| Good Omens – Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading 19:27 - Apr 29 with 5566 views | HarryfromBath |
I’m not sure many people think of themselves as being superstitious, but I have yet to meet a fellow-supporter who doesn’t have a pre-match ritual or wear a lucky garment if only to hedge their bets. Landing in Theale for a pre-match pint with some fellow TWTD’ers, I seized on a pint of their Ghost Ship guest beer both literally and figuratively in the irrational hope that it might bring us fortune.
Seven visits here and not so much as a point from any of them were good reason to take any omens going. From Alex Pearce’s winner on a dull New Year’s Eve via Orlando Sa’s hat-trick in a 5-1 mauling (when we were “****ed on the telly” as the lovable locals chorused) through to last season’s penalty infused 2-1 farce. If football ever existed in a mythological world, the Madejski would be Tartarus.
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Despite being surrounded in a sea of asphalt, all roads to the stadium were somehow gridlocked and I arrived just as the teams were kicking off. We had a good balance of youth and experience in our 3-4-3 shape. Reading had opted for both the same 4-4-2 shape and 11 which rescued a point in a late cavalry charge against Sunderland. They were looking to outscore us, but they looked unbalanced.
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Our new style of working the ball up the pitch with good passing and movement was quickly obvious as the game started to develop. Both teams were imperfect but what little rhythm there was came from us. Reading looked disjointed and nervous, much as Birmingham in the early stages of our St Andrew’s game, and their two-man midfield of Liam Kelly and John Swift seemed very lightweight.
It was great seeing Luke Woolfenden on the right of the back three. He was a solid performer in the League Cup scare we gave a full-strength Crystal Palace XI back in August and it was a pleasure again watching him go about his work in a calm, reassuring and uncomplicated way. Apart from one slip in the second half, he broadly had the measure of Reading’s two strikers and the feisty Modou Barrow.
We will come up against more threatening opponents, but Webster’s was equally untroubled at the heart of the back three. His distribution is what he is most renowned for, but I think this is a greater threat when he does it instinctively and before opponents have time to react. His clearance played a role late-on in Sears’s goal, but Reading were able to cover his passes when he brought the ball out.
As the first half progressed, it was a poor-quality game with little fluency, but punctuated by exciting moments. Our most eye-catching dangerman was Muzzy Carayol. You could see the Royals wariness when he ran at them with the ball and his directness unnerved them. As is often with many wingers, his final ball or shot didn’t quite match his build-up, but he gave great balance to our attacking play.
We are often nobbled at the Madejski right at the end of first halves so I was braced for the worst as the interval approached. Apart from one unthreatening Reading set-piece there was nothing to fear. The half petered out with a series of injury stoppages. The complete lack of sarcasm from the home crowd was down to their insipid play and the fact that both Burton and Barnsley were now winning.
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My half-time conversation with a long-standing supporter was not so much about who our new boss should be, but it had more to do with preserving the club’s values in the coming seasons. He talked about the irreparable damage done by Roy Keane to our DNA when he fractured the relationship between the academy and the first team and of how this must never be allowed to happen again.
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Back at the game, events early on in the second half would play a huge role in what followed. Taking Carayol off for Freddie Sears was a minor adjustment for us. In contrast Reading’s replacement of left-back Omar Richards for Tommy Elphick meant three switches to their back line with right-back Chris Gunter now on his less favoured left and centre-back Tiago Ilori out of position at right back.
It was still an experienced Reading back four but the central midfielders had their hands full with the industrious Tristan Nydam and Callum Connolly. Wingers Barrow and Sone Aluko meanwhile were more interested in counter-attacking, and in the £7.5 million Aluko’s case drifting infield to escape Myles Kenlock who had him in his pocket. This was a house of cards which was waiting to tumble.
Reading began the period with far more urgency but you felt it was a bluff, as all their attacks would end up with the ball ballooning wide or safely into Bart’s hands. With an hour played, I had the sense that they could be hurt if we were just a little more probing. We weren’t sitting back or sitting too deep, but we were being a little too supine and treating our hosts with too much respect.
The game’s turning point was Bart’s save, a brilliant tip-over after a swift Reading counter from our corner kick with 70 minutes played. You could see two Reading players sink to their feet after the save and two things hit me. The first was that a goal now could kill Reading and the second was the sad fact that this might be the last time I see a moment of Bialkowski brilliance in a Town shirt.
