Clement

[Snowflake Royal]

I'd take him in a heartbeat. Still think he'd be good for 20_ Championship goals per season

If thats anything like the 10 you were sure he'd score in the PL we should get a good 12-16 out of him then.

Ian go back and check my prediction

I said
10 as a Prem player
OR
20 as a Championship player
OR
30 as a League 1 player

and I said that when 95% of HNA were saying he would never be a footballer

And I believe he EASILY hit the Level2 standard I predicted

When I made that prediction it wasn’t even certain he would become a regular starter for Reading

When he did I lumped on him (each way) to be the league’s top scorer and was handsomely rewarded for my insight

If he goes to a Championship side and avoids injury I feel damn sure he will get a goal at 1 every 225 minutes.

I believe, if we got him in January we would shoot up the table

Yes I remember well. And he's failed to reach the level you said he'd be in the Prem in the majority of his seasons there since.

[Snowball]

OR

[Lower West]

This is what our academy should be doing - don't just focus on the lads who actually play football, Cast the net wider and find someone who maybe isn't even a fan of football but has the potential, then train them.

Walcott being an example of someone plucked from obscurity at a late age.

[Snowflake Royal]

OR

PL 18/19 - 0 goals
PL 17/18 - 2 goals
PL 16/17 - 5 goals (3 league)
PL 15/16 - 13 goals (10 league)
PL 14/15 - 7 goals (5 league)
PL 13/14 - 7 goals
PL 12/13 - 11 (8 league)
PL 11/12 - 8 goals

Call me Mr Picky, but when someone says a 10 goal a season player, what I expect is someone you can rely on to score 10 goals a season, at least to average 10 goals a season. Not someone who does it twice in 7 (seven) years. Three in eight if you include the 20 in the chump for us too.

So like I said, your version of 20 goals would mean we could expect 12 - 16 over a full season. 6 - 8 over a half. Given when you say 10 you mean fewer than 8, and that's being generous and counting cup goals.

It's nice to see your recent stat work has been much improved on your previous flakey manipulated stuff though.

[Lower West]

Just watched Swindon lose at home to Carlisle 4-0. A classic example of a new manager not doing any better with the same group of players. Change for change sake doesn't always work. Despite a different formation. Same old mistakes at the back and a lack of firepower up front. Managers need to be given time.

[Snowball]

OR

PL 18/19 - 0 goals
PL 17/18 - 2 goals
PL 16/17 - 5 goals (3 league)
PL 15/16 - 13 goals (10 league)
PL 14/15 - 7 goals (5 league)
PL 13/14 - 7 goals
PL 12/13 - 11 (8 league)
PL 11/12 - 8 goals

Call me Mr Picky, but when someone says a 10 goal a season player, what I expect is someone you can rely on to score 10 goals a season, at least to average 10 goals a season. Not someone who does it twice in 7 (seven) years. Three in eight if you include the 20 in the chump for us too.

So like I said, your version of 20 goals would mean we could expect 12 - 16 over a full season. 6 - 8 over a half. Given when you say 10 you mean fewer than 8, and that's being generous and counting cup goals.

It's nice to see your recent stat work has been much improved on your previous flakey manipulated stuff though.

OR

[Snowball]

In the Championship, for Reading, in his breakthrough season, Shane Long scored 23 League, 2 Cup goals and had 14 assists, in 4,413 minutes played, at an overall rate of a goal every 177 minutes played; a goal/assist every 113 minutes.

No question that he achieved “a 20-goal season”.
He also scored 3 International goals, that season for a grand total of 28 goals

==================================================================

Long has never had a full season in the Premiership.

Excluding this season, and his time as a sub for Reading he has played 13,054 league minutes out of a possible 23,940 = 54.5% of maximum minutes on the pitch.

His overall minutes per goal is 300 = 3.33 games per goal which would equate to 11 goals a full season.
He also scored 14 International goals over the same 7 year period

His stats (goals/assists) are:


27 19 08,764 325 mins/goal SOTON
22 08 05,758 262 mins/goal WBA
04 01 01,366 342 mins/goal HULL
53 28 15,888 300 mins/goal OVERALL


In his first non-Reading Premiership not-quite-a-full-season (2011-12) for WBA he scored 11 goals (8-1-2) and had 5 assists in 2,351 minutes at a rate of 214 minutes a goal, or 147 minutes per goal/assist.

Note a full, injury-free season is 3,420 minutes.

Long played 2351 minutes, or 68.7% of the maximum, more-or-less two-thirds of the possible minutes.





In his next season, at two clubs, (WBA/HULL) he totalled only 2,241 minutes (65.5%) and managed “only” 7 goals and 3 assists, at a rate of 320 minutes per goal, still very respectable, or 280 minutes for goals/assists



In his next season he played, just 1,538 league minutes, scoring 5 goals and seven assists at a rate of a goal every 301 minutes, a goal/assist every 128 minutes. He played RIGHT WING in 16 of those games, Left Wing in another.


In the next season, despite only getting 2,111 minutes ( 5 games as RW) he scored 10 league goals and 4 assists at a rate of 211 minutes per goal, 151 minutes per goal/assist



In the following season he only scored 3 goals (2 assists) but played just 1,247 league minutes, or 36% of a full season. Goal rate 416 minutes, goal/assist 249.



The following season he again lacked minutes (1577) and scored twice.

