BFTiFollow - Luton (h) - Carabao Cup

[Nameless]

Sorry Snowflake but your diatribe just smacks of someone who has decided they dislike everything about the club and are going to find a way to attack it whatever.
That was not poor selection, that was the only selection.
It was treated as a train8ng exercise (which you could criticise, but I’d suggest there was logic to doing so).
Once it was decided not to use the first team it became a question of giving anyone who didn’t play on Saturday a game (McIntyre, Puscas, Araruna, Southwood), let youngsters show whether they can step up (Holmes, Tetek, Bristol) and let players who probably aren’t going to feature make a last claim to be involved or move on (the rest).
Unfortunately that lot don’t nicely make up a team with everyone playing in their preferred position, and lack players with a bit of drive and leadership.
The game was probably as could have been predicted. Disjointed, shapeless, decent defensively, blunt going forward. We got some good results from the performances of Holmes, Southwood and Tetek. The first 2 are definitely first team squad ready, the third might just be our next breakthrough player.
So alternatives to this dismal management failure ?
His only option would have been to stick first team regulars in. Given we know we’re currently lacking cover what would that have bought us ? Rino or Laurent play and get a niggle, what does that do for Saturday ? Olise could have played perhaps as Meite is back Saturday but would h have made the difference ? Ejaria had a minor knock, Joao needs protecting so really the arguement comes down to whether Swift should have played instead of Watson....

He was attacking the manager throughout the game and kept changing his name in an attempt to be humerous. Foreign manager being mocked for having a different name, is that acceptable?

It’s not really an issue is it ? You’d have to have a pretty petty vendetta against someone to make a big thing of them making fun of a name. It’s not like people don’t do it with non foreign names....

[NewCorkSeth]

Puscas is one of Europe's best young forwards. I bet he honestly cannot believe what has happened to him since he came here. He might as well not have played last night. Bet he can't wait to leave, and I would not blame him at all.

Yes he was poor but what exactly do you expect from him? To both fashion his own chances and score them too? If he was capable of doing that he wouldn't be in the Champiobship. He had no service and was playing in front of 2, out of form, strikers. Where exactly do you expect the chance creation to come from.

Its all too easy to blame a striker after a loss like this but the blame, if it is even fair to blame anyone given the obvious reason for the starting XI, lies with our illustrious attacking 3 behind him who all squandered opportunities to contribute anything significant.

The attitude towards Puscas is becoming a real problem amongst Reading fans. If Joao had played that game there would not have been such a strange attack on his ability. People would, correctly, identified the issues in creation in the final third.

[Zip]

Puscas is one of Europe's best young forwards. I bet he honestly cannot believe what has happened to him since he came here. He might as well not have played last night. Bet he can't wait to leave, and I would not blame him at all.

He gets next to no service week in week out. He is still learning and is improving. He could be an important part of our season.

[Old Man Andrews]

Sorry Snowflake but your diatribe just smacks of someone who has decided they dislike everything about the club and are going to find a way to attack it whatever.
That was not poor selection, that was the only selection.
It was treated as a train8ng exercise (which you could criticise, but I’d suggest there was logic to doing so).
Once it was decided not to use the first team it became a question of giving anyone who didn’t play on Saturday a game (McIntyre, Puscas, Araruna, Southwood), let youngsters show whether they can step up (Holmes, Tetek, Bristol) and let players who probably aren’t going to feature make a last claim to be involved or move on (the rest).
Unfortunately that lot don’t nicely make up a team with everyone playing in their preferred position, and lack players with a bit of drive and leadership.
The game was probably as could have been predicted. Disjointed, shapeless, decent defensively, blunt going forward. We got some good results from the performances of Holmes, Southwood and Tetek. The first 2 are definitely first team squad ready, the third might just be our next breakthrough player.
So alternatives to this dismal management failure ?
His only option would have been to stick first team regulars in. Given we know we’re currently lacking cover what would that have bought us ? Rino or Laurent play and get a niggle, what does that do for Saturday ? Olise could have played perhaps as Meite is back Saturday but would h have made the difference ? Ejaria had a minor knock, Joao needs protecting so really the arguement comes down to whether Swift should have played instead of Watson....

