Royals ready to pay for Bikey?

[brendywendy]

He's no doubt a good footballer, and for £1.5m seems good value.

The question surely is, what position is he being bought for?

CB cover is very good, (Sonks, Ingi, Doobs, Bennet, Sodje, Brown) and given we've seen glimpses of Bikey in centre mid, could he end up being Sidders replacement IF he goes..?

But wherever he plays a good signing, and fits the young & hungry mould nicely.

I wouldn't consider Duberry or Sodje anywhere near good enough cover from what I've seen of them.

But then again you're not Steve Coppell either.

The question is, is Bikey cover for CB, given that Sonks & Ivar are first choice, or a future RFC central midfielder.

Given Duberry didn't keep his place after Boro and Sodje's hardly played, I'd say Coppell would only use both as a last resort. I'd like to see Bikey play in central midfield long term, but feel he's more worthwhile at centre back at the moment.

Bravo ! But I dont really think RFC would pay £800k for Doobs as a last resort...I think we as club have a bit more savvy than that..

sodje has been doing well for the reserves lately, and looks greatly improved, dont be too quick to judge

[RoyalBlue]

1 red 6 yellow in 17 games. I just don't think his temperament will be controllable enough for the English game, there have been countless occasions where he has cost us goals. I just think that we could do better at this level

Temperament not controllable enough? Wasn't he the one trying to break up the fights in the Sheff Utd game?

[Huntley & Palmer]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

[Royalee]

He's no doubt a good footballer, and for £1.5m seems good value.

The question surely is, what position is he being bought for?

CB cover is very good, (Sonks, Ingi, Doobs, Bennet, Sodje, Brown) and given we've seen glimpses of Bikey in centre mid, could he end up being Sidders replacement IF he goes..?

But wherever he plays a good signing, and fits the young & hungry mould nicely.

I wouldn't consider Duberry or Sodje anywhere near good enough cover from what I've seen of them.

Errr Duberry has played 1 match

For us, yes. He did play for other clubs before us though, funnily enough.

So his Premiership experience with Chelsea and Leeds is worth nothing?

It's not worth anywhere near as much as you want it to be.

At this moment in time it is worth more than anything Bikey has. You could tell at Boro that Duberry, even under the weather as he was, is more calm and calculating in his defending. He also uses intelligence with passes and headers to other players

Yes, like the calm and calculated mistimed tackle to give away the free kick for their first goal, or perhaps his marking once it'd been taken...

I also liked how he didn't dive in and just let Viduka slot the ball past him for their second goal and looked about as fast as my gran all game.

[Royalee]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

[Huntley & Palmer]

He's no doubt a good footballer, and for £1.5m seems good value.

The question surely is, what position is he being bought for?

CB cover is very good, (Sonks, Ingi, Doobs, Bennet, Sodje, Brown) and given we've seen glimpses of Bikey in centre mid, could he end up being Sidders replacement IF he goes..?

But wherever he plays a good signing, and fits the young & hungry mould nicely.

I wouldn't consider Duberry or Sodje anywhere near good enough cover from what I've seen of them.

Errr Duberry has played 1 match

For us, yes. He did play for other clubs before us though, funnily enough.

So his Premiership experience with Chelsea and Leeds is worth nothing?

It's not worth anywhere near as much as you want it to be.

At this moment in time it is worth more than anything Bikey has. You could tell at Boro that Duberry, even under the weather as he was, is more calm and calculating in his defending. He also uses intelligence with passes and headers to other players

Yes, like the calm and calculated mistimed tackle to give away the free kick for their first goal, or perhaps his marking once it'd been taken...

I also liked how he didn't dive in and just let Viduka slot the ball past him for their second goal and looked about as fast as my gran all game.

He was suffering from flu and started as Bikey was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow. It was also his first ever game for us, so cut the guy some slack.

[Huntley & Palmer]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

Are they defenders? No. Generally Sidders and Kitson give away free kicks on the or around the half way line, not in and around the 18 yard box. Therefore they bear no relevance to this discussion

[Katie Marsden]

£1.5m is abit steep for the quality of player he is at the moment.

Then again he's a better player than Sonko was after 6 months at Reading. If Bikey is coached well theres no reason why he can't improve and hold down a regular place in the side.

