Sam Smith confimred

[CountryRoyal]

I remember us having like 5/6 wingers at the time and him clearly being the weakest of the lot. I wouldn't say 'bad', but nothing about him that made him stand out to me.

Name them, asides from kebe or HRK.

McAnuff, Kebe, HRK. McCleary was signed going in to the next season. He was definitely behind all of them, and rightfully so.

So yeah. Roughly right come the pre-season he left.

Had we not gone up, Kebe probably would have left, we probably wouldn’t have signed McCleary, and Antonio probably would have played semi regularly and come on nicely.

So at the time 3 certainly not 5/6. We signed GMac in the prem and iirc loaned Antonio out half way through the promotion season. I have visions of McAnuff only being used on the left anyway though? Could be wrong.

It’s a moot point though, he wouldn’t have developed into the player he did had he stayed, even if we didn’t go up too probably. He needed the league one time and subsequent championship time.

[Royal_jimmy]

Isn't the 1 in 3 mark usually used as the sign of a decent striker?

1 in 3 will get SS 15 goals next season, which wouldn't be a horrific return.

Yeah but there’s some distance between “wouldn’t be horrific” and “really good”.

Ftr I don’t think we need “really good” we need “good enough” and I suspect smith will be fine, I just don’t share the hysteria that seems common amongst the fans atm.

I don't think there is hysteria amongst those fans of a more sensible volition. If you're using something like Twitter to gauge the reaction of fans to a signing, well, I would suggest you need to have a quick re-think.

Most on here have said, yep, good signing - no brainer on a free. And I think that pretty much sums it up.

I'm not expecting him to bang in 35 goals a season, 15-20 would do nicely.

15-20 from any striker is a big ask but that would be an excellent scoring record. Been a long time since we've had a striker score that many, not since João in the season we got 7th.

[SCIAG]

Name them, asides from kebe or HRK.

McAnuff, Kebe, HRK. McCleary was signed going in to the next season. He was definitely behind all of them, and rightfully so.

So yeah. Roughly right come the pre-season he left.

Had we not gone up, Kebe probably would have left, we probably wouldn’t have signed McCleary, and Antonio probably would have played semi regularly and come on nicely.

So at the time 3 certainly not 5/6. We signed GMac in the prem and iirc loaned Antonio out half way through the promotion season. I have visions of McAnuff only being used on the left anyway though? Could be wrong.

It’s a moot point though, he wouldn’t have developed into the player he did had he stayed, even if we didn’t go up too probably. He needed the league one time and subsequent championship time.

5 or 6 is clearly an exaggeration but he was fifth choice at the time we sold him.

McAnuff was first choice on the left but certainly played on the right for significant periods, basically whenever Kebe was injured. At one point McDermott used NHunt on the left in order to move McAnuff across.

[Snowflake Royal]

Also, the person who raised the comment didn't specify a side.

Antonio counts in the numbers, so that's definitely four, with McCleary coming in as 5. And we may have forgotten a youth player or someone more obscure.

So as I said, it's fairly close.

[JedMaxwell]

I'm happy with Smith.

As people say, had to go away to learn his trade and he's come back a better player, and certainly one of the better strikers in League One. On a free it's a no-brainer, and crucially he will feel as though he has something to prove to the club which could be a good motivating factor.

Depending on how the team does as a whole next season, anywhere from 10-25 goals could be seen as a success for him. Not to forget Carroll as well, and the auxiliary contributions of Knibbs and Azeez.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Isn't the 1 in 3 mark usually used as the sign of a decent striker?

1 in 3 will get SS 15 goals next season, which wouldn't be a horrific return.

Yeah I thought 1 in 3 would be a pretty decent return, expect he may get a few more if we are going to be challenging towards the top end of the league as well. No reason why he can't go better than he's shown previously as well.

Always thought he looked like he might have something about him, he just wasn't ready to lead the line in the Championship for a struggling side at the time.

Yeah that’s true but no reason to believe we will be a creative force.

Only thing I'd say is we will likely be one of the better sides in the league this season, we will win more than we lose providing we continue to strengthen the squad up until the end of the window, which it seems like we will do.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

This is a great signing.

[URZZZZ]

Also, the person who raised the comment didn't specify a side.

Antonio counts in the numbers, so that's definitely four, with McCleary coming in as 5. And we may have forgotten a youth player or someone more obscure.

So as I said, it's fairly close.

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

[3points]

Also, the person who raised the comment didn't specify a side.

Antonio counts in the numbers, so that's definitely four, with McCleary coming in as 5. And we may have forgotten a youth player or someone more obscure.

So as I said, it's fairly close.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well? Seem to remember him being more highly rated than Antonio (possibly because Henry came through the academy from a younger age whereas Antonio was signed from Tooting & Mitcham)?

[CountryRoyal]

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

And wasn't a winger.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well?

No.

[3points]

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

And wasn't a winger.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well?

No.

Just checked Wiki - 2 year overlap. Henry was 2006 -2010 and Antonio was 2008-2012

[Royal Ginger]

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

And wasn't a winger.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well?

No.

I’m fairly certain I remember Cywka as a winger, and several websites refer to him that way too.

[URZZZZ]

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

And wasn't a winger.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well?

No.

Was an attacking midfielder I believe but slotted in as a RM on the few occasions he played as we played a flat 4-4-2

An odd signing in hindsight but no one would have envisaged the winning run we went on

[Clyde1998]

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

And wasn't a winger.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well?

No.

Was an attacking midfielder I believe but slotted in as a RM on the few occasions he played as we played a flat 4-4-2

An odd signing in hindsight but no one would have envisaged the winning run we went on

Did we sign him before Zingarevich took over? If we did that would help explain the signing as he seemed to be a decent Championship-level player (maybe would've played more the following season if Kebe left).

[CountryRoyal]

Cywka at one point too - although he didn’t feature too much himself

And wasn't a winger.

Wasn't James Henry in the mix at the time as well?

No.

Just checked Wiki - 2 year overlap. Henry was 2006 -2010 and Antonio was 2008-2012

Antonio wasn't legitimately near the first team until 2010/11. Pretty sure he was on loan the whole time Henry was here, might be wrong though.

[CountryRoyal]

And wasn't a winger.



No.

Was an attacking midfielder I believe but slotted in as a RM on the few occasions