Blackburn Fan’s Verdict: Another Lacklustre Defeat For The Royals

After a good performance - but ultimately a loss - against Boro’ last weekend, the Royals’ fans travelled to the Mad Stad on Saturday afternoon probably expecting an increase in both performance and the end result. They didn’t get it.

Jose Gomes came in for a lot of criticism last week due to his tactical decisions, leaving both Lucas Joao and George Puscas on the bench for the game at the Riverside. They came into the side on Saturday but were unable to cause any real damage throughout the 90; it was a flat performance from pretty much every man in a Reading shirt in all honesty.

At first watch I thought there was nothing that could’ve been done about Blackburn’s opener, but watching it back is a different story - the lack of closing down and pressing was astonishing. Blackburn’s second was, again, poor defending from Reading - who did pull one back through John Swift, but it wasn’t enough.

Here’s how the fans reacted to some of the key talking points from another frustrating afternoon at the Madejski Stadium...

Jordan Obita

Probably the only bright spark in a depressing afternoon, Jordan Obita returned for his first league start in nearly two years after his horror knee injury. I felt it was very harsh to drop Omar Richards, who has really found his feet in the left wing-back position. However, that disappointment of seeing Richards out of the starting eleven was overshadowed by joy of seeing Obita back.

It was unfortunate that his return ended in such a poor display and result, but nonetheless it was great to see Jordan back in the blue and white hoops - a feeling that was shared among the majority of the Reading fanbase on Twitter when the lineup was announced...

More horror defending

One of the big compliments that was given to Gomes and the new system in the earlier parts of the season is that we looked so much better defensively. In the last few games however, we have looked anything but.

The lack of pressure on the ball for the first goal was shocking from a Reading point of view - there was no attempt to stop the cross, and then Armstrong had the freedom of Berkshire to take a touch and pick his spot in impressive fashion. And the second goal was even worse. Poor defending from Andy Yiadom and Liam Moore, and then Tom McIntyre, ended in Bradley Dack squeezing the ball home from six yards out. It was defending that has been much unlike Reading in more recent times.

The fans were left disappointed and frustrated at the defensive display shown by Gomes’ men, and were left concerned at the injury to Michael Morrison too...

More pressure on Gomes?

He came under a lot of flack after last week’s result against Middlesbrough, and it cranked up again on Saturday after the Blackburn defeat. I don’t think there is any real consensus among the fans for Gomes to be sacked, but there is a section of the fanbase asking why the results have been so bad recently - especially considering the how much he was backed by the owners in the summer.

There is also a portion of the Loyal Royals saying that Gomes both needs and deserves time to turn this around - remember, it was only three games ago that we were lauding him and the team’s performances.

Here’s what the fans had to say after the game...

Conclusion

I wrote an article last week for why we need to give Gomes and this team time - and I again reiterate everything I wrote in that article.

It’s September, we’re going through a bit of a rough patch. But what we have now is 10 times better and more exciting than anything we’ve been succumbed to in the last few years, so let’s give it some time and we’ll see the fruits of that patience soon enough.

URZ