NO LONGER A RUMOUR - Karl Sheppard

[Simon's Church]

Won't we have to pay some kind of compensation as he's under 24? Not that it'll be much anyway.

[Wycombe Royal]

Won't we have to pay some kind of compensation as he's under 24? Not that it'll be much anyway.

Don't think so as it is an international transfer.

[M-U-R-T-Y]

I'd have thought you would trust McD's judgement and give him a chance first. He definitely has a promising background, more so than any other gamble we've taken.

I do trust McDermott's judgment but he's not infallible and I'm just realistic enough to realise that these signings are gambles, and gambles that don't often come off.

I'm sure, but people on this thread are writing him off completely - give him a chance first before passing judgment, and if it doesn't come off then it's not a big loss as he was a free transfer.

Fact is they do come off occasionally - we were rumoured to be signing James McClean and if I remember rightly, he got the same kind of reaction on his thread - look at him now!

We'll see.

[FiNeRaIn]

Highly rated by Rovers fans, spent 3 years in the Everton academy, scored goals in Europe, 9 goals in 23 games last season, key player in a championship winning team, and still only 20.

Yet some still decide to write him off without having seen him play.

This fails to ignore the standard the goals were scored against. I'd actually be quite happy with the signing tbh but lets not dress the irish league and the woeful teams standard of the europa league up to be something its not.

This is the same standard of Europa teams that Tottenham couldn't get through against?

Which teams did he score against?

[Simon's Church]

Won't we have to pay some kind of compensation as he's under 24? Not that it'll be much anyway.

Don't think so as it is an international transfer.

Ok, even better then.

[Bandini]

We wont keep on getting lucky ala Doyle/Long.

Still laughing at the notion we "keep getting lucky". Like I said, Doyle/Long were signed 7 years ago.

Gylfi and Kebe both also spring to mind.

[Tilehurst End]

The two Williams that he signed worked out well, i'll give McD that.....

I always thought Serena was played out of position

[Extended-Phenotype]

I think what people are worrying about is

a) Signings of this nature being passed off as 'transfer activity'.

b) Scouts wasting time eyeballing this dross instead of finding us proven talent.

It's total propaganda that we turn nurture unknown promise into inspiring talent. We've done it twice, and one took seven years to become any good before we cashed in a season later.

Come on, stop larking around in the back garden of pubs, and find us a proper footballer.

[M-U-R-T-Y]

Having fun there, EP?

[Extended-Phenotype]

I have my cock out, if that's what you mean.

[floyd__streete]

at the cost, it hardly matters does it?


hes free for instance, and wages will not be a problem
so he could end up more bennet than doyle, and we'd still probably make a profit on him

But this is an absolute crock isn't it?

If we're wasting wages on Baseya and perhaps this fella too - peppercorn as they may be - we're not using the finance towards paying a decent wage to a player who is fit for purpose.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

He hasn't even played yet so how would we know whether he is a decent player or not?

[roadrunner]

at the cost, it hardly matters does it?


hes free for instance, and wages will not be a problem
so he could end up more bennet than doyle, and we'd still probably make a profit on him

But this is an absolute crock isn't it?

If we're wasting wages on Baseya and perhaps this fella too - peppercorn as they may be - we're not using the finance towards paying a decent wage to a player who is fit for purpose.

Tbf you were probably saying the same thing when we gave league 1 and league 2 players a chance, and then the likes of Doyle and Long, and then we won promotion to the Premiership with the best side the Football League has ever had the pleasure of seeing.

I like the way we do things. It's better than throwing millions at so called big names that don't perform and we still bob around the Championship, only with less money in our pockets and a huge wage bill.

[FiNeRaIn]

It's better than throwing millions at so called big names that don't perform and we still bob around the Championship, only with less money in our pockets and a huge wage bill.

What about the big names that DO perform... as their success rate is generally higher than unproven imports with no experience?

I'll stress again I don't mind this signing, baseya was a stupid one but this lad looks a better option. Really makes me laugh how people bust out the overpaid big names all being crap scenario and the cheap imports proving us all wrong as bargains. The reality is proven players whether paid more or not have a higher success rate...because they are proven.

