McMuffin

Just now, S8TY said:

What’s Birds excuse then? much younger yet runs like his feet are in treacle 

Birds like a poor man’s past it (not prime) Hourihane 

Already mentioned but where’s Max Bird?

Just now, enachops said:

I’ve defender Bird in the past, but my patience has gone. He should be dominating at this level. Instead he’s chasing shadows. Doesn’t contribute enough offensively or defensively. Powder puff. Can’t tackle. Poor. He’ll go in the summer. A lower champ team will take him. He needs to play in a 3 though. Him and Hourihane are getting done every time as a 2.

Midfielders that need to play in a 3 is usually because they have a deficiency and need someone to cover them up. But I agree to an extent!

dominating is a bit of an ask though I’d be happy if he just competed a bit and not play like a complete Fanny every week!

5 minutes ago, lukedcfc said:

Bird is ordinary 

Only because of the tactics and the fact Houihane is next to him 🤣

3 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

This makes me laugh. He's a fullback, Sky have just shown two of Readings attacks, one the goal. Both times Elder was nowhere in defence. There were other times too. But because he went forward a bit and made a pass or two he was MoM? 😄

It's who Warne plays and where. 

Probably just highlights just how bad the rest of the team was! 

Just now, TuffLuff said:

It’s probably also worry mentioning, even if it’s a little unpopular because of the Wilson love in, but we’ve missed Nyambe so much these last few weeks.

For the criticism him and Smith get for maybe not being the most exciting players I think ‘Warneball’ or whatever we call this does need players who are comfortable on the ball even if it slows the game down because the other option is a lot more erratic. I don’t think we’ve had any real control of a game since Nyambe went to AFCON

Nyambe is our best fullback by an absolute mile! Should be back Saturday shouldn’t he?

4 minutes ago, Grumpy Git said:

Did anyone notice Bird receive a pass in the last 5 minutes, only to give it straight back to the same player like it was a live hand-grenade?

It was the tactics! And it was because he was next to Houihane 🤣
 

Kevin De Bruyne would have done exactly the same!

3 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

The idea that football is nothing to do with tactics is obvious nonsense.

It is but it’s not an excuse for p1ss poor performances week in week out. 
 

is houihane poor because of the tactics then aswell?

Also Houihane was poor because he was poor. Bird was poor because of himself not because of Houihane because I know that’s usually the narrative!

15 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

You could put Kevin de Bruyne in our midfield, it wouldn't make a difference because Warne actively bypasses the midfield. 

It's a tactical choice that is currently, and will continue to, cost us points.

Erm I don’t think KDB would get outplayed outrun and out fought by Charlie Savage and Lewis Wing nor would a good league 1 midfielder, that’s why Reading are near the bottom.

stop making excuses for Bird he’s garbage it’s nothing to do with tactics. Football is played on grass.

10 minutes ago, S8TY said:

Hourihane is what he is an ageing but decent enough player who will score a few goals but I don’t see what Bird does apart from the odd bit of nice play he just seems like he doesn’t want to get overly involved doesn’t score but is ok against the weaker teams 

Will never reach the heights Houihane has in his career. Might get back in the championship at best if he bucks his ideas up but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in this league or even league 2 in 3-5 years

3 minutes ago, DCFC1388 said:

Plain & simple, Bird isnt good enough.

We need another centre midfielder for sure, maybe even 2. 

He is absolute garbage but the people of this forum who see something different 🤣

Why no subs? CBT???

Bird prove us wrong, make us eat humble pie do something! 45 mins please!

3 minutes ago, tombomb said:

Max Bird playing hide and seek with himself as usual. Would love a midfielder that actually offers an option to the defenders and actually shows for the ball. 

If you don't watch the game and just watch Birds movement I swear he purposely hides behind the opposition players so he cant receive the ball. Hes been doing it for years but nobody seems to say anything.

There’s a very small minority on here that can see something the majority can’t. Never understood the way he gets a pass I mean he does have the odd good game but it’s few and far between!

