As so often happens in football, two former Forest players produced the goals which extended their recent poor run of results. Reading will be delighted with a win and a clean sheet which has lifted them in to fifth spot although Jaap Stam was quick to put the situation into perspective with his post-match analysis. In a fine example of hitting the nail on the head he reflected "... We also gave away possession far too easily, our first touch was not good enough and our passing was not accurate enough..." Quite clearly Stam does not want to raise expectations too high too soon in spite of a second successive victory. Although the Royals won comfortably in the end, it was a far from convincing performance and only achieved courtesy of some excellent goalkeeping from Al Habsi and some inept finishing from the visitors.
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Reading Up To Fifth With Win
From the Discussion
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3P 3points 29 Oct 2016 · 10:25pm
Well another three points. Comfortable without being convincing in any way. Forest probably should have scored but always looked like they could concede as well, even against our toothless forward line. Forest were another team visiting the Mad Stad this season that have looked pretty poor imo. AAH 8 another good performance. Is a great shot stopper (as he has been throughout his career) and was better at dealing with crosses today Gunter 6 - would have been a 5 except for the goal. My dad (who attends about one game a year) said "is that Chris Gunter who plays for Wales? He hasn't done anything but pass it backwards". Two minutes… More →
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VP Vicky Pollard 30 Oct 2016 · 12:42am
Bit of a weird one. We weren't great but somehow saw through a comfortable win. Have to be grateful for Al Habsi's wonder save at the end of the first half, game could have been a real struggle in the second half had that continued its journey to the top corner. Swift oozes class, remembered a lovely swivel and pass out wide left in the second half to push us onto the attack- he does the simple stuff well and has great awareness on the ball. Beerens was pretty anonymous. He has great skill but can disappear for long periods. Joey is a legend but today's booking was a bit unnecessary. Did a great job of winding up their number 10 to… More →
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MA marlowuk 30 Oct 2016 · 1:58am
I think this was the poorest Reading display I have seen this season. Thankfully Stam agrees and his comments of the OS are exactly right - poor first touches, passes going astray, losing possession of the ball too easily, etc. Luckily Forest were worse than us, particularly in the first half, but not by much! They played hoof-ball throughout and it is a testament to how poor we were that they would have got at least a point out of the game if it weren't for their wayward shooting and the agility and ability of (MOM) AAH. On the positive side I think we are slowly improving in the sense of playing a more positive passing game.… More →
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SU Steve_Upper_West 30 Oct 2016 · 8:19am
There is a great moment in Gladiator where Russell Crowe chops off a few heads and then shouts to the crowd "Are you not entertained" before throwing down his sword to show his general distaste for what he is being asked to do - it crossed my mind yesterday that perhaps Joey was trying to do the same thing. Maybe he was after another red card, then he could have pulled off his shirt (Andre style) flung it down and uttered those same immortal words before storming off - AND I could have stood up and shouted back "NO, I am not being entertained" :o (Anyway another 3 points - we move on) On a different note what was the minutes… More →
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JC Jack Celliers 30 Oct 2016 · 8:45am
AAH 9 Awesome in the first half. Some of the saves were fantastic, Gunter 8 Pretty faultless defensively and linked well in attack so the goal wasn't much of a surprise McShane 7 - good Moore 7 - very polished throughout but there were a few too many Forest chances Blackett 7 - a good player, but not as good as Obita when going forward VDB 6 - it was a shame that Stam had to sub him Williams 8 - in the form of his life and again was at the heart of everything Swift 7 - 5/5 for the right foot but 2/5 for the left Beerens 6 - doesn't get the service Gunter provides on the other flank, but he is OK McCleary 8 - back to his… More →
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HA harry 30 Oct 2016 · 10:04am
Always great to have a pantomime villain in opposition colours. Loved the 1-0/2-0 & it's Millsy's fault He waved to the East Stand after the game
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SU Sutekh 30 Oct 2016 · 10:25am
Another poor performance but got lucky as Forest couldn't find the net despite several excellent opportunities a blinder from Habsi. Apparently that was our first win by 2 goals or more in the league since early October last year (Middlesbrough) :shock: Just really waiting for the corner to be turned as if we start turning out good performances we'll be surprising a lot in this league. All it's going to take is practice and knowing when to hit forward passes as opposed to piddling about in front of the opposition or getting generally sloppy like it was a bad case of yesterday. Habsi MotM. Millsy was a superb pantomime villain who… More →
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BO bobby1413 30 Oct 2016 · 10:33am
Funny how people saying the performance wasn't that good but we got the win... in contrast I thought we looked great. At no point did I think Forest would score, they are the worst team I've seen this season in fact. If we strengthen in January then I think we are nailed on for a playoff finish
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GE George_ 30 Oct 2016 · 11:12am
We didn't play great, but we didn't play bad and we won so who cares? Forest were pretty poor. Didn't offer much going forwards and our midfield overrun theirs for most of the match. AAH - class today. Always been a good shot stopper just needs to improve his distribution. Would be happy to stay around the top 10 by the start of January so we can bring a goalscorer in and you never know where we could end up.
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LW Lower West 30 Oct 2016 · 12:52pm
A win is a win. As Stam said in his post match interview the squad is what it is. Working with what he has available to him. At least playing with a settled side is producing points on a regular basis. Don't forget how young and inexperienced many of the squad are. The core of this team can only get better over time. Physically stronger as well. This is an exciting work in progress. Thought Blackett had his best game to date. In the first half got into plenty of good positions on the overlap. Only made 8 appearances so far. With no preseason either. Seems to be settling in well.
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LG ladida_gunner_graham 30 Oct 2016 · 2:04pm
Agree that Forest are the worst team we've seen this season. Disagree with literally everything else.
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MB mbb 30 Oct 2016 · 2:24pm
My first league game of the season, how does that happen when you work for one of the sponsors? My bloody working weekend keeps clashing with home games! Time to see for myself what the Stam revolution is all about and overall not too bad. Better than the last few seasons after the shafting from Zingarevich! Obvious work in progress but progress is being made. Al Habsi 8/10 great shot stopper and the double save from the obvious offside was good and the woorldy save just after was top class. Thought his distribution was good, bowls it out quickly only for the defender to slow it down! Just the straight ball directly in front of him… More →