williams- swooped!

[TBM]

As he's 24 and Scunny offered him a deal, will this need to go through a tribunal to decide if we must pay a fee?

From what i believe they cancelled his contract - as it wasn't due to end until June

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Good work. Gives him plenty of time to get sorted before pre season starts.

Hopefully wont take up too much of a chunk from the budget.

Leaves a bit for Griff, Kish and maybe one more.

[Focher]

does anyone remember Scott Goldbourne?

[Messiah]

No compo. He turned down a new deal and they agreed to release him a little early.

According to the OS, he talked only to Reading and was sold on a move as soon as he got here, saw the club and met the manager.

[Wycombe Royal]

does anyone remember Scott Goldbourne?

He was a lot younger and had played next to no matches for Bristol CIty - if you are looking for a comparison there isn't one.

[Wycombe Royal]

As he's 24 and Scunny offered him a deal, will this need to go through a tribunal to decide if we must pay a fee?

From what i believe they cancelled his contract - as it wasn't due to end until June

They have to be under 24 to get compensation. He was 24 in April.

[Messiah]

Reading have signed Scunthorpe left-back Marcus Williams on a three-year contract after he rejected a new deal at Glanford Park.

Williams played nearly 200 games for the Iron during one of the most successful periods in their history and has been first choice in his position for the past four seasons.

Reading manager Brian McDermott said: "We are really pleased to get him.

"I've known about him for a number of years, he's got good pace, he's young but has played a lot of games already in his career.

"We wanted to fill this position quickly and I am really pleased he has decided to come to us. Scunthorpe had offered him a decent contract but he was keen to come here. He's impressed with the club and I know he will enjoy it here and do well.

"We like our full backs to get forward, that's how we play, and he will fit into that. There was interest from other clubs but to be fair to him and his agent they didn't speak with anyone else, they made their decision and felt we were the right club for him."

Williams commeted on his move: "It's brilliant for me, I'm delighted to sign for such a big club with real potential. I'm really happy, so are my family, and I can't wait to get started.

"I've known about the interest only for a couple of weeks and it was fascinating news, I was delighted to get the call.

"As soon as I met the manager I knew this was the right place, this is where I want to be and I'm excited. He has really helped me feel welcome, which is nice, especially when you're coming down from home.

"It's pleasing to know the manager is willing to support you in every way, on and off the pitch and I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and helping Reading to get results."

[Terminal Boardom]

This is a positive move. Well done RFC.

[Ian Royal]

A Defender from the divisions leakiest defence. Nice One.

Like most, ive Never heard of him either.

How can you say its a good signing at this stage?

Bertrand was part of the Norwich team that leaked 70 goals the season they were relegated......its not just down to one player, there are 10 others that count

Didn't Bertrand play on the wing quite a lot for them?



Pleased with the speed with which we've done this. Bertrand wasn't exactly brilliant in defence so I'm not too worried about getting in a player who has room to improve there. Although it makes it more important to land Griffin for the experience and defensive quality on the other flank now.

McD is impressing in his summer signings already, and it doesn't really even feel much like Spring yet.

[Focher]

it would be interesting as to know as to why everyone thinks this is such a good deal. Dont get me wrong, i very much hope this player is an adequate replacement for Bertrand and Armstrong, but on the basis that you probably only saw him play against us at home and Scunny were barely on the TV last year, how do you actually know he is any good????

[TBM]

it would be interesting as to know as to why everyone thinks this is such a good deal. Dont get me wrong, i very much hope this player is an adequate replacement for Bertrand and Armstrong, but on the basis that you probably only saw him play against us at home and Scunny were barely on the TV last year, how do you actually know he is any good????

He's got the main quality needed for this division..........pace!

I guess we all trust McD's judgement

[Starry Blue Hooped Wonder]

Good to have early positive action to replace an obvious hole in the team left by Bertrand. Got to give McD credit for that. Hopefully he will turn out to be a useful member of the team.

My Scunny supporting colleague told me this was going to happen this morning, his opinion of Williams is that he is a good enough player, with plenty of pace who needed to move on from Scunthorpe in order to progress his career. Apparantly, as he kept dithering about whether or not to accept the new offer Scunthorpe had presented and so the club decided to terminate his contract slightly early.

The only down side my colleague came up with was that he is a bit of a Prima Donna, and has been known to 'spit the dummy' on a few occasions. He came across as thinking he was bigger than Scunthorpe and deserved to be playing on a better stage - 5-6k gates didn't float his boat. So it will be interesting to see how McD handles this aspect of his personality.

[Focher]

i will reserve my judgement til next season im afraid

[Barry the bird boggler]

Not really popular with the Scunny fans though. They say he can't tackle and defend.

http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tn ... 2121657764

That's always my worry with full backs these days, surely their first job is to be able to defend and tackle and attack second.

[Wycombe Royal]

Not really popular with the Scunny fans though. They say he can't tackle and defend.

http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tn ... 2121657764

That's always my worry with full backs these days, surely their first job is to be able to defend and tackle and attack second.

Not with the type of football we play under McD. Our play is based around attacking not defending, and having full backs who can support the wingers and provide overlapping runs is crucial to its success.

[RobRoyal]

Not really popular with the Scunny fans though. They say he can't tackle and defend.

http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tn ... 2121657764

That's always my worry with full backs these days, surely their first job is to be able to defend and tackle and attack second.

Surely? How come? Increasingly, full-back is a crucial attacking position.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... s-football

[Terminal Boardom]

Does he have the right DNA?

[RobRoyal]

Does he have the right DNA?

98% right apparently. Apparently that means he's a chimp, but McD wasn't dissuaded.

[Focher]

98% right apparently. Apparently that means he's a chimp, but McD wasn't dissuaded.

RACIST

[Messiah]

Does he have the right DNA?

98% right apparently. Apparently that means he's a chimp, but McD wasn't dissuaded.