Not a Leap Year, who says so? Away to Reading , Sat, Feb 1st 3-0'clock.

[Bertie Wooster]

Decent performance and we deserved at least a point - however we have the same issues we've had for ages, we lack physicality in centre midfield & a proper centre forward (depending on how Schumacher wants to play). The club have skirted around this for far to long - it needs addressing IMO.

In fact we lack physicality as a team.

[nicholaldo]

I liked the reference to not needing twenty or thirty passes.

On that pitch there's no way to play Evattball or anything like it. We passed when we could, but you could see from Collins starting to seal-dribble away from defenders that it wasn't an afternoon for finesse.

Same reason Randall struggled. He wanted to take touches and the ball was reaching him between his knees and shoulders.

Schumacher will assess his squad and adapt. Or I hope he will.

I get that. I just liked it for itself. An acknowledgment it was good to get forward quickly.

[GhostoftheBok]

I get that. I just liked it for itself. An acknowledgment it was good to get forward quickly.

Aye, but I think a lot of people chanting "Sideways and backwards, not anymore" might be disappointed by Schumacher's approach play at times - once he's got his team how he wants it.

[BWFC_Insane]

I liked the reference to not needing twenty or thirty passes.

On that pitch there's no way to play Evattball or anything like it. We passed when we could, but you could see from Collins starting to seal-dribble away from defenders that it wasn't an afternoon for finesse.

Same reason Randall struggled. He wanted to take touches and the ball was reaching him between his knees and shoulders.

Schumacher will assess his squad and adapt. Or I hope he will.

I get that. I just liked it for itself. An acknowledgment it was good to get forward quickly.

Everything I’ve heard from and about Schumacher suggests he wants football to be more direct. That doesn’t mean lumping it but I think faster transition and getting behind early.

If he can over the summer adding some pace to the squad will help.

[nicholaldo]

I get that. I just liked it for itself. An acknowledgment it was good to get forward quickly.

Aye, but I think a lot of people chanting "Sideways and backwards, not anymore" might be disappointed by Schumacher's approach play at times - once he's got his team how he wants it.

I don't expect us to abandon our foundations, but as you know, there's possession and then there's possession with purpose.

[Worthy4England]

We definitely need a grafting midfield type and a striker who knows where the goal is before Monday’s window closes. I think everything else will have to do. But those two are essential if we want to have any sort of a go this season. You can’t rely on Collins alone and we have nowt else with any threat. Vic had another very good game in support - no issues at all but we need another option - a Charles replacement.

And midfield is horribly lightweight. I just think a runner who wins the ball would change us significantly. Without one I don’t think we can play like we did today. And whilst we have Matete I don’t feel like he’s that front foot aggressive type.

I'd be pretty happy if we even got mentioned with Celtic, West Ham and Stoke for either the striker or the grafter...

[GhostoftheBok]

I don't expect us to abandon our foundations, but as you know, there's possession and then there's possession with purpose.

Aye. I'd very much like to see us tear into Crawley next weekend.

[Worthy4England]

I get that. I just liked it for itself. An acknowledgment it was good to get forward quickly.

Aye, but I think a lot of people chanting "Sideways and backwards, not anymore" might be disappointed by Schumacher's approach play at times - once he's got his team how he wants it.

I don't expect us to abandon our foundations, but as you know, there's possession and then there's possession with purpose.

Yup. I don't mind passing. Just stop pretending it's the whole of the moon, when 50% of it is going nowhere.

[Jugs]

Who on earth decided Etete - a guy who literally doesn't score - would be a good signing? Who scouted him and who sanctioned it?

[Spartan2]

Who on earth decided Etete - a guy who literally doesn't score - would be a good signing? Who scouted him and who sanctioned it?

Don't even bother mate. Whoever it is, apparently they're above criticism because they're doing a really good job, as evidenced by all our brilliant players and how good we're doing.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Well, let's just say it was better than the last managerial debut I was at - that of the mighty Keith Hill.

Some selection surprises, but it made sense to start with the notionally more 'defensive' two wingbacks and bring on the more attacking ones. I'm glad to see Schumacher was happy to bring both on - JDC took a wince-inducing knock but I suspect he would have been swapped out anyway. Toal's return is fair enough - you wonder if Geth's now likely to be more of a sub, but let's see if the home setup is different. Randall over Morley felt like a vote of confidence for the new lad, but again he caused a few groans. Etete was a surprise, followed by a shock when he came on: his very first touch was mint, everything else was mince. Slightly surprised he was included over Lolos; I hope that's not a Plymouth hangover, but we'll see.

So. The game was scrappy, on a shit surface. We went long quite a bit – Southwood picked out Murphy about half a dozen times with long kicks; on one occasion the Galwayman was offside. Then suddenly we started playing out from the back, not always convincingly (one second-half calamity climaxing in Tomo nearly getting an assist for Reading). I'm pleased to se that versatility of approach; I hope we deploy the different styles wisely.

