Shane Long looking to move in Summer

[Sir Dodger Royal]

Reading's lack of ambition will see Long move on in the Summer. Real Facts.

SHANE LONG is desperate to make it back to the Premier League with Reading but has conceded that he will have to consider a move away from the Madejski Stadium if their promotion efforts fall short this year, WRITES Daniel McDonnell.

The Tipperary native is enjoying a fine campaign at Championship level, and was linked with a move to the top flight during the January transfer window after producing a consistent run of performances.

Long is hoping that the Berkshire club can make a run into the play-offs but has admitted that, for the sake of his career, he needs to progress to the highest level.

It would help his international prospects too, with Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle, Leon Best and Jon Walters all engaged in Premier League action this term.

"That would be perfect," said Long, when it was put to him that Reading making the leap would be the ideal scenario.

"Every player wants to play as high as they can. Obviously I want to get there as soon as I can and hopefully it's with Reading this year, and if not, hopefully someone else wants me there.

"The club hasn't said anything to me. I don't know if they had anyone in for me or offers. I know it's a cliche to say it but I was just concentrating on my game and thinking all that side of things would take care of itself."

And the 23-year-old, who was named the FAI Young International Player of the Year on Sunday night, says that he wouldn't be interested in moving for just the sake of it. He attributes his outstanding displays this term to the benefit of guaranteed first-team action.

"I don't want to be going somewhere and just sit on the bench, or maybe in the stands, and not be involved as much as I have been. I've done a few years of that behind Kevin (Doyle) at Reading and now I'm finally getting 90 minutes week in week out and I think I've improved as a player because of that."

Long will start from the bench for Ireland tonight, however, with Walters getting the nod from Giovanni Trapattoni. Instead, Long is likely to replace Kevin Doyle after the interval, with the Italian believing that Walters is better equipped to cope with the physical challenge posed by the Welsh.

Irish Independent

[Snowball]

That's probably not fresh stuff. The Irish press and they get his age wrong?

The clincher is the want-to-play issue. Of course I'd like Shane to stay for
at least next season, but I genuinely think it would be better for him to
be a star man, playing 40-55 games than maybe be a squad player in the Prem.

I think he's one of those players who needs to PLAY and I could see him going
into the Premiership, not getting enough starts, losing form big-time and
eventually leaving, marked "a failure at the top level".

Conversely, if he was played in a 433 with a huge Heskey type and a
cold-eyed finisher he could be awesome. It would depend, I suspect
on how well his first few games went.

But if he can get close to 20 goals this season (already on 11+2+2) and then
do slightly better next season playing for RFC (in the championship, probably)
he will have learned a hell of a lot (his touch is massively improved and he's
found his shooting boots again) will have passed Kevin Doyle's RFC totals
and will still be 24 in the January window, 25 and three months at the end
of the season.

What the club should do NOW, is offer him a better contract, make him
our best paid player and with a sell-clause of 5.5 Million


But just remember, "he'll never be a footballer"
and "will never be a Premiership player"

so we don't have to worry

[Wimb]

Doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know/suspect.

Despite his recent good form I'm still not 100% sold on Shane YET and with those reservations if we were blown out of the water with a bid of over £3-4 million I'd take it.

[Royal With Cheese]

Player in "I want to play in the permiership" shocker.

I suppose if Marcus Williams had been quoted it wouldn't have bothered you that much?

[Snowball]

£4M+ I think we would have to see it as a good profit and the accounts sorted for one more season.

I still think that would be short-termism

£3M unless it was all up front, there's probably not a lot of point. We'd still be short, have to buy a
striker, it would flatten morale and we'd probably be just hoping to stay clear of the bottom three.

Seriously, what would be the effect on gates? 2,000 drop x 23 = 46,000 x £25 = 1.15 Million?

If Shane consolidates this season, gets to twenty or more goals from all competitions
and then he manages the same next year (he is still young) his value will rise considerably.

IMO he will be worth at least £2M more in 15 months time, so even 20K a week
(not saying we would need to offer him so much) would be an investment worth
making. It's not the wages he costs but the EXTRA wages we'd have to invest.

[Hoop Blah]

That's probably not fresh stuff. The Irish press and they get his age wrong?

Wasn't it you that queried my comment on another thread the other day that Long and Federici had pretty much said they'd be off in the summer if we didn't go up?

Now it's nothing fresh when he basically says it word for word....

[Snowball]

Doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know/suspect.

Despite his recent good form I'm still not 100% sold on Shane YET and with those reservations if we were blown out of the water with a bid of over £3-4 million I'd take it.

This "recent form" chestnut..

I say just look at him since McDermot took over. That way you can include an ordinary
finish to last season, the dry spell this season, but what are the stats OVERALL?


