Royals wretched away form continues

Reading went down to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley at Turf Moor this evening. Robbie Blake scored the only goal of the contest on 81 minutes. This means we have inexplicably won only once on our travels all season. Simply put, this sort of form means a top 6 finish at best come May next year. Even more of a concern is that the home form has suffered a dip too, so we can't even rely on that to keep us in contention. Our frailties away from home are there for all to see; Burnley were swept aside at the Madejski a few weeks back, but would have certainly fancied ther changes in the return fixture - after all we had already lost to Ipswich, Preston and Charlton this season. Worrying times indeed, and I can only predict another defeat on our travels at Ashton Gate this Saturday, by which time we could have dropped a few places in the table.

Fortress Madejski breached

Today's match report comes from guest contributor, Glutes. Sadly, I was unable to attend Saturday Night's, erm, 'thriller'.

"A disappointing evening at the Madstad saw QPR become the first team to take points from the Royals at home this season. The visitors had clearly done their homework and came to defend from the outset; their five man midfield proved difficult to break down and they enjoyed the lion's share of possession throughout the match. The home side looked distinctly under par with far too much aimless hoofing which was comfortably dealt with by the visitors athletic back line and a combined failure to get the ball under control and play passing football. Both sides had chances in the first half with the Royals going close through Kebe’s shot, lashed narrowly wide and Noel Hunt’s downwards header saved by keeper Cerny. A bright start to the second half saw Reading unlucky not to get what looked like a certain penalty when QPR midfielder Kevin Mahon clearly handled Noel Hunt's cross. Late in the game the Royals pressure resulted in a series of corners, with Cisse going close with a great header which forced a good save from the Rangers keeper.All in all a draw was probably a fair result.

Hard to pick a man of the match, as no one was outstanding, Rosenior looked good going forward, but failed to provide much end product, Armstrong did OK, Bikey looked both sublime and ridiculous in the same movement. Doyle worked hard but didn’t really get a sniff of goal. With two tricky away games to come starting with Tuesday night’s visit to Burnley, the rest need to improve if we are to threaten the automatic promotion places."

Royals labour to win against lowly Doncaster

OK, a win's a win. I'm going to struggle to say much more about a performance that echoed Saturday's against Preston, but that thankfully had the opposite result. In fairness to Doncaster Rovers, they looked a bit better than their league position suggests, but if I was being unkind I'd say at times we made them look way better than they really are. We looked anything but the form team who have swept all aside at 'Fortress Madejski', and it was a relief when Andre Bikey opened the scoring with a header from a Stephen Hunt free kick. We didn't really build on it though and Doncaster actually threatened themselves and racked up a few corners. Neat passing in a compact formation seemed to make them difficult opponents for the Royals and the half time interval offered an opportunity to take stock and come out with renewed vigour in the second half. This wasn't to be the case and as this tawdry affair drew to its conclusion the inevitable happened: Doncaster scored from a simple set piece, much to the delight of their small travelling contingent. An unlikely point seemed to be on the cards for the visitors, but almost immediately Kevin Doyle equalised with a decent header. It was probably a bit harsh on Donny, but came as welcome relief to the home support who were getting a little restless. We never really kicked on from there which led to a tense last few minutes, but the points were in the bag. In many ways this reminded me a bygone era: unfashionable opponents, cold Tuesday evening, lots of empty seats (although 18,000 is very respectable considering the appeal of the fixture!) and not much in the way of entertainment. We've been lucky enough to have had plenty to cheer about this season at home -maybe we shouldn't expect to thrash everyone but we will need to improve on Saturday against QPR.

Royal's run halted at Deepdale

Reading's fine run of form came to an abrupt end at the hands of mid-table Preston North End. Stephen Hunt converted a 15th minute penalty after younger brother Noel was brought down by Sean St. Ledger. The Royals went in to the break a goal to the good but a poor second half performance allowed the home side a foothold in to the game. An own goal from Ivar and a tap-in for Stephen Elliot after hesitancy from Marcus did the damage and sent the Royals home with nothing. Noel Hunt hit the post late on but it was defensive frailty that caused the problems. We remain third but have a good opportunity to bounce back with two home games in the next week. The inconsistent away form is still a concern and the ghosts that we thought had been exorcised at Molineux have clearly not yet been put to rest. We need to get back to winning ways when lowly Doncaster Rovers visit on Tuesday night. I expect a strong performance with a glut of goals!

Harper and the midfield conundrum

Steve Coppell has a problem. It's the sort of problem, however, that most football club managers relish: he will very shortly have at least five capable midfield players vying for just two berths in his team. At the end of the game against Burnley, Kalifa Cisse replaced a resurgent Bryn Gunnarson and promptly sent a message to the manager with an imposing display of his own. Youngster Jem Karacan has made a very good case for Coppell to continue showing faith in him, and Marek Matejovsky's obvious quality can't be ignored for too long as he returns from injury. 

