Reading 2 - 2 Newcastle United - 29/09/12 - post-match reaction from page 43

[Guest BooBoo]

We might not be playing very well but we aren't losing and are still grinding out results.

 

I'd be more concerned if we were either playing crap and losing or tearing teams apart and leaving ourselves open at the back and not winning or losing.

 

We've lost one league game to the current european champions.

 

Expectations have been unrealistically raised by last seasons league position, people need to get a grip and have a bit of a reality check.

 

Agree to an extent. I'm not sure despite one a good season we should be going away from home in the PL and beforehand reading fans commenting along the lines of "no excuses for not winning this one."

[Wullie]

We might not be playing very well but we aren't losing and are still grinding out results.

 

I'd be more concerned if we were either playing crap and losing or tearing teams apart and leaving ourselves open at the back and not winning or losing.

 

We've lost one league game to the current european champions.

 

Expectations have been unrealistically raised by last seasons league position, people need to get a grip and have a bit of a reality check.

 

Agree to an extent. I'm not sure despite one a good season we should be going away from home in the PL and beforehand reading fans commenting along the lines of "no excuses for not winning this one."

 

I don't see why not really - every other team we are supposed to be competing with will go there expecting to win and I suspect most of them will, and comfortably.

 

Re: it's ok because we're not losing - we would be losing if it wasn't for three extraordinarily fortunate decisions that have gone our way.

[TRon]

We might not be playing very well but we aren't losing and are still grinding out results.

 

I'd be more concerned if we were either playing crap and losing or tearing teams apart and leaving ourselves open at the back and not winning or losing.

 

We've lost one league game to the current european champions.

 

Expectations have been unrealistically raised by last seasons league position, people need to get a grip and have a bit of a reality check.

 

Agree to an extent. I'm not sure despite one a good season we should be going away from home in the PL and beforehand reading fans commenting along the lines of "no excuses for not winning this one."

 

I don't see why not really - every other team we are supposed to be competing with will go there expecting to win and I suspect most of them will, and comfortably.

 

Re: it's ok because we're not losing - we would be losing if it wasn't for three extraordinarily fortunate decisions that have gone our way.

 

We'd also be losing more games if we didn't have forwards who can score goals out of virtually nothing. Just as well really because so far this season we've created very little through good football.

[Benwell Lad]

Really poor performance yesterday and we ended the game with only 3 or 4 first choice players on the field. Reading played quite well second half and I think they'll have a chance of beating the drop, they've got a decent manager and they looked good against Chelsea too.

I've thought since the begining of the season that if we get to November intact (mid to top half and doing OK in Europa) we'll kick on from there and it could still be a good season.

[littlelunchbox]

yep even though we were completely shite yesterday, still think we're being really unfair to Reading.  Decent side.

[Mick]

yep even though we were completely s**** yesterday, still think we're being really unfair to Reading.  Decent side.

 

Reading aren't a decent side.

[kevin doyle]

yep even though we were completely s**** yesterday, still think we're being really unfair to Reading.  Decent side.

 

 

Thanks for saying we are a decent side. We don't seem to be getting any credit on here.

[Mick]

 

 

 

Thanks for saying we are a decent side. We don't seem to be getting any credit on here.

 

You deserved to win, how much credit do you want?

[madras]

We might not be playing very well but we aren't losing and are still grinding out results.

 

I'd be more concerned if we were either playing crap and losing or tearing teams apart and leaving ourselves open at the back and not winning or losing.

 

We've lost one league game to the current european champions.

 

Expectations have been unrealistically raised by last seasons league position, people need to get a grip and have a bit of a reality check.

 

Agree to an extent. I'm not sure despite one a good season we should be going away from home in the PL and beforehand reading fans commenting along the lines of "no excuses for not winning this one."

 

I don't see why not really - every other team we are supposed to be competing with will go there expecting to win and I suspect most of them will, and comfortably.

 

Re: it's ok because we're not losing - we would be losing if it wasn't for three extraordinarily fortunate decisions that have gone our way.

the decisions cut both ways, evertons second non goal was never a free kick and fellaini and neville should have been sent off. some are saying mariappa headed the ball for ba when he was called offside after being fouled.  if so thats a pen we should have had.

 

where we have been lucky is getting away with not getting beat while putting in poor performances.

