Your worst 11 since supporting RFC?

[Snowflake Royal]

Rafael, Virginia, Alex Pearce, Joey van den Berg, Guthrie, Vydra, Sonko (2nd Prem season), Keith Scott, Gareth Davies

There have been far worse players at this club than Alex Pearce , Joey van den Berg and Rafael before for sure.

Joey van den Berg was, without doubt, the single worst player to ever play for the club.

Does he even earn money from football anymore?

He wasn't even the worst player in Stam's first team squad.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

There have been far worse players at this club than Alex Pearce , Joey van den Berg and Rafael before for sure.

Joey van den Berg was, without doubt, the single worst player to ever play for the club.

Does he even earn money from football anymore?

No.

After three months without a club, van den Berg signed a deal with Dutch amateur club MVV Alcides - the club he also played for in - on 3 February 2020, after failing to find a professional club during the January transfer market.[13]

On 20 September 2020 the club confirmed, that van den Berg suffered from knee problems and probably wouldn't play for the club anymore. However, he would continue to participate in the trainings.[14]

He's 36 now, probably at retirement age and seems as if he's suffered a couple of injury issues as well. Hardly what we'd call a spring chicken anymore, a lot of players at his age in his position do work their way down the footballing ladder, that doesn't mean to say he was one of our worst players, because he wasn't.

[Dirk Gently]

Joey van den Berg was, without doubt, the single worst player to ever play for the club.

Does he even earn money from football anymore?

No.

After three months without a club, van den Berg signed a deal with Dutch amateur club MVV Alcides - the club he also played for in - on 3 February 2020, after failing to find a professional club during the January transfer market.[13]

On 20 September 2020 the club confirmed, that van den Berg suffered from knee problems and probably wouldn't play for the club anymore. However, he would continue to participate in the trainings.[14]

He's 36 now, probably at retirement age and seems as if he's suffered a couple of injury issues as well. Hardly what we'd call a spring chicken anymore, a lot of players at his age in his position do work their way down the footballing ladder, that doesn't mean to say he was one of our worst players, because he wasn't.

Yep. He wasn't even one of our worst Dutch players. He was head and shoulders better than Elroy Kromheer and Peter van der Kwaak.

[Hendo]

I liked Joey.

[Snowflake Royal]

I liked Joey.

Certainly tried harder than many of his team mates.

[John Smith]

After three months without a club, van den Berg signed a deal with Dutch amateur club MVV Alcides - the club he also played for in - on 3 February 2020, after failing to find a professional club during the January transfer market.[13]

So for some inexplicable reason, Stam thought he was good enough for the second tier of English football but after that he couldn't even find a deal for a semi-pro Dutch side? Might as well be signing Slough Town players

[South Coast Royal]

Fake news wrong again. Welsh International and former premier league star Michael Meaker left Reading to join Bristol Rovers and was a key player in the squad that thrashed us 0-6 at home, he then went on for a successful spell at Swindon Town, and then onto Plymouth Argyle. Meaker is now player-manager at Taunton Town.

One of the biggest wastes of money in the club's history-£550,000 and we lost possibly our best ever player in getting him.
Remind me what we got for him when he left after doing so little for our club.
What he went on to do as a manager, a bin man or an opera singer is irrelevant.

I will again remind you of your inaccurate fake post above. Please can you post an apology asap.

Apology not needed.
.
The last time I looked the following were non-league:-
Northwich Victoria
Southall
Henley Town
Mangotsfield
Hounslow
Bitton
Paulton
Rovers
Yate
Taunton
Truro

I am not worried about an apology from you thanks-you are just ill-informed.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

After three months without a club, van den Berg signed a deal with Dutch amateur club MVV Alcides - the club he also played for in - on 3 February 2020, after failing to find a professional club during the January transfer market.[13]

So for some inexplicable reason, Stam thought he was good enough for the second tier of English football but after that he couldn't even find a deal for a semi-pro Dutch side? Might as well be signing Slough Town players

What 3/4 years on when he was in his mid 30's and suffering from injury issues?