11 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

NML has been looking poor for 3 games. Cashin looks like he could do with a game or two out.  Bird needs putting in the bin.  Most over rated player to out on a Derby shirt .  If he wasn't one of our own we be swapping him for Butterfield.

I was told if I don’t see what Bird does I shouldn’t go to the games and just wait for the scores on here by someone recently 🤣

1 hour ago, Tamworthram said:

Hourihane may have scored the winning goal but, in my opinion, Bird contributed a lot more in terms winning the ball particularly in the first half. Hourihane did OK but it takes more than scoring a goal to win a game. That’s what often annoys me about “man of the match” awards. It often goes to a goal scorer (a la last night - there is no way Barks was the best player last night) as if any other contributions count for nothing.

I get what you are saying and I agree with it. But did Bird really win the ball much really? What is it with Bird why does he get so much protection that’s often leads to people making false stats up to protect his abjectivity? 
Over 20 years I’ve never seen anything like it with regards to over ratedness 

8 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

I thought he did well (for most of the game) and possibly his best game for while in my eyes. Funny how we can see things differently. I guess that's football for you. 

If that was his best game for a while he will never be anything more than a league 1 footballer. What did he do. Houihane won us the game what did Bird do? Hourihane is past it but still won the game for us. Bird should be doing more than a player who is past it.

5 hours ago, MadAmster said:

 

8Bird.  6.5 Trying to do the work of 2 with CH conspicuous by his absence.

 

So whose fault was it in the second half then that Bird was so poor? It’s always someone else fault 🤣 Is Bird a Liverpool fan or something 🤣

23 minutes ago, The Key Club King said:

Like Will he will go on to a team in a higher division. Oops, I did it again! 

Will Hughes would p1ss all over anything in this league every week. He wouldn’t have our entire fanbase making excuses for him every week and still asking the questions like where is he effective. Hughes would dominate and run games from deep in this league and I’m pretty sure if he was playing no. 10 there would be plenty of goals and assists.

6 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Shame you didn’t bother to read the rest of it. It wasn’t a very long post really. 

No I do agree with what the rest of your post says. But what’s his best role that’s the conundrum for the last 2 seasons. Can’t he just be better than his opposing central midfielder which especially when we play the slightly better sides he is not. 

5 minutes ago, The Key Club King said:

I suspect Bird is a good footballer that plays for a team that has no aspiration to play good football. He would be better off with a possession based team. A bit like Rowett selling Will Hughes. 

Please do not compare Max Bird to Will Hughes ever again 

14 minutes ago, Barney1991 said:

Problem with bird is I don’t know what his best position actually is. He’s not a goal scoring midfielder I don’t see him as box to box. Link up is okay on occasion not a dm too lightweight and when back there tends to go sideways and backwards. If we get a million for him I’d snap it up and spend it in other areas. 

A central midfielder is a central midfielder. All the talk about bird is for the last 2 years is he’s not effective because of the system, he’s playing too deep, he’s playing too further forward, who he’s playing with?

maybe he’s just not that good 

4 minutes ago, LittleEatonRam said:

I don't really think it's clear what his best role is. His record of goals and assists is quite poor and he's not a holding type player.

I like him and he does show glimpses of something but I've always been bemused as to how he is quite so highly rated, especially as you'd expect him to be ripping this league up if he's as good as some make out. In my opinion he's another player whose rating is given a boost by virtue of him being an Academy graduate.

I'm not averse to the idea of selling or keeping him. 

A central midfielder is a central midfielder. All the talk about bird is for the last 2 years is he’s not effective because of the system, he’s playing too deep, he’s playing too further forward, who he’s playing with?

maybe he’s just not that good 

2 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Good player who if we’re honest probably needs to be playing in the Championship for his own good as he’s stagnated.

I don’t think he is helped by the role he plays, which isn’t a dig at Warne before anyone starts. But I think he looks worse now than playing in an average team in the league above when he was 18. He should be the man controlling games for us in my opinion. 

Championship? He’s out played in league 1 more than not?