Under McDermot

Shane Long, top scorer with 22 goals (17 of the 22 in Open Play)

+ 5 more pens won, at least. (1 he took, 2 for Gylfi at Liverpool, Sheffield, 2 taken and scored by Harte)
+ at least 5 assists


4,273 Minutes Played - (47.5 Games) 22 (4) Goals Scored (+ extra penalties scored) - A Goal directly scored every 0,194 Minutes - (2.16 Games) - Long EDIT

That's more than a season's worth of play stretching back to December 2009,
and Shane has scored 22 and won us another 3 goals (2 pens missed) better
than a goal every two games

[Snowball]

That's probably not fresh stuff. The Irish press and they get his age wrong?

Wasn't it you that queried my comment on another thread the other day that Long and Federici had pretty much said they'd be off in the summer if we didn't go up?

Now it's nothing fresh when he basically says it word for word....

There are porkies around somewhere

"The club hasn't said anything to me. I don't know if they had anyone in for me or offers.
I know it's a cliche to say it but I was just concentrating on my game and thinking all that side of things would take care of itself."

The OS was very specific.

Royals rejected interest in Long Posted on: Wed 02 Feb 2011

Director of Football Nick Hammond has confirmed that the Royals stood firm in the face of strong Premier League interest for leading scorer Shane Long during the January transfer window, and also rebuffed advances for a number of other players. With 15 goals to his name already this season, 24-year-old Long is one of the hottest prospects outside the top flight, but the club managed to fend off any suitors, and just as importantly the Irishman remained exceptionally loyal to Reading FC.

In an in-depth interview with our online TV station Reading FC Player, Nick said, "There's been a lot of interest in Shane in this window, as you would expect. "When that level of interest arises in the modern game you always have problems, it's as simple as that. You get agents in the player's ear, other clubs in the player's ear, but we haven't had a single problem like that with Shane Long, and that tells you an enormous amount about the individual."

There is no doubt that a player of his quality will continue to generate interest, and Nick had nothing but praise for the frontman's quality on the pitch and maturity off it.

He said, "He's an outstanding individual. We sat with him and spoke about the situation, how important he is to us and how integral he is to spearheading our campaign going forward. His relationship with the manager is very, very good, and he nodded, smiled, said OK and just got on with his job. That just doesn't happen in modern football with so many outside influences around the players.

"He's a Premiership player, we've all seen him develop into that player now. Top strikers in the Premiership require pace, power and athleticism and he has all of those in abundance.

"His game is growing, he's playing regular football, which he'd never done previously. He wants to play in the Premiership, I understand that, and he will play in the top division.
But he has a loyalty and affinity to the club, and in this window, for us to have no issues with him, no comments in newspapers, no transfer request, it tells you a lot about the boy and his character.

"He's an example of what we try to do here, the type of player we try to bring to the club, players who want to be here. Of course there may come a time when if we don't get to the Premier League he may move, but the greatest compliment I can pay him is that we haven't had a single issue with him, where other clubs certainly do with players. That type of player in the modern game is priceless to a football club.

[Hoop Blah]

So you're saying he did, didn't or never has said something along the lines I'll be off to the Premier League with or without Reading then?

I'm confused what you think here snowball....

You questioned my point the other day, and now you seem to be saying the same thing. What colour is black in your house?

[Wimb]

As a word of warning to Snowball and others getting too carried away....

Who Am I?

Between the ages of 21-24 I scored 37 goals in 98 games in the Championship and the Premier Leauge. I was then given an International callup and that summer moved on for £3 million to another Premier League club.

In the rest of my career I scored 26 goals in 6 years.


Not saying the above will happen to Long, but there's a chance it might. A player who's yet to start 40 games in a season is hard to value and hard to predict long term. The signs now are he'll develop well, but there's still bits of his game that worry me and until he's done it over a full season or two personally I'm not going to cry out that Shane's an amazing player.

[Snowball]

So you're saying he did, didn't or never has said something along the lines I'll be off to the Premier League with or without Reading then?

I'm confused what you think here snowball....

You questioned my point the other day, and now you seem to be saying the same thing. What colour is black in your house?

The article says the club DIDN'T speak to him about the interest/offers, does it not?

The OS makes it very clear that they DID.

Either Shane, the Club or the Journalist are not being straight.

I'd say it was the journo. A classic "cobbling".



So Shane, do you think you can get promoted with RFC?

I hope so. I'd love to play in the Premiership with Reading. I LOVE the club.

You'd love to play in the Premiership?

Of course!

And if Reading miss out, what then?

Well, that'd be down to other clubs coming in for me, and whether they offered enough
and whether Reading thought they had to take the money. Of course we'd look at it, but
I love playing for Reading and I don't want to be a squad player somewhere else, but
you never know, do yer, for all I know Wolves might come in (if they stay up) and I
might be offered the chance to play alongside Doyley. Who knows?


Someone in Shane's position is ALWAYS going to say standard stuff, that he wants to
play at the highest level (PS the money is nice, and I have a family now) and it's
just how a journo decides to spin it.

[Hoop Blah]

So, is this fresh stuff then? You said it wasn't at the top of the page, or were you wrong to question my point that Long and Federici had basically said they'd be off in the summer if we didn't go up?

