RUMOUR - Bertrand, Clyne and Zaha

[retro royal]

All these links with wingers leaves me wondering if Kebe is out long term, or Kanu going out on loan or even Brian see's McCleary playing a free role behind the Pog. Who knows in Brian we trust.

[LanercostRoyal]

All these links with wingers leaves me wondering if Kebe is out long term, or Kanu going out on loan or even Brian see's McCleary playing a free role behind the Pog. Who knows in Brian we trust.

Zaha is definitely a striker...not a winger! Would be a fantastic signing, IF...

[LoyalRoyalFan]

I would just like to sign Zaha to wind up arrogant Palace fans.

[peterroyal76]

I would just like to sign Zaha to wind up arrogant Palace fans.

This

[bennno]

in Telegraph today, suggesting we have offered £4M and CP think he is worth £8m - sounds like rhodes all over again

[WeAreReadingFc]

mcdermott said we not buying any more in bit sad relly i what a forward can scored goals

[Dare to Dr£am]

in Telegraph today, suggesting we have offered £4M and CP think he is worth £8m - sounds like rhodes all over again

Same as before then. We spoke to them but couldn't agree a fee. We wont get nothing out of Palace, and they can fcuk off with their loan offer for Church too.

[DOYLERSAROYALER]

in Telegraph today, suggesting we have offered £4M and CP think he is worth £8m - sounds like rhodes all over again

Same as before then. We spoke to them but couldn't agree a fee. We wont get nothing out of Palace, and they can fcuk off with their loan offer for Church too.

Thanks to the chicken farmers paying way over the odds for Rhodes, means that inflated prices for other lower league players will come into play even mores now ..

[Cobi]

I'm not sure Zaha is the answer. He hasn't proved himself as a striker yet, let alone us consider making a £6m+ offer to get him in.

We do need another striker though, and I hope we get one in before 11pm tomorrow.

Seeing Hunt come off the bench when we're up against it is demoralising!

[andrew1957]

I'm not sure Zaha is the answer. He hasn't proved himself as a striker yet, let alone us consider making a £6m+ offer to get him in.

We do need another striker though, and I hope we get one in before 11pm tomorrow.

Seeing Hunt come off the bench when we're up against it is demoralising!

Harsh on Hunt who always gives 100% but Zaha would be a great addition for the future. As good an option as Rhodes in the long run perhaps - although of course a completely different type of player.

[Pepe the Horseman]

I'm not sure Zaha is the answer. He hasn't proved himself as a striker yet, let alone us consider making a £6m+ offer to get him in.

We do need another striker though, and I hope we get one in before 11pm tomorrow.

Seeing Hunt come off the bench when we're up against it is demoralising!

Harsh on Hunt who always gives 100% but Zaha would be a great addition for the future. As good an option as Rhodes in the long run perhaps - although of course a completely different type of player.

Yeh, but that's the problem ain't it. We need game changers, not someone whose best attribute is 'he always gives 100%'. It's like when you play kids football and the shit kid gets praised cos he turns up every week and tries hard.

[Up_The_Royals]

mcdermott said we not buying any more in bit sad relly i what a forward can scored goals

Sorry?

[Cobi]

I'm not sure Zaha is the answer. He hasn't proved himself as a striker yet, let alone us consider making a £6m+ offer to get him in.

We do need another striker though, and I hope we get one in before 11pm tomorrow.

Seeing Hunt come off the bench when we're up against it is demoralising!

Harsh on Hunt who always gives 100% but Zaha would be a great addition for the future. As good an option as Rhodes in the long run perhaps - although of course a completely different type of player.

He might well give everything, but he isn't going to cause many defences any problems at this level.

[Cypry]

I'm not sure Zaha is the answer. He hasn't proved himself as a striker yet, let alone us consider making a £6m+ offer to get him in.

We do need another striker though, and I hope we get one in before 11pm tomorrow.

Seeing Hunt come off the bench when we're up against it is demoralising!