[Ronaldo]

yep even though we were completely s**** yesterday, still think we're being really unfair to Reading.  Decent side.

 

You think everyone bar us and Stoke are decent.

[littlelunchbox]

yep even though we were completely s**** yesterday, still think we're being really unfair to Reading.  Decent side.

 

You think everyone bar us and Stoke are decent.

 

wow ronaldo even gets offended when someone calls another team decent.  get a grip mate lol

 

you think stoke are decent? fair enough lol

[Stuy_O]

We might not be playing very well but we aren't losing and are still grinding out results.

 

I'd be more concerned if we were either playing crap and losing or tearing teams apart and leaving ourselves open at the back and not winning or losing.

 

We've lost one league game to the current european champions.

 

Expectations have been unrealistically raised by last seasons league position, people need to get a grip and have a bit of a reality check.

 

Agree to an extent. I'm not sure despite one a good season we should be going away from home in the PL and beforehand reading fans commenting along the lines of "no excuses for not winning this one."

 

Agree with that, expected it to be a difficult match. The way we went about it however was deeply annoying.

 

Sorta agree with the post above that aswell. But regardless of personal expectations and all that, we need to start getting the simple things right. Its painful to watch at the moment yet we've only lost once.

[Stuy_O]

At what point do people realise that last year was the freak and that we overpeformed? For where we are right now in the evolution of the club i'd be satisfied with 8th and a cup run this year.  We're still on for that aren't we?

 

I just think with players like Krul, Santon, Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye, Ba, Ben Arfa and Cisse that 8th is an outrageously low expectation. That's 8 of your first 11,  a fantastic set of players. Who are these 7 teams with better individuals?

 

And don't forget it's NUFC who chose not to strengthen that squad because we thought we were already strong enough.

 

Granted their are plenty of teams who can't boast such an impressive cluster of players, but the top 4 and Spurs (imo) are better sides than us with far bigger squads designed to cope with fixture pile ups. So that leaves us 6th? Well taking into account how class Everton look this season and how Liverpool will probably climb the league its not going to be that simple sadly.

 

Those sides mentioned also have years of experience finishing in the upper half of the league, something which none of our squad boasts yet. Things like that might not be huge but they do play a part, if only a small one.

 

In no way is this belittling your desire for a higher finish than 8th mind, last season has raised expectations and it would be excellent to see us attacking the top four again.

 

Personally, I think given the increase in games and the limitations of the fringes of our squad, it would not be a disaster. I just want to see some cohesion more than anything, if we're talking the here and now.

[Guest SweMatt]

Terrible effort, IMO. We were plain lucky to get a point against a side that is bound for relegation. Coloccini and Cabaye were sorely missed. Bigi lost possession too much and both Jonas and HBA should have been more involved. Cissé is clearly out of form.

 

Harper 5

 

Perch 4.5

Williamson 6

S Taylor 5.5

Santon 6

 

Ben Arfa 5.5

Tiote 6.5

Bigirimana 4.5

Jonas 5

 

Ba 7.5

Cisse 4.5

 

Bigirimana and Perch getting the same rating as Cisse

Bigirimana getting less than Jonas

Harper getting a 5

 

You're mental.

 

Harper grade was a typo, I had him as our MOTM together with Ba.

So only half mental. 

[Guest BooBoo]

Am I the only who thought that despite two good saves, Harper could have done more with both goals which were terribly soft. No more than a 6/10 showing for me.

[SiLvOR]

Am I the only who thought that despite two good saves, Harper could have done more with both goals which were terribly soft. No more than a 6/10 showing for me.

 

Really feel he should have stopped the first one in particular, was a miss-hit nothing shot.

[Guest BooBoo]

Second one, he seemed to take forever to get down. The ball took an eternity to bounce down into the net.

[Guest Geordiesned]

Harper is a strange keeper. He's on his his toes for crosses so reacts really well to any close headers or shots. But when there's someone shooting from a distance he seems to put all his eggs in one basket so to speak and puts all his balance on one foot meaning if the shot goes the other side to what he has predicted he ends up rooted to the spot. I don't think it's an age thing with him either as he's always been like that as long as I can remember.

[Guest Roger Kint]

yep even though we were completely s**** yesterday, still think we're being really unfair to Reading.  Decent side.

