Back from the Game - Palace

[Ozymandias]

Probably in a minority of 1, but for long spells of that game i was utterly bored. Mainly at the sub standard level of play from both sides.
Harte looks a good player, obviously lacks pace but one of very few players to actually make passes with any conviction and he took his penalty very well. Karacan too had a very strong secnd half but that midfield 3 doesn't convince me long term. It worked today against a poor Palace side but Gunnarsson and Karacan are too similar and Brian Howard is just average, he hasn't impressed me in any game i have watched him play. Reading's major strength is out wide and neither winger got into the game enough for me nor ran at thir full backs enough, McAnuff especailly was quiet in a game you'd thought he'd be right up for. Little mention for Shaun Cummings who for the most part did a decent job at full back, I think he's shown a lot of heart to come back strong after what was a dismal start to his RFC career.
Reading deservedly won the game, the scoreline was flattering in my opinion, I don't think Reading were 3 goals better and without a helping hand (no pun intended) from the referee it undoubtedly would have been a lot closer game.

TBF I agree with most of this, Harte looks composed, not howard's best game, and Gunnarson is tired/rubbish.

[savage 4 england]

Probably in a minority of 1, but for long spells of that game i was utterly bored. Mainly at the sub standard level of play from both sides. Couldn't see a goal coming unless there was a mistake or a shot from 25 yards or something. As it happens 2 penalties, neither of which I thought were penalties at first glance.

Palace were absolutely terrible as I expected. They've had a lot of turmoil and were missing a couple of their best players but they literally had 1 chance in 93minutes of play. Even then the guy shanked it and Federici turned it aside.

Harte looks a good player, obviously lacks pace but one of very few players to actually make passes with any conviction and he took his penalty very well. Karacan too had a very strong secnd half but that midfield 3 doesn't convince me long term. It worked today against a poor Palace side but Gunnarsson and Karacan are too similar and Brian Howard is just average, he hasn't impressed me in any game i have watched him play. Reading's major strength is out wide and neither winger got into the game enough for me nor ran at thir full backs enough, McAnuff especailly was quiet in a game you'd thought he'd be right up for. Little mention for Shaun Cummings who for the most part did a decent job at full back, I think he's shown a lot of heart to come back strong after what was a dismal start to his RFC career.

Reading deservedly won the game, the scoreline was flattering in my opinion, I don't think Reading were 3 goals better and without a helping hand (no pun intended) from the referee it undoubtedly would have been a lot closer game.

Completely agree with that.

[Ozymandias]

Do You See?

Sorry chap, but you are a hole.

[Maguire]

Probably in a minority of 1, but for long spells of that game i was utterly bored. Mainly at the sub standard level of play from both sides. Couldn't see a goal coming unless there was a mistake or a shot from 25 yards or something. As it happens 2 penalties, neither of which I thought were penalties at first glance.

Palace were absolutely terrible as I expected. They've had a lot of turmoil and were missing a couple of their best players but they literally had 1 chance in 93minutes of play. Even then the guy shanked it and Federici turned it aside.

Harte looks a good player, obviously lacks pace but one of very few players to actually make passes with any conviction and he took his penalty very well. Karacan too had a very strong secnd half but that midfield 3 doesn't convince me long term. It worked today against a poor Palace side but Gunnarsson and Karacan are too similar and Brian Howard is just average, he hasn't impressed me in any game i have watched him play. Reading's major strength is out wide and neither winger got into the game enough for me nor ran at thir full backs enough, McAnuff especailly was quiet in a game you'd thought he'd be right up for. Little mention for Shaun Cummings who for the most part did a decent job at full back, I think he's shown a lot of heart to come back strong after what was a dismal start to his RFC career.

Reading deservedly won the game, the scoreline was flattering in my opinion, I don't think Reading were 3 goals better and without a helping hand (no pun intended) from the referee it undoubtedly would have been a lot closer game.

Completely agree with that.

Largely agree but they had more than one chance. Result flattered Reading but the win was deserved. Once the second went in it was a free for all.

Harte is milk float slow but gifted and knows how to play football. Overall it'll be a mediocre season at best.

[Arch]

Probably in a minority of 1, but for long spells of that game i was utterly bored. Mainly at the sub standard level of play from both sides. Couldn't see a goal coming unless there was a mistake or a shot from 25 yards or something. As it happens 2 penalties, neither of which I thought were penalties at first glance.

Palace were absolutely terrible as I expected. They've had a lot of turmoil and were missing a couple of their best players but they literally had 1 chance in 93minutes of play. Even then the guy shanked it and Federici turned it aside.

