Summer Rebuild

[linkenholtroyal]

I have heard from a club source we have 2.5 million and 30 k in wages for the summer, sounds about right to me, but there could be up to 40 k in wages more if the 3 amigos leave and don't accept contracts

[linkenholtroyal]

Also appiah and mackie have been approached could that spell end for Blackman??

[Sutekh]

They both offer more than Blackman and he would benefit from a fresh challenge elsewhere (as would several others). Good idea if we can get them for the right price.

[Coppelled_Streets]

I have heard from a club source we have 2.5 million and 30 k in wages for the summer, sounds about right to me, but there could be up to 40 k in wages more if the 3 amigos leave and don't accept contracts

Those pesky kids in the ticket office can't keep nuffing to themselves.

[Sutekh]

From the GetReading site this morning...

Steve Clarke hopes to get most of his transfer business done early this summer.

Royals’ boss is expecting a busy few months and will spend the next few weeks travelling around Europe looking at some targets.

And by the time the 2015/16 campaign gets underway in early August, he would like have most of his squad in place.

Clarke said: “If they (transfers) happened early it would good.

“By and large, come July, you usually find you’re still working on your squad.

“But what we don’t want is to get to August and still be looking around trying to shape the squad.

“The quicker you shape it, the better.”

Reading’s manager, who has revealed the club will be jetting off for a pre-season tour to Thailand and Malaysia on July 5, added: “I’ve got plans to go and watch a few games because obviously other seasons are still going on.

“The next few weekends will be taken up by hopefully going out to watch some players.

“We’ve got one or two targets. We’ll see if we can go follow them up, go and look at them play.”

One player who could yet return to Madejski Stadium is striker Kwesi Appiah.

The 24-year-old, who scored in the 3-0 win at Derby on Saturday, has now returned to Crystal Palace.

Clarke says discussions will take place soon to determine his future and was full of praise for the forward following his short stay in Berkshire.

“Kwesi has been really good in the group,” said Clarke.

“He probably didn’t get the opportunities that he needed. But he showed in the first couple of minutes on Saturday what he can do.

“His finish was quality and he was a threat all the time. That is important. You need forwards who are a threat.”

[Snowball]

[b]

One player who could yet return to Madejski Stadium is striker Kwesi Appiah.

The 24-year-old, who scored in the 3-0 win at Derby on Saturday, has now returned to Crystal Palace.

Clarke says discussions will take place soon to determine his future and was full of praise for the forward following his short stay in Berkshire.

“Kwesi has been really good in the group,” said Clarke.

“He probably didn’t get the opportunities that he needed. But he showed in the first couple of minutes on Saturday what he can do.

“His finish was quality and he was a threat all the time. That is important. You need forwards who are a threat.”

Oh, Steve, Steve, don't you understand? 95% of HNA has already written
off this guy, and "after the first two minutes at Derby, he did nothing."


PS A very decent 1 goal in 217 minutes on the pitch for Reading

[Snowball]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/reading-fc-captain-jem-karacan-9172556

Snifter of a 'come and get me' from Karacan.

Or he's saying, "I need a two-year contract."

[Binfield Royal]

What if he has another two years without making appearances in the double figures?

Yes, it's sad, but they have to be cautious.

They could have written a contract stating a second year if he made X appearances in the first

After the Salako situation a few years ago, I don't think any player would sign a contract here with that stipulation in it.

I knew John Salako at the time and his contract said if he made 30 appearances, he would automatically qualify for a years contract extension on the same terms. The club stopped the manager (Coppell) from picking him after 29 appearances. So such clauses are only of any value if there is another clause saying the player must be selected if fit to play - and I don't think this ever happens...

[SCIAG]

A few years back we had Karacan, Pearce, Sigurdsson and others breaking though from the academy, It seems there was a gap between this and the next bunch who appeared this year - Is there a missing year of academy players? Did we release them that year or something or do we tactically do this?

Pearce, Karacan, Henry, Robson-Kanu, Church, and a few others finished their scholarships in 2007.
Then we have players coming through like this:
2008 - Sigurdsson, McCarthy
2009 - nobody of note (Mitchell Bryant and Jack Mills are the ones you might have heard of but both are now deep in non-league)
2010 - Taylor, Hector
2011 - D'Ath, Ugwu
2012 - Obita, Samuel, Edwards
2013 - Tanner, Tshibola, Cooper, Keown
2014 - Kuhl, Stacey, Fosu, etc.

So there was one "dry" year where for some reason nobody even made it to the first team bench,

I would suggest that the gap seems bigger than it actually was because of McDermott's promotion to first team manager. He continued to bed in players he'd managed in the reserves, but only gave fleeting appearances to the likes of Taylor and Obita.

