Back from the game - Cardiff (A)

[BirminghamRoyal]

Reading fans do like to whinge during the game. The last half hour was not good on the pitch, but the fans should be getting behind the players, but everytime a pass went astray it was 'Kebe you oxf*rd useless twat', or Harte you massive piece of shit etc Its like we were in the bottom three the amount of negativity in the crowd. People say Kebe did nothing but what did anyone do. At least he laid it on a plate from a brilliant run for our goal. If anyone can find a player who played better than him i'd like to know, so why single him out for abuse on this forum?

Not sure where you were sat but everyone around me was cheering the team on whenever we got the ball, even at 3-1 down. Wasn't very loud but I didn't hear any of that negative chanting that you're suggesting happened.

Terrible afternoon for us. Cardiff supporting friends I was with agreed the first should have been disallowed but they were the better side all game. Joe Mason has said he handled the ball too. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16386232.stm

[urz13]

Immediately following their 2nd I turned around and looked at the replay, Gunnarsson had his hands all over Feds and his shirt. Gorkk's was disallowed at Palace for far less

Funny, my son (who is a keeper himself) said that he did exactly the same and couldn't see anything worth Feds moaning about.

I haven't seen the goal since and I was right underneath the screen. So I may be wrong although I am positive he had a handful of his shirt.
Also Kebe always seems to play shit when it's raining, sunny games he seems to do better IMO

[Jackson Corner]

Horrible wet miserable day. Supose it's been coming our usual reliable back four struggled today. I thought Feds was fouled for the 2nd, but in honesty we never looked like scoring in the 2nd half despite some decent ball. Cardiff are an ok side nothing amazing but in Whittingham, Mason and Miller they have goals in them something we don't. I'm afraid La Fondre looks out of his depth at this level, Church and Hunt work hard but at the very best you are only going to get is ten goals apiece from those two. We may still make the play offs but on this form don't go making plans for Wembley.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

A very poor first half that reminded me of the Swansea Play off final at Wembley. Don’t turn up and give the opposition a 3 goal start.
Have to face facts though....We have lost six points to Cardiff this season as we did last season to Swansea this might tell us something!!!

Best we can hope for is a 5th or 6th place finish.

[Barry the bird boggler]

5th or 6th would be a great finish for the current squad

Overall I simply agree with Heston's comments which were essentially; while you can moan about the referee, at the end of the day its the team's poor performance that cost us the points

[Negative_Jeff]

Anyone struggling to come to terms with RL`s "Why Do They Bother" thread should have been at this shambles. There have been some good results recently based on endeavour and sound defence, but occasionally Kebe apart, can anyone actually say they enjoy watching this bunch of toilers? So why do I go? For the beer and the pubs mainly but there wasn`t too much on offer in Cardiff. Not the best trip.

[RoyalBlue]

Anyone struggling to come to terms with RL`s "Why Do They Bother" thread should have been at this shambles. There have been some good results recently based on endeavour and sound defence, but occasionally Kebe apart, can anyone actually say they enjoy watching this bunch of toilers? So why do I go? For the beer and the pubs mainly but there wasn`t too much on offer in Cardiff. Not the best trip.

Last night Mick McCarthy said he was fed up of hearing his team praised for their work-rate and running because, as far as he is concerned, that is a prerequisite. Absolutely spot on. We need so much more than just good toilers.

[Hoop Blah]

Fair play to McDermott for his post match comments on the ref.

I've not seen the goals but it sounds like the officials might've contributed to our downfall but this time McDermott was concentrating a lot more on his teams failings than those of the ref and his linesman. I've criticised him before for using bad decisions as an excuse but this time he had it spot on, so credit where it's due.

[loyalroyal4life]

Fair play to McDermott for his post match comments on the ref.

I've not seen the goals but it sounds like the officials might've contributed to our downfall but this time McDermott was concentrating a lot more on his teams failings than those of the ref and his linesman. I've criticised him before for using bad decisions as an excuse but this time he had it spot on, so credit where it's due.

Have u actually read what he said? To me it still sounds like complaints about 1st two goals

Royals boss Brian McDermott was honest in his assessment of a disappointing result and a below par performance from his side at Cardiff this afternoon.

"It wasn't really us, I didn't recognise us today, we didn't pass it well, Cardiff won too many second balls, they did well and scored at the right time.

"The first goal was certainly a handball, but the referee didn't see it. And if he hasn't seen it, he can't give it.

"The second goal was a foul on the keeper, but he didn't see it. And if he hasn't seen it, he can't give it.

"But you can't hide behind decisions, and managers who constantly talk about referees and decisions sound like whingers. So I won't.

"We have to hold our hands up, it was disappointing. When we scored I thought we had a major chance with the history of our players, but we didn't really step up the way I know we can. It wasn't to be.

"I have no fear of losing football matches, but I do want us to perform at the level we are capable of - and we weren't at our best today.

"If we perform, I think we can win anywhere. But today we haven't. We didn't put them under enough pressure in the second half, the goalkeeper has not made enough saves.

"It wasn't what we are about today, sometimes that happens. Normally we throw the kitchen sink at teams but today we were caught between two stalls, didn't get enough crosses into the box or test the goalkeeper enough.

