Rumour-Marek on his way

[Victor Meldrew]

Before the game last night I was told that Marek was about to leave as well as Shane Long plus one other.
I was also told that Long has been working really hard on his fitness (shouldn't he have done this back in the summer?)as well as the reported one-to-ones with Mr Lampard before he left but (surprise,surprise) the club has lost patience with him.

Marek would be no surprise to anybody because of the wages and he really hasn't been consistent enough for us.
One other bit of info-the new Icelandic is supposedly yet another littl'un.

[PEARCEY]

I hope Marek stays and plays alongside Karacan in centre midfield. Think it would be a good mix of creativity and tenacity.

[rg6royal]

Long can go, Marek to stay please.

[Dan - B15 Royal]

Long can go, Marek to stay please.

I think most Reading fans that follow the side week-in week-out would go along with that statement.

We really need to be keeping Marek, he hasnt been consistant but nevertheless possesses such a talent that he can cut most defences wide open in a flash, something that not many of our other midfielders can do

[Dan - B15 Royal]

I'm sorry Dan, but it is like keeping the pretty but stupid girlfriend who cheats on you, only because she is good in bed.
You have to think that his contributions have been few and far between, and the disappointments frequent.
He is probably on good wages as well. If we sold him we could possibly fund a striker.
We have plenty of midfielders and no decent strikers.

Thats a fair point you make, lol. We need the creativity of Marek to create chances for Churchy/Thordvaldsson/Rasiak and (maybe Bell-Baggie/Mooney?) but we also need the forwards to put the ball in the net, so either way we wont find a sollution to suit everyone. Hopefully the management find the correct balance sooner rather the later and while the transfer window is open.

[Tilehurst End]

Long can go, Marek to stay please.

Problem is we have Marek, Howard, Cisse, Karacan, Sigurdson, Tabb and Gunnarson as central midfielders. Cash for Marek and Long might help us to strengthen in more critical areas such as Centre back, right back, wide left and striker even if it's only freeing up money for loan wages.

[Terminal Boardom]

Before the game last night I was told that Marek was about to leave as well as Shane Long plus one other.
I was also told that Long has been working really hard on his fitness (shouldn't he have done this back in the summer?)as well as the reported one-to-ones with Mr Lampard before he left but (surprise,surprise) the club has lost patience with him.

Marek would be no surprise to anybody because of the wages and he really hasn't been consistent enough for us.
One other bit of info-the new Icelandic is supposedly yet another littl'un.

Bye. Who is the one other or are you making that up for a laugh?

[Royal_Delight]

Long can go, Marek to stay please.

Problem is we have Marek, Howard, Cisse, Karacan, Sigurdson, Tabb and Gunnarson as central midfielders. Cash for Marek and Long might help us to strengthen in more critical areas such as Centre back, right back, wide left and striker even if it's only freeing up money for loan wages.

The question is if Madejski would allow the club to spend after selling Long and Marek. Remember the departures of Hunt and Doyle?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Likeit or not JM did say that we had to sell £11mill to clear debts and cover a loss last season, we sold a bit more as Bikey left as well, however BR was given that to spend.

Personally would be happy to see Long and Marek move on, neither will take us up the leagues long term, if either was any good they would be first choices, they are NOT.

[Royal_Delight]

Likeit or not JM did say that we had to sell £11mill to clear debts and cover a loss last season, we sold a bit more as Bikey left as well, however BR was given that to spend.

Personally would be happy to see Long and Marek move on, neither will take us up the leagues long term, if either was any good they would be first choices, they are NOT.

Marek was actually.During Brenda's last few games in charge he was in the first team. In fact up to Saturday, he was in the first team.

[RG30]

Sell before we buy, that's the message at the club this month and if it's Marek that has to go then so be it. We're carrying too many midfielders in the squad and Marek is probably our best saleable asset.

[howser]

The problem that I have with a lot of the posts on this thread is the suggestion that we will sell to buy ?? Can you honestly see the egoprick spending anything ?? it is well known that he sees the footballing side of the club as a money drain, he will just take the money, and say it was a superb piece of buisiness.

