Freebies

[blythspartan]

Let's not forget that £1k a week was never going to be long-term, hence why he only signed until Jan. Even if he signed on with us after that point, he would have undoubtedly earned more than £1k. I can imagine Carroll only did it short-term so he could get some minutes to get match fit, hope to impress and earn either a better contract with ourselves or elsewhere, which he ultimately did.

I don't think Long will be any cheaper than Carroll, although I bet there isn't a huge difference in wage demands all said and done. Granted, no matter how marginal the difference in wage demands between the pair are, every penny counts for us.

If a 35 yo striker (36 in Jan) were to become free this summer who had managed just 19 goals and 12 assists since August 2016 and had never, ever played for Reading - would you, or indeed anybody else on here even remotely think that he is what we should be looking at?

Shane Long was great for us a decade ago - his career is winding down to a halt, we shouldn't be the last station. There will be better striking options available to us.

Like who?

Jordan Ayew is out of contract at Palace. Although realistically we wouldn’t be able to afford his wages. I’d like us to be a stepping stone for a currently unknown young striker in the premiership, maybe the next Harry Kane.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Why? Carroll has already played for us for reportedly just £1k a week, and Long is coming off a PL wage.

Long being cheaper makes no sense.

Let's not forget that £1k a week was never going to be long-term, hence why he only signed until Jan. Even if he signed on with us after that point, he would have undoubtedly earned more than £1k. I can imagine Carroll only did it short-term so he could get some minutes to get match fit, hope to impress and earn either a better contract with ourselves or elsewhere, which he ultimately did.

I don't think Long will be any cheaper than Carroll, although I bet there isn't a huge difference in wage demands all said and done. Granted, no matter how marginal the difference in wage demands between the pair are, every penny counts for us.

If a 35 yo striker (36 in Jan) were to become free this summer who had managed just 19 goals and 12 assists since August 2016 and had never, ever played for Reading - would you, or indeed anybody else on here even remotely think that he is what we should be looking at?

Shane Long was great for us a decade ago - his career is winding down to a halt, we shouldn't be the last station. There will be better striking options available to us.

I don't know, he's been playing at a higher level than what we currently are since that time period. It would be similar to saying you wouldn't sign Dwight Gayle because he's pants in the PL, yet has a good record in the Championship, but obviously hasn't played at this level for a few years now (since 2019), as well as he's now the wrong side of 30 (granted a few years younger than Long).

I'm not saying he is the answer to our issues, but for a short-term deal, we could do a lot worse than him and he might relish 12 months at this level to be given the chance to play some more minutes at a level he is clearly more suited to and that extra experience in that position would be good to have around the squad.

I know what you're saying and, ordinarily, I wouldn't be very impressed, but I just don't think there will be that many "good options" for us unless we can unearth a gem. I'm not against having Long and one of the aforementioned names though, no reason why we can't go into this season with 3 forwards, plus whoever from the youth set up.

[paultheroyal]

Shane Long deal is now off the table, been withdrawn - he will become a free agent.

[blythspartan]

Shane Long deal is now off the table, been withdrawn - he will become a free agent.

How come you know all this?

[paultheroyal]

Shane Long deal is now off the table, been withdrawn - he will become a free agent.

How come you know all this?

I genuinely do - for many reasons.

All i can say deal was on table, he would of stayed, there are further issues higher up, wouldnt be surprised to see Ralph leave, offer is withdrawn, be interesting to see who can afford him and where he will go.

[Crowbar6753]

Its a shame he wasn't there on Saturday as it may have rekindled the good old times and may have given him the appetite to go out on a high and earn cult status at the Ding!!
What is he? 35 yrs old, so maybe two good seasons left in him at best...i would happily replace him with Joao and pay him whatever Joao was on, maybe $20,000 (Pounds) not what he earns now, but certainly not to be sniffed at at his age.
Time for Bowen to work some magic and get the fans back on side.

[SCIAG]

Its a shame he wasn't there on Saturday as it may have rekindled the good old times and may have given him the appetite to go out on a high and earn cult status at the Ding!!
What is he? 35 yrs old, so maybe two good seasons left in him at best...i would happily replace him with Joao and pay him whatever Joao was on, maybe $20,000 (Pounds) not what he earns now, but certainly not to be sniffed at at his age.
Time for Bowen to work some magic and get the fans back on side.

Long would be a huge downgrade on Joao. He was a player who depended hugely on his pace and he's now 35.

[NathStPaul]

Yeah we have to stop looking backwards. Lets have a look at young players with potential as a Joao back up rather than old ex players.

[Snowflake Royal]

Agree that if he hadn't had one good season with us and snowball talking him up at every opportunity no one would be remotely interested in him.

The only game we should consider him for was last week

[NathStPaul]

Agree that if he hadn't had one good season with us and snowball talking him up at every opportunity no one would be remotely interested in him.

The only game we should consider him for was last week

I am sure Snowball would have used large bold text to back up his points. Scientifically proven that it means he is right.

[Snowflake Royal]

Agree that if he hadn't had one good season with us and snowball talking him up at every opportunity no one would be remotely interested in him.

The only game we should consider him for was last week

I am sure Snowball would have used large bold text to back up his points. Scientifically proven that it means he is right.

Bad paragraphing and formating to obscure the errors too.

Broken up over three posts with manipulated data.

[From Despair To Where?]

I'm bemused that any still thinks we're in position to chuck £20k a week at anyone.

[blythspartan]

I see that Watford have released Andre Gray, I’d be happy if we could sign him.

[morganb]

Wolverhampton are looking to loan promising central defender Christian Marques to an EFL club this summer.

The club are looking for the Portuguese to gain his experience in England due to the physical nature of the league.

Oxford United are currently the most interested after failure to secure a deal for the 19 year old in January, but will face competition from Reading and Sunderland.

https://twitter.com/Cardoso1Ricardo/sta ... 8WsZw&s=19

[Snowflake Royal]

Would hopefully tick the quicker box, but likely to make errors at that age and inexperience, it's a hmmm from me.

[Binfield Royal]

Its a shame he wasn't there on Saturday as it may have rekindled the good old times and may have given him the appetite to go out on a high and earn cult status at the Ding!!
.

There will be a clause in his contract saying he can't play football for anyone else whilst under contract to Southampton. If he thought he was getting an extra year, he would not have wanted to jeopardise that.

I agree he is worth a look if wages aren't a problem

[Royal_jimmy]

Let's resign Kevin Doyle whilst we are at it

[Sutekh]

Details of all FL club’s released lists at the link below

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/61358799

[royalp-we]

With Laurent and Rino potentially leaving, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us go in for Josh McEachran or Hiram Boateng, both set to be released by MK Dons.

Might as well offer Connor Wickham a contract whilst we are there as he is being released too. After all we seem to suggest him returning to the club every window don’t we

[blythspartan]

I read online that if we lose Rino or Laurent we should sign Romal Palmer who is out of contract at Barnsley. I can’t really remember him tbh.