The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading
Mr Polite 7:05 Sat Mar 31

Other articles by Mr Polite...

It was billed as our biggest game of the season, some would say if we'd had played better against other lower teams then it wouldn't have been such a big game but the fact was or so we were told that promotion was still in our own hands. They forgot sadly that it was also in Readings hands and it would be them that would yank it from our grasp. As always however there are still both positives and negatives to take from the game.


Positives:

We CAN play good football, for 40 mins we looked really good, we looked solid at the back with Jason Roberts firmly in Fayes pocket and going forward we were passing and moving and playing some attractive, dare I say it 'west ham way' football.

The crowd responded and made for a decent atmosphere, everyone seemingly pleased to see us playing passing to feet football. No boos, bit of frusration but proof that if we play well we'll back the team all the way.

O'Neil playing in the centre really impressed me, I thought first half he was very lively and was always involved moving the ball around and trying to create things. Even in second half he was one of the few that was looking for the ball.

Vaz Te is one of those players that may frustrate many, but is the only player we have that looks to take a player on and even if he'll fail now and then he'll get back up and try again. You don't need a whole team of players like that but 1 isn't enough. Did well for his goal.

Due to his lack of decent movement is was tempting to put Cole as a negative but I'm feeling generous, I'll put him as a positive because he scored. Credit to Nolan too for doing well in build up.

Baldocks movement. By the time he came on we were chasing the game but everytime he comes on his movement impresses me. He is the sort of striker defenders hate playing against.



Negatives:

4-2 in our cup final. It is a massive negative that we are this stage of the season and that this game was so big, a bigger negative that we bottled it. When I say bottled I mean we got ourselves in a good position and scupper our own chances. Reading were not great, we lost this rather the Royals winning it and that's what grates the most.

Anyone watching the first half would have agreed that going in 2-1 down was unlucky/unjust/travesty (delete as you feel appropriate). The general feeling at half time was disbelief in the score but a sense of optimism that if we played the same we were well capable of winning. That optimism changed when at half time the most ludicrous substitution I have ever seen took place.

Taking Noble off a ball playing centre midfielder and putting on Collins as a centre back is in my opinion the biggest reason in our losing. We were not overrun in midfeild so there was absolutely no need for Tomkins to move into the holding role. If IF Noble was injured then a straight swap with Lansbury would have been better. I thought it was a stupid decision, everyone around me thought it was stupid, 30,000 odd people thought it was stupid. Sam Allardyce didn't. Plain and simple it was a decision that cost us the game.

Before his injury Matt Taylor had been ok, since his injury he has been on poor. His passing is poor, his decision making is awful, the his dead ball delivery which used to be so good is terrible and on top of that he is Slower than a game of Operation between Michael J Fox and Mohammed Ali.


He points over here, he points over there, That Kevin Nolan, he points everywhere. I'm not being all negative about Nolan as I said earlier, he did well for the goal and had a decent first half apart from his mistake for the goal. I also have no problem with a captain have a moan at team mates when they make mistakes or moaning at ref for poor decisions, but if he concentrated on his own game more rather than being so keen to point out mistakes of others he'd be a much better player. He makes such a big thing of ding it too that it stinks of trying to curry favour with the fans.


Summary:

What looked like it was going to be the best football display at home this season was scuppered by a pathetic, negative substitution that played right into Readings hands. For any that still think we have to play ugly to get out of this league just needs to look at the last 3 games. The halves we have played negative football we have been poor, the halves we played good football we have been successful. Sam had the chance to win a lot of fans over today and he blew it and along with it blew the chance of keeping promotion in our own hands.

Thanks for reading

Mr Polite

Seamouse 10:56 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Positives - we have lulled Southampton and 'fucking' Reading into a false sense of security and they will both have a major drop off in form in the final finishing straight, thus allowing us to be Champions on the final day of season

Negatives

Why am I in the one parallel universe where that isn't going to happen

sparkie 10:06 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Positives, first 20 mins.

Negative, Not only was bringing Collins on for noble a negative but how fucking shit is the player himself, almost Breen-esqe, fucking carthorse who can't kick a ball straight.

