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Stoke City Fans Verdict: Royals Fume At Humbling Defeat

Loyal Royals were not in a good mood after watching Reading collapse in Staffordshire.

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This season, Reading have been the epitome of that infamous Gennaro Gattuso quote that went something along the lines of “sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe... not so good”. Saturday afternoon fell firmly in the latter camp.

The players just didn’t turn up. Every one of them was well, well below par and we got exactly what we deserved: a drubbing. Stoke City didn't even play well. They didn’t have to play well to put four goals past us - that’s how shambolic we were.

The fans were not a happy bunch...

The performance

I can’t exactly pick out two or three things from the performance - the entire thing was just dreadful. We were weak, fragile and all over the place defensively; clueless, toothless and limp in attack. It was probably the worst overall performance of the season.

I think it’s fair to say that the fans were left fuming - in fact, I’ve done well to find this many tweets without any expletives. I suspect we all thought we’d left performances like this firmly in the past...

Paul Ince

The manager was quick to blame the players’ lack of fight after the game and while that's a valid point, Ince has to be taking his fair share of the blame too. But this lack of accountability isn’t anything new with him.

Ince got it horribly wrong with his starting line-up and tactics. Stoke are a team devoid of confidence and we set up as if we’re playing Manchester City away. I don't know how we were trying to score a goal on Saturday and that lies with Ince.

The fans are starting to question whether he’s the best man to take us forward beyond this season...

Conclusion

Just a horrendous, horrendous afternoon. From start to finish it was an absolute shambles. Everyone has to take a long hard look at themselves after that one - Paul Ince included. There wasn’t a single half-decent performance and the tactics were non-existent. An afternoon to forget.

Next up a nice, easy trip to Old Trafford. Oh, God.