I rather hope Harper and Shunt leave now

[PieEater]

I'd like Harper to stay but if he goes I'd wish him well and say thanks for everything.

I'd like SHunt to just piss off. I'm tired of all his moaning to the press, and his crap performances for the best part of the last 2 months.

[RFCBoy]

Does this mean anything to anyone?

Daily Mirror 31.01.09

Reading are signing Barnsley winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce for £1million.

And the swoop could open the door for Stephen Hunt to be sold, with Tottenham emerging as clear favourites for his signature.

Campbell-Ryce only agreed a new deal at Oakwell a couple of months ago, but Reading's bid is big enough to make The Tykes consider the sale.

[The 17 Bus]

means we will soon be overloaded with left sided players!!!!

[Southbank Old Boy]

Royalee finally talks some sense!
I refer to his comments re Pearce and Bikey - they are our best bet for cutting it in the Prem next year if we get there. They would each need a lot of work on them for different reasons between now and then but speed and strength are must have attributes for survival [Vidic being the shining example] and they have both whereas Ivar and Doobs don't , though clearly we need to keep both of them too.

FWIW SHunt is less replaceable than Harps; but if both do stay and we make it back to the Prem we would need a real rethink about midfield and play much more cannily according to the opposition than we did last year. Cisse will hack it in the Prem now and should be in for each match, Marek would be good against some teams but not others, etc etc. Tabb being the unknown. But the quality and deployment of our midfield would be the decisive factor for survival or not.....

I don't thnk you could really argue that Pearce has more "speed and strength" than either Doobs or Ivar

You also missed out the just as important, if not more so, qualities of reading the game and defensive know how (experience and concentration breeds it but some young players are just blessed with it straight away)

No doubt Pearce will develope into at least a very good Championship defender but he might lack that extra yard of pace to cut it in the top flight if he doesnt keep developing the know how to make sure he doesnt get exposed (like he did against Wolves (avoided it that is) which as Ollie Kearns points out is also down to his team mates hard work as well)

[readingbedding]

Have they gone yet?

The fans at the game won't care, we'll act as if nothing's happened, because nothing's happened...

[readingbedding]

Bored of all the speculation now. Our squad is a lot stronger than people give it credit for and the absence of supposedly key players has generally made bugger all difference; our fringe players have always stepped up and done a great job and now could be the time for them to really show their mettle.

Harper and Shunt might be the most energetic within the usual starting 11 but they are not the be all and end all. We have players waiting in the wings who are ready and able - the supposed adversity in their departure will create a great atmosphere on match days as the fans really get behind the team.

Bring it on!

I rather look forward to reading all the doom and gloom on here and then watch the team carry on as if nothing has happened.

And yes, bored of is perfectly acceptable these days so feck off ancient grammar pedants.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Two of our most experienced midfielders, both with Premiership seasons under their belt. To be honest, I am surprised that we have kept them this long and I think most people won't realise how much they contribute until they have gone.

Would leave us with a central midfield of Boris, Matejovsky, Cisse and Karacan. One is near the end of his career with another at the very birth of his in this league let alone one up and the other two struggled to produce the goods in the Premiership. Of course, we would have to buy a replacement for Harper but have we left ourselves enough time and could we find someone as dynamic for the right price?

Hunt is probably less of a blow due to the signing of Tabb but would still require someone like Convey to step up or yet another new signing in a pretty settled ship at a key point in the season. I fear it could tip the balance trying to get three or four new players to gel in such a short time without impacting our end goal

[andrew1957]

I think that if either or both of them play today then we can be fairly sure they are staying. If there is a mystery "illness" or "injury" however - then it may be the last we see of them.

Personally I doubt very much that we will see any more players going or coming on Monday and probably overall that is a good thing. At least all the speculation can stop until May!!

[cmonurz]

Two of our most experienced midfielders, both with Premiership seasons under their belt. To be honest, I am surprised that we have kept them this long and I think most people won't realise how much they contribute until they have gone.

Would leave us with a central midfield of Boris, Matejovsky, Cisse and Karacan. One is near the end of his career with another at the very birth of his in this league let alone one up and the other two struggled to produce the goods in the Premiership. Of course, we would have to buy a replacement for Harper but have we left ourselves enough time and could we find someone as dynamic for the right price?

Hunt is probably less of a blow due to the signing of Tabb but would still require someone like Convey to step up or yet another new signing in a pretty settled ship at a key point in the season. I fear it could tip the balance trying to get three or four new players to gel in such a short time without impacting our end goal

Agree 100%. Sidwell is the best central midfielder to have played at this club in the last 10 years, and Harper is the second best.

[skipper]

Would like them to move on, just so we can freshen up the team, and obviously bank 10 mill.

