Andy Munro on Blues’ 3-1 loss to
Reading.
If anybody listened to Radio WM then they would have heard Blues fans moaning about the referee but, to be honest, this is a red (or should that be blue?) herring.
Admittedly, the referee didn’t cut us any slack but it was yet another in a 
And yet, Blues should have been two or three up by half-time with the game out of sight for the opposition but we missed a number of chances and paid dearly. We looked tired and jaded and although one could blame our midweek trip to Leicester, this can’t explain our poor second half performances which are becoming a regular feature.
Certainly Clarke-Salter has to come in for Deane as Roberts doesn’t look the same player without him. Added to that is that undoubtedly our only chance of getting Clarke-Salter for another season is if Frank Lampard can see that he’s playing regularly.
My other grouse is our lack of width; good players that Crowley and Bellingham are, they don’t quite give us the width. With the Juke and Hogan in the middle, we need to get crosses in on a regular basis and it just didn’t happen in the second half. Although I’m not the winger’s biggest fan, I feel that Pep should have gambled in the last twenty minutes by bringing on Montero.
It’s annoying that we are still having to look over our shoulder at the moment even though, I think, we will end up fairly comfortably in lower-mid table.