I suspect producing 1-3 first teamers a year is a good baseline, with occasional years where five come through at once just being natural variation.

[Coppelled_Streets]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/reading-fc-captain-jem-karacan-9172556

Snifter of a 'come and get me' from Karacan.

Or he's saying, "I need a two-year contract."

He's being a bit greedy here IMO. He's only just returned from his second career threatening injury, it makes perfect sense the club only wants to offer a one-year deal until he proves he's over his injuries. We have to learn from previous mistakes at some point, and there should be no room for sentiment! Take the one-year, work your arse off for another deal, and be glad you're back playing.

[Sutekh]

A few years back we had Karacan, Pearce, Sigurdsson and others breaking though from the academy, It seems there was a gap between this and the next bunch who appeared this year - Is there a missing year of academy players? Did we release them that year or something or do we tactically do this?

Pearce, Karacan, Henry, Robson-Kanu, Church, and a few others finished their scholarships in 2007.
Then we have players coming through like this:
2008 - Sigurdsson, McCarthy
2009 - nobody of note (Mitchell Bryant and Jack Mills are the ones you might have heard of but both are now deep in non-league)
2010 - Taylor, Hector
2011 - D'Ath, Ugwu
2012 - Obita, Samuel, Edwards
2013 - Tanner, Tshibola, Cooper, Keown
2014 - Kuhl, Stacey, Fosu, etc.

So there was one "dry" year where for some reason nobody even made it to the first team bench,

I would suggest that the gap seems bigger than it actually was because of McDermott's promotion to first team manager. He continued to bed in players he'd managed in the reserves, but only gave fleeting appearances to the likes of Taylor and Obita.

I suspect producing 1-3 first teamers a year is a good baseline, with occasional years where five come through at once just being natural variation.

Some dispute over some of those dates but it's not surprising as some seem to have signed professional deals quite early and the talent that others are demonstrating get them noticed more than younger players who actually do have professional deals.

According to data I have the following is a list of when our Academy possibles signed their scholarship or first professional agreements

Liam Kelly >> 1 Jul 14
Aaron Kuhl >> 1 Jul 14
Daniel Lincoln >> 1 Jul 14
Sean Long >> 1 Jul 14
Andrija Novakovich >> 1 Jul 14
Jack Stacey >> 1 Jul 14
Jake Cooper >> 1 Jul 13
Tarique Fosu-Henry >> 1 Jul 13
Shane Griffin >> 1 Jul 13
Niall Keown >> 1 Jan 14
Stuart Moore >> 1 Jul 13
Craig Tanner >> 1 Jul 13
Aaron Tshibola >> 1 Jul 13
Jonathan Henly >> 1 Jul 12
Uche Ikpeazu >> 1 Jul 12
Matt Partridge >> 1 Jul 12
Dominic Samuel >> 1 Jul 12
Josh Shama >> 1 Jul 12
Ryan Edwards >> 1 Jul 11
John Goddard >> 1 Jul 11
Charlie Losasso >> 1 Jul 11
Angus MacDonald >> 1 Jul 11
Jack Mills >> 1 Jul 11
David Murphy >> 1 Jul 11
Frankie Raymond >> 1 Jul 11
Gozie Ugwu >> 1 Jul 11
Lawson D'Ath >> 1 Jul 10
Michael Hector >> 1 Jul 13
Danny Joyce >> 1 Jul 10
Carl McHugh >> 1 Jul 10
Jordan Obita >> 1 Jul 13
Jacob Walcott >> 1 Jul 10
Abdulai Bell-Baggie >> 1 Jul 09
Harry Harding >> 1 Jul 09
Simon Locke >> 1 Jul 09
Jake Taylor >> 1 Jul 09
Andy White >> 1 Jul 09
Nicholas Bignall >> 1 Jul 08
Kelvin Bossman >> 1 Jul 08
Julian Kelly >> 1 Jul 08
Gylfi Sigurdsson >> 1 Jul 08 (now with Swansea City)
Daniel Spence >> 1 Jul 08
Adam Bygrave >> 1 Jul 07
Mikkel Andersen >> 1 Jul 07
Viktor Ilugasson >> 1 Jul 07
Jem Karacan >> 1 Jul 07
Hal Robson-Kanu >> 1 Jul 07
Scott Davies >> 1 Jul 07
James Henry >> 1 Jul 06 (now with Wolves)
Alex Pearce >> 1 Jul 06
Curtis Ujah >> 1 Jul 06
Simon Cox >> 1 Jul 05
Ben Hamer >> 1 Jul 05 (now with Leicester City)
Curtis Osano >> 1 Jul 05
Jonny Hayes >> 1 Jul 04 (now with Aberdeen)

Aside from those still with us and the few noted above that are still in the professional game, nearly all of them are now in non league or abroad somewhere...

