GONE - Michail Antonio to Sheffield Wednesday

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

As some have already said, its a bit difficult to give an informed opinion from a RFC perspective given his cameo roles during the last 4 years. If i had to be honest i thought at times he hadn't been given a fair crack at cementing a starting place, especially during Rodgers reign when he was in favour of putting in the youngsters which should have helped Antonio. He was probably a victim of BR's tactics and then soon after McAnuff and Kebe formed a formidable partnership under BM. The few times i saw him there were flashes of promise and his direct style of play was in tune to Mcdermott's own way of thinking. However i think there were some games where he played the season before last at home where he didn't do himself justice when the opportunity was there for the taking (think Shorey when taking the lb slot from Matt Robinson).

Its frustrating in a way really as although in some ways for a large part of his time at Reading he wasn't given the chance, when it finally came he couldnt really put in a series of convincing displays to force BM's hand. I still think that he could be a better option than HRK, i am yet to be convinced with his all round game and aside from his bursts of pace goes missing if starting. If Mcleary is a replacement for Antonio then i think we have a capable individual who is more likely to make that immediate impact. If we have received anything over 500k its good business though and for the young fringe players that we have sold on for considerable sums of money, as yet nothing has really come back and said ' i told you so'. Good luck to Antonio though, i think he will go on to play at a decent level and seemed to want to work hard at improving himself.

[Jackson Corner]

Weds fans are creaming themselves over his signing. He looked average at Championship level at best for us. Will be interesting to see how he does this season. Good luck to him.

[Libertine]

I am really a bit gutted by this. Still think he has the potential to be a Premier League calibre player in the future. But it is obvious it wouldn't be with us. His g/f is in school in Sheffield, he had a great loan spell there last season scoring some big goals directly helping in the team's promotion, he is a sort of cult hero and is wanted there, plus it is where he wants to be.

Best of luck Michail, except if/when your path crosses ours...

[Stranded]

Good move all round. He's never shown enough for us to push the wingers ahead of him and I would suggest the management feel it is better to focus on Obita's development at this time.

£850k for a player that is yet to show anything at Championship level as yet is great business. Interesting that Soton didn't come in for him at that level last year.

Good luck to the lad, I hope we regret this but I don't see it.

[wingnut]

I was more disappointed to see James Henry leave then Antonio, although I think he could of been great it wasnt fair to keep him just incase, good luck in the future to Michail

And I think we'll end up regretting it as much as we do letting Henry go.

[ayjaydee]

I was more disappointed to see James Henry leave then Antonio, although I think he could of been great it wasnt fair to keep him just incase, good luck in the future to Michail

And I think we'll end up regretting it as much as we do letting Henry go.

+1

I remember saying after one particularly inept performance that Antonio would never make a footballer as long as I had a hole in my arse. Maybe a bit harsh looking back but I genuinely think he is an impact Champ player at best. I don't think this move will come back to bite us.

[West Stand Man]

Weds fans are creaming themselves over his signing. He looked average at Championship level at best for us. Will be interesting to see how he does this season. Good luck to him.

Like the vast majority of players in the Championship you mean? He will do fine as he does sit, currently, in the middle of the Championship players in terms of performance. I suspect that he has the raw potential to do better than that given a run in a good team but he is clearly surplus to our needs right now and this is good business for both him and Reading (and, of course, Wednesday).

[Madji]

I agree with Stranded, this is a great bit of business for Reading. Yes he had a good season at Wednesday, but that was in League One. To get the reported £700,000 (£1 million + including add-ons) is excellent! I was unfortunate enough to watch Wednesday a couple of times last year when visiting friends, and it wasn't pretty!!!! Antonio must seem like Pele to their fans, as all I saw from their other players was hoof ball. Almost their entire squad is over 6 foot, and their main tactic was to boot the ball over the midfield into the box and hope one of the giants makes contact. Not pretty, and they concede a lot of fouls. Good luck Michail, and thanks for the cash, but I think you'll face a much harder test against Championship teams who are used to bully boy tactics

[melonhead]

In fact, I'll say it here and now - Michail Antonio will be a Premier League player within the next five years.

not sure RFC disagree with your assessment of his talent. but you cant hold a player back for 5 years, just cos you reckon he may be good enough then

[Walkley_Owl]

I agree with Stranded, this is a great bit of business for Reading. Yes he had a good season at Wednesday, but that was in League One. To get the reported £700,000 (£1 million + including add-ons) is excellent! I was unfortunate enough to watch Wednesday a couple of times last year when visiting friends, and it wasn't pretty!!!! Antonio must seem like Pele to their fans, as all I saw from their other players was hoof ball. Almost their entire squad is over 6 foot, and their main tactic was to boot the ball over the midfield into the box and hope one of the giants makes contact. Not pretty, and they concede a lot of fouls. Good luck Michail, and thanks for the cash, but I think you'll face a much harder test against Championship teams who are used to bully boy tactics

The games you attended, were they in the Megson era? Because as you rightly said that was mainly hoofball and percentage football, it wasn't fun to watch by any stretch of the imagination, in fact at times it was bloody awful but somehow it got us in the top 3 of the division, Megson signed Michail on loan (we ahd wanted him in November but his missus was heavily pregnant) and he played 14 games for us, in that time we did a Reading-esque run of 11 wins and 3 draws to help us win promotion, from when Dave Jones took over we tried to play football and it worked, we are not a hoofball side, we do have some big lads still but we try and play it on the deck.

