RobM

Geography fail. D-, could do better.

My sentiment exactly. We struggle breaking through 10-men defences, but we do well against teams that come to win and play attacking football, as the game opens up in a way that suits our style. If Reading play football and don't just park the bus, we'll be fine. If they 'do a QPR' against us we'll struggle.

Don't forget he plays out wide for his country, so it's not totally wasted if he performs.

No Lallana but otherwise a very strong team. I've not seen much of Davis and Ramirez together so looking forward to that.

I love the irony of that last sentence, from somebody who has predicted 15 straight defeats. (edit - Beaten to it! Great minds!)

Now put your reality head on, if QPR win the bottom two won't be as certain. The fewer teams that can make it out of the bottom three the better. Your point is only valid if QPR are guaranteed to be bottom two, but if they win and go to 26 points they could be back in the mix. If they lose, the bottom two are almost certainly as they stand right now.

CB's for me, that's by far the most important position. We can attack, we can score goals, so if we can be confident of being absolutely solid at the back we're in a really good position. Second position would be an attack-minded winger with pace. Somebody to give us a different option.

Fulham win for me too please. I don't care where we finish this season so long as it's outside of the bottom three. The more teams there are nailed-on for relegation, the less spaces there are for us. Plus, I hate everything QPR are and have done to football.

It was an embarrassing question, one any journalist should be ashamed of. I'd love to know what answer he was hoping for.

I'm glad it's Adkins in charge of Reading for this game. I'd worry otherwise that they would park everyone behind the ball and try not to lose, while hoping for some counter-attacking chances. I've more hope that Adkins will go for the win and will play an attacking game. If he does, we'll destroy them.

100% it does. I've said that same - we play best against teams who come to win. We struggle against teams that come to defend and pick up scraps. When teams come to attack us the game is open and flows better, which suits every one of our strengths. When they come to park 10-men behind the ball and hope for a chance to counter-attack, we find it very hard to break down.

IMO, he's always had the talent and ability, he's shown signs of that since day one in the Prem, but he's now using that properly and making better decisions. He's reading the game better and looks a more experienced player. That, plus we're not trying to use him as a winger!

This is the most important thing above all else for me. This is 6-points that we weren't expected to win, which will be the difference come the end of the season. In fact, throw in Man City and it's even better.

As much as I respect NA, I don't think he's experienced enough to take an already established Premiership side onto bigger and better things. He'll get Reading promoted if they do go down this season, he'll be a good mid-table Prem manager, but that's as far as I see him going. I doubt Stoke will appoint him as the man to turn them into a top-7 side, which is the next step for them.

Just this season really, but QPR are equal to Pompey, even more now 'Arry is there. I hate the way they are gambling with the future of the club that belongs to the fans, not the owners.

Agreed, please do make sure he knows his efforts are appreciated and he is NOT remembered in the same way as Wilde and Lowe. Crouch put his hand in his pocket to help us out, rather than trying to line his own pocket and feed his ego as the others did. Crouch might not have gotten everything right, but he did everything for the right reason.

Sums up my view.

Perhaps that's it... Shaw stays with us next season, Cole remains 1st choice for Chelsea, the following season if we have achieved our ambitions (pushing towards a top-10 club with signs that European football isn't just a dream) we might be able to keep hold of him, if not Chelsea will be ready and waiting. By this time he'll be early into a long-term deal that'll cost a small fortune to buy out.

I think the only club that could turn his head are Chelsea. He is a big Chelsea fan and I believe he lives in London still (Kingston rings a bell?). They also have an ageing England LB to replace, the money to attract most players and the offer of top-flight English and European football.

I disagree with some of this... avoiding the obvious trolling points. He does run and break a sweat - that's one of his strengths and where he fits into our team. He can run and run at players all game. It's why (in NA's words) he got the nod ahead of Lambert for the opening game against Man City. It's why he comes off the bench when we need energy and to keep pressing. He can tackle, he tracks back and defends very well for a midfielder. He isn't a defender so let's not judge him as one, but you can't say he can't tackle based on the two bad defensive mistakes over an 18-month period that you insist on quoting (you'd have more examples if this really were true, so using an 18-month old one shows you do not). He can head and he does jump. Again not his strengths so lets not judge him as if they were, but to say he cannot or refuses to do either shows you haven't seen him live much. Being an attacking player is more than just scoring goals, as I'd hope you know. He hasn't scored in 16-months, that's a fact, but his primary job isn't as a striker and when he is used, it's as a midfielder to help create attacks. Judge him based on that.

I'm no Guly hater, I can see what he brings to the team and where he fits in. Sometimes he is the ideal answer when you need somebody to run, chase and get in peoples faces. He is tireless in that regard. But watching him get done so easily soon after coming on was embarrassing. In fact, it was one of the only times I can remember in the game where we looked easy to beat defensively. I really hope we have somebody coming through the academy that can play his high tempo game and replace him. I wouldn't say it's worth spending decent money on cover like that off the bench.

March 30 Chelsea (H) Loss April 6: Reading (A) Win April 13: West Ham (H) Win April 20: Swansea (A)Loss April 27: West Brom (H)Draw May 4: Tottenham (A)Loss May 12: Sunderland (A)Loss May 19: Stoke (H)Win 10 points for me. But as this weekend has shown, anything is possible at home, so Chelsea is far from a certain loss and WBA are there for the taking too. I just don't see everything going our way.

Like every time a bad decision is made and the players go mental, that disrupts the game just as much as a referee deciding to stop the game.

Boruc wasn't picked earlier in the season as he simply wasn't playing well enough to deserve it. There has never been doubt about his ability and how good he was at previous clubs, but you pick players based on performance not history. Early in the season he made some terrible mistakes and looked uneasy and lacking in confidence. As well as he is playing now and as much as we all (I'm sure) hope he gets a longer-term deal, you can't simply re-write history and pretend this current form has been the norm all season.

Agree with all of this. He was poor at first, technically poor, lacked confidence and made silly mistakes. But he then started showing signs of why he came with such a good reputation and now, today especially, he looks superb in every sense. It has been a long time since we had a keeper that didn't make the stadium panic every time the ball went there way. Today Boruc was a very safe pair of hands.