What is the point in HRK

[Snowball]

The HRK bashing from some is getting ridiculous. I thought he was very good yesterday - as were all the team. Ok he has not had the best of seasons but neither have many other players. Give the guy a break folks.

And I was there and everyone around me stood to give him a standing ovation yesterday - long before Jem Karacan was announced as replacement. The roar then was FOR Jem (after being out so long) NOT against HRK.

+ 10,000,000

[LoyalRoyal22]

I thought his poor fitness levels showed yesterday. Seem to be struggling to get up & down the pitch from the first whistle. I have always backed him, but would happily see him move on in the summer.

[ladida_gunner_graham]

Don't confuse a great Reading performance with a good Robson-Kanu performance. Yet again he was the poorest of the starting XI. He contributed nothing for huge chunks of the game, and conceded possession in every way imaginable throughout the game. His one cross was embarrassing.

There is an implication here that it's disloyal or somehow wrong to highlight the frailties of a player who is under-performing week after week, and whose cost is contributing substantially to the clubs progress due to our FFP problems. If he keeps playing badly, we can keep being critical. When he plays well for a spell, I for one will happily acknowledge it and reassess my view.

andrew1957, don't presume to speak for all Reading fans. I can tell you that the cheers from the section where I sat yesterday were equally split between being happy to see Jem on the pitch, and happy to see Kanu off it.

GetReading player ratings from the fans show Robson-Kanu in 13th place with 6.3 at the time of writing, above only Yakubu. If there is going to be a Robson-Kanu renaissance, it hasn't started yet, so let's not kid ourselves into thinking it has.

[Victor Meldrew]

Have just watched the game all the way through and have to agree with ladida and totally disagree with Andrew.
Kanu's contribution to the game was miniscule whereas the rest excelled themselves.
The only thing in his favour as I see it is that he is a left-sided player and ,if he were any good, would bring a better balance to the side.
The only player from our permanent squad who could play there is Blackman who is equally ineffective and I hope that Clarke either goes wit Ake there for the rest of the season or play that one extra centrally in midfield and have Mackie out wide.
I also hope that he manages to move Kanu on for next season and builds a squad where everybody has heart and commitment.

[Ian Royal]

From the RFC site - JEM's MESSAGE: It's been a horrible couple of seasons personally but the ovation you gave me when I came on today will be with me forever!

(He doesn't realise, does he?)

The cheers were for Karacan.

There was no bad feeling from fans regarding Kanu today.

Indeed, HRK got an ovation as he left with a round of his chant iirc. Jem then got a different ovation and cheer when he came on. Both positive.

[Huckleberry Hound]

Bloke behind me in 118 was quick to abuse HRK whenever he made a mistake, but didn't seem to notice that for most of the second half he was excellent.

[Snowball]

Bloke behind me in 118 was quick to abuse HRK whenever he made a mistake, but didn't seem to notice that for most of the second half he was excellent.

64th minute the TV commentator said HRK was having an excellent second half.

HRK's hold up and clever pass for Pog, was crucial in our goal being scored.

HRK also had a superb interchange with Chalobah and put Pog in a great position.

HRK also put Obita in the clear.

Not sure who made the two passes for the two unfair offsides.

[Royal Rother]

Bloke behind me in 118 was quick to abuse HRK whenever he made a mistake, but didn't seem to notice that for most of the second half he was excellent.

64th minute the TV commentator said HRK was having an excellent second half.

Ah well, that's settled it then.

[Ian Royal]

Bloke behind me in 118 was quick to abuse HRK whenever he made a mistake, but didn't seem to notice that for most of the second half he was excellent.

64th minute the TV commentator said HRK was having an excellent second half.

Ah well, that's settled it then.

I doubt it, but he certainly did have an excellent second half.

[biff]

Hope you were all watching our "FA cup story" before the game, and noticed how crucial HRK has been in the run.
VS Huddersfield : clever play to get Blackman through on goal.
VS Cardiff: off the bench to score an 88th minute winner.
VS Derby: a brilliant brilliant goal to put us ahead and a sliderule pass to Yakubu for the winner.
VS Bradford: nicely taken header 6 minutes in to put us ahead and at ease.
VS Arsenal: brilliant defensive work, effective attacking play, put through some more sliderule passes, held up well to allow Pog to cross for our goal.

He might not be the most eyecatching, or even be that good, but the man has given us our day out at Wembley, and much more in between.

[Osborns scoop]

Hope you were all watching our "FA cup story" before the game, and noticed how crucial HRK has been in the run.
VS Huddersfield : clever play to get Blackman through on goal.
VS Cardiff: off the bench to score an 88th minute winner.
VS Derby: a brilliant brilliant goal to put us ahead and a sliderule pass to Yakubu for the winner.
VS Bradford: nicely taken header 6 minutes in to put us ahead and at ease.
VS Arsenal: brilliant defensive work, effective attacking play, put through some more sliderule passes, held up well to allow Pog to cross for our goal.

He might not be the most eyecatching, or even be that good, but the man has given us our day out at Wembley, and much more in between.

Agree with most of this except defensively he was lacking as he was slow tracking back. Couldn't work out if he was unfit, slow, or just not bothered.

[maffff]

By recent standards HRK had a pretty decent game. Fitness looked a bit dodgy and there were large periods of anonymity (as with most wingers) but some great touches. He even tracked back a few times!

[Angry Shed Sex]

Sunday Times reporter called him anonymous in his player by player rating.

