Back to earth with a bump as Reading beaten on the road

Guest blog from Paul Nash at Pride Park

Following Rodgers’ “skilled soldier” comments last week, Reading fans at Derby saw the hoops using military precision to overcome the enemy despite being outnumbered. Unfortunately it was a member of the marines cunningly disguised as Kingsley Royal rounding off a display of unarmed combat; half time entertainment that stood out like an undigested sweetcorn kernel in the turd that was this clash at the dirty end of the championship.

Once more, Reading threw away a lead, surrendering to a nasty, unimpressive Derby outfit. It was a match of mis-placed passes, mis-timed tackles and defending that would be best described as schoolboy, if not for fear of offending the under-tens. The Royals may have the stomach for a fight, certainly there was no lack of commitment (okay, Kebe was akin to a conscientious objector), but the deficiency of technique and tactics displayed confirms we are where we are because we that’s where we deserve to be.

No-one left Pride Park with any dignity yesterday, least of all the home fans who were silent until encouraged by their mascot to abuse Howard after he suffered a jaw injury that may require surgery. That over thirty-thousand paid to see football of a standard they could watch for free at Prospect Park is testimony to their loyalty, I suppose. Or perhaps they should just be sectioned.

Referee Haines is another who should hang his head in shame for the part he played in this unedifying contest. A mere middleman, he should have passed his cards to Robbie Savage at the beginning of the game, for he obediently issued cautions when prompted by the always despicable Derby skipper. Kebe was booked for a spot of gentle shirt tugging and when he was, in turn, assaulted by Hulse’s two footed lunge, Haines judged this a comparable infringement, worthy only of a yellow. Later on, as Haines allowed Derby to foul substitute Shane Long with impunity, the Irishman jumped up from a nasty challenge that didn’t draw the free kick it warranted, and extracted his revenge on the perpetrator. The red card that followed was entirely deserved and now leaves Rodgers short of strikers. Alex Pearce filled in for him during the remaining minutes at Derby, and perhaps our very own John Terry will reprise this role up front, with two million pound man Matt Mills joining Ingi in our creaking back line.

Rodgers claims that his charges attained their latest four game short-term target. If this target had not been revised to include at least a point against Clough’s strugglers, then the poverty of ambition is there for all to see. We have a clueless manager and a couldn’t care less chairman. Make the most of the forthcoming FA cup tie with the scousers, because with these two at the helm, sides of their calibre won’t be regular vistors any time soon.

Is Brendan turning it around?

Just over a month ago, I wrote on these pages that it was time for Rodgers to go following an abysmal performance in our 4-1 defeat away to QPR. It was the latest in a string of wretched performances and results that had seen the Royals lie one place above the relegation zone with a third of the season gone. Like most others, I’d expected the season to be a rebuilding process and I wasn’t expecting the team to be challenging for promotion. Mid-table with signs that we were improving would suit me fine and, at the time, we seemed to have only gone backwards and I couldn’t see it getting any better.

In the four games that have followed that dark evening in West London, Brendan Rodgers has made some inroads towards proving me wrong. When we were beaten in the following game by Leicester at home, despite an improved performance, I stuck by my declaration, but once again Brendan survived to fight another day. The result he so desperately needed came on the road against a very poor Coventry side and it proved to be the shot in the arm our team needed. The home jitters struck again against relegation rivals Ipswich, where we could only manage a draw, but the breakthrough finally came last Saturday against Blackpool.

As Brendan Rodgers says himself, seven points from nine is nothing to be sniffed at and, whilst we are still dangerously poised above the drop zone, we are starting to close the gap between the pack. It’s not inconceivable that we could find ourselves mid-table if we’re able to keep up this good run of form over the next few games and, now that the home voodoo has been broken, there is nothing to suggest that we can’t. Rodgers seems to have found a more settled side and is making less changes week-in, week-out, which can only be a good thing for the team and, in particular, the youngsters who are beginning to settle in.

