Have Reading ever had a player like a "Pogba B"

[jackRussell]

Tony Wagstaff ? :

[leon]

If you look at Pogba at his best, then no, we probably haven't had someone of his type, even relative to our standard.

There's two players who I think come closest though, Gylfi and James Harper. Gylfi speaks for himself as more than equivalent in relative ability as a number 10 (which Pogba has been at times when they've had to work the team around his lack of defensive discipline), but Harper might be a little more contentious.

Sidwell was the better player of the two, but Harper had, IMO, the better all-round game. He could pass, tackle, dribble, had flair and could undoubtedly cover the ground (and was obviously the best pointer in the division). He played a much more disciplined role for us though, which enabled Sidwell to flourish, so we probably never saw him do all the things you see Pogba do when he's playing at his very best even though, at Championship level, he was possibly capable of it.

Best classy all round midfielders (which is kind of the point of this thread) I've seen are probably Sidwell and Gooding. Marauding through the opposition like Pogba? No, not really.

[Forbury Lion]

Maybe we could genetically create the best ever Reading midfielder by splicing the DNA of various former players together? (or even the current players if there are any attributes worth nabbing?).

If we start with Sidwell, add in the free kick skills of Caskey, the dribbling ability of Little we're be getting there

[muirinho]

Maybe we could genetically create the best ever Reading midfielder by splicing the DNA of various former players together? (or even the current players if there are any attributes worth nabbing?).

If we start with Sidwell, add in the free kick skills of Caskey, the dribbling ability of Little we're be getting there

The Tilehurst End did something like this a couple of seasons ago, but it was more body-part oriented than skills. e.g., footballing brain, heart, left foot, right foot etc etc

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Midfielder, hard in the tackle, marauding, a bit of skillz, gets in the box and scores .... naah, not in my 50 years of endurance.

The standout must surely be Postman Webb....

Worth a shout - Bowman, Dunphy, Beavon. Ummm, can't think of anymore.

Simon Osborne was class but played wide.... Just for that goal at the biggest club in the world, though....

[Hoop Blah]

Simon Osborn, playing wide? That’s certainly not how I remember it.

[Denver Royal]

'Midfielder, hard in the tackle, marauding, a bit of skillz, gets in the box and scores .... naah, not in my 50 years of endurance.'

The standout must surely be Postman Webb....

Worth a shout - Bowman, Dunphy, Beavon. Ummm, can't think of anymore.

Simon Osborne was class but played wide.... Just for that goal at the biggest club in the world, though....

Heh, he was more of a winger, but I give you John 'Minty' Murray? Deadly with pen's, too (just like Pogba )

[SCIAG]

My memory is Sidwell is very different to everyone else's (except perhaps Hoop) - I would say he was much better defensively than Pogba (arguably even in absolute terms given that Pogba doesn't bother to defend half the time) but was not a "classy" player even for this level. He was more like a Championship Gerrard - an exciting action hero player with a game based around energy, physicality, and playing the numbers. He had quite a heavy touch (compared to Harper, Brynjar, or Watson for example) and wasn't a particularly reliable passer. He rarely did anything flash. He was more about gut-bursting runs and powerful shots than precision and accuracy.

[Zip]

I always rated Danny Williams and thought he was far better than anyone gave him credit for. Probably the closest you'd get to a Pogba in the second tier

Yep and he always turned up on the big occasions. I would like to see us go in for him in the summer.

[Crowbar6753]

Going back to the early 80s, and i always remember Neil Webb as being a classy Midfielder and could change a game with his class in an instant. If i remember correctly he had a pretty mean shot on him as well. Think he went on to join Nottingham Forrest?

[Jack Celliers]

Matejovsky.

I think the meme at the time was "the rest of the squad weren't on his level"

Great passer, shame he would have been more mobile if you stuck him on a mobility scooter

Shame he couldn't pass to actual Reading players, but the passes he made to imaginary strikers bursting through into the area were world class.

