McDermott watch

[Isaac Hunt]

or perhaps Colin's style was REALLY oxf*rd BAD!!!

[grey_squirrel]

The proof of the pudding will be in our fixtures against Leeds next year.

Opening day at home against them would do me nicely!

[AthleticoSpizz]

When you get sacked for playing shit football the temptation is normally there to change your style. Holloway did it after getting sacked by Leicester.

different league, different rules of engagement

[Man Friday]

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. i.e. we were never such a hoofball team as some people are now trying to make out. Admittedly it was never Brendan's "playing it around the defenders for 20 mins while everyone falls asleep" but I found the mixed style sufficiently entertaining to watch, or certainly so when we were winning games with it in the Championship. The players simply weren't good enough to play it around against PL opposition. It's all fairly obvious really but then again, like anything to do with football these days, it's discussed as though we're trying to get a rocket to Mars.

Demonstrated nicely by the advent of the 3-syllabule word "technical" instead of the 2-syllabule "skillful" as in "he's highly technical". Bullsh1t. "He's highly skillful" was good enough until the PL arrived 20 years ago.

[Man Friday]

When you get sacked for playing shit football the temptation is normally there to change your style. Holloway did it after getting sacked by Leicester.

different league, different rules of engagement

That's what I was trying to say!

[winchester_royal]

That logic would work if we'd played passing football in the Championship..

[Maguire]

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. i.e. we were never such a hoofball team as some people are now trying to make out. Admittedly it was never Brendan's "playing it around the defenders for 20 mins while everyone falls asleep" but I found the mixed style sufficiently entertaining to watch, or certainly so when we were winning games with it in the Championship. The players simply weren't good enough to play it around against PL opposition. It's all fairly obvious really but then again, like anything to do with football these days, it's discussed as though we're trying to get a rocket to Mars.

Demonstrated nicely by the advent of the 3-syllabule word "technical" instead of the 2-syllabule "skillful" as in "he's highly technical". Bullsh1t. "He's highly skillful" was good enough until the PL arrived 20 years ago.

Spot on.

All this "hoofball" nonsense is the work of idiots. We played loads of passing football in the Championship, just not the all-out from the back style that the likes of Swansea display. We played our football in the oppositions half, that's all.

Didn't work in the Prem not because McDermott spent all day on the training ground going "Hit it LOOOONG" but because our players simply weren't good enough. Of course Brian takes a share of the blame for that but the "hoofball" idiots don't have a clue.

[Ouroboros]

You think RVP closes defenders down more than your average Championship striker (eg Noel Hunt)?!

Do you think RVP punishes you more for giving the ball away that your average Championship striker (eg Noel Hunt)?

[winchester_royal]

Agreed that we played some decent stuff last year, but it was still based completely around our wingers and the opposition knew if they shut them down they shut Reading down. It was effective so I'm not going to knock Brian, but we need a bit more variety in our play which hopefully Adkins will bring. As Jason said on his twitter we have a chance to build something next season and I'm marginally (because I did like Brian and though he'd do a good job next season) more confident that we'll be able to do so with Nige at the helm.

We'll see.

[winchester_royal]

You think RVP closes defenders down more than your average Championship striker (eg Noel Hunt)?!

Do you think RVP punishes you more for giving the ball away that your average Championship striker (eg Noel Hunt)?

Valid, but then I think that Premiership defenders should be able to play 5 yard passes without giving the ball away.

I also think that due to the quality of Premiership players you can't really get away with giving your opponents 60% of the possession every game over a 38 game season. We're not good enough defensively to hold out under that amount of pressure, and we're not clinical enough to make the most of our few chances.

It's easy to be smart after the event though, and given I wasn't saying this back in August it's very possible that Brian has learnt from his errors too and I'm sure he'll be very successful at Leeds. I'm still glad we've got Adkins though because personally I think a fresh start this summer is the best way forward for all parties.

[Ian Royal]

All this we weren't that direct is nonsense. We were reasonably direct with decent passing under Coppell and we were significantly more direct under McDermott. We were basically doing the same thing this season under McDermott as we were at the first half of last season when we looked nothing more than Championship also-rans because we didn't have a striker partnership and we had no threat through the middle with an incredibly pedestrian midfield. Roberts came in and was enough of a cut above that he forged an excellent partnership with Hunt and we became a different prospect because he gave us an outlet.

Because we had a team who were in form and contained some of the best players in the league we made the system work. We were in form and therefore passed it better. BUt the second we were in a league where we our players were at best mediocre, our passing went down the pan because it was something McDermott placed pretty much no emphasis on.