 

You think everyone bar us and Stoke are decent.

 

wow ronaldo even gets offended when someone calls another team decent.  get a grip mate lol

 

you think stoke are decent? fair enough lol

 

Can you even read what he said?

[Guest Roger Kint]

Harper is a strange keeper. He's on his his toes for crosses so reacts really well to any close headers or shots. But when there's someone shooting from a distance he seems to put all his eggs in one basket so to speak and puts all his balance on one foot meaning if the shot goes the other side to what he has predicted he ends up rooted to the spot. I don't think it's an age thing with him either as he's always been like that as long as I can remember.

 

Given was shit with long rangers too.

[Hughesy]

Yesterday Harper, Perch, Williamson, Tavernier, Bigirimana, Ferguson and Ameobi all played. That's 7 players who are, let's be brutally honest, inexperienced or very average. Now I think Ferguson and Bigi have a future, maybe Tav too, but they'll take time. Perch has been effective but he's not a centre back, and Ameobi, Williamson and Harper are average at best.

 

Should we be so surprised by the performance when this is the quality of bench or 'rotation' players called upon to get us a result in the Premier League? They are 7 of the 14 players who represented us yesterday.

 

Of course, we have also witnessed poor performances with a stronger team out. The problems with weak squad depth are multiple. Not only do these players weaken the first team when called upon, but there is a lack of genuine competition for places which does not bring the best out of our first team. Players such as Cisse or Cabaye are unlikely to fear for their place when Gosling and Ameobi are on the bench. Successful teams always have fierce competition for places, we have none.

 

Pardew's tactics have frustrated me at times this season. But the problem is also related to the resources. He needs to freshen up the team but when you look across our bench, you do not see many candidates.  Of those who could come in I'd like to give Ferguson a couple of games. Cisse and Gutierrez are two players I really rate but their form has dipped. I would add Cabaye to that list but I'd still rather have him in the team than Gosling. And therein lies the problem.

 

Yesterday was just the worst of what we have more often than not and the team we put out should have been good enough to beat Reading.  Our problem isn't only the personnel, it's as much to do with the way we try to play as a team and that doesn’t come from the players. 

 

I don’t believe that our players can’t string a series of passes together against Reading.  I don’t believe that our players can’t find or create space in which to accept a pass against Reading.  I don’t believe that our players just decide for themselves that they are going to tell Williamson to go up top for every free-kick and attempt to find him every time.  That must come from the coaching and that’s what is to blame, I don’t believe that our coaches do that without some input from the manager, in fact I don’t believe that our coaches do that without the guidance of the manager because Carver has been here a long time and that hasn’t been a tactic we’ve used so often before.

 

Our coaching can't be good enough and that’s being reflected in our performances.

 

I’m not even sure that we are set up not to get beat, I think we’re set up to play a style of play that we don’t have the players to execute.  I don’t have a problem with 4-4-2 when you have pace on the wings, we don’t have that so 4-4-2 fails before it starts.

 

If we are going to play 4-4-2 then we need to bring two pacey wingers in who can get to the line and put a ball into the box on a regular basis.

 

Blaming our poor performance against Reading on our recruitment isn’t getting at the problem, it’s hiding it because we had enough on the field or not picked, to play better than we did.

 

 

So you think that our players are capable of passing to each other and finding space, but don't do so because they are told not to do so by Pardew?

[Mick]

Yesterday Harper, Perch, Williamson, Tavernier, Bigirimana, Ferguson and Ameobi all played. That's 7 players who are, let's be brutally honest, inexperienced or very average. Now I think Ferguson and Bigi have a future, maybe Tav too, but they'll take time. Perch has been effective but he's not a centre back, and Ameobi, Williamson and Harper are average at best.

 

Should we be so surprised by the performance when this is the quality of bench or 'rotation' players called upon to get us a result in the Premier League? They are 7 of the 14 players who represented us yesterday.

 

Of course, we have also witnessed poor performances with a stronger team out. The problems with weak squad depth are multiple. Not only do these players weaken the first team when called upon, but there is a lack of genuine competition for places which does not bring the best out of our first team. Players such as Cisse or Cabaye are unlikely to fear for their place when Gosling and Ameobi are on the bench. Successful teams always have fierce competition for places, we have none.

