point out that the tall guy who creates a goal with his first touch was 'black'?

Is referring to a black person as black now offensive? Or are you just one of them people that likes the whole offended on behalf of someone else thing?

It's not offensive, but the fact that the colour of some ones skin still stands out as 'interesting' in this day and age is a little odd.
Myself, I just saw 22 players.

[RG7Fan]

Things we need to work on when on the break

1) when a teammate has the ball and is running forwards, run into a space so you can be passed to, rather than trying to run into you own player

2) when you try to pass to a player in space, try to pass to where you think he'll be when he makes his run, not where he was before he made his run

3) when a winger is on a break and looking to cross the ball into the box, it helps to run towards their goal, into the penalty area, rather than jogging over the halfway line.

4) if a player has made a break into the box, and is looking to cut the ball back, try to move into a space to be able to receive the ball, rather than standing still and just waiting for your teammate to lose the ball.

Football - its a simple game.

To win get the ball in their net more often than they get the ball in our net.

To aid with winning:

1. When we have the ball - run in to space (ie not near their players) and communicate that you are there so our players can pass to you. Then, look for other players who are doing the same and pass to them.
2. When we don't have the ball - go towards their players, especially the one with the ball and attempt to tackle them. When you have the ball - see #1 above.
3. When you are near their goal (the net type thing) - try to get the ball in it.

[RG7Fan]

Out of interest, why did you have to point out that the tall guy who creates a goal with his first touch was 'black'?

Is referring to a black person as black now offensive? Or are you just one of them people that likes the whole offended on behalf of someone else thing?

Tbf, would he have said "tall white guy" if he was white?

Lets say it was Peter Crouch instead of the player, and the poster didn't know his name. Would saying "the tall white lad" be deemed offensive?

[genome]

Whether it's offensive or not is beside the point, it's just a bit weird to specify that he was a black person

[Winston Smith]

Out of interest, why did you have to point out that the tall guy who creates a goal with his first touch was 'black'?

Is referring to a black person as black now offensive? Or are you just one of them people that likes the whole offended on behalf of someone else thing?

It's not offensive, but the fact that the colour of some ones skin still stands out as 'interesting' in this day and age is a little odd. Myself, I just saw 22 players.

I think we just read windermere's post in very different ways. I thought he was just describing someone's looks.

[Pepe the Horseman]

If he'd just said "the tall guy" would people be bothered? Why did he need to point out that he was tall?

[ayjaydee]

Strange how opinions vary so much by those of us at the game. For me this was the best performance from us for a long time. There was more passion, more togetherness from the squad and fewer unforced errors. Yes we should have won comfortably and missed two (I think) open goals but we were also playing against an awful referee!!

One thing most of us agree with is that McShane was MOTM. Great to see G Mac get a goal (brilliantly taken!) after which he visibly grew in confidence. Ola John plays with such enthusiasm it is difficult to criticise his finishing but really ....

Taylor was OK but I'm not sure why Obita was dropped. I though Jordan had done pretty well against some tricky wingers recently (Zaha and Sessignon for example) and he seemed to be building a good understanding with OJ. Hector had a good game but Cooper seems to think he is Hector and lingers on the ball too long at times. Gunter was Gunter.

Quinn had a pretty forgettable 1st half but improved in the 2nd and I was pleased to see Williams back - he didn't disappoint. Kermorgant was in the game more today. He was the assist for our goal and nearly scored from a delightful through ball from OJ. The defender gave a slight tug on his shirt which was just enough to enable the keeper to smother the shot. He went off the boil as the second half wore on so I don't criticise BM for subbing him. Vydra did OK and would have scored but for a reaction save from Moore.

All in all, though, a frustrating game and I hope HRK isn't badly injured.

Agree with your first sentence and most of the rest except Williams. To me he is a bit of a headless chicken, if he could look up occasionally and maybe look to pass to his teammates then maybe there is a footballer in there somewhere. Unil then, meh! Would be happy to unload him off the wage bill and see what George Evans can do next season.

[RG7Fan]

Whether it's offensive or not is beside the point, it's just a bit weird to specify that he was a black person

Well given it was a double sub and one was white and one was black and the poster may not have known their names then I think saying "the black guy" (when specifically referring to the subs) is totally acceptable and not offensive.