[Royalwaster]

Have been a Marek fan ever since we first signed but have to started to accept that maybe he's just not the right player for us - he just hasn't delivered enough to warrant his patent inability to win the ball. He just has absolutely no ability to tackle - it's quite amazing. Karacan does not have his ability for defence-splitting balls - but he compensate with his amazing work ethic. I didn't think I'd ever say this but definitely think Karacan should start ahead of Marek vs Newcastle. One thing worth considering though is that I think that our lack of ability upfront has meant that Marek's abilities haven't been fully recognised - if we had a decent striker with pace and finishing ability, it might be a different story. Gunnar step forward?

[Bath Hoops]

The problem that I hve wth a lot of the posts on tis thra is the suggestion that we will sell to buy ?? Can you honestly see the egoprick spending anything ?? it is well known that he sees the footballing side of the club as a money drain, he will just take the money, and say it was a superb piece of buisiness.

He must have spent money to pay up Rodgers and his crew, he wouldnt have done that if he was looking for an easy option. I think he'll make money available if he thinks its going to help to improve the team, he backed Rodgers up with money but lost confidence when he saw it was wasted by Rodgers. Question is where do we think we really need to spend it, personally I think we need a forward in addition to the guy coming in and a decent right back. If Marek goes and we get some decent money for him then I don't think it would be bad business as we've got good cover in the middle of the park but are crying out for a decent forward. Wonder if the situation at Portsmouth is bad enough to try a cheeky bid for Smith, could be worth a try.

[howser]

Yeah Bath have thought that myself, Smith doesnt seem to be much involved at Portsmouth so maybe a cheeky £500k might encourage them to get him off the Pompey wage bill ??

[Bath Hoops]

Yeah Bath have thought that myself, Smith doesnt seem to be much involved at Portsmouth so maybe a cheeky £500k might encourage them to get him off the Pompey wage bill ??

I think we'd probably have to pay about £1.25m to get him even Portsmouth wont take such a big hit. Question would be whether we'd pay that much when we haven't got a new manager unless McDermott has already been given the nod. Smith may not be up for the move either, but it could be worth it if the money was available.

[Platypuss]

One other bit of info-the new Icelandic is supposedly yet another littl'un.

A quick glance at wiki says he's 5 ft 11+1⁄2. Is the rest of your info just as reliable?

[Ian Royal]

I would be ecstatic to see Long go if we could get £100k+ for him.

Marek, going has plenty of positives, which probably outweight the negatives especially if we could get ~£1m or more.

Midfield combinations of:

Howard & Karacan
Siggurdsson & Tabb
Siggurdsson & Howard

Would all be plenty good enough IMO. Even Siggurdsson & Cisse or Howard & Cisse would be ok.

I fear for Karacan / Tabb & Cisse because I think it would be too lacking in possession and creativity in the long run against teams in our own division.

[Ian Royal]

The problem that I hve wth a lot of the posts on tis thra is the suggestion that we will sell to buy ?? Can you honestly see the egoprick spending anything ?? it is well known that he sees the footballing side of the club as a money drain, he will just take the money, and say it was a superb piece of buisiness.

He must have spent money to pay up Rodgers and his crew, he wouldnt have done that if he was looking for an easy option. I think he'll make money available if he thinks its going to help to improve the team, he backed Rodgers up with money but lost confidence when he saw it was wasted by Rodgers. Question is where do we think we really need to spend it, personally I think we need a forward in addition to the guy coming in and a decent right back. If Marek goes and we get some decent money for him then I don't think it would be bad business as we've got good cover in the middle of the park but are crying out for a decent forward. Wonder if the situation at Portsmouth is bad enough to try a cheeky bid for Smith, could be worth a try.

Think Madejski had flash backs to Burns spending heavily on mediocrity again and again. I don't think Rodgers did too badly in the transfer market, but he spent a lot and didn't get a great deal out of his money once the season started. I get the feeling Madj just wasn't prepared to risk Rodgers spending another million or two on more players that aren't good enough or sit on the bench.

[Ian Royal]

Yeah Bath have thought that myself, Smith doesnt seem to be much involved at Portsmouth so maybe a cheeky £500k might encourage them to get him off the Pompey wage bill ??

I think we'd probably have to pay about £1.25m to get him even Portsmouth wont take such a big hit. Question would be whether we'd pay that much when we haven't got a new manager unless McDermott has already been given the nod. Smith may not be up for the move either, but it could be worth it if the money was available.

That could have been worth a shout with Rodgers still at the club. Maybe we'd put feelers out already and it wasn't going to happen...