For the second game in a row, Leam Richardson’s men got exactly what they deserved: punished by a late equaliser that had been coming from the moment the second half started.
Yes, the pitch was a leveller and horrendous conditions for football, but that really isn’t an excuse. If we’d played even close to the level of the first half (which was by no means perfect), we would’ve walked away with a comfortable three points.
But alas, that wasn’t to be the case. Here’s how the fans reacted to a really bad afternoon in Stoke-on-Trent…
Another abysmal second half
The difference between the first-half performance and the second-half showing on Saturday was nothing short of unacceptable.
Every team should be respected, of course they should, and the conditions were a natural leveller. But Port Vale are bottom of the league, we are on the fringes of the playoffs, and we showed in the first half we should’ve been too good for them.
However, again, we just seemed content to sit back, sit back and sit back some more. Almost asking to concede. The fans were not happy with what they saw after the half-time interval…
Leam Richardson
Saturday’s performance comes down to Richardson’s tactics, it’s as simple as that. It seems to be his way to try and get in front and then soak up pressure and conserve what we’ve got.
If that’s not already frustrating enough, he went and delivered to BBC Radio Berkshire one of the most boggling, baffling post-match interviews I can remember from a Reading manager, and that’s saying something.
I and the other 1,500 or so Loyal Royals in attendance can assure him that he and his players were most definitely not 30 seconds away from being clapped off the pitch.
The patience of some fans is already starting to be tested…
Conclusion
How many tweets I have to skip past and not include due to the use of expletives is usually quite a good sign of how badly the game went, and I’ve had to skip past a lot of those for this article.
Let’s call a spade a spade: Saturday’s performance is a real worry. After going ahead it should’ve been a straightforward win – similar to the one at Northampton Town a few weeks ago. However, again, our tactics made it so much harder than it needed to be.
The biggest worry though, for me, is Richardson’s inability or refusal to accept that. His post-match interview with BBC Radio Berkshire was utterly bizarre, but it was also a real concern. For a team sat just outside the top six, we should be feeling a lot more confident about the direction of our team than we currently do.