That would be like saying Glenn Whelan or Wes Hoolahan were never good players because they are now playing in League Two.

[John Smith]

What 3/4 years on when he was in his mid 30's and suffering from injury issues?

That would be like saying Glenn Whelan or Wes Hoolahan were never good players because they are now playing in League Two.

Were you at Cardiff on the last day of the season with relegation a possibility and that prat haring around like a loon, chopping people down, getting booked at a time when we needed all 11 men on the pitch? Absolute liability, no skill, no ability, no value.

[Dirk Gently]

Certainly that phrase

and we lost possibly our best ever player in getting him

is questionable.

We were losing Osborn whatever happened, we didn't lose him so we could get Meaker - and we got £1.1 million for Osborn.

I'm not sure why both transfers have an individual price attached to them, but the reality is that we swapped Osborn for Meaker *AND* in cash, which puts a different perspective on it.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

What 3/4 years on when he was in his mid 30's and suffering from injury issues?

That would be like saying Glenn Whelan or Wes Hoolahan were never good players because they are now playing in League Two.

Were you at Cardiff on the last day of the season with relegation a possibility and that prat haring around like a loon, chopping people down, getting booked at a time when we needed all 11 men on the pitch? Absolute liability, no skill, no ability, no value.

No. Were you at the game against Fulham at home where he came into CB and kept a clean sheet against a free-scoring Fulham side with some resolute defending and fantastic goalkeeping? Ultimately, you can spin it whichever way you want, he definitely isn't up there as one of our worst players.

[Snowflake Royal]

Absolute liability, no skill, no ability, no value.

Nice sig

[bakerlou]

Ollie Kearns scored goals now and then in Div 4 but he seemed to be a really poor player.

I can't have that - he was awkward and ungainly and didn't ever really seem to have the ball under control, but 40 goals in 75 + 11 league games is a decent return, and he was second-highest scorer when we went up in 1979.

But if you're trying to rule out someone because they look awkward and ungainly and didn't ever really seem to have the ball under control, you might as well nominate Trevor Senior...

I can accept all of those points - it's an age thing.

Hear me out: when I first started going I loved Richie Bowman, let's be fair, we all did. Kearns on the other hand was a baffling mix of useful but shite. I understood cheering for our best player Richie B, "that's what fans should do" I thought, but as a young boy, seeing grown laughing at the general incompetence of one of their own players was a brand new thing to me. It didn't matter that Kearns would score, his inability to do anything else, and not give a toss about it, and argue back at Reading fans giving him some verbals made him a joke figure of the South Bank, and I can't let that go, however respectable his goal tally might be. He was crap.

[bakerlou]

Can't accept any worst team that has Swales in ahead of Bodin.

Yeah not having Swales in any worst team, there are far greater crimes against left backs out there.

OK - it's all about expectations. Indulge me.

When we signed Bodin I thought "why TF have we signed him, he's an old useless cunt", and in fairness to us all, indeed he was* - he met our expectations.

Swales on the other hand was signed with a froth of promise and of futuristic skillz and of being the next big thing, he had a trendy floppy haircut and a tidy reputation as an attacking left back. He was to be the new Dylan Kerr, only five stones lighter. He quickly had his own terrace song "Boom Boom Boom let me hear you say Swales". Hopes were high. After a few months though, it became clear that he was out of his depth, his haircut was awful, his tackling was weak and the only way our left back was going to dink a free kick into the top corner of the goal was if Kerr hobbled back onto the pitch for one of his all too brief cameos. And "Boom Boom Boom let me hear you say Swales" was a shit song that only vvankers sang.

There, I said it.


* I suspect many of us, myself included, felt the same when we signed Jimmy Quinn

[muirinho]

Can't accept any worst team that has Swales in ahead of Bodin.

