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Following a good win against a decent Birmingham side, Reading were buoyed by a good transfer window where key players were retained. Therefore a game against an Ipswich Town side that had been pummelled in midweek, and seemed to lack leadership, cohesion and a game plan, seemed to be the perfect tonic. However we escaped with a draw, Obita and Lawrence having a private goal of the season tournament.
Whatever form the Tractor Boys are in, a point at Portman Road can’t be sniffed at and like we have alluded to all season, previous seasons wouldn't have seen us recover from going a goal down. There is no doubt what all the talk in the Twittersphere was about, a certain on-loan player from Leicester (interestingly their leading goal scorer), well that and a distinct lack of faith in both the manager and the board (where we heard that before!).
Anyway onto the drooling over Lawrence and expectations running a little high!
Twittersphere
Team selection is always controversial!
What sort of line up is that! How much more must we take of this clown?Moore/ward very unlucky to miss out! Calamity Berra still there #ITFC
— Martin Lambert (@BigM89) February 4, 2017
Better than playing Football Manager to pick a team
McCarthy just picking names out of a hat again. No plan. No idea. No hope. #MickOut #itfc
— Richard Proctor (@RichardProctor3) February 4, 2017
Optimism can't beat it!
For playoffs we need to average 2.4 points per game, which is automatic promotion form and a half. 95% chance of that happening. #COYB #ITFC
— Andrés Kristjánsson (@AK74SR) February 4, 2017
Rocket Goals!
Ipswich & Reading are hosting the annual 'Championship Goal of the Season' event at Portman Road today. #itfc #rfc pic.twitter.com/Atxu2Gy7eo
— Renegade Statman (@chompx3) February 4, 2017
We maybe false, but hey we [were] 3rd!
Reading are nothing special in false position IMO ! We deserved to win that #itfc #urz
— harley marshall (@harleym18) February 4, 2017
Easy! We got more points than 4th downward!
How the hell are reading third #itfc
— e8 (@Edward_Nash_19) February 5, 2017
Really?
#itfc pic.twitter.com/zXsccJHRn5
— Daniel (@Dancrackers_19) February 5, 2017
Right getting carried away now....
Some have seen Messi at the Camp Nou, some have seen Ronaldo at the Bernabeu..... But I have seen @TomLawrence99 at Portman road! #itfc
— Andrew Woodfield (@Ipswichwoody) February 4, 2017
Media
Wow. Just wow, as lack of coverage goes. I suppose that’s the problem when what should be a regular win turns into an entertaining draw, with a distinct lack of appetite for the game.
Starting with the Daily Mail, we headline it(!) but that’s about that in terms of coverage. The Sudbury Mercury, understandably, are happy with the performance if not the result, and give begrudging credit to the Royals, however once again it’s all about Lawrence (anyone seeing a trend here!?).
Down at the Brighton Argus (stay with me here, ok it’s probably not worth it but am clutching at straws!) we get mentioned in the same breath as Newcastle and it seems like they feel we are a genuine threat to Brighton going up, hopefully we can prove them correct and like everyone we are waiting for the Seagulls' annual implosion.
The BBC (come on don’t let me down...) have a fairly decent write up, mentioning that on his debut Mutch scored for the first time since 2014. They as well reference Lawrence, and his 'stunning strikes' as well as Liam Kelly’s attempt and also Obita's leveller.
Sky Sports give us 2.06 minutes of coverage, and are a bit more favourable although they do say our first equaliser was against the run of play (fair) and that Obita scored a brilliant leveller (also fair).
Now then GetReading. Oh, GetReading. People who have read this column over the years (as it is now) will note that I generally have heaped praise on our local outlet’s contribution to match reports. Now I may be doing a disservice and haven’t found the real report – if so someone send me a link but this is awful. Potted comments and 11 lines, yes 11, lines of text. (/Rant)
Anyway I will be back soon and hopefully a bit more regularly (sorry all!) and onto Saturday's game and maybe, just maybe, we can actually start really putting pressure on the teams above us!