Martyn Waghorn was a brilliant focal point all game. From his arrival in August you could see that he was a finisher who was also very clever at using his frame to occupy defenders and win us free-kicks. He did plenty of the latter throughout the game but his goal was typically uncomplicated. He found a ridiculous amount of space near the six-yard box and just drilled Jordan Spence’s precise ball home.
It was fitting that Spence scored the second with Waghorn setting him up this time. Spence had one of the toughest gigs all afternoon dealing with Reading’s threatening Modou Barrow. No only did he dealt with the winger legally and effectively, he was often an effective out-ball, relieving pressure by stretching play wide and using his aerial or technical ability to receive the ball and attack space.
Ben Folami was also an unsung hero. He played a killer pass to Waghorn to unlock Reading’s defence at the start of the move that lead to Spence’s goal, but several times in the first half he used his pace to stifle the threat and smother the runs of Aluko and Gunter on Reading’s right flank. Just as Spence’s role increasingly swung from being defensive to attacking, so also did Folami’s.
Spence goal killed Reading. He had hoodwinked their back line and beaten Vito Mannone at his near post and you could see they were wobbling. The home crowd were probably as hostile as they could manage, which was about 10 percent Millwall. Most were now off to beat the traffic and apart from a couple of roars when Reading countered, they were as guilty as their team of failing to turn up.
We weren’t done yet, and it was Freddie time. There is something special about knowing you are just about to score. Webster’s instinctive clearance from a corner was chased down by Freddie, and the increasingly poor Gunter left his back-header a Weetabix short for Mannone. It was now a 50/50 ball which ballooned into the air and from behind the goal we weren’t sure where it would drop.
We knew soon enough as Freddie followed its trajectory. He had the ball, the goal and no keeper to worry about. The place broke into complete pandemonium when the ball went in, because if ever a striker deserved a goal it was him. The goal typified him, borne out of his resilience, determination and a never-give-up attitude. It was superb seeing Bart hammer up the pitch to join the celebrations.
As the players trooped back it was telling to see Jonas and Freddie walking together arm in arm. One of the overwhelming differences between the sides yesterday was our spirit and steel and Reading’s complete absence of both. I was thrilled to see Jonas with the captain’s armband and he played the role brilliantly. He is Chambers’ natural heir and the importance of his leadership was fundamental.
We had barely caught our breath when Connolly made it four. He has blossomed from cautious full-back into a solid midfielder as the season progressed. He and Nydam are unlikely to ever come up against such perfect midfield opponents at this level but they did what was necessary, imposing their game on Kelly and Swift and constantly disrupting Reading’s rhythm and balance.
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As the referee decided that Reading by now had enough punishment, I was starting to wonder what this carnage was doing not just to their morale but also their goal difference. The only comparison I could think of was our milky defending in the worst days of Paul Jewell. For a team to disintegrate like that with so much at stake will not have helped Jaap Stam’s chances of replacing Mick either.
Reading were getting ready for their lap of appreciation. This looked like it would be to a thin single line of supporters as everyone else preferred to sit in the traffic jam. I have little regard for their fans and their apathetic reaction to yesterday’s capitulation bore this out. Had that happened at Leeds or Wolves there would have been outrage and possibly a pitch invasion, but we shouldn’t be surprised.
We had our own moment of appreciation with Jonas, who had also urged us on after the first goal, doing the fist-pump honours. Goal and full-time celebrations are rare moments when the invisible wall between players and fans melt away and the raucous mood at the end of the game felt like one unbridled group hug between us all. It was one hell of a brilliant way to end the away campaign.
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We retired to the pub in Theale to relive the goals and savour this unique win with another pint of Suffolk’s finest. We had a fun game of ‘keep, sell, not sure’ going through the squad on the back of the matchday programme. It has been a unique season, a dull midtable finish punctuated by plenty that was anything but dull, with some remarkable results and the decision to change our manager.
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Driving back down the M4, my thoughts turned back to the half-time conversation with a supporter who had seen everything from Sir Alf via Sir Bobby through to Mick. What emerged from this was a sense of our greater provenance as a club, built on foundations of bringing talented players through and playing bright, open confident football. A sustainable model with us punching above our weight.