Yeah not having Swales in any worst team, there are far greater crimes against left backs out there.

OK - it's all about expectations. Indulge me.

When we signed Bodin I thought "why TF have we signed him, he's an old useless cunt", and in fairness to us all, indeed he was* - he met our expectations.

Swales on the other hand was signed with a froth of promise and of futuristic skillz and of being the next big thing, he had a trendy floppy haircut and a tidy reputation as an attacking left back.... After a few months though, it became clear that he was out of his depth,

Is there a case for "most disappointing 11" thread then? Because the objectively worst players aren't necessarily the most disappointing...

[URZZZZ]

What 3/4 years on when he was in his mid 30's and suffering from injury issues?

That would be like saying Glenn Whelan or Wes Hoolahan were never good players because they are now playing in League Two.

Were you at Cardiff on the last day of the season with relegation a possibility and that prat haring around like a loon, chopping people down, getting booked at a time when we needed all 11 men on the pitch? Absolute liability, no skill, no ability, no value.

No. Were you at the game against Fulham at home where he came into CB and kept a clean sheet against a free-scoring Fulham side with some resolute defending and fantastic goalkeeping? Ultimately, you can spin it whichever way you want, he definitely isn't up there as one of our worst players.

You realise you’re giving him exactly what he wants?

[NathStPaul]

Can't accept any worst team that has Swales in ahead of Bodin.

Yeah not having Swales in any worst team, there are far greater crimes against left backs out there.

OK - it's all about expectations. Indulge me.

When we signed Bodin I thought "why TF have we signed him, he's an old useless cunt", and in fairness to us all, indeed he was* - he met our expectations.

Swales on the other hand was signed with a froth of promise and of futuristic skillz and of being the next big thing, he had a trendy floppy haircut and a tidy reputation as an attacking left back.... After a few months though, it became clear that he was out of his depth,

Is there a case for "most disappointing 11" thread then? Because the objectively worst players aren't necessarily the most disappointing...

Yeah that is how I look at Swales. Wasn't one of our worst players by any means but hard to argue he wasn't disappointing. I look forward to the "Players we signed who didn't live up to the hype" thread.

[Loafer]

After three months without a club, van den Berg signed a deal with Dutch amateur club MVV Alcides - the club he also played for in - on 3 February 2020, after failing to find a professional club during the January transfer market.[13]

So for some inexplicable reason, Stam thought he was good enough for the second tier of English football but after that he couldn't even find a deal for a semi-pro Dutch side? Might as well be signing Slough Town players

Where to even begin with this comment

[South Coast Royal]

Certainly that phrase

and we lost possibly our best ever player in getting him

is questionable.

We were losing Osborn whatever happened, we didn't lose him so we could get Meaker - and we got £1.1 million for Osborn.

I'm not sure why both transfers have an individual price attached to them, but the reality is that we swapped Osborn for Meaker *AND* in cash, which puts a different perspective on it.

I'm afraid I do have a jaundiced view -it ruined my Summer holiday that year when I read that Super Si was leaving.
The fact that we ONLY got supposedly £500,000 or so net from the deal made it worse-we didn't need Meaker and he never did anywhere near enough to justify a fee of £550,000..

He was palmed off on us and QPR were laughing until he was never the same player for them.

[karbota]

One of the biggest wastes of money in the club's history-£550,000 and we lost possibly our best ever player in getting him.
Remind me what we got for him when he left after doing so little for our club.
What he went on to do as a manager, a bin man or an opera singer is irrelevant.

I will again remind you of your inaccurate fake post above. Please can you post an apology asap.

Apology not needed.
.
The last time I looked the following were non-league:-
Northwich Victoria
Southall
Henley Town
Mangotsfield
Hounslow
Bitton
Paulton
Rovers
Yate
Taunton
Truro

[b][u]And Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town, and Plymouth Argyle are cancelled ?? ???