Harsh on Hunt who always gives 100% but Zaha would be a great addition for the future. As good an option as Rhodes in the long run perhaps - although of course a completely different type of player.

Yeh, but that's the problem ain't it. We need game changers, not someone whose best attribute is 'he always gives 100%'. It's like when you play kids football and the shit kid gets praised cos he turns up every week and tries hard.

But we do have game changers (particularly if McD persists with one up top) - ALF? Roberts?
Hunt absolutely has his place in the side, and I struggle to see where someone like Zaha would actually fit....would he really come here to be a "game changer" from the bench?

As it stands, our squad looks something like this:

GK Federici - McCarthy - Taylor

RB Gunter - Cummings
CB Pearce - Mariappa - Morrison - Gorkks
LB Shorey - Harte
RW McCleary - Kebe
CM Karacan - Leigertwood - Tabb - Guthrie - Gunnarsson(?)
LW McAnuff - HRK
STR Pogrebnyak - ALF - Hunt - Church - Roberts

To me, there are a couple of areas of weakness, but up front is not one of them:

Left wing with Jobi and HRK - unlikely that Jobi will get dropped and I give HRK more credit than some, but we're not spoilt with riches there, although we do have the option to recall Obita (who's only on a 1 month loan I think anyway), should we run into difficulties there.

Centre back - Morrison is a bit of an unknown quantity. I can't see much liklihood of Pearce/Gorkks being displaced as first choice, with Mariappa as backup - might have been nice to see another option with more experience than Morrison, but (depending on whether he's named in the squad) Gunnarsson also provides an emergency option.

Some might say left back is a concern, I'm pretty happy with Harte / Shorey - pace might be lacking but we seem well enough organised to cope with that (perhaps the reason that Harte is getting the nod over Shorey at present - he knows the system better).

In emergencies we've got a whole bunch of youngsters who could bench warm for a few games - Samuel, D'Ath, Sweeney etc

If you want to bring players in, then it's most likely going to be at the expense of someone named above........

[bennno]

Is Jobi a proper left winger or an out of position right winger? Think we need somebody with a bit of pace at LB and LW as our attack especially looks a bit lopsided at the moment with everything down the right wing....

[Cypry]

Is Jobi a proper left winger or an out of position right winger? Think we need somebody with a bit of pace at LB and LW as our attack especially looks a bit lopsided at the moment with everything down the right wing....

Given that he's been playing on the left for the best part of the last 2 years for us, he really should be classified as a left winger even though he's predominantly right footed.

[Ian Royal]

Is Jobi a proper left winger or an out of position right winger? Think we need somebody with a bit of pace at LB and LW as our attack especially looks a bit lopsided at the moment with everything down the right wing....

He played LW at other clubs as well iirc from some of the highlight clips of when he signed. He can play either side, but I think he's been better for us on the left, and Kebe's been better for us on the right.

Modern wing play isn't about hitting the byline and crossing nearly as much as it used to be. There's a hell of a lot more cutting inside and playing it around the box, attacking the goal or putting in a wrong foot cross. In a 4-2-3-1 you actually want your wingers to be left footed on the right wing and vice versa as it makes threatening the goal a lot easier.

[Cobi]

I like Jobi but he is often very ineffective down the left, and all too predictable (he'll almost always cut in onto his right foot).

If we could be as strong down the left as we are down the right then we'd be in near great shape.

[robinsfriday]

I'm not sure Zaha is the answer. He hasn't proved himself as a striker yet, let alone us consider making a £6m+ offer to get him in.

We do need another striker though, and I hope we get one in before 11pm tomorrow.

Seeing Hunt come off the bench when we're up against it is demoralising!

Harsh on Hunt who always gives 100% but Zaha would be a great addition for the future. As good an option as Rhodes in the long run perhaps - although of course a completely different type of player.

If was handed the Reading shirt and given 90 minutes for my team I'd give 100% and work my ass off. Doesn't mean I'm actually any good. Andy Hughes anyone?

[loyalroyal4life]

mcdermott said we not buying any more in bit sad relly i what a forward can scored goals

When does the school term start again?