Paul McShane worthy captain!

[Top Flight]

Paul McShane has hit the nail on the head once again... Read his comments below:

Captain up for the battle

McShane on defeat to the Toon
Following a defeat at Newcastle, Reading skipper Paul McShane expressed his hope that the Royals can get a ruthless streak into their play and turn good footballing performances into the right result.

There was plenty of easy-on-the-eye football from Reading at St James’ Park on Wednesday as the Royals saw more of the ball than hosts Newcastle in a volatile atmosphere. The teams were tied at 1-1 at the interval, but the Magpies scored three times after the break to give them a flattering margin.

So the skipper is hopeful that the team can do the ugly side of the game and score a few points in that way.

“The scoreline in the end was disappointing,” said the Royals skipper. “But we conceded bad goals – we said before we went out for the second half that we wanted to start it well, which we didn’t do by conceding the penalty. It shouldn’t have really got to that.

“At times we played really well and showed some good stuff and had a lot of possession, but we need to win individual battles and be a bit more aggressive, because when you come to places like this you need to win them – that’s how you get results.

“And we didn’t win second-balls – that’s what happened with the first goal; we didn’t win the second ball and we didn’t react quick enough. That’s where you need to have a little bit of knowhow. We need to get that because we’ve got the other side – the manager has us playing some really good stuff and everyone knows what they’re doing on the ball, and there’s some good cohesion at times when we do click with the ball. But we’ve got to do the other side.

“That aggressiveness and desire to win is huge, and we need that. We need that in everyone – everyone has to have that desire and passion to put their bodies on the line and win those tackles and those 50-50 battles in the centre of the pitch and in the two boxes. Those things add up; we need to get that.”

The next opportunity to get the points come back at Madejski Stadium – where the Royals have won both competitive outings this season – when Brighton come to town on Saturday.

The Seagulls, who just missed out on promotion last season, have had a perfect start to the new campaign with three straight wins – and McShane is confident that this team can go man for man with the league leaders.

“Brighton are a solid side and they have started well again. They had a great year last season, so we’ll need to match them. We need to match these teams in the battle.

“We can match teams in football – we can play teams off the park – but you have to have that streak in you. That desire to win every battle on the pitch, and if the ball is there to be won, to win it. You need to earn the right to play. If we get that, we’ve got a very good side.”

Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/paul-mcshane-match-reaction-newcastle-united-st-james-park-3257651.aspx#49RxC3A4y9c3jwC7.99

McShane knows exactly what needs to change to make the Royals a good side again. He is a proper leader and the team need to listen to what he says.

[TBM]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

[Top Flight]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

This time last year we were all in love with McShane and his performances. I think what has changed from the second half of last season until now is that the midfield has gone awol. The midfield went missing and didn't protect the defence. Excellent players like Cooper and McShane were made to look sh*t because those infront didn't protect and the keeper behind was not assured.

I think Cooper and McShane are still outstanding central defenders.

Sadly, the Stam system won't suit Cooper and that is why he has lost his place in the team. But Cooper is still a very good centre back.

[John Smith]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

What an absolutely atrocious contribution of mindless nonsense. Go and start supporting Arsenal with views like that.

[TBM]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

What an absolutely atrocious contribution of mindless nonsense. Go and start supporting Arsenal with views like that.

He's rubbish mate - if he was playing for another club you lot would take those rose tinted glasses off and actually see he just isn't very good at the game. Other clubs are laughing at us for him being our "star defender and captain"

[Top Flight]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

What an absolutely atrocious contribution of mindless nonsense. Go and start supporting Arsenal with views like that.

He's rubbish mate - if he was playing for another club you lot would take those rose tinted glasses off and actually see he just isn't very good at the game. Other clubs are laughing at us for him being our "star defender and captain"

How did you rate his performances in the first half of last season?

[Top Flight]

The fact is, the team have been very poor on the defensive side of the game.

We used to defend from the front. Whether it was Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson chasing things down to Shane Long and Noel Hunt. Right from the top of the pitch we were defensive minded.

I don't see that in Kermorgant or Rakels.

Our midfield used to work extremely hard and go flying into tackles, win those second balls and close down the opposition. Sidwell and Harper, Leigertwood and Karacan. We were always tough. The wingers would do their share of the defensive work as well. Stephen Hunt and Glenn Little weren't just useful going forward, they did what had to be done defensively as well.

Our defences of the past had much better protection from the rest of the team. We played like a true team. Hungry, hard working and ruthless.

In recent times we have been spineless, weak in the middle of the park and defence badly exposed.

When the team works hard together like it did for a brief period last season McShane looked outstanding. In a team game, everyone needs to work for each other. That is the point that McShane is making in the article. We don't win those second balls in the middle of the park and then the opposition can come on to us. We have to be much tougher, better organised and fight all over the pitch.

