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After a second half thumping at Fulham and a battling draw against high-flying Brighton, Reading were back in action against a Huddersfield Town side who on their travels have been less than impressive. Still, it was a Tuesday night and we all know that means generally a point is a good result.
Unfortunately Reading turned in a first half that’s also fair to say is one of the worst that we have seen at the Madjeski in Clarke's reign. A shocking schoolboy error of a back-pass from Obita for the first goal, with the same player casually playing Huddersfield onside for the second. However it wasn’t all Obita’s fault with no one in the Reading team really able to say that they had a good game.
Probably the most surprising aspect of this match happened a little over 10 hours after the final whistle with manager Chris Powell being sacked by the club - a move which I don’t think anyone saw coming apart from mystic @Louandcharlie34 who called the decision when John equalised.
So after trawling the Twittersphere (and believe me after a manager gets sacked, you wouldn’t believe the amount of tweets there are!) here are the verdicts and views of both the fans and the media.
Social
I suppose I can’t start anywhere else, and it’s interesting to see some reaction about getting a credible 2-2 draw then getting sacked…
I am genuinely shocked at Town Sacking Chris Powell - After a good away result, really didnt see that one coming. #htafc
— Marko (@marko2807) November 4, 2015
a creditable 2-2 draw against one of the division's best teams and Chris Powell has gone #perplexed #htafc #readingfc
— thetwounfortunates (@twounfortunates) November 4, 2015
Passion is the way to every fans heart……
Don't think any of the media in West Yorkshire can question the passion or fight from the #htafc players this evening
— barmyarmyuk (@barmyarmyuk) November 3, 2015
Never a truer word spoken…..
Decent result, bit frustrating holding back in second half as Reading were there for the taking #htafc
— David Long (@davidlongphoto) November 3, 2015
Are stats everything?
In 2015, no side in the championship has dropped more points in the last 15 mins than #htafc
— Greg Marah (@mrgregmarah) November 3, 2015
Weekly psychic predictions – really ought to start getting these guys' lottery numbers!
If that don't get him the sack then I give up #htafc
— louandcharlie36 (@Louandcharlie34) November 3, 2015
Town creating chances but you can't help thinking we could concede at any time... Need to convert our chances.. #HTAFC
— Marko (@marko2807) November 3, 2015
Media
As you can imagine the headlines were all over the place with the news breaking the following morning of Powell's departure. However, Sky Sports as always quickly had a report and video coverage up of the game showing the goals, and if you are a masochist you can watch them here.
The BBC make a point that will be a heavy feature of all the reviews that we haven’t won in four games and that we were fortunate to get a point. The Guardian's report is basically all about Powell.
The Mail’s one is rightly a little damning of our defence calling it disorganised, as well as saying that our form is stuttering and that we were held by "lowly" Huddersfield. To be fair I can’t actually disagree with this report as it’s pretty much spot on.
Sportsmole say that John rescued a point, but also say that, given the second half performance, we probably earned it. ESPN FC and Clubcall are both a little lazy this week, carrying the Sky report virtually word for word, but both have stats and figures - if you have 5 minutes, they're worth looking at.
However, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner seems quite content with a new look Terriers' midfield and lead with them being denied at the death, but they do seem happy with a point. The other Yorkshire media - the Yorkshire Post - reckon we snatched a victory from Huddersfield, again highlighting poor defensive play.
The Daily Star round up leads with (you have to scroll down a fair bit) Nakhi Wells thinking that he had struck to give Huddersfield a stunning win, however Reading came back to get a deserved draw.
Looking at Get Reading then, Charles Watts' video review is always entertaining and pulls no punches calling it a pedestrian, scrappy and undeserved point.
All in all it was an extremely poor night for the Royals fans and with an away trip to Cardiff at the weekend, it's not getting any easier. Hopefully Clarke can sort out the defensive frailties and get some confidence into a Reading side that needs to get out of this rut.