Shane Long Vs Simon Church SEASON WATCH

[Muskrat]

I've been ambivalent about Long up to now but now I think it's pretty obvious that his time at Reading is up. He's been with us for over four years and at 24 he's still not established himself in the first team. Any decent offer in January from a league one or two club and I reckon he'll be off especially with us looking to sign Thorvaldsson.

He needs another chance to establish himself as a first choice, at a lower level. Sometimes effective from the bench but that's not enough for him or us.

[ReadingFlan]

Hi I'm Shane Long. I am going to try and take it round you. Oh dear I lost the ball. I have got the ball again and I am going to take it round you. Oh dear I have lost it again.
Hi I am Darius Henderson, Reading didn't want me and I scored a hatrick in the Championship at the weekend.
Hi I am Simon Cox, Reading didn't want me and I am going to be in the Premier league next season.
Hi I am Nathan Tyson, Reading didn't want me but my club are above Reading in the Championship!

[SLAMMED]

Shouldn't have bothered.

[rhroyal]

Hi I'm Shane Long. I am going to try and take it round you. Oh dear I lost the ball. I have got the ball again and I am going to take it round you. Oh dear I have lost it again.
Hi I am Darius Henderson, Reading didn't want me and I scored a hatrick in the Championship at the weekend.
Hi I am Simon Cox, Reading didn't want me and I am going to be in the Premier league next season.
Hi I am Nathan Tyson, Reading didn't want me but my club are above Reading in the Championship!

Please. As if Tyson and Henderson would have been any use to Reading between the time we sold them and now. Now I'd happily take Darius back in a flash, but it's the first time since selling him where we haven't had better options. It was not a mistake to get rid of those 2. Cox is more debatable, but he was nowhere near the team when we sold him. The only reason we could have kept him would have been in anticipation of relegation. Where's the "ambition" that everybody moans about in that?

This club is where we are now because of a catalogue of errors since 2007. Selling these 3 has nothing to do with it.

[Hoop Blah]

Darius would've been a very useful addition to our squad for the last 3 years when we've missed having that traditional physical centre forward.

We had Kitson, but he wasn't the battering ram centre forward that would've been very useful when all we had was lumping the ball into the channels for Doyle/Long/Hunt/Lita to chase.

There was no point keeping him at the time as we couldn't have given him the time of the pitch to develop in the way he has. Same can be said of Cox and Tyson.

[Gav]

Cox is more debatable, but he was nowhere near the team when we sold him

I seem to remember Coppell trying Cox on the right a couple of times and considering he was new to the first team and out of position, I thought he did bloody well. Considering we were struggling up front not long after (or during), I was absolutely amazed he didn't get more of a chance up top. Unless my chronology is totally out of whack, I do remember thinking he deserved more of a look in.

[Gordons Cumming]

On reflection it has proved an excellent move for Simon, even though he didn't want to go at the time.

[andrew1957]

Steve Coppell said that he was happy to let Simon Cox go because we already had Shane Long - who is a better player. Oh dear

To be fair he is only 22 though and not 24 as was stated earlier.

[weybridgewanderer]

who is winning this battle?

[Ian Royal]

who is winning this battle?

Church, just about. But then who could have envisaged at the start of the season that Long would have put on three stone and lost his only decent attribute.

[SteveRoyal]

It will be interesting to see if Rodger's picks Long over Church for the next few fixtures - now that Long isn't injured.

[Ian Royal]

To be honest I'm not overly keen on the prospect of Long ever playing for us again, let alone ahead of Church.

[Royalee]

It will be interesting to see if Rodger's picks Long over Church for the next few fixtures - now that Long isn't injured.

If he does that then even I'd want him sacked. Not gonna happen.

[winchester_royal]

If we can get Long into shape, and get him resembling some sort of match sharpness then he will be an asset.

Though TBH any sort of striker would be for us currently.

[Southbank Old Boy]

If we can get Long into shape, and get him resembling some sort of match sharpness then he will be an asset.

Though TBH any sort of striker would be for us currently.

He wasnt a great assest when he had better players around him

Asking him to carry the batton as one of the supposed better players in the side is just asking for trouble coz he aint up to it

[Ian Royal]

I was happy to give him a chance after his end to last season.

He's had it and been atrocious and petulant. He's got no brain and the sooner he starts trying to resurrect his career in League One/Two with someone else the better.

[Southbank Old Boy]

The daft thing is I would expect him to go to a top end Championship club first, hopefully for 500k at least

He has scored goals remember, at this level and above. That means some managers will see him as proven and worth a reasonable fee, especially at his age

[Ian Royal]

The daft thing is I would expect him to go to a top end Championship club first, hopefully for 500k at least

He has scored goals remember, at this level and above. That means some managers will see him as proven and worth a reasonable fee, especially at his age

I guess worse players have gone for that much. I don't really consider him to have even vaguely proven himself, but he does appear to be highly rated by commentators on the odd TV game I've seen that he's played in.

[SteveRoyal]

Thing is though, Long was (debatably) our best striker towards the end of last season, getting a few games under his belt. Chipped in with a few crucial goals.
Give him to the summer?
He's eye candy, in any case.

[Royalee]

Thing is though, Long was (debatably) our best striker towards the end of last season, getting a few games under his belt. Chipped in with a few crucial goals.
Give him to the summer?
He's eye candy, in any case.

He eyes candy, then he eats it, yes.