by SteveRoyal » 03 Sep 2008 22:01
by juanpablo » 04 Sep 2008 00:43
by PlasticRoyale » 04 Sep 2008 01:07
Ian RoyalThe Quiet Man :lol: at Hunt believing his own agents bullsh*t. Plant the stories in the press, spin Everton that we will sell, tell the player he is as good as sold, and err RFC at fault for not allowing him to develop his career as a squad player at Everton. Nice try but £5 million upfront next time and you can go where ever the f*ck you want.
at anybody putting S Hunt; Doyle ; Bikey; Matejovsky; Lita; Harper & Rosenior on their shirts this year as they all want out and if the valuations are met then the January sales beckon big time, unfortunately as Coppell has said some of them may have difficulty living up to their publicity or what they think they are worth.
Still brick by f*****gbrick eh.
LOL @ anyone putting a current player's name on their shirt. Tribute to Reading Greats or your own name only. I have no Idea why anyone would want their own name either really. It costs too much for humour or to be ironic.
by papereyes » 04 Sep 2008 08:07
juanpablo I dont think Marek has suggested in any way shape or form he wants out....
by Thaumagurist* » 04 Sep 2008 10:33
Franchise FCThaumagurist* Oh and it's probable that Coppell may have mentioned Hunt's £5M release clause, if there is one.
Why on earth would he do that ?
Better that a club says "How about £6m for Hunt?", than we say "You can have him for £5m"
by Victor Meldrew » 04 Sep 2008 20:12
by Platypuss » 04 Sep 2008 20:16
Victor Meldrew Back to the tpoic of the disappointed one I heard that Kilbane will play on Saturday even though he has a fractured cheekbone.
A very disappointing week for the little urchin perhaps?
by Victor Meldrew » 04 Sep 2008 20:59
PlatypussVictor Meldrew Back to the tpoic of the disappointed one I heard that Kilbane will play on Saturday even though he has a fractured cheekbone.
A very disappointing week for the little urchin perhaps?
Kilbane's been playing left back.
by Royal Soupanoodle » 06 Sep 2008 07:33
Hunt outburst a symptom of living in bubble world
You'd like to believe that Stephen Hunt is a good lad who, just momentarily, lost the plot this week. You'd like to hope that, after mature reflection, he realised how the gist of his argument against Reading FC could actually become a mission statement for those who believe that professional football desperately needs a reality check.
I found Stephen's argument that Reading could have helped him out a little "to benefit my career" by facilitating a move to Everton simply breathtaking. Maybe it's an age thing, but when I hear a guy on a five-figure weekly salary say "it would have been nice to be rewarded,'' I'm inclined to ask exactly what planet he's been living on.
I like Hunt as a player. He looks honest and doesn't shirk a tackle. And I know full well how frustrating it can be when you think you're on the brink of a big transfer move only to find yourself then sitting next to a silent telephone.
It happened me almost 20 years ago when Alex Ferguson began to make it clear that I had no future at Manchester United. I didn't want to leave Old Trafford but my spirits lifted when Terry Venables made a move to bring me to Tottenham.
I remember getting a train down to London to meet him. I had no agent and no financial adviser. It was just me and a few key figures in my head. As it happened, our priorities proved a little different.
Spurs had just signed Paul Gascoigne and there wasn't a whole lot left in the pot. I was 29 and looking for security.
"The money's fine," I said. "I just need a house as well."
"No problem, we'll get you a nice place to rent," said Terry.
"Em, that's not really what I mean," I murmured.
"Sorry?"
"I was kind of hoping you might throw a house into the deal."
Venables looked at me as if I'd dribble running down my chin. And he assured me that Spurs weren't in the business of throwing in London real estate as a transfer bonus. Not long after that, I signed for Aston Villa, even though they didn't put me on the property ladder in Birmingham either.
It all seems so quaint and innocent when I recall it now. I look at the strange machinations that brought Robinho to Manchester City this week on a salary four times what he was getting at Real Madrid. I look at Dimitar Berbatov essentially sulking his way into a dream move to Manchester United.
And I half understand why a guy like Stephen Hunt might lose a sense of perspective.
It's just that nothing he said can possibly have made sense to a Reading supporter. This, I believe, is a symptom of living in the bubble world. It changes people. I've seen it happen the best of guys. Players are becoming alienated from reality, never mind from the supporters who buy replica shirts or pay for season tickets. They're living in a cocoon.
I detected a very significant difference in the attitudes of Hunt and Kevin Doyle this week. Hearing both of them on radio, Doyle was much more philosophical. He, too, looked set to leave Reading, with both Aston Villa and Spurs, reputedly, interested.
But he seemed awake to the idea that he had been part of a side relegated from the Premier League too. And that, as such, maybe he had some responsibility to try to get them back up now.
Very little of what Hunt said could possibly make sense to a supporter. You think of what Reading have invested in his career. Does none of that count for anything? Surely the argument should have been the other way round. What do you owe the club that pays your wages?
