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QPR Fans Verdict: Ecstasy To Agony

Harry rounds up the reaction after a rollercoaster game against high-flying Rangers.

By harry.chafer
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PA Images via Getty Images

Every single time I think I’ve seen everything this football club has got to offer, they manage to conjure up something else that makes me question why I continue to trudge up and down the country to watch them. It’s not good for my health, it really isn’t.

I’m sure Saturday was quite great entertainment for any neutrals who managed to catch the highlights after the game, but for us Reading fans it was an all too familiar story of how this club can pick us up and then bring us crushing back down to earth.

There were positives, of course. I mean, for a starter at least it was better than the Huddersfield Town horror show. However, it’s clear to see that we’re still a team low on confidence and, at the moment, low on quality defensively.

If you score three goals at home, there is no way you should not be winning that football match. And that should’ve been the case, we should've walked away with all three points. With 10 minutes to go, we were 3-1 up and everything was rosy. But what happened after that was, quite frankly, embarrassing - but entirely predictable.

Here’s how the fans reacted to the key talking points...

John Swift

Honestly, this lad must be going home after every game thinking ‘what more can I possibly do?’ He has started this season in imperious form and produced yet another show-stopping performance on Saturday - bagging his first-ever professional hat trick.

They were three wonderful goals too, it has to be said, all of which were finished off beautifully by Swifty. He has carried us so far this season, and without him we’d be even worse off than we already are. He’s a joy to watch when he plays like he is currently and boy are we lucky to have him.

The fans certainly loved his performance, showing their adoration on Twitter...

The capitulation

From the wonderfully good to the horribly bad (and the predictable). What is it about our defence at the moment? It’s just awful. We've now shipped 16 goals in six league games and there are no signs of improvement coming from anywhere.

Conceding from ANOTHER set piece was bad enough; the lack of leadership, accountability and game management after going 3-1 up were laughable. As soon as Andre Gray scored to make it 3-2, you knew exactly what was going to happen. We sat back and essentially invited them to score, and they did.

We just have to see out that game. 3-1 up with 10 minutes to go, you cannot capitulate the way we did. And the fans were rightfully fuming...

Veljko Paunovic

He still deserves time, that is unquestionable in my opinion. However, Saturday really wasn’t a good day at the office for the boss. Although the result was not decided upon one substitution, the decision to take Puski off and bring on Holmes was absolutely baffling.

George Puscas was causing QPR all sorts of problems and was a genuine out ball for the entire game. He was playing really well. So to take him off to go five at the back and leave Swift as our striker was questionable to say the least.

The fans were fuming with the decision, and even more question marks began to appear over Pauno’s long-term future as boss...

Conclusion

A familiarly frustrating day as Reading fan. I love Pauno, I really do and there is no way in my opinion he should be sacked. We've done that many times before and it’s never worked. We have to give him time.

However, the owners have history with sacking managers. And I do fear for his future if he doesn’t start picking up results soon. Tuesday night it is a massive game, absolutely huge. And could be the perfect night to kick start our season.

URZ.

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