January Transfer Window

[Wycombe Royal]

The issue is that if you're not improving them you're going backwards.

We have some players who've come in and not paid off yet (Drenthe, Blackman etc), some that have suffered injuries and need covering or replacing (Karacan, Legiertwood, Bridge etc) and some that just need improving for the team to keep evolving. Some of that can be done by bringing through the youngsters, but that's not always possible and so we have to look elsewhere to strengthen.

Not sure why that's such a tough concept to grasp.

Yes but for us to improve we would have to spend some serious money as players of the quality to improve on what we already have would not be cheap. We already have a big squad, one of the biggest in the division so in my opinion there was no need to make it bigger. And obviously nobody wanted any of our backup players.

Not sure why that's such a tough concept to grasp.

[Handsome Man]

It was a good transfer window.

We need expensive multi-million pound players to improve significantly and these weren't available. We didn't buy rubbish in a panic (Doyle going to QPR is probably the best news we had on deadline day). We saw what Baird and Sharp were like and they wouldn't have improved the team. I don't think having Hobbs on our injury table would have done much for our prospects either.

For the long-term future of the club, I would have been happier if we had got rid of one or two of the big earners, else it's Division 1 next and a team with ten youth players and somebody still on a massive contract from years before, but you can balance that with the upturn in form and the fact we do have a chance of promotion.

[BonBoh]

We're setting the trend by doing it 'The Reading Way'.
Should we get promoted, other clubs will look at us and analyse how 'togetherness' and playing a consistent line-up was a possible key to success - not spending millions of pounds in the rat-race to the top.

Seeing as we have kept all of our key players in this window, it gets my vote.

[BonBoh]

We are also making better use of our academy and are slowly able to introduce players to the fold. We spend lots of money on the academy so why not select the best of these young players and bleed them into the squad?
Jordan Obita has been a revelation this season. Jake Taylor has stepped up to the mark, and Hector is now also on the bench. This is far more exciting than looking at players like Hobbs & co...

[Hoop Blah]

The issue is that if you're not improving them you're going backwards.

We have some players who've come in and not paid off yet (Drenthe, Blackman etc), some that have suffered injuries and need covering or replacing (Karacan, Legiertwood, Bridge etc) and some that just need improving for the team to keep evolving. Some of that can be done by bringing through the youngsters, but that's not always possible and so we have to look elsewhere to strengthen.

Not sure why that's such a tough concept to grasp.

Yes but for us to improve we would have to spend some serious money as players of the quality to improve on what we already have would not be cheap. We already have a big squad, one of the biggest in the division so in my opinion there was no need to make it bigger. And obviously nobody wanted any of our backup players.

Not sure why that's such a tough concept to grasp.

You said football fans being excited by transfers, not just Reading fans in this window.

We don't need to spend huge to add another forward on loan, bring in a natural left back, or supplement our central midfield with another decent option to cover the injuries we've got there though. I do agree the squad is big enough in quantity though, but it needs a bit more balance. The only way to do that is by adding to it (would've been nice to swap someone like Cummings or Kelly out of the squad to bring in Daniel Fox for example).

[Loyal royal 247]

Take this thread down

[Mike Hunt]

Take this thread down

[Wycombe Royal]

The issue is that if you're not improving them you're going backwards.

We have some players who've come in and not paid off yet (Drenthe, Blackman etc), some that have suffered injuries and need covering or replacing (Karacan, Legiertwood, Bridge etc) and some that just need improving for the team to keep evolving. Some of that can be done by bringing through the youngsters, but that's not always possible and so we have to look elsewhere to strengthen.

Not sure why that's such a tough concept to grasp.

Yes but for us to improve we would have to spend some serious money as players of the quality to improve on what we already have would not be cheap. We already have a big squad, one of the biggest in the division so in my opinion there was no need to make it bigger. And obviously nobody wanted any of our backup players.

Not sure why that's such a tough concept to grasp.

