Gylfi is leaving Reading

[It Is What It Is]

Hoffenheim live on ESPN 417 Friday will be Sigs debut for them.

Cant wait to watch him get splinters on that bench!

[skipper]

Am i the only one that is still really sad about Gylfi leaving . Especially after just reading BM interview on the OS. Gonna miss The Sig. Looking forward now though to the Palace game, see how we cope.

Life goes on, you kind of get use to it being a RFC supporter. Same thing with doyle etc. AS others have pointed out it should open your eyes to make you realise that FC Reading for the forseeable future will be a small, feeder club for others around.

Imagine having The Sig in the same side as Doyle and Sidwell....

If we had kept hold of Sidwell, if we had stayed in the prem (and there for kept Doyle) the reality is Sig would not of broke through for us, as we know how hard it is bleeding players in the premiership etc and been released / sold and then gone for millions for another club.

+1's on a lot of these posts, we are a clever club, and we couldn't keep hold of the sig.

But would still like to imagine Sig/Doyle + sidders...

[bottom left hand corner]

Am i the only one that is still really sad about Gylfi leaving . Especially after just reading BM interview on the OS. Gonna miss The Sig. Looking forward now though to the Palace game, see how we cope.

Life goes on, you kind of get use to it being a RFC supporter. Same thing with doyle etc. AS others have pointed out it should open your eyes to make you realise that FC Reading for the forseeable future will be a small, feeder club for others around.

Imagine having The Sig in the same side as Doyle and Sidwell....

If we had kept hold of Sidwell, if we had stayed in the prem (and there for kept Doyle) the reality is Sig would not of broke through for us, as we know how hard it is bleeding players in the premiership etc and been released / sold and then gone for millions for another club.

+1's on a lot of these posts, we are a clever club, and we couldn't keep hold of the sig.

But would still like to imagine Sig/Doyle + sidders...

Would have been a joy to watch

Hopefully he starts on Friday he deserves his chance at a top level

[The Rouge]

Am i the only one that is still really sad about Gylfi leaving . Especially after just reading BM interview on the OS. Gonna miss The Sig. Looking forward now though to the Palace game, see how we cope.

Life goes on, you kind of get use to it being a RFC supporter. Same thing with doyle etc. AS others have pointed out it should open your eyes to make you realise that FC Reading for the forseeable future will be a small, feeder club for others around.

Imagine having The Sig in the same side as Doyle and Sidwell....

If we had kept hold of Sidwell, if we had stayed in the prem (and there for kept Doyle) the reality is Sig would not of broke through for us, as we know how hard it is bleeding players in the premiership etc and been released / sold and then gone for millions for another club.

+1's on a lot of these posts, we are a clever club, and we couldn't keep hold of the sig.

But would still like to imagine Sig/Doyle + sidders...

If you forgive the corniness, that would have been the embodiment of Tenacity (Sid), Spirit (Doyle) and Flair (Sig)

[bottom left hand corner]

.......Marcus

Murts Mills Ivar Shorey
.....Sid Bryn Harper
.......The Sig
......Kits Doyle

Some team

[No Hoops]

.......
........Marcus

Murts Mills Sonko Shorey
.....Kebe Sidwell Hunt
.......The Sig
......Kits Doyle

Some team

[Drew_3]

Am i the only one that is still really sad about Gylfi leaving . Especially after just reading BM interview on the OS. Gonna miss The Sig. Looking forward now though to the Palace game, see how we cope.

Life goes on, you kind of get use to it being a RFC supporter. Same thing with doyle etc. AS others have pointed out it should open your eyes to make you realise that FC Reading for the forseeable future will be a small, feeder club for others around.

Imagine having The Sig in the same side as Doyle and Sidwell....

If we had kept hold of Sidwell, if we had stayed in the prem (and there for kept Doyle) the reality is Sig would not of broke through for us, as we know how hard it is bleeding players in the premiership etc and been released / sold and then gone for millions for another club.

+1's on a lot of these posts, we are a clever club, and we couldn't keep hold of the sig.

But would still like to imagine Sig/Doyle + sidders...

I was saying this a few weeks ago, didn't think of having sidders aswell, that would have been some team!

[southstand67]

I'm thinking of Fulham at home when we lost- would Gylfi have made much difference, cos we were dire that day.....

[Sarah Star]

.......Marcus

Murts Mills Ivar Shorey
.....Sid Bryn Harper
.......The Sig
......Kits Doyle

Some team

Average age of just under 30

[brendywendy]

i saw this thread on the front page, and i honestly thought the title was "gylfi to return to reading" and for a split second i thought he was coming home

[Uke]

i saw this thread on the front page, and i honestly thought the title was "gylfi to return to reading" and for a split second i thought he was coming home

[VOR]

Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their bike to bite them
Little fleas have smaller fleas
And so ad infinitum



The Carlisle message boards bitch about a bigger club stealing
their player and moan about their owners rolling over.

We nicked Coventry's player of the season, we took Doyle from Ireland.


Etc
Etc
Etc

Players move on. Simple!

Most of the time we get excellent money for our players (Sidwell excepted)
and a fair few cheap buys have turned into stars.

IMO, that element at least, we are a clever club.

Agreed - good post. Not sure I've ever seen a flea on a bike, though

[TFF]

Hammond: Why we had to sell Gylfi Sigurdsson
By Jonny Fordham
September 09, 2010

Royals reporter Jonny Fordham caught up with director of football Nick Hammond at Reading’s Hogwood Park training base for an exclusive chat.

In the first of this two-part series, Hammond tells the Reading Post why the club had to sell Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Wonderkid Gylfi Sigurdsson left a lasting legacy at Madejski Stadium.

That last-minute penalty at Anfield, a 30-yard screamer at West Brom in the FA Cup and a classy finish at Leicester City in his last game for Reading 11 days ago.

