SIGNED - Hope Akpan

[Woodcote Royal]

I'm more excited about this than I would be by signing a 32 year old prem mercenary here to pick up his final pay packet and wouldn't really contribute anything to our team. Because, let's be honest, any players with experience at this level who would be good enough to single handedly keep us up will have no desire to join us unless we offer seriously silly money.

Nail on head

The last thing we need is the next Ray Houghton

[moo]

Didn't McD say about getting the right person with the right personality etc etc - and so far we have a homophobic League 2 player and a bloke from Portugal who has only played 6 minutes so far this season. Cool.

Maybe they are both really bubble people.

[Thou Voice]

No, no.

When Balding Guy V2 was talking about "Premiership Ambitions" you all missed the words "Blue Square"...

...I cannot believe that you lot still support the management after the progress so far in this transfer window.

No - time to take off those glasses - chill back with a bottle of Royals House Wine and admit, we're shit...

Do You See?

[ManchesterRoyals]

This signing has championship written all over it

Come on Reading prove me and some others wrong and a least sign a couple of decent players that might give us a fighting chance of staying in the Prem PLEASE

[Scutterbucketz]

Fukk this signing!

If we don't get in at least 2 players capable of going straight into the team in this window then it will the limpest most laughable attempt at Premier League survival I've ever seen.

[Eaststandman]

I'm more excited about this than I would be by signing a 32 year old prem mercenary here to pick up his final pay packet and wouldn't really contribute anything to our team. Because, let's be honest, any players with experience at this level who would be good enough to single handedly keep us up will have no desire to join us unless we offer seriously silly money.

Nail on head

The last thing we need is the next Ray Houghton

Agreed if we are building for the future rather than becoming hostages to outrageous fortune!

[blythspartan]

He is now our player so lets welcome him and give him our support. Hopefully, we may bring in 1 or 2 more with premiership experience but if players don't want to come here there is not a lot BM etc. can do about that.

[Thou Voice]

This signing has championship written all over it

Which one ?

Fifa 13 Ultimate Team Championship ?

This is beyond a joke now from this once pretty good club...

Do You See?

[RobRoyal]

Didn't McD say about getting the right person with the right personality etc etc - and so far we have a homophobic League 2 player and a bloke from Portugal who has only played 6 minutes so far this season. Cool.

We shouldn't rule out the possibility that McD is a massive homophobe and this is what he means by the 'right personality.'

Akpan in, Church out... Am I right?

[Big Ern]

I'm more excited about this than I would be by signing a 32 year old prem mercenary here to pick up his final pay packet and wouldn't really contribute anything to our team. Because, let's be honest, any players with experience at this level who would be good enough to single handedly keep us up will have no desire to join us unless we offer seriously silly money.

Does every player beyond the age of 32 with Prem experience become a mercenary? I think not, but if that is how you want to justify to yourself that signing a league 1 player deemed not good enough by Everton is a positive step for the club, then thats just super.

For me, I am not too excited about this as if he goes straight into the match day squad it shows nothng has changed and we are still on a League 1 budget. If he is just a low risk speculative singing for the future, then there are no guarantees and it will be a while before we see any benefit if any.

[Avon Royal]

Nothing wrong with making a signing for the future - no need for premier league experience where we're going.

The club have never shown any realistic ambition of staying up this year, it would be naive in the extreme to expect them to start now.

Go up, trouser the tv money, get relegated - it's the Reading Way.

[pea]

Didn't McD say about getting the right person with the right personality etc etc - and so far we have a homophobic League 2 player and a bloke from Portugal who has only played 6 minutes so far this season. Cool.

Maybe they are both really bubble people.

[Avon Royal]

^

RFC dressing room 2013/2014 season.

[ManchesterRoyals]

Nothing wrong with making a signing for the future - no need for premier league experience where we're going.

The club have never shown any realistic ambition of staying up this year, it would be naive in the extreme to expect them to start now.

Go up, trouser the tv money, get relegated - it's the Reading Way.

Well BM thinks we still got what it takes to survive

But if were going to stay up we should be signing better players than this

[akranes]

Willing to give him a chance. However, not so keen on his past.

