Lee Hendrie on trial at Reading FC

[Snowball]

There was no harm in it but at the same time it was always unlikely to be answer to our apparent problem because he hasn't been deemed good enough elsewhere.

The odd bit is the quote saying we had players who can already play in his position. So why bother looking at him, or why not just come out and say he wasn't better than what we already have instead of making out we don't actually need that kind of player.

Maybe the "good enough" players are (one of)


Jake Taylor.... gonna be good enough but a bit too young/untried?

Antonio....... gonna be good enough, but still a bit raw

Howard....... probably could do the job but perhaps preferred playing as-is

McAnuff...... could do a job but then needs to bring in a loan winger?


Or maybe also thinking 4-4-2 to include Hunt if he gets back to 100%

[glass half full]

Have Lee Hendrie and Robbie Williams ever been seen in the same room together?

[loyalroyal4life]

It certainly doesn't make sense bringing him in on trial with a view to a permanent deal when McDermott says we already have enough players that can play in that position. Odd.

Until McD saw him on trial, how could he really judge whether Hendrie was better than what we already have? If he had proved himself a better option, I suspect he would have actually been comparatively cheap - he's the one in need of a contract, after all.

Why does everyone always assume that there must be more to a story? We took a look at a player, because we lost nothing by doing it and potentially something to gain; in the end, we decided to explore different options instead. It's like taking a car for a test drive, and deciding that you do want a people carrier after all.

Spot on a trial is just that, for a player to prove his worth to earn a perm contract. Would have been stranger having a player on trial not with a view to a permanent deal. What would be the sense in that?

[Hoop Blah]

There was no harm in it but at the same time it was always unlikely to be answer to our apparent problem because he hasn't been deemed good enough elsewhere.

The odd bit is the quote saying we had players who can already play in his position. So why bother looking at him, or why not just come out and say he wasn't better than what we already have instead of making out we don't actually need that kind of player.

Maybe the "good enough" players are (one of)


Jake Taylor.... gonna be good enough but a bit too young/untried?

Antonio....... gonna be good enough, but still a bit raw

Howard....... probably could do the job but perhaps preferred playing as-is

McAnuff...... could do a job but then needs to bring in a loan winger?


Or maybe also thinking 4-4-2 to include Hunt if he gets back to 100%

...in which case we don't have players to play in his position OR we do, but he's just not good enough.

It was just an odd way to put it, but I'm sure it was just to avoid saying it wasn't worth taking him on because he isn't good enough.

Trailing players is fine. My only worry is that we were getting a bit desperate and we're leaving ourselves short with the current options (if we don't bring a loan player or two in). McDermott obviously had similar thoughts otherwise he wouldn't have looked at him so closely in the first place.

[Jeffers217]

Why the hell has Davies gone back out on loan as we now have just 1 fully fit centre midfielder, Howard, who is going to have to step up his game a hell of a lot?!?!?! Madness, this club fails to suprise me anymore

[Kitson12]

Karacan? All he's got is a black eye.
Zurab can play there, as he did for Georgia in the week.
Gunner should be fit for Palace according to the OS.

[Jeffers217]

Karacan? All he's got is a black eye.
Zurab can play there, as he did for Georgia in the week.
Gunner should be fit for Palace according to the OS.

Jem has a few niggles before the break as it was without the black eye- hopefully he will be back. But do you seriously think a midfield of Howard and an ageing Gunnarsson is going to see us challenge this season? Also, there should be no question about the centre back pairing now- Mills and Zurab are acres ahead of any of the others.

[Kitson12]

This season? When did I say that, and no I don't think we'd be able to, but Tabb will be back in a few weeks, we may get a few loan signings/permanents in January, so there isn't any reason to worry about it just yet. We're 4 games in FFS, give it 10 and see where we are before jumping on to the "oh this team is shit" bandwagon.

[Jeffers217]

This season? When did I say that, and no I don't think we'd be able to, but Tabb will be back in a few weeks, we may get a few loan signings/permanents in January, so there isn't any reason to worry about it just yet. We're 4 games in FFS, give it 10 and see where we are before jumping on to the "oh this team is shit" bandwagon.

