Match Thread: vs Reading (H)

[Rampant]

I'll post the match thread for Bolton late tonight. 

Eight to go then. It surely won't pan out like this but IF we can win the 'easier' looking games (Blackpool, Orient, Carlisle at home, Northampton, Wycombe, Cambridge away) then draws in the Bolron and Portsmouth games would almost certainly see us finish at least second. 

[Caerphilly Ram]

1 hour ago, nick_d said:

Cracking entertainment tonight, and a fantastic atmosphere with a truly ring-wrenching last ten minutes. 

How will Adam’s be playing in a 3pm kick off on Saturday as  he is observing Ramadan?

It’s an interesting one, a 3pm match  is earlier into his fast than he was last night and also a week into Ramadan so maybe his body will have adjusted more to fasting? Hopefully he knows his limits and the medical/coaching staff are aware as well. 

[G STAR RAM]

7 hours ago, sage said:

I thought the 4 subs were odd straight after the penalty. Left us with an Iver attacking team when a goal up with 15 to go.

Isn't one of the usual criticisms of Warne that we sit back when we take the lead?

Appears he can't win...

[angieram]

I think the subs were made with Saturday in mind.

[G STAR RAM]

5 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

Surprised people are talking so much about the decisions. They all seem justifiable. 

Nah let's call things out for what they are. Hourihane cheated by diving to get his opponent sent off.

If we are going to be critical of officials all the time, let's also be critical of the players who are making their job even harder by trying to con them.

That said, these things do even themselves out over a season and I think we've still got some in the bank.

[G STAR RAM]

1 minute ago, angieram said:

I think the subs were made with Saturday in mind.

He did say post match that he wanted to make them earlier.

I think there were a few players looking tired out there which was no surprise given the intensity of the game and how much Reading invited us to press them high up the pitch.

[Andicis]

1 hour ago, IlsonDerby said:

I think the second yellow is harsh but in real team it looked like he had caught Hourihane and when you’re moving into the box if the ‘foul’ doesn’t happen then it’s always going to be a yellow. 
 

The penalty I’ve seen given and I’ve seen not given. I think they’d have wanted it if it was the other way round and we’d have probably been frustrated by it. 
 

We had the rub of the green but really should have been 2/3 up by half time. 

Could be wrong, but I thought at the time the second yellow was for his reaction when he sprinted towards the ref in frustration rather than the tackle

[angieram]

Just now, Andicis said:

Could be wrong, but I thought at the time the second yellow was for his reaction when he sprinted towards the ref in frustration rather than the tackle

I was too far away from the second booking to add anything of note (being up in the Captain’s Club celebrating my birthday) but the first booking the ref had already spoken to him twice, so it seemed inevitable the yellow card was coming out for the next foul. 

Yiadom didn't learn anything from this and continued to contest every decision,  he was clearly on borrowed time. Gives the referee a decision to make. 

[Tamworthram]

6 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Nah let's call things out for what they are. Hourihane cheated by diving to get his opponent sent off.

If we are going to be critical of officials all the time, let's also be critical of the players who are making their job even harder by trying to con them.

That said, these things do even themselves out over a season and I think we've still got some in the bank.

Absolutely. It may not quite even out (or at least we don’t think it does 😉) but we’re quite capable of performing the dark arts at times.

The only thing I would say is that I suspect Hourihane went down easily in order to win a free kick in a dangerous area, not necessarily to get a player sent off. He may not have realised who the player was or remembered that he was already on a yellow card. 

[Archied]

Yep , still buzzing like a kid at Christmas this morning ,,,, silly old ducker 😂

[abertawe_ram]

Haven't read through the thread to see if this was mentioned anywhere, apologies if it's been raised here or elsewhere.

Was anyone else really disappointed with our fans singing the "we're all having a party" chant. Hoped we might be more sympathetic given recent history. Back when blackpool had issues with their owners I remember us showing some solidarity with their fans, yet last night our loud minority seemed to want to act like d********. During our rough period, there was a lot of posts by fans slating the likes of birmingham, cardiff and other fans who chanted about our club dying. Yet last night the exact same shitty song was used by our fans against another team. 

Maybe its because I have some family in reading a close friend who supports them but it all left a bad taste for me. I was a bit embarrassed by those chants...

[Srg]

29 minutes ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

It’s an interesting one, a 3pm match  is earlier into his fast than he was last night and also a week into Ramadan so maybe his body will have adjusted more to fasting? Hopefully he knows his limits and the medical/coaching staff are aware as well. 

The club sold the match going fans a bit of a kipper with this. There was nothing to state what was happening, so when we’d already had a time out shortly before for the old keeper injury shtick, fans understandably got annoyed and booed. Could’ve been avoided with some communication anywhere. Dont think any would have had an issue if we knew why!

[Srg]

1 minute ago, abertawe_ram said:

Haven't read through the thread to see if this was mentioned anywhere, apologies if it's been raised here or elsewhere.

Was anyone else really disappointed with our fans singing the "we're all having a party" chant. Hoped we might be more sympathetic given recent history. Back when blackpool had issues with their owners I remember us showing some solidarity with their fans, yet last night our loud minority seemed to want to act like d********. During our rough period, there was a lot of posts by fans slating the likes of birmingham, cardiff and other fans who chanted about our club dying. Yet last night the exact same shitty song was used by our fans against another team. 

Maybe its because I have some family in reading a close friend who supports them but it all left a bad taste for me. I was a bit embarrassed by those chants...

I didn’t sing it but Reading were one of the clubs who sang it to us. That’s the reasoning. 

[abertawe_ram]

Not to say I didn't enjoy the match itself though. Great win and Ebou is a colossus!

