How we stack up against the opposition in terms of signings

[Alan Partridge]

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched

How do you know what Reading's transfer policy is? How do you know who has knocked us back? Maybe we just can't attract the players who are better than we already have without risking the financial future of the club.

By that i ment who has signed.

Team in 06 > Team in 08

Says it all.

[cmonurz]

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched

How do you know what Reading's transfer policy is? How do you know who has knocked us back? Maybe we just can't attract the players who are better than we already have without risking the financial future of the club.

I really didn't have you down as naive.

[Wycombe Royal]

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched

How do you know what Reading's transfer policy is? How do you know who has knocked us back? Maybe we just can't attract the players who are better than we already have without risking the financial future of the club.

I really didn't have you down as naive.

Explain? I was merely asking AP a couple of questions. Not quite sure how you came to the conclusion that I am naive from that.

Can you always judge someones personality/character from a few words they type on an internet forum?

[Vision]

As a sort of member of the negativve nobbers, I wouldn't be 'delighted' to be proved right. Utterly gutted and disappointed more like.

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched, it's starting to catch up with them now. What we are relying on is some f our consistant performers from last to season to actually show some balls, stand up and be counted for the rest of the season. Yes you Nicky Shorey, you Ivar, you Kevin Doyle, you Sonko, you Convey, you Lita. People that do have the ability to play at this level but this season haven't produced.

There's a lot of deadwood in this squad and people towards the end of their shelf life, hopefully we've got enough to survive this year, but next year regardless there needs to be an overhaul. Big changes like what Coppell did the summer before we went up.

But hasn't the process of replacing those who are nearing the end of their shelf life already begun? Rosenior / Murty, Bikey or Cisse or possibly Pearce / Ivar, Matejovsky or possibly Fae / Gunnar. Its just that at this exact moment of the process they are not deemed better than , (or more to the point haven't proved to Coppell day in day out that they are better than) those in possession of the shirt. Hell even Kebe might be the long term successor to Little (as could Henry if he's still around )

I still think its far too early to describe signings such as Bikey, Rosenior, Cisse, Matejovsky and even Fae as wretched.

If we can survive this season then the inevitable overhaul you talk of will be a lot more natural than some might fear. In otherwise the long term replacements wont be bought for inflated prices during transfer windows and be under pressure to perform from the off but will come from purchases made a year or 18 months previously.

[Wycombe Royal]

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched

How do you know what Reading's transfer policy is? How do you know who has knocked us back? Maybe we just can't attract the players who are better than we already have without risking the financial future of the club.

By that i ment who has signed.

Team in 06 > Team in 08

Says it all.

Fair enough, but who we have signed doesn't paint the whole picture of our "transfer policy". We have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and what players we have attempted to sign.

[Archie's penalty]

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched

How do you know what Reading's transfer policy is? How do you know who has knocked us back? Maybe we just can't attract the players who are better than we already have without risking the financial future of the club.

I agree with you WR - I can't be bothered with all this negativity - let's wait until at least thursday and after Jimmy is awful to do that. I am happy with the club's dealings in the january transfer window.

I love the way people on here constantly rabbit on about signings that would improve our team and then don't propose an alternative. Even when signings are proposed (i.e. Kightly) how do we know if they would come good? In my book Kightly is about as good as Mcsheffrey was last year as Brum went up. How well has he done this year in the prem?

I think we are doing quite well transfer-wise. A defender picked up in the next couple of days would top things off perfectly...

[cmonurz]

Fair enough WR, was harsh of me. I do think however that it is naive to think that we would be risking the financial stability of the club by spending even “a lot” of money. Unless of course, we are planning for relegation. From 8th place last year, medium-sized investment would most probably have secured a third season in the Premiership some time ago.

[Alan Partridge]

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched

.

By that i ment who has signed.

Team in 06 > Team in 08

Says it all.

Fair enough, but who we have signed doesn't paint the whole picture of our "transfer policy". We have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and what players we have attempted to sign.[/quote]

(watch me knacker the quote up again!)

I used the wrong word to be honest, 'policy' wasn't right. I meant dealings or confirmed transfers.

Vision - I didn't want to post up waht i posted a couple of months ago, there have been a couple of bright lights in the 2 years with regards s to have come in. Bikey shows one week real promise then the next he looks like a park player. It's infuriating because I agree with you, he has talent and the ability to be a TOP centre half. I've not seen Matejovsky play, I'm not going to gauge his signing on 10minutes playing time. Fae - Not impressed at all, I wanted to see A LOT more from him.

