Farewell's to Stephen Hunt

[West Stand Man]

Oh, and while we are at it. The heading for this is the worst apostrophe crime for weeks on this board. That is a plural so it is 'farewells', it isn't difficult you know.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

If Steve Coppell was still in charge, i would expect Hunt to be back here in six months on a loan deal.

[Thaumagurist*]

Good on him for thanking the club and the fans. At least he left on good terms.

Has he???

At least he didn't smash the place up.

You realise he's been unprofessional in moaning to the press about not getting a move to a Premiership club? Why did his form drop off after Christmas?

Writing a letter does not mean he's left on good terms.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

But it does make up for most of the below-par performances.

[Thaumagurist*]

.

[Bucks Dave]

Sky Sports News reported that last season in the championship he was second overall in number of assists given (sorry about the Americanism). Any stattos on here like to challenge that? If so that's not a bad record.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Does it, really? Right, I'll be shit at my job, whinge a lot to everybody, generally be a cock and before I leave, I'll write a letter thanking everybody at the company for being such good people. I'll have left on good terms.

Not really. But at least he sort to repaying the fans, by writing the letter to them. Did John Oster do this?

[sheshnu]

There's no way in this world that Stephen Hunt composed that letter, the boy's retarded.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

There's no way in this world that Stephen Hunt composed that letter, the boy's retarded.

Haha - was thinking the same.

[FiNeRaIn]

There's no way in this world that Stephen Hunt composed that letter, the boy's retarded.

Ok, these plain insults are getting a bit silly now.

I don't like him that much but fair play to him for putting his thoughts down and I believe he was being honest. Good luck at hull but thanks for the 2 million like I said.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

There's no way in this world that Stephen Hunt composed that letter, the boy's retarded.

Ok, these plain insults are getting a bit silly now.

I don't like him that much but fair play to him for putting his thoughts down and I believe he was being honest. Good luck at hull but thanks for the 2 million like I said.

Where did you get the £2m from? Genuine question...

[Snowball]

A brave, full-hearted player who I never saw pull out of a challenge.

Unless I missed it, he was not the only Reading player to lose form after Xmas
and once we weren't going up he was always going to be too expensive for us
and was always going to go. Harps and Beeks may well follow, even Matty

Steve is 29 and has to consider his future and he has done the right thing for himself and his family.
The very best of luck to him and I hope Hull stay up (though it will be a tough one.)

The nastiness on this list is very, very sad.

[bigmike]

See ya hunty good luck at Hull ... Thanks for the memories

[brendywendy]

Has he???

At least he didn't smash the place up.

You realise he's been unprofessional in moaning to the press about not getting a move to a Premiership club? Why did his form drop off after Christmas?

Writing a letter does not mean he's left on good terms.

ok mate, hes not killed anyone!

he just said he wanted to go, which was true
whether you think he deserves to play at a higher level is irrelevant, he wants to, and hes given his all here for 4 years etc
was just being honest-
and his if you think his form dipped on purpose i think youre being a bit mental-his work rate never dropped as far as i saw-and with a player like him youll always get fluctuations in form cos technically he wasnt that great.
also see others comments about the entire teams dip in form....was that his fault too?

this letter shows his real feelings towards the club, fans and the old management team-didnt have to write it, and probably wouldnt have if hed seen all this guff on this"list"

[John Peel]

I'm sure he did get some help from his agent with the grammar and what-not, but that's irrelevant. The fact is he didn't have to do anything and by even bothering to write the letter a club deserves a bit of respect. We paid nothing for him, he was fantastic at times (even last season he assisted a silly amount of goals) and we've just made £3-3.5m profit.

Stop being a cynical bunch of c***s!

[Focher]

My short summary of Stephen Hunt on the pitch would be:

A basic, averagely dirty player who tries 100% whether he's playing shit or not.

Every championship club needs one in my view.

[Eastkentroyal]

HuLOLOL. Good choice hunt. Will you be moaning about moving on when YOU get them relegated with some of your crap performances next year?

And for people paying tribute to him- he hardly played in the 106 team- wasn't fit to lace conveys boots.

If I remember correctly Stephen Hunt and John Oster were signed on free transfers as cover for Bobby Convey and Glen Little respectively and neither player had a major involvement in what we now call “The 106 Team”.
Bobby Convey was rewarded for his involvement in that wonderful team by receiving a nasty injury whilst representing his country in the World Cup following our promotion to The Premiership. Sadly he would never be able to recapture his form and ultimately returned home.
With Bobby Convey injured Stephen Hunt was given his chance in our first premiership season and to be fair took it very well. But then so did the rest of the team. Steve Coppell blended a team of relative unknowns, all whom had something to prove, into a side that would take The Premiership by surprise narrowly missing out on qualifying for Europe.
At that point the wheels started to fall off. A lot of the playing staff, the main exception being Kevin Doyle, now started getting ideas beyond their station. Their humble origins along with the fact that it was the well managed Reading FC that had made them into stars were forgotten. Stephen Hunt is a prime example. We can all name others starting with Steve Sidwell.
It appeared to me that Stephen Hunt’s mind was elsewhere last season as he seemed to be spending most of his time out on the pitch practising his footwork for Strictly Come Dancing. I was appalled to see him kick over a press photographer’s bag thus emptying it of expensive equipment whilst taking a corner during the home game against Wolves. A simple request to move the bag would have sufficed and is further evidence of a person who has a big head but containing very little brain. I am very pleased that he has now gone.
We will never be a big team and if we are going to survive in the big boys world then I hope the management of Reading FC have at least learnt one lesson from our brief stay in the top flight. That is to mould a team of unknowns into something special and then to job the lot out for vast profit safe in the knowledge that our academy/scouting structure will be producing the next chunk of profit. Time will tell if “Brendan’s Babes” will become stars. For all our sakes I hope that they do.
My only concern with regard to Stephen Hunt’s departure is that the well earned vitriol poured on him by most of us will have an adverse effect on his brother Noel. I hope not as he could be worth several million in a couple of years or so.

[Thaumagurist*]

I was appalled to see him kick over a press photographer’s bag thus emptying it of expensive equipment whilst taking a corner during the home game against Wolves. A simple request to move the bag would have sufficed and is further evidence of a person who has a big head but containing very little brain.

Er, I wouldn't totally lay the blame at Hunt's feet, I think the photographer was stupid enough in the first place to leave his equipment in such a place!

[bigshaka'away']

To all those who have slagged him off-

I can see your point, and there is truth in what you say, but frankly he was a player who always gave his all - albeit not always succesfully - and that is all you can ask. He may not have played well after xmas, but i was at the games and he always always tried, unlike some others at this club over the years. He divides opinion as he is obviously thick and inconsistent and irritated by his wish to leave, but he has become the easy target and the scapegoat for a lot that went wrong - unfairly in my view. Wish him luck, dont boo him when he comes back (unless he deserves in the game of course)... I remember when Martin Butler left, we all loved him still, and then first game away to Rotherham (where he went to) he dived in the box and won a penalty infront of the reading fans who were chanting his name........ I bet Hunt would not do that when (and if) we play Hull. Indeed i would hasten to guess he will show the fans a lot more respect than many returning players. And furthermore, he now has to live in Hull - so surely that is punishment enough.

[papereyes]

Someone wrote that little goodbye speech for him - there's no way in this world he thought that up all by himself.

I found the first draft:

Dear Reading Fans Everywhere,

D'ya like dags?

Yours

Stephen