[Forbury Lion]

I recall someone, Tredder I think at the time posting some insider info about how the Irish signings were a laughing stock in training as they didn't have the skills required to play the game.

Distinctly remember Glen Little saying at an "evening with" do that Doyle was fine and you could see he had something about him but Long could barely make a 5 yard pass in training when he first arrived.

[CR]What's changed? [/CR]

After multiple concussions Doyle no longer has it?

[Forbury Lion]

Distinctly remember Glen Little saying at an "evening with" do that Doyle was fine and you could see he had something about him but Long could barely make a 5 yard pass in training when he first arrived.

Maybe McDermott was ahead of the game here then, Like British Athletics, they now search out potential athletes at schools/uni's and see what attributes they have and then match them up to any sports they should be good at...... Long presumably had the right attributes and just needed coaching/educating/toning etc to become the player he is.
This is what our academy should be doing - don't just focus on the lads who actually play football, Cast the net wider and find someone who maybe isn't even a fan of football but has the potential, then train them.

A relative of ours who is a keen young footballer was approached by Southampton and they converted him from an outfield player to a keeper solely based on the height of his parents-the dad is about 6ft 4 in and the mum about 5ft 7 in.
Up till then he had shown no interest in playing in goal.

For a while last year he travelled up to Reading from Southampton for coaching (as a keeper)-he enjoyed the sessions but because of the travelling he returned to Southampton and is now very much part of their set-up (despite our efforts to get him to carry on with Reading).
He is 11 years old.

This is why we should focus on local talent in the Reading area as we can potentially "outbid" bigger teams where a 2 hour commute to and from training is a barrier.

[Forbury Lion]

This is what our academy should be doing - don't just focus on the lads who actually play football, Cast the net wider and find someone who maybe isn't even a fan of football but has the potential, then train them.

Walcott being an example of someone plucked from obscurity at a late age.

Imagine if the academy went big and they did something with every kid at every school in the Reading area? - There must be some half decent future players out there waiting to be found, Maybe even team up with other sporting disciplines and test them all and identify those who appear to have potential in Football, Rugby, Athletics etc etc based on their attributes.

[Hound]

to be honest, they cast the net quite wide already in the academy/Development squads, at least within the Greater Reading area (is that a thing?)

Pretty much every decent kid I've come across in my time coaching is already on the books in some way or another by the age of 8

Be interesting to know what they do slightly further afield

[Lower West]

Maybe McDermott was ahead of the game here then, Like British Athletics, they now search out potential athletes at schools/uni's and see what attributes they have and then match them up to any sports they should be good at...... Long presumably had the right attributes and just needed coaching/educating/toning etc to become the player he is.
This is what our academy should be doing - don't just focus on the lads who actually play football, Cast the net wider and find someone who maybe isn't even a fan of football but has the potential, then train them.

A relative of ours who is a keen young footballer was approached by Southampton and they converted him from an outfield player to a keeper solely based on the height of his parents-the dad is about 6ft 4 in and the mum about 5ft 7 in.
Up till then he had shown no interest in playing in goal.

For a while last year he travelled up to Reading from Southampton for coaching (as a keeper)-he enjoyed the sessions but because of the travelling he returned to Southampton and is now very much part of their set-up (despite our efforts to get him to carry on with Reading).
He is 11 years old.

This is why we should focus on local talent in the Reading area as we can potentially "outbid" bigger teams where a 2 hour commute to and from training is a barrier.

Thought that Southampton's catchment area comes up close to Newbury (well at least used to).

[Forbury Lion]

A relative of ours who is a keen young footballer was approached by Southampton and they converted him from an outfield player to a keeper solely based on the height of his parents-the dad is about 6ft 4 in and the mum about 5ft 7 in.
Up till then he had shown no interest in playing in goal.

For a while last year he travelled up to Reading from Southampton for coaching (as a keeper)-he enjoyed the sessions but because of the travelling he returned to Southampton and is now very much part of their set-up (despite our efforts to get him to carry on with Reading).
He is 11 years old.

This is why we should focus on local talent in the Reading area as we can potentially "outbid" bigger teams where a 2 hour commute to and from training is a barrier.

Thought that Southampton's catchment area comes up close to Newbury (well at least used to).

Probably does, but a Newbury lad's parents might fancy a commute to the Reading academy over a commute down to Southamptons academy, they might also choose the one that has a better record of bringing through youngsters

[From Despair To Where?]

This is why we should focus on local talent in the Reading area as we can potentially "outbid" bigger teams where a 2 hour commute to and from training is a barrier.

Thought that Southampton's catchment area comes up close to Newbury (well at least used to).

Probably does, but a Newbury lad's parents might fancy a commute to the Reading academy over a commute down to Southamptons academy, they might also choose the one that has a better record of bringing through youngsters

Southampton is less than an hour from Newbury and their academy isn't exactly shabby at producing first team players.

[retro royal]

Oh crap

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... essor.html

[Winston Biscuit]

Would be very happy with Carvalhal ftr

[Orion]

Christ no. We need our new CEO asap.

[Old Man Andrews]

Would be very happy with Carvalhal ftr

Why? He is a complete failure on every level.

[Hound]

yep, no thanks to CC

Get the feeling the Mail are just pulling names out of the air tbh. Guessing Jokanovic will be mentioned shortly

[sandman]

Oh crap

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... essor.html