STEPHEN HUNT - IS HIS TIME UP?

[Mr Angry]

I think it has now got to the point where if someone was going to pay the £5m they would have already done it. Wigan asked if there was any bid the club would accept under £5m and we said no.

In the current climate, i very much doubt that anyone is going to pay this £5m and the £30k hunt would want a week.

It is also getting to the point where sir steve will be taking the battery out of his phone again, like he did at the end of the last transfer window

The problem is, as Woodcote alluded to earlier in his thread, is that if a club comes in at 4.55pm on Feb 2nd and offers £5M then the club HAS to allow SHunt to talk to them, and if he goes we won't have time to bring in a replacement.

As for the argument about the current economic climate, some clubs may take the view that if SHunt is a player that will give them the edge that might equate to an extra point or two, that might make the difference between staying up and getting relegated (especially this season where nobody below 7th can consider themselves safe) then £5M is a worthwhile punt.

[Bath Hoops]

I think it has now got to the point where if someone was going to pay the £5m they would have already done it. Wigan asked if there was any bid the club would accept under £5m and we said no.

In the current climate, i very much doubt that anyone is going to pay this £5m and the £30k hunt would want a week.

It is also getting to the point where sir steve will be taking the battery out of his phone again, like he did at the end of the last transfer window

Cardiff stated they had turned down a bid for Joe Ledley from Wigan so I suspect they thought he was a better option than Hunt, although if you believe the rumours Hunt doesnt want to go to Wigan he'd prefer a move to Spurs. Personally if you had £5 million and the choice was Hunt or Ledley I think I'd be more tempted to go for Ledley and I think there lies the problem, there are better options out there than Hunt for that kind of money. I suspect we've field calls/offers but its been below that £5 million barrier and the club are sticking to their guns on not selling for less. Hunt probably doesnt like that but he signed the contract with that clause so he should shut up and stop listening to the agent talk. If any club offers that then he will know as Reading have to make him aware of the bid, and all we've fielded so far are enquiries no formal bid.

[loyalroyal4life]

joe ledley vs s.hunt really is a no brainer !!

Any prem manager who chooses s.hunt over ledley must either be crazy or harry redknapp

[Sun Tzu]

The problem is, as Woodcote alluded to earlier in his thread, is that if a club comes in at 4.55pm on Feb 2nd and offers £5M then the club HAS to allow SHunt to talk to them, and if he goes we won't have time to bring in a replacement.

If someone has the time to buy one of our players then we've got time to buy a replacement.

It's been widely reported that we've got irons in the fire and we could even decide to take the initiative by buying a replacement even if no one has taken Hunt. Worst case is we'd be paying his wages until June...

Interestingly in all this hunt has not actually put in a transfer request. If he was so keen to get a move he could put his desire in writing on the table, but of course there would be financial implications to it. If I was JM I'd be tempted to tell Hunt that the club were taking his press comments as a formal transfer request....

[BR2]

joe ledley vs s.hunt really is a no brainer !!

Any prem manager who chooses s.hunt over ledley must either be crazy or harry redknapp

Absolutely.
It will be interesting in the light of Cardiff's improving chances of automatic promotion to see if Ledley leaves during this window-it's the same argument as with Hunt (except Ledley is club captain and Cardiff through and through whereas Hunt's loyalties are clearly me,me,me)about getting to the Premiership now or waiting a few more months to see if your current club makes it.
Presumably Ledley is in much greater demand as a better player but Hunt would obviously be a cheaper option and it is clear that he wants to move whereas with Ledley you get the impression that he doesn't want to.
I still can't see a Premier club paying anywhere near £5million for such a limited footballer but when have football clubs ever been rational?

[westongeezer]

Well according to Shunt quoted in this mornings bible "The Sun" Reading have been lying about the facts there's been no real intreast in him from 2 Prem clubs, so the plop thickens, tbh if he's that concerned about it i think he should leave this can only cause upset within the ranks.

[Turns8]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/readingfc/s/2043881_hunt_denies_rift_with_royals

ALOLITO....

[Gordons Cumming]

Well according to Shunt quoted in this mornings bible "The Sun" Reading have been lying about the facts there's been no real intreast in him from 2 Prem clubs, so the plop thickens, tbh if he's that concerned about it i think he should leave this can only cause upset within the ranks.

