Reading 0 Derby 1

I've said on another thread what's gone missing without any explanation from admin. That Derby normally dominate teams but teams are dominating us because we are still getting used to Paul Clement system. That's the only thing what is frustrating me at this present time because of the last 2 years hopefully it'll come and we will get up to speed. Just to say reading are the best we've played so far this season just my opinion

Ay up Podge, thanks for the write up.

Only seen the first half, we Mourinho'd them big time, I guess away from home and with injuries to key players it was a smart move, although made for pretty boring football. Shackell I think has improved us defending crosses but I think it's more the shape and the two midfielders we've brought in who can actually defend. We sat deep in the first half and didn't really apply pressure on the opposition until they crossed the halfway line. I think this was the game plan to neutralise them on the counter, their speed on the wings and stop them getting in behind our defence.

Was impressed with Hendrick's defensive discipline too. That said the defensive shape comes at the expense of our attacking play. Our full backs rarely overlapped, whereas the last two seasons they would and this would mean there were 1or 2 more players ahead of the ball for our CM to pick out, hence Ince et al getting more ball and space and hence us being caught out when our immature midfield frequently gave the ball away or had the ball taken off them.

The only real problem was we're not really a great counter attacking side. Fortunately, Sa's headbutt offered us the advantage, you could maybe say that was as a result of our defensive game frustrating him though (but it might be pushing it).

I think last season our problem was we can score but not defend, this season going on the last two games with new players it might be we can defend but where the goals gone? In both seasons we were reliant on Chris Martin up front and I think that's still the case.

In terms of getting more dynamism to our play, maybe with Thorne coming back (if he is) that will help us switch the play more, advance the full backs against slower wide men and I'm gonna advocate for a bit of the Dawks - Russell and Ince run at the defence and are both direct, Dawkins can hold the ball up, take a few players on and give the midfield time to join the attack. Also, hoping that Butters will show a bit more as he eases into team, so far he's shown us that he has two feet hopefully we'll see what those two feet can do.

Obviously PC has had to build a team around Keogh, ie the ex-captain is so prone to fcking up at any given point that the new management team have essentially erected a ring of expensive steel around him, limiting the damage he can do to us but (as already stated above) that has come at the expense of our attacking prowess.

I agree with Wellies; Keogh must be killed.

Also, Admin2 inadvertently wiped the hard drive whilst installing a bigger, better 606 server which is why we're wiped out to the last full back-up date. It's merely an accident, shizzle happens, and we all just must move on. On the plus-side, none of us stayed up all night trying to get the Forest match thread into quadruple figures

#sphMuggedOff

It was a solid, slow, considered performance on Tuesday which got the job done. gone is the fast paced passing football like a rapier to the heart of the opposition. Now we club them into submission.

It may come as a surprise to some but I was never a fan of Keogh who was always running around like a boggle eyed lunatic making mistakes and misjudgments. This new Keogh seems to be a lot calmer, not sure if its the introduction of the Shack, better midfielders or an extra dose of Bob Martins.

Biggest disappointment on Tuesday was Ince who did not look interested in playing a team game, he preferred playing by himself.

I also agree with Wassa on some other thread, I do not see what Bent can offer us if we play the same way we do with Chrissy