Church and Sigurdsson have really begun to flourish in blue and white, with the latter showing real promise and making it into the Championship Team of the Week (pdf) MacAnuff is showing himself to be the best of Rodgers’ signings, whilst even the much-maligned Rasiak is chipping in with some important goals. The manager seems to be learning as well, allowing Tabb to keep the right-back slot that he is beginning to excel in over his own signing, the utterly hopeless Shaun Cummings, who we can only hope will get better. Matejovsky has been given the chance to play regularly and the whole team just generally seems more settled. Hopefully Rodgers has now found his best side and will continue to stick with it.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a complete turn-around post. I’m still far-from-convinced that Brendan Rodgers is the man to take Reading forward, but he is, at least, beginning to show signs that he can does know what he is doing. What he has done isn’t rocket science, it’s pretty much what we’ve all been crying out for over the past couple of months. But at least he has done it. He still says idiotic things in every interview he gives that make you wish he would just keep his mouth shut, but I’m able to be more tolerant of the corp-speak and ‘my name means skilled soldier’ bollocks when we’re actually performing on the pitch.

The next month will be very important for both Reading’s season and Rodgers’ career. The teams performances over the past four games have earned him the right to more time to prove his worth. If he keeps doing what he’s been doing and getting the results on the pitch, he might just be able to turn it around. And if he stops talking out of his arse to the press every five minutes, I might even start to like him.

He’s got soul, but he’s not a soldier (yet)

This piece comes courtesy of guest blogger, Paul Nash, still recovering from seeing a home win

Discussing the likely outcome before the game, one contributor offered “Win, lose or draw, Rodgers is still a dick” Bit harsh I thought at the time, and indeed throughout the match as Reading played some decent stuff against the sewagesiders. But then he was interviewed on the radio afterwards and came out with some guff about how he’d been telling the group his name meant ’skilled soldier.’ I wondered if they laughed as hard as I did. At least his opposite number Ian Holloway tries to be deliberately funny with his post-match thoughts, but Brendan’s brand of humour is entirely unconscious. So yes, he is still a dick.

The game itself was good entertainment as well. First half, Reading were on top with slick passing and great wing play courtesy of Kebe and man of the match MacAnuff but couldn’t find the net. Had Rasiak started, he might have been able to use his height to press home the Royals advantage. As it was Church and Siggy looked busy, but fruitless for the opening 45 minutes. The back four were looking as if they will play better the longer they can remain unchanged – Tabb was particularly impressive and there can be no way back for Cummings whilst Jay remains in this form.

In the second half Blackpool started the brighter, but eventually Reading got just reward for their dominance with Siggy coolly controlling MacAnuff’s cross and steering it past Gilks. One of these days, Reading are going to fulfill Adam Federici’s claim and spank a team five or six nil. It’ll have to be a less resilient side than Blackpool though, because they were soon back on level terms as they demonstrated their own capacity for incisive forward play; Ormerod finishing smartly to expose the raw nerves once more. Such has been the fragility of the Royals at home that you had to fear the natural order of things would be restored with fifth placed Blackpool kicking on to victory to leave Reading poised on the trapdoor to the third division.

However, Matejovsky pinged a fantastic crossfield ball into the box for substitute Rasiak to head home and retake the lead in the 83rd minute. It was no less than the Royals and their long-suffering home supporters deserved, but the drama wasn’t over yet. There followed an anxious weathering of the storm with the Tangerines thundering towards the south stand goal before the ref’s whistle consigned the seventeen game long winless run to history.

Only Newcastle and WBA are standing out this season in the championship. One might have hoped Reading would be there or thereabouts come the end of the season and our inability so far to rise above the herd of no-hopers has been frustrating when the impressive cv of our manager is considered. Still, he’s a self confessed slow starter, so perhaps he’s using the military knowledge he believes his name suggests he possesses to catch the enemy by surprise. A tortoise and hare approach may seem risky, but Rodgers is not short on self-confidence. If he can just restrict his more risible public proclamations, one day this cynic may even join his barmy army.

Rodgers eases the pressure as Royals win away

Paul Nash writes a guest post after the 3-1 win over Coventry City

Reading managed their third league away win of the season and it was a comfort to realise there are worse sides in this division than us. That’s not to say the Royals didn’t play well for most of the game, but Coventry were poor, poor opposition. After the shock of the goal within the first minute, the Sky Blues put up about as much fight as Barnsley catering staff in the face of thirsty Mancs, and Reading took full advantage to ease out of the relegation places.

