STEPHEN HUNT - IS HIS TIME UP?

[Victor Meldrew]

Certain posters are making certain assumptions here, the first of which is that Wigan made a £5M bid for SHunt.

The next assumption is that Hunt turned down the chance to join Wigan.

The next is that he is waiting for Spurs to come in for him.

Finally, there is the assumption that Spurs WILL come in for him.

Anyone else spot the flaw in this thread??

As I understand it, Steve Coppell has publically stated that we have NOT received a bid from Wigan, or indeed, anyone else, for SHunt.

If there is one word that can describe Coppell, its integrity; he has no need to lie and I for one, believe him 100% when he says we haven't received a bid for SHunt.

Therefore, the rest of the speculation is based on a previous piece of speculation that has been rubbished by RFC.

I would be prepared to wager £1 at evens that SHunt won't leave RFC in this transfer window.

Well said Mr A.
Loads of assumptions come to nothing other than idle talk from his agent.
I cannot believe that experienced managers like Moyes,Bruce and 'arry would be interested in such a limited footballer at such a ludicrous price.
I think (for better or for worse) we will be lumbered with him for the rest of the season and can only hope that he performs a damn sight better than he did for us in the second half of last season.

I like the spin that he would do better playing with a better midfield-it could just be the other way round that our central midfield makes both him and Kebe look better than they really are.

[Royal With Cheese]

+1

[Nobby]

Not sure whether this is good news or bad!

STEPHEN Hunt has accused Reading of hiding the truth about a possible move back to the Premier League.

Earlier this week Royals insisted there have been no official bids for the 27-year-old winger who has a £5 million get-out clause in his contract.

And they strongly refuted rumours that Tottenham, Wigan and Everton had made inquiries about signing Hunt before next Monday's transfer deadline.

But the Republic of Ireland star revealed there has been contact with other clubs, contrary to what Royals are claiming.

"I suppose I'll be glad to see the back of January from the mental side of it," Hunt told the Chronicle.

"Obviously a lot of things have been said and a lot of things have been denied. It's quite embarrassing really but you have to get on with it.

"I know exactly what's happening and it amuses me when I see the comments that come out. But I suppose they've got a job to do, though it really is shocking. The noise is frightening but at the end of the day what can you do?"

Hunt says the confusion has thrown his immediate future into turmoil, though he will not rule out staying with Reading until at least the end of the season.

"I don't know if I will stay," he admitted. "The manager expects me to stay and I'm happy here. But at the same time Premier League football is hard to turn down.

"I know they (Reading) have been contacted by clubs. Maybe some people need to go to church on a Sunday for confession.

"Staying here and winning promotion with Reading is still a possibility, of course it is. Whether clubs can come to an agreement, only time will tell."

Royals fans now fear they may have seen Hunt perform at the Madejski Stadium for the last time after he played a full part in Tuesday night's critical 1-0 victory over promotion-rivals Wolves.

"It was a good win between two evenly matched teams who battled away," he said. "I think we deserved to win on our first-half performance and we did create the better chances.

"But Wolves are still the best team because they're top of the league. Only time will tell how long that lasts.

"We've had a few iffy results and we've lost a couple away from home. We need to pick up points from those kind of games between now and the end of the season. Even when we play badly we have to pick up draws."

Royals closed the gap on Wolves to a mere two points with Birmingham a further two points adrift following their 1-0 win against Derby.

Hunt argued: "It doesn't change much but it certainly makes things interesting. But we've got to concentate on ourselves and go from there."

Hunt, though, insists the state of the Madejski Stadium pitch is not helping Reading's because it is becoming worn out by London Irish rugby club who share the ground.

"I guess we're being punished now for having rugby on our pitch," he suggested. "It's not in a good way but you can't blame the groundsman because there is rugby played on it. I suppose the money must be important."

[Alan Partridge]

For all his faults and bloody hell he has some, you can't fault Hunt's honesty unlike some others at the club. We shouldn't be surprised as the whole truth very rarely comes out of RFC.

Also I liked the jibe at the end about the Rugby and the money.

[loyalroyal4life]

Not sure whether this is good news or bad!

STEPHEN Hunt has accused Reading of hiding the truth about a possible move back to the Premier League.

Earlier this week Royals insisted there have been no official bids for the 27-year-old winger who has a £5 million get-out clause in his contract.

And they strongly refuted rumours that Tottenham, Wigan and Everton had made inquiries about signing Hunt before next Monday's transfer deadline.

But the Republic of Ireland star revealed there has been contact with other clubs, contrary to what Royals are claiming.

