Exodus

[Southbank Old Boy]

fair post although I don't agree with your last point, that was Coppell's pretty much exact words last season. He felt our forwards were our strongest asset that they would get us goals. Only Kitson (for half a season) really produced. Forwards unless they are like Henry or Ronaldo and create for themselves have to have good service to score goals. Our midfield is absolutely desperate. Not just that but bringing in another striker might give us a bit more imputus (sp), I felt we looked too predictable and a bit stale in a lot of areas last year including up top. We need to hit the ground runing next season and wipe away any 'hangover' that might be there.

Totally agree.

I think we've needed a proper physical presence to complete our set of options up front for a long long time. Long, Doyle and Lita are a little bit too similar and a big ugly centre forward to give a defence a hard time would definately help us out.

[londinium]

fair post although I don't agree with your last point, that was Coppell's pretty much exact words last season. He felt our forwards were our strongest asset that they would get us goals. Only Kitson (for half a season) really produced. Forwards unless they are like Henry or Ronaldo and create for themselves have to have good service to score goals. Our midfield is absolutely desperate. Not just that but bringing in another striker might give us a bit more imputus (sp), I felt we looked too predictable and a bit stale in a lot of areas last year including up top. We need to hit the ground runing next season and wipe away any 'hangover' that might be there.

Totally agree.

I think we've needed a proper physical presence to complete our set of options up front for a long long time. Long, Doyle and Lita are a little bit too similar and a big ugly centre forward to give a defence a hard time would definately help us out.

How on earth do you reckon that Doyle and Lita anywhere near similar.

If manage to keep all 4 current strikers we will be more than just fine.. we will be champions AGAIN.

[Southbank Old Boy]

How on earth do you reckon that Doyle and Lita anywhere near similar.

If manage to keep all 4 current strikers we will be more than just fine.. we will be champions AGAIN.

Because they are both forwards who like to play off the last defender.

Doyle is a harder working player who will run the channels more than Lita, who a little more of a "fox in the box" kind of striker, but fundementally they play in a similar fashion. Doyle is more adept at playing other roles though.

Both are good finishers and neither of them are that suited to playing with their back to goal or as "link up" forwards.

Long is very similar.

[Arch]

If harper, sonko, shorey and hunt go we will be fine.

Harper - doesnt really compliment marek who will be key for us next season. We need to bring someone in there.

Sonko - shown what a liability he is and doesnt look like he will recapture his past sparkling form.

Shorey - Think none of us are going to be surprised at him going, as expected really. Sure we could find a decent enough replacement if not rosenior could do a job.

Hunt - since signing new contract has looked awful every game. Can get decent amount of money for him enabling us to strengthen possibly both wings although i think convey would do well for us on the left.


WHAT I WILL be worried about is if the likes of Kitson and doyle and even lita move on. If we keep our 4 strikers even if it is just for 1 season, we are guaranteed goals!!

It's true you can make that argument about any one of them, but to lose all four would be to dismantle a substantial portion of the team. Successfully adding more than a couple of starters is too much to hope for for most clubs, let alone RFC. Note also that "we'll be fine" is contingent on replacing at least Shorey and Harper. Personally, I think Sonko and Shorey can go. WE need a left back who's competetive for the starting role whether Shorey stays or goes, so it really makes no difference. Harper leaving will change this club significantly. As everyone says, he doesn't fit with Marek, but at the moment he's who we've got and he is in many ways the heart and soul of the team. We will miss his positives even if (obviously) it would be good to replace his negatives.

[Gordons Cumming]

Harper is one of the few Reading players who regularily shows he cares.

[brendywendy]

Harper is one of the few Reading players who regularily shows he cares.

that pic of him standing in the middle of the pitch after we were relegated still tugs my heart strings

the man is a god amongst men

[Alan Partridge]

Harper is one of the few Reading players who regularily shows he cares.

How do you work that one out then?

[Sarah Star]

Harper is one of the few Reading players who regularily shows he cares.

that pic of him standing in the middle of the pitch after we were relegated still tugs my heart strings

the man is a god amongst men

I remember him doing that and felt kind of guilty even though I hadn't been booing, but it seemed to come from there.

Do you think that made him want to leave?

[brendywendy]

Harper is one of the few Reading players who regularily shows he cares.

that pic of him standing in the middle of the pitch after we were relegated still tugs my heart strings

the man is a god amongst men

I remember him doing that and felt kind of guilty even though I hadn't been booing, but it seemed to come from there.

