You're Reading manager for the Jan transfer window

[andrew1957]

what is all the guff about signing austin, pigtown have already said they wont sell for any less than £1.5 million.. you can almost hear SJM trembling at the very notion.

we'd be lucky if we brought in a player a quarter of that value the way the clubs purse is run

Hull have offered £1.2 million. We should be able to match that with the Long money.

Why on earth would we sell Long when he is arguably the best striker in the Championship?

[Snowball]

I don' understand that. I'm saying we need THREE players to be "easily top five" and a fourth player to get automatic.

That's hardly "optimistic, unless you mean believing we'll GET THEM is optimistic.

Yes I did mean you were being optimistic that we would sign 3 players. I think 2 is the most we will see - one of which being Legs. I think two would be enough to most likely get us a play off place BUT I suspect we will sign Legs and no one else.

Ah, right. I think we'll sign Elwood, and it's 50/50 we'll go for a striker...

[Snowball]

No we don't have one, he is stil on loan.

And in my book one is one, two is two, three is three, if you get my drift

Come on Wyc. We are talking about disruption. Elwood is already bedded in

[UpNorth]

We are all desparately hoping for another striker but it seems unlikely that SJM would fork out £1.2m for Austin (it could be more if other clubs really want him).

Other options - well there are other stikers out there such as Torquay's Benyon who is strongly tipped to be leaving in the transfer window (but not the tall target player - he is more like Hunt). Adam le Fondre from Rotherham would be worth a punt and surely cheaper than Austin.

Alternatively why not go for another up and coming talent - Anthony Grant at Southend. There are strong rumours that he is going to a Championship club. A gifted player who is now scoring goals from midfield. He would be availabe for £200k - sounds a real bargain and typical of the sort of player Reading would be looking for. We were interested earler this year so a possible outside bet..

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

what is all the guff about signing austin, pigtown have already said they wont sell for any less than £1.5 million.. you can almost hear SJM trembling at the very notion.

we'd be lucky if we brought in a player a quarter of that value the way the clubs purse is run

Hull have offered £1.2 million. We should be able to match that with the Long money.

How the fcuk can Hull offer £1.2 million when they clearly don't have the money, and are in a pile of financial shit?
Did they even pay us the money they owe for Hunt?!?
This just provokes me endlessly.

Winds me up too. They still owe us money for Hunt - we let them reschedule the payments, along with several other clubs also owed millions.

Seeing them spend the money like this is simply pissing all over the clubs they owe. How difficult is it to come up with a league rule that states that once a club's debts to other clubs reaches a certain amount, no incoming transfers will be permitted?

[facaldaqui]

We are all desparately hoping for another striker but it seems unlikely that SJM would fork out £1.2m for Austin (it could be more if other clubs really want him).

I'm not sure he'd fork out anything. On the Football League Show they said Birmingham are rumoured to have offered £2 million for Austin.

At the least, I wish Mooney could be added to the first team squad till the end of the season. McD clearly doesn't rate him, but I only saw him once (in the League Cup) and I was taken aback by his potential.

[facaldaqui]

what is all the guff about signing austin, pigtown have already said they wont sell for any less than £1.5 million.. you can almost hear SJM trembling at the very notion.

we'd be lucky if we brought in a player a quarter of that value the way the clubs purse is run

Hull have offered £1.2 million. We should be able to match that with the Long money.

Crikey, have they? What do they want Austin for when they've just signed Fryatt for £1.2 million?

[RoyalBlue]

what is all the guff about signing austin, pigtown have already said they wont sell for any less than £1.5 million.. you can almost hear SJM trembling at the very notion.

we'd be lucky if we brought in a player a quarter of that value the way the clubs purse is run

Hull have offered £1.2 million. We should be able to match that with the Long money.

How the fcuk can Hull offer £1.2 million when they clearly don't have the money, and are in a pile of financial shit?
Did they even pay us the money they owe for Hunt?!?
This just provokes me endlessly.

