What a shambles. A performance void of any conviction, quality or tempo sentenced the Royals to their fifth home defeat out of six in the league this campaign. After the last two results and performances against Hull City and Brentford, it really did feel like Reading were on their way to turning a corner, but now they’re right back to square one.
Here are the three main talking points from Tuesday’s game and how the fans reacted on Twitter...
Starting Eleven
Paul Clement has become known for shaking things up. I praised him a couple of games ago for his selection against Hull in the 3-0 win, but against QPR he got it all wrong.
John Swift must be wondering what on earth he did wrong to be dropped to the bench after a standout performance against Brentford, and how many more chances will Aluko get to show that he’s worth even a fraction of his reported £7.5 million fee?
It was a confusing selection to say the least, and certainly had the fans talking after the game...
How can Clement watch the Brentford performance & then pick That team.. watch Sims do more than Aluko in half the time, & pick Aluko ♂️ clueless! #readingfc
— Robbie Nicholas (@RobbieN_16) October 2, 2018
@BBCBerkshire @TimDellor @willow1871
— Brightside (@BrightsideRFC) October 2, 2018
Hi, can you please ask @PaulClement1972 what Aluko does to get Into the team, and what has to happen for Loader to get a chance?
Thanks, have a great evening #readingfc
Clement got the team selection all wrong again. Aluko and Gunter over Swift and Sims is laughable. Get a manager who will actually rip into the players in ASAP #readingfc
— Jacob Potter (@pott95) October 2, 2018
Question....with a team selection like this is Clement trying to get himself sacked!? I’m confused, why wouldn’t you start with Sims and Swift? #ReadingFC Aluko has been way off his game for a long time but he gets in the starting line up! https://t.co/CFwawFffyG
— Samantha Smit (@SamanthaSmit29) October 2, 2018
The ‘Defending’
I use that term lightly. It was a horror show at the back on Tuesday, and it has been for the majority of the season. But against QPR, it was a whole different world of bad. We were all over the shop all night and it was topped off by 30 seconds of comical defending that ended with Leistner sealing the win for QPR.
It needs to be sorted out or else we are in serious trouble. You cannot defend like that, especially at home against the teams in and around us at the bottom. Here’s what the Reading fans had to say about it...
Such a sloppy goal to give away, #readingfc's failure to clear just sums up their night.
— Mick Day (@MickDay99) October 3, 2018
The goals we concede never fail to amaze me. Poor. #readingfc
— Shaun Berry (@sbezzzab1871) October 2, 2018
What a shocking goal to concede yet again. No one picked up their player on the front post and as a result they won the second ball. Cannot defend from set pieces #readingfc
— Jack (@thesimpsonRFC) October 2, 2018
#readingfc this is dreadful, same old failings. Concede ridiculous goals and don’t look like scoring. I do blame the players but the direction comes from above.......
— Henry (@WadeWarren4) October 2, 2018
Paul Clement’s future
Yet again, the future of the manager was called into question. It seems as though fans are really starting to run out of patience. Nine points from 11 games is relegation form, no doubt about that, and the next two or three games are absolutely huge for Clement.
I’ve said previously that I think the problems at this club lie much higher than Clement (*cough Ron Gourlay cough*) and everybody at the club needs to take a long hard look at themselves. But there is a growing proportion of the fanbase that feel Clement’s time is up in Berkshire...
Lost all confidence in Clement. Wrong formation, wrong starting line up and substitutions too late. #readingfc
— B Ξ N (@BenParsons89) October 2, 2018
Dropping swift tonight after his performance on Saturday is suicidal! Sack Clement the fraud #readingfc
— Todd-ED (@TED247) October 2, 2018
Seeing too many people say “changing the manager wont help”. It bloody would. The entire ethos/work ethic at this club has been rotten for 2 yrs now. Stam/Clement managerial style, attitude & decision making have been terrible. Players have an easy ride no matter what #ReadingFC
— LordCKS (@LordCKS) October 3, 2018
4 wins in 21 games. Not many clubs would accept that. Clement hasn’t got long left tbh. #readingfc
— cameron macken (@ronniemac93) October 3, 2018
Conclusion
It’s looking very bleak for Reading at the moment. We thought last season was bad, but it could be a whole lot worse this campaign if things don’t turn around sharpish. We look rid of any confidence or gut and it’s painful to be in the stands when your club is performing like this - I’m sure you will all agree.
Next up, recently relegated and promotion favourites West Brom...
URZ!