Two of Rodgers’ signings combined well to craft that early goal, as McAnuff crossed for Rasiak to rise unopposed and nod home and they went on to share the rest of the scoring between them. Jobi McAnuff, in particular, caused the home defence no end of problems all afternoon and Rasiak, whilst appearing slow off the mark, got himself into good positions and deserved his second strike of the game, snapping up the rebound from Long’s shot against the post to seal the victory.

Eastwood got Coventry briefly back in contention when he hit a brilliant strike beating Federici low down, but that aside the back five stood firm. Before the game, it was a concern whether a centre back pairing of Ingi and Pearce would cope with the pace of Eastwood and Morrison, but both defenders were largely at ease with the long balls down the middle and Morrison grew increasingly frustrated as the game wore on.

In midfield, it was Matejovsky’s kind of game. He was given space and time and mostly chose the right pass. He’s the type of player who will always take a risk to try and unlock the defence and, inevitably, he gave the ball away cheaply on several occasions where he left a team-mate with too much to do. Given Brendan’s professed predeliction for playing the passing game though, it could be argued that Marek’s name should be first on the team sheet every week. Along with Kebe, Matejovsky can frustrate the fans when moments of brilliance come to nothing, but it’d be a crying shame if this potential to lift the spirits and elevate the match above the mundane were left to fester on the fringes.

It’s up front where the major problems lie. Yes, Reading scored three, but few defences are as generous as Coventry’s. Church was a willing runner, but largely ineffectual, and his replacement Long is more supersize than supersub these days. He is painfully off the pace that is his chief (some would say only) attribute, and struggled to keep up with the game. As another ball eluded him, you had to wonder if he’d have got on the end of it had it been a Burger King queue. So a striker with a wee bit of quality and the right sort of hunger is a priority.

We’ve heard a lot about luck this season. We’re told that once we start getting it, we’ll turn that corner and reach our rightful status in the championship. Unlucky against Leicester – debatable. We couldn’t score nor defend over ninety minutes, they could. Lucky against Preston? The woodwork played a blinder for us. I’d rather we trusted in astute acquisitions, consistent team selection and proper preparation and motivation than something as nebulous as luck, because we won’t be meeting teams as limited as Coventry every week.

Why it’s still time for Brendan to go

I feel a little bit sorry for Brendan Rodgers tonight. After the fans called for his head on QPR, he knew that he had to do something dramatic against Leicester today and, to be fair, it looked as though his side responded. We were a thousand times better than in midweek, but we still managed to get beaten. I can’t fault his tactics or player selection, except perhaps the striking choice, and he even brought back Matejovsky. But his position as manager of Reading Football Club isn’t about this game alone.

Rodgers has had sixteen games now, two of which were in a short League Cup run. Of the fourteen league games, he’s only won two and only one of those was convincing. He’s drawn four of them. He’s lost eight, including the last four games. Reading sit firmly in the relegation zone and, tonight aside, have been playing terribly of late. The long-suffering season-ticket holders have only had two goals to cheer about at home all season and have yet to taste a win. The defence have conceded 23 goals, while we’ve only managed to score 11 ourselves. No player has managed more than two goals so far this season. It makes for desperate reading.

Like many others, I was in full support of Brendan Rodgers when he came to the club. I liked what he had to say, I was excited about the football he talked of us playing and was pleased that he was prepared to give the talented youngsters a chance. In his early games, we looked toothless. We played some decent stuff on the ground, but didn’t really ever look like scoring except from a set-play or lucky break. We started getting rolled over by some of the Championship’s more powerful teams and, for a while, Rodgers abandoned that ethos and went direct. We still didn’t much look like scoring and were losing our way at the back. He panicked and started to chop and change, which only made things worse. Our position plummeted.

And here we find ourselves today. We still look toothless in attack and our defending is just as lacklustre, if not worse than it was at the start of the season. The passing football returned today, which was good to see, but Rodgers is still undermining himself by appearing to draw his team out of a hat. The players can’t have a clue if they’ll be lining up for the first-team or the stiffs on a week-by-week basis and this can’t be doing our teamwork any good.

Rodgers supporters will argue that consistency is the key to building a side, but the manager himself doesn’t appear to believe it. How can the attackers learn each others games if the faces are swapped every game? Kebe is our best player in mid-week and finds himself on the bench tonight. Matejovsky hasn’t done anything wrong, but finds himself chucked in and out of the team. Tabb gets canned for no apparent reason, then finds himself shoved at right-back (although I’m pleased Rodgers has seen how useless Cummings is.) How can he argue for consistency if he won’t provide any himself?