I was more referring to
Sodje
Halls
Halford
Fae tbh
Bennett
Brown
Seol

None of these players who hve all signed for money (in some cases good money) have come in and improved the team from 2006. I don't care if it's a 'small fee' or not on 'a lot of money' They are/were still on the payroll, have all cost money to be brought here and have done or aren't doing anything to contribute to this club. It's called deadwood.

[Wycombe Royal]

Fair enough WR, was harsh of me. I do think however that it is naive to think that we would be risking the financial stability of the club by spending even “a lot” of money. Unless of course, we are planning for relegation. From 8th place last year, medium-sized investment would most probably have secured a third season in the Premiership some time ago.

I was talking about the fees when I mentioned "risking the financial stability". In order to attract these better players to a "small" club like Reading we would need to offer high wages. If we then get relegated we would be in trouble. Personally I think it is "naive" NOT to think that.

[cmonurz]

Also fair enough, but as above, I don’t think relegation would be an issue had we invested adequately over the last year or so.

[Wycombe Royal]

Also fair enough, but as above, I don’t think relegation would be an issue had we invested adequately over the last year or so.

As I said on another topic. I think if we had spent £50m we would still not have finished as high as 8th again. Too many sides last season had poor seasons, we took advantage of that and over achieved. You only have to look at Fulham to see what a "medium" (some might even say high) investment in the team could do.

[Vision]

Vision - I didn't want to post up waht i posted a couple of months ago, there have been a couple of bright lights in the 2 years with regards s to have come in. Bikey shows one week real promise then the next he looks like a park player. It's infuriating because I agree with you, he has talent and the ability to be a TOP centre half. I've not seen Matejovsky play, I'm not going to gauge his signing on 10minutes playing time. Fae - Not impressed at all, I wanted to see A LOT more from him.

I was more referring to
Sodje
Halls
Halford
Fae tbh
Bennett
Brown
Seol

None of these players who hve all signed for money (in some cases good money) have come in and improved the team from 2006. I don't care if it's a 'small fee' or not on 'a lot of money' They are/were still on the payroll, have all cost money to be brought here and have done or aren't doing anything to contribute to this club. It's called deadwood.

The only one of those you have listed that was signed for good money was Halford who we then sold on without a loss so no harm done. Even Seol for 1.5m was responsible for some vital points early on in the campaign and if he served his usefulness by enableing us to get Murty's long term replacement then that fine by me. This really only leaves Fae who i still think its too early to make a call on. You also conveniently left out Duberry who has almost certainly proved worthy of the money we paid.

Also transfer "policy" doesn't just refer to buying but also to selling. To me, by not cashing in on Sidwell last January when teams were trying to get him on the cheap showed our intent to not be bullied into losing the those that have proven they can cut it at this level. The same can also be said for Shorey in the August window and Hunt in this one. It shows just as much ambition in my opinion than paying over the odds for players that may or may not improve the team.

[Archie's penalty]

Vision - I didn't want to post up waht i posted a couple of months ago, there have been a couple of bright lights in the 2 years with regards s to have come in. Bikey shows one week real promise then the next he looks like a park player. It's infuriating because I agree with you, he has talent and the ability to be a TOP centre half. I've not seen Matejovsky play, I'm not going to gauge his signing on 10minutes playing time. Fae - Not impressed at all, I wanted to see A LOT more from him.

I was more referring to
Sodje
Halls
Halford
Fae tbh
Bennett
Brown
Seol

None of these players who hve all signed for money (in some cases good money) have come in and improved the team from 2006. I don't care if it's a 'small fee' or not on 'a lot of money' They are/were still on the payroll, have all cost money to be brought here and have done or aren't doing anything to contribute to this club. It's called deadwood.

The only one of those you have listed that was signed for good money was Halford who we then sold on without a loss so no harm done. Even Seol for 1.5m was responsible for some vital points early on in the campaign and if he served his usefulness by enableing us to get Murty's long term replacement then that fine by me. This really only leaves Fae who i still think its too early to make a call on. You also conveniently left out Duberry who has almost certainly proved worthy of the money we paid.

Also transfer "policy" doesn't just refer to buying but also to selling. To me, by not cashing in on Sidwell last January when teams were trying to get him on the cheap showed our intent to not be bullied into losing the those that have proven they can cut it at this level. The same can also be said for Shorey in the August window and Hunt in this one. It shows just as much ambition in my opinion than paying over the odds for players that may or may not improve the team.

Great measured post Vision.

[Alan Partridge]

Our best signing in 2 years is Michael Duberry agreed, which sort of sums it up really. I like Doobs, probably our best out and out defender, limited in certain things but he'd be in my team over Sonko absolutely any day.

Those players mentioned were singed for money, and in most cases are still here picking up their wages for doing nothing. They need to be got rid of.

