New signing today

[Rawlie19]

Also, apparently he is Malian so he could be away for the African Nations Cup

How can he be from Mali if he was born in Orleans, France?

Parentage? I don't know this for certain, just saying that's how.

[zac naloen]

They were already developed by previous clubs, I would say Shorey is the only one we could probably lay claim to. Harper and Sidders were kids at Arsenal

But Sidwell and Harper have both improved immensely during their time here. I'd call that development.

[Stranded]

Also, apparently he is Malian so he could be away for the African Nations Cup

How can he be from Mali if he was born in Orleans, France?

Same way Freddie Kanoute is despite being born in Lyon, France.

[SpaceCruiser]

Also, apparently he is Malian so he could be away for the African Nations Cup

How can he be from Mali if he was born in Orleans, France?

Same as Harper can come from Ghana and Kitson from Ireland

Except that they said they're not exactly from there and said they won't play for those countries. Sonko can't say the same.

[Stranded]

Also, apparently he is Malian so he could be away for the African Nations Cup

How can he be from Mali if he was born in Orleans, France?

Same as Harper can come from Ghana and Kitson from Ireland

Except that they said they're not exactly from there and said they won't play for those countries. Sonko can't say the same.

As is their choice - doesn't make them any less eligible.

[ScottishRoyal]

They were already developed by previous clubs, I would say Shorey is the only one we could probably lay claim to. Harper and Sidders were kids at Arsenal

But Sidwell and Harper have both improved immensely during their time here. I'd call that development.

Yes, but they've had 4 and 5 years respectively to develop with us in lower leagues. You can't give players time to do that in the Prem, the players have to be up to standard already. And buying players from abroad is far cheaper than domestic talents, and this is indicative of the way things are going or smaller Prem clubs with lower budgets.

Cisse cost about £700'000, someone like Jagielka would probably be £5-6m.

[Rawlie19]

Also, apparently he is Malian so he could be away for the African Nations Cup

How can he be from Mali if he was born in Orleans, France?

Same as Harper can come from Ghana and Kitson from Ireland

Except that they said they're not exactly from there and said they won't play for those countries. Sonko can't say the same.

Oh give it a rest. People have different ideas of what they're willing to do to play football for a country. Some people also don't hate the French as much as you. Shocking, I know.

[Huntley & Palmer]

They were already developed by previous clubs, I would say Shorey is the only one we could probably lay claim to. Harper and Sidders were kids at Arsenal

But Sidwell and Harper have both improved immensely during their time here. I'd call that development.

Sidwell has not come on leaps and bounds from when he first joined IMHO, I just think he has settled into the player that he always would have been if he was given the opportunity. Harper went backwards under Pardew and hasn't been the same player since for me, we seem to have converted him to a more holding, link from defence to the wings role. You don't have the luxury of that amount of time to make the grade in this league

[ScottishRoyal]

As I said I'm talking of local as being British/Irish

I have a real problem with this attitude of 'Ireland is part of the UK really'. Someone who comes from the Republic of Ireland is no more 'local' in the sense of being a British Citizen (which is what I think you mean) than is someone from France. Reading is closer to Paris than Dublin, and they're both in foreign lands.

Not having a go at you Hoop Blah, it just irritates the hell out of me when the media insist on giving us all the news from the RoI camp at things like the World Cup, while ignoring other countries.

Whilst i'd agree that the ROI isn't 'local', i'm happy for ROI rugby / football / whatever other fixtures or interviews are shown on TV here as so many British people have family ties with Ireland.

[Mr Angry]

This looks like a piece of business which we wouldn't have been able to conclude at this time last Year, and is the first sign that our performances on the pitch are going to open the doors for new players to come in who can raise the standards even further at the Mad Stad.

I have never seen the guy play, but frankly if Sir Steve rates the guy enough to convince Mr Mad to splash the cash, then thats good enough for me.

[Skyline]

As I said I'm talking of local as being British/Irish

I'm curious as to how someone from the Republic of Ireland is more 'local' than someone from France. They're both from foreign countries, and Paris is closer to Reading than Dublin is.

(Damn, ScottishRoyal managed to quote my previous version of this message, which was a lot more bitter sounding than I intended).

[zac naloen]

You don't have the luxury of that amount of time to make the grade in this league

I wasn't disputing this point, only that we haven't got any developed young players.


I'd say Doyle is a player with masses of potential given the opportunity to flourish. We haven't made Doyle who he is he did that through his own hard work, he was already very good when we bought him.