[Forbury Lion]

In my mind, they haven't graduated to the first team squad until they actually play. Getting a pro contract and squad number 40 before going out on loan to a lower division for a season isn't the same thing.

Personally, I don't think squad numbers should be assigned unless they are picked - It's not as if anyone other than their friends or family is going to buy a shirt with their name and number on.

[maffff]

Someone suggested Karacan for MK Dons. He only became available for us because of Wimbledon folding....

[Pepe the Horseman]

Joe Mattock's been released by Sheff Wed. He'd be decent cover at left back wouldn't he?

[Pepe the Horseman]

And Jamie Ward is leaving Derby. Always liked him.

[NewCorkSeth]

A cheeky bid for Jack Robinson? Not like the fake hoops will be able to turn down money

[Maguire]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/reading-fc-captain-jem-karacan-9172556

Snifter of a 'come and get me' from Karacan.

Or he's saying, "I need a two-year contract."

He's being a bit greedy here IMO. He's only just returned from his second career threatening injury, it makes perfect sense the club only wants to offer a one-year deal until he proves he's over his injuries. We have to learn from previous mistakes at some point, and there should be no room for sentiment! Take the one-year, work your arse off for another deal, and be glad you're back playing.

He's got to be practical here - if I was working on contract then I'd be looking for security rather than risk if it presented itself to me. If he takes a one-year contract then he'd be back in the same boat in 12 months time with no guarantee of anything.

If RFC are only prepared to offer a year due to their current outlook then that's fair enough, and if he gets a three year deal elsewhere then that's also fair enough. At the end of the day it's a negotiation and he'd be foolish to take the first crumb that's offered to him.

[Forbury Lion]

Jay Tabb from Ipswich after they go up and start letting players go?

[Woodley-RFC]

Reading plan to jet out on a pre-season tour to Thailand and Malaysia on July 5.

Steve Clarke has revealed Royals will spend 10 days in the two countries before flying home to continue their preparations for the 2015/16 Championship campaign.

“We’ve got a good tour lined up,” said Reading’s manager.

“It’s about 10 days in the far east. Thailand and Malaysia are two of the stops. It will be interesting. I’ve been there before and both countries are football mad.

“We look forward to going there. We can be showcased a bit, as the owners rightly want to show off their team in their own countries. It should be good.”

The tour will be very different to the type of pre-season trips Reading and their fans have been used to in recent years.

Last summer they didn’t go abroad due to the club’s financial troubles and the previous few years had seen them visit Portugal.

This time they will be heading far further afield, but Clarke is confident the trip will not have an adverse effect ahead of the new league season.

“Travelling now is quite straight forward,” he said. “It won’t effect our preparation.

“We’ll get a lot of good work in before we go, we’ll get good work in when we’re out there and then we’ll come back and get ourselves to a peak for the start of the season.

“As long as you know when and where you are going in pre-season, to prepare is easy.”

[SCIAG]

A few years back we had Karacan, Pearce, Sigurdsson and others breaking though from the academy, It seems there was a gap between this and the next bunch who appeared this year - Is there a missing year of academy players? Did we release them that year or something or do we tactically do this?

Pearce, Karacan, Henry, Robson-Kanu, Church, and a few others finished their scholarships in 2007.
Then we have players coming through like this:
2008 - Sigurdsson, McCarthy
2009 - nobody of note (Mitchell Bryant and Jack Mills are the ones you might have heard of but both are now deep in non-league)
2010 - Taylor, Hector
2011 - D'Ath, Ugwu
2012 - Obita, Samuel, Edwards
2013 - Tanner, Tshibola, Cooper, Keown
2014 - Kuhl, Stacey, Fosu, etc.

So there was one "dry" year where for some reason nobody even made it to the first team bench,

I would suggest that the gap seems bigger than it actually was because of McDermott's promotion to first team manager. He continued to bed in players he'd managed in the reserves, but only gave fleeting appearances to the likes of Taylor and Obita.

I suspect producing 1-3 first teamers a year is a good baseline, with occasional years where five come through at once just being natural variation.

Some dispute over some of those dates but it's not surprising as some seem to have signed professional deals quite early and the talent that others are demonstrating get them noticed more than younger players who actually do have professional deals.

According to data I have the following is a list of when our Academy possibles signed their scholarship or first professional agreements

Scholarships and first professional agreements are quite different things. Better, in my mind, to use when they become ineligible for the U18s (i.e. when they finish their scholarship), because that minimises both confusion and research and is easy to standardise.

Regardless of which measure you use, quite a few of your data are wrong. Lincoln is much older than Novakovich, for example. You use the year that Henry and Pearce agreed professional terms, but the year that Kuhl and Stacey's scholarships ended. I'm not sure some of those players actually signed pro terms for us.