It looks like Jaap understands these weaknesses and has bought another defensive midfielder. We all complain because we feel we have enough midfielders at the club. But our midfielders are not winning the ball and are not protecting the defence. A tough defensive midfielder is exactly what we need.

[TBM]

What an absolutely atrocious contribution of mindless nonsense. Go and start supporting Arsenal with views like that.

He's rubbish mate - if he was playing for another club you lot would take those rose tinted glasses off and actually see he just isn't very good at the game. Other clubs are laughing at us for him being our "star defender and captain"

How did you rate his performances in the first half of last season?

I wouldn't say "outstanding" - i personally thought Alex Pearce was better, and even he was average.

I agree that our midfield and front line put our defence under a lot of pressure but what it does do is expose the weakness we have at the back. If you look at other Championship clubs, near the top last season, and you'll see how good their defenders are/were compared to ours.

[Top Flight]

He's rubbish mate - if he was playing for another club you lot would take those rose tinted glasses off and actually see he just isn't very good at the game. Other clubs are laughing at us for him being our "star defender and captain"

How did you rate his performances in the first half of last season?

I wouldn't say "outstanding" - i personally thought Alex Pearce was better, and even he was average.

I agree that our midfield and front line put our defence under a lot of pressure but what it does do is expose the weakness we have at the back. If you look at other Championship clubs, near the top last season, and you'll see how good their defenders are/were compared to ours.

I agree that other clubs had some good defenders and probably better than our defenders.

I think however that our problems are more due to a lack of team cohesion and ethic rather than the individual talents of our players. Our problems seem to be more mental and attitude based rather than physical or skills based.

[John Smith]

i personally thought Alex Pearce was better.

Are you feeling OK mate? Only you're posting the nonsensical ramblings of someone who isn't very well.

[TBM]

i personally thought Alex Pearce was better.

Are you feeling OK mate? Only you're posting the nonsensical ramblings of someone who isn't very well.

Use the full quote (, and even he was average.)

I'm sorry i'm hurting your feelings by having an opinion that you don't agree with but on Saturday, take a look at McShane and you'll soon agree with me....

He's shit mate - end of

[CountryRoyal]

Truthfully McShane, like almost everyone else, has been pretty gash since we went on our run last season.

[Top Flight]

In the first half of last season people were phoning Dim Tim Dellor and his cohorts at BBRB raving about Paul McShane. Telling the listeners what a revelation he has been. He was the player of the year in the first part of the season.

As a team we have been utter garbage. I'm impressed that Stam has identified very quickly some of the major weaknesses and is addressing them with tough nuts in the middle of the park. I'm sure Stam will get things sorted for us.

[Crux]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

Agreed.

I could say inspirational stuff but it would t make me good enough to play at CB for Reading.

I said at the start of the season that this guy is our best defender bit would struggle to get into any other team.

[sandman]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

What an absolutely atrocious contribution of mindless nonsense. Go and start supporting Arsenal with views like that.

TBM started to support Arsenal a long time ago.

McShane had his best form last season when he had Ferdinand, someone who knew what he was doing and who didn't have the wandering concentration of Hector and Cooper, alongside him.

[SCIAG]

Ferdinand still doesn't have a club.

He's the best defender we've had since Ingimarsson. He might not be available every week but he's so much better than anyone else at the club that only having him for 20 matches would be worthwhile.

[TBM]

Just a shame he's not a worthy defender

What an absolutely atrocious contribution of mindless nonsense. Go and start supporting Arsenal with views like that.

TBM started to support Arsenal a long time ago.

McShane had his best form last season when he had Ferdinand, someone who knew what he was doing and who didn't have the wandering concentration of Hector and Cooper, alongside him.

I think Spacey already knew that, hence why he mentioned it


btw, good result Sunday m9 - fair play to you guys

[Hoop Blah]

Absolutely the right sentiments from McShane and hopefully that desire and willingness to work for the team is being drilled into them as much as the pretty passing patterns because of anything it's more important.

At the moment this team still looks fragile. I'm hoping a new centre half and Quinn's return to fitness will allow Stam to shore up the midfield and therefore the defence, and we'll add some much needed steel to the team.

In terms of McShane, well I'm pretty sure he remains a very capable Championship defender but he has certainly lost form since the first half of last season. That's something that can be said for most of the players who were involved this time last year but with McShane I think it's massively impacted by the lack of a consistent and decent partner to play alongside. More than any other position centre half is one that is built on a good partnership and it's practically impossible for a good defender to flourish without a good partnership with his fellow centre half.

We really need to resolve the issue of who plays alongside McShane as until we do we're going to get pulled all over the place by decent Championship forward lines.

[Pandoras Box]

We really need to resolve the issue of who plays alongside McShane as until we do we're going to get pulled all over the place by decent Championship forward lines.

To the left and to the right of him

[Top Flight]

Are you referring to Gunter to his right or Obita to his left?

Does McShane play CL or CR CB?

He plays CR doesn't he? So you must mean Gunter?