Halford Debut

[Newbie]

I have to say, i completely agree that Halford is not quite ready for first team football however, he did actually have a good game yesterday, but his support in the form of Duberry was sh*t, and therefore it was not him getting caught out of position but Duberry. This makes him look like the one who gets it wrong, but actually at some points during the match Halford was having triangles played around him as he had to take Duberry's man as well!

[aaronrfc]

I barely saw any of either Sidwell or Harper in the match..

the more I watch Sidwell the more I am convinced he is the most overated player this club has ever had.

What does he ever do in a game that warrants pundits heaping praise on him and his demands for top wages?

What can he do that will add and improve another Premiership club when he joins in the summer?

His shooting is appalling and he gives the ball away reguarly. His goal return is rubbish as a result of his poor shooting.

It's obvious he believes in his own hype - hence his constant refusal to sign a new Reading deal.

He wasn't in our top 5 players last season and I don't really think he is this season.

If there is one player I think we could afford to lose then Siddy is that player.

I would be sad to see him go as he was part of something special last season and I will always recognise and appreciate the part he played, but I think if he goes we'll hardly notice he's gone.

There are far more important and influential players at this club who have signed extended deals. I am pleased that they have done that.

he wasnt even our 5th best midfielder last year, let alone player

i agree 100 percent with your post

i would be interested to see your list of our best five midfielders last year if it doesnt inlclude Sids

[lozz2601]

Halford improved a lot in the second half - I'm hoping the first half problems were just to do with stage fright or something equally irrelevant to his ability.
But I love his throw!

[Behindu]

I detest his throw.

It is an aberation and if I could think of a way of banning the long throw from the game I would campaign for it !

It's FOOTBALL, and something that allows you to THROW the ball from your own half into the opposition goal mouth should have no place in the game.

As has been said, if we make regular use of this we will become a poor version of Bolton.

On the other hand I liked the way Halford hit the ball so sweetly and think that given time he will be a class player. I hope Hoop Blah is wrong about it taking him a couple of years though, if he doesn't make the jump to Premiership football by the early part of next season then he never will.

[Vision]

Would you (or anyone) say that he was actually doing quite well then after the penalty against him he lost all confidence and looked a different player?

That's just what it seemed like to me on the radio.

Before the pen it was all praise for Halford. The straight after the pen it seemed he'd lost his way and looked rattled.

We have to factor that in too.

Any thoughts?

No, i actually think it was the complete opposite. I thought he showed excellent character after the penalty incident and he improved considerably both defensively and also in terms of getting forward until a lack of match practice ( and the pretty frantic pace of this game ) took it's toll.

I appear to be in something of a minority but overall i thought it was an encouraging debut.

[Huntley & Palmer]

I detest his throw.

It is an aberation and if I could think of a way of banning the long throw from the game I would campaign for it !

It's FOOTBALL, and something that allows you to THROW the ball from your own half into the opposition goal mouth should have no place in the game.

As has been said, if we make regular use of this we will become a poor version of Bolton.

On the other hand I liked the way Halford hit the ball so sweetly and think that given time he will be a class player. I hope Hoop Blah is wrong about it taking him a couple of years though, if he doesn't make the jump to Premiership football by the early part of next season then he never will.

Surely you jest on the throw part? Any extra ammunition for scoring goals is good, it's not like we have the strikers to make use of it every time but at the very least it may generate panic in the opponents box and provide a secondary ball for us to cross/shoot/score from

[Behindu]

Let's all join the John Beck school of football !

The throw should simply be a way of getting the ball back into play, personally I'd make it an underarm roll rather than a throw...

With Halford and Sonks a less honest manager than Coppell would tell his players to concentrate on winning throws anywhere in the middle third rather than attacking properly. You'd then play 2 big forwards and lump throws into the area looking to play the percentages. And we're back to horrible (but effective) Route 1 a la Wimbledon.

Play footbal the way it should be - with feet and on the ground (like SPurs and Arsenal do !)

[Yorkshire Royal]

His throw in, once we get the set plays sorted, will be like having a corner.. How anyone could object to that I don't know, considering how good we usually are from set plays.

And also from a defensive point of view, it's a good way of getting the ball out of the danger area...

[Hoop Blah]

Let's all join the John Beck school of football !

Do you want to introduce a below head height ruling then?

The long throw asks different questions of a teams defence in just the same way as having a pacey winger or centre forward does. Just because it's a bit different doesn't make it bad.

Also, I don't think I ever said anything about Halford taking a couple of years to develope into a premiership player, a pre-season yes, but not a couple of years.

[papereyes]

Let's all join the John Beck school of football !

A great manager and one who has been under-rated by history.

What he did at Cambridge was a great achievement.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Let's all join the John Beck school of football !

The throw should simply be a way of getting the ball back into play, personally I'd make it an underarm roll rather than a throw...

With Halford and Sonks a less honest manager than Coppell would tell his players to concentrate on winning throws anywhere in the middle third rather than attacking properly. You'd then play 2 big forwards and lump throws into the area looking to play the percentages. And we're back to horrible (but effective) Route 1 a la Wimbledon.

Play footbal the way it should be - with feet and on the ground (like SPurs and Arsenal do !)

A team must have an ability to mix up their game, otherwise they end up playing beautiful football that never really produces much. Like Spurs & Arsenal

[Stranded]

Let's all join the John Beck school of football !

The throw should simply be a way of getting the ball back into play, personally I'd make it an underarm roll rather than a throw...

With Halford and Sonks a less honest manager than Coppell would tell his players to concentrate on winning throws anywhere in the middle third rather than attacking properly. You'd then play 2 big forwards and lump throws into the area looking to play the percentages. And we're back to horrible (but effective) Route 1 a la Wimbledon.

