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Expectations were high going into the new season after a promising pre-season, but these were quickly brought back to reality after a crushing 3-1 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday at the Madejski Stadium. It wasn’t a bad performance but there has to be changes and new signings in the upcoming days to strengthen our squad.
Sheffield Wednesday took the lead in the first half through Kadeem Harris before Yakou Meite equalised in the second half. Shortly after, Wednesday took the lead again with a Sam Hutchinson header before goalkeeper Kieran Westwood was given his marching orders. Right at the death, Wednesday scored again through Lucas Joao to make it a miserable day for the Royals.
Here is what Reading manager Jose Gomes had to say after the game; he spoke to the official club website and GetReading.
Gomes on the game
”It was quite a balanced game – not many chances for either team in the first half. We were better in some moments, but they didn’t create chances to score and we looked in control.
”If we look at the whole game, we can say that we were better in some points. And you could say that we didn’t deserve this result because they did not dominate us. But football is like this.”
Gomes on making mistakes
“Some of their goals were about using the mistakes that we made, the gifts that we gave them. And they took advantage and scored when they got the opportunity. They took their chances and they won.
”That’s what happens against good teams - and every team in the Championship is a good team. We cannot make mistakes against good teams. We have to keep our focus on our defensive tasks and use our offensive situations properly. We have to learn from the mistakes that we made. We want to give good things to our fans, not like what they saw today.”
Gomes on our fans
“Our fans have been fantastic, with us from start to finish. Today they deserved a different result. But we are counting on their support again. We know that we can count on them to make us better and stronger in the coming games.
“Now it’s recover and prepare for the next game. That’s our life – there are ups and downs. So it’s about keeping the hope and with the way we have been working. My players never give up and train hard. If we keep training like this, we will achieve our goals at the end of the season.”
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Gomes on the referee’s handball decision
“I understand them because if we scored we could have been talking about a completely different result. But if I talk about the referee it looks like I am trying to find excuses and I don’t want to do this.
“I want to focus on my team and my players and what I can do to help them improve so they don’t make the same mistakes again. Otherwise, if I talk about the ref I might lose my focus and in the end I cannot win anything because this result can’t be changed.
“The ball touched the arm. You have the space to write about what happened - I must look to my players and study the game again to see how they can improve.”
Gomes on new players coming in
“I would like to and I expect to. We’ll see if it will be possible but I suppose so yes.”
Gomes on Lucas Joao transfer
“I talked with him before the game last season (as well as today). We speak Portuguese and he played in Portugal before. He’s a good player but he’s a Sheffield Wednesday player.”
Gomes on if there is enough goals in the side
“To be promoted, no. If you talk about building a team to stay and fight in the Championship then I can help them protect our own goal and get the points needed to achieve the target.
“But if you talk about trying to get to the play-offs or be promoted directly then we need something more. And I know the board have been doing everything they can to solve the problem. We have FFP which we must respect and I think during the next three days something will happen.”