Match Details

West

Mullin

Reports

We've not won at Reading since 1981, and really we didn't look like doing much this time round. The stadium was quite pleasant, but the pitchside atmosphere was abysmal, not surprising after their recent form. It really was quite a surreal atmosphere. More like a reserve match than an important league encounter.

This atmosphere seemed to have spread to the players. Reading were there for the taking and a very poor side; they had no confidence and all their half-decent strikers were injured. Instead they played a big Scotsman upfront (Macintyre) who was booed before the teams kicked off. And he'd only played one game.

Whether it was the atmosphere or just laziness, but Burnley started off sloppily and gave the ball away in dangerous areas several times, handing the initiative to Reading. Fortunately they didn't know what to do with it.

The game petered out after that. The midfield was bypassed all the time, with Armstrong and West being left to either hoof the balls down the channels (Armstrong was particularly inaccurate, he got the dreaded "whoosh" from the crowd at one point). To be fair to them there wasn't a lot on for them usually: their wingers were often too far forward and Reading defended at a range where lobbing balls on to the head of Cooke/Payton/Branch/Lee just ended up with the ball coming back.

So apart from referee Lynch's baffling decisions and a few terrible tackles, oh and Crichton nearly dropping a cross into his own net, almost nothing of note. The assault by Macintyre on Mitchell Thomas during a header was particularly awful.

Nil Nil.

Some thoughts:

(1) Payton. Like most strikers, Payton thrives off decent service and we failed to put in one decent cross. Of his opportunities (both weak shots), he managed to get them both on target while under pressure. Unless Glen Little can start crossing the ball properly, both our strikers will struggle.

(2) If we play like that at Wigan or Derby, God help us. But we can only get better, let's hope this game is an exception.

Steve

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