[Royalee]

He's no doubt a good footballer, and for £1.5m seems good value.

The question surely is, what position is he being bought for?

CB cover is very good, (Sonks, Ingi, Doobs, Bennet, Sodje, Brown) and given we've seen glimpses of Bikey in centre mid, could he end up being Sidders replacement IF he goes..?

But wherever he plays a good signing, and fits the young & hungry mould nicely.

I wouldn't consider Duberry or Sodje anywhere near good enough cover from what I've seen of them.

Errr Duberry has played 1 match

For us, yes. He did play for other clubs before us though, funnily enough.

So his Premiership experience with Chelsea and Leeds is worth nothing?

It's not worth anywhere near as much as you want it to be.

At this moment in time it is worth more than anything Bikey has. You could tell at Boro that Duberry, even under the weather as he was, is more calm and calculating in his defending. He also uses intelligence with passes and headers to other players

Yes, like the calm and calculated mistimed tackle to give away the free kick for their first goal, or perhaps his marking once it'd been taken...

I also liked how he didn't dive in and just let Viduka slot the ball past him for their second goal and looked about as fast as my gran all game.

He was suffering from flu and started as Bikey was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow. It was also his first ever game for us, so cut the guy some slack.

...But you just said he was calm and calculated and was thus better than Bikey. Either he had a good game or not - make your mind up.

[Royalee]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

Are they defenders? No. Generally Sidders and Kitson give away free kicks on the or around the half way line, not in and around the 18 yard box. Therefore they bear no relevance to this discussion

I think you'll find Sidwell's disciplinary 'problems' were equal to Bikey's in previous seasons. Stop generalising again - you could say Sonko has terrible disciplinary problems this season given the penalties he's given away and his red at Villa, but that'd just mean I'd be sinking to your level of bullshit.

[Huntley & Palmer]

His distribution of the ball was much better than Bikey, he didn't give it away and kept it simple. Just because he did this bit doesn't mean he had the best game, I never said he did but you can tell that he looks far more accomplished than Bikey from the first minute.

[Huntley & Palmer]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

Are they defenders? No. Generally Sidders and Kitson give away free kicks on the or around the half way line, not in and around the 18 yard box. Therefore they bear no relevance to this discussion

I think you'll find Sidwell's disciplinary 'problems' were equal to Bikey's in previous seasons. Stop generalising again - you could say Sonko has terrible disciplinary problems this season given the penalties he's given away and his red at Villa, but that'd just mean I'd be sinking to your level of bullshit.

But Sonks doesn't steam into tackles half way up the pitch, nor try and play football out of defence. Sidwell bears no relevance to a defender

[Wycombe Royal]

but you can tell that he looks far more accomplished than Bikey from the first minute.

I think I'll take the view of the RFC management team than yours. You know, the ones who dropped Duberry back to the bench as soon as Bikey was available again.

[Royalee]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

Are they defenders? No. Generally Sidders and Kitson give away free kicks on the or around the half way line, not in and around the 18 yard box. Therefore they bear no relevance to this discussion

I think you'll find Sidwell's disciplinary 'problems' were equal to Bikey's in previous seasons. Stop generalising again - you could say Sonko has terrible disciplinary problems this season given the penalties he's given away and his red at Villa, but that'd just mean I'd be sinking to your level of bullshit.

But Sonks doesn't steam into tackles half way up the pitch, nor try and play football out of defence. Sidwell bears no relevance to a defender

When does Bikey 'steam into tackles half way up the pitch'? I don't seem to remember him doing that too much - seems you mistake his strength and aggression for being wreckless, which is utter rubbish. He also doesn't give it away anywhere near as much as you claim and it actually aids our cause when he passes the ball through to midfield rather than hoofing it.

I wasn't discussing whether or not Sidwell's a defender, I was discussing his disciplinary, or can you not read?

[Coppelled Streets]

Yes, good move. £1.5m is a decent price.

If that's all we pay then yes, you can't go wrong for that sum of money.
The lad has a lot to learn, but he's improved so much this season!