Halford was a TERRIBLE buy and we got sheer lucky that we were able to flog him while his stock hadn't completely evaporated...as it has now.

Tell me which is better

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Little Sidwell Harper Convey
Doyle Kitson

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Hunt Gunnarsson Harper Convey
Kitson Doyle

06 or 08?

For me, that sums up our transfer dealings. In 2 years, in Coppell's mind if he's picking his best team, none of his new players go into his new team 2 years later.

[Vision]

Our best signing in 2 years is Michael Duberry agreed, which sort of sums it up really. I like Doobs, probably our best out and out defender, limited in certain things but he'd be in my team over Sonko absolutely any day.

Those players mentioned were singed for money, and in most cases are still here picking up their wages for doing nothing. They need to be got rid of.

Halford was a TERRIBLE buy and we got sheer lucky that we were able to flog him while his stock hadn't completely evaporated...as it has now.

Tell me which is better

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Little Sidwell Harper Convey
Doyle Kitson

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Hunt Gunnarsson Harper Convey
Kitson Doyle

06 or 08?

For me, that sums up our transfer dealings. In 2 years, in Coppell's mind if he's picking his best team, none of his new players go into his new team 2 years later.

Halford was a January transfer window signing bought really because a lot of clubs on similiar budgets to us were also after him. He's exactly the type of signing those that are currently bemoaning our lack of ambition in the transfer market are now demanding. A poor man's Gary Cahill so to speak. We lost nothing on the deal so no harm done. Halls, Brown, Bennet and Sodje were brought in for minimal fees to beef up the squad and as something of a punt that 1 or more may prove as effective as a Doyle or a Sonko who were similiar signings when they joined. As far as wages are concerened Bennet, Sodje and to a lesser degree Halls have all spent large chunks on loan to othert clubs so the burden on the wage bill hasn't been that great.

The 06 > 08 comparison is all well and good if you're talking about this exact moment in time but as i've said earlier our signings are more in terms of the transtion of the squad over the next season or 2 rather than what they can produce now. From that perspective the time to judge them as wretched is longer term than a few months after they've signed. Of course I'd have liked us to have replaced Sidwell and also to have covered for Little's loss to injury and if we had managed that then perhaps people wouldn't be expecting quite so much from the recent signings.

Once again though i'd still say that keeping our key players is just as vital, if not more so, than spending extremely inflated money on players who may or may not fit in with us. Turning down substantial bids for Hunt and Shorey shows just as much ambition in our "transfer policy" as a perceived lack of activity in the buying department.

[Blue and White Toucan]

Tell me which is better

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Little Sidwell Harper Convey
Doyle Kitson

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Hunt Gunnarsson Harper Convey
Kitson Doyle

06 or 08?

For me, that sums up our transfer dealings. In 2 years, in Coppell's mind if he's picking his best team, none of his new players go into his new team 2 years later.

Good point but this time last year we were not saying 'Why haven't we used the transfer window to bring players in!?!' We were hoping that Shorey would stay infact.

You could argue that the 07 team was > than the 06 team, with at this time last year Seol in for Little.

I think the way the club has worked has been to give the players who got us here the chance in the Premier League - and they all, including Gunarsson, passed last season. This season a few cracks have started to appear and players like Bikey, Rosenior, Cisse, Fae, Marek and now Kebe will start to come into the side as the season unfolds.

I think the only part of SC's plan is that he perhaps didn't think that we would as close to the relegation zone as we thought, so there is probably more pressure than Coppell really expected.

[Alan Partridge]

Already admitted 'policy' was the wrong choice of words, solely focussing on who is here.

'transitional buys' 'for the future' not much good if we go down is it!!!!!!!

'cheap' 'didn't cost a lot'

They are all still on the wage bill and beefing up the squad is an awful waste of funds that could be used to bring someone quite good in.

Also interesting that you agree Duberry was probably our best signing, someone of proven experience who could come in straight away and improve the team at that time. That's what people here are crying out for again whether the cost be big or small it doesn't matter.

[andrew1957]

Our best signing in 2 years is Michael Duberry agreed, which sort of sums it up really. I like Doobs, probably our best out and out defender, limited in certain things but he'd be in my team over Sonko absolutely any day.

Those players mentioned were singed for money, and in most cases are still here picking up their wages for doing nothing. They need to be got rid of.

Halford was a TERRIBLE buy and we got sheer lucky that we were able to flog him while his stock hadn't completely evaporated...as it has now.

Tell me which is better

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Little Sidwell Harper Convey
Doyle Kitson

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Hunt Gunnarsson Harper Convey
Kitson Doyle

06 or 08?

For me, that sums up our transfer dealings. In 2 years, in Coppell's mind if he's picking his best team, none of his new players go into his new team 2 years later.

