v Reading (a) - 17/8/22 - Mark 1

[Upside Down]

The thing is, we got dicked today but I expect some work to be done to try and rectify the issues we had.

We were never going to win every game but its always disappointing to lose.

[JHRover]

No surprises tonight for me. I expected a 'back down to earth' game after the WBA exertions and a long trip to a bogey ground midweek provided just the ingredients.

I am disturbed that with the injury to Scott Wharton a week ago that we still haven't done anything about the CB situation. That is unacceptable. If we are going through these shenanigans to wait for a loan from Liverpool then give it up and move on for crying out loud.

The League and Sky mafia have done us in here of course - forcing us to play 3 tough games in 6 days including 2 away from home and 2 against promotion favourites. Yet I hear very little complaint or issue with that. It would test any squad and manager to do this but especially our small squad after the mammoth effort on Sunday.

Not a lot we can do about that now but just have to hope this is a wake up call to those upstairs that we can't 'make do' with what we have and many more additions are required, as some of us have been saying for weeks. 

Critical point was their 2nd goal. We'd started to make some progress just before then resulting in the penalty 'shout' but then Pickering with a weak headed clearance and then a pathetic attempt to stop the shot from which they scored finished it.

Gallagher for their 3rd - pathetic.

 

[Sparks Rover]

1 minute ago, Upside Down said:

The thing is, we got dicked today but I expect some work to be done to try and rectify the issues we had.

We were never going to win every game but its always disappointing to lose.

Hard next game too away to Sheff Utd

[yankfan]

Feel Morton should have come on for Buckley at the half. Bucko put in a massive shift on Sunday. Worked hard in the middle then under pressure for the second half at right back. We should have a solid rotation there between Trav, Bucko and Morton. It was obvious he was off it today. 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, booth said:

He's got his work cut out, we've been absolutely diabolical.

It's 1 game. I won't be OTT in any criticism tonight. I believe we are going in the right direction under JDT. 

Onwards and upwards under JDT's Blue and White Army 🔵⚪️

[Ghost7]

It's incredible we are where we are with only 3 signings. We know how demanding the Championship is physically and you need strength in depth.

Expecting Travis to run around like he does 3 times a week isn't sustainable either, he will get injured soon. Buckley is a good player but not suitable for all oppositions and is still learning the game.

The squad is far too thin and it needs sorting! You could see it against Swansea when we couldn't bring a decent defensive sub on to sure up the game, you could see it on Sunday when Buckley moved to RB and we burned out a 17 year old. We are riding our luck massively and it caught up with us today, simple as that.

The entire team needs adding to a lot over the next 2 weeks. Broughton needs to get busy, I think we need 4 or 5 in without any outgoings.

 

[JHRover]

We can all see it, and it is safe to assume both Tomasson and Broughton can see it as professionals who have worked in football all their lives.

If the business doesn't get done it won't be because Tomasson and Broughton don't want it. We have to look to the owners and their man in the shadows.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

We can all see it, and it is safe to assume both Tomasson and Broughton can see it as professionals who have worked in football all their lives.

If the business doesn't get done it won't be because Tomasson and Broughton don't want it. We have to look to the owners and their man in the shadows.

Please stop with the conspiracy theories on every thread. 

If it doesn't get done then Broughton and JDT won't be here for very long - we don't need to be constantly reminded of it. 

When it came to putting their hand in their pockets the Venkys funded Gallagher, Armstrong and Brereton (and paid Downing a fortune to do very little). I hate them as owners, but they're clearly willing to spend money.

[Dreyski]

1 hour ago, J*B said:

Interested to hear from our head coach tonight - can someone tag me into it when his quotes are out?

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2022/august/17/jdt-s-reading-reaction/

"The players have been excellent so far this season, but it was a step back tonight, we weren’t good at all,

We didn’t play well, we did all the wrong things. I hate losing, it’s frustrating when you lose games and I feel sorry for our supporters. They travelled a long way, they kept supporting us and I’m sorry to them. It wasn’t a good game, we didn’t perform.

We made the wrong choices, we didn’t do the things we spoke about before the game. We have to be honest about tonight, it hurts losing a game like this,"

I’m disappointed, the fans should be disappointed, the players should be disappointed, we’re all disappointed.

We need to stick together, we have an important game on Saturday to look forward to."