It’s not just a question of this being a sensible option as we think about what will happen in our next chapter and with our new manager. The only times we have overachieved were when we mingled home-grown talent with a judicious mix of clever acquisitions, something we caught a glimpse of at the Madejski yesterday. This is fundamental to our existence as a club the more you think about it.
We will see where we end up. It’s hard to avoid leaping on names, but I’m trying to think of who will best enable us to work within this model and not just in the short term. For now, I will head into the summer quietly confident that we have both the approach and the nucleus of a good squad to serve us well next season. It’s been a season. Let’s see where next year takes us.
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 19:39 - Apr 29 with 5420 views | Bluefish |
My memory had nick blackman as the hat trick scorer |  |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 19:57 - Apr 29 with 5299 views | Dennyx4 |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 19:45 - Apr 29 by Bluefish |
I remembered when you said it but I have spent the whole time thinking blackman scored the hat trick. That game seemed to get him the derby move. The miss against us at pride park will always be a highlight from him |
Is he still at Derby - haven't heard much of him this season |  | | |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:01 - Apr 29 with 5273 views | Bluefish |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 19:57 - Apr 29 by Dennyx4 |
Is he still at Derby - haven't heard much of him this season |
Loaned out to Israel or somewhere equally obscure
Scoring goals apparently #foundhislevel | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:25 - Apr 29 with 5181 views | Mullet |
If I was grading this, I'd give you 106% |  |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:26 - Apr 29 with 5174 views | ScottCandage |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:25 - Apr 29 by Mullet |
If I was grading this, I'd give you 106% |
were... |  | | |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:27 - Apr 29 with 5165 views | Mullet |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:26 - Apr 29 by ScottCandage |
were... |
Not in Suffolk buh | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:32 - Apr 29 with 5128 views | Bad_Boy_Mark |
A great read Harry - you're a legend, a total legend! |  | | |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 20:38 - Apr 29 with 5109 views | Coastalblue |
I've only been to watch a game in Reading once, with my limited away days it's not a place I'd hurry back to, there is very little of merit in a trip there to watch a game.
I guess yesterday you could argue there were four things. |  |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 22:03 - Apr 29 with 4906 views | PJH |
The Freddie Sears goal was the moment of the match and one of the moments of the season for me.
As Reading are where they are largely because of Stam I would hope that he is not under serious consideration for the job at Portman Road-not the Manager's job anyway. |  | | |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 23:50 - Apr 29 with 4726 views | HarryfromBath |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 22:03 - Apr 29 by PJH |
The Freddie Sears goal was the moment of the match and one of the moments of the season for me.
As Reading are where they are largely because of Stam I would hope that he is not under serious consideration for the job at Portman Road-not the Manager's job anyway. |
"Hang on... He's in on goal... He's going to score..." I was down near the front of the stand. Once we realized Freddie was through with Mannone stranded the celebrating started the instant he headed the ball. We all recognized the significance of the moment before the ball hit the net. It was quite brilliant.
Stam might play out from the back and give youth players a chance but he has serious question-marks hanging over him. This season has been a combination of poor decisions laid bare by ill fortune. The loss through injury of Paul McShane and Jordan Obita left his back line unbalanced.
That said, his strike-force was utterly inadequate and his late-August purchase of Aluko was a costly blunder. Worst of all was his his dogmatic insistence on playing possession-based football with a side ill-equipped to do this to a sufficiently adequate standard. The lack of confidence they displayed was on a par with us in Jewell's end days.
Paul Clement may have inherited a car crash of a squad lacking in leaders but he also got his tactics utterly wrong yesterday. His 4-4-2 starting line-up was suitable for the last 10 minutes of a game but completely wrong for the full 90 minutes. His strikers were impotent, his midfield was so lightweight and his wingers so lacking in discipline that a makeshift defence was ruinously exposed. [Post edited 29 Apr 2018 23:51]
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 08:42 - Apr 30 with 4510 views | PJH |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 23:50 - Apr 29 by HarryfromBath |
"Hang on... He's in on goal... He's going to score..." I was down near the front of the stand. Once we realized Freddie was through with Mannone stranded the celebrating started the instant he headed the ball. We all recognized the significance of the moment before the ball hit the net. It was quite brilliant.
