Hammond telling porkies?

[Cookie]

It's a face-saving press release from the Cambridge Chairman.
He settled some while ago and is now privately kicking his own bottom for thinking that "injury prone" Kitson was worth £2M max.

[papereyes]

Maybe Kitson rang in to say he had cold feet?

Got a chill cycling to Stoke.

[The whole year inn]

leave the footbal to us kowledgeable ones

This is surely a wind up.

Someone had to

[The whole year inn]

Newcastle appointe Dennis Wise as DOF and I can agree with that but not Hammond.

[Arch]

I suppose it does if you don't want everyone to catch it. I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but I doubt we'll ever know the truth.

This is really the point isn't it. If you want to, you can insist the club is lying about all sorts of things, but in reality there's no hard evidence. People who jump on the lying bandwagon are simply showing their colours and no more. It doesn't add up to an argument. In fact the vast majority of what passes for discussion on this board these days is basically tribal posturing.

Seeing as how it has been established that the club did a deal with Cambridge earlier in the week, and that they must have given Stoke permission to talk to DK, it does stretch incredulity rather a bit too much to suggest they were completely in the dark at the time of snifflegate.

So you tell me, on the basis of all the available evidence, did Kitson call in and say he had a cold, or did the club make that up?

[Platypuss]

I'm not saying they were lying; I'm saying they were horribly economical with the truth. It's not what they did say, it's what they didn't say.

[papereyes]

Kitson may have had a cold, he may even have missed the game because he had a cold.

But he and the club had also sorted out all this while he had a cold.

Furthermore, it matters about this much

[RoyalBlue]

It matters a bit more than that because the club appear to want supporters to keep backing them with their cash but, at the same time, seem happy to continually give them the mushroom treatment.

[papereyes]

It matters a bit more than that because the club appear to want supporters to keep backing them with their cash but, at the same time, seem happy to continually give them the mushroom treatment.

I would suggest you assume they're lying all of the time until the player is in the shirt and falling over his own feet.

[Ian Royal]

To be fair, some quote I saw a few days ago said that "Kitson had rung in and said he had a cold" and Coppell had said they'd told him to stay home as they didn't want the rest of them catching the sniffles or something. Kitson could have told them he had a cold, except he didn't really. Or he could actually have had a cold, having a cold won't stop you going for an interview if you really want a job, nor will it make you fail a medical.

Come off it! RFC were fully aware that both they and Kitson were in the final stages of negotiations with Stoke and, by the sound of it RFC with Cambridge United. Having a cold doesn't stop a fit footballer playing football either.

Interesting that we've got to the premiership under Hammond, Coppell and Madejski and yet none of them know what they are doing and are holding the club back.

Did you all really think that once we were there that we'd stay there for decades? Or that it would just be a bit of a hard slog but mid table or better would keep happening? The first set of problems and it's whining about how crap the people in charge are.

Half of you were about ready to annoint Madejski and Coppell as Gods a year ago. The fickle over reactions and vitriolic propaganda spouted on here by some sickens me.

And perhaps your idol Mr Madjeski might have got a little less stick if he hadn't mouthed off so much about our PL ambitions, the fact that fans were paying more to 'enable the club to compete effectively at that level', that we intended to be around for some time at that level, give it our best shot at staying up etc.etc. He spectacularly failed to walk the talk, and there doesn't appear to be much walking now we are back in the Championship either!

Mr Madejski is not my idol, but I guess you are incapable of understanding rational ideas. He is a man I respect for all he has done and is doing for the club. Very far from perfect and he makes mistakes, but the abuse he gets from Reading fans the second something goes wrong is disgusting.

Try having a look at some of the figuresthat are fairly available before talking about failing to walk the walk. I'd say taking the club from being a mid tier 3 side to a top half tier 2 maybe yoyo tier 1 club has been fantastic. Personally I am more than happy to have him running the club until he finds someone he thinks can do a better job.