He was attacking the manager throughout the game and kept changing his name in an attempt to be humerous. Foreign manager being mocked for having a different name, is that acceptable?

It’s not really an issue is it ? You’d have to have a pretty petty vendetta against someone to make a big thing of them making fun of a name. It’s not like people don’t do it with non foreign names....

It is an issue. The manager has been here 5 minutes and is already being mocked for having an unusual, foreign name by xenophobes. You carry on defending that though yeah.

[NewCorkSeth]

He was attacking the manager throughout the game and kept changing his name in an attempt to be humerous. Foreign manager being mocked for having a different name, is that acceptable?

It’s not really an issue is it ? You’d have to have a pretty petty vendetta against someone to make a big thing of them making fun of a name. It’s not like people don’t do it with non foreign names....

It is an issue. The manager has been here 5 minutes and is already being mocked for having an unusual, foreign name by xenophobes. You carry on defending that though yeah.

I have some really high shelves here that need some dusting. Can you help me out?

[Stranded]

Well it was a game of little quality, on both sides, and given how we set up that was hardly surprising. I thought Holmes looked good, Southwood good but poor in distribution, Araruna looked decent, Tetek was good in the second half. Thats it I think.

Big question is: Did Pauno play Watson in midfield to give Araruna more time playing RB with Yiadoms injury last season in mind or does he just think Araruna lacks the qualities required to play CM?

I think it has been decided that Araruna is a right back who can cover CM if we really need him to, rather than the other way round - I would guess he has had more time there then in midfield since he joined and always looks better there. What yesterday showed is that I would not be upset with any of that back 5 having to step in for a few games and some could challenge to be first choice sooner rather than later.

Tetek looks like he will be a big player for us in the next few years, confident, skillful driven - again if he had to step in for a game that would not be a concern, even at 17.

For me, that was absolutely the right call last night, games are coming thick and fast at the moment and Paunovic now knows he has a decent back up, back 5, a very promising midfielder and question marks elsewhere. There are no more chances for Baldock & McNulty now so imagine one or both will be off over the next fortnight and if Riquelme and Semedo do sign in the coming days, we look a lot stronger in the midfield area and not as dependent on those who started at Derby. Puscas has the ability to score a shed load so unless a monster bid comes in, he'll be in the plans next year but they really need to work on his ability to play on his own else admit that he can only play in a plan b, with 2 up top. The way we are set up allows that switch pretty easily.

All in all, a lot of positives to be taken - a lot more known about the squad and pretty happy we avoid having to play next midweek as well in a hiding to nothing game against Utd - there are going to be very few empty midweeks this year and gives the squad the whole week to focus on the trip to Cardiff.

[leon]

What was actually the point of fielding last night’s side?

Was he hoping to discover an entire 2nd team made up of kids that could compete in the championship?

Surely he’d learn something fielding a team that had a remote chance of progressing.

So that then he had another chance of learning about certain young/fringe players in the next round. And possibly (you guessed it) learnt more in the round after that.

That’s how you use cups. Not fielding a team ridiculously out of its depth.

It’s really not difficult chaps.

It was a shit decision that achieved very little and the apologists and part time edgelords aren’t going to disabuse me of that opinion in a million years.

[Nameless]

He was attacking the manager throughout the game and kept changing his name in an attempt to be humerous. Foreign manager being mocked for having a different name, is that acceptable?

It’s not really an issue is it ? You’d have to have a pretty petty vendetta against someone to make a big thing of them making fun of a name. It’s not like people don’t do it with non foreign names....

It is an issue. The manager has been here 5 minutes and is already being mocked for having an unusual, foreign name by xenophobes. You carry on defending that though yeah.

It’s only an issue for you, and only because you’ve decided it’s funny to be gratuitously offensive about people you disagree with.
The name stuff is a bit childish, but it’s not a racially motivated hate crime....

[Old Man Andrews]

What was actually the point of fielding last night’s side?

Was he hoping to discover an entire 2nd team made up of kids that could compete in the championship?