The only one of the recent crop (those who have broken through from the reserves) we could claim to have developed is Shane Long, natural but very raw talent when we got him. He's not the finished article yet but he's not far off it and that's very much due to Readings training.

[Seal]

This looks like a piece of business which we wouldn't have been able to conclude at this time last Year, and is the first sign that our performances on the pitch are going to open the doors for new players to come in who can raise the standards even further at the Mad Stad.

I have never seen the guy play, but frankly if Sir Steve rates the guy enough to convince Mr Mad to splash the cash, then thats good enough for me.

Agree with that. Think that our performances this season mean that players (foreign especially) will take us more seriously.

This means they will want to come and play for us, rather then hold us to ransom over salary demands and request relegation release clauses...

[Tinrib]

You don't have the luxury of that amount of time to make the grade in this league

I wasn't disputing this point, only that we haven't got any developed young players.


I'd say Doyle is a player with masses of potential given the opportunity to flourish. We haven't made Doyle who he is he did that through his own hard work, he was already very good when we bought him.

The only one of the recent crop (those who have broken through from the reserves) we could claim to have developed is Shane Long, natural but very raw talent when we got him. He's not the finished article yet but he's not far off it and that's very much due to Readings training.

Shane Long is at least two seasons away from being the finished article.

A lot of effort but little return would be my appraisal of him right now.

[MartinRdg]

This looks like a piece of business which we wouldn't have been able to conclude at this time last Year, and is the first sign that our performances on the pitch are going to open the doors for new players to come in who can raise the standards even further at the Mad Stad.

I have never seen the guy play, but frankly if Sir Steve rates the guy enough to convince Mr Mad to splash the cash, then thats good enough for me.

I agree with that and hoped we'd be able to attract better players if we stayed up. The fact we came 8th should be even better for the transfers than I hoped.

[Don Finch]

I'm curious as to how someone from the Republic of Ireland is more 'local' than someone from France. They're both from foreign countries, and Paris is closer to Reading than Dublin is.

Um, they speak English and don't smell of garlic.

Also, you don't really go on holiday to Ireland, you just go to Ireland, wheras I have holidayed in France before......QED

[Hoop Blah]

As I said I'm talking of local as being British/Irish

I'm curious as to how someone from the Republic of Ireland is more 'local' than someone from France. They're both from foreign countries, and Paris is closer to Reading than Dublin is.

(Damn, ScottishRoyal managed to quote my previous version of this message, which was a lot more bitter sounding than I intended).

Culture, history and migration, not to mention language.

As for their news etc being on the TV over here ScottishRoyal, thats just as likely down to the number of Irish and plastic paddy's over here than our interest in our 'brothers' accross the Irish Sea.

[SpaceCruiser]

Also, apparently he is Malian so he could be away for the African Nations Cup

How can he be from Mali if he was born in Orleans, France?

Same as Harper can come from Ghana and Kitson from Ireland

Except that they said they're not exactly from there and said they won't play for those countries. Sonko can't say the same.

Oh give it a rest. People have different ideas of what they're willing to do to play football for a country. Some people also don't hate the French as much as you. Shocking, I know.

So? I don't have a problem if you love the French so much, it's your choice. Quite what this has to do with where Sonko comes from, I don't know. He was born in Senegal, are you disputing this fact or more interested in what I think of the French?

[Hoop Blah]

They were already developed by previous clubs, I would say Shorey is the only one we could probably lay claim to. Harper and Sidders were kids at Arsenal

But Sidwell and Harper have both improved immensely during their time here. I'd call that development.

Sidwell has not come on leaps and bounds from when he first joined IMHO, I just think he has settled into the player that he always would have been if he was given the opportunity. Harper went backwards under Pardew and hasn't been the same player since for me, we seem to have converted him to a more holding, link from defence to the wings role. You don't have the luxury of that amount of time to make the grade in this league

I agree we can't afford to develop players in the first team like we have done over the last 5 years or so, thats part of the point I was making, I'll miss that part of RFC. We can however develop them within the club and using the loans system etc though, but thats a different subject really.

You can't have it both ways though. You say that Sidwell hasn't developed at Reading he's just become the player he always was. Well in that case we've allowed him to "settle into" that player but to think he's no better know than when he first signed is a little odd.

As for Harper, we've developed him into the player we needed to get the balance of the team right. That doesn't mean he's less of a player, just playing in a different role.

[Royalwaster]

He's not on YouTube so he must be rubbish. I'm off to the training ground to boo him, anyone wish to join me?