Could be brilliant, or could be the next Manset.

[Ian Royal]

Well I'm pleased with this even if you lot aren't.

http://www.player.readingfc.co.uk/lates ... First-Half

Worth watching this if you have player.

Calm, confident and assured on the ball, strong, quick..

Looks to be everything we've been lacking in midfield this season.

Welcome Hope.

I wish you hadn't posted that. That was a pretty dire 45 minutes of football.

I thought the game bypassed Akpan for large swathes of that 45 minutes and in amongst a handful of shows of potential (ok passing, strength and calmness) he was largely pedestrian and like a League One version of Leigertwood. Which would probably explain why McDermott likes him. Obviously you can't judge a player on 45 minutes of football from one dodgy camera angle, but watching that has made me question whether he's got what it takes to play more than a bit part in the Championship next year for us, let alone play in the top flight.

To be perfectly honest, if there was one midfielder I'd want to play for us having watched that 45 minutes it would be Tabb, and Tabb alone.

[jellytot]

Hopes are not high ;0)

Guess it is part of Operation Championship.

[royalp-we]

If this was one for the future then I wouldn't care but, from OS article, McDermott says: "He's 21 and is a player we feel can play at this level." Bullshit.

How do you know it's bullshit?

Ok, I don't know it's bullshit BUT I do think it's unlikely a player could jump straight from League 1 to Premier League and to have confidence in it, rather than it just being a possibility, is bullshit.
Basically, I'll be quite miffed if McDermott decides to play him ahead of any of the other senior midfielders at the club.

Why would you be miffed? Have you seen lwood's performances this season? This lad was at Everton, training with the likes of Arteta, Cahill, Bilyaletdinov, Osman etc. He's only 21 now and ok that was a couple of years ago, but it's been reported we have been watching him a while, so the management haven't judged him solely on his F.A cup appearance against us.

It puts pressure on Karacan and Guthrie, who we know can be comfortable at this level, so lets 'Hope' this signing kicks them all up the arse.

Now for Rogic and a quick full back. Christ knows who some of you think we can attract having won 2 games all season & being in the position that we are! Wake up!

Welcome Hope!

[West Stand Flash]

[[b]quote="Colin Cheeselog"][quote="Big Ern"]If this is one of the "2 or 3" players Brian said he was trying to sign, the this is absolutely pathetic from the club and confirms we are not even going to try to stay up.[/quote]

You're right, absolutely disgraceful. How dare the club take the low risk strategy of signing a promising young player for the future for a small fee, on low wages.

Signing a young promising player and a more experienced one are mutually exclusive, the two things just can’t happen, that would be a physical impossibility. No football club has ever signed more than two players in one transfer window.

We should be throwing money at washed up has-beens instead, with no care paid to the future, that’s what we all want to see, following the Portsmouth model.[/quote]

I understand your point, and if this is a speculative low risk signing for the future, then great. My point is that Brian has said we need some established players with Prem experience to come in, and Hope Akpan is certainly not that. I agreed we do not want washed up has beens who are only here for the money, but we do need some more established players to come in if we are at least to stand a remote chance of staying up. I am 99.9% sure we are going down, however I do not want us to give up fighting with plenty of games still to play. If these are the signings we are going to make, it appears we have given up already and that will make many supporters lose heart.[/quote]

RTG'S in full flow here. Congratulations.

[RedRum]

at most of this board.

Most of you have never even seen the guy play, even if more than 90 mins, and you are writing him off. Those who have, I.e. the Crawley fans, mostly believe he will be a solid prem player, if not already.

And that we are showing no ambition and slating the management for a terrible transfer window. It's 8 days in and we've signed Sporting Lisbon's captain and a promising young midfielder. This time last year I think we had only signed Karl Sheppard?
If we sign 2 players every 8 days we'll sign another 6 players this window. Now that's unlikely, but who's saying we're not going to sign these prem experienced/quality players you're all shouting for?

I for one will be welcoming our new players and not judging their ability until I've seen them play a few times.