[cmonurz]

Would like them to move on, just so we can freshen up the team, and obviously bank 10 mill.

You don't freshen up a team by buying lesser players.

[Royal Rother]

Bored of all the speculation now. Our squad is a lot stronger than people give it credit for and the absence of supposedly key players has generally made bugger all difference; our fringe players have always stepped up and done a great job and now could be the time for them to really show their mettle.

Harper and Shunt might be the most energetic within the usual starting 11 but they are not the be all and end all. We have players waiting in the wings who are ready and able - the supposed adversity in their departure will create a great atmosphere on match days as the fans really get behind the team.

Bring it on!

I rather look forward to reading all the doom and gloom on here and then watch the team carry on as if nothing has happened.

And yes, bored of is perfectly acceptable these days so feck off ancient grammar pedants.

What a very odd cove you are.

[Archie's penalty]

Two of our most experienced midfielders, both with Premiership seasons under their belt. To be honest, I am surprised that we have kept them this long and I think most people won't realise how much they contribute until they have gone.

Would leave us with a central midfield of Boris, Matejovsky, Cisse and Karacan. One is near the end of his career with another at the very birth of his in this league let alone one up and the other two struggled to produce the goods in the Premiership. Of course, we would have to buy a replacement for Harper but have we left ourselves enough time and could we find someone as dynamic for the right price?

Hunt is probably less of a blow due to the signing of Tabb but would still require someone like Convey to step up or yet another new signing in a pretty settled ship at a key point in the season. I fear it could tip the balance trying to get three or four new players to gel in such a short time without impacting our end goal

Great post H&P. Totally agree.

[Stranded]

Would like them to move on, just so we can freshen up the team, and obviously bank 10 mill.

You don't freshen up a team by buying lesser players.

Spot on - someone name me a better player that Harper who:

a) we could realistically afford (fee and wages)
b) would do better in the way our midfield is asked to play by SC?

[cmonurz]

We signed Harper in February 2001. In his first full season (01/02) we achieved promotion from League One, finishing 2nd. The following season we lost to Wolves in the playoff semi. Couple of seasons in upper mid-table, then promotion to the Premier League. Now we are 2nd in the Championship.

You don't achieve like Reading have in the past few seasons if you are carrying a spare in centre midfield.

Cisse is 'the new Sidwell' to the extent that he will put in tackles, and he will get into the box to support the strikers. He isnt a direct replacement for Sidders but will perform a similar 'opposite' role to Harper. If James goes, it's Marek, whose passing at times makes Harper look world-class, and Jem, who has bags of potential, but isn't a 46-league game a season player yet.

As with any discussion on players leaving, I wouldn't feel half as bad if I felt we would replace Harper with an equal or better player. We've certainly taken in transfer fees to afford it over the last few months. But we won't.

[Woodcote Royal]

Two of our most experienced midfielders, both with Premiership seasons under their belt. To be honest, I am surprised that we have kept them this long and I think most people won't realise how much they contribute until they have gone.

Would leave us with a central midfield of Boris, Matejovsky, Cisse and Karacan. One is near the end of his career with another at the very birth of his in this league let alone one up and the other two struggled to produce the goods in the Premiership.

Yet we produced our best result of the season, at Molineax, with a central midfield of Karacan and Gunnarsson.............................

[cmonurz]

Two of our most experienced midfielders, both with Premiership seasons under their belt. To be honest, I am surprised that we have kept them this long and I think most people won't realise how much they contribute until they have gone.

Would leave us with a central midfield of Boris, Matejovsky, Cisse and Karacan. One is near the end of his career with another at the very birth of his in this league let alone one up and the other two struggled to produce the goods in the Premiership.

Yet we produced our best result of the season, at Molineax, with a central midfield of Karacan and Gunnarsson.............................

That's one result.

[Woodcote Royal]

When it's involves beating the league leaders 3-0 on their own patch it says a great deal about certain blinkered views here.

Lust like Sidwell before them, Hunt and Harper are replaceable should the need arise..................not that I want this to be the case.

[cmonurz]

When it's involves beating the league leaders 3-0 on their own patch it says a great deal about certain blinkered views here.

Lust like Sidwell before them, Hunt and Harper are replaceable should the need arise..................not that I want this to be the case.

One match. Replacing someone for one game is not replacing them permanently.

[Woodcote Royal]

When it's involves beating the league leaders 3-0 on their own patch it says a great deal about certain blinkered views here.

Lust like Sidwell before them, Hunt and Harper are replaceable should the need arise..................not that I want this to be the case.

One match. Replacing someone for one game is not replacing them permanently.

They didn't play just one match in the centre but it happenned to included our best performance of the season whilst excluding most of our worst.