SPECULATION - Simon Cox

[Alan Partridge]

Cox leaving has certainly turned out to be the best deal for him, not sure it's the best Reading could have got from it, I'd accept it's a consolation prize they got some money for him. .

Not sure where they could have got more. 400k is a decent amount for a reserve striker, 40% is a good sell on clause. Referring to £1.4 million as 'some' money is a bit odd. It's more than we paid for Lita, who had a superior pedigree.

Worst decisions in the clubs history? Don't think I said that either have I? I just don't agree with this decision the club made personally, The club isn't ALWAYS in the right and on this occassion personally I think they got it wrong.

You've laid it on pretty thick that in your view it was a major error !
Agree fully that the club isn't always right on these things (although it is rare they let someone leave who goes on to major unanticipated success). So far I don;t think you can say they got it wrong. If he goes on to score a hatful for WBA then of course they will have been proved wrong (3 years after the event) but even that presupposes that your view that we got rid of him rather than he opted to leave is correct (and I have no idea how the conversation went....)

Ironically actually Lita had 1 full season where he scored 30, of course with 1 u21 cap and goal on top when Reading signed him, the year before he was very bit part so more pedigree? About the same almost identically!

According to Coppell, Cox just wanted to play ideally with Reading if not then with someone else. So he didn't WANT to leave that's the difference, the problem was we weren't going to play him..so then he moved on. Say 3 years after the event yes but he'll only be 23 next year. Early days to make a call on someone especially when this someone was never given the stage to perform on and audition as it were!

[Alan Partridge]

Church has been average in nearly all his loan spells and a couple of goals against mediocre u21 opposition has obviously put his name out there more than Cox would scoring against Walsall.

Would that be the same U21 opposition that have reached the final of the European U21 Championships?

I am a tad concerned AP at your obsession with young Cox. Have you been slipping him or his Mum one?

Heh, No obsession just putting an arguement forward from the other side of the coin.

You'll be pleased to know I've had enough now, feelings very much known now, will only go round in circles a bit like Harper on a matchday so we'll leave t there methinks.

Fanks all.

[Sun Tzu]

According to Coppell, Cox just wanted to play ideally with Reading if not then with someone else. So he didn't WANT to leave that's the difference, the problem was we weren't going to play him..so then he moved on. Say 3 years after the event yes but he'll only be 23 next year. Early days to make a call on someone especially when this someone was never given the stage to perform on and audition as it were!

Or he wasn;t prepared to stay and back himself to force us to play him ? Two way street. How could we tell him we would DEFINITELY pick him ahead of players who had achieved more than him ? We didn;t force him out, he didn;t walk out.

How do you give someone an 'audition' in professional sport ? Which run of 15 games do you go into with a player just having a try out ? Do you give every youngster a spell in the first team before you release him ? As you say, he was young. He could have said he'd give it another year to see if he could hit the necessary heights but he (understandly) dropped a couple of levels to try and get his career going - an option not open to him whilst staying at the club.

[floyd__streete]

6) Get over yourself, please.

RwC has spoken and that should immediately put an end to all discussion of course, suffice to say that it is at best unfortunate that Cox never got a chance to show his undoubted worth at Reading, particularly given some of the absolute guff the club has spent money on over the past 24 months or so.

[Franchise FC]

Well done to Simon on achieving his Premier League dream.


And doesn't that add about a million to SJM's personal slush fund ?

Have West Brom been automatically re-promoted ?

Don't tell me - he's actually gone to Stoke

[Sun Tzu]

At least the signings of Halford and Fae satisfied the significant number of fans who seem to constantly demand that we 'spend money'.

Or at least made them realise that the link between money spent and ability is not a clear one.

It would have been very satisfying to see Cox succeed having not paid anything for him in transfer fees. Here's hoping next season sees plenty of his former Academy colleagues making the transition he was unable / not allowed to make for whatever reason !

[Sun Tzu]

Well done to Simon on achieving his Premier League dream.


And doesn't that add about a million to SJM's personal slush fund ?

Have West Brom been automatically re-promoted ?

They complained it was unfair that they had to play in a lower division becasue they hadn;t really been given a fair chance to prove themselves. Sadly this creates an odd number of teams in the Premiership which means that one team will not get a game every week. That team will be West Brom.

[Southbank Old Boy]

According to Coppell, Cox just wanted to play ideally with Reading if not then with someone else. So he didn't WANT to leave that's the difference, the problem was we weren't going to play him..so then he moved on. Say 3 years after the event yes but he'll only be 23 next year. Early days to make a call on someone especially when this someone was never given the stage to perform on and audition as it were!

Or he wasn;t prepared to stay and back himself to force us to play him ? Two way street. How could we tell him we would DEFINITELY pick him ahead of players who had achieved more than him ? We didn;t force him out, he didn;t walk out.

How do you give someone an 'audition' in professional sport ? Which run of 15 games do you go into with a player just having a try out ? Do you give every youngster a spell in the first team before you release him ? As you say, he was young. He could have said he'd give it another year to see if he could hit the necessary heights but he (understandly) dropped a couple of levels to try and get his career going - an option not open to him whilst staying at the club.