Harte looks a good player, obviously lacks pace but one of very few players to actually make passes with any conviction and he took his penalty very well. Karacan too had a very strong secnd half but that midfield 3 doesn't convince me long term. It worked today against a poor Palace side but Gunnarsson and Karacan are too similar and Brian Howard is just average, he hasn't impressed me in any game i have watched him play. Reading's major strength is out wide and neither winger got into the game enough for me nor ran at thir full backs enough, McAnuff especailly was quiet in a game you'd thought he'd be right up for. Little mention for Shaun Cummings who for the most part did a decent job at full back, I think he's shown a lot of heart to come back strong after what was a dismal start to his RFC career.

Reading deservedly won the game, the scoreline was flattering in my opinion, I don't think Reading were 3 goals better and without a helping hand (no pun intended) from the referee it undoubtedly would have been a lot closer game.

*caveat lector - not back from the game*

This season as every season, the division is full of drab teams playing substandard football with third or fourth division standard players in one or two spots. Success in the championship is all about teams like the current Reading team winning games like today's by a comfortable margin. When we win, I'm happy; when we lose, I'm not. What else is there? Can you put your hand on your heart and say Torquay-Stanley was likely to have been close to the same entertainment value?

[Sarah Star]

I was quite confident of a win today, so much so that I predicted a 3-0 win to everyone around me before the match started. When it did I thought I might have backed the wrong side, Palace always seemed to win any battles to get the ball. After we'd scored the penalty, we picked up a bit and started to get more into the game - especially Karacan.

From this match I concluded that:

Howard isn't going to fill Gylfi's shoes, but then he shouldn't be expected to. I doubt anyone would be able to.

Ian Harte is going to do well here and almost makes up for losing Gylfi. He can pick a pass and looks good going forward and (crucially) can defend. I know it's only one game, but I love him already.

Shaun Cummings can do some good stuff. He effectively snuffed out several Palace attacks, yet there are other times when I'm wondering where he's got to.

We have a confidence team. When things aren't going our way, they hang back a little. When they don't have that worry, they show a bit more fight.

A win's a win, but I don't want to be relying too much on penalties for the rest of our games as we still managed to miss several shots that I thought were dead cert goals.

If this doesn't make sense, I apologise. It's the middle of the night and I should be sleeping.

[Hoop Blah]

I've only read two other comments, but I'm going to make a sweeping statment nonetheless.

Complain about McAnuff all you want, but he's a top Championship winger who got marked and tackled out of the game today by the best right back in the division. Got past Clyne a couple of times, but largely limited. Yes, he was quiet, but that's not a criticism of him but a compliment to the defender.

Spot on. He's only 19 but looks like he's been playing for years and kept McAnuff quiet for the most part.

I'd expect to see him move on in January or next summer.

[PieEater]

I thought the Palace team was pretty decent in midfield, they passed it around much better than us. Up front they were poor and Vaughan got on my nerves with his constant diving and falling over. At the back they decided to man mark Howard which is maybe why people thought he had a poor game, although I cringed when he put that shot wide.

Long gave their centre halves a torrid time, pulling them out of position and getting past them. Our final ball though was always poor, with Kebe and Howard the main culprits.

Overall a flattering result even though we could of had more. I thought both pens were spot on, I had a good view of the second and it looked stonewall to me.

Very happy with the 3 points, but I was left wondering how someone like Marek would do playing in place of Howard.

[facaldaqui]

Very happy with the 3 points, but I was left wondering how someone like Marek would do playing in place of Howard.

Much the same.

[under the tin]

The first penalty was defo the turning point.
Up until that point, Palace looked the more likely to score.
I don't know what's in those chicken nuggets, but that was the best I've seen Shane play in a very Long time.
I was surprised to see us line up the way we did. McDermott obviously is a big fan of the system, but personally, the jury is out as to whether Howard is the man for that position. now if we could get a Sidwell in there....
Jimmy Kebe continues to terrorise whoever he plays against, whilst McAnuff was his usual enigmatic self. I fear that the former will be a transfer target for other clubs come January.
Karacan was like a Jack Russell invading a park game, chasing absolutely everything. He's in the side because of his work rate, and that can't be faulted. Great assist for the breakaway goal.
Harte looked every inch an experienced pro, and his passing ability impressed. Perhaps if we are going to play that very long diagonal ball in the future (QPR game), we should get Mills to pass it to Harte to play it, because from what I saw, he's more likely to hit the target.
The back four generally looked solid, but I must confess that Mills' temper continues to worry me. It looked for all the world that he was going to get a red card in the latter part of the first half.

[PieEater]

There was a good comment from Mick Gooding about Ian Harte, "he hasn't lost his pace because he never had any".

Quite true.

