"How shit must you be, we're winning away"

[Chuckle Brother]

Stephen Hunt. New contract.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you James Lambert !

[Man Friday]

Quick - take £5m for Hunt and Lita - thanks Roy and Gary!

[Man Friday]

2 quick points - Murts back (never thought I'd say that) and very impressed with Fulham's support (probably ditto).

[Thou Voice]

Highlight of today was the hailstones.

Thanks to Thou Voice, you can enjoy the moment again...

[Row Z Royal]

Ha ha! You got wet.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

I thought Fulham were crap

Can't say as I agree at all with that. Sure, there was absolutely nothing to beat but I though that Fulham played some intelligent, decent football and a 5-0 scoreline would have been fair.

Fulham played average championship football, aided by nobody tackling or being in position too often. They still only managed to create about half a dozen chances in the whole match.

We created two chances, which from an attacking point of view might make it statistically our worst home performance ever.

[strap]

Nail firmly hit on head by the Fulham fans.

After a season of utter crap, that has to be the big shiny turd on top of the effluent cake.

To pre-empt Alan Partridge: DUMP.

100% spot on. What hurts most was that if we'd been stuffed 0-4 or 0-5, we couldn't really complain!!

There was only one Premiership football team out there today, and they weren't wearing blue and white.

That was utter, utter, UTTER shite.

If, IF, we stay up this year, (and after THAT showing we'll be damn lucky), the powers that be simply have to see that 4 transfer windows of Premiership football on the cheap is a fluke. We desperately need half a dozen proven Premiership players and forget the totally failed policy of buying cheap nobodies from Outer Mongolia or wherever.

When the Fulham teamsheet was read out before the game, I turned to my brother in law and queried why Fulham were so low in the table with a team that on paper was pretty strong. After the game I am even more puzzled!! Murphy, Dempsey, Bullard, Davies .... they took us to the cleaners today. Yes, they're on double our wages, blah, blah, blah, but Mr mad - this is the big boys league chap. You pay Championship wages and pay Championship fees, and you get Championship footballers playing (if you are lucky) Championship football.

Our "team" of carthorses and foreign reserve team rejects were outplayed, outthought, outfought by a team who played the ball to feet, were able to pass and move, and weren't afraid of actually shooting. Not one single Reading player this evening can hold his hand up and say he was satisfied with his performance today. Fulham were simply streets ahead of us, (as were their fans BTW), and if they go down playing that kind of football, we are in for a torrid third season.

Again, during the warm-up, we were debating who we should vote for for Player of the Season. Frankly there is no-one worthy this year. Had we had Mateovsky for the season, he would get my vote for the simple fact that he can pass the ball. Everyone else has had pretty dire seasons, and the end cannot come soon enough after today.

Yes, yes, Derby fans have it much worse, yes we are still ahead of Fulham, Bolton and Birmingham, but honestly, is that good enough? Is that really acceptable?

No, no it is not. Opportunities such as the one RFC were given 2 years ago come round once in a blue moon. Mr Mad is pissing this opportunity away faster than you can say Fosters Lager. And what the oxf*rd was all that victory roll nonsense he was performing before kick-off, like some latterday Roman Emporer???? FFS Mr mad, you need to get a grip pretty damn quickly, because whilst you're revelling in the glory of LENDING the club £40M, it is actually sinking around your ears.

(May I just ad that not onece have I criticised our Welsh right winger. Thanks to Al Clements for the loan of the Grays programme from 2000/01, i am honouring my committment never to slag said "player" off ever again. It is mightily tempting to after today, but I am a man of my word - sadly).

Right, whinge over, feeling a little better, and moving onto next Saturday. Who've we got? Of oxf*rd, Arsenal away! Can't wait!!!!

[RoyalBlue]

It's funny how Coppell's never come out and told us our chairman's tight-fisted. Quite the contrary in fact, he's said that he enjoys superb support from the board and didn't feel the need to strengthen at this stage.
.

As for the buck stopping at the manager that's crap. Reading FC is no long a sporting team it's a multi-million business and, as with any such business, the buck always stops with the Chairman. JM is just fortunate that he doesn't have any shareholders that he really has to worry about answering to!

that will be why it is the manager that gets to move on and not thew Chairman, get real

Accepted and that's why I shall save my first boos for the Chairman next time he comes out to have his massive ego massaged.!