[Jack Celliers]

My memory is Sidwell is very different to everyone else's (except perhaps Hoop) - I would say he was much better defensively than Pogba (arguably even in absolute terms given that Pogba doesn't bother to defend half the time) but was not a "classy" player even for this level. He was more like a Championship Gerrard - an exciting action hero player with a game based around energy, physicality, and playing the numbers. He had quite a heavy touch (compared to Harper, Brynjar, or Watson for example) and wasn't a particularly reliable passer. He rarely did anything flash. He was more about gut-bursting runs and powerful shots than precision and accuracy.

I like the Championship Gerrard analogy. He was tremendously effective, like Gerrard. What he did for us, with help from Shorey and almost 100% reliability, was bring the ball forward over the half-way line so that we could always start attacking when we got the ball back. Watching Reading was always a pleasure.

[Denver Royal]

Going back to the early 80s, and i always remember Neil Webb as being a classy Midfielder and could change a game with his class in an instant. If i remember correctly he had a pretty mean shot on him as well. Think he went on to join Nottingham Forrest?

Yep, Webb is a decent shout.

(Crowbar, he wasn’t a midfielder, but do you remember Gary Heale? He was a pretty decent striker for us for a short-ish time. He then moved to the US and played for Seattle Storm, Seattle Stars, and Tacoma Stars (indoor). My memory is fading, but I seem to recall reading at the time on the back pages of Sun, Mirror, etc, that we really didn’t want to lose him, but his missus was American and homesick(?) Something like that. Then again, I just looked it up and he initially went from us to Sparta Rotterdam first, so not real sure. Anyway, thought of you because of the Seattle connection.)

[Snowflake Royal]

My memory is Sidwell is very different to everyone else's (except perhaps Hoop) - I would say he was much better defensively than Pogba (arguably even in absolute terms given that Pogba doesn't bother to defend half the time) but was not a "classy" player even for this level. He was more like a Championship Gerrard - an exciting action hero player with a game based around energy, physicality, and playing the numbers. He had quite a heavy touch (compared to Harper, Brynjar, or Watson for example) and wasn't a particularly reliable passer. He rarely did anything flash. He was more about gut-bursting runs and powerful shots than precision and accuracy.

I like the Championship Gerrard analogy. He was tremendously effective, like Gerrard. What he did for us, with help from Shorey and almost 100% reliability, was bring the ball forward over the half-way line so that we could always start attacking when we got the ball back. Watching Reading was always a pleasure.

+1

[Cripple Creek]

I'm surprised that Beavon has been mentioned. He plateaued in about his first game and remained distinctly the same for the rest of his Reading career. Probably far better than most of his team mates but that's not saying a great deal.

[Kitsondinho]

Aluko............(well Pogba was similar under Jose)

[Hopeful]

Maybe we could genetically create the best ever Reading midfielder by splicing the DNA of various former players together? (or even the current players if there are any attributes worth nabbing?).

If we start with Sidwell, add in the free kick skills of Caskey, the dribbling ability of Little we're be getting there

+ a spoonful of pace of Gilksey or Kebe
+ 4 ozs of crossing of Salako (during his "contract expiring period")
+ 2 mls of passing from Norwood/Carrico

[Hoss]

We appear to have had plenty of midfielders in the last few seasons decide they won't bother putting in decent performance for a manager, so yes we've had a few Pogbas.

I thought this was what the thread was going to be about when I initially read the title. Would have been quite a good idea, as the actual thread is a little odd, if you don't mind me saying. (and I say that with respect, always having had a bit of a soft spot for Cripple Creek)

[URZZZZ]

Aluko............(well Pogba was similar under Jose)

If you're talking about being used in the wrong way, then you're correct

[Kitsondinho]

Aluko............(well Pogba was similar under Jose)

If you're talking about being used in the wrong way, then you're correct

Exactly my point. Aluko falls into our long line of ‘very expensive (for us) but unsure how to use them’. The Carl Asaba curse if you will.....