The formation yet again, all to accomodate that fat scouse cunt who struggles to make simple pass, but digs every other player out. CUNT

Fuck knows what Baldock and Maynard must think watching that uncomfortable cunt cole week in week out, he has to go in summer, has to

motley crue 9:39 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

positive: i might finally get to see us play at wembley

negative: we always fail to get to wembley

i-Ron 9:38 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Positive - by contributing so much to Reading's 2nd goal which killed us off....Julien Faubert will now find it impossible to get a new contract from the board.

Negative - The players looked lost out there in the second half. Like they all had no idea what they were supposed to be or how they were supposed to be playing.

NigelKhazi 9:32 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Positive - BFS is one game closer to resigning/being sacked?

One McAvennieeeeee 9:31 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Positives? You're taking the piss son!

Negatives - humiliating.

I.want.that.one 9:29 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Mr P. I can't give you any higher praise than to say, perfect thread. No more can, or should be added.

Iron Filings 8:35 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Slower than a game of Operation between Michael J Fox and Mohammed Ali.

Quality

Darby_ 7:22 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

The big negative is obviously that we've probably missed out on automatic promotion.

There's something about us as a club that we always seem to wilt under pressure, but at the same time think about the last time we were down here. In the last few weeks of Pardew's promotion season we'd slipped down 9-10th and everyone had lost hope of being promoted. That was when we finally started winning games and hit our stride.

As a club we're natural underdogs. We play better when no one gives us a chance.

It's not much of a positive, but it's better than nothing.

Coffee 6:23 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Not sure there was anything positive. There was only one criterion for yesterday's game, and that was to win - or, at the very least, to avoid defeat.

LeroysBoots 6:17 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

P, fucking spot on analysis, exactly how I saw the game

Ronald_antly 5:07 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Polite

"The halves we have played negative football we have been poor, the halves we played good football we have been successful. "

You consider throwing away a 1-0 lead to go in 1-2 down to be a success??

I think you need to raise the bar a little.

Headtheball 4:16 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

I just want to say..
fucking bastard cunting bollocks shit faced arsehole gay boy wanker tosser dyke anal tit faced cum dp gagging day it's been.
I hope we don't have another day like that.
Roll on Barnsley.

Northern Sold 2:12 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

I'll be honest... just like when we lost in the play offs v Palace I said to mates at the time it might have done us a favour going up as I did not think we was ready.... I feel exactly the same... playing the style of football we have played most of the season with the players we have got we will get smashed next season...

claret on my shirt 2:06 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

I just do not see any positives out of today, we lost we're 4 points behind 2nd place with 6 games left. So it’s the playoffs or another season playing is this shit league. We’ve taken 5 points from the last 18 at home at the most critical time of the season. Only Millwall and Doncaster have worse home records than us over that period. That’s just not acceptable if we were a mid table team, let alone a team going for automatic promotion with the highest wage bill in the league.

BFS calls us deluded, he tells us his stats say we were great this game and the last 5 at home but we have 5 points from those six games. Anyone can make stats look good if you show them in a way that makes them look good, but at the end of the day there is only one stat that counts and that’s goals and playing this dire boring shite football at home is not the way to get those goals.

I think today just summed things up for me, we’re 1-2 down at half time (fair enough against the run of play) and BFS takes Noble off either due to an injury or tactical reasons or whatever and puts a centre back Tomkins in the heart of midfield. We were playing well, the formation was working so why the fuck did he not put Lansbury on in Nobles place (like for like). I love Tomkins but the guy is not going to cut open a defense with a telling pass like we needed to at 1-2 down. I can see that, every other person who went to day could see that apart from BFS.

Whether we go up (which looks a 1 in 4 shot now via the playoffs) or we don't go up i just want this boring conceited dinosaur of a manager out of our football club.

Vexed 12:56 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Show me the positives anywhere near this shambles of a club.

british is best 12:55 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Cant see many positives :-[ .

Eric.C. 12:54 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Westham67-- you may well be spot on. Birmingham looked ominously powerful in tonight's Football League show. They look to be better managed than us,sorry to report.

Ronald_antly 12:43 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Positive (for those that travel away)

Looks like you may well be getting a nice trip to the seaside!

Hammer and Pickle 12:42 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

Playing football not statistics might be the answer perhaps.

Westham67 12:37 Sun Apr 1
Re: The Positive & Negative Thread - Reading

I don't think we'll recover from this , A crushing blow from Reading

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