So what next for James Harper? The twitchy midfielder has long divided opinion amongst the Reading faithful. Now one of the 'old guard' - Alan Pardew brought him in from the Arsenal reserves - he made a name for himself alongside another Arsenal junior, Steve Sidwell, forming one of the greatest midfield partnerships in the club's history. Together they were the lynchpin of the Championship-winning side and continued the success through the first season in the Premier League. When Sidwell left for bench-warming duties at Chelsea at the end of that season, the responsibility fell on Harper to team up with a replacement and try to recreate the winning formula. However replacing a player like Sidwell was never going to be easy and so it proved. Harper and Sids complemented each other perfectly: the incisive tackling and crisp passing of the Ginger Ninja allowed Harps to roam and harry, and chip in with a few important goals. With Sids gone Harper was suddenly thrust into the role of senior partner; it would be up to him to ease in a new midfielder unused to the way the well-oiled machine works. Was Cisse the replacement for Sidwell intended by the manager? If so he too often looked like a player not entirely sure what exactly was expected of him. In any case last season was characterised by an inability to take control in the middle of the pitch; we were overrun and never saw enough of the ball to build a platform or take control of games. Harper obviously cannot be blamed for everything, and he did score two really important goals for us against Liverpool at home and Boro away. Unfortunately he simply does not do enough for me, nobody can question his commitment, but running around a lot is the bare minimum required for a player in that role. He does not make enough tackles and rarely passes the ball forward, maybe that is fine in a slick, functioning midfield in which the roles and requirements are clearly defined, but until recently that has not been the case.

The harsh truth is that, right now, we look better without him. Coppell clearly holds him in high regard, bestowing the captaincy upon him this season, but now the battle for a place is going to be harder than ever for Harper, with the competition for places in a very good side hotting up.

...and the Football League's top scoring team is...

We famously bagged 99 goals during that record breaking season, and this term we have already scored 26, which is more than any other team in all four divisions. At this rate we are on target to achieve another huge haul, but it might be a bit ambitious to hope to better that fantastic total. We also have three players amongst the top 15 scorers in the Championship: Kevin Doyle has 8, with the Hunt Bros. on 4 each. We've hit our stride in a big way, and it's beginning to feel a little like it did back in 2005. Maybe I shouldn't get too carried away. 

It is fantastic to see The Doyler back to his hustling bustling best, he looks a yard faster than early on in the season and clearly full of confidence. His contribution when not scoring has been vital, How could we ever doubt him?! The biggest concern now is what happens in January, but let's make hay while the sun shines as they say.

Royals march on

Reading barely had to move out of first gear to send in-form Burnley the way of all other visitors to the Madejski Stadium this season with a 3-1 win. Noel Hunt bravely headed in the first after 4 minutes from a Jimmy Kebe cross and received what looked like a stray elbow for his troubles. Shane Long replaced Hunt who was deemed unfit to continue and in truth Burnley probably had the better of the rest of the half without ever really threatening to score. A rejuvenated Reading were far more positive after the break and got their just reward when Stephen Hunt headed in from a wonderful pinpoint Kebe cross. Excellent work from Kevin Doyle set up Shane Long for a well deserved third. It probaby should have been more with Kebe spurning a good chance to open his account. The visitors got a consolation only after we were reduced to ten men due to an injury to Kebe. The teams finished the game with ten men each when Stephen Jordan received a second yellow late on.

Burnley were a reasonably tidy outfit who lacked any real cutting edge; only when new signing Chris Eagles appeared half way through the second half did they pose any real threat. They came with a useful Championship reputation and left well beaten. On current form it's difficult to see how anyone in this division can live with us; we go into the International break looking very much like the team to beat. It's a good time to be a Reading fan.

Best away wins?

Last night's performance got me to thinking: what have been the best away wins of the Madejski Stadium era (OK, that sounds a bit like an oxymoron but you know what I mean!)?. After the game a caller to Radio Berkshire recalled that fine victory almost exactly 10 years when we went to Wallsall, who were flying high in Division Two (old money), and against all the odds came away with a 2-0 win, courtesy of Martyn Williams and Grant 'History Maker' Brebner. The shock of this result was compounded by the fact that we were on an amazing run of 15 away defeats! So what are those other famous away victories since 1998? Winning at Bradford with ten men in 2003 maybe? Um, maybe not. The immensely satisfying defeat of West Ham in the first season in the Premier League? Or maybe easing past Manchester City at Eastlands? There were certainly a few during the record-breaking season. One thing is for sure, last night's will stand out as something special - but we have to build on it now.