The ITK thread sponsered by Friday's Legacy and Big Mike

[Maguire]

Have we signed Shane yet?

Bid was rejected [well, more enquiry was rebuffed, never got that formal in the end. We said we'd be prepared to pay 5.5m... Chairman said the new manager could decide ] Steve Clarke wants the player rather than the money to strengthen other areas. Long wouldn't force a move and isn't 'unhappy', but would have jumped at the move.

Sounds like fair enough all round really

[Friday's Legacy]

Have we signed Shane yet?

Bid was rejected [well, more enquiry was rebuffed, never got that formal in the end. We said we'd be prepared to pay 5.5m... Chairman said the new manager could decide ] Steve Clarke wants the player rather than the money to strengthen other areas. Long wouldn't force a move and isn't 'unhappy', but would have jumped at the move.

Sounds like fair enough all round really

Everything maffff said, plus his partner misses the area and would have liked the move back. One to keep an eye on going forwards.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Everything maffff said, plus his partner misses the area and would have liked the move back. One to keep an eye on going forwards.

Ghey

[Only one Trevor Morley]

I think the big question for those ITK is why the sudden torrent of information...

[paultheroyal]

I think the big question for those ITK is why the sudden torrent of information...

All scurrying in a panic!! The game is up!!

[bigmike]

I think the big question for those ITK is why the sudden torrent of information...

I have been wondering where all the info they have been getting has been coming from for quite a while now as the last I heard was that the takeover deal was going to take over and that a deal was being tabled for Gylfi.

Then it seems that people have said that we have made offers and there have been cloak and dagger meetings ongoing. My contact who informed me that the deal was close has gone quiet.. Mainly because I broke news on here but hey if he didnt want it put on here wtf was he doing telling me ?

I have been hoping that the secret meetings and the likes were true. Maybe they still are. Lets see what sort of wonder news Fordham releases today

[Dare to Dr£am]

I don't think it's fair to judge them all as one, unless this has just become a fishing exercise?

We know FL is reliable. He proved that with the scoops on TSI, and he was right about the interest in Mariappa. Gazza has backed that one up as well.

Iceland Stokie's record speaks for itself, and he backed FL and a few others up on the Gylfi Sigurdsson rumours.

It's quite amusing seeing people suddenly take what Jonny Fordham prints as gospal though.

[Only one Trevor Morley]

I think the big question for those ITK is why the sudden torrent of information...

All scurrying in a panic!! The game is up!!

Fridays Legacy in the ballroom with the lead piping.

Book em danno.

[Dare to Dr£am]

Tweets claiming there are zero quotes from the club regarding no bid for Sig. It's all Jonny's own work from his non-sources.

The ITK's pull a goal back.

[Wimb]

Tweets claiming there are zero quotes from the club regarding no bid for Sig. It's all Jonny's own work from his non-sources.

The ITK's pull a goal back.

You expect the club to come out on the record and discuss transfer dealings before they are complete?

[bigmike]

WOW WHAT A SCOOP.

[The Rouge]

FL - serious question, does your source get fed up with your contact? You must have contacted 15 times or so in recent weeks? Do they know you share the info on here/twitter?

I know people argued to the contrary but I agree with Only One Trevor Morley in that there are many more 'leaks' than there were before. It wasn't too long ago when for 60% of our transfers the first you would know about it was when it was announced on the official site.

[Royal Lady]

For my 2 pennies worth - firstly, at the very beginning, big Mike didn't originally say the "meltdown" was Gylfi - but when pushed (mainly by me) he gave enough clues for it to be quite clear he was talking about Gylfi without actually saying so.

FL also told us about Gylfi - anyone who believes Jonny Fordham over those two, needs their heads testing imo.

Finally, for all the stick I got about being a WUM and not being ITK on anything, I would point out that I haven't said ANYTHING at all about Gylfi or Pog or any other signings - because I haven't been told. Had I been a WUM I'd have joined in - instead I've been asking questions and getting thoroughly over excited about the prospect of Gylfi coming back.