Surely he’d learn something fielding a team that had a remote chance of progressing.

So that then he had another chance of learning about certain young/fringe players in the next round. And possibly (you guessed it) learnt more in the round after that.

That’s how you use cups. Not fielding a team ridiculously out of its depth.

It’s really not difficult chaps.

It was a shit decision that achieved very little and the apologists and part time edgelords aren’t going to disabuse me of that opinion in a million years.

I think the aim was to be knocked out of the competition and have a break next Tuesday. If that was the aim then it was a job well done.

[NewCorkSeth]

What was actually the point of fielding last night’s side?

Was he hoping to discover an entire 2nd team made up of kids that could compete in the championship?

Surely he’d learn something fielding a team that had a remote chance of progressing.

So that then he had another chance of learning about certain young/fringe players in the next round. And possibly (you guessed it) learnt more in the round after that.

That’s how you use cups. Not fielding a team ridiculously out of its depth.

It’s really not difficult chaps.

It was a shit decision that achieved very little and the apologists and part time edgelords aren’t going to disabuse me of that opinion in a million years.

I understand your opinion but don't accept your hard line stance on it. You must see some value surely?

For me the value comes from the new manager both checking out players to see how they step up, such as Holmes, Southwood and Tetek, while also being able to present his opinion of our weaknesses to the owners.

For example I thought our Left Back was quite poor, we need cover with more experience and now he has shown that it is essential we get someone in.

I am also surprised you weren't pleasantly surprised by Tetek who, while not getting ahead of myself, looked rather tidy and mature in his performance.

I tend to agree with the big picture view that our league form is all that matters this season and we have several key players who are either injury prone or looks shattered after the Derby game, we cant ask Rinomhota to do what he does for 50 games a season.

[Nameless]

What was actually the point of fielding last night’s side?

Was he hoping to discover an entire 2nd team made up of kids that could compete in the championship?

Surely he’d learn something fielding a team that had a remote chance of progressing.

So that then he had another chance of learning about certain young/fringe players in the next round. And possibly (you guessed it) learnt more in the round after that.

That’s how you use cups. Not fielding a team ridiculously out of its depth.

It’s really not difficult chaps.

It was a shit decision that achieved very little and the apologists and part time edgelords aren’t going to disabuse me of that opinion in a million years.

Well his team consisted of 2, maybe 3 ‘unproven’ kids and 8 pros with decent amounts of experience. He didn’t throw the U18s in en masse (they were on the bench).
He clearly wasn’t expecting to find an entire second XI, there is no requirement to have one.
He would have learned plenty last night. Several youngsters showed they are good enough. Several senior players did nothing to show they have the attitude and willingness to fight for a place.

[Zammo]

Puscas is one of Europe's best young forwards. I bet he honestly cannot believe what has happened to him since he came here. He might as well not have played last night. Bet he can't wait to leave, and I would not blame him at all.

Yes he was poor but what exactly do you expect from him? To both fashion his own chances and score them too? If he was capable of doing that he wouldn't be in the Champiobship. He had no service and was playing in front of 2, out of form, strikers. Where exactly do you expect the chance creation to come from.

Its all too easy to blame a striker after a loss like this but the blame, if it is even fair to blame anyone given the obvious reason for the starting XI, lies with our illustrious attacking 3 behind him who all squandered opportunities to contribute anything significant.

The attitude towards Puscas is becoming a real problem amongst Reading fans. If Joao had played that game there would not have been such a strange attack on his ability. People would, correctly, identified the issues in creation in the final third.

Maybe re-read my post. I'm defending him. I could not agree more with your statement.

[paultheroyal]

Let's be real here. This game was an opportunity for non-first teamers to show what they can do with little emphasis on tactics. So anyone expecting to see an all action performance and the team setup to their tactical best in the space of 2 days is off their head on meth.

Is playing Man Utd ressies in the next game behind closed doors really going to get you fired up?

Sorry to have a moan there but some callers/twitters have got me really pissed off!