We may not be having things all our way, but Football is about ups and downs and a long hard journey. Personally I would feel pretty pathetic if I was making all the whining bleating noises half of you ungrateful bastards are considering some of the things happening in football these days.

May I remind you that the last time we were in the Championship Luton were a decent team and the last one to beat us. Now they will be lucky to exist after this season and will no longer be in the football league bar a miracle, administration 3 times in 10 years! Not a club much different in size to us a few years ago.

I'll take a bit of mediocrity for a while and embrace it as still some of the best years RFC has ever had, because I know whilst Madejski is at the top we will not get points penalties, nor will we enter administration and nor will we sink like a stone through the leagues.

I'm glad we're back in teh Championship, the arrogance and big club bollocks was starting to sprout from Readign fans and that is something I've always disliked in football. I'd rather not become the new Arsenal and cry when we don't win anything for a couple of seasons and only come 3rd.

[Ian Royal]

Kitson may have had a cold, he may even have missed the game because he had a cold.

But he and the club had also sorted out all this while he had a cold.

Furthermore, it matters about this much

Indeed, we all know the club conducts business behind closed doors, ins and outs. Why on earth should they publicise whether a player is in talks with another club just for the benefit of the fans. Leads to all sorts of problems and is unneccessary, Kitson may well have had a cold. Seems a good reason not to play if you ask me. Especially in afriendly which is all about fitness.

Whether he actually had a cold or not is irrelevant. Kitson has gone, for a good fee, to a premier league side where he will almost certainly play regularly. He is a touch injury prone and his career is not going to be a long one. He only has a few seasons left to play at the top and it makes sense to go to Stoke.

If he keeps them up he may move on to a bigger club, or he stays in the prem. If they go down and he has done well - which he will expect - he'll move to another prem club, maybe a better one.

Or he could stay with us and hope to get promoted from an extremely tough league again, or maybe be noticed and go to a prem club.

I'm dissapointed, so far we have lost two of our best players. But both with unreliable injury records and one who is unlikely to leave the spirit much damaged seeing as he doesn't really like many footballers.

[Forbury Lion]

By the way I stood on the teraces at Ep since 1965 so I have seen a bit of RFC

Must have been lonely standing on those terraces for the last 10 years.

[Streets]

By the way I stood on the teraces at Ep since 1965 so I have seen a bit of RFC

Must have been lonely standing on those terraces for the last 10 years.

He missed the best years too.

[Jimbo]

Ian Royal's last two posts are the most well thought out, realistic and non-pessimistic things I have seen on these pages for a long time.
Things could be a little better right now, but they could be a hell of a lot worse. I wish a few other people on here had the intelligence to realise this.

Well done sir.

[SteveRoyal]

This would explain how we got 5million for Kitson.
OS lies to us.

[Ian Royal]

Ian Royal's last two posts are the most well thought out, realistic and non-pessimistic things I have seen on these pages for a long time.
Things could be a little better right now, but they could be a hell of a lot worse. I wish a few other people on here had the intelligence to realise this.

Well done sir.

Not the usual feedback I receive. Many thanks for your kind words.

[Hoop Blah]

This might clear things up a bit, if it's true that is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A38580997

Sounds about right though...

[Arch]

This might clear things up a bit, if it's true that is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A38580997

Sounds about right though...

Only makes sense if it was quite a while ago. Cambridge would have been mad to take that deal last week.

[Hoop Blah]

This might clear things up a bit, if it's true that is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A38580997

Sounds about right though...

Only makes sense if it was quite a while ago. Cambridge would have been mad to take that deal last week.

Depends if they'd rather have the 350k upfront or wait on the off chance that we get the full 5.5m and they end up with however much more the sell on fee was worth in 18 months to two years time.

[Sir Rodney Effing]

Ian Royal's last two posts are the most well thought out, realistic and non-pessimistic things I have seen on these pages for a long time.
Things could be a little better right now, but they could be a hell of a lot worse. I wish a few other people on here had the intelligence to realise this.

Well done sir.

I couldnt agree more. Well said both of you.