"I suppose I'll be glad to see the back of January from the mental side of it," Hunt told the Chronicle.

"Obviously a lot of things have been said and a lot of things have been denied. It's quite embarrassing really but you have to get on with it.

"I know exactly what's happening and it amuses me when I see the comments that come out. But I suppose they've got a job to do, though it really is shocking. The noise is frightening but at the end of the day what can you do?"

Hunt says the confusion has thrown his immediate future into turmoil, though he will not rule out staying with Reading until at least the end of the season.

"I don't know if I will stay," he admitted. "The manager expects me to stay and I'm happy here. But at the same time Premier League football is hard to turn down.

"I know they (Reading) have been contacted by clubs. Maybe some people need to go to church on a Sunday for confession.

"Staying here and winning promotion with Reading is still a possibility, of course it is. Whether clubs can come to an agreement, only time will tell."

Royals fans now fear they may have seen Hunt perform at the Madejski Stadium for the last time after he played a full part in Tuesday night's critical 1-0 victory over promotion-rivals Wolves.

"It was a good win between two evenly matched teams who battled away," he said. "I think we deserved to win on our first-half performance and we did create the better chances.

"But Wolves are still the best team because they're top of the league. Only time will tell how long that lasts.

"We've had a few iffy results and we've lost a couple away from home. We need to pick up points from those kind of games between now and the end of the season. Even when we play badly we have to pick up draws."

Royals closed the gap on Wolves to a mere two points with Birmingham a further two points adrift following their 1-0 win against Derby.

Hunt argued: "It doesn't change much but it certainly makes things interesting. But we've got to concentate on ourselves and go from there."

Hunt, though, insists the state of the Madejski Stadium pitch is not helping Reading's because it is becoming worn out by London Irish rugby club who share the ground.

"I guess we're being punished now for having rugby on our pitch," he suggested. "It's not in a good way but you can't blame the groundsman because there is rugby played on it. I suppose the money must be important."

I knew something like this would come out!! TBH i cant accuse S.Hunt of lying because I am sure in last window SSC no enquiries were made for our players but didnt everton come in with a bid? that would be deemed an enquiry!!

I really dont think he should be playing for us until this saga is sorted out and it is becoming so BORING!!

Do agree with him about the pitch though!! It plays awful and appears to make the ball bounce higher and affects any passing we try to do (although yesterday i thought there was too much long ball)

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Some friends of mine attended the Burns night function at Mad Stad on Friday. Mr Mad and the board were all in attendance and seemed willing to chat, with some degree of constraint, about the transfer situation.
Without divulging anything concrete they did say that the club had decided not to do anthying as far as selling players was concerned until after the Wolves match. On that basis I would expect us to see any activity to happen very quickly now.
I think that policy makes a deal of sense in that a) it kept the players focused on what was a massive game last night and b) the positive outcome makes leaving a harder decision given the increased likelihood of us being back in the Prem in 4 months time.
It's going to be an interesting 5 days !

[Skyline]

Hunt's got a clever agent who knows his client will go running to the press to spout off if he tells him there's been 'interest' from PL clubs.

TBH, the sooner some mug PL manager comes in and offers the £5m for him the better.

And to think that it was only because we made a last-minute move for him that stopped him ending up plying his trade in the lower leagues at Bradford City. No-one would've even mentioned him as being a Premier League player then...

[Rawlie19]

Coppell hinted that clubs had phoned him, but that no offer had been made. So I don't think the club HAVE been lying. He knows that some clubs want him, but they're not prepared to pay £5m for him. He's pi$$ed off and that's why he's ranting. Want this to be over now. Oh, love the "I might stay till the summer" quote. He'll still be under contract then too, so the same thing will happen if nobody offers the £5m. Jog on son.

[papereyes]

Not sure whether this is good news or bad!

Well, its not good news, is it?

[Sun Tzu]

Interesting that Hunt thinks it's down to clubs coming to an agreement.

So does that mean he doesn't have a release clause ? Or does it mean that no one had made a bid that activates the clause ?

If a bid has been made that activates the release clause there is nothing for clubs to discuss (as we have understood it). All you can conclude from Hunt's comments are that no one had valued him at the figure in his clause, and as far as the club are concerned no one has therefore made a bid to be taken seriously !!

[Mr Angry]

Possible PL "interest" in SHunt;

Wigan: "We are keen on SHunt; would £2M be enough to get him?"

Us: "Nope - he has a £5M clause in his contract tho......"

Wigan: "Nah - not at that price...cheers".

[papereyes]

Possible PL "interest" in SHunt;

Wigan: "We are keen on SHunt; would £2M be enough to get him?"