1st Half

Luton dominitated. Their movement in midfield was much better than us and is why they were so dominant. A lot of their attacks were coming down Bristow's side becausehe wasn't getting any help from Aluko initially. When Aluko did track back it was half arsed at best in the first 20mins. Going forward we looked lively until the final third where we did nothing. Apart from Tetek the midfield looked like a game of Chess; static and boring.

2nd Half
Better in all areas, but still blunt up top. We had McNulty, Puscas, Aluko and Baldock higher up the pitch yet we still did nothing. McNulty and Baldock were the only 2 slightly out of position but when they did get the ball they did nothing with it. Puscas can not play up front on his own. I can't fault anyone's effort in this half at all but there were only 2 players that looked like they could challenge the 1st team, 1 player that looked ok and 1 that has a very bright future.

Ratings

Southwood 6 - Some good saves but his kicking was a bit suspect. A couple of times from crosses his positioning
looked a little off. He's not first choice but did ok.

Araruna 7 - Struggled for 15mins but after that he was fine. Got forward well, defended better and looked comfortable. I am comfortable having him to replace Yiadom if the latter is injured or suspended. He is 1 of the players that can challenge in the 1st team.

Holmes 6 - Strong and good on the ball. Also clumsy and poor decision making at times. I think this is why we saw him cameo as a DM because his rashness would be too costly as a CB in the Championship. He needs a loan to get some game experience to learn how to deal with different situations better as a Defender that will help him with this decision making.
McIntyre 7 - 1 mistake in each half so I had to knock him down a point but apart from that he was very, very good. He is better than Holmes and I can understand why he was pissed off for being left out on the weekend. I wouldn't say he did enough to displace Morrison or Moore but I would certainly have him on the bench for the next game. He was the final one to challenge for a place in the 1st team.

Bristow 5 - I know he's young but he's not ready to cover at Left Back for Richards. He got better in the 2nd half but he was torn apart in the 1st and couldn't cut out any crosses coming in. I don't think any of his crosses passed the 1st man when he went forward either.

Tetek 8 - This is one with a bright future. I don't know if any of you remember East making his debut last season? but Moore was telling him where to run, how to think and how to play constantly. Tetek did not need any of that today at all. In the first half he was carrying Watson in midfield, he knew where to run into space, he got forward well for a DM, solid on the ball and wasn't afraid to get stuck in. I think with him we should keep him training with the 1st team and look to loan him out in January to a League 2 club if we can. He's got a very bright future this kid.
Watson 4 - Sorry. One caller was playing the violin's for him saying that he hasn't played for 4 years. Hes been on loan the past 2 years or so and hasn't done enough. Regardless, whether a player is playing out of position he looked really poor. Static, misplaced passes and generally disinterested.

Aluko 5 - He annoys me greatly. For someone who we paid and still pay a lot for I am expecting so much more from him. In the game he did some really good things but would then follow up with a crap pass, poor skill or play wrong the ball. I can't fault his effort for 70mins of the game but he is just not value for money. When Meite is available and if we get Riquelme I expect him to drop from the bench.

Baldock 5 - Mick Gooding and Tim Dellor were lauding his work rate and making excuses for his performance as he was not playing up top, but he did nothing when he had the ball. Any player at any level has the ability to work hard so a professional doing it doesn't cut it. If he made more of his runs in between Midfield and Attack to offer a forward option and played on the half turn he would have been far more effective in his role.

McNulty 5 - To be fair he did exactly what I criticised Baldock for not doing enough of for the team today. He did play in the spaces and try to offer and outlet. The issue is when he did create that space for him he fluffed his final ball every time. Again like the others I can't fault his work rate. I hope for the sake of his career he gets a move before the window closes.

Puscas 5 - He is not a loan striker at all. The service was pretty awful but he doesn't have half the effect Joao or Meite would up top in that role. Again, I can't fault his effort though. And why the hell did he not try to attack McIntyre's header back into the box. That was a strikers bread and butter!

