1. Freestone
2. Price
3. Howard
4. O'Leary #
5. Bound
6. Romo &
7. Jenkins
8. Lacey
9. Watkin @
10. Savarese
11. Roberts

    ---

12. Jones J
13. Morgan @56
14. Phillips &56
15. Cusack #79
16. Verschave

 Reading

1. Whitehead
2. Viveash
3. Whitbread
4. Robinson
5. McIntyre
6. Caskey
7. K Jones
8. Parkinson
9. Murty
10. Butler
11. Cureton #

    ---

12. Hunter
13. Hodges #69
14. Igoe
15. Gurney
16. Howie

A sunny winter’s day and 4000 Swans fans swelled by about 1000 Royals turned up at the Vetch to see Swansea do battle with Reading for the 3rd time this season.

John Hollins predictably recalled Howard and Jenkins in place of De Vulgt and Keegan respectively and also replaced Verschave with Watkin.

This last move gave the team a better balance and the ball was held up much longer than the 2 seconds we’d become accustomed to.

Captain Bound continued the practice of playing the “wrong way” by electing to play towards the East Stand for the first half.

Swansea competed well for most of the first half without creating many chances. The ball was too often in the air and not on the ground and again distribution was poor from the back – but not much better from midfield.

First real chance fell to Reading after 10 minutes when an error by Price led to Darren Caskey having a shot on goal which was cleared off the line by Bound.

On the quarter hour mark, a poor back pass eluded the Reading keeper at the edge of the box and as Savarese went after the ball, he was clearly body-checked off the ball inside the area. With ¾ of the crowd baying for a penalty, premiershit ref Steve Dunn bottled it – one of his many poor decisions.

Reading were next to threaten through Cureton but his volley just cleared the crossbar.

On the half hour mark a through ball to the edge of the area was superbly chested by Watkin into the path of the on-running Savarese but his shot from 12 yards was lifted over the advancing keeper and bar as well.

Caskey threatened when a fortuitous bounce saw the ball sit up perfectly for a 25 yard volley which Freestone scrambled back to tip over the bar.

With just minutes to go to half time, Swansea hearts were broken, the danger again coming from the left wing. A cross by McIntyre ran across the face of the goal where Cureton had an easy tap in for his 20th goal of the season.

Cue the obligatory booing at half-time from large sections of the North Bank.

HT 0-1

Swansea players were first back out but despite the encouraging clapping and arm waving from the players, sadly their performance deteriorated.

An honest attempt to compete was eventually worn down and by the end there were a number of players just waiting for the final whistle – their confidence shot.

John Hollins made a couple of baffling substitutions – but as he said on the radio afterwards, everybody offers him advice when things are going badly but none when things are going well. This is not strictly true as advice has been continually offered from various sections of the crowd.

First baffler was replacing Watkin and Romo with 2 promising youngsters Morgan and Phillips. Watkin was as baffled as the crowd by his substitution and thought there was something wrong with the board when his number was held up. The crowd in unison also let JH know that this was a most unwelcome substitution by booing loudly and chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing”

Watkin’s body language on the bench said it all – sheer disbelief and a look how p*ssed off I am body shape. Romo on the other hand, like most of the midfield had been quite ineffective.

With just 12 minutes left, JH made the substitution many though he should have made at half time when Cusack replaced the hobbling O’Leary as Swansea went 3 at the back and 3 up front.

Cusack’s introduction did have an effect and the previously comfortable Viveash was beginning to get rattled from the challenges.

From one of these the ball was played back to Lacey on the edge of the box, but his attempted chip/shot/lob beat the keeper but hit the top of the bar on its way behind.

Swansea did force a couple of corners through their late pressure – but did not look like scoring.

The team trudged off to boos and cries of Hollins Out.