[Lower West]

Stats speak for themselves.

Reading are the only team to average less than 40% possession in the Premier League this season (39%). They managed 55% possession against Norwich - only the second time they have averaged more possession than an opponent this season.

Not going to win games without a ball.

[P!ssed Off]

All this we weren't that direct is nonsense. We were reasonably direct with decent passing under Coppell and we were significantly more direct under McDermott. We were basically doing the same thing this season under McDermott as we were at the first half of last season when we looked nothing more than Championship also-rans because we didn't have a striker partnership and we had no threat through the middle with an incredibly pedestrian midfield. Roberts came in and was enough of a cut above that he forged an excellent partnership with Hunt and we became a different prospect because he gave us an outlet.

Because we had a team who were in form and contained some of the best players in the league we made the system work. We were in form and therefore passed it better. BUt the second we were in a league where we our players were at best mediocre, our passing went down the pan because it was something McDermott placed pretty much no emphasis on.

Agreed. Shouts of hoof when Reading were pre Prem were only kept at bay when the team was doing well and winning.
Anyone that claims they cannot recollect Reading playing some serious hoofball under Brian can not also claim "I was there when Matt Mills swore at the crowd".
The reason why Mills swore at the crowd was because of the crowds reaction to his continuous long balls in one particular game, this was in 2010 and the style stayed pretty constant for the next 3 years.


On a scale of 0 - 10, with barcelona tiki-taka being 0 and total hoofball being 10, I'd put Rodgers at about 1, Coppell at about 6 and Brian at about 8.
Obviously Sidwell leaving Reading dealt a huge blow to the quality of Reading's central midfield, perhaps leading to over reliance on the wingers in our second Prem Season, probably moving us from a 6 to a 7 on my football strategy scale and contributing to relegation.
I'm hoping that Adkins is around 3-4 on my scale, we currently do not have the players to play any closer to tiki-taka than that.

Also bear in mind that the first time we were in the Prem I would say that 442 was still pretty much the standard tactic. Today, 442 in the the Prem is not a valid option as we discovered in the first half of the season. Perhaps this team under Brian might have done slightly better in the Prem 5-10 years ago.

[Royalclapper]

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. i.e. we were never such a hoofball team as some people are now trying to make out. Admittedly it was never Brendan's "playing it around the defenders for 20 mins while everyone falls asleep" but I found the mixed style sufficiently entertaining to watch, or certainly so when we were winning games with it in the Championship. The players simply weren't good enough to play it around against PL opposition. It's all fairly obvious really but then again, like anything to do with football these days, it's discussed as though we're trying to get a rocket to Mars.

Demonstrated nicely by the advent of the 3-syllabule word "technical" instead of the 2-syllabule "skillful" as in "he's highly technical". Bullsh1t. "He's highly skillful" was good enough until the PL arrived 20 years ago.

Having a decent quality first touch, the ability to know when and when not to hold/pass the ball and being aware of the space around you does not mean you are a skilful player.

[soggy biscuit]

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. i.e. we were never such a hoofball team as some people are now trying to make out. Admittedly it was never Brendan's "playing it around the defenders for 20 mins while everyone falls asleep" but I found the mixed style sufficiently entertaining to watch, or certainly so when we were winning games with it in the Championship. The players simply weren't good enough to play it around against PL opposition. It's all fairly obvious really but then again, like anything to do with football these days, it's discussed as though we're trying to get a rocket to Mars.

Demonstrated nicely by the advent of the 3-syllabule word "technical" instead of the 2-syllabule "skillful" as in "he's highly technical". Bullsh1t. "He's highly skillful" was good enough until the PL arrived 20 years ago.

Spot on.

All this "hoofball" nonsense is the work of idiots. We played loads of passing football in the Championship, just not the all-out from the back style that the likes of Swansea display. We played our football in the oppositions half, that's all.

Didn't work in the Prem not because McDermott spent all day on the training ground going "Hit it LOOOONG" but because our players simply weren't good enough. Of course Brian takes a share of the blame for that but the "hoofball" idiots don't have a clue.

This to the max.

If this board were to bbelieved we had 5 defenders, 5 forwards and no midfield and the ball spent 95% of the time in the air.

It wasn't 'total football' but then are people trying to pretend that the rest of the division were playing that way?

[SydenhamRoyal]

All this we weren't that direct is nonsense. We were reasonably direct with decent passing under Coppell and we were significantly more direct under McDermott. We were basically doing the same thing this season under McDermott as we were at the first half of last season when we looked nothing more than Championship also-rans because we didn't have a striker partnership and we had no threat through the middle with an incredibly pedestrian midfield. Roberts came in and was enough of a cut above that he forged an excellent partnership with Hunt and we became a different prospect because he gave us an outlet.