Unless I am mistaken, their former chairman actually walked the talk and sold the club to some guys who have decent money and are prepared to invest (or as the Madejski fan boys would say 'lose') it in the football club they have bought.

The guys at BBCRB were spot on yesterday when they all stated that this transfer window will really show what level of real ambition Madejski has for RFC.

£1.5M for Austin, probably a steal given the price that proven goalscorers command. Madejski is clearly living on a different planet if he thinks we can pick up anyone decent for less than that sort of price.

Tommy Smith here we come again!

[Snowball]

Tommy Smith here we come again!

5 goals in his last 36 appearances

[andrew1957]

I suspect that £2M for Austin could well turn out to be a great investment as there are grounds for thinking he is the real deal. Swindon fans certainly seem to think so - the general view is that he is much better than Cox.

BUT sadly I doubt the Chairman will agree and so he will undoubtedly go elsewhere.

I hope for his sake that he does not go to Brum as the step up from League 1 to PL in one go is just too big and it will most likely damage his career - like it has for so many young strikers before. Lower league players that do well are usually ones that go to and get promoted with Championship sides and are already well established in their team before they start to play in the PL. Doyle would be a great example of this.

[Pseud O'Nym]

Unless I am mistaken, their former chairman actually walked the talk and sold the club to some guys who have decent money and are prepared to invest (or as the Madejski fan boys would say 'lose') it in the football club they have bought.

I would guess that RFC has somewhat greater value than the £1 that Assem Allam paid for Hull. The previous owner had bankrupted the club and his only choices were liquidation or giving it away.

I hope for the sake of Hull City fans that Allam succeeds in getting the club back on a solid financial footing, but he is not hugely rich in club owning terms, though he probably has better liquidity than SJM.

[Big Foot]

If/when we paid the supposed £1.5M asking price for Austin, it'd be a massive £1.5M sized egg on Nicky Hammond's face.

[RoyalBlue]

Tommy Smith here we come again!

5 goals in his last 36 appearances

No a chairman who, for reasons only known to himself, seems to believe that clubs should sell their players to us for less than others are prepared to pay.

No wonder he likes talk - as they say 'talk comes cheap'!

Unless I am mistaken, their former chairman actually walked the talk and sold the club to some guys who have decent money and are prepared to invest (or as the Madejski fan boys would say 'lose') it in the football club they have bought.

I would guess that RFC has somewhat greater value than the £1 that Assem Allam paid for Hull. The previous owner had bankrupted the club and his only choices were liquidation or giving it away.

I hope for the sake of Hull City fans that Allam succeeds in getting the club back on a solid financial footing, but he is not hugely rich in club owning terms, though he probably has better liquidity than SJM.

Oh you are so right. RFC does have far greater value because the chairman has flogged most of our star assets to ensure it's debt free. And when (if) he does flog the club, where does the money go? To the guy who spouts off about genuine premier league ambition but spectacularly fails to put sufficient money where his mouth is.

[rhroyal]

I'd be surprised if we're willing to pay £1.5million for Austin, and to be honest there's no evidence coming from the club that we're even interested. If we sign Elwood on a permanent basis and keep the rest I will be content in the light of recent transfer windows and I think it's likely enough.

It would be a massive plus if the club surprise me and bring in another striker such as Austin. It's something I'd do if I was playing football manager and I had the funds. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that in real life.

[under the tin]

The guys at BBCRB were spot on yesterday when they all stated that this transfer window will really show what level of real ambition Madejski has for RFC.
Historically, JM has backed a loss making football club for the best part of 20 years. Proper money was put in to acquire players like Asaba at EP, Murty, Lita, etc, at the Madstad.
The difference today is the chairman has neither the will nor the money to continue to do this. The sale of the "star" players is not wholly about the club being debt free, it is also about the club running as a stand alone business, that does not require fiscal input from a chairman who can no longer afford it. It is for this reason that I believe that sales will continue, because Brian has to generate his own transfer kitty.