[JHRover]

4 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Please stop with the conspiracy theories on every thread. 

If it doesn't get done then Broughton and JDT won't be here for very long - we don't need to be constantly reminded of it. 

When it came to putting their hand in their pockets the Venkys funded Gallagher, Armstrong and Brereton (and paid Downing a fortune to do very little). I hate them as owners, but they're clearly willing to spend money.

Where's the conspiracy theory?

If signings don't get done it will be because those in control of the purse strings fail to make it happen

You are referring to signings made 3-4 years ago. A lot has happened since then and taps have been turned down, that is obvious.

[phili]

1 minute ago, JHRover said:

We can all see it, and it is safe to assume both Tomasson and Broughton can see it as professionals who have worked in football all their lives.

If the business doesn't get done it won't be because Tomasson and Broughton don't want it. We have to look to the owners and their man in the shadows.

It's a difficult task bringing in 7-8 players even if we have a budget of £9m. Still only works out at just over £1m a player.

I'd be going back to Barnsley for Styles pretty quickly after Pickering's performance today.

I know they have enquired about Charlie Goode on loan but been told Brentford want to sell only at around £4m, whether the price or possible loan will change towards the end of the window I don't know. Although I would be worried about his injury record for the past 2 seasons.

[JHRover]

3 minutes ago, phili said:

It's a difficult task bringing in 7-8 players even if we have a budget of £9m. Still only works out at just over £1m a player.

I'd be going back to Barnsley for Styles pretty quickly after Pickering's performance today.

I know they have enquired about Charlie Goode on loan but been told Brentford want to sell only at around £4m, whether the price or possible loan will change towards the end of the window I don't know. Although I would be worried about his injury record for the past 2 seasons.

Not interested in hard luck stories. 

Enquiries and bids don't count as signings.

They've had time, and according to those 'in the know' there's a good budget. Time to see action.

I'm tired of transfer windows ending in disappointment and then having to read about all the reasons we couldn't get business done even though we tried.

[alcd]

1 hour ago, Madon said:

Reading this thread is bloody well depressing. We are top of the league ffs. We go again on Saturday 🔵⚪

Enjoy the next couple of days. With shocking performances like that it's all downhill from here. 

[JPTSwindon]

Quite a thumping. Phillips looked very raw, Pickering repeatedly gave the ball away, none of the attacking players could hold up play… Ayala was the only plus, real quality.

*But* fine margins, clearly an off night - it happens. Key is how we respond, there is enough there to suggest we will.

 

[phili]

4 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Not interested in hard luck stories. 

Enquiries and bids don't count as signings.

They've had time, and according to those 'in the know' there's a good budget. Time to see action.

I'm tired of transfer windows ending in disappointment and then having to read about all the reasons we couldn't get business done even though we tried.

That's the problem though, they haven't had much time. Just over 2 months to analyse the squad and then make decisions on what type of players we need to fit the new playing style before going out and finding.

If we wanted this summer to be a success at the very least we needed Broughton to have been appointed in Feb and  JDT shortly after. We are playing catch-up to too much delayed decision making.

 

[Exiled_Rover]

4 minutes ago, alcd said:

Enjoy the next couple of days. With shocking performances like that it's all downhill from here. 

What's that saying again? Ewood Park doesn't hold a crowd, it holds a jury.

Bloody hell. 

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Jimmy612 said:

I didn’t see much of the game… no one has mentioned Szmodics yet.  Guessing he was as poor as the rest of them?

Worse.

I have serious doubts about him, doesn't look anywhere near Championship standard to me.

[Dan]

38 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

It's 1 game. I won't be OTT in any criticism tonight. I believe we are going in the right direction under JDT. 

Onwards and upwards under JDT's Blue and White Army 🔵⚪️

You never are, you just repeat what rovers.co.uk say. 

[bluebruce]

JDT apologised to the fans. Not sure I can remember Mowbray ever doing that, even after the 7-0. It doesn't mean anywhere near as much as a response on the pitch of course, but it's nice to have some common courtesy to the fans again, instead of the disrespectful shit we got from TM at times.

[M_B]

Our first defeat in what was  Tomasson's first ever midweek, away championship game. 

He will have learned a lot from tonight's game,  there's nothing quite like the Championship. 

[chaddyrovers]

17 minutes ago, Dan said:

You never are, you just repeat what rovers.co.uk say. 

