Having not seen too many games on the road this season, it was interesting to hear a die-hard Blackpool fan, who has seen every match on the road, tell me he has been disappointed with Ollie's tactics on the road suggesting we're too open and give the home side too many chances. Well, after a game where the Seasiders did OK for parts of the game, a 4th away defeat on the road may suggest his concerns are genuine.


With Jay Emmanuel-Thomas back at the Emirates, Hameur Bouazza enjoying a cucumber sandwich in Algeria and David Vaughan back from injury, it meant changes for Ian Holloway with the welshman returning to the centre of midfield. Jason Euell partnered Ben Burgess and Brett Ormerod up front. Since we've been in the Championship, I've never really seen us battered from the start of a game, but ironically at a place where the home side hadn't won in 16 games, the Seasiders weren't in this one until the half hour point. Up until then Blackpool weren't even second best as Reading, like the weather, threw everything at the visitors. The heroic gloves of Matt Gilks came to the 'Pool's rescue yet again .. could a player who many thought would spend the season on the bench end up amongst the Player of the Year candidates .. as he saved the Seasiders blushes. Jobi McAnuff and Simon Church both had good chances which Gilks did well with. Charlie Adam was unlucky to pick up his sixth booking of the season from the inexperienced Mr Scott officiating his third game. The 1200 Blackpool fans who'd made the journey to the Madejeski Stadium must have wondered why they'd bothered in the opening half hour but eventually their side gave them something to pick them up when Ben Burgess had a decent chance but the woodwork denied him. Despite getting back in to the half, Reading still had chances before the break and Ian Holloway will have been the more relieved to hear the half time whistle.

I've always wanted to be a 'fly on the wall' during a half time break when a side have under-performed in the first 45 minutes, but whatever Ollie said clearly worked. The first five minutes of the second half saw a reverse of what had gone before, as Blackpool finally got back in to the game with a rasping shot from Charlie Adam almost putting the Seasiders in the lead. It's ironic that during 'Pool's best spell of the game that Reading took the lead after Keith Southern lost possession on the edge of the penalty box and from the break from a Jobi McAnuff cross, Simon Church got the opener from close range in to the bottom left corner. However, Reading's frailties at home were exposed just six minutes later when after some good work from Ben Burgess it was Brett Ormerod who found the back of the net with a goal from inside the six-yard box. With Joe Martin having come on for Stephen Crainey at the break, 'Pool replaced Keith Southern with Billy Clarke just after the hour mark. From there, what was a one sided affair in the first half became a decent game of football with both sides playing some decent attacking football and both showing vulnerabilities in defence. Jem Karacan and Hal Robson-Kanu had chances for the home side, whilst Ben Burgess came close as he shot over the cross bar as the game drew to it's conclusion. At the other end Joe Martin cleared the ball off the line, which was the warning sign for what was to come, as Grzegorz Rasiak did well after some sloppy Blackpool defending and his header put the home side back ahead for the second time in the game. Billy Clarke should have done better in the dying stages but sliced his ball wide after their were calls for a handball .. but in a week where referees haven't noticed any ball to hand (or vice versa!) moments, the calls weren't heard. The referee added 5 minutes of injury time during which Ian Evatt had a great chance to grab a share of the spoils but he snatched at the ball and it went over the bar. In the dying second, Alex Baptiste put the ball over from a Charlie Adam corner which proved to be Blackpool's last chance of the game.

So 'Pool drop out of the play off places after another barren afternoon on the road and our form away from home will be closely monitored by Ollie and hopefully a solution will be found sooner than later.