Reading being promoted - the equivalent of the wimpiest kid in school picking a fight with the rugby team. Car crash TV...

   Cheers Alex.

Well I said I would post on Monday, and I wouldn't like people to accuse me of hiding away. The best team won the league. And the usual Saints bugbear bites again - falling at the last just when it was looking promising. On Saturday Reading slipped up a bit and opened the door just a notch, so we fall over a huge rock and don't spot the house, let alone the door. Oh well. There's always next year to return the favour.... I hope. You know, I've always been a big fan of Leicester....

   I wish you guys would grow up, I've read through all comments and the amount of tosh targetted to mavdo is completely unjustified.

   "If football is about counting possession we would win every game. The game is about putting the football in the goal. It is the most difficult thing in the game".

Not my words - they belong to Pep Guardiola.

   Tilidie : Luv u 2 big boy xxxxx

   Mavdo : Sorry i should of been more precise when quoting your rubbish.....I will support Boro on Saturday not to have a dig at you but for Reading to win the league.... I care not for The Hammers or The Saints but for me whoever of the two go up i see it as a easy 6 points for Reading next season.....Up The Boro....URZ...

   Matt1871. Mavdo is making you live up to your name (something that is always being trod on) would'nt you say? Best you don't take the bait and bite too hard.

   @Matt1871 - another misquote. When you quote me as saying "Southampton dominated in every department", what I actually said was "We were given a masterclass in clinical finishing when you came down to us last Friday despite us dominating every other area of the game". I stand by that, except your defending and goal-keeping was also awesome. I agree that goals win games not stats, and couldn't have been more consistent in that message. You are welcome to support Boro, although I warn you that that could mean West Ham coming up instead :) I'll post back on Monday for more banter :)

   Rh3 : You've said exactly what i said in my first post but longer version....I agree with most of what you have said. I still stand by that Mr Mavdo was talking rubbish when writing that "Southampton dominated in every department".....Goals win games not stats......To all you other Reading / Southampton fans who bit, get a life can't you see a wind up.....& before you say it i am a Reading fan of 33 years, born a stone's throw from Elm Park & played footie at a good standard....Up the Boro.....URZ.....

   The sad fact of the case between Mavdo and the children (sorry to say it, but its true)that posted back to him is thus; Mavdo is a gentleman and was being complimentary to RFC and not derisery in the slightest. All Mavdo recieved back was childish comments. All Royal fans should be puffing their little chests out with pride and not getting into spats that they get beaten up with. Mavdo, one word of advice; never argue with an idiot/s because he/they will drag you down to his/their level and beat you with experience.

   Well said indeed Rh3. Couldn't have put it better.

   @Rh3 - I actually agree with you in your assessment of Reading's game plan. But I would add that I'm not whinging about Reading winning - they deserved it. Nor did I ever say that Southampton should have won simply because we dominated the game - if you read my comments properly, you will find I say the opposite and I repeat it here. I simply said we dominated the game (in possession and shots etc). I also said that dominating a game does not equal winning it, and it is the latter that matters, not the former.

It would be equally correct to say that last night Barcelona dominated the game against Chelsea. They clearly did, and everyone is talking about it. They dominated it far, far more than we did in the Reading game. But Chelsea had a game plan that worked with brilliant efficiency. The only thing that matters is the score, and Barca lost. In the same way, Reading played us excellently well which shows the genius of McD, and I think you deserved to win the game as much as we deserved to lose.

Some other commenters here objected to me saying that Reading dominated the game and started objecting to me even posting here saying it was exclusive to Reading fans. It isn't, and I came on here congratulating you for your thoroughly deserved promotion. To start having a go at Southampton, and telling me to go post somewhere else is chilidsh. But other fans have restored my faith that Reading fans are a good bunch.

I wasn't only relying on stats alone - I was watching the game. The stats simply support my position that we dominated it. You say that stats don't matter. I agree on all except one stat - the score. That matters. You won it.

I don't think Saints should be top of the league, I don't think Saints should have won the Reading game, and I don't think Southampton are better than Reading at the moment. I can't put it any more plainly than that.

   I completely agree with Rh3; I agree with every single word as well. I was having a discussion with my father-in-law last Friday night after the game and it’s fair to say he saw the Southampton game using just the stats and was struggling to think of the reason why Reading won the game.

The reality is that Reading fc are very good at winning games and they know how to do it, as they have been getting on with the business of winning games time and again this season. 46 points out of the last 51 and 15 wins out of the last 17 says it all.

   While it's easy to gloat now, the Southampton game was not easy. The fact is that Reading were superb under pressure on the day and while the statistics thankfully do not change the result, I would certainly liked to have not seen so much of the possession or shots on target stacked so highly in Southampton's favour. Sure, they don't always reflect the result, but they are a good indicator of the team's abilities (as is their position in the league).

It may be of little consolation in the way of points but means their players can still be confident going into the next game, rather than believing the team will just implode.

Besides, I would much rather Southampton finish 2nd than West Ham.

   I hate to break up the lovefest between mavdo and the Reading fans who consider themselves not to be "fools" or "childlike" but whilst some of the responses mavdo received were out of order it has to be said that some of his posts did invite derision.

He seems to be one of the ever growing number of football followers obsessed by statistics such as "shots on target" and "% possession" when in reality these mean very little. The only statistic that means anything at the end of the game is how many goals each side scored - everything else counts for nothing.

There also seems to be a growing view that the only type of win that counts for anything is winning the Barcelona way. Again this is complete nonsense as winning a game gets you 3 points (or through to the next round of the cup) regardless of how you do it. In order to win a game a team needs to recognise its strengths and how they match up against the strengths of the opposition and put together a game plan that allows them to capitilise on their strengths whilst neutralising the strengths of the opponents. Under McD Reading have done that brilliantly this season and left opponents from Middlesbrough through Brighton, West Ham and Southampton whinging about "dominating the game" and "shots on goal" but fundamentally lacking any real understanding of why they lost.

The Southampton game is a great example of what I'm talking about. McD knew that playing the "Barcelona way" wasn't an option for his team in that game as he was missing his 2 first choice central midfield players. So sensibly he devised a game plan that allowed Southampton to have more possession but would allow Reading to capitalise on their weaknesses (e.g. lack of pace) when they had the ball - and as everyone watching the game could see it worked a treat. Reading may well have had only 3 shots on target in the game but they all resulted in goals whilst Southampton's numerous efforts resulted in only one goal (and that was a deflection) and although Federici made several saves only one or two required a goalkeeper of his considerable ability to make them. Southampton fans may (and several did) say Reading were lucky - but that just betrays a fundamental lack of understanding that they were out thought and outplayed in the areas of the pitch that really matter.

Obviously I would love to see Reading win every week playing beautiful football - but like most supporters what I want to see above everything else is my team doing whatever it takes to win whilst staying within the laws and ethics of the game.