[plroyals]

Antonio has the potential to become a very good championship player or a premiership player and if he achieves that we could regret selling him, similar to simon cox. but if he stayed at Reading he would not reach this potential as he needs a run of games in the championship for a whole season and Sheffield Wednesday are the ideal club for him. in my opinion this deal is a very good one for all involved and i wish Antonio all the best and hope he reaches this potential.

[Kitsondinho]

I agree with Stranded, this is a great bit of business for Reading. Yes he had a good season at Wednesday, but that was in League One. To get the reported £700,000 (£1 million + including add-ons) is excellent! I was unfortunate enough to watch Wednesday a couple of times last year when visiting friends, and it wasn't pretty!!!! Antonio must seem like Pele to their fans, as all I saw from their other players was hoof ball. Almost their entire squad is over 6 foot, and their main tactic was to boot the ball over the midfield into the box and hope one of the giants makes contact. Not pretty, and they concede a lot of fouls. Good luck Michail, and thanks for the cash, but I think you'll face a much harder test against Championship teams who are used to bully boy tactics

The games you attended, were they in the Megson era? Because as you rightly said that was mainly hoofball and percentage football, it wasn't fun to watch by any stretch of the imagination, in fact at times it was bloody awful but somehow it got us in the top 3 of the division, Megson signed Michail on loan (we ahd wanted him in November but his missus was heavily pregnant) and he played 14 games for us, in that time we did a Reading-esque run of 11 wins and 3 draws to help us win promotion, from when Dave Jones took over we tried to play football and it worked, we are not a hoofball side, we do have some big lads still but we try and play it on the deck.

REALLY??? I live in Chesterfield and have many mates who are Wednesday fans....As a result I saw you under both Megson and Jones.....You may not play as many long balls as you did under Megson, but it is still very direct. In fact Antonio fits in perfectly because his main asset is his pace. He boots the ball in front of him and then legs it after it....he was found out doing that at Championship level for us and you'll be seeing a similar sort of thing this season.

[Walkley_Owl]

I agree with Stranded, this is a great bit of business for Reading. Yes he had a good season at Wednesday, but that was in League One. To get the reported £700,000 (£1 million + including add-ons) is excellent! I was unfortunate enough to watch Wednesday a couple of times last year when visiting friends, and it wasn't pretty!!!! Antonio must seem like Pele to their fans, as all I saw from their other players was hoof ball. Almost their entire squad is over 6 foot, and their main tactic was to boot the ball over the midfield into the box and hope one of the giants makes contact. Not pretty, and they concede a lot of fouls. Good luck Michail, and thanks for the cash, but I think you'll face a much harder test against Championship teams who are used to bully boy tactics

The games you attended, were they in the Megson era? Because as you rightly said that was mainly hoofball and percentage football, it wasn't fun to watch by any stretch of the imagination, in fact at times it was bloody awful but somehow it got us in the top 3 of the division, Megson signed Michail on loan (we ahd wanted him in November but his missus was heavily pregnant) and he played 14 games for us, in that time we did a Reading-esque run of 11 wins and 3 draws to help us win promotion, from when Dave Jones took over we tried to play football and it worked, we are not a hoofball side, we do have some big lads still but we try and play it on the deck.

REALLY??? I live in Chesterfield and have many mates who are Wednesday fans....As a result I saw you under both Megson and Jones.....You may not play as many long balls as you did under Megson, but it is still very direct. In fact Antonio fits in perfectly because his main asset is his pace. He boots the ball in front of him and then legs it after it....he was found out doing that at Championship level for us and you'll be seeing a similar sort of thing this season.

After the Megson era anything other than percentage football is deemed as non hoofball. I actually don't think we are direct and on Saturday against West Brom and the game against you lot in Portugal we were playing it out from the back.

I went to pretty much every game, I would be able to notice the difference in styles.

[peterroyal76]

Good luck Michail, you didn't get too many chances but you didn't really take the ones you had.

[genome]

A Reading fan complaining about watching a team play direct football? Priceless.

[melonhead]

Antonio has the potential to become a very good championship player or a premiership player and if he achieves that we could regret selling him, similar to simon cox. but if he stayed at Reading he would not reach this potential as he needs a run of games in the championship for a whole season and Sheffield Wednesday are the ideal club for him. in my opinion this deal is a very good one for all involved and i wish Antonio all the best and hope he reaches this potential.

nothing ive seen from cox since says to me that we made the wrong decision.
i doubt we have here either, but this is about him, and his career, and we are doing teh right thing for that.

[Pepe the Horseman]

lol @ all the people on twitter crying because Antonio hasn't thanked anyone at Reading.

[Royal Rother]

I'll say it here and now - Antonio will never be a Premiership player.

[RockheadRumple]

I'll say it here and now - Antonio will never be a Premiership player.

I'll be happy to bump this comment in a few years.

[Royal Rother]

Yeah sure. I look forward to it.