Firmly in agreement with AP on this one and Cox can quite rightly feel a bit agrieved about his lack of chances

He was sent out on loan and asked to impress and score goals. He did it

He was given a fleeting chance to show what he could do in the first team, out of position, and was the highlight of the game against Spurs. So he impressed again

Despite that Coppell wouldnt give him a proper chance in the first team despite his favoured players failing to produce the goods. Coppell has admitted that he made a mistake in trusting those players to do the job for him, and I would hazard a guess that he probably would probably regret not giving Cox a proper chance to make it in the first team even though we were in the Prem at the time

For Cox the move was just what he needed once you take into account Coppells error in not giving Cox and others a chance to save our season

For the club it was a decent bit of business to get the deal we did BUT it would have been better for us to have allowed him, and others, to make a contribution to the season and maybe, just maybe prove their worth then

[Thaumagurist*]

Hmmmm, and do you really think Cox could have scored lots of goals in the Premiership that season? I doubt it.

[Sun Tzu]

According to Coppell, Cox just wanted to play ideally with Reading if not then with someone else. So he didn't WANT to leave that's the difference, the problem was we weren't going to play him..so then he moved on. Say 3 years after the event yes but he'll only be 23 next year. Early days to make a call on someone especially when this someone was never given the stage to perform on and audition as it were!

Or he wasn;t prepared to stay and back himself to force us to play him ? Two way street. How could we tell him we would DEFINITELY pick him ahead of players who had achieved more than him ? We didn;t force him out, he didn;t walk out.

How do you give someone an 'audition' in professional sport ? Which run of 15 games do you go into with a player just having a try out ? Do you give every youngster a spell in the first team before you release him ? As you say, he was young. He could have said he'd give it another year to see if he could hit the necessary heights but he (understandly) dropped a couple of levels to try and get his career going - an option not open to him whilst staying at the club.

Firmly in agreement with AP on this one and Cox can quite rightly feel a bit agrieved about his lack of chances

He was sent out on loan and asked to impress and score goals. He did it

He was given a fleeting chance to show what he could do in the first team, out of position, and was the highlight of the game against Spurs. So he impressed again

Despite that Coppell wouldnt give him a proper chance in the first team despite his favoured players failing to produce the goods. Coppell has admitted that he made a mistake in trusting those players to do the job for him, and I would hazard a guess that he probably would probably regret not giving Cox a proper chance to make it in the first team even though we were in the Prem at the time

For Cox the move was just what he needed once you take into account Coppells error in not giving Cox and others a chance to save our season

For the club it was a decent bit of business to get the deal we did BUT it would have been better for us to have allowed him, and others, to make a contribution to the season and maybe, just maybe prove their worth then

Pretty reasonable comment SOB to be honest !
Not entirely sure there is really too much distance between the views of most people.
It would have been great if Cox had broken through here, for whatever reason he didn't and we've ended up with a decent cash settlement. Middle ground really, not the best but not the disaster perhaps suggested.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Hmmmm, and do you really think Cox could have scored lots of goals in the Premiership that season? I doubt it.

He wouldnt have needed to

I think he might have made some position contribution and maybe prevented us from going down with such a whimper

Remember it was a very close thing, just have someone on the right (where he played so well against Spurs) who could create something or occupy the oppo left back might well have kept us up

Having a forward brimming with confidence and willing to take the bull by the horns might have seen us score a couple more goals or grab an extra point with his single goal out of nothing. Thats all it would have taken

[Royal Rother]

The only gripe Cox or any supporters can justifiably have is with Coppell, not the club.

But it was a judgment call - Coppell made it and debating whether he got it right or wrong is all a bit academic.

[Southbank Old Boy]

The only gripe Cox or any supporters can justifiably have is with Coppell, not the club.

But it was a judgment call - Coppell made it and debating whether he got it right or wrong is all a bit academic.

True it was Coppell and not "the club" but at the time Coppell was the club and made these decisions for them

My disappointment is firmly in Coppells lack of trust in the Cox and that he allowed the situation to develop where Cox had to leave for his careers sake. He wasnt going to improve and progress sitting in the reserves or being farmed out on more loans. He had seen plenty of good players go down that route and then not make it. He had to take the step up when he did

[Wycombe Royal]

Cox had done OK in his loan spells. He had a goalless loan spell at Brentford, scored 3 goals in 8 appearances at Northampton and 8 goals in 19 appearances at Swindon.

We were two divisions above where those loan spells were so I don't think Cox was really forcing Coppell to play him and based on the evidence that Coppell had he was probably right not to pick him at that time.

The management team also got to see Cox alot more than we did - watching his performances for his loan clubs, his training, his reserve apppearances and they obvisouly thought that at that time he was not good enough for a run in our first team. OK now 2 years on he is good enough but Cox wanted the the first team football then and was not prepared to wait any longer.