Wrong Dan but I always look at things half full glass attitude and never think negatively. Not me as person as plenty on here can testify.

Reason for my attitude are We are top of the league, won 3 out of our 4 league games, JDT has been great since coming in and like a breath of fresh air. I won't overreacted to one defeat or even criticise them tonight. If you and other want to fine no problems from me. 

I fully believe in JDT and He will take us to the PL during his time here

[jim mk2]

On 14/08/2022 at 19:08, jim mk2 said:

Fans will be banking on another win but it won't be easy and a word of warning: I'm going to the game and I've never seen us get a point there. Perhaps I should stay at home

Oh dear, oh dear

Jim the albatross strikes again. 

That's 4 visits to Reading and 4 defeats.

Tonight was the worst of the lot

[RevidgeBlue]

I think a balanced view needs to be taken after last night's shit show.

JDT was dealt the worst of hands by the negligence of Waggott and Mowbray as regards the make up and composition of the squad. He has done unbelievably well to eke out nine points of nine under the circumstances but reality caught up with us tonight.

Against that we simply didn't compete physically on the night and if you don't do that you have no chance. We looked liked we'd been spiked before kick off and that lack of combative spirit has to be placed at the feet of the manager. Equally as worryingly, Reading to their credit seemed to have clocked on to the rather risky way we attempt to play the ball out from the back and pressed accordingly. We had no answer and you'd imagine other teams will soon cotton on.

Individually only Ayala and Travis looked Championship standard on the night:

Of the rest

Kaminsky - looked very hesitant and nervous for the second game in a row

Brittain - hasn't got as much talent as a lot of people are making out - gave the ball away for fun tonight

Pickering - looks to have completely gone since his return from injury - needs replacing.

Phillips - by no means the worst performer on the night but looked very shaky. Unlucky with our only serious effort on goal.

Buckley - Completely anonymous for the second game running. He is one who has the ability and is capable of far better

Szmodics - oh dear - Championship looks a step too high for him at the moment

Dolan and Vale - Although Dolan has previously impressed at this level ,  See above

BBD - far more Breton than Diaz on the night  Maybe temporarily distracted.

Gallagher - Dear oh dear came on at HT as our big hope and all he contributed was to give away goal number 3 with an appalling attempt at defending.

Dack - not the worst but not much to suggest he demands a place in the starting X1.

Hedges - A lot more industry than most on the night but zero end product.

Edun - a limited player but showed more fight in his brief cameo appearance than the rest of them put together.

Over to Waggott and Broughton now. Mowbray and Waggott fucked up the January window despite money being available. The manager needs help - and a lot of it We can't afford for the same thing to happen again this August.

Edited August 17, 2022 by RevidgeBlue

[jim mk2]

Some observations from the long trip to Reading last night - my first sight of Rovers live this season

1. Paul Ince did an excellent job on us. No doubt advised by his ex-ManU mate Steve Bruce after the West Brom match, he had Reading in our faces from the kick-off and they kept it up for the full 90 minutes. I've never seen a Rovers team bullied and intimidated like that in 50 years' watching. Our nice boys just sank back and wilted 

2. We're in a false position at the top of the league. We need at least 4 or 5 signings (good ones) to sustain a promotion challenge over 40 plus games. The squad is too thin in both quality and quantity

3. The manager got his starting XI seriously wrong. Vale and Dolan are League 2 standard - and that's being kind. He made the right subs at half time (which Mowbray wouldn't have done) but if that's our best XI it's not good enough to get out of this league

4. I liked Nyambe but the new right back is clearly a better player. As for Zmodics (sp) what can you say except meh? He looks like a few other meh midfielders we've had in recent years. Travis was just about the only player who could hold his head up last night - the rest went missing in action

5. I'm not sure of the Rovers turnout but there were lots of empty spaces and I've never heard Rovers fans so quiet. We were/are top of the league so they had plenty to sing about but it was all very odd. Reading fans loved it....."top of the league, you're having a laugh"...

Not a good night to be a Rover

 

[Fraserkirky]

Just totally outpaced all over the pitch tonight, and bullied too. When both happens at once you get a drubbing, Reading looked like Real Madrid tonight. 

Should have been 4-3-3 tonight with dack in between Gally and BBD. Morton Buckley and Travis in midfield.

Edun should have Pickerings jersey on Sat. 

Get on with your job Greg!