My ITK was about TSI - and the delays - and there were delays - whether it was solely the PL/FL causing the delays due to work load or whether there were some legs in the info I was given, we may never know. But you shouldn't just label everyone as a WUM because they certainly aren't all WUM and some really are ITK. You risk never hearing anything in the future and taking what Jonny says as gospel! Good luck with that!

[bigmike]

Fordham has done his usual I have a scoop buy tomorrows paper to find out.

Guess what guys his scoop is that he has printed a story that says nothing much really.

You have to put it to the man he really is ITK...

All Hail Fordham

[Dare to Dr£am]

Tweets claiming there are zero quotes from the club regarding no bid for Sig. It's all Jonny's own work from his non-sources.

The ITK's pull a goal back.

You expect the club to come out on the record and discuss transfer dealings before they are complete?

I expect better from Jonny Fordham. It's a non story.

[Wimb]

Tweets claiming there are zero quotes from the club regarding no bid for Sig. It's all Jonny's own work from his non-sources.

The ITK's pull a goal back.

You expect the club to come out on the record and discuss transfer dealings before they are complete?

I expect better from Jonny Fordham. It's a non story.

He's reporting what the latest is, he just doesn't have direct quotes. There are people who read Get Reading who don't read what's on Twitter, HobNob etc. I just don't know what people expect him to report if there really is nothing to report.

[PieEater]

. My contact who informed me that the deal was close has gone quiet.. Mainly because I broke news on here but hey if he didnt want it put on here wtf was he doing telling me ?

I don't quite understand this, are you saying that a deal has potentially fallen though because you mentioned there was a big deal being worked on for some unnamed player? That sounds unlikely to me.

If you're saying your source has clammed up, then that makes more sense.

[robinsfriday]

Fordham is poor journalist and the majority on here have said so at various times. Don't forget this is the same guy who said that BM had spoke to Wolves later for BM to say he never did. Whoever his supposed link is within the club or whatever sources he may have, they are taking him for a ride. The amount of times FL or IS have been right far outweighs that of Johnny "copy and paste" Fordham. I know who I believe.

[bigmike]

. My contact who informed me that the deal was close has gone quiet.. Mainly because I broke news on here but hey if he didnt want it put on here wtf was he doing telling me ?

I don't quite understand this, are you saying that a deal has potentially fallen though because you mentioned there was a big deal being worked on for some unnamed player? That sounds unlikely to me.

If you're saying your source has clammed up, then that makes more sense.

Why would a deal fall through because it was released on HNA??? Thats as likely as Fordham actually getting a scoop

Ok let me explain again ...

My contact (the person who i was speaking to) has gone quiet. This is probably because I broke news on here.

[Wimb]

I've got a tremendous amount of respect for the work that posters like IS and FL do but I get the feeling that some posters on here are looking at the positive news they bring and then attaching more 'truth' to it than the stark colder story that Jonny tends to write.

Bear in mind that Jonny and any professional journo, especially local ones who rely heavily on co-operation from the club, will be given far less speculation, and printable off the record news than somebody who is a friend of a poster on HNA? or on Twitter.

If you were a Reading club official, you'd be far happier slipping something to a friend that's going to be hard to trace and hard for national outlets/other clubs etc to take seriously. However if you slip that info to Jonny and it's printed then it can be far more damaging for yourself and the club, especially if something goes awry.

Also as other posters have suggested there could be a great number of different interpretations to events that happen during a transfer. Reading can legitimately say there's been no official club meeting with Sigurdsson or Hoffenheim when perhaps there was an informal chat at a bar between McDermott and Gylfi etc. In those circumstances both the 'ITK' group and Jonny can be right. The difference is that fans get far more riled up when a journo keeps throwing in transfer target names only for the moves to not materialise than when the journo downplays the move and suddenly the club sign them.

Maybe it's a personal preference but I'm much happier with papers towing the official line and only reporting stories when they have something more concrete to report. What good has it done this board knowing there was a whisper of us maybe possibly being in discussions with Gylfi? It's led to some being hyped, others frustrated we've missed out and expectations soaring. I much prefer the pleasant surprise of a signing being confirmed then a long drawn out Tommy Smith-esque saga.

Again not suggesting Fordham is perfect or that the ITK brigade have got anything wrong, just questioning why some people are getting so wound up about it.