On the up

looking at the BBC stats for the Reading game, the final result rather exagerates our apparent dominance of the game! They had more possession, more attempted shots & corners; although fewer shots on target.

For us, we had 11 shots in total, 7 on target, 6 of which were of course goals. Full praise for our killer instinct in front of goal, although I suspect Reading's ongoing defensive frailties had something to do with that.

Against a better, more well-organised team, we could have been in trouble. I welcome the result of course, but I still think we're not out of the woods yet.

KRO

True, but you can only play what is in front of you.
What makes it all the more pleasing/promising is that this is the same team, so soon after the event, that was humped by B'mouth.
This sort of turnaround, has to give us a lot of hope.
Most teams will be at a similar skill/ability level, what must make the difference a lot of the time is confidence.
A result such as that has to instill some confidence, the trick, probably is making sure, after a few results it doesn't slip into complacency.
KRO

With a bit of luck, this winning way will indeed breed more confidence, and above all a more rounded understanding between the players as they develop into a well-organised team.

Retaining players on merit, rather than rotating/dropping for no other reason than tactical, will also boost confidence & harmony. Something that Clarke never really understood.

Happy Days are here again

KRO

Perhaps not a great game against Huddersfield, but we got a magnificent goal through a set-piece, and I'll take the 3 points from that, even if our performance was a little under-par. About time some breaks came our way

Spot on jack. Sometimes you need that little bit of luck. The confidence is growing!

Back down with a bump! Sure it'll only be a temp set back and may put us in better stead come the long run so we don't get too complacent (as may have happened).
When the likes of derby are going for auto promo it's these games we can 'afford' to lose, not that we want to of course and especially at home...
Let's hope we can pick up something at forest and build from there.
KRO

Can't fault our response
Great result! Well done Blues and GR.
As far as Derby fans go, they must think we are the Xmas gift that keeps on giving!

I agree KP. Looking forward to the next two games. Lets just hope we dont lose anyone in the january sales.

What I particularly liked about our performance against Forrest, was our hunger for the ball! We didn't let the Derby disaster get to us (as was usually the case under Clarke- one defeat would sink our confidence and we'd lose the next 5!)

The team got stuck in and did the biz, rather than sitting back feeling sorry for themselves. And yes, it could be argued that Forrest are going through an appalling run of form at the moment, but I would counter by saying "So are we, and we don't have the same human resources as them. So who cares! You can only play (and win) what's in front of you, regardless"

I would be very happy with a midtable finish because I think that's about as good as it will get. Pushing for the play-offs would be nice, but we just don't have the strength-in-depth or the quality to take us to the Promised Land. But perhaps next year we can focus on the bigger picture.

KRO