 

Pardew's tactics have frustrated me at times this season. But the problem is also related to the resources. He needs to freshen up the team but when you look across our bench, you do not see many candidates.  Of those who could come in I'd like to give Ferguson a couple of games. Cisse and Gutierrez are two players I really rate but their form has dipped. I would add Cabaye to that list but I'd still rather have him in the team than Gosling. And therein lies the problem.

 

Yesterday was just the worst of what we have more often than not and the team we put out should have been good enough to beat Reading.  Our problem isn't only the personnel, it's as much to do with the way we try to play as a team and that doesn’t come from the players. 

 

I don’t believe that our players can’t string a series of passes together against Reading.  I don’t believe that our players can’t find or create space in which to accept a pass against Reading.  I don’t believe that our players just decide for themselves that they are going to tell Williamson to go up top for every free-kick and attempt to find him every time.  That must come from the coaching and that’s what is to blame, I don’t believe that our coaches do that without some input from the manager, in fact I don’t believe that our coaches do that without the guidance of the manager because Carver has been here a long time and that hasn’t been a tactic we’ve used so often before.

 

Our coaching can't be good enough and that’s being reflected in our performances.

 

I’m not even sure that we are set up not to get beat, I think we’re set up to play a style of play that we don’t have the players to execute.  I don’t have a problem with 4-4-2 when you have pace on the wings, we don’t have that so 4-4-2 fails before it starts.

 

If we are going to play 4-4-2 then we need to bring two pacey wingers in who can get to the line and put a ball into the box on a regular basis.

 

Blaming our poor performance against Reading on our recruitment isn’t getting at the problem, it’s hiding it because we had enough on the field or not picked, to play better than we did.

 

 

So you think that our players are capable of passing to each other and finding space, but don't do so because they are told not to do so by Pardew?

No I don't think that, I think the way we we are setup doesn't allow us to play that way.

[ujpest doza]

Am I the only who thought that despite two good saves, Harper could have done more with both goals which were terribly soft. No more than a 6/10 showing for me.

He was rooted for the 1st which i thought was poor whereas i thought Perch was poor for the 2nd and jusging by his reaction he knew it as well.

[buzza]

I cannot believe we didn't beat reading yesterday, they were horrible in the first half albeit we were also horrible. We seemed to play in fits and starts and never really got any momentum, had we scored a goal in the first twenty I reckon it would have been a rout.

In the second half they came out a lot more confident and started to attack us, it worked for them as our defence yesterday was a shambles, the only player with some credence was Santon and that was only because he offered us something to put them on their back foot.

The positives to take out the game are very simple, we played crap and got a draw, we have players to come back for Manu (I hope) and Bigi/ferguson both look like they will make the grade in the near future.

The negatives are our lack of confidence and inability to get some fluid passing going, I am struggling to see the movement in midfield and our full backs only come into the game when we go behind...Why? Shouldn't we be attacking teams like Reading and playing a more conservative game against the big boys? I am beginning to dislike Pardew's conservative approach to games like this. He only implements an attacking formation when we go behind or at the 70 minute mark (see shola/Ferguson). Why not play ferguson from the start if we are trying to play a 442. Why not get the full backs kicking on early in the game and then defend our lead instead of having to chase games later on?

I don't like playing a 442 with no width and two strikers who are struggling to play as a pair, if we had Ferguson on from the start and instruction to HBA to go wide and attack the byline I think we would fare much better.

I understand we are without a few first team players and that they should bring some more stability and it seems like the whole team is lacking confidence at the moment, hopefully things will "click" soon and we will put a hatful past somebody... I have my fingers crossed that Colo and Cabaye are back for the weekend otherwise we will get whopped, wouldn't mind seeing Simpson back either as no one has really grasped that opportunity either (dons tin hat).

Last of all, our set pieces are GASH! Whoever started the thread about Willo at the back... I applaud you! what a load of Bolsheviks!

Anyway, here's to putting 4 or 5 past Taggart's red scum and finding a bit of form...

[Elliottman]

We started this game with effectivley three defensive midfielders. It's no wonder there's no link between the front two and the rest. If you get Cabaye back in there and drop Jonas asap for someone who actually gets in the final third in crossing positions, we might see an improvement.