It's just the lazy Sun journo's using stories from local papers. see above

[londinium]

Well according to Shunt quoted in this mornings bible "The Sun" Reading have been lying about the facts there's been no real intreast in him from 2 Prem clubs, so the plop thickens, tbh if he's that concerned about it i think he should leave this can only cause upset within the ranks.

This story has already been out ages ago and quoted on here.

Secondly I couldnt care less about your 'plop' thickening!!!!

[Hoop Blah]

Well that's a clearer denial from Coppell and pretty much as expected, he's calling a bid an official written offer, which is fair enough.

I'm sure in the world of the player and agent a firm enquiry is just as interesting though.

I'm sure that Coppell's quotes last week were a little more along the lines of 'no enquiry' than 'no bid' but it's only to be expected and he's only doing it to keep the players on their toes I guess.

If you read the words of SSC carefully you will get the truth.
Now he says - no firm bid.
Before he says - I've not had a single enquiry about S Hunt.
Truth is Nicky Hammond gets all the calls, not SSC.
RFC doesn't want to do business, and I can understand SHunt getting annoyed, but Wigan have to bid £5M up front to get to talk to him - otherwise no deal.
Wigan will not talk to SSC during this process - Hammond deals with all the selling other than the "do you want to keep him or not Steve" conversation.
Hammond doesn't speak to the press during transfer windows (much) and thus RFC can maintain a total veil of secrecy over everything.

Agreed, that's what I was getting at. He's not telling porkies as such but he knows he's hiding the real truth about the real question he's been asked.

I've no real problem with it, it just means I take everything that comes out of the club with a massive pinch of salt.

[Woodcote Royal]

The problem is, as Woodcote alluded to earlier in his thread, is that if a club comes in at 4.55pm on Feb 2nd and offers £5M then the club HAS to allow SHunt to talk to them, and if he goes we won't have time to bring in a replacement.

If someone has the time to buy one of our players then we've got time to buy a replacement.

Feel free to justify this statement

[Franchise FC]

I think it has now got to the point where if someone was going to pay the £5m they would have already done it. Wigan asked if there was any bid the club would accept under £5m and we said no.

In the current climate, i very much doubt that anyone is going to pay this £5m and the £30k hunt would want a week.

It is also getting to the point where sir steve will be taking the battery out of his phone again, like he did at the end of the last transfer window

The problem is, as Woodcote alluded to earlier in his thread, is that if a club comes in at 4.55pm on Feb 2nd and offers £5M then the club HAS to allow SHunt to talk to them, and if he goes we won't have time to bring in a replacement.

As for the argument about the current economic climate, some clubs may take the view that if SHunt is a player that will give them the edge that might equate to an extra point or two, that might make the difference between staying up and getting relegated (especially this season where nobody below 7th can consider themselves safe) then £5M is a worthwhile punt.

Ah, yes. I can hear the conversation now :

RFC : Hello, Squeaky Nick here
Wigan : Hi, Squeaky - we'd like to give you 5 mill up front and want permission to talk to your traveller
RFC : No problem, I'll just get his phone number for you - can you hold ?
Wigan : Since you're being so good about it, no problem.

[Hold music, plus a few game announcements - You are 567th in the queue, etc.]

Squeaky picks up phone and as he does so an alarm sounds.
RFC : Sorry mate, it's gone five - can't do anything about it. You should've called ten minutes earlier

[Silver Fox]

Agreed, that's what I was getting at. He's not telling porkies as such but he knows he's hiding the real truth about the real question he's been asked.

Now I'm confused, he was asked about bids for Hunty and said that there hadn't been any, which is perfectly true. Later when asked to clarify about interest in players he said he's had a load of calls that amount to an interest, but still no bids, once again true.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

The problem is, as Woodcote alluded to earlier in his thread, is that if a club comes in at 4.55pm on Feb 2nd and offers £5M then the club HAS to allow SHunt to talk to them, and if he goes we won't have time to bring in a replacement.

If someone has the time to buy one of our players then we've got time to buy a replacement.

Feel free to justify this statement

One question I have - mainly because I can't be arsed to read the rest of the thread:

Does the window shut at 23:59:59 on Monday 2nd February? Or is it 5pm as alluded to above?