Contrast his attitude with the words of the Hull Chairman:

'I feel the burden in terms of my guardianship of the club, which is only as strong as the 20,000 emotional shareholders who feel they are rightfully owners.'

And no, I 'won't sod off and support Hull then'!!

[Row Z Royal]

Why won't you just sod off and support Hull then?

[strap]

How anyone reasonably expected any better than this today is beyond me. Anyone who has watched RFC regularly this season has known for a long while that this is a poor squad for this level, pushed far beyond the limits of its ability. Hunt and Oster rarely got a sniff in the Championship winning team yet are regulars in this side. Oster must be very grateful about the fact that Hunt is a regular actually, for as long as Hunt plays Oster won't be the worst winger ont he pitch.

The gulf in class today - gulf in class; Fulham won only their 5th game of the season today - was encapsulated by the ubiquitous Jimmy Bullard. Harper and Hunt should have asked for Bullard's autograph today - had they got close enough to him - because he will be a Premier League footballer next season. Harper and Hunt, it is increasingly safer to say, almost certainly won't be.

100% agree. 100%.

[strap]

Why won't you just sod off and support Hull then?

Probably a bit too far to travel, plus are they in the Prem yet?

[Upper West Ginger]

Reading fans:"Going down, going down, going down"
Fulham fans: "So are we, so are we, so are we."

I thought they were joking, but now I'm not so sure.
Usually I stay right until the final whistle, but that second goal had me on my feet and making for the exit.
That was complete, utter GARBAGE!
It is time for some heads to roll.

[Kes]

LOL @ Fulham fans singing Bullard is better than Lampard and then a rendition of 'stick the blue flag up your ar5e'. Even though they weren't playing Chels, it's nice of them to pay us so much attention, but they did outsing Reading to be fair.

[Forbury Lion]

On todays performance we deserve to be relegated.

[bcubed]

I thought Fulham were crap

Can't say as I agree at all with that. Sure, there was absolutely nothing to beat but I though that Fulham played some intelligent, decent football and a 5-0 scoreline would have been fair.

Fulham played average championship football, aided by nobody tackling or being in position too often. They still only managed to create about half a dozen chances in the whole match.

We created two chances, which from an attacking point of view might make it statistically our worst home performance ever.

Fulham played very well - they have some excellent Premiership standard players who were playing without any fear. They passed it around very crsiply and neatly and I haven't seen our central defenders troubled by a front pair like that for several games
They were definitley not crap but having said that, yes we were shit

[Platypuss]

I haven't seen our central defenders troubled by a front pair like that for several games

True - (but only because Newcastle had three up front).

[readingbedding]

Oh well, that's football.
Bad day at the office, fair play to Fulham, I dislike them, but they would not be in that position if they played like that away from home more regulary.
If we stay up, we stay up.
I think we'll stay up.

[Royal Rother]

On todays performance we deserve to be relegated.

That's one of those completely illogical statements isn't it?

I mean on Liverpool's performance at our place they deserve to be relegated don't they?!

You can't deserve to be relegated on one match - there are 38 of them to decide who that "honour" belongs to.

[Archie's penalty]

Fun, fun, fun as usual on HNA.

We really need to pull a couple of performances out of the frying pan. I think we will and will stay up just. We do need to strengthen for next season though otherwise it's going to be an awful long 9 months...

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

On todays performance we deserve to be relegated.

That's one of those completely illogical statements isn't it?

I mean on Liverpool's performance at our place they deserve to be relegated don't they?!

You can't deserve to be relegated on one match - there are 38 of them to decide who that "honour" belongs to.

illogical yes, but there have been more nearer today's performance than our Liverpool one.

Of our 20 league defeats, fourteen have been by at least two goals.

Of our 9 wins, only two have been won by that margin (and one, Sunderland, was one really by a margin of zero goals). Essentially, when we win we scrape home. When we lose we are usually well beaten. Even Derby managed 9 shots today in their 0-6 defeat.