Clarets v Royals Match Preview.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

No team has 100% availability of players throughout a season, players missing, key players missing, is something every team and manager has to cope with during a season. In fact a big part of a manager's job is problem solving, if it was a straightforward job, if it was easy, we'd all be doing it. If we cannot cope without Cork and Cullen, then we can probably forget promotion.

The tw@t formerly known as Paul Ince should have sent up a "Spoiler Alert"on Friday morning, then we would all have known he would kick us all over the park, get his players to fall down at any opportunity, get his goalkeeper to waste 20 minutes of the game and in general behave like an overpaid ponce.

Cullen and Cork were both missing, it is bloody obvious we can now cope without Cork and Cullen, and the rest need to worry about whose going up with us.

Bastien was really excellent from the first whistle, and it was truly puzzling why he got hooked.

Rodriguez was playing much too deep, and I am not exaggerating to say if he had been doing his job properly, two hat-tricks were there for the taking.

Best bit of irony for 2022 (I can't see anyone else beating it) the Reading goalkeeper Lumley took 60 seconds to wipe the ball, clean his gloves, wipe his arse and take each and every goal kick (until they were losing!). He MUST have wasted 20 minutes of the game (I kid you not!) Muric in the 96th minute dropped the ball on the ground to kick it long and the referee booked him for time wasting!

TBH, Maatsen, Beyer, Benson, Zaroury and Tella are all miles too good for the Championship, the League table does not lie.

[Supersub6]

BT, Muric was very silly and deserved to get booked. The ref had given us the free kick and was then sorting out the melee that ensued. Muric dropped the ball at the spot where the free kick was but then went up to the halfway line to pursue some discussion. When the problems had been sorted he was still in the centre circle and, because it was already well into added time, the ref had no option other than to caution him. He should have been waiting by the ball to take the kick, regardless of whatever had happened before and what their keeper had done. A needless caution.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

BT, Muric was very silly and deserved to get booked. The ref had given us the free kick and was then sorting out the melee that ensued. Muric dropped the ball at the spot where the free kick was but then went up to the halfway line to pursue some discussion. When the problems had been sorted he was still in the centre circle and, because it was already well into added time, the ref had no option other than to caution him. He should have been waiting by the ball to take the kick, regardless of whatever had happened before and what their keeper had done. A needless caution.

Lumley had been doing it all fecking game Supersub6 and did not even get the stern word. Bollox.

[Supersub6]

Lumley had been doing it all fecking game Supersub6 and did not even get the stern word. Bollox.

Still doesn't excuse Muric's behaviour --he was stupid and deserved the caution. It also meant that the referee added even more time on because of it! In total today there was 12 minutes added time signalled, however, we played a total of 14.5 minutes and that included an extra 1.5 minutes after the Muric fiasco. If Reading had scored an equaliser it would have been Muric's fault whether it had been or not as far as the play was concerned. He needs to learn!

[sinkov]

He needs to learn!

I keep telling BT that they should never have a abolished Grammar Schools Sub, but he doesn't listen, or learn.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Still doesn't excuse Muric's behaviour --he was stupid and deserved the caution. It also meant that the referee added even more time on because of it! In total today there was 12 minutes added time signalled, however, we played a total of 14.5 minutes and that included an extra 1.5 minutes after the Muric fiasco. If Reading had scored an equaliser it would have been Muric's fault whether it had been or not as far as the play was concerned. He needs to learn!

Totally and utterly disagree with you Supersub6. The Royals had set up to do exactly what they tried to do.

Foul, disrupt play, cheat, time waste and spoil the game aided and abetted by an eejit referee. The Footballing Gods sorted it at the end though by giving Benny two flashes of mercury in his boots!

[Supersub6]

Totally and utterly disagree with you Supersub6. The Royals had set up to do exactly what they tried to do.

Foul, disrupt play, cheat, time waste and spoil the game aided and abetted by an eejit referee. The Footballing Gods sorted it at the end though by giving Benny two flashes of mercury in his boots!

You still don't get it BT. I am not disputing Reading's tactics because they are similar to what many teams will do against us this season and that is all part of the game, whether you like it or not. If teams can get away with it then they will continue to use those tactics.

They were not responsible for Muric being cautioned because HE was time wasting, knew exactly what he was doing, and was correctly booked. What anybody else was doing, or had been doing during the game, was totally irrelevant and had it been an opposition keeper doing exactly what Muric did at that time, you would have been apoplectic if he did not receive a caution.

Lumley did exactly what Tom Heaton and Nick Pope used to do for us and got away with it and so will plenty of other keepers, however, they were not playing silly buggers on the halfway line when they should have been taking a free kick 10 yards from our goal line.
Third caution of the season received.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

You still don't get it BT. I am not disputing Reading's tactics because they are similar to what many teams will do against us this season and that is all part of the game, whether you like it or not. If teams can get away with it then they will continue to use those tactics.

They were not responsible for Muric being cautioned because HE was time wasting, knew exactly what he was doing, and was correctly booked. What anybody else was doing, or had been doing during the game, was totally irrelevant and had it been an opposition keeper doing exactly what Muric did at that time, you would have been apoplectic if he did not receive a caution.

Lumley did exactly what Tom Heaton and Nick Pope used to do for us and got away with it and so will plenty of other keepers, however, they were not playing silly buggers on the halfway line when they should have been taking a free kick 10 yards from our goal line.
Third caution of the season received.

The Royals' gamesmanship was so shockingly tedious the eejit referee saw a stonewall penalty and obviously thought, "Nah!" Two minutes later we were winning 2-1. Justice served.

[sinkov]

Not too bothered about Muric and timewasting, what concerns me more is Muric and goalkeeping. I'm still not convinced he's anything like a top class keeper, I cannot believe that Ince would have scored against either Pope or Heaton. Muric came out like he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to be doing, and I don't think he did. Has he never heard of the concept of 'making yourself bigger' for instance ? From the camera angle behind the goal, it looked all too easy for Ince to place the ball past him. He's a lot to learn.

[Supersub6]

Not too bothered about Muric and timewasting, what concerns me more is Muric and goalkeeping. I'm still not convinced he's anything like a top class keeper, I cannot believe that Ince would have scored against either Pope or Heaton. Muric came out like he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to be doing, and I don't think he did. Has he never heard of the concept of 'making yourself bigger' for instance ? From the camera angle behind the goal, it looked all too easy for Ince to place the ball past him. He's a lot to learn.

Come on, sinkov, get with the modern game. It doesn't matter that a keeper doesn't do things like making himself bigger etc., all that matters is that he is good with his feet and can pass. What do us old dinosaurs know about modern goalkeeping? We watched duffers like Colin McDonald, Adam Blacklaw, Alan Stevenson, Gordon Banks, Pat Jennings et al.