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After the disappointment of Wednesday night, it was vital that Reading got all three points on Saturday against Hull City - and they duly delivered, convincingly putting three past the Tigers. It was a comfortable victory in the end for Paul Clement’s men, with goals from Sam Baldock, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Andy Yiadom.
It was just Reading’s third home win in the league all calendar year which is a pretty shocking statistic, but hopefully now they can really push on and build on this impressive win. Here’s how the fans reacted to some of the key talking points after the game...
Clement’s shake-up
It was to be expected that Clement would ring the changes after the abysmal display on Wednesday night against Norwich. Saeid Ezataholi, John O’Shea and Josh Sims all came in for their first starts of the Championship campaign, with the big Icelander - Bodvarsson - the other man to come into the starting eleven.
Clement has come under fire in recent weeks but on Saturday he got his tactics and team spot on. He made some big calls and they came off. Here’s what you, the fans, were saying about Clement’s selection and tactics...
A very impressive performance, we completely dominated the game. Great to kill the game off. Ezatolahi looks solid. Clement was spot on with the team selection and full credit to him. #readingfc
— Harrison Mitchell (@harrison1871rfc) September 22, 2018
Seems like Clement made some brave and interesting changes today which paid off big time! #readingfc
— Tom Maynard (@ttmaynard) September 22, 2018
Amazing what happens when you have a functional right wing... good decisions by Clement in team selection. URZ!!! #readingfc
— tilehurst royal (@tilehurstroyal) September 22, 2018
Good result, good performance, hats off to clement for making the changes #readingfc
— DJ Seward (@darrenjseward) September 22, 2018
At last #readingfc are away from the relegation zone. Brave team selection from Clement. And really about time as players like Swift Aluko McShane Gunter & Mcleary dont have futures at Reading. All good players but have rested on past performances for too long. So Clement
— 2018 Terrier (@Yourrrs) September 23, 2018
John O’Shea
The Irish veteran made his first Championship start for Reading on Saturday afternoon and, after all the controversy and uncertainty surrounding his summer move from Sunderland, he certainly justified Clement’s decision to bring him to the Mad Stad.
He had an eventful game to say the least, after a receiving a yellow card for a challenge that left him playing with a tissue in his mouth for the majority of the second half, he then went on to get a red card seconds after the third goal.
But that didn’t overshadow an impressive display from the 37 year-old, and the Reading fans certainly enjoyed it...
I love John O’Shea pass it on #readingfc
— Erik O (@Orrgarde) September 22, 2018
Clean sheet, 3 0 win, red card. Life with John O’Shea playing is much more interesting and enjoyable! #ReadingFC
— Alex Sheppard (@Alex_Shep_Urzz) September 22, 2018
It’s a shame O’Shea got a red card, but it had to be done in the circumstances. He won everything in the air and looked good. Shame he’s 88 so can’t play every week #ReadingFC
— LordCKS (@LordCKS) September 22, 2018
Somebody at the club’s marketing department needs to get the John O’Shea toilet roll dispenser made to celebrate today’s game! #readingfc
— James Sullivan (@sullijama) September 22, 2018
O'Shea was so important today. Gave the defence the shape that they have been crying out for. His contribution in leadership was even greater than his own performance for me. #READINGFC
— Liam Beazley (@LiamBeeeazley) September 22, 2018
A home win!
For the first time in their history, Reading had lost their opening four home games of a league campaign. However, that was reversed on Saturday with a comfortable 3-0 win. Yes, Hull City were poor, but that doesn’t mean Reading weren’t good.
We were better in every department and rightly got all three points, Reading fans expressing their relief on Twitter...
The season hopefully starts now!! A win at home?? #URZ #ReadingFC
— Guy J (@Goomanguy) September 22, 2018
finally a home win! hallelujah #readingfc
— Stevie p (@stevie_p1871) September 22, 2018
Finally a win! ✔ at home ✔ on a Saturday! ✔ thought all the changes Clement made had a big positive effect, and the ones that were dropped should be worried. A good start with tempo helped the crowd get behind team. #readingfc #URZ
— Dominique Bailey (@royaldommy) September 22, 2018
It really does feel good to wake up the day after the first home league win of the season #readingfc
— Cam Baker (@cambaker96) September 23, 2018
Conclusion
It certainly does feel good to get that first home win under our belts, but now it has to be built upon. The players needed to learn from Wednesday’s defeat to Norwich City and did. It certainly gives the players a confidence boost, and hopefully has brought a bit of a feel-good factor back to the fans.
Next up is a more than tricky trip to Brentford. The away end will be packed, so we need to get behind the lads, and then the players may give us something to shout about.
URZ!