I never said you said this season but your response seemed to imply that we have a plethora of players who can play at centre mid. In my opinion, the club are totally stupid, we have sold what 3/4 centre midfielders and not replaced with anyone. I rate Jem and Howard is an average player but they will get exposed in that centre without someone in front of them. I was hoping that Gylfi's departure would give a chance for Davies to stake a claim but no. And then Brian goes and says we are decent in that area, rubbish if you ask me. I wouldn't say I'm worrying, I'm just voicing the concerns of the majority of Reading fans who have seen the warning signs in the first 4 games, you muppet

[Hoop Blah]

Davies has gone because the club have told him he's not good enough to get in the team.

I'm guessing that Wycombe have made an offer and he's effectively now signed for them. We all know the club are trimming the wage bill and getting the squad back to a smaller number. We have Tabb, Howard, Karacan, Gunnarsson and Taylor all ahead of Davies in the pecking order so there just isn't any point in keeping a player we don't see as competitive in this league.

Tabbs obviously out for a few more weeks, but we've shown we're not bothered by short term weaknesses in the squad if it's the right thing to do financially (and for the exiting player).

[Kitson12]

This season? When did I say that, and no I don't think we'd be able to, but Tabb will be back in a few weeks, we may get a few loan signings/permanents in January, so there isn't any reason to worry about it just yet. We're 4 games in FFS, give it 10 and see where we are before jumping on to the "oh this team is shit" bandwagon.

I never said you said this season but your response seemed to imply that we have a plethora of players who can play at centre mid. In my opinion, the club are totally stupid, we have sold what 3/4 centre midfielders and not replaced with anyone. I rate Jem and Howard is an average player but they will get exposed in that centre without someone in front of them. I was hoping that Gylfi's departure would give a chance for Davies to stake a claim but no. And then Brian goes and says we are decent in that area, rubbish if you ask me. I wouldn't say I'm worrying, I'm just voicing the concerns of the majority of Reading fans who have seen the warning signs in the first 4 games, you muppet

Since when was 4 games long enough to establish genuine concerns over the state of this team?

[Jeffers217]

This season? When did I say that, and no I don't think we'd be able to, but Tabb will be back in a few weeks, we may get a few loan signings/permanents in January, so there isn't any reason to worry about it just yet. We're 4 games in FFS, give it 10 and see where we are before jumping on to the "oh this team is shit" bandwagon.

I never said you said this season but your response seemed to imply that we have a plethora of players who can play at centre mid. In my opinion, the club are totally stupid, we have sold what 3/4 centre midfielders and not replaced with anyone. I rate Jem and Howard is an average player but they will get exposed in that centre without someone in front of them. I was hoping that Gylfi's departure would give a chance for Davies to stake a claim but no. And then Brian goes and says we are decent in that area, rubbish if you ask me. I wouldn't say I'm worrying, I'm just voicing the concerns of the majority of Reading fans who have seen the warning signs in the first 4 games, you muppet

Since when was 4 games long enough to establish genuine concerns over the state of this team?

How many games have you seen this season mate?

[Kitson12]

How many games have you seen this season mate?

All of them. Yes, there are areas of weakness, but it was always going to be difficult to replicate what we had in the last months of last season. We'll see how we are on Saturday, I see improvement rather than the team getting worse.

[Jeffers217]

How many games have you seen this season mate?

All of them. Yes, there are areas of weakness, but it was always going to be difficult to replicate what we had in the last months of last season. We'll see how we are on Saturday, I see improvement rather than the team getting worse.

