Back from the game - Preston

[Rex]

I hope Mick McCarthy was there to look at a Preston player.

No doubt checking out Shane.

[ZacNaloen]

I should have told him to oxf*rd off and leave our team alone in the car park, but I just blanked him instead.

[Forbury Lion]

.

My MOTM has to go to Kebe, who was everywhere today, defending, attacking and scored with a very brave header.

VERSUS

For me, and again despite the goal i thought that was Kebe's worst game in a Reading shirt this season.

and...

.

Griff however had an absolute shocker, but I'll allow him it, as he's been out for a while.

VERSUS

Harte and Griffin were excellent as was Kishi who is getting better and better.

I don't have problems with one person thinking "8" and another "6"
but how on God's earth can people be so diametrically opposed?

Maybe one of them is a qualified referee and the other actually knows their stuff?

For the record, I rate both Kebe and Griffin as average (by their standards) last night, admittedly Kebe scored which always means I give them an extra point, same as defenders if we get a clean sheet.

[Hoop Blah]

I'm not shocked to see that Snowball struggles to grasp the concept of different opinions over a game of football.

[loyalroyal4life]

I hope Mick McCarthy was there to look at a Preston player.

No doubt checking out Shane.

Doesnt really matter as Wolves are going down and we are going up

[Barry the bird boggler]

Aside from the last 20 minutes the performance last night was dreadful, any more of that and you can kiss a top 10 finish goodbye let alone a play off finish. Still they say great teams can play crap and still win and we certainly proved that last night.

A big for Phil Brown whining afterwards that the ref gave his team nothing and that apparently Shane Long fouled their left back in the build up for the first goal - oh and for good measure Kebe fouled their right back to score it. This is despite the ref being booed off at half time by Reading fans, failing to give anything whatsoever towards Reading for the best part of an hour and as for the blatent penalty he ignored....

[3 veesinarow]

I'm not shocked to see that Snowball struggles to grasp the concept of different opinions over a game of football.

I think he's grasped it OK - the views can, of course, be different, but how so wildly different within the same game? Either he was brilliant/MOM, very good/good, good/average, average/poor, shite/shit, but surely not MOM/shit? Diametrically opposed is a precise summation of the latter.

I wasn't there, by the way, so my opinion is limited to footage of the goal he scored, even if my great-aunt could have got it in from that far out. Goals, not performances, win games, so a valuable contribution to another important win.

[winchester_royal]

Looked a completely different side once we were 4-4-2 with Mikele shitting all over the Preston midfield. Manset has some real quality in that left foot, obviously he has a bit of a fitness issue, but even so, changed the game with his ability to hold the ball up.

I really hope Brian now realises we should NEVER go 4-5-1 with the 3 midgets playing in midfield. It does not work, and the first 60 minutes was very much a return to our pre-ledge form.

[ZacNaloen]

We could play 4-5-1 with leigertwood in there, problem is that with leigertwood in there we may as well play 4-4-2

[brendywendy]

church isnt very good with long, manset is a worry over 90 mins,
nhunt is injured, legs is just coming back. so 451 seems totally sensible. is it our best formation, no. is it the formation most likely to result in loads of goals and free flowing football, no.was it a sensible set up given the above, yes. will McD revert to 442 when nhunt is back, yes.

[Royal Lady]

Feds, Hunt and Mills playing for the reserves today - so we *might* have a much strengthened squad to choose from for our run-in!

[ZacNaloen]

I think Manset just looks more tired than he actually is.

[Kitson12]

Feds, Hunt and Mills playing for the reserves today - so we *might* have a much strengthened squad to choose from for our run-in!

Cummings, Pearce and Church too. Even if it's against N'ton reserves would do Church a world of good to score.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Feds, Hunt and Mills playing for the reserves today - so we *might* have a much strengthened squad to choose from for our run-in!

If Feds gets brought back in as soon as he's fit I will go absolutely ballistic!

[Royal Lady]

Yeah same - but I did say "squad" - I'd have him on the bench rather than a pretty untried Andersson.

[facaldaqui]

Another scrappy game and performance, against a team who came for a point and clearly believe that going through opponents is fair, but a fantastic result. Obviously Legs stands out, but the Beast showed some glimpses of what he can become - 2 superb shots and one excellent pass to Long as well as strength to hold the ball up well. He must be close to a start I would have thought, as he dovetails well with Long (who had another hugely influential match even if he didn't score).

Am I imagining it, or is that the first time Manset's been brought on ahead of Church when they were both on the bench? Could be a sign of a new pecking order.

[ZacNaloen]

No it's not,

I think they take in turns. Manset one game, Church the next.

[Kitson12]

Another scrappy game and performance, against a team who came for a point and clearly believe that going through opponents is fair, but a fantastic result. Obviously Legs stands out, but the Beast showed some glimpses of what he can become - 2 superb shots and one excellent pass to Long as well as strength to hold the ball up well. He must be close to a start I would have thought, as he dovetails well with Long (who had another hugely influential match even if he didn't score).

Am I imagining it, or is that the first time Manset's been brought on ahead of Church when they were both on the bench? Could be a sign of a new pecking order.

Possibly, or it was Manset is a bit more of a "Beast" than Church, so could put himself about more against the physical Preston side.

[Big Foot]

Manset's introduction reminds me a bit of when Kitson joined us. I could be wrong but I'm sure Coppell played Kitson in a lot more away games than home games in that last few months of the 03/04 season? Add to that their hold up play, the fact they're both left footed and slightly awkward (in a positive way though).

Manset is the new Kitson - Terry's Chocolate Orange!!

[facaldaqui]

Not going to say much about this game because it was pretty drab except for the last 20 minutes.

One point to make is that I was in line behind Harte's shot that hit the bar and I have never, ever, in all my years of watching football, seen a ball swerve in the air as much as that one did, He actually bent it right around the defender. If a Brazilian had done that everyone would be raving about it for years.

Just a great save stopped it from being goal of the century.

^^^Agreed^^^

Harte seems to be hitting decent form at just the right time...maybe it's coincidence that Zurab being back in the team has seen Harte's form increase!!

But I do remember Brian saying in an interview that he'd had a talk with Harte about how best to do his job. This was after that run of dodgy games he'd had. Good management again?