£1.5M for Austin, probably a steal given the price that proven goalscorers command. Madejski is clearly living on a different planet if he thinks we can pick up anyone decent for less than that sort of price.
If we pay proper money for anyone, frankly, I will be amazed. (Unless of course, it follows the departure of a Kebe, Long,etc.)Tommy Smith here we come again!

The thing is, this is a truly mediocre league.
IMHO, we are 2-3 players short of a real strong shot at promotion. Equally, take 2 or 3 of our flair players away, and we will slide towards the nether reaches of the division. It's that tight.

[RoyalBlue]

I'd be surprised if we're willing to pay £1.5million for Austin, and to be honest there's no evidence coming from the club that we're even interested. If we sign Elwood on a permanent basis and keep the rest I will be content in the light of recent transfer windows and I think it's likely enough.

It would be a massive plus if the club surprise me and bring in another striker such as Austin. It's something I'd do if I was playing football manager and I had the funds. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that in real life.

It doesn't work like that in real life at Reading FC.

Someone on the Get Reading site sums it up perfectly when they make the point that we are one of the most solvent clubs in the country being run like we are in administration.

[facaldaqui]

I'd be surprised if we're willing to pay £1.5million for Austin, and to be honest there's no evidence coming from the club that we're even interested. If we sign Elwood on a permanent basis and keep the rest I will be content in the light of recent transfer windows and I think it's likely enough.

It would be a massive plus if the club surprise me and bring in another striker such as Austin. It's something I'd do if I was playing football manager and I had the funds. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that in real life.

It doesn't work like that in real life at Reading FC.

Someone on the Get Reading site sums it up perfectly when they make the point that we are one of the most solvent clubs in the country being run like we are in administration.

Maybe the fact we're run like we're in administration is the reason we're one of the most solvent. A lot of fans here said they'd be happy with mid-table: that's what we've got--a reasonable team that's competitive at this level. You sign Austin for big money and what if it doesn't work? From being an investment, it becomes a millstone round your neck. And other players will start wanting the same money. The safe way to try and get promotion is the way we did it last time (and Burnley did and Blackpool did): hope that an inexpensive team clicks with the right manager.

[RoyalBlue]

I'd be surprised if we're willing to pay £1.5million for Austin, and to be honest there's no evidence coming from the club that we're even interested. If we sign Elwood on a permanent basis and keep the rest I will be content in the light of recent transfer windows and I think it's likely enough.

It would be a massive plus if the club surprise me and bring in another striker such as Austin. It's something I'd do if I was playing football manager and I had the funds. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that in real life.

It doesn't work like that in real life at Reading FC.

Someone on the Get Reading site sums it up perfectly when they make the point that we are one of the most solvent clubs in the country being run like we are in administration.

Maybe the fact we're run like we're in administration is the reason we're one of the most solvent. A lot of fans here said they'd be happy with mid-table: that's what we've got--a reasonable team that's competitive at this level. You sign Austin for big money and what if it doesn't work? From being an investment, it becomes a millstone round your neck. And other players will start wanting the same money. The safe way to try and get promotion is the way we did it last time (and Burnley did and Blackpool did): hope that an inexpensive team clicks with the right manager.

So we wait for another 100 years or so then?!! Because that's probably just about what the odds are on achieving another Coppell miracle season, let alone two in succession.

As has been mentioned before, it doesn’t have to be a forced choice between ‘spend till you bust’ or ‘act as though in administration’. There is a mid way of investing sensibly and realistically in order to achieve the declared objectives. I suspect that is all the majority of supporters are looking for.

[rg6royal]

Think we definitely need to get Taylor out on loan as he isn't ready yet but has great potential.

IN: Austin
Someone on loan - Perhaps another winger?

[leww_rfc]

IN: Leigertwood, Austin

OUT: Mooney, Williams, Taylor(Loan)