We may looked better today, but unless Rodgers can get us performing this way in the majority of games and turn them into wins, then it makes no difference. So far, we’ve only shown promise in patches and it’s not good enough. We don’t have a divine right to be at the top of the table, but we shouldn’t be in a relegation dogfight either. We aren’t the only ones to have lost key players this season – Rodgers has had some money to spend and, so far, his purchases don’t look all that wise. And he doesn’t appear to know what to do with them.

I’m sorry to say it after tonight Brendan, but it’s still time for you to go.

Time for Rodgers to go as Reading are wretched again

“Sacked in the morning” rang around all four sides of Loftus Road like a death knell for the beleaguered Brendan Rodgers. After a performance as wretched as the one Reading put in this evening, it came as no surprise and time is rapidly running out for the boss with only two league wins under his belt all season. Time is the last thing the fans want to give him though and rightly so as he has only managed to take his team further backwards this season.

Rodgers last game in charge of Reading?

QPR were an absolute class above Reading tonight and were still dominant even after the referee handed us a great advantage. He sent Ben Watson off for a second yellow after only half an hour, apparently for taking a free-kick before the whistle. It was very, very harsh, but QPR responded from the same free-kick; Buszaky brilliantly curling it into the bottom corner. Despite the numerical advantage, Reading were still under the cosh and deservedly went two down after a great move from the home side saw Simpson tuck the ball home from yards out.

Rodgers made two substitutions at half-time, choosing to go with three at the back and replacing Jay Tabb, who had played well at right-back, as well as Kalifa Cisse with Sigurdsson and Howard. The numerical advantage was lost seconds after the restart though, with Ingimarsson diving in late to earn a second yellow. With 10 against 10, QPR were rampant again. Vine scored from long range before Agyemang found himself one-on-one with Federici without a defender in sight and danced his way past the goalkeeper.

Howard grabbed a consolation goal late on, but it was only met with chants of “how shit must you be, we’ve just scored a goal” as the Reading fans looked to make the best of a very bad situation. The demands of “Rodgers out” had already been in full flow by this point and were repeated at the final whistle, along with a chorus of boos.

Credit where it’s due; Jimmy Kebe worked his absolute socks off, but couldn’t find that final ball. He was about the only one who looked like he still cared at 4-0 down. Howard played quite well after coming on, as did Sigurdsson who looked lively. Federici couldn’t really be blamed for the goals. However, O’Dea, Ingimarsson, Gunarsson and Cisse were utterly useless. MacAnuff started brightly, but faded quickly and was a passenger though the second half. Mills was committed but let down by terrible distribution, while Church and Long didn’t get a sniff up-front.

I’ve advocated giving Rodgers more time, but enough is enough. We are getting progressively worse this season and, given the chance, he will take us down. The Reading fans sang more out of hope than expectation tonight; I fully expect to see Brendan in the dugout come Monday night to embarrass on the telly, but his days are numbered. Will Madejski have the balls to sack him?

More misery heaped on Rodgers as Royals disappoint again

With two weeks worth of international break to play with, I was interested to see whether Brendan had managed to make good use of the time to provide his players with a better understanding of his tactics and the way that he wanted his team to play. For fifteen minutes, it looked as though he had. Then we scored and, as though awoken from a beautiful dream, Reading went back to their merry old ways and could have been on the end of a six or seven goal thrashing were it not for the heroics of Adam Federici.

Reading started the game very much of the front foot, keeping the home crowd quiet with wave after wave of attack and Jimmy Kebe causing carnage of the right-wing. It didn’t take long for a breakthrough; Matt Mills, whose effervescent girlfriend was in attendance, finding space in the penalty area and heading home from a Howard free-kick. Minutes later, Jobi McAnuff squandered a brilliant chance to double the lead, but West Brom were fighting their way back into the game and soon began to turn the screw.

Having defended stoutly for almost half-an-hour, we then threw away their good work with a moment of madness that started with a Reading corner. The ball was cleared as far as MacAnuff, who inexplicably chose to pass back to his goalkeeper rather than continue the attack. He sliced the ball badly though and left Federici with the choice of either racing forward to try and clear it or back to his box to face a one-on-one with the onrushing Jerome Thomas. He went for the former, but wasn’t quick enough and the Arsenal academy product was able to run it into the open net for a calamitous, yet deserved, equaliser.