Player ratings:
Freestone – 6 – not a lot to do but appeared hesitant when the ball was crossed for their goal
Price – 7 – my pick of the players but by no means a vintage performance
O’Leary – 6 – commanding in the air but distribution was poor
Bound – 5 – a game Matt would want to forget. Defensively got in a few blocks and tackles but kicking was very wayward
Howard – 6 – average sort of game
Roberts – 6 – tried but did not enjoy his usual success
Romo – 5 – no tackles and distribution was poor as well
Lacey – 6 – tried to be aggressive but off the pace
Jenkins – 6 – plenty of running but shirked a couple of tackles
Savarese – 6 – not as sharp as he has been – you’d have bet on him putting the Watkin setup away
Watkin – 7 – for the first time in ages, the ball did not come straight back at the defence thanks to Steve holding up the ball.
Subs:
Cusack – 7 – only on for 10 minutes but played with his brain as usual
Morgan – 6 – showed some fiery touches – not afraid to get stuck in
Phillips – 6 – played his usual give and go game. Would do well in a team that wasn’t struggling

Summary:
The Swans tried hard and almost matched Reading for the first 45 minutes but after that exhibited all the signs associated with a struggling team. Players passing the buck to others – afraid to make mistakes. The team is crying out for someone to look up to – I don’t think it’s too late to sign an old charismatic pro who’s not quite past it. The players look around and all they see are youngsters and team mates also struggling for some form.

Watkin’s body language when he was subbed confirms the players have little faith in JH being able to anything than his usual do nothing approach in these situations.

Last season the players rallied against the criticism of the fans – this time they’d probably agree.

It looks terminal – we need some miracle cure fast.

The day started full of optimism for the 5,000 or so vociferous hard core jacks. The sun was out and there was that feeling that we could take something out of the match. Early swansea attacks were matched by Reading pressure and the first 40 mins were pretty even with both sides coming close, notably Giovanni Savarese who almost capped a magnificent week on his part with a shot which went just over after super stevie watkin, re introduced into the team had put him through after some nice work. Stuart Roberts, hard working and skilful as ever was looking sharp and Roger was looking solid as usual. Watkin had the only shot on target, and both David Romo and Damien Lacey came close with long rage shots which from the left and right corners of the box respectively.

Then disaster struck. Reading broke down the swans right and squeezed a cross in for Jamie Cureton, Readings top marksman to slide in what proved to be the winner. Chants of 'one Leighton James' were muffled out by chants of 'Johnny Hollins Barmy army', but the signs of North Bank discontent were becoming all the more clearer. Reading had another chance on the stroke of half time, when again they broke down the swansea right only for Jason Price to concede a last ditch corner, which proved fruitless for the visitors. The teams left the field to a chorus of boos, much of which were aimed towards the management.

HT 1-0

The teams ran out again, and the supporters anger was somewhat put to one side as they tucked into burgers and hot dogs, but you couldn't help but wonder what was to follow. Reading started the second half the better of the two sides, and had the ball in the back of the net only for the referee to disallow it as he saw an infringement, which couldn't be made out due to the large yellow pole that holds up the gantry, but it came as a welcome relief when Readings twelve man indicated a free kick. That was the only notable thing in a second half which seemed to fade away, just as had happened on tuesday night, with only one other thing sticking in my memory, which was a rather absurd double substitution by Mr Hollins. Steve watkin, no doubt one of our better players in the first half and David Romo, capable of turning a game in a moment as demonstrated against Brentford in the LDV were substituted, making way for the inexperienced Bari Morgan and Gareth Phillips. Chants of 'You dont know what your doing' rang through the North Bank, and who could disagree with that? Morgan moved onto the right, and Stu upfront, which begged the question, why when you have a PSG striker on the bench do u bring someone on for only his second appearance of the season, and also WHERE IS WALTER BOYD? walter has not made an appearance since December the 16th away at Bournemouth. Despite Robbo's best efforts in the last few minutes, and a couple of scrambles in the Reading area, which for a few seconds looked hopeful, Swansea were condemned to yet another defeat infront of their own fans, and unlike half time, their exit from the field was not accompanied by boos, but chants of 'Hollins out', and once again, who could blame them?

Ratings
Freestone 8 Solid as ever, helpless for their goal
Howard 6 Gave the ball away at times, but looked strong at the back
Price 6 HE IS NOT A DEFENDER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bound 5 Looking worse by the week
O'leary 6 Improving slowly, but needs to gain some pace, looked sturdy
Roberts 9 Put his heart and soul into the game, played well too
Romo 5 Didnt do much, unlucky to be subbed
Lacey 6 Got stuck in
Jenkins 5 Made a good run in the first half, forgot he was even playing
Savarese ? Didnt have any service, what can he do, had a good chance, but was unlucky
Watkin 7 Looked sharp, set up our only clear cut chance, had our only shot on target - why was he brought off
Referee - 0.