.

Actually thats not quite true. The first 6 games of the season we were pants, then we got in Alf and Gorkss and from game 7 onwards until Roberts joined, some 20 games or so later, we were top of the form table - not also rans. I dont disagree that Roberts helped us move to an even higher level after that, but our position in the table was masked by the dreadful start.

[winchester_royal]

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. i.e. we were never such a hoofball team as some people are now trying to make out. Admittedly it was never Brendan's "playing it around the defenders for 20 mins while everyone falls asleep" but I found the mixed style sufficiently entertaining to watch, or certainly so when we were winning games with it in the Championship. The players simply weren't good enough to play it around against PL opposition. It's all fairly obvious really but then again, like anything to do with football these days, it's discussed as though we're trying to get a rocket to Mars.

Demonstrated nicely by the advent of the 3-syllabule word "technical" instead of the 2-syllabule "skillful" as in "he's highly technical". Bullsh1t. "He's highly skillful" was good enough until the PL arrived 20 years ago.

Spot on.

All this "hoofball" nonsense is the work of idiots. We played loads of passing football in the Championship, just not the all-out from the back style that the likes of Swansea display. We played our football in the oppositions half, that's all.

Didn't work in the Prem not because McDermott spent all day on the training ground going "Hit it LOOOONG" but because our players simply weren't good enough. Of course Brian takes a share of the blame for that but the "hoofball" idiots don't have a clue.

This to the max.

If this board were to bbelieved we had 5 defenders, 5 forwards and no midfield and the ball spent 95% of the time in the air.

It wasn't 'total football' but then are people trying to pretend that the rest of the division were playing that way?

But that's the point isn't it? We've been playing all season like an average Championship side would do.

Ultimately to be successful at this level you need to be playing better football than the rest of the Championship, and if Anton is as ambitious as he claims then that's what we need to be doing. Perhaps BMc would have got us playing like that next season, perhaps he wouldn't. We'll never know, but we do now have a manager with a track record of getting teams promoted playing with a certain style that will make them competitive at the top level, so the logic behind the replacement was sound.

[Royal Rother]

Everyone enjoys success, however it is brought.

Hell, I enjoyed watching Ian Branfoot's teams when we were doing well.

BM's team didn't play hoofball particularly but it sure as hell wasn't pretty that I could see, even when we were on that amazing run last season.

The fact that BM is encouraging Leeds to keep the ball is great - but it doesn't suggest to me that their players are better / more skillful / whatever than were at his disposal at Reading.

As a bit of a thinker, I suspect BM has thought deeply about what he could / should have done better at Reading and has decided he should encourage his teams in future to retain possession more because that will generally bring more success, particularly if you get to the PL. I know we were very effective at counter-attacking and you don't necessarily need much of the ball to do that, but if Reading had been more able / coached to retain possession for longer periods in the Championship we might well have been better equipped for life in the PL.

[Man Friday]

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. i.e. we were never such a hoofball team as some people are now trying to make out. Admittedly it was never Brendan's "playing it around the defenders for 20 mins while everyone falls asleep" but I found the mixed style sufficiently entertaining to watch, or certainly so when we were winning games with it in the Championship. The players simply weren't good enough to play it around against PL opposition. It's all fairly obvious really but then again, like anything to do with football these days, it's discussed as though we're trying to get a rocket to Mars.

Demonstrated nicely by the advent of the 3-syllabule word "technical" instead of the 2-syllabule "skillful" as in "he's highly technical". Bullsh1t. "He's highly skillful" was good enough until the PL arrived 20 years ago.

Having a decent quality first touch...does not mean you are a skilful player.

Yes it does, 100%. The rest I might agree with you on, but "technical" is still not quite appropriate as an adjective in this context.

[Ouroboros]

Stats speak for themselves.

Reading are the only team to average less than 40% possession in the Premier League this season (39%). They managed 55% possession against Norwich - only the second time they have averaged more possession than an opponent this season.

Not going to win games without a ball.

Bayern Munich 36% - 64% Barcelona - possessssssiooooon footbaLOLOLOLOLOL
Bayern Munich 4 - 0 Barcelona

Or did I get the result wrong, maybe it was five nil?

I think we could all LOL a little bit harder at this if we weren't bottom of the real table as well as bottom of the percentage possesion table.

They're completely unrelated though, I'm sure.