Players are earning absolute fortunes today. Some of them get in one week what supporters earn in a year. So you're in a team that doesn't perform and ends up getting relegated. And you're "disappointed" that the club doesn't then prioritise your personal ambitions?
Then again, what can we expect when Sepp Blatter talks about Ronaldo and 'slavery' in the same sentence? The game is in a mess because of the people wielding power in it. People like Blatter, bored billionaires and agents. 'Percentage' is the magic word for too many.
I know people could throw plenty of dirt in my direction, given some of the more notorious episodes of my career. And that's fair enough. But I just feel that money is driving a wedge between players and the public now.
I look at today's footballers, heads down, ipods on, everything about them screaming 'I don't want to know!' It's a shield. They don't want people coming up to them. They're just getting so distant. That's fair enough if you're getting off the coach before a game -- because it's time for war then.
I went to Villa Park last year and noticed there's a gate now blocking people getting near the team bus. So kids have to reach through railings to get an autograph. Something's just not right with the game when you see that.
And that's pretty much the environment that spawns the kind of sentiments expressed by Stephen Hunt this week.
I've no doubt he's a decent lad. In fact, I see him as a key player for Ireland in Mainz this evening as the Giovanni Trapattoni era finally gets a competitive start.
Playing Georgia on neutral ground presents us with a massive opportunity. I know people are saying that a four-point haul from this and the Montenegro game on Wednesday would represent a decent start to our World Cup campaign. It would too.
But I think we've got to go for the jugular and aim for six. Put it this way, if Italy was starting with these two games, what would be their target? If we're serious about qualifying, we've simply got to match the Italian mindset.
That said, I'm still not convinced I've yet seen anything revolutionary in Trapattoni's Ireland. Most of what I liked in the recent friendly against Norway came from Damien Duff. And Duffer's now back in Newcastle.
The persistence with young Glenn Whelan in central midfield worries me. He looks like he can get a ball and knock it around a bit and, fair enough, we're not going to find another Roy Keane for a while. But I'd settle for an Andy Townsend.
You want someone with a physical presence. Andy used run from 30 yards to get a tackle in, but I don't see Stephen Reid or Whelan doing that. The latter hasn't even started a game for Stoke this season, so you're putting him under enormous pressure here.
For a game of this type, I'd prefer to see Lee Carsley.
My worry today is that we've got a soft centre. A midfield that just doesn't intimidate the opposition. I like the settled look of the back four and Shay Given is playing out of his skin in goal. Up front, Doyle will be confident after last weekend's hat-trick and Robbie Keane will probably be thankful of a little break from life at Liverpool where the pressure on him is building.
But midfield is a definite area of weakness.
I expect the Georgians to be full of national pride given their circumstances back home, so we should be thankful this game isn't in Tbilisi. They may even be a little bit gung-ho to begin with.
So one thing I'd like to see is nobody pulling out of tackles. Some of the sloppiness of recent times has been a little hard to stomach. I think a lot of the players will realise that they let themselves down really badly last year. At least, I hope they do.
Steve Staunton was a scapegoat. He took it in the neck. But I saw things from certain players last year I thought I'd never see in an Irish team. Fellas pulling out of challenges. Against Cyprus!
I'd never seen that before. A ball bouncing between two guys and the fella in green pulling out. That was the saddest part.
I hope those players have learnt a lesson.
Mainz will tell us if they have.
by The Echo » 06 Sep 2008 08:58
by Gordons Cumming » 06 Sep 2008 11:05
The Echo Outstanding article.
by Streets » 06 Sep 2008 11:38
by Rex » 06 Sep 2008 12:59
Streets Stephen Hunt says he will be in the Premier League "with or without" Reading next season to ensure he stays in the Republic of Ireland fold.
What an utter cock. Like being in the Championship has held back Republic of Ireland players before.
At least we know he's off next summer anyway.
by Soul Man » 06 Sep 2008 13:49
by PEARCEY » 06 Sep 2008 13:56
The Echo Outstanding article.
by CMRoyal » 06 Sep 2008 15:48
Streets Stephen Hunt says he will be in the Premier League "with or without" Reading next season to ensure he stays in the Republic of Ireland fold.
What an utter cock. Like being in the Championship has held back Republic of Ireland players before.
At least we know he's off next summer anyway.
by Royal Lady » 06 Sep 2008 15:53
by Colchester Royal » 06 Sep 2008 16:17
by readingbedding » 06 Sep 2008 16:19
by Royal Lady » 06 Sep 2008 16:24
Is that why we had to pay him £25k a week last season??Colchester Royal *Beginning of rant*
Leave Shunty alone. He's a great player, i've thought he played with his heart on the lseeve and not on the money. He isn't going anywhere. The excuse for a paper The Independent usually writes bull **** apart anything they find. Why does anyone read that paper anyway? Its like reading the DailOLy Mirror and / or DailOLy TelOLegraph. Read more intellectual papers like the Guardian.
*End of rant*
Shunt is staying, end of.
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