Do you think that made him want to leave?

nah

think he was just truly gutted at ending the season / his reading career like that


judging from his comments on the 1st season DVD and since he just takes things hard, and personally, and i do think that they just thought they would stay up, plus winning 4-0 and going down was just a wierd old feeling
and hes been here 7 + years-it just meant more to him than some of the others

[brendywendy]

Give me your all or you'll be sold
By Nick Ive
26/ 6/2008


Steve Coppell has warned his players that he is not afraid to ship out anyone who is unwilling to give their all to the Reading cause.

Royals’ squad report back to pre-season training next Thursday and the boss will be keeping a close eye on the reaction of his stars following relegation from the Premier League.

Coppell is under no pressure to sell, but he knows it is likely a few will follow Glen Little and Emerse Fae out of the Madejski Stadium exit door.

James Harper and Nicky Shorey look set to leave for Middlesbrough and Pompey respectively, while there are question marks over the futures of Stephen Hunt, Dave Kitson, Kevin Doyle and Ibrahima Sonko.

However, Coppell insists he will not tolerate anything less than 100-per-cent commitment, but warns he will decide who goes and who stays.

He told the Evening Post: “A big factor from my point of view is the attitude of people when they come back.

“June is the talking month where a lot of players say what they want to do and talk the speculation up.

“When they get back I will look for the attitude of the squad and the attitude of the individual within the squad then I will make a decision with what we will do.

“First and foremost, every player that stays here must want to stay. They have got to be hungry to get back and prove they can regain their previous status.”

While some of his stars were content to be among the substitutes for matches against Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal last season, Coppell knows warming the bench at Barnsley, Doncaster and Burnley will not be as easy to take.

And Royals’ boss made it clear he will not tolerate any of his unhappy stars creating a bad spirit in the camp.

“We are in a very different league and being a substitute or being dropped in the Championship takes on a very different connotation for players to being substitute or being dropped in the Premier League,” admitted Coppell.

“Some might feel they have a divine right to be playing and don’t want to be in a competitive situation in the Championship.

“If that becomes apparent then it’s down to myself and my staff to make a call on whether we turn people around.

“I am not actively looking to turn people around but it could well be that if people don’t have the right attitude then we will have to be more pro-active in turning people around then we normally would be.”

Pick up today's Reading Evening Post for more from Coppell on the situation with centre-back Sonko.

[loyalroyal4life]

If harper, sonko, shorey and hunt go we will be fine.

Harper - doesnt really compliment marek who will be key for us next season. We need to bring someone in there.

Sonko - shown what a liability he is and doesnt look like he will recapture his past sparkling form.

Shorey - Think none of us are going to be surprised at him going, as expected really. Sure we could find a decent enough replacement if not rosenior could do a job.

Hunt - since signing new contract has looked awful every game. Can get decent amount of money for him enabling us to strengthen possibly both wings although i think convey would do well for us on the left.


WHAT I WILL be worried about is if the likes of Kitson and doyle and even lita move on. If we keep our 4 strikers even if it is just for 1 season, we are guaranteed goals!!

fair post although I don't agree with your last point, that was Coppell's pretty much exact words last season. He felt our forwards were our strongest asset that they would get us goals. Only Kitson (for half a season) really produced. Forwards unless they are like Henry or Ronaldo and create for themselves have to have good service to score goals. Our midfield is absolutely desperate. Not just that but bringing in another striker might give us a bit more imputus (sp), I felt we looked too predictable and a bit stale in a lot of areas last year including up top. We need to hit the ground runing next season and wipe away any 'hangover' that might be there.

AGreed but what i really mean is the fact that the quality of the 4 strikers we have compared to other clubs sets of strikers in the CHAMPIONSHIP is probably one of the best. Admittedly we were found out when in the prem and like you said our service to them cost us but with hunt out the way, harper most likely there is room for people to come in who could help us create these chances that i am sure these 4 strikers are more than capable of putting away. Not to mention marek who i am sure will unlock a championship defence every week with his eyes shut.

[Sarah Star]

I don't suppose there's a cheap version of Fabregas out there, is there?

[papereyes]

I don't suppose there's a cheap version of Fabregas out there, is there?

How much did Fabregas cost Arsenal in the first place?

[Royal Rother]

“If that becomes apparent then it’s down to myself and my staff to make a call on whether we turn people around. I am not actively looking to turn people around but it could well be that if people don’t have the right attitude then we will have to be more pro-active in turning people around then we normally would be.”

That's it, he's lost his command of the English language. Coppell OUT!

[Royalee]

I don't suppose there's a cheap version of Fabregas out there, is there?

How much did Fabregas cost Arsenal in the first place?

Wages wouldn't be a problem if we ditched Hunt and Harper.