Subs
Sackey - Looked lively when he came on. Good skills but not ready for the first team. Needs a loan out in League 2/National League
Abbey - Not enough time to comment
Melvin-Lambert - Not enough time to comment

Observations
1) We can't judge Paunovic at all on this as it was clearly an exhibition of youth and fringe players for him to take a look at.
2) Tetek is one to watch.
3) The club need to sell Baldock, McNulty and Aluko asap.
4) Watson needs to move on.
5) Holmes needs a loan out to a League One side.
6) I made some points about squad depth in my last review and I think this game justifies this. We need Cover for Laurent/Rino, another attacking option and it also looks like we need a LB for cover too.
7) I can't see Puscas getting many games this season.

End on a positive. It was nice to see so many of the young players getting a game against decent opposition so the club can asses where they are in terms of development. Tetek was definitely the pick of the youngsters.

Excellent review and agree with most of that.

I would file Holmes in the Watson section. From what i have seen he does not cut it as a championship + defender. He is very slow and cumbersome. Watson has had many chances and not shining wherever he goes. Mcnulty, Aluko just need to find new clubs. For me Baldock offers something but just not had a run in the team or chance to shine.

No issues with the team that was picked last night, if anything it will increase the need to release more players and bring in more quality. I do like how the manager talks around getting that ball into the box quicker, taking chances etc - mindset is right, just needs to carry it off into the matches. Win on Saturday would be fantastic. Just to be up there after a couple of games will help with confidence and expectations rather than the last few seasons when we are wondering where the first points would come from.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Let's be real here. This game was an opportunity for non-first teamers to show what they can do with little emphasis on tactics. So anyone expecting to see an all action performance and the team setup to their tactical best in the space of 2 days is off their head on meth.

Is playing Man Utd ressies in the next game behind closed doors really going to get you fired up?

Sorry to have a moan there but some callers/twitters have got me really pissed off!

1st Half

Luton dominitated. Their movement in midfield was much better than us and is why they were so dominant. A lot of their attacks were coming down Bristow's side becausehe wasn't getting any help from Aluko initially. When Aluko did track back it was half arsed at best in the first 20mins. Going forward we looked lively until the final third where we did nothing. Apart from Tetek the midfield looked like a game of Chess; static and boring.

2nd Half
Better in all areas, but still blunt up top. We had McNulty, Puscas, Aluko and Baldock higher up the pitch yet we still did nothing. McNulty and Baldock were the only 2 slightly out of position but when they did get the ball they did nothing with it. Puscas can not play up front on his own. I can't fault anyone's effort in this half at all but there were only 2 players that looked like they could challenge the 1st team, 1 player that looked ok and 1 that has a very bright future.

Ratings

Southwood 6 - Some good saves but his kicking was a bit suspect. A couple of times from crosses his positioning
looked a little off. He's not first choice but did ok.

Araruna 7 - Struggled for 15mins but after that he was fine. Got forward well, defended better and looked comfortable. I am comfortable having him to replace Yiadom if the latter is injured or suspended. He is 1 of the players that can challenge in the 1st team.

Holmes 6 - Strong and good on the ball. Also clumsy and poor decision making at times. I think this is why we saw him cameo as a DM because his rashness would be too costly as a CB in the Championship. He needs a loan to get some game experience to learn how to deal with different situations better as a Defender that will help him with this decision making.
McIntyre 7 - 1 mistake in each half so I had to knock him down a point but apart from that he was very, very good. He is better than Holmes and I can understand why he was pissed off for being left out on the weekend. I wouldn't say he did enough to displace Morrison or Moore but I would certainly have him on the bench for the next game. He was the final one to challenge for a place in the 1st team.

Bristow 5 - I know he's young but he's not ready to cover at Left Back for Richards. He got better in the 2nd half but he was torn apart in the 1st and couldn't cut out any crosses coming in. I don't think any of his crosses passed the 1st man when he went forward either.

Tetek 8 - This is one with a bright future. I don't know if any of you remember East making his debut last season? but Moore was telling him where to run, how to think and how to play constantly. Tetek did not need any of that today at all. In the first half he was carrying Watson in midfield, he knew where to run into space, he got forward well for a DM, solid on the ball and wasn't afraid to get stuck in. I think with him we should keep him training with the 1st team and look to loan him out in January to a League 2 club if we can. He's got a very bright future this kid.
Watson 4 - Sorry. One caller was playing the violin's for him saying that he hasn't played for 4 years. Hes been on loan the past 2 years or so and hasn't done enough. Regardless, whether a player is playing out of position he looked really poor. Static, misplaced passes and generally disinterested.