Formationally, we floated between 3-1-4-2 (usually in possession) and more of a 3-4-2-1 out of possession, Randall and Collins splitting wide and deep of Adeboyejo. That is of course the formation that did for Evatt but also the one that promoted Plymouth (Schumacher post-match said "getting the two number 10s in there, with Joel Randall, could create a bit of quality"). I suspect Randall may have started over Morley with that possibility in mind. After the subs were on it was definitely more like 3-4-3, or rather that 3-4-2-1, the problem being that 1 was Etete, who, well, no. Or at least not yet. Let's just say to be sub next Saturday he'll need a hell of an impressive week's training.

Before him the line was led by Adeboyejo, who appears to be the latest hate figure. The mouth-breathers behind me castigated his every touch while forgiving Aaron Collins for much worse involvements. I know, Collo has earned that cushion, but the one-eyed justifications I heard today almost fried my brain. At one point Vic held off three players and played it through to Collins, who was asking for the ball despite being stood five yards offside, and the window-licker behind me screamed at Vic "Why did you hold on to it so long?" On two or three other occasions Vic played balls to Collins who lost possession, but was cheered; whenever Adeboyejo lost the ball, he was jeered. When he held the ball up, wa clattered and went down, he was castigated for winning a free kick which "slowed us down". The gormless perennial "it's like playing with ten men" got an airing. I nearly chewed a hole in my cheek. Put it this way: I'm glad for his reputation and health that Vic didn't miss the chances Collins did, with this hanging jury.

How did we play? We looked reasonably solid in defence - Reading didn't do much that we didn't hand to them - but not quite clicking further forward. That might be Collins' hugely erratic afternoon: he displayed some lovely touches wide on the wings, but his finishing was wasteful, especially his 30-yard pea-roller when two men were in better positions. I like a man with confidence, but I also like a man with judiciousness.

The back three were defence-first but Toal (playing to Forrester's right) and Johnston both burst forward, which was good to see. Murphy looked more left-back than left-winger, which is fair, and got knocked off the ball a few times more than I'd like. Cogley whizzed about and utterly fluffed one cross in a very Cogley way, although it may have been the pudding-bowl pitch.

Sheehan was quiet first half but got more involved second half. Thomason Thomasoned, charging hither and yon, sometimes into players. The inevitable yellow was his 10th so he's out for two gane - interestingly just as Matete returns, one of few players Schumacher has worked with before.

Fans really got behind the team (except Adeboyejo and anyone passing to Southwood) but the late concesssion soured the mood (as well as finally making us aware of there being some Reading fans among the swathes of empty seats). Bit of scuffling on the stairs at the end between a young mophead who'd tried to prevent others from applauding ("It's as bad as Evatt") and the suitor of a woman he'd barged in doing so. Props also to the woman who was so drunk she literally bounced off the wall in front of me, and the woman in an electric wheelchair who drove into someone's leg while she was holding a pint ("that's drink-driving, that!" he laughed, wincing).

Overall, not the dream start we wanted, but I remain hopeful.

[GhostoftheBok]

Fans really got behind the team (except Adeboyejo and anyone passing to Southwood) but the late concesssion soured the mood (as well as finally making us aware of there being some Reading fans among the swathes of empty seats). Bit of scuffling on the stairs at the end between a young mophead who'd tried to prevent others from applauding ("It's as bad as Evatt") and the suitor of a woman he'd barged in doing so. Props also to the woman who was so drunk she literally bounced off the wall in front of me, and the woman in an electric wheelchair who drove into someone's leg while she was holding a pint ("that's drink-driving, that!" he laughed, wincing).

I enjoyed the "drink driving" bit.

The rest sounds familiar. One lad was down the front at Huddersfield to ask Vic for his shirt and a bloke said "feck off, kid. I'll burn it."

Anyone who gets physical with a woman needs a clip.

[BWFC_Insane]

^^Vic was very good today too. I think people need to accept him for his limitations. It’s not his fault we paid a silly amount of money and the manager who did has gone.

[GhostoftheBok]

I think we've seen, from all the transfer fees that have flown around at this level for the past two years, that £450k for Vic wasn't a silly amount of money at all.

People just got excited because we'd been broke for so long every fee felt massive.

[BWFC_Insane]

I think we've seen, from all the transfer fees that have flown around at this level for the past two years, that £450k for Vic wasn't a silly amount of money at all.

People just got excited because we'd been broke for so long every fee felt massive.

Seriously, it was a silly amount of money. But it’s been and gone. He played well today.

[TonyDomingos]

Well, let's just say it was better than the last managerial debut I was at - that of the mighty Keith Hill.

Some selection surprises, but it made sense to start with the notionally more 'defensive' two wingbacks and bring on the more attacking ones. I'm glad to see Schumacher was happy to bring both on - JDC took a wince-inducing knock but I suspect he would have been swapped out anyway. Toal's return is fair enough - you wonder if Geth's now likely to be more of a sub, but let's see if the home setup is different. Randall over Morley felt like a vote of confidence for the new lad, but again he caused a few groans. Etete was a surprise, followed by a shock when he came on: his very first touch was mint, everything else was mince. Slightly surprised he was included over Lolos; I hope that's not a Plymouth hangover, but we'll see.