[rhroyal]

People make comparisons now with the summer of 2005. It's not that simple in my view, as these players are so much harder to replace. Supposing it's only Little, Harper, Hunt, Kitson and Shorey. There's more talent in those 4 players + Hunt than we lost altogether in 2005 with Owusu, Brooker, Keown, Ferdinand, Forster, Williams (January I know), and Hughes. This summer's exodus will be much harder to recover from than that year. The only player I was unhappy about losing that summer was Forster, and that was for sentimental reasons as much as anything. Little has already upset me, we've missed the real Shorey badly for a year now and Kitson would be a crushing blow if he went to Wigan.

Steve Coppell has pulled off some miracle signings before. Kitson 150k, Long + Doyle 100K or so, Gunnarrson, Hunt and Oster pretty much free, Little free, Ingimarrsson 100K. More recently I'd be surprised if Bikey and Matejovsky were £1m between them. If we're to bounce straight back up he will have to be shrewd in the transfer market to that sort of level once again, going for true talent that other managers somehow miss. He's done it all before, the question is do you believe in his ability to replicate?

[Southbank Old Boy]

People make comparisons now with the summer of 2005. It's not that simple in my view, as these players are so much harder to replace. Supposing it's only Little, Harper, Hunt, Kitson and Shorey. There's more talent in those 4 players + Hunt than we lost altogether in 2005 with Owusu, Brooker, Keown, Ferdinand, Forster, Williams (January I know), and Hughes. This summer's exodus will be much harder to recover from than that year. The only player I was unhappy about losing that summer was Forster, and that was for sentimental reasons as much as anything. Little has already upset me, we've missed the real Shorey badly for a year now and Kitson would be a crushing blow if he went to Wigan.

Steve Coppell has pulled off some miracle signings before. Kitson 150k, Long + Doyle 100K or so, Gunnarrson, Hunt and Oster pretty much free, Little free, Ingimarrsson 100K. More recently I'd be surprised if Bikey and Matejovsky were £1m between them. If we're to bounce straight back up he will have to be shrewd in the transfer market to that sort of level once again, going for true talent that other managers somehow miss. He's done it all before, the question is do you believe in his ability to replicate?

Obvioulsy it's going to be much harder to replace the players who were key to a side getting 106 points and then 8th place in the Prem as opposed to players who were, at most, squad players in a mid table Championship side. I agree with what you're saying though, we're in for a tough time!

On those transfers you list though, Matejovsky was supposed to be about 1.3m wasn't he? And when Bikey was first on loan there was talk of him be 1-1.5m to get on a perm basis.

[rhroyal]

You may well be right about Bikey and Matejovsky, their transfer sums were kept quiet. However by Premiership standards that is still peanuts and if we're to sell half our squad for £3mill or so each then we'd have the money to sign players for that amount. The question is would we....

[andrew1957]

People make comparisons now with the summer of 2005. It's not that simple in my view, as these players are so much harder to replace. Supposing it's only Little, Harper, Hunt, Kitson and Shorey. There's more talent in those 4 players + Hunt than we lost altogether in 2005 with Owusu, Brooker, Keown, Ferdinand, Forster, Williams (January I know), and Hughes. This summer's exodus will be much harder to recover from than that year. The only player I was unhappy about losing that summer was Forster, and that was for sentimental reasons as much as anything. Little has already upset me, we've missed the real Shorey badly for a year now and Kitson would be a crushing blow if he went to Wigan.

Steve Coppell has pulled off some miracle signings before. Kitson 150k, Long + Doyle 100K or so, Gunnarrson, Hunt and Oster pretty much free, Little free, Ingimarrsson 100K. More recently I'd be surprised if Bikey and Matejovsky were £1m between them. If we're to bounce straight back up he will have to be shrewd in the transfer market to that sort of level once again, going for true talent that other managers somehow miss. He's done it all before, the question is do you believe in his ability to replicate?

Obvioulsy it's going to be much harder to replace the players who were key to a side getting 106 points and then 8th place in the Prem as opposed to players who were, at most, squad players in a mid table Championship side. I agree with what you're saying though, we're in for a tough time!

On those transfers you list though, Matejovsky was supposed to be about 1.3m wasn't he? And when Bikey was first on loan there was talk of him be 1-1.5m to get on a perm basis.

For the record the club reported that we had paid £1.2M for Bikey and BBC reported 1.42M for Matejovsky.

[papereyes]

I don't suppose there's a cheap version of Fabregas out there, is there?

How much did Fabregas cost Arsenal in the first place?

Wages wouldn't be a problem if we ditched Hunt and Harper.

What wages would Fabregas been on in his first seasons at Arsenal?

Flamini was on under £8 k a week before he left Arsenal, iirc.