[Southbank Old Boy]

He played well for all those sides though, especially Swindon and Northampton who both wanted to keep him, and it isnt just about the goals he scored

When he played for the first team he looked decent, but then against Spurs, at a time when our senior pros were failing to produce adequate performances, he was our best player for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch

Again, it was Coppell who said he made an error in not shaking things up enough during that turgid run and shouldnt have just relied on the same old faces who were failing him. I just think not giving the youngsters a decent enough chance was part of that mistake, and led to Cox, rightly, thinking he had to look elsewhere to get the best out of himself

[Rawlie19]

According to Coppell, Cox just wanted to play ideally with Reading if not then with someone else. So he didn't WANT to leave that's the difference, the problem was we weren't going to play him..so then he moved on

Ok, you've officially bored me now. Reading didn't say we weren't going to play him, he wanted GUARANTEED 1st team football. NO manager in the Premier League at that time having him in their squad would have guaranteed that. Not even SAF. So he went somewhere where he WOULD be guaranteed 1st team football, 2 leagues below the league we were in at the time. For me, fair play to Reading for allowing him to move when we probably wanted to keep him for another season to use and bed into the first team. And we got good money out of it in the end if the rumours are to be believed.

MOVE ON FFS!

[Wycombe Royal]

When he played for the first team he looked decent, but then against Spurs, at a time when our senior pros were failing to produce adequate performances, he was our best player for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch

You could say the same about Church against Burnley.

[Royal Lady]

Firstly, LOL that Sun Tzu cannot even have the grace to admit he made a mistake in saying that Cox would be getting Premier League football.
Secondly we sold Cox for £200,000 so not sure where this figure of £400k has come from
Thirdly, how do you know that Cox wanted GUARANTEED first team football - he's certainly no prima donna and would NEVER have demanded that of the club
Finally, I look forward to seeing him flourish in the Championship but don't look forward to him scoring against us.

[Royal With Cheese]

Notes on the above for Alan Partridge.

1) He takes the penalties.

2) He's been playing for Swindon and Northampton. The last time I looked Swindown are in the 3rd Division and Northampton are in the 4th.

3) Cox was never going to start regularly in the prem. He expressed his desire to play regular first team football. Coppell gave him that chance. Strikes me as a decent decision for all parties concerned.

4) If we do end up with 1.4 million for a guy who's scored his goals in the 3rd/4th division I'm happy with that.

5) Wrong time and wrong place. If he was 2/3 years younger he may have had a chance in our first team now.

6) Get over yourself, please.

1) Still scores most of them
2) Northampton weren't in the '4th division' when he was there, not like that is any way relevant. some of you make it sound as though the championship is this wonderous league far greater than the one below it. The reality is, it isn't. There isn't much between the football leagues really.
3) he was never going to start regularly because he was never given a game, so of course not. But how did Man City find out about Sturridge? West Ham about Sears? Or even Liverpool about Owen? Not saying he'd have been anywhere near Owen's league but he was an 18 year old thrown in there despite 'established names' in their squad. There's were even producing the goods, unlike our 4.
4) that's your opinion, he's worth a hell of a lot more, which is why Swindon will get double the above figure.
5) Quite possibly.
6). OK.

1) True, spot kicks with only the keeper to beat are so much harder than goals form open play.
2) Perhaps the top of the 3rd division would do OK against the lower half of the Championship but in general I don't agree with that.
3) I would swap any of the above mentioned for Church.
4) I believe there is a sell on clause which will nett us a considerable sum. I don't believe Swindon will make anywhere near "double". I am, however, happy to be corrected.
5) OK.
6) Cheap shot from myself, but after 15 pages it's probably all been covered by now. Typical Hob Nob debate, two camps, both right.

[Southbank Old Boy]

When he played for the first team he looked decent, but then against Spurs, at a time when our senior pros were failing to produce adequate performances, he was our best player for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch

You could say the same about Church against Burnley.

You could, you would just be talking rubbish of course

Church did ok, but apart from some strong running he didnt actually have any end product. He did cause the left back problems

Difference is that Church might now get a chance whereas Cox knew he wouldnt

According to Coppell, Cox just wanted to play ideally with Reading if not then with someone else. So he didn't WANT to leave that's the difference, the problem was we weren't going to play him..so then he moved on

Ok, you've officially bored me now. Reading didn't say we weren't going to play him, he wanted GUARANTEED 1st team football. NO manager in the Premier League at that time having him in their squad would have guaranteed that. Not even SAF. So he went somewhere where he WOULD be guaranteed 1st team football, 2 leagues below the league we were in at the time. For me, fair play to Reading for allowing him to move when we probably wanted to keep him for another season to use and bed into the first team. And we got good money out of it in the end if the rumours are to be believed.

MOVE ON FFS!

From what I have heard and read Cox didnt want GUATANTEED anything. He did want to have a shot at first team football and asked the manager for that but was told he might have to go back out on loan and probably wouldnt be forcing his way into the squad as he thought he possibly should

End of the day he wanted the chance he felt he had earnt but knew he wasnt going to get it so went where he knew he would get games

The issue, as I posted earlier, was that he probably shouldnt have been forced to go elsewhere to get a chance