Aluko 5 - He annoys me greatly. For someone who we paid and still pay a lot for I am expecting so much more from him. In the game he did some really good things but would then follow up with a crap pass, poor skill or play wrong the ball. I can't fault his effort for 70mins of the game but he is just not value for money. When Meite is available and if we get Riquelme I expect him to drop from the bench.

Baldock 5 - Mick Gooding and Tim Dellor were lauding his work rate and making excuses for his performance as he was not playing up top, but he did nothing when he had the ball. Any player at any level has the ability to work hard so a professional doing it doesn't cut it. If he made more of his runs in between Midfield and Attack to offer a forward option and played on the half turn he would have been far more effective in his role.

McNulty 5 - To be fair he did exactly what I criticised Baldock for not doing enough of for the team today. He did play in the spaces and try to offer and outlet. The issue is when he did create that space for him he fluffed his final ball every time. Again like the others I can't fault his work rate. I hope for the sake of his career he gets a move before the window closes.

Puscas 5 - He is not a loan striker at all. The service was pretty awful but he doesn't have half the effect Joao or Meite would up top in that role. Again, I can't fault his effort though. And why the hell did he not try to attack McIntyre's header back into the box. That was a strikers bread and butter!

Subs
Sackey - Looked lively when he came on. Good skills but not ready for the first team. Needs a loan out in League 2/National League
Abbey - Not enough time to comment
Melvin-Lambert - Not enough time to comment

Observations
1) We can't judge Paunovic at all on this as it was clearly an exhibition of youth and fringe players for him to take a look at.
2) Tetek is one to watch.
3) The club need to sell Baldock, McNulty and Aluko asap.
4) Watson needs to move on.
5) Holmes needs a loan out to a League One side.
6) I made some points about squad depth in my last review and I think this game justifies this. We need Cover for Laurent/Rino, another attacking option and it also looks like we need a LB for cover too.
7) I can't see Puscas getting many games this season.

End on a positive. It was nice to see so many of the young players getting a game against decent opposition so the club can asses where they are in terms of development. Tetek was definitely the pick of the youngsters.

Well written. Also such a performance may focus the manager and owner on the fact that away from our first XI we need to strengthen

[Millsy]

First crack in the manager's performance. And it's a fairly big crack.

Agree with most of your good post but just need to take issue with this. The poor guy has only been here 5mins, hasn’t seen these fringe players play before and throws them all on in a cup game to learn and this is somehow a big crack in his performance?

I think it’s a case of how you see what he did. Did he try and win the game with great tactics and personnel choice or did he have something else in mind?

I’m impressed with he did. Boldly put as many youngsters and players he hadn’t yet seen on as he could, even if it meant playing some out of position so he could cram as many fringe players on as possible and get a look. Taking youngsters off even when losing to bring more youngsters on. Remember he has had no preseason really and is thrown in at the deep end with owners who are sack-happy. He absolutely has to learn as quickly as possible whom he wants to keep and more importantly for him as a youth motivator, whom he wants to develop. Fair play to him, I’d never seen half of those guys play before. Who the hell is tetek? Who the hell is sackey? Well done Pauno for bringing them at least to my attention.

This had nothing to do really with the game itself which I and he did not give a toss about. I only paid £10 to see the players in action, didn’t care about the result. I think it was a great move and to me is a massive plus for the man. He wasn’t trying to showcase his tactical game winning skills here. You may disagree that this was a wise approach and may argue he should’ve tried to win the game rather than test players, and that’s a reasonable argument. But I don’t think anyone can judge his actual game management on the back of that. It wasn’t that sort of game.

[Millsy]

It is an issue. The manager has been here 5 minutes and is already being mocked for having an unusual, foreign name by xenophobes. You carry on defending that though yeah.

These days in England if you have a normal name you get arrested and thrown in jail. These days.