You miss the point completely next year we could see -

Federici
Rosenior / Cisse/ Bikey/ Shorey
Hunt / Harper/ Matejovsky/ Little (or Kebe)
Doyle/ Kitson

That team may be performing brilliantly and achieve 8th place again.

Just because we have had a bad patch does not mean that there are not good players in this squad.

Others like Convey, Lita and Ingi who have not had a great season may perform much better next year. Football is a constantly moving feast and confidence is the most important element. If we start 2008/9 well we may have a great season.

I still maintain that the SQUAD is infinitely stronger now than in May 2006 - although I know i will be howled down with derision for saying so.

I like the way this club is building brick by brick. Apart from Anelka I cannot think of many players bought this transfer window who would have improved our team. I am sure this is why we are not spending more than any other reason. Quite rightly SC will not pay ridiculous prices for players no better than we have already.

[Samrfc01]

Our best signing in 2 years is Michael Duberry agreed, which sort of sums it up really. I like Doobs, probably our best out and out defender, limited in certain things but he'd be in my team over Sonko absolutely any day.

Those players mentioned were singed for money, and in most cases are still here picking up their wages for doing nothing. They need to be got rid of.

Halford was a TERRIBLE buy and we got sheer lucky that we were able to flog him while his stock hadn't completely evaporated...as it has now.

Tell me which is better

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Little Sidwell Harper Convey
Doyle Kitson

Hahnemann
Murty Sonko Ivar Shorey
Hunt Gunnarsson Harper Convey
Kitson Doyle

06 or 08?

For me, that sums up our transfer dealings. In 2 years, in Coppell's mind if he's picking his best team, none of his new players go into his new team 2 years later.

You miss the point completely next year we could see -

Federici
Rosenior / Cisse/ Bikey/ Shorey
Hunt / Harper/ Matejovsky/ Little (or Kebe)
Doyle/ Kitson

That team may be performing brilliantly and achieve 8th place again.

Just because we have had a bad patch does not mean that there are not good players in this squad.

Others like Convey, Lita and Ingi who have not had a great season may perform much better next year. Football is a constantly moving feast and confidence is the most important element. If we start 2008/9 well we may have a great season.

I still maintain that the SQUAD is infinitely stronger now than in May 2006 - although I know i will be howled down with derision for saying so.

I like the way this club is building brick by brick. Apart from Anelka I cannot think of many players bought this transfer window who would have improved our team. I am sure this is why we are not spending more than any other reason. Quite rightly SC will not pay ridiculous prices for players no better than we have already.

Totally agree with you

So our 06 team:

Hahnemann
Murty Sonks Ingi Shorey
Little Sidders Harps Convey
Kitson Doyle

is better than??

Hahnemann
Murty Cisse Doobs/Sonks Shorey
Hunt Matejovsky Harps Convey
Kitson Doyle

I have to say that our current team is better than 06 and definately our squad. The fact that some of you will disagree with me about our current first XI will sow how much better our squad really is

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

As a sort of member of the negativve nobbers, I wouldn't be 'delighted' to be proved right. Utterly gutted and disappointed more like.

Reading's transfer policy in the last 2 years has been absolutely wretched, it's starting to catch up with them now. What we are relying on is some f our consistant performers from last to season to actually show some balls, stand up and be counted for the rest of the season. Yes you Nicky Shorey, you Ivar, you Kevin Doyle, you Sonko, you Convey, you Lita. People that do have the ability to play at this level but this season haven't produced.

There's a lot of deadwood in this squad and people towards the end of their shelf life, hopefully we've got enough to survive this year, but next year regardless there needs to be an overhaul. Big changes like what Coppell did the summer before we went up.

But hasn't the process of replacing those who are nearing the end of their shelf life already begun? Rosenior / Murty, Bikey or Cisse or possibly Pearce / Ivar, Matejovsky or possibly Fae / Gunnar. Its just that at this exact moment of the process they are not deemed better than , (or more to the point haven't proved to Coppell day in day out that they are better than) those in possession of the shirt. Hell even Kebe might be the long term successor to Little (as could Henry if he's still around )

I still think its far too early to describe signings such as Bikey, Rosenior, Cisse, Matejovsky and even Fae as wretched.

If we can survive this season then the inevitable overhaul you talk of will be a lot more natural than some might fear. In otherwise the long term replacements wont be bought for inflated prices during transfer windows and be under pressure to perform from the off but will come from purchases made a year or 18 months previously.

See this is our problem. You can't replace our only ball playing centre half with a Bikey or Cisse. We need to replace Bryn with another defensive midfielder.

We need to replace players, with players better than we already have.

This has been our problem since promotion, we've tried to replace people with players not as good.