Stam might play out from the back and give youth players a chance but he has serious question-marks hanging over him. This season has been a combination of poor decisions laid bare by ill fortune. The loss through injury of Paul McShane and Jordan Obita left his back line unbalanced.
That said, his strike-force was utterly inadequate and his late-August purchase of Aluko was a costly blunder. Worst of all was his his dogmatic insistence on playing possession-based football with a side ill-equipped to do this to a sufficiently adequate standard. The lack of confidence they displayed was on a par with us in Jewell's end days.
Paul Clement may have inherited a car crash of a squad lacking in leaders but he also got his tactics utterly wrong yesterday. His 4-4-2 starting line-up was suitable for the last 10 minutes of a game but completely wrong for the full 90 minutes. His strikers were impotent, his midfield was so lightweight and his wingers so lacking in discipline that a makeshift defence was ruinously exposed. [Post edited 29 Apr 2018 23:51]
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I was about two thirds of the way back and I was wondering if the ball was going to end up in the net without a further touch but the defender would probably have got to it.
It was a bit like Chaplow's goal at Watford in a way because the goal celebrations actually started before the ball had crossed the line. | | | |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 09:27 - Apr 30 with 4475 views | Darth_Koont |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 23:50 - Apr 29 by HarryfromBath |
"Hang on... He's in on goal... He's going to score..." I was down near the front of the stand. Once we realized Freddie was through with Mannone stranded the celebrating started the instant he headed the ball. We all recognized the significance of the moment before the ball hit the net. It was quite brilliant.
Stam might play out from the back and give youth players a chance but he has serious question-marks hanging over him. This season has been a combination of poor decisions laid bare by ill fortune. The loss through injury of Paul McShane and Jordan Obita left his back line unbalanced.
That said, his strike-force was utterly inadequate and his late-August purchase of Aluko was a costly blunder. Worst of all was his his dogmatic insistence on playing possession-based football with a side ill-equipped to do this to a sufficiently adequate standard. The lack of confidence they displayed was on a par with us in Jewell's end days.
Paul Clement may have inherited a car crash of a squad lacking in leaders but he also got his tactics utterly wrong yesterday. His 4-4-2 starting line-up was suitable for the last 10 minutes of a game but completely wrong for the full 90 minutes. His strikers were impotent, his midfield was so lightweight and his wingers so lacking in discipline that a makeshift defence was ruinously exposed. [Post edited 29 Apr 2018 23:51]
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Yes, so pleasing for Freddie as a person, never mind if he's here next year or not. The way the team and Bart mobbed him was a highlight of the season. I hope the new manager can keep the strength and togetherness in our squad and just add silkiness on top of that instead of trying to re-build.
Agree with the rest. Reading have good individuals and had good moments but overall they weren't at the races. Meanwhile our team looked utterly focused on the job as individuals and a unit — an object lesson of a competitive team compared to Reading who were mentally and physically lightweight.
Would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Bart hadn't made that save on 70 and Reading had taken the lead. But I get the feeling we'd just have kept going and probably beaten them 2-1 anyway. |  |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 09:45 - Apr 30 with 4435 views | farkenhell |
You really don't like Reading supporters, do you Harry? |  | | |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:05 - Apr 30 with 4402 views | Wallingford_Boy |
Which pub in Theale did you go to? Was it the Volunteer? |  |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:20 - Apr 30 with 4362 views | HarryfromBath |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 09:27 - Apr 30 by Darth_Koont |
Yes, so pleasing for Freddie as a person, never mind if he's here next year or not. The way the team and Bart mobbed him was a highlight of the season. I hope the new manager can keep the strength and togetherness in our squad and just add silkiness on top of that instead of trying to re-build.
Agree with the rest. Reading have good individuals and had good moments but overall they weren't at the races. Meanwhile our team looked utterly focused on the job as individuals and a unit — an object lesson of a competitive team compared to Reading who were mentally and physically lightweight.
Would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Bart hadn't made that save on 70 and Reading had taken the lead. But I get the feeling we'd just have kept going and probably beaten them 2-1 anyway. |
I totally agree with you both on how focused and determined we were and on the importance of Bart's save. I thought they might lose their fear had they scored, but on reflection I feel we would have got something as they would have sat back without question.
