Halford Debut

[Top Flight]

I thought Halford had a good debut he worked hard and did his best.

I also think that Halford is not ready for first team Premiership football just yet.

He was caught out of position regularly, he seemed slow getting back and misplaced a number of passes.

He's not reading the game yet the way it needs to be read in the Premiership. When the team lose the ball on the halfway line, you got to turn around and sprint back and defend. Murty would have done.

Halford is still reading the game as if it were a League One or Championship game. Obviously in the Championship if you lose the ball on the halfway line, the opposition are gonna do F all to hurt you. But you lose the ball on the half way line in the Premiership and they opposition are in your penalty box before you get a chance to take your next breath.

There were a number of occassions where we lost the ball and Halford waited to see what Tottenham were gonna do before deciding whether he needs to run back or not. 99% of the time, when we lost the ball, Lennon and Malbranque were driving at us and getting the ball in the box.

I accept Halford was up against two of the best wing players in the Prem yesterday so fair play to him and he was also making a nervy debut against in form opposition.

At the moment I would say Murty is first choice right back, De La Cruz is second choice and then Halford is third choice, but I have no doubt that after Halford has received the coaching, learned how to play at Prem level, then he can become an excellent signing. At this moment in time he has a hell of a lot to learn.

But well done Halford, a good first effort. Can't be easy rising to Prem level and there is still so much he needs to learn but Coppell and Downes will sort him out.

Regarding Duberry, I would prefer Bikey in at CB than Doobs. Doobs seems a bit slow for my liking and for such an experienced CB, Bikey seems to read Premiership attackers better than Duberry does. Duberry is a Championship CB in my opinion.

[Adrian's Fool]

Totally agree. I thought his long-range passing at times was excellent, he made some good covering tackles and headers in and round the box, and the throw is obviously a weapon if he can get it in the right places (also esp. useful when throwing from our own half to get the ball way out of harm's way!).

Positioning was a bit suspect, Lennon running in behind him too often. But then Lennon looked awesome yesterday, as did Malbranque.

[Stranded]

Murty is still first choice without doubt. Halford did as well as you could hope for a debutant. Yes he may not quite be reading the game as a Prem player yet but very few with only 90 mins behind them do.

The only way he'll read Prem games better is by playing in them. So if Murty is not fit for the Liverpool game, Halford should play.

[zac naloen]

Halford doesn't look quite premiership fit. But I thought he definately looked a good future prospect. An unfinished article.

[frimleygreen_shotspur]

i thought reading played their part well:the penalty was soft,and perhaps being the only goal in the game deciding the destination of the points was a tad harsh on the visitors.i would also like to state that 'spurs move the football around the pitch better than any premiership at the given moment,and provided that ethos can be sustained, the return at the core of the defence by ledley king should herald good days at the lane.

[Rhys The Royal]

First half, Halford worried me becuase he was out of position alot and had a few bad touches.

Second Half, great tackling, great passing, great throwing!

He took a while to settle in to it but once he found his feet he was fine.

[Top Flight]

Halford doesn't look quite premiership fit. But I thought he definately looked a good future prospect. An unfinished article.

I think he will eventually be a very good player. He has all the tools needed. But at the moment he has alot to learn.

He will have to wait for 1 or 2 seasons before he will be a regular feature.

He needs to learn that as soon as the team give lose the ball on the halfway line there is only one decision to make. You turn around and you sprint back to your penalty box as fast as you can. You don't wait to see what the opponents are gonna do. In the prem, you know what they are gonna do. They will attack you at pace. Murty knows all this and reads the game brilliantly, thats why Murts is such a class act. De La Cruz is experienced at this level and knows all this as well and has really grown with us the more he has played. Halford at the moment is learning and he needs to learn quickly.

He will get there....... But he has to learn how to read a Premiership game first.

[Tilehurst End]

Thought the lad did OK. Looked confident enough on the ball and the throw is a useful weapon. He did look a bit leggy towards the end but he's probably not played in many games of that pace.

Duberry more of a worry. Apart from when attacking headers looked shaky and hasn't got the pace of Sonks or Bikey to recover. In a game that was obviously going to be a footballing contest would have prefered to see Bikey in.

However neither performance really affected the result as we were outclassed in most departments, particularly the Sidwell/Harper v Jenas/Zakora battle. The lack of goals is also becoming a worry. Only an og in the last 3 games and we don't look as dangerous from set pieces as we did earlier in the season.