Go on, just admit that you were arguing for the sake of it and were wrong just for once!

Try it, you might find it good for your soul.

Of course Long will say some standard cliched stuff when talking to the papers, and they'll spin it around a little. He'll also, like Madejski does at times, go off on one and say things that aren't quite right and I imagine the above is one such example.

[Snowball]

As a word of warning to Snowball and others getting too carried away....

Who Am I? Between the ages of 21-24 I scored 37 goals in 98 games in the Championship and the Premier Leauge. I was then given an International callup and that summer moved on for £3 million to another Premier League club.

In the rest of my career I scored 26 goals in 6 years. Not saying the above will happen to Long, but there's a chance it might. A player who's yet to start 40 games in a season is hard to value and hard to predict long term. The signs now are he'll develop well, but there's still bits of his game that worry me and until he's done it over a full season or two personally I'm not going to cry out that Shane's an amazing player.

I DO think Shane is an amazing player, but I concur. He has 17 Championship games, at least 1 cup game left this season

There are also

08/02/2011 Rep of Ireland v Wales
26/03/2011 Rep of Ireland v Macedonia
29/03/2011 Rep of Ireland v Uruguay
24/05/2011 Rep of Ireland v N. Ireland
29/05/2011 Rep of Ireland v Scotland
04/06/2011 Macedonia v Rep of Ireland

So he might yet start another 23 games.

He is currently on 31 (2) for 15 Goals. If he plays all the games and finishes 54 (2) for, say 26 Goals (same hit rate) he will be a very hot property.

He might not play, he might get a hat-trick somewhere, he might dry up. Who knows? Personally, injuries permitting, I think he will manage 20 comfortably, and more.


It'll be fun tonight to see Church/HRK opposite Long if he's selected.

[Snowball]

So, is this fresh stuff then? You said it wasn't at the top of the page, or were you wrong to question my point that Long and Federici had basically said they'd be off in the summer if we didn't go up?

Go on, just admit that you were arguing for the sake of it and were wrong just for once!

Try it, you might find it good for your soul.

Of course Long will say some standard cliched stuff when talking to the papers, and they'll spin it around a little. He'll also, like Madejski does at times, go off on one and say things that aren't quite right and I imagine the above is one such example.

Where do I say it's fresh stuff? I'm saying IT-READS-LIKE-BOLLOX
for two reasons. The Irish paper gets his age wrong, their star
young player and they don't know he's 24?

Second, the "statement" whether fresh or regurgitated or partly-made up (spun)
is in direct conflict with a PUBLIC statement by Reading Football Club which,
for sure, Shane will have read.

[Wimb]

Agreed Snowball, that's why it's best to err on the side of caution (unless we're trying to sell him in which case did I mention just how AMAZING Shane is )

A big part of his development is going to be how his body copes with the rigours of a long season both domestically and internationally. Right now he's coped brilliantly with getting battered for most of the first half of the season up front on his own but a big test will be in April/May when we're deep in the run in, will he have energy left in the tank? also will a long season plus more action for Ireland in the summer have a knock on effect when he starts next season?

Right now I tend to agree with you that he's in line for bigger things, however on a personal level as someone that's watched Long for as long as you have, that I'm still slightly concerned with certain aspects of his game and worry that when he's cold he's REALLY cold in front of goal.

The point is that he hasn't really had a proper chance to fully prove the haters or the believers right or wrong. Brian has faith in him as did fans such as yourself when the chips were down and that's being rewarded right now, but I don't think he's done enough in little over 2 months to conclusively say he's made it, or won't make it or anything in between.

BTW you're a decent bloke to debate with when you rationalise things instead of just stating away

[Hoop Blah]

A, You said it's not fresh stuff, ie it's old news.

B, The other day, I said Long and Federici have said they'll be off if we don't go up, you asked me to prove it, ie that's not true and they haven't said it.

A can't be true if you were right in B, saying Long hasn't said it previously.

The press get minor details wrong all the time. Just because they get his age wrong doesn't mean the gist of the quotes aren't about right.

[Uke]

Shane chose RFC, but signficantly increases his probablility of playing in the Prem if he changes club

It has been mathematicaly proven

[Row Z Royal]

I know a thread should be avoided when someone opens with "So you're saying that...".

[roadrunner]

I still don't believe it will be such a huge loss. In fact if someone offered us £3m for him then I feel that is exceptional value and off you trot. I know he's finally hit some good form, but consistancy isn't exactly a strong point for Shane, and although we're hardly blessed up front, I'd sooner lose Long than a Kebe or McAnuff. Losing Long isn't half as bad as it was losing Doyle, Kitson or Hunt. We'll still be a mid-table side without him.

Shane Long would be found out very quickly in the Premiership. I just can't see it working out for him. He is Championship at best, or top SPL standard.

[brendywendy]

what kind of striker are we going to get with the 1/2 million of the 4 million we are allowed to spend though?
thats the big question