[NewCorkSeth]

Puscas is one of Europe's best young forwards. I bet he honestly cannot believe what has happened to him since he came here. He might as well not have played last night. Bet he can't wait to leave, and I would not blame him at all.

Yes he was poor but what exactly do you expect from him? To both fashion his own chances and score them too? If he was capable of doing that he wouldn't be in the Champiobship. He had no service and was playing in front of 2, out of form, strikers. Where exactly do you expect the chance creation to come from.

Its all too easy to blame a striker after a loss like this but the blame, if it is even fair to blame anyone given the obvious reason for the starting XI, lies with our illustrious attacking 3 behind him who all squandered opportunities to contribute anything significant.

The attitude towards Puscas is becoming a real problem amongst Reading fans. If Joao had played that game there would not have been such a strange attack on his ability. People would, correctly, identified the issues in creation in the final third.

Maybe re-read my post. I'm defending him. I could not agree more with your statement.

I apologise, I read the 'I cannot believe what has happened to him" part as you saying he has regressed and the "he may as well have not played" part as a suggestion that he was useless because he didn't try to do it all.

[Millsy]

Puscas is one of Europe's best young forwards. I bet he honestly cannot believe what has happened to him since he came here. He might as well not have played last night. Bet he can't wait to leave, and I would not blame him at all.

Yes he was poor but what exactly do you expect from him? To both fashion his own chances and score them too? If he was capable of doing that he wouldn't be in the Champiobship. He had no service and was playing in front of 2, out of form, strikers. Where exactly do you expect the chance creation to come from.

Its all too easy to blame a striker after a loss like this but the blame, if it is even fair to blame anyone given the obvious reason for the starting XI, lies with our illustrious attacking 3 behind him who all squandered opportunities to contribute anything significant.

The attitude towards Puscas is becoming a real problem amongst Reading fans. If Joao had played that game there would not have been such a strange attack on his ability. People would, correctly, identified the issues in creation in the final third.

Maybe re-read my post. I'm defending him. I could not agree more with your statement.

It’s funny, I’m a big Puscas fan and agree with the above.

But to be fair as much as I like him I only noticed him do one thing all game, and that was let a ball trickle in front of him 12 inches from the goal line.

Baldock on the other hand was everywhere.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Seems a pretty even split on this.

Those who were pleased Panko used this as, essentially a preseason friendly to see fringe and youth players in action having only been here for five minutes in a game and competition that we really have no interest in, in what will be a. Congested season and a team with little strength in depth

Or those who want to play a strong XI in every game. Keep winning, build confidence and use every game to the max. And are frustrated that they believe last night was pointless and nothing was learnt.

It’s always the way nowadays with cup competitions that mean less and less, especially the league cup people always will fall into one of the two camps.

Personally, FA Cup, I’m all for a strong team but the league cup, As much as I don’t like to see us lose, even in normal years I’m quite happy to see us out of the competition, especially this season.

The other dynamic we have here is the hangover from the Bowen/Dai saga and how Panko was appointed.

Those who aren’t happy will more likely use this as a way to give Panko a kick in whereas those who are more open to him will be more likely to see his POV from last night

Regards Puscas, he frustrates me greatly but I do appreciate the blame isn’t all his, as has been said he needs to support and people to create chances for him. If he stays, and when he plays we really need to play a system that suits him, a) to get the best out of him and b) to keep him as an asset. Surely the longer he plays in a formation that doesn’t suit him and he isn’t being productive he will be less of an asset as he will become alienated and fed up

[Notts Royal]

Puscas is one of Europe's best young forwards. I bet he honestly cannot believe what has happened to him since he came here. He might as well not have played last night. Bet he can't wait to leave, and I would not blame him at all.

This is what I don’t get. Surely he can’t be happy sitting on the bench? And also can’t be happy in the system he’s asked to play in. If he’s not currently looking for a move elsewhere, is it fair to conclude he’s maybe on a higher wage than we like to believe?

Also, yes let’s give Pauno time. But watching his interview last night nearly sent me to sleep - he does smack of Gomes mk.2 talking about “we must fight” bla bla. He’s got a nice energy about him but does he have the substance? Time will tell I suppose