Play footbal the way it should be - with feet and on the ground (like SPurs and Arsenal do !)

So for example, we win a throw in the opposition territory. Halford grabs the ball quickly being the nearest to the ball. Lita makes a quick run, catching out the defence knowing he can't be offside. Halford sees this and launches a massive throw in to his path. Lita takes the ball in his stride and slots home.

Don't see anything wrong with the above myself.

All it means now, is that any time the ball goes out 30 yards from goal we've basically got a free kick. Works for me.

[Behindu]

I guess you can take anything to extremes.....

I hate long throws - I see them as a very poor way to play the game and are on a par with Route 1. Clearly using a long throw sparingly is not going to worry anyone or destroy the game as we know it, but if (as I stated) it became a situation where we played to win throws then it would be awful.

Would those who think the long throw is a thing of beauty enjoy the game if Sids and Harper's first aim was to nick theball off the opposition for a throw, then SOnks and Duberry trundle forward to stand next to Kitson. Halford hurls it 50 yards while the 'big 3' throw themselves at the opposition defence and Doyle and Lita hover round hoping to get the knock down ?

I restate that I think football is a game played essentially on the ground and by feet. Clearly great wing play leads to crosses and headers and that is part of the game. But the 50 yard throw is an abomination and I'd happily ban it.

I understand that if you have a Halford in the side people want to game an advantage and use his skill, I just think it is not a football skill and the sort of team I want to watch aspires to play the game in a different way.

[brendywendy]

Would you (or anyone) say that he was actually doing quite well then after the penalty against him he lost all confidence and looked a different player?

That's just what it seemed like to me on the radio.

Before the pen it was all praise for Halford. The straight after the pen it seemed he'd lost his way and looked rattled.

We have to factor that in too.

Any thoughts?

No, i actually think it was the complete opposite. I thought he showed excellent character after the penalty incident and he improved considerably both defensively and also in terms of getting forward until a lack of match practice ( and the pretty frantic pace of this game ) took it's toll.

I appear to be in something of a minority but overall i thought it was an encouraging debut.

im with you, thought he had a decent game, under trying circumstances
though duberrys wanderings are of much more concern
would be quite happy for halford to start next week if murts is still out

[Boston Royal]

Let's all join the John Beck school of football !

A great manager and one who has been under-rated by history.

What he did at Cambridge was a great achievement.

I agree: his achievements were immense, and it seems even the Cambridge fans don't appreciate him as much as they should: they seem to have been swayed by the media's perception.

Back to the topic: Coppell is a pragmatic manager and will play to the team's strengths. If Halford has a long throw and we're more likely to win headers than the opposition (which is not the case in all games), he'll probably ask him to use it. With Palace, Coppell played a direct style because this suited the players. With Reading so far, Coppell has played a passing or counter-punching style because of our players. Now that we have Halford's throw, Coppell might choose to use that.

I don't think the long throw should be used too often as yet because winning headers probably isn't our relative strength, but I have nothing against it as a tactic if we end up getting other players who can feed off it.

[brendywendy]

I guess you can take anything to extremes.....

I hate long throws - I see them as a very poor way to play the game and are on a par with Route 1. Clearly using a long throw sparingly is not going to worry anyone or destroy the game as we know it, but if (as I stated) it became a situation where we played to win throws then it would be awful.

Would those who think the long throw is a thing of beauty enjoy the game if Sids and Harper's first aim was to nick theball off the opposition for a throw, then SOnks and Duberry trundle forward to stand next to Kitson. Halford hurls it 50 yards while the 'big 3' throw themselves at the opposition defence and Doyle and Lita hover round hoping to get the knock down ?

I restate that I think football is a game played essentially on the ground and by feet. Clearly great wing play leads to crosses and headers and that is part of the game. But the 50 yard throw is an abomination and I'd happily ban it.

I understand that if you have a Halford in the side people want to game an advantage and use his skill, I just think it is not a football skill and the sort of team I want to watch aspires to play the game in a different way.

the throw in, be it long or normal length is part of football, clearly.
i think its a ruddy good idea having soeone who can launch the ball 50 yards and look forward to you whingeing when we score goals from it
just having him in th eteam will mean that opposition teams will be thinking more about it than all th eother offensive options we have

and he didnt even use it all the time yesterday, about 50% of throws were taken by him, and about 50% of those were long until the last 5 mins when it increased a little. and the way our midfield played yesterday we had bugger all chance of getting the ball anywhere near the opposition box in any other way.

[Behindu]

Did you know that the throw in hasn;t always been part of football....

...and it needn't always be.

I'd have thought I have every right to object to it and it's amusing tot see that whilst there is an almost rabid hatred of rugby on HNA there is also a belief that an oddity like allowing a THROW to be a legitimate tactic in FOOTBALL gets such strong support.

I realise I may be in a slight (!) minority, but I stand by my belief.

I will cheer a goal we score from a long throw in as much as I cheer any Reading goal, but at the same time I will have a heavy heart every time we use the tactic and know that it is not really a valid part of the game (in spirit at least)

[Arch]

His throw in, once we get the set plays sorted, will be like having a corner.. How anyone could object to that I don't know, considering how good we usually are from set plays.

And also from a defensive point of view, it's a good way of getting the ball out of the danger area...

This is a very good point. I hate throw-ins down near your own corner flag. You almost invariably end up under pressure. a player who can sling it from there into the opposition half is a great asset.

On another issue, I thought Halford and Duberry played the offside trap a lot better than DLC or Bikey. There were some close calls, and maybe one or two wrong ones, but in general it worked.

[Stranded]

Just a question,

Are you also opposed to keepers being able to throw balls long distances?

[Behindu]

No, why should I be ?