[Tilehurst Mike]

Murty is still first choice without doubt. Halford did as well as you could hope for a debutant. Yes he may not quite be reading the game as a Prem player yet but very few with only 90 mins behind them do.

The only way he'll read Prem games better is by playing in them. So if Murty is not fit for the Liverpool game, Halford should play.

Did ok, but tired badly in the last 10 mins or so and at times looked cumbersome at right back. Not good enough on that showing to displace Murts at the moment but definitely one for the next season. I would quite like to see him given a chance in midfield perhaps in place of Sidwell who looked disinterested and off the pace yesterday.

[Huntley & Palmer]

You can tell Halford hasn't been playing football since January, he was absolutely knackered by 70 minutes. Having Pyo and Malbranque to look after was a tough ask as well, they were two of Spurs' best players yesterday. I notice that to compond Halford's misery they moved Lennon over to that wing with 20 to go as well, though thankfully he seems to be doing an early Ronaldo game with all the tricks and none of the end product. I'd be tempted to keep him in ahead of DLC, he needs to get match fit and he won't get that in the reserves

[M4 Junction 11]

There's no contest that Murty if fit would play. I'd play DLC before Halford on Saturday but would prefer Halford against Charlton.

[Stranded]

Murty is still first choice without doubt. Halford did as well as you could hope for a debutant. Yes he may not quite be reading the game as a Prem player yet but very few with only 90 mins behind them do.

The only way he'll read Prem games better is by playing in them. So if Murty is not fit for the Liverpool game, Halford should play.

Did ok, but tired badly in the last 10 mins or so and at times looked cumbersome at right back. Not good enough on that showing to displace Murts at the moment but definitely one for the next season. I would quite like to see him given a chance in midfield perhaps in place of Sidwell who looked disinterested and off the pace yesterday.

Which is pretty much what I said. If Murty is fit, he plays. If not then Halford should play as the only way you can get used to the pace of the Prem is by playing in it.

[riverroyal]

I wasnt that impressed with Halford, although it was his first game and was played at a high tempo.

I thought he looked slow and didnt appear to want to venture forward too much.

The long throw is good, but whats the point when the opposition know every time what he's going to do; several times the throw went straight to the spurs keeper!

[eaststandbird]

I wasnt that impressed with Halford, although it was his first game and was played at a high tempo.

I thought he looked slow and didnt appear to want to venture forward too much.

The long throw is good, but whats the point when the opposition know every time what he's going to do; several times the throw went straight to the spurs keeper!

It only went straight to robinson once.

[Vision]

A lot more plusses than minuses in my view.

Consdering it was his first competitive start in 3 months and his first game playing alongside this back four i thought he did pretty well.

I'm not sure the problem is as much reading of the game as much as being aware of those he's playing with. This will obviously improve with time and experience. My one criticism would be that he didn't offer enough in the way of overlapping support for Blakey , but it's understandable when you consider it was A) his debut ; B) we had scant possession ; C) were under the cosh for large periods and D) he was up against the best player on the pitch in Malbranque.

The most promising part for me though was his attitude. After giving away a penalty on his Premiership debut he didn't mope or feel sorry for himself he got on with it and his game moved up another level afterwards until he ran out of gas in the last 10 mins.

All things considered a promising debut in my book.

[Warfield North Stand]

Thought he was awful personaly. Clearly not fit enough as he looked shagged for the last 20 mins at least. Didn't overlap Little once. Disappointing.

I however accept it was his debut, he is only young and he will get better.....I hope..

[Jerry St Clair]

Quote of the day was a couple of Reading fans at Seven Sisters who thought Halford was "crap and a waste of money".

[Yorkshire Royal]

Completely agree that his tracking back was not up to the Reading standard, but he clearly lacked match fitness.. Bet he aches a lot today!

Aside from that, I thought he did well and his ability to throw the ball THAT far is very useful when trying to get out of your own half.

[Hoop Blah]

Thought he did pretty well for a kid playing his first game at anywhere near this level.

He got caught out a few times defensively and looked off the pace due to a lack of competitive football recently but all in all I was quite pleased with what I saw.

This link is to Steve Claridge's Scout Report on Halford last October and I think it sums up what we saw yesterday pretty well.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1885986,00.html

[Vision]

Quote of the day was a couple of Reading fans at Seven Sisters who thought Halford was "crap and a waste of money".

I heard similiar. "2 million for that shit ?, could have bought 20 Kevin Doyles for that!"