[roadrunner]

It's better than throwing millions at so called big names that don't perform and we still bob around the Championship, only with less money in our pockets and a huge wage bill.

What about the big names that DO perform... as their success rate is generally higher than unproven imports with no experience?

I'll stress again I don't mind this signing, baseya was a stupid one but this lad looks a better option. Really makes me laugh how people bust out the overpaid big names all being crap scenario and the cheap imports proving us all wrong as bargains. The reality is proven players whether paid more or not have a higher success rate...because they are proven.

Great, but we don't need a whole team of big names at big prices do we? A few unproven players with hunger in their belly is a proven formula that works here. They come in with the right mentality - The Reading way, as they say.

[Svlad Cjelli]

It's better than throwing millions at so called big names that don't perform and we still bob around the Championship, only with less money in our pockets and a huge wage bill.

What about the big names that DO perform... as their success rate is generally higher than unproven imports with no experience?

I'll stress again I don't mind this signing, baseya was a stupid one but this lad looks a better option. Really makes me laugh how people bust out the overpaid big names all being crap scenario and the cheap imports proving us all wrong as bargains. The reality is proven players whether paid more or not have a higher success rate...because they are proven.

Do they? Name them. I can't think of a proven player who'd been a real success for us - and in that I'm including the likes of Kitson (on loan). Also Marek, Fae, Cisse, Halford, Ferdinand, Keown .....

The vast majority of the successes at Reading have either been virtual unknowns or players written off by other clubs and with something to prove.

A big price tag on a player does not mean they are automatically good, just as a tiny price tag doesn't mean that they're automatically crap.

[FiNeRaIn]

Thats an awful list, for a start cisse was bought as an unknown quantity and did actually do alright for us... certainly doesn't tick either box. Marek had poor players with bad movement/awareness around him so was unable to fit in. Kitson is a silly addition as is ferdinand and keown who were about 38 when signed. Other than that Fae/Halford both agreed.

Harper/Sidwell/convey/butler/cureton/salako/forster/little,etc were all biggish/proven names when signed who turned out to be successful for the club.

RE last bit, of course...no one was suggesting anyone was crap.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Thats an awful lise, for a start cisse was bought as an unknown quantity and did actually do alright for us... certainly doesn't tick either box. Marek had poor players with bad movement/awareness around him so was unable to fit in. Kitson is a silly addition as is ferdinand and keown who were about 38 when signed. Other than that Fae/Halford both agreed.

Harper/Sidwell/convey/butler/cureton/salako/forster/little,etc were all biggish/proven names when signed who turned out to be successful for the club.

RE last bit, of course...no one was suggesting anyone was crap.

Harper & Sidwell certainly weren't "proven" - they had no virtually no experience and had failed at their bigger club. All of the others had been a round a bit and never quite set the world alight - so "proven" but none were the sort of "instant impact" player many people are calling for now.

[melonhead]

at the cost, it hardly matters does it?


hes free for instance, and wages will not be a problem
so he could end up more bennet than doyle, and we'd still probably make a profit on him

But this is an absolute crock isn't it?

If we're wasting wages on Baseya and perhaps this fella too - peppercorn as they may be - we're not using the finance towards paying a decent wage to a player who is fit for purpose.

we do that too when we can

[FiNeRaIn]

Sidwell was proven as he had a season on loan at brentford/brighton, both were highly sought after and cost a substantial amount to buy in those days. Harper was something like 400k in division two which was certainly an ambitious signing. Those were prem youngsters and proved to amass something like 500 appearances between them forming our best midfield partnership ever. Why have we stopped signing prem youngsters? Probably because this isn't the cheap option. The others are also proven...we aren't talking about " setting the world alight", little was well renowned in the championship, convey had a failed medical at tottenham and was a US international and until he got injured as amazing in the 106 season and worth every penny. cureton/butler scored buckets before joining us...definitely proven. Salako did well and got good use out of him. You're just disagreeing to back up your point in all honesty as you know full well all of those contributed and were semi-established if not fully established signings. They certainly weren't cheap options from a conference standard league.