Us: "Nope - he has a £5M clause in his contract tho......"

Wigan: "Nah - not at that price...cheers".

Or they're trying to structure it so its £5 million possible in total but only a small proportion up front.

[No Hoops]

In my eyes Stephen Hunt is now officially a Prick.

Shut up you big headed arse.

Would like to be a fly on the wall in Mr Coppells office this morning.

[Vision]

"I guess we're being punished now for having rugby on our pitch," he suggested. "It's not in a good way but you can't blame the groundsman because there is rugby played on it. I suppose the money must be important."

Oh the irony!!

[Tilehurst End]

To be fair SC said in his interview that nobody had phoned him and made an offer, that doesn't mean that Mr Hammond's line has not been busy.

[Turns8]

Has anyone not thought that once again the media may be embelishing the truth alittle to stir things up...

[The Rouge]

He may want to leave. Sometimes when I have been doing a job for a few years I want to move on.
He had an amazing start to the season, not quite so good recently, but still effective.
He gives 100% on the pitch.

He is fine by me.

[Woodcote Royal]

Isn't it obvious now that both club and player are being less than frank/economical with the truth on this matter

Steve Coppell has significant past history in this regard with remarks such as "I never look at the league table" For the most part, I don't knock him for this as he's only acting in what he sees as the clubs best interests but, those who think RFC are always as pure as the driven snow when dealing with these matters need to wake up and smell the coffee.

Coppell, quite rightly, wanted to minimise the effect any Hunt speculation would have had on last nights match and he didn't have to work too hard to say the right thing, did he? Whereas, I'm guessing Director of Football Nick Hammond saying "I've received no bids/interest for any of our players would have been much further from the truth.

As this window approached NH made the most significant observation of all when he said, that the only player we had no control over was Stephen Hunt as he was the one with a release clause.

As I said to Mr A last night, unlike the last window when Hammond turned out the Mad Stad lights a few hours before the deadline, on the basis that the time had passed when they would sell any player because we wouldn't find replacements before midnight, we won't have that option this time if 'arry gets on the blower offering £5m with 5 minutes to go.

So, if Hunt is still "chirping" in today's press, surely the time has come to activate plan "B" by signing one of the replacements we've clearly had lined up for some time.................it's not as if we can't afford one, is it, FFS

Will the man who preferred to spend last summer on his prayer mat, begging Shorey to stay (even being prepared to gift Charlton a rare win, having refused to sign a replacement for "Sulk a lot" until he'd actually left the building) be pro-active in this instance by bringing in someone who will make Hunt fight for his place if he's still here next week?

..............................you better, Steve

[CMRoyal]

So, if Hunt is still "chirping" in today's press, surely the time has come to activate plan "B" by signing one of the replacements we've clearly had lined up for some time.................it's not as if we can't afford one, is it, FFS

Will the man who preferred to spend last summer on his prayer mat, begging Shorey to stay (even being prepared to gift Charlton a rare win, having refused to sign a replacement for "Sulk a lot" until he'd actually left the building) be pro-active in this instance by bringing in someone who will make Hunt fight for his place if he's still here next week?

..............................you better, Steve

Had a similar conversation last night with the people around me. General consensus was that S Hunt has got too big for his flat cap, and buying his "replacement" should happen toot sweet. If he stays, he's under pressure to play well - or could even be benched till he gets his feet back on the ground - and if he goes, the timing won't catch us out.

As for this bickering in the press - don't look good, does it? I wonder if S Hunt is not only frustrated by SC's dissembling, but deep down also upset at his own lack of saleability. Whatever it is, it's taking the gloss off the race to the top.

[Hoop Blah]

He may want to leave. Sometimes when I have been doing a job for a few years I want to move on.
He had an amazing start to the season, not quite so good recently, but still effective.
He gives 100% on the pitch.

He is fine by me.

Hunt himself has admitted that his form suffered before the window shut and after it did shut he came out and said he'd knuckled down and was re-concentrating on the task ahead.

His form since early December, at least, has been lacking and I don't think it's a coincidence that it's around the time clubs would've been contacting his agent and sounding him out about a move.

As for Coppell's quotes about it last week, yet again Coppell comes out with pretty dismissive quotes that are carefully worded to make a denial or give the answer that the fans probably want without actually lieing about it. I'm sure the truth is that clubs have made enquiries, had chats with Hunts agents to say we're discussing things with the club, but at the same time these have not resulted in a bid for Hunt.

You can't believe much that comes out of the club or the players mouths as the whole industry is awash with PR and soundbites to feed the media scrum and not put people's noses out of joint.