I also wonder whether the club have a replacement for Shunt lined up (Campbell-Ryce perhaps) with the caveat to that player's club that:

a) No deal will happen if Shunt stays at RFC
b) Nothing is to be released to the press prior to the deal going ahead

Or is that wishful thinking regarding our transfer policy?

[SpaceCruiser]

Ah, yes. I can hear the conversation now :

RFC : Hello, Squeaky Nick here
Wigan : Hi, Squeaky - we'd like to give you 5 mill up front and want permission to talk to your traveller
RFC : No problem, I'll just get his phone number for you - can you hold ?
Wigan : Since you're being so good about it, no problem.

[Hold music, plus a few game announcements - You are 567th in the queue, etc.]

Squeaky picks up phone and as he does so an alarm sounds.
RFC : Sorry mate, it's gone five - can't do anything about it. You should've called ten minutes earlier

That's actually amusing, but I can't imagine that the interested parties would leave it so late.

[Stranded]

One question I have - mainly because I can't be arsed to read the rest of the thread:

Does the window shut at 23:59:59 on Monday 2nd February? Or is it 5pm as alluded to above?

I also wonder whether the club have a replacement for Shunt lined up (Campbell-Ryce perhaps) with the caveat to that player's club that:

a) No deal will happen if Shunt stays at RFC
b) Nothing is to be released to the press prior to the deal going ahead

Or is that wishful thinking regarding our transfer policy?

It's 5pm this time as there are effectively 2 extra days in the window.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

The problem is, as Woodcote alluded to earlier in his thread, is that if a club comes in at 4.55pm on Feb 2nd and offers £5M then the club HAS to allow SHunt to talk to them, and if he goes we won't have time to bring in a replacement.

If someone has the time to buy one of our players then we've got time to buy a replacement.

It's been widely reported that we've got irons in the fire and we could even decide to take the initiative by buying a replacement even if no one has taken Hunt. Worst case is we'd be paying his wages until June...

Interestingly in all this hunt has not actually put in a transfer request. If he was so keen to get a move he could put his desire in writing on the table, but of course there would be financial implications to it. If I was JM I'd be tempted to tell Hunt that the club were taking his press comments as a formal transfer request....

He won't request a transfer becuase that would mean he would not get a full pay off from Reading when he does leave...

[Mr Angry]

I absolutely HATE the way a player will go to the press and moan about the club they are with, find "niggles" that stop them training and basically do everything they can to engineer a move; then, when that move happens, they demand a loyalty bonus from their previous club!!!!



Jermaine Defoe is a case in point; he did practically everything but suck Bagpuss off he was so desperate to join Spurs, then, after parading at WHL whilst STILL a Pompey player, demands that pompey pay him a £700K loyalty bonus for his 12 months and 36 games he was there (and where he contributed exactly nothing in them winning the FA Cup).


Its an attitude like that which makes fans so utterly disillusioned with the modern game.

[Woodcote Royal]

If someone has the time to buy one of our players then we've got time to buy a replacement.

Feel free to justify this statement

One question I have - mainly because I can't be arsed to read the rest of the thread:

Does the window shut at 23:59:59 on Monday 2nd February? Or is it 5pm as alluded to above?

I also wonder whether the club have a replacement for Shunt lined up (Campbell-Ryce perhaps) with the caveat to that player's club that:

a) No deal will happen if Shunt stays at RFC
b) Nothing is to be released to the press prior to the deal going ahead

Or is that wishful thinking regarding our transfer policy?

I believe it's 17.00 as the extention only exists because Jan 31st falls on a weekend.

It would seem almost certain that RFC has a fall back position but I don't think the "If someone has the time to buy one of our players then we've got time to buy a replacement" is a given by any means.

If 'arry picks up the phone at 16.55, offers the required dosh and we, in turn, phone Barnsley saying "One portion of Rice'n'peas, please" there's nothing to stop them saying "No thanks, we have no chance of finding a replacement now" whereas we have no choice but to release Hunt.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that Squeaky and Co didn't work this out months ago, but with a player, despite todays retraction, appearing far too impatient for a return to the top flight, I think it's time to revert to Plan "B" and provide Stephen Hunt with some serious competition for the rest of the season, should he end up staying.

[The 17 Bus]

Anyone would be mad to pay £5m with 5 minutes to go, and not have time for a medical.