shurlock

Reading did their homework but we're easy to set up against without pace and options in behind them. Teams can play a high line and press with impunity, knowing everything will be played in front of them. And how many of our players can genuinely beat a man in a one on one situation?

Reading did their homework but we're easy to set up against without pace and options in behind them. Teams can play a high line and press with impunity, knowing everything will be played in front of them. And how many of our players can genuinely beat a man in a one on one situation?

Don't disagree with this - do think that when he gets into space on the right, he should be driving forward and making things happen. Saying that, there's nothing wrong with drawing in defenders and laying the ball off to Frazier who then has bit more space to deliver a cross -and he does have a wicked cross. Its also obvious that Guly would prefer playing in a more central position where he can pick a through ball assuming there is movement around him (it has to be Guly/Lambert up front and De Ridder on the right). But the idea that Guly 'barely runs' is nonsense- he tirelessly tracks back and does a job defensively. The best and worst of him was reflected in one piece of action yesterday when he criminally stood still to receive the ball, the Reading player cut it out and bombed forward but to his credit Guly sprinted back a good 30-40 yards to cover him.

B*llocks- Guly runs his socks off every game. Tuesday was no different. My complaint is not his lack of endeavour; rather that he hasn't been offering enough in forward positions.

Think he's had a history of freakish injuries, so not exactly blessed with luck. He likes to throw himself about, so hopefully the injury doesn't curb his natural game.

Yep, that's the one -and if I remember, according to the Dutch Duo we were going into that game 'on a run', 'sky high with confidence'.

Do remember him getting absolutely analled by Kuqi at Palace - one of the worst individual and team performances i've seen in recent years.

Wasn't 07/08. Think it was 08/09.

Mature for his age and good in the air, though not very quick. Remember the Preston goal well. All in all, decent enough for us but most players would have looked good alongside Lancashire....

Agree - it cuts both ways. We took only 2 points from Leicester, Burnley, Cardiff and Derby which given the margins involved and chances created could have quite easily been 12. It wasn't to be. I can't remember any away game where we were outplayed for the majority of the game and deserved nothing. As such, I I would say 8 points from 18 is fair enough, if not a slightly low return on the actual strength of the performances. That said, I think we've been luckier at home -Millwall, Forest and West Ham stick out; but its all swings and roundabouts. The fact is that when you have easily the best GD in the division, success is more than just fine margins.

Like you, I rate Carew - he's powerful and skillful and he was on my HCDAJFU list; but ultimately I think he's lost some his mobility since his injury at Stoke and probably before (was going to go to the Brighton game as I only realised that the Rochdale game was off when approaching Stoke!). Don't see why you can't come deep to hold up the ball in a 4-5-1 - whether you stay rooted or move, the job is the same: to win possession, buy time and bring runners into play. If anything, if you play forward-minded players like Baldock or Picquionne on the wings, you want your targetman moving wide -making it easier to beat the usually less commanding FB in the air and closing the gap between you and the runner. The whole ebb and flow of the game at Burnley, for instance, changed when Lambert went on the shoulder of the RB and got closer to Lallana who was able to pick up the flick ons and drive in from the left.

Think you're airbrushing things. The human impulse is to help someone in danger, especially when its viscerally in your face and you don't need to be superman e.g. pulling a drowning kid out of a shallow pond as opposed to diving into choppy high-seas to save a life. People don't go through a cost/benefit analysis of whether they might be legally liable and even if they were, sense in the case of a hit-and-run would have told a passer-by that there was little or no risk. Not saying people aren't aware of risks - in China, culture and history have taught you that putting your head above the parapet and standing out, even for small acts of heroism is folly. The Chinese have more sayings and stories to legitimise a walk-on-by attitude than perhaps any other country or culture. The lesson is simple: pragmatism is the order of the day -if not the world will generally find some way of f**cking you over. This is aggravated by a culture that puts such emphasis on the family that there is very little space or compassion for strangers or deeper forms of association or community -except that which is whipped up by the state. Throw in the dog-eat-dog nature of economic growth in a developing economy -and you have a powerkeg that has little to do with the technicalities or legalities of the health or insurance system.

Good press conference- nice put down of the Mail reporter.

Of course, quick CBs are a rare commodity - apart from Gerrard and Reid on Tuesday, I haven't been impressed by many of the CBs in the league. In addition, Adkins wants a left footer which further narrows the pool. Having not seen Jemal play, Fontaine was the closest we got to a pacey CB but he would have given something up in the air. I don't see how Gorkks would have solved any problems either.

Disagree - Carew didn't win many clean headers -and that's sometimes more than enough- and lacked the mobility to go searching for the ball in the way Lambert does and which would have allowed him to lose his marker and bring others in. Statuesque is being charitable on Carew. Coupled with Schneiderlin who was always at hand to pick the bouncing second ball, I felt comfortable with the straight long balls. Of course, Sam tried to have his cake and eat it - he was reluctant to go 4-4-2 but didn't want to drop Baldock as part of a 4-5-1, so dumped him on the wing. I can understand why he did it, even if it didnt work very well. Of course, had he played him alongside Carew, they would have given up other kinds of space.

Disagree - the narrowness of our midfield has exposed our fullbacks, putting our defense under pressure but there have been countless times where our CBs have struggled: Ipswich, Millwall, Forest, Leicester and Cardiff to an extent etc. We've looked tidier now that Jos has joined but to absolve the CBs is utterly ridiculous.

Flagged offside

Still a c**t

make ir 4 after pearce bullets home a header.

Haven't seen much of Reading this season; but they typically have good pace in the team which will be a problem.

Ironically, the one player I expected to take to the NPC like a duck to water was Fonte -and he's possibly struggled the most out of the promotion squad.

FFS - do it while a game's on. Blackpool for instance.

Can't wait - easy place to make our own and remind Reading that they're a tinpot club. Even under difficult circumstances, the atmosphere in 2008 was fantastic -one of the best in recent years- and this time will be even better. Good weekend of fixtures as well: hopefully, all the top teams will be cancelling each other out: Derby-Boro, Ipswich-Palace, Leeds-P'boro and Brighton-WHU.

That's good news, though there are conflicting reports about him redoing something??? At any rate, it will take him a while to get fully match fit and he still has to prove he can hack it in the championship (I'm confident he can but he still has to do it).

The boom has probably exacerbated things but Chinese society/culture is historically very self-absorbed and atomistic - Sun Yat-sen likened it to a sheet of loose sand. Basically, if you're not family where the bonds are rock-hard, the rest of the world can go to hell and its each to their own.