Speculation : Shane Long to return

[melonhead]

except hes not a poor player

[Blakey's Right Peg]

Don't want him back, massively overrated and I've seen enough of his blustering, clueless approach on the field to want to endure it a second bloody time.

I take it you were otherwise engaged for the majority of the playoff season then?

Granted there were times before then that he looked like he was not going to make the grade in the years before that, but to label him poor and clueless is sheer stupidity.

[Ian Royal]

It would be interesting to see a stat attack comparing Roberts and Long.

For me, I would far rather see 25 year old Long play for Reading than 35 year old Roberts and find it somewhat amusing that daft feckers like BrockManson are still under-rating and disrespecting him based on how he used to play a long time ago.

Here you go Rother. Took about 10 mins.
Shane Long:
11/12 - 32 appearances - 8 goals
Average - 1 goal every 4 games.
Jason Roberts:
11/12 - 10 appearances - 1 goal
10/11 - 25 appearances - 5 goals
09/10 - 29 apps - 5 goals
08/09 - 26 apps - 7 goals
07/08 - 26 apps - 3 goals
06/07 - 18 apps - 4 goals
05/06 - 34 apps - 8 goals
Average - 1 goal every 5 games.

Roberts is a good, clever player. But he's not a great PL goalscorer. Even in his prime he's not played a full season and got 10 top flight goals. He's now 34. He's an excellent player to have, but anyone who expects him to reasonably pick up more than 5-8 goals and play in more than 25 games is in brendy level blind mental optimism mode.

You don't have to be a clever player with great vision to score goals. Long's direct and bullying approach is very effective now he's got it right and I think he's shown if he gets the games he'll be pushing 10 goals most seasons at this level. His style is helped by a team playing well, but it's not essential to him scoring IMO.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Don't want him back, massively overrated and I've seen enough of his blustering, clueless approach on the field to want to endure it a second bloody time.

Idiot.

[rob the royal]

Best gif ever.

+1 for the gif
+1 for shane long

[windermere_royal]

its nice to know we are looking to bring in another striker. if not Long then someone else.

[LoyalRoyal22]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

[Royal Rother]

[winchester_royal]

[Franchise FC]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

West Ham are believed to be lining him up as their zillionth striker.

[robbieroyal]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

Him and The Pog could prove a very exciting partnership........

[Friday's Legacy]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

I'd be very surprised if that were true. We made an enquiry before Hodgson left to manage England, and Shane knew of our interest. He would love to come back, and so would his partner who misses the area; but at the time he also said he wouldn't try and force a move. It would be very out of character if that has since changed. Clarke came in and decided Long was part of his plans, so our offer that was previously left on the table was then dismissed.

[Pepe the Horseman]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

He would love to come back, and so would his partner

Ghey

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

i could love it if shane came back. his goal record in the prem would have been so much better if he didnt get injured and have to come back to quickly from injury. he would do good for us partnered with pog up front

[soggy biscuit]

twitter

Only thing on the planet less reliable than Sky Sports News

[loyalroyal4life]

prefer pog and alf than pog and long tbh

[TBM]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

[maffff]

No transfer request and not aware we've gone back since Clarke took over. Informal enquiries have been going on and he's one we'll always have our eye on as long as McDermott is the gaffer.

[SCIAG]

No chance is he better than Roberts. Roberts has a footballing brain and knows when to time his run, how to link up play and can anticipate what his teammates are trying to do.

Long ... relies on pace and power to compensate from the fact he has limited ability and a lack of awareness.

'Greed.

Long is still a very effective player though. Roberts might have more "ability", but Long will score more goals, and when it comes down to it, that matters more. That's why we got rid of Oster and replaced him with Kebe.

[LoyalRoyal22]

reports on twitter saying hes handed in a transfer request...

I'd be very surprised if that were true. We made an enquiry before Hodgson left to manage England, and Shane knew of our interest. He would love to come back, and so would his partner who misses the area; but at the time he also said he wouldn't try and force a move. It would be very out of character if that has since changed. Clarke came in and decided Long was part of his plans, so our offer that was previously left on the table was then dismissed.

On friday SSN reporting they rejected a bid, assuming that was a new bid, then a SSN reporter on Twitter said he handed in transfer request.. but steve clarke in the papers this morning deniying our interest. Wait and see i guess. I would love to have him back