[Snowball]

Hope you were all watching our "FA cup story" before the game, and noticed how crucial HRK has been in the run.
VS Huddersfield : clever play to get Blackman through on goal.
VS Cardiff: off the bench to score an 88th minute winner.
VS Derby: a brilliant brilliant goal to put us ahead and a sliderule pass to Yakubu for the winner.
VS Bradford: nicely taken header 6 minutes in to put us ahead and at ease.
VS Arsenal: brilliant defensive work, effective attacking play, put through some more sliderule passes, held up well to allow Pog to cross for our goal.

He might not be the most eyecatching, or even be that good, but the man has given us our day out at Wembley, and much more in between.

Careful with the facts. It confuses the knee-jerkers

[Snowball]

Hope you were all watching our "FA cup story" before the game, and noticed how crucial HRK has been in the run.
VS Huddersfield : clever play to get Blackman through on goal.
VS Cardiff: off the bench to score an 88th minute winner.
VS Derby: a brilliant brilliant goal to put us ahead and a sliderule pass to Yakubu for the winner.
VS Bradford: nicely taken header 6 minutes in to put us ahead and at ease.
VS Arsenal: brilliant defensive work, effective attacking play, put through some more sliderule passes, held up well to allow Pog to cross for our goal.

He might not be the most eyecatching, or even be that good, but the man has given us our day out at Wembley, and much more in between.

He was also crucial in us scoring our Wembley goal

[Forbury Lion]

Anyone remember Tony Rougier? He has the skills but kept passing the ball astray, The fans booed and it got to him and made him worse (Andy Hughes, who also became a boo boy target said so).

Booing never helps, some players can block it out, others can't, so if a player is crap, booing isn't going to help them or the team to improve and most managers will not want to be seen to react to the crowd so will leave them on longer than planned!

[Angry Shed Sex]

He was also crucial in us scoring our Wembley goal

That's stretching it a bit far Snowers. So we're now counting assists for assists?

I'm not a lover of HRK but I thought he did OK.

[Snowball]

He was also crucial in us scoring our Wembley goal

That's stretching it a bit far Snowers. So we're now counting assists for assists?

I'm not a lover of HRK but I thought he did OK.

Not a stretch at all. His part in that goal was, indeed, crucial.

Held it up very well in a tight spot, under severe pressure, and a very neat short pass for Pog by the by-line

[ladida_gunner_graham]

Apologies for trespassing on Snowball's turf, this is going to be a somewhat anal post, but necessary to clear up HRK's performance. No one is even suggesting the first half was good for him, so I ignored that. As others have claimed the second half was "great" or "excellent" I've looked at that as objectively as possible using the full game, not highlights. I assessed every touch he had and gave them a '+1' for a positive contribution, a '0' for something neutral/not significant and a '-1' when detrimental to Reading. I saw no off the ball play that can be included - some basic closing down only. So, to summarise:-

- 1 significant pass (to Pog for set up for goal)
- 2 meaningful passes (played Obita in down left to cross & plays ball to Pog's feet on edge of box)
- 5 successful but low impact passes
- 3 crosses, 1 out for goal kick, two blocked at source (albeit one could have been given handball, but still too close to defender)
- 3 fouls conceded, 1 in problem area
- conceded possession 9 times
- two "runs", both times into space, shepherded, but does not beat anyone (in fact, did not beat a single player all half)

Every one of his positive contributions happened in a 7 minute spell, between the 53rd and 60th minute. There was nothing that I'd count as positive outside those times. Minute in red.
Score Action
0 50 Foul on Ozil (not threatening position)
0 52 5 yard unchallenged, sideways pass to Williams
-1 52 Crossed behind goal (Murphy described it as "very poor")
0 53 Through ball to Mackie (who was 2 yards offside)
0 53 Receives ball, tackled, Reading throw
+1 53 Rec. ball, slides pass to Pog (GOAL)
+1 56 Rec. ball, 20 yard run into space, lays off to Mackie
+1 56 Plays in Obita down line to cross
0 & +1 57 Rec. ball, mis-controls, foot up to win back the ball, fouls Mertesacker (leading to him going off - got to be a +1)
+1 60 1-2 with Chalobah, 30 yard run into space, plays ball to Pog on edge of box
-1 63 Receives ball, loses possession
0 64 Under challenge, heads ball out of play,
-1 64 Receives ball, tried to cross twice, hits player in front of him, loses possession
-1 69 Rec. ball, mis-controls, tries to win it back, concedes foul
-1 71 Foul on Ramsey - dangerous position, Arsenal nearly score
-1 74 Rec. ball from throw, fails to control, concedes possession
0 77 Rec. ball, loses possession but was probably fouled, not given
-1 79 Rec. ball, plays long ball down field under no pressure, no Reading player within 20 yards
-1 85 Rec. ball, plays pass straight out of play, 10 yards from any Reading player, Arsenal throw

So, blinkers off everyone.....is this the summary of an excellent half? Nothing of consequence outside a 7 minute spell?

[Snowball]

You could do that for many of the players.



What did McCleary do second half apart from a slightly fortuitous goal?

What did Pog do second half apart from the assist?

What did Mackie do second half (in terms of goals, shots, good passes, assists)?


We had 30% possession, apparently. That's a total of 13 minutes on the ball second half,
or approximately one minute per Reading player.

I'd say HRK had a very decent proportion based on that one minute average