So. The game was scrappy, on a shit surface. We went long quite a bit – Southwood picked out Murphy about half a dozen times with long kicks; on one occasion the Galwayman was offside. Then suddenly we started playing out from the back, not always convincingly (one second-half calamity climaxing in Tomo nearly getting an assist for Reading). I'm pleased to se that versatility of approach; I hope we deploy the different styles wisely.

Formationally, we floated between 3-1-4-2 (usually in possession) and more of a 3-4-2-1 out of possession, Randall and Collins splitting wide and deep of Adeboyejo. That is of course the formation that did for Evatt but also the one that promoted Plymouth (Schumacher post-match said "getting the two number 10s in there, with Joel Randall, could create a bit of quality"). I suspect Randall may have started over Morley with that possibility in mind. After the subs were on it was definitely more like 3-4-3, or rather that 3-4-2-1, the problem being that 1 was Etete, who, well, no. Or at least not yet. Let's just say to be sub next Saturday he'll need a hell of an impressive week's training.

Before him the line was led by Adeboyejo, who appears to be the latest hate figure. The mouth-breathers behind me castigated his every touch while forgiving Aaron Collins for much worse involvements. I know, Collo has earned that cushion, but the one-eyed justifications I heard today almost fried my brain. At one point Vic held off three players and played it through to Collins, who was asking for the ball despite being stood five yards offside, and the window-licker behind me screamed at Vic "Why did you hold on to it so long?" On two or three other occasions Vic played balls to Collins who lost possession, but was cheered; whenever Adeboyejo lost the ball, he was jeered. When he held the ball up, wa clattered and went down, he was castigated for winning a free kick which "slowed us down". The gormless perennial "it's like playing with ten men" got an airing. I nearly chewed a hole in my cheek. Put it this way: I'm glad for his reputation and health that Vic didn't miss the chances Collins did, with this hanging jury.

How did we play? We looked reasonably solid in defence - Reading didn't do much that we didn't hand to them - but not quite clicking further forward. That might be Collins' hugely erratic afternoon: he displayed some lovely touches wide on the wings, but his finishing was wasteful, especially his 30-yard pea-roller when two men were in better positions. I like a man with confidence, but I also like a man with judiciousness.

The back three were defence-first but Toal (playing to Forrester's right) and Johnston both burst forward, which was good to see. Murphy looked more left-back than left-winger, which is fair, and got knocked off the ball a few times more than I'd like. Cogley whizzed about and utterly fluffed one cross in a very Cogley way, although it may have been the pudding-bowl pitch.

Sheehan was quiet first half but got more involved second half. Thomason Thomasoned, charging hither and yon, sometimes into players. The inevitable yellow was his 10th so he's out for two gane - interestingly just as Matete returns, one of few players Schumacher has worked with before.

Fans really got behind the team (except Adeboyejo and anyone passing to Southwood) but the late concesssion soured the mood (as well as finally making us aware of there being some Reading fans among the swathes of empty seats). Bit of scuffling on the stairs at the end between a young mophead who'd tried to prevent others from applauding ("It's as bad as Evatt") and the suitor of a woman he'd barged in doing so. Props also to the woman who was so drunk she literally bounced off the wall in front of me, and the woman in an electric wheelchair who drove into someone's leg while she was holding a pint ("that's drink-driving, that!" he laughed, wincing).

Overall, not the dream start we wanted, but I remain hopeful.

Thanks, DSB. It's almost as if you were there.

[irie Cee Bee]

Decent performance. Had enough chances to win comfortably. Our defense looked solid, aggressive and comfortable. Toal made us stronger as well as Murphy. Our midfield need help and hopefully we can get one more in there. Vic had a good game and we created many for Collins. We needed at least one to go in. Our new sub played like someone who has been away from the game for a long time. He needs minutes to get his body to obey the commands of his mind. We who have played the game know how that feels when we have been away for awhile. The coach I think put him out there to get him the game time he needs. He clearly sees him as a vital cog in the wheel in the race to the playoff.

[dave the minion]

Who on earth decided Etete - a guy who literally doesn't score - would be a good signing? Who scouted him and who sanctioned it?

Don't even bother mate. Whoever it is, apparently they're above criticism because they're doing a really good job, as evidenced by all our brilliant players and how good we're doing.

Which you know is not what I was saying.....

In case it escaped you, the point I was making was one of balance. You were basically calling for people to be hung, drawn & quartered and dragged through Albert square. I was merely pointing out that for every questionable signing there is likely at least one big success.

Which is basically the world of transfer dealings in general, so no real need to call for peoples.heads just yet eh?

[The_Gun]

For the sake of balance, I will say that the fans around me were largely supportive of Vic. I don’t think he’s been completely written off by the majority.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

For the sake of balance, I will say that the fans around me were largely supportive of Vic. I don’t think he’s been completely written off by the majority.

Fair enough. He wasn't being roundly booed, just targeted by individual shouts.