A draw was probably a fair result at the break, but it was WBA who had been on the front-foot as it approached and would continue to do so after the restart. I don’t know what world-class rehydration formula Brendan Rodgers has chosen for his players half-time drinks, but he’d be better off with a glass of warm milk and a nytol. At least then we’d only be asleep for the second-half of games rather than completely comatose.

The second goal had been coming. When it did, it was from an all too likely source. West Brom had been targetting their former player, Shaun Cummings, as a weak-link in our defence and he proved only too happy to oblige his former colleagues. Caught out of position on the half-way line, he was nowhere near Jerome Thomas who burned him for pace and slotted home easily. The pressure on Reading’s goal continued and the only surprise about their third was that it was so long coming. Federici didn’t clear well enough from a corner and Mulumbu scored with a dipping half-volley from the edge of the area.

It was a case of same old story for the Royals; a good first half display, but woeful in the second. The chant that followed Brian Howard’s late attempt at goal summed up the final 45 minutes – “how shit must you be, we’ve just had a shot.” It was true; to allow a player as limited as Howard the time and space to spoon a shot over the bar like that was criminal. It would be unfair to single out Howard though; Cummings was by far the weakest player on the pitch and seems to have no redeeming features for the gaping holes in his game. Karacan and Cisse were busy in midfield, but ultimately outplayed by their counterparts who, from 15 minutes onward, completely controlled the pace of the game. MacAnuff actually played quite well in patches, but his backpass was horrific.

Emerging with credit were Federici, who could have done better for the first and third WBA goals, but without whom Reading would have been given a sound beating, Ingimarsson and Mills, who did OK under wave after wave of attack and Jimmy Kebe, who was utterly electric until Roberto Di Matteo got wise of his abilities and had his defenders double up on the Malian magician.

Little credit for the manager though, whose position is starting to look unsteady as the fans turn against him. It’s a results business and, at the moment, Rodgers isn’t getting them. Or looking like he will get them in the future. It’s a tough trip to QPR next, followed by Leicester at home. That home game will be the key; if he comes away with less than three points from the next two games he, and we, could be in real trouble.

Is Brendan a Championship Manager?

Back in my university days, I used to play Championship Manager 01/02 religiously. The first time that I played the game, I took over Reading who, at the time, were fairly useless. I decided early on that I would completely overhaul the squad, ship out the old timers, bring in some talented youngsters and supplement the first eleven with a bargain or two. I picked a fancy formation and was excited about the prospects of my exciting new team. We were terrible in our first two games, so I decided that the system wasn’t working and changed it. We kept losing, so I tinkered with the starting line-up, trying new formations and combinations to see which worked. Nothing did. I was sacked before Xmas.

All of this is starting to feel a little familiar. The turnover of playing staff, the use of 24 different players in the Championship after just eleven games, the bizarre substitutions and changes of formation half-way through a game that nobody, not even the players themselves, seems to understand. Yes, there will have been pressure from above for Rodgers to move some of the players on; it’s not entirely his fault, but his tenureship all seems to feel a little too much like a game of Champ Man for my liking.

This may come just a day after our 2-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough, but this isn’t a reactionary post. Reading have ten points from eleven games. We sit precariously above the relegation zone, below the likes of Barnsley, Scunthorpe and even Watford, the team that Rodgers departed for so-called better things. The new manager promised a ‘world-class’ model, based around playing good football, when he arrived. Yet the fans aren’t even being treated to pretty football anymore, let alone an effective system. He said that he needed to “change the culture” of the club. This was a club that had finished fourth in the Championship last season; why was such a drastic overhaul required?

Rodgers’ tactics continue to frustrate the Reading fans, as does his team selection. Playing with one striker at home against the likes of Doncaster Rovers appears staggeringly negative. Middlesbrough may be one of the better teams in the Championship, but are two defensive midfielders really required when playing them at home? Three points may have been won at Preston in midweek, but his decision to replace a winger with a centre-back brought about so much pressure that we came very close to throwing at least two of those away.