[G STAR RAM]

2 minutes ago, abertawe_ram said:

Haven't read through the thread to see if this was mentioned anywhere, apologies if it's been raised here or elsewhere.

Was anyone else really disappointed with our fans singing the "we're all having a party" chant. Hoped we might be more sympathetic given recent history. Back when blackpool had issues with their owners I remember us showing some solidarity with their fans, yet last night our loud minority seemed to want to act like d********. During our rough period, there was a lot of posts by fans slating the likes of birmingham, cardiff and other fans who chanted about our club dying. Yet last night the exact same shitty song was used by our fans against another team. 

Maybe its because I have some family in reading a close friend who supports them but it all left a bad taste for me. I was a bit embarrassed by those chants...

Yeah bit cringeworthy given we know what it is like.

Also don't particularly like 'Derby are massive everywhere we go'.

[Crewton]

I remember when Martin was sent off at Burnley and some fans were saying that he was stupid to go down because he wasn't touched. Then a close-up replay showed that the Burnley defender had caught the back of Martin's boot on his standing leg and it was red faces all round.

That's why I don't think it's worth trying to work out whether the decisions were correct or not when the available replays aren't conclusive and the officials didn't have a clear view of the incident anyway.

Earlier in the season, we had Rebecca Welch giving a late penalty award against us v Wycombe when replays showed she couldn't possibly have had a clear view of any contact and neither could the lino, but they gave the award anyway probably because "it looked LIKELY that Ward had clipped the attacker sufficiently firmly to bring him down". Yesterday's key decisions were, for me, of a similar nature. The ref believed he'd seen contact on Hourihane, and probably couldn't see any contact between Gayle's hand and the ball. 

IMO Yiadom paid the price for his own behaviour throughout the game and it was a fitting punishment who got away with some dreadful tackles and acts far darker than anything DCFC players got away with, and the Reading keeper got what his rash behaviour deserved, much like Wildsmith at Oxford.

[VulcanRam]

4 minutes ago, abertawe_ram said:

Haven't read through the thread to see if this was mentioned anywhere, apologies if it's been raised here or elsewhere.

Was anyone else really disappointed with our fans singing the "we're all having a party" chant. Hoped we might be more sympathetic given recent history. Back when blackpool had issues with their owners I remember us showing some solidarity with their fans, yet last night our loud minority seemed to want to act like d********. During our rough period, there was a lot of posts by fans slating the likes of birmingham, cardiff and other fans who chanted about our club dying. Yet last night the exact same shitty song was used by our fans against another team. 

Maybe its because I have some family in reading a close friend who supports them but it all left a bad taste for me. I was a bit embarrassed by those chants...

Totally agree. Embarrassing and unnecessary. Makes us every bit as classless and stupid as Birmingham, which I hoped I'd never have to say. Thankfully not many joined in, it was just the usual meatheads who can't wait to have a go at our own fans if the atmosphere dips.

[VulcanRam]

6 minutes ago, Srg said:

The club sold the match going fans a bit of a kipper with this. There was nothing to state what was happening, so when we’d already had a time out shortly before for the old keeper injury shtick, fans understandably got annoyed and booed. Could’ve been avoided with some communication anywhere. Dont think any would have had an issue if we knew why!

Not just that, I'd like to think any player playing at this elite level while observing Ramadan fasting deserves huge credit and support. Had the club communicated it I'd think Adams and any of the other players on the pitch would have received an excellent reception on resumption on the game.  

Instead, everyone around me at first thought the keeper was playing up again or something. Didn't take long for the penny to drop, but could have been far better managed by the club. 

[VulcanRam]

4 minutes ago, Crewton said:

I remember when Martin was sent off at Burnley and some fans were saying that he was stupid to go down because he wasn't touched. Then a close-up replay showed that the Burnley defender had caught the back of Martin's boot on his standing leg and it was red faces all round.

That's why I don't think it's worth trying to work out whether the decisions were correct or not when the available replays aren't conclusive and the officials didn't have a clear view of the incident anyway.

Earlier in the season, we had Rebecca Welch giving a late penalty award against us v Wycombe when replays showed she couldn't possibly have had a clear view of any contact and neither could the lino, but they gave the award anyway probably because "it looked LIKELY that Ward had clipped the attacker sufficiently firmly to bring him down". Yesterday's key decisions were, for me, of a similar nature. The ref believed he'd seen contact on Hourihane, and probably couldn't see any contact between Gayle's hand and the ball. 

IMO Yiadom paid the price for his own behaviour throughout the game and it was a fitting punishment who got away with some dreadful tackles and acts far darker than anything DCFC players got away with, and the Reading keeper got what his rash behaviour deserved, much like Wildsmith at Oxford.

Great points. There is no way the referee could see whether Gayle handled it because Gayle had his back to him. The assistant was on the other side so couldn't have seen it. They both saw Gayle get to the ball first and be taken down, so it was the sensible decision.

I loved the comedy VAR call and subsequent hands on head meltdown by their keeper.

Perhaps rather than moan at the officials, he shouldn't be rushing out of his goal and giving the referee a decision to make?

[Crewton]

8 minutes ago, VulcanRam said:

Totally agree. Embarrassing and unnecessary. Makes us every bit as classless and stupid as Birmingham, which I hoped I'd never have to say. Thankfully not many joined in, it was just the usual meatheads who can't wait to have a go at our own fans if the atmosphere dips.

I understand why you both might think it's hypocritical that a tiny minority our fans should chant that after what we went through but, as the extract from the match preview below taken from one of their fans forums shows, they aren't exactly contrite about how they behaved towards us in those dark days despite the knowledge that their own club was "cheating" every bit as much. 

Edited March 13 by Crewton