However, the biggest gift the 20-year-old left behind when he joined Hoffenheim for a club-record fee was a £7million lifeline.

Reading’s hand was well and truly forced when the German Bundesliga side came along with a mind-blowing offer that chairman Sir John Madejski simply could not refuse.

Sigurdsson rose through the blossoming Academy to make 51 first-team appearances for the club, scoring 22 goals from midfield.

Director of football Nick Hammond brokered the deal for the Iceland international, but it was with mixed emotions that he saw the set-piece specialist leave the club.

Hammond told the Reading Post: “It’s an exceptionally good deal.

“Gylfi is a fantastic young player and he will go on to great things. We have always felt that, having brought him to the club at 15.

“You have to have so much more than ability to get to the top level and when you look at Gylfi he ticks all the boxes.

“I’m very disappointed to lose him at this stage, make no mistake about it.

“But there’s also the satisfaction there that a player has come to us with raw talent, we have nurtured him through the Academy, and then he has become the record sale for us.

“That’s credit to an enormous amount of people here at the club.

“It also gives us more credibility as an Academy with some of the big clubs that we are competing against.

“It shows what a first-class environment we have and also the opportunity young players have to progress.”

The loss of £12million from the Premier League in parachute payments hit Reading hard.

And with a £4million deficit also looking Royals square in the eyes, the sale represents another shrewd piece of business.

“Circumstances this summer really dictated that he had to go when the bid came in,” Hammond admitted.

“Hoffenheim, I have to say were thoroughly professional in my dealings with them.

“It was eye opening to see the diligence they pursued the player with.

“Gylfi, on a personal level, wanted the move and to take this step up and grab this opportunity.

“And from the club’s perspective in terms of where we were at the end of the window, with it being a record sale, it was something we had to do.

“It was right for the long-term future of the football club.

“The chairman will always do that and he has always said he will make these tough decisions for the benefit of the longevity of the club.

“It’s been a difficult window and everyone is aware of that. It’s been well publicised and it has been testing times.”

Hammond and manager Brian McDermott had little time to react to Sigurdsson’s departure.

The timing of the deal was far from ideal and came just three months after Sigurdsson had signed a new three-year deal with the club.

“The biggest concern for me and Brian was that we would get to late on in the window and we hadn’t done too much and we would be vulnerable to losing two or three established players,” confessed Hammond.

“We have lost an exceptionally gifted player, make no mistake about it.

“But what that does give us is strength going forward for the rest of the season and takes away many of the cash-flow issues at the football club.

“In the short-term it has also allowed us to bring in some experienced players to give a great balance to the team, maybe that we were lacking six or seven weeks ago.

“In those terms it was a fantastic deal for the club. The key now is that other players step up to the plate.

“The experienced players have to take the mantle and bring the whole thing together. But as always, with someone departing it gives the opportunity to someone else.

“That has to be the vibe and feeling we have around the club.

“I think the balance of the squad now is better than it was at the start of the summer.

“The players that have come in at the end of the window give us more cover and flexibility. It also makes the spine of the team look that bit stronger. So I’m pleased with that.”

The argument over whether or not the transfer window is good for the game continues to rumble on and Hammond also made his feelings clear about the chaos it causes inside football.

He added: “I’ve consistently said over the years that I can’t comprehend or understand it.

“It just creates false markets, inflated markets and the system we had previously where we had a shut-off in March worked perfectly well.

“You could look at the market and trade when you needed to. You didn’t have to stockpile players.

“I see no benefit to the transfer window whatsoever. I’m sure at some stage we’ll get back to the old system.

“With respect to the transfer window itself, I fail to see any benefit to it whatsoever.”

Interesting

[brendywendy]

good stuff hamster

[Pablo]

“Gylfi, on a personal level, wanted the move and to take this step up and grab this opportunity.

This is what the club has to say so the supporters wont be furious! And maybe Gylfi wanted the move when he realised that Reading were accepting every bid for him

[Uke]

“Gylfi, on a personal level, wanted the move and to take this step up and grab this opportunity.

This is what the club has to say so the supporters wont be furious! And maybe Gylfi wanted the move when he realised that Reading were accepting every bid for him

[Clockwatcher]

Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their bike to bite them
Little fleas have smaller fleas
And so ad infinitum



The Carlisle message boards bitch about a bigger club stealing
their player and moan about their owners rolling over.

We nicked Coventry's player of the season, we took Doyle from Ireland.


Etc
Etc
Etc

Players move on. Simple!

Most of the time we get excellent money for our players (Sidwell excepted)
and a fair few cheap buys have turned into stars.

IMO, that element at least, we are a clever club.

Good post this and if you substitute 'BACKS' for 'bike' you get the original and much more meaningful rhyme.........

[Spud Gun]

Good article in the Guardian about Sig and Reading ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/foot ... ampionship

[Svlad Cjelli]

“Gylfi, on a personal level, wanted the move and to take this step up and grab this opportunity.

This is what the club has to say so the supporters wont be furious! And maybe Gylfi wanted the move when he realised that Reading were accepting every bid for him

So do you really, seriously think that he'd ever turn this move down to stay at Reading for a while longer? Would you in his circumstances?

[Scarface]

“Gylfi, on a personal level, wanted the move and to take this step up and grab this opportunity.

This is what the club has to say so the supporters wont be furious! And maybe Gylfi wanted the move when he realised that Reading were accepting every bid for him

So do you really, seriously think that he'd ever turn this move down to stay at Reading for a while longer? Would you in his circumstances?

Yes, if he wanted to hang on for a move the the premiership, which he did. Reading accepted the bid and we told him to leave as we needed the cash, but I personally don't believe he really wanted to sign for some mid table German side. I only hope it proves to be the right decision for him.