As for the team selection; sometimes I find myself rubbing my eyes in disbelief at Brendan’s chosen line-up. Under Coppell, when Brynjar Gunnarsson was given a starting spot, he was often taken off as his aging legs struggled to keep up with the younger players. A year on and he is playing two full games in a week. Against Preston he was visibly flagging towards the end of the game, but Karacan (who admittedly had been in wars) was replaced instead. Simon Church appears to be our first-choice striker now, although how he has moved in front of Hunt, Long or Rasiak I’ve no idea. Jay Tabb and Marek Matejovsky can’t get near the first team, despite the abject anonymous start made by Brian Howard to his Reading career. Marek, in particular, must be scratching his head in disbelief as to how he finds himself on the sidelines.

It seems crazy to be saying this so early into his Reading career, but how much longer has Brendan Rodgers got with the club performing this badly. He talks the talk, but when it comes to the walk he’s like a drunk on an ice-rink. We have West Brom and QPR away next, two games that I can’t see us getting anything from, followed by the visit of in-form Leicester. It’s not so long ago that you’d be looking at those three and expecting to get six points. Now I can’t see any.

But what do we do? The squad has been cleared out so thoroughly that it’s now difficult to see anyone other than Rodgers doing any better with the players at hand. I’ve wanted him to do well and I still hope that we can turn a corner, but this season seems to have relegation battle written all over it. It’s a ridiculous fall from grace and is the dual fault of the management and coaching staff. I had a lot of good feeling towards Brendan Rodgers at the start of the season, but it’s fading fast.

Pictures from Preston

It’s a bit late for me to be writing a match report from the win at Preston on Tuesday night, so instead I’ll just upload some of the pictures I took. For what it’s worth, I thought that we went in at half-time great value for our two goal lead having been the better team and controlled the game. We could and probably should have gone 3-0 up and killed the game off early into the second-half when Jobi McAnuff, whose song I absolutely love by the way, missed a sitter from a couple of yards out. Preston brought Parkin on though midway through the second-half and Brendan responded by taking off Jobi and replacing him with Matt Mills to shore up the defence.

All this did though was invite Preston to attack us and left us without a outlet when we won the ball back and it was inevitable that they would score eventually. The penalty was up the other end from where we Royals fans were sat, so I can’t really comment, but it was definitely coming and the last 15 mins or so were the longest I think I’ve ever witnessed in a football match. Federici was in inspired form though and we managed to hold on for a very important victory.

Reading players warming up before the game

The teams lining up before the kick-off

Applauding the fans at the end of the match

Rodgers’ still searching for a home win as fans begin to lose patience

Paul Nash writes a guest post following the 1-1 draw with Watford

Watford fans turned out in force to pour scorn on their erstwhile manager’s head, but their chants of derision were as predictable and unimaginative as the Royals’ play. After starting brightly, Reading went ahead through Rasiak, who held the ball up well throughout, but once more they proved themselves incapable of holding onto the lead and the game fizzled out into a draw that does nothing to relieve the pressure on Brendan Rodgers to turn his world class management speak into progress up the league table.

Rodgers proved himself willing to sacrifice his declared favourites as the axe fell on Pearce after the less than posh performance last week. Matejovsky, hauled off after losing the ball deep in the opposition’s half last Saturday seemed to continue to earn his manager’s displeasure and didn’t make the squad either. Rodgers has used 31 players so far this season, and appears no closer to knowing his best eleven.

Rasiak’s first half strike gave the home crowd some hope that the quest for a home league win might end, but the 18,147 gate was boosted in the 65th minute as Federici and O’Dea turned spectator to watch Danny Graham help himself to the equaliser. Still at least they didn’t have to pay to get in. And they got to stand up throughout.

One ray of light was the Hornet’s fans’ willingness to turn the meeting between two teams who routinely produce a borefest into their big day out. Some even hired stretch limos for the short journey and it can’t have been the prospect of a decent game of football that led to this extravagance. No, they wanted to prove a point to Rodgers. Which, I hope, must signify they admired him once and appreciated the job he did for them; maybe he can do a job for us too.

However, at Vicarage Road he took over a side deep in relegation territory. At Reading he seems obsessed with dismantling a “culture” that saw us in the play-offs last season. This determination to impose his own style and experiment with his own system(s) is laudable only if the successful elements of what has gone before are acknowledged and retained. Or, by delivering the goods you prove your critics wrong. Starting sooner rather than later- how about at Deepdale on Tuesday night?