Good news.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Well it wasn't his fault he was cup tied against Utd. I must admit that I thought Doobs would start against Arsenal

[southsideroyal]

I'm satisfied with Bikey and 1.5 is a decent price for a young player with his potential. If he continues to improve the way he has been, Reading will easily recoup that 1.5 by selling him on when he's 26 or so. If Reading want to stay in the Prem, the strategy of investing in young talent and developing them at this level will have better long-term returns than a reliance on aging players like Duberry who have Premiership experience but are at the end of their careers. I know some think Reading no longer have the luxury of developing players like Sonks, but the alterntative, IMO, leads to a dry rot in the side and a slow demise as the club sinks into the relagation zone.

[Huntley & Palmer]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

Are they defenders? No. Generally Sidders and Kitson give away free kicks on the or around the half way line, not in and around the 18 yard box. Therefore they bear no relevance to this discussion

I think you'll find Sidwell's disciplinary 'problems' were equal to Bikey's in previous seasons. Stop generalising again - you could say Sonko has terrible disciplinary problems this season given the penalties he's given away and his red at Villa, but that'd just mean I'd be sinking to your level of bullshit.

But Sonks doesn't steam into tackles half way up the pitch, nor try and play football out of defence. Sidwell bears no relevance to a defender

When does Bikey 'steam into tackles half way up the pitch'? I don't seem to remember him doing that too much - seems you mistake his strength and aggression for being wreckless, which is utter rubbish. He also doesn't give it away anywhere near as much as you claim and it actually aids our cause when he passes the ball through to midfield rather than hoofing it.

I wasn't discussing whether or not Sidwell's a defender, I was discussing his disciplinary, or can you not read?

He does give it away a lot coming out of defence, he tries to run it out and has been caught out. He did it against Wigan on more than one occasion and against Arsenal. Reference the disciplinary, Sidders makes good tackles and is far more experienced than Bikey. Kitson makes a handful of sliding tackles in a match at mosr

[Stranded]

If £1.5m is the price then I would see it as a very low risk signing especially given the riches we are getting next season. He is nowhere as strong as some make him out to be but has certainly improved as time has gone by this season.

He also has the adaptablity of being able to play CB or CM and I can see him being moved in to CM as time goes on.

[Royalee]

I didn't say he was violent, just that he goes into players and picks up needless cards. Hence the "walking red card" analogy

Don't Kitson and Sidwell do the same? Are they walking red cards as well? What a load of rubbish.

Are they defenders? No. Generally Sidders and Kitson give away free kicks on the or around the half way line, not in and around the 18 yard box. Therefore they bear no relevance to this discussion

I think you'll find Sidwell's disciplinary 'problems' were equal to Bikey's in previous seasons. Stop generalising again - you could say Sonko has terrible disciplinary problems this season given the penalties he's given away and his red at Villa, but that'd just mean I'd be sinking to your level of bullshit.

But Sonks doesn't steam into tackles half way up the pitch, nor try and play football out of defence. Sidwell bears no relevance to a defender

When does Bikey 'steam into tackles half way up the pitch'? I don't seem to remember him doing that too much - seems you mistake his strength and aggression for being wreckless, which is utter rubbish. He also doesn't give it away anywhere near as much as you claim and it actually aids our cause when he passes the ball through to midfield rather than hoofing it.

I wasn't discussing whether or not Sidwell's a defender, I was discussing his disciplinary, or can you not read?

He does give it away a lot coming out of defence, he tries to run it out and has been caught out. He did it against Wigan on more than one occasion and against Arsenal. Reference the disciplinary, Sidders makes good tackles and is far more experienced than Bikey. Kitson makes a handful of sliding tackles in a match at mosr

Wigan was his first proper game in the defence and I fail to remember him constantly giving the ball away at the Emirates. Were Bikey's tackles on Rooney and the like not good tackles then? You're probably going to tell me he just dived in and hoped for the best with those...

Again you mention experience - were you aware that people tipped us to get relegated on the basis that our squad had next to no Premiership experience? And still you pipe up about experience being crucial? I guess the club itself has flawed your argument there.

As for Kitson's tackles, his tackle on Upson could be condemned as far worse than any Bikey's made this season and he could have walked for that in the eyes of people like yourself who want to give out red cards all the time for nothing.