Our performance echoed your point about not needing a rebuild. Mick was a good squad builder and left us with a balanced squad (contrast this with Reading) and we have decent foundations on which we can build. Incremental rather than radical change is needed. | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:25 - Apr 30 with 4342 views | HarryfromBath |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 09:45 - Apr 30 by farkenhell |
You really don't like Reading supporters, do you Harry? |
To be fair, having dug around for enough years on their sites I can safely say that Reading fans fall into two groups. There are the older brigade who remember when they had 800 at Elm Park on a freezing January Tuesday night for a 0-0 draw against Stockport and they are thrilled with how the club have progressed.
The younger group draw my ire, the "one-hundred-and-six" brigade who would gleefully rub our noses in it when they fluked a win and not turn up when their team was struggling. I love trying to understand the culture and identity of other clubs, but must confess that I have written off this subset of Royals. | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:31 - Apr 30 with 4316 views | HarryfromBath |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:05 - Apr 30 by Wallingford_Boy |
Which pub in Theale did you go to? Was it the Volunteer? |
It was indeed the Volunteer where Guthrum, EdwardStone and I sorted out most of the world's problems over some ESB and Ghost Ship. We had a good hour-and-a-half there after the game reflecting on the afternoon and letting the adrenaline subside. It has now become a pre-Reading ritual and is a world away from the plastic and concrete of the Madejski. | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:32 - Apr 30 with 4307 views | Wallingford_Boy |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:31 - Apr 30 by HarryfromBath |
It was indeed the Volunteer where Guthrum, EdwardStone and I sorted out most of the world's problems over some ESB and Ghost Ship. We had a good hour-and-a-half there after the game reflecting on the afternoon and letting the adrenaline subside. It has now become a pre-Reading ritual and is a world away from the plastic and concrete of the Madejski. |
I know it well.
Will meet you there next season for a pre-match pint then.... assuming they stay up! | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:40 - Apr 30 with 4275 views | Darth_Koont |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:20 - Apr 30 by HarryfromBath |
I totally agree with you both on how focused and determined we were and on the importance of Bart's save. I thought they might lose their fear had they scored, but on reflection I feel we would have got something as they would have sat back without question.
Our performance echoed your point about not needing a rebuild. Mick was a good squad builder and left us with a balanced squad (contrast this with Reading) and we have decent foundations on which we can build. Incremental rather than radical change is needed. |
Re: decent foundations, funnily enough, those that can't let Mick go and have misinterpreted the Reading result as one in the eye to our ex-manager are actually saying the same thing.
If they think improving on mid-table and challenging for the play-offs is now just about telling the players to attack and/or keep the ball then they must admit, Mick's done an excellent job with so little money. Or is this where the movable goalposts come in?
FWIW I think what Mick has done and the next step up are both pretty difficult to achieve and maintain. But we'll have a fighting chance with the squad we've built. As I said after the game on Saturday: we've got many reasons to be positive about the future under a new manager, and few reasons to be bitter about the past. | |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 11:09 - Apr 30 with 4215 views | GeoffSentence |
Somewhat different circumstances i know, no relegation threat, club favourite in temporary charge, but our own fans response to getting thumped at home to Villa was exemplary. |  |
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| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 12:17 - Apr 30 with 4125 views | PiercingBlue |
Excellent report Harry. And how good it is to see Tartarus get a mention. | | | |
| This is one of the best comments I've read about our current state on 12:26 - Apr 30 with 4099 views | Dyland |
| Good Omens — Some Late Reflections on Yesterday’s Destruction of Reading on 10:40 - Apr 30 by Darth_Koont |
Re: decent foundations, funnily enough, those that can't let Mick go and have misinterpreted the Reading result as one in the eye to our ex-manager are actually saying the same thing.
If they think improving on mid-table and challenging for the play-offs is now just about telling the players to attack and/or keep the ball then they must admit, Mick's done an excellent job with so little money. Or is this where the movable goalposts come in?
FWIW I think what Mick has done and the next step up are both pretty difficult to achieve and maintain. But we'll have a fighting chance with the squad we've built. As I said after the game on Saturday: we've got many reasons to be positive about the future under a new manager, and few reasons to be bitter about the past. |
"...we've got many reasons to be positive about the future under a new manager, and few reasons to be bitter about the past." |  |
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