Reading FC manager Paul Ince said his side were ‘bullied’ in their first-half capitulation against Rotherham United
It was a calamitous opening 18 minutes which saw Reading conceded three times as the Millers were in dreamland.
Rotherham added a fourth just before the break to kill off the game.
“I said to the lads after the game, you can’t perform like that in the first-half,” said Ince.
“We got bullied. We were as weak as piss.
“When you’re playing a team that has just been promoted you’ve got to win second balls and fight.
“We let everyone down.”
Ince was understandably highly critical of Reading’s first-half display which saw them four goals down at the break.
He continued: “If people don’t want to stop crosses and get tight then you’re going to concede goals.
“We’re not good enough to keep going one nil down and keep coming back. We haven’t got the squad.
“These fans who have travelled in the stifling heat, we let them down.
“That’s not a Paul Ince team, that’s not in my DNA.
“It’s about us, we lost 4-0. Not because of the goalkeeper but because we weren’t at it in the first half.
“We were slow, we were sloppy. We didn’t deal with long balls and they bullied us.
“He (Joe Lumley) will save us more points than he will cost us because he’s a top class keeper.
“We win together, we lose together.
“If Joe makes a mistake, we make a mistake.
“There will be ups and downs. Whenever there are downs we have to stay together.
“There has to be a reaction on Wednesday and we have to move forward.
“They (the players) are gutted but we’ve got to put it to bed and be positive.
“It’s a bad day and we have to move on quickly.”