[PEARCEY]

^ Agree about Mills temper. He got booked, argued with the ref and then committed 2/3 fouls over the next 10 minutes...he was pushing his luck and it wasn't necessary.
My immediate reaction re the second pen was that it looked like a really good tackle...although I still shouted out for a pen along with half of East Stand. Looking at the pen on tv earlier this morning it was never a pen so we were a little lucky because after the second goal Palace were all over the place and we could have scored 7 or 8.
Surprised about some of the comments about Kebe. Love the player and yes he was a handful but he was profligate yesterday. He could have scored a hat-trick and had the ball in a great position on numerous occasions but often didn't get the cross or pass right.
As for Howard he simply does not have the flair to replace Siggy. I would rather see Tabb as the attacking midfielder when fit.
Harte does have a sweet left foot. One cross field pass to Kebe was sublime but he did look like he was treading water when running back in the first couple of minutes. However he has the nous and experience to cover up this lack of pace which Cummings is a million miles from having. Having said that Cummings grew on me a bit yesterday because he did show some determination and bless him did manage to get into the penalty box and force a save out of Speroni.
Despite the scoreline we looked poor until the first pen and better sides than QPR will make us pay if we don't get out of the blocks quicker in future.
As Sarah Starr rightly suggests we are a confidence side especially Jimmy Kebe which worries me a bit.

[Hoop Blah]

I Up front they were poor and Vaughan got on my nerves with his constant diving and falling over

Considering Longs efforts, especially for the first pen that's a bit ironic!

[Snowball]

I thought we were a little bit hesitant in the first half-hour with Palace just edging it,
not so much that they threatened (they didn't much) but they were robust in defence
and knocked it around nicely coming out. They were winning too many of the 50-50s

I was in the opposite corner to Harte so couldn't really tell how he was doing, but then twice
he put his foot on the ball, looked up and played a fantastic, intelligent ball to Kebe.

I was a little bit drab in the first quarter I thought and I started to think we were going to lose it 0-1 and the Gylfi-Moaners would have a field day.

I missed the pass that put Shane through but the pen itself looked a definite one to me.

Pleased to see how much he wanted to take the pen and he laced it home. Good lad!

But for me Federici's save won us the match. Had Palace equalised then we would have been really down.

They had more ball-winners than us (or at least they worked harder, Karajan excepted) but you have
to judge a game by the number of shots and shots on target. We scored three, ALL deserved, had a cracking
shot from Karajan, had one across the face of goal, one in the side netting, hit the bar and their keeper
made a fair few saves.

I only remember Fedders save before half-time, one fluffed header when they broke the off-side trap
from their free-kick (and one of their players was fouling Gunnarson to stop him rushing out) once
when they had one go wide, and one across the face.

We had three times their chances AND TOOK THEM, that's the sign of a gulf in class.

On the first 25-30 minutes we just about deserved 0-0 but we got better and better
once the first goal had gone in and we cut them to ribbons second half.

I think the 3-0 WAS deserved, could've been 5-1 or 6-1

7.5 Federici (Important save and can't remember a mistake)
8.0 Harte (Oh he IS slow, but makes up for it with his brain and his passes out were brilliant)
7.5 Pearce (Maybe 8. Solid)
7.0 Mills (Good partnership forming with Pearce. I'm guessing Kish will come in to defensive midfield. Got skinned once, horribly, but it happens
7.0 Cummings (Curate's Egg. Needs games. Doesn't stop enough crosses, lots to learn but plenty of good things)
7.0 Howard (Got the impression he was trying to stay on the ball and "be Gylfi" but did a lot of work. Bad miss from Kebe's pass)
8.0 Karajan (GREAT game, worked like a terrier, more important to us than Howard at the moment)
7.0 Gunnar (I can't remember a thing about his game. Weird.)
8.5 Kebe (He gets better and better. Ruled the second-half. We should try to extend his contract NOW. Question is, can he do his magic when we are losing 2-0?)
7.5 McAnuff (Solid work. He's become the less spectacular of the two but as a PAIR, these are devastating.)
8.0 Long (Does an awful lot of "unsung" work, chasing down, winning throws. He will improve in the "1" spot which doesn't/didn't suit him.)

[ZacNaloen]

I Up front they were poor and Vaughan got on my nerves with his constant diving and falling over

Considering Longs efforts, especially for the first pen that's a bit ironic!

huh?

He ran over the back of him

Was a foul anywhere on the pitch, it's not like Long made a meal of it.

[PEARCEY]

Agree with Zac...the first one was a pen and Long didn't dive.

[ZacNaloen]

Second one wasn't a pen though, was a good tackle.. took the ball cleanly only the follow through took long. But it was from behind maybe the ref deemed it dangerous.

[facaldaqui]

I was a little bit drab in the first quarter

What happened after that? Did you take your anorak off?

[PEARCEY]

Second one wasn't a pen though, was a good tackle.. took the ball cleanly only the follow through took long. But it was from behind maybe the ref deemed it dangerous.

Definitely not a pen second time around. We all appealed for one in the East Stand and frankly that as much as anything swayed the ref in my view. Poor decision which ended the game as a contest.

[JoebyRFC]

Kind of funny that a player from League 1, was our best player. All he did was the simple ball at the right time