Sometimes, my son observed, you just have to accept you've been beaten by a better team. It was a fair summary of Albion's performance against Reading: we didn't play badly, but Reading were superior in all departments. In particular, Sidwell and Harper simply ran the game from the centre
of their midfield. As we know from his brief spell with us, Sidwell is a quality player. But he has stepped up a gear from a couple of years ago and last night easily wore the crown of "best player outside the Premiership".

In spite of all their endeavour, Oatway and Carpenter didn't get close
to matching the Reading midfield pair and post-match SCR 'phone-in
callers clamouring for "a creative midfielder" were probably all subconsciously
replaying in their minds what Sidwell had done to the Albion all evening.

Glen Little caused problems too, although McGhee thought his 30-yard
goal direct from a free kick was "a fluke". Sadly for us, our own long-range
free kick opportunities were all squandered: Knight the worst culprit.

There were occasional glimpses of the passing game we're now trying to develop but too often these took place in areas where we weren't going to cause any problems. The one major positive of the night was the assured
performance of Paul McShane who looked a class act, displaying maturity
beyond his years.

Jason Dodd had a disappointing home debut and, perhaps to his surprise,
was substituted - moments before Reading notched their 2nd goal: a point-blank Kitson header following a cross from the left. The substitution saw Turienzo make his debut and a switch in formation from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3. The big Argentine hadn't trained for a week but showed a few glimpses of promise in his hold-up play and had one rasping 25-yard effort which Hahnemann was forced to tip over. Those Albion 'fans' who got on Turi's back within minutes of his introduction should be ashamed of themselves. OK, his aerial ability looked a bit suspect, but give him a chance for goodness sake!

That Turi shot, and a long-range Hammond effort, similarly tipped over
by the American goalie, were the best the Albion could conjure in the
2nd half, although some felt a penalty should have been awarded when the 6'3" sub was felled in the box. It looked to me, though, as though the ball was
already out for a corner by the time he was upended.

Albion's best chance of the game came just before half time from one of
the best passes ever seen at Withdean. CK-R, out on the left flank, picked out Paul Reid bursting into the penalty area with a fizzing 30-yard cross-field
ball and the Aussie's first-time strike seemed a certain goal. Credit to Hahnemann, though, he pulled off a marvellous save to turn it round the post.

Jake Robinson had another encouraging cameo appearance, on in the last
7 minutes for CK-R, but don't expect McGhee to accede to the calls for
him to be given a start. Changes would seem likely for Saturday's encounter with Crewe, though, if the Albion are going to put a halt to the Railwaymen's
promising start.

Maybe Turienzo will be given a start, with CK-R feeding off him just
behind? Could we accommodate Albert Jarrett to provide some width/wing wizadry? He scored when he came on as a sub at Gresty Road last season, and maybe he deserves a chance. Hammond played wide against Reading but he looks uncomfortable there. I'd give him one of the central midfield berths and, after last night, maybe the normally-reliable Chippy should make way.

Let's hope Crewe come to Withdean in a complacement mood - and the
Albion raise their game back to the standard set at Pride Park.