"It doesn't feel good, getting beaten. But we haven't had this feeling for a very long time. The last game we lost was at Blackpool and we thought we deserved to win. But we didn't deserve to win this game today.

"Having said that, the players have done fantastically well over a long period of time. They've won a lot of games over Christmas, kept four clean sheets, got us into the top five, and credit to them for that."

The Royals now face a break from league action and host Stevenage in the FA Cup on Saturday.

"We have to forget this one, put it to bed and look forward to the FA Cup on Saturday, a competition we've done well in but another very tough game.

"I know their manager very, very well and I think he's one of the most underrated managers in the country. I know the way they play and it'll be tough, but it's a game we're looking forward to.

"We want to get through to the next round and stay in the draw. So we have to bounce back from today.

"We're still in the top five. We've still got a lot of games to go. And we'll move on very, very quickly from this game."

"It looked like one game too many for us today, but we have a couple of days rest now - so we'll take it on the chin and move on quickly."

[ZacNaloen]

"The first goal was certainly a handball, but the referee didn't see it. And if he hasn't seen it, he can't give it.

"The second goal was a foul on the keeper, but he didn't see it. And if he hasn't seen it, he can't give it.

Pretty fair comment that if the ref hasn't seen it he can't give it

[Schards#2]

Second goal was just weak goalkeeping from what I could see, he should be dominating that sort of cross but he never looked like dealing with it.

[Hoop Blah]

Fair play to McDermott for his post match comments on the ref.

I've not seen the goals but it sounds like the officials might've contributed to our downfall but this time McDermott was concentrating a lot more on his teams failings than those of the ref and his linesman. I've criticised him before for using bad decisions as an excuse but this time he had it spot on, so credit where it's due.

Have u actually read what he said? To me it still sounds like complaints about 1st two goals

I don't bother reading the official site no, it's usually too full of PR and meaningless spin. I was referring to what I heard of his interview on the radio after the game. From what he said, and possibly more importantly how he said it, he wasn't having a pop at the officials in the way he has previously (and for which I've been critical of him).

Those quotes on the OS do read as more of a moan I agree but I don't think they come from the same interview. If they did I must've had selective hearing (and I wasn't listening to all of it to be fair) and missed those bits.

[Big Foot]

Fair play to McDermott for his post match comments on the ref.

I've not seen the goals but it sounds like the officials might've contributed to our downfall but this time McDermott was concentrating a lot more on his teams failings than those of the ref and his linesman. I've criticised him before for using bad decisions as an excuse but this time he had it spot on, so credit where it's due.

Have u actually read what he said? To me it still sounds like complaints about 1st two goals

I don't bother reading the official site no, it's usually too full of PR and meaningless spin. I was referring to what I heard of his interview on the radio after the game. From what he said, and possibly more importantly how he said it, he wasn't having a pop at the officials in the way he has previously (and for which I've been critical of him).

Those quotes on the OS do read as more of a moan I agree but I don't think they come from the same interview. If they did I must've had selective hearing (and I wasn't listening to all of it to be fair) and missed those bits.

I was on hold to BBCRB at the time and so heard McDermott's interview in full - that's it pretty much word for word above.

[Hoop Blah]

Either the way he said it was a lot different to how it reads or I only heared a few snippets of the conversation then. The bits I heard were much more how I'd like his attitude to be but reading the above it comes across more as having a moan.

I heard some of Hunt's comments as well and he was blaming the officials a lot more. Didn't like that.

[Big Foot]

Either the way he said it was a lot different to how it reads or I only heared a few snippets of the conversation then. The bits I heard were much more how I'd like his attitude to be but reading the above it comes across more as having a moan.

I heard some of Hunt's comments as well and he was blaming the officials a lot more. Didn't like that.

Agreed about Hunt. Also seemed to heap blame on the back 5 - yes they were poor, but from someone who offered NOTHING for the duration of the match I'd expect him to review his own performance before criticising others.

[Avon Royal]

Second goal was just weak goalkeeping from what I could see, he should be dominating that sort of cross but he never looked like dealing with it.

Surely the real question was why Pearce/Gorkks left a striker on the line unmarked while the pair of them stood around marking each other.

[melonhead]

terrible day at the office- totally unrecognisable side from teh last few weeks, looks like it was one game too far for us. we were just never in it.
getting wet, and also getting stung 32 quid for being on the train an hour early made this day about as bad as it could possibly be.

[RoyalBlue]

Second goal was just weak goalkeeping from what I could see, he should be dominating that sort of cross but he never looked like dealing with it.

Surely the real question was why Pearce/Gorkks left a striker on the line unmarked while the pair of them stood around marking each other.

A valid question but one which Feds himself should have been addressing at the time. It's part of the keeper's job to organise his defence in situations like that.

[floyd__streete]

terrible day at the office- totally unrecognisable side from teh last few weeks, looks like it was one game too far for us. we were just never in it.
getting wet, and also getting stung 32 quid for being on the train an hour early made this day about as bad as it could possibly be.

Fed up with your relentless negativity tbh.

[melonhead]

me too

ill stop now


you cant win em all- onwards and upwards!