You said football fans being excited by transfers, not just Reading fans in this window.

We don't need to spend huge to add another forward on loan, bring in a natural left back, or supplement our central midfield with another decent option to cover the injuries we've got there though. I do agree the squad is big enough in quantity though, but it needs a bit more balance. The only way to do that is by adding to it (would've been nice to swap someone like Cummings or Kelly out of the squad to bring in Daniel Fox for example).

Obviously as I was posting in this particular thread on a Reading forum I was referring in this instance to People on here. Sorry if you misunderstood but I'll spell it out clearer next time for you.

As for bringing a striker in on loan, what is the point when they will be worse than we have? The better loan players aren't going to want to come here to sit on the bench. We've already seen that Sharp was no better than our current crop.

As for "swapping out" Cummings or Kelly for a left back, that requires,someone else actually wanting to take them from us. You make it sound like we can just transfer them off to another club of our choosing. As for left back, Obita is doing fine and Bridge is on his way back so why spend more money on someone else who probably won't get a game.

The summer is the time to address the balance of the squad. There is more time, there is no panicking, not so much "premium pricing", free transfers, etc.... January is not the time to do this unless there is an urgent need to fill a hole in the squad. We didn't have that problem.

[Agent Balti]

As for bringing a strikr in on loan, what is the point when they will be worse than we have? The better loan players aren't going to want to come here to sit on the bench.

Agreed with you there, but we are very light on strikers that are actually strikers.

HRK isn't a centre forward, Blackman is a winger, so we don't really have ANY backup of, or close to, the calibre of The Pog or Alf. But still, as you say, why would the come to sit on the bench.

Same applies to Central Defence, but in Hector we at least have something that's like for like, but Morrison isn't far away from returning also.

[PieEater]

The club's media office really know how to take the piss out of the supporters.

This morning they are making a big thing of the fact it has been a good window because we have turned down bids for our players.

Exactly. How hard is it not to answer your phone

[Agent Balti]

How would we know there were bids to reject if we didn't answer the phone though?!

[Hoop Blah]

Of course moving players on requires some demand for them from other clubs, but there are things the club can do to make that happen, and I'm talking about a hypothetical ideal scenario, I'm not saying we've had a 'mare because it didn't happen.

There were plenty of forwards moving around that would strengthen our squad and probably be interested in coming too. The likes of Simeon Jackson, Doyle, Andy Keogh, Dobbie and even someone like Jon Stead would give us greater depth and options without, I imagine, expecting to demand first team football every week.

Again, I agree that the summer is the best time add players but the reality is that needs evolve over the season and the competition doesn't just rest on its laurels whilst we do nothing.

[Wycombe Royal]

That list of strikers sums up my point exactly. I would rather we use Blackman (who is a striker first and foremost according to the man himself) and HRK, plus Ugwu, than bring in someone as a panic purchase who we would want to be moving on again in a few months.

[Mr Angry]

Personally I would have liked a striker to come in as cover/different option, and that still might happen with the loan window still open.

The Play Offs are a not unrealistic target but I can't see us getting 2nd (first already seems nailed on for Leicester); and frankly, if we do get to the Play Offs I think the season would be considered a successful one, especially given the off field situation.

Sort that out ASAP, make realistic funds available for strengthening the squad with appropriate players and then Adkins can start to prepare for a genuine promotion challenge next season.

[FridaysGhost]

Interesting info I saw in the papers. In the January Transfer window in the Championship, 23 clubs brought new blood into the club. 1 club did not! We must have the best team in the division by some way to not need even a slight tweak.

If by hook or crook we manage to get promotion this Season, the Window will not matter. If we are still in the Championship next season, given our squad AND the Parachute payments, both the Summer and January Windows will accentuate our inability to do the right business at the right time.

[jellytot]

Yep, so in summary the January Transfer Window was a load of bollocks!

See you all in the Summer thread more of the same!