How was it going to be hard mate? All we needed to do was sign Kish, sign a decent forward and keep Sig and we would have been promotion hopefuls. Granted the Sig was always going to go but if you look at those games so far, I would say we should have won them all, but tell me where the goals are going to come from? We've replaced a 20+ goal a season man with who? Howard will grab a goal occasionally, same with Jobi, Karacan's job is not to score, and then we have goal shy strikers low on confidence. I am happy that Brian has identified that we needed to strengthen the defence which we have now done, but what is a lot more worrying now is the fact that he has painted over the cracks up front by saying we have people who can do the job. Is it me or are we pinning a hell of a lot of hope on Noel Hunt? I can't fault the players for their effort, but I can fault the club for the lack of quality we have on the pitch. I didn't even want us to sign Hendrie, I'm just worried that the same thing will happen this season as the last. We'll act as though everything is rosey and then wait until 20 games in and we're down near the relegation zone before reacting to the issue. If we were proactive throughout the summer, I imagine we will be challenging. Not saying we're not going to, but I'm not getting optimistic

[Hoop Blah]

How many games have you seen this season mate?

All of them. Yes, there are areas of weakness, but it was always going to be difficult to replicate what we had in the last months of last season. We'll see how we are on Saturday, I see improvement rather than the team getting worse.

We might only be a handful of games into this season but having watched the majority of this squad for a number of years I don't need to see them much this year to have a good idea on the stennghts, weaknesses and prospects for this season.

[Jeffers217]

How many games have you seen this season mate?

All of them. Yes, there are areas of weakness, but it was always going to be difficult to replicate what we had in the last months of last season. We'll see how we are on Saturday, I see improvement rather than the team getting worse.

We might only be a handful of games into this season but having watched the majority of this squad for a number of years I don't need to see them much this year to have a good idea on the stennghts, weaknesses and prospects for this season.

And would you say there are certain warning signs that the team has shown? Or would you go down with the opinion that everything is rosey like a lot of our fans would?

[sheshnu]

Not many of the players have been playing in the first team for a 'number of years' - and we'll probably see a line up on Saturday that we've never seen before.

I feel the squad is good enough to do alright in the division but wouldn't say I have a 'good idea' about a group of players who haven't actually been together all that long.

[Hoop Blah]

The only players from our likely starting XI that I've not seen play at least 30 to 40 times are Kishanishvili and Williams.

I've seen enough of Kish to know he's more than capable at this level, and I can see that Williams is going to struggle in the short term but that he may come good if he can settle in. Harte used to be ok but I'm not convinced he'll be able to cope at this level as a fullback any more.

Personally I think we're short of being a good side. We have no forward who consistently scores goals and no forward naturally adept at holding up the ball. Our midfield is packed full of average to mediocre players, none of which really have the ability or gumption to take a game by the scruff of the neck.

The dynamic of the squad may have changed a little, and that can make quite a difference (see last season), but essentially it comes down to the quality and application of the players.

I think we're lacking.

[sheshnu]

We're not the best team in the division, but I think there are fans of a lot of other clubs making similar complaints. If you think that this team will struggle then perhaps you are overstating the abilities of some other teams; are we really worse than teams like Crystal Palace and Leicester..?

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Jeffers217]

The only players from our likely starting XI that I've not seen play at least 30 to 40 times are Kishanishvili and Williams.

I've seen enough of Kish to know he's more than capable at this level, and I can see that Williams is going to struggle in the short term but that he may come good if he can settle in. Harte used to be ok but I'm not convinced he'll be able to cope at this level as a fullback any more.

Personally I think we're short of being a good side. We have no forward who consistently scores goals and no forward naturally adept at holding up the ball. Our midfield is packed full of average to mediocre players, none of which really have the ability or gumption to take a game by the scruff of the neck.

The dynamic of the squad may have changed a little, and that can make quite a difference (see last season), but essentially it comes down to the quality and application of the players.

I think we're lacking.

I agree, we definately have more of a team spirit about us at the moment which is good but you hit the nail on the head when you said it comes down to the quality of the players which is something we do lack. Yes we are better than Palace and Leicester as a whole but then they have players we don't have. Palace have Ambrose (admittedly not playing 2moro) who can hit a good few goals from centre mid- we don't have one of those now. Leicester have Fryatt who's gonna score goals, again we lack a prolific striker. What good is it in having a really good defence, if we have no one who can score goals to win the games?!