Bunch of Drunks

It has taken a few days but we finally have the first public response to the debacle at Reading on New Year’s Day. Predictably, it did not come from captain Nigel Reo-Coker but rather from Yossi Benayoun, who in a moment of blame-shifting honesty accused his team-mates of “playing like a bunch of drunks.” Now, given the much publicized alcohol related problems suffered by at least two of our current squad this season, Benayoun’s comments are either breathtakingly crass or else a thinly veiled reference to worrying deficiencies in organisation, application and motivation endemic in our current squad.

Speaking about the 6-0 humbling at the Madejski Stadium, Benayoun is quoted as saying: “It was an absolute disgrace and I felt humiliated. If things keep on as they are we're definite to go down. The defence was shocking. We had practised on corners and free-kicks so Reading wouldn't score like that but they put five out of six from corners and set pieces into our goal. The coach has said no one is leaving but after a game like that who knows."

Whether our tormented Israeli is himself preparing the ground for a timely exit we can only speculate. Rumours persist that he has been unsettled for some time and he seems not so much to be smouldering but positively ablaze with righteous indignation at the moment. “In our last game,” he complained, “I was the best man on the pitch, but what could I have done against Reading? I only touched the ball twice." Well, you could have tracked back a bit more but I'm just being churlish.

In fact, I’d like to say Yossi is mistaken here but I can’t. The attack was anaemic, the midfield non-existent and the defence a shambles. Rob Green was the only innocent victim of a shambolic display and the only one who should escape criticism. The sad truth, however, is that he may be the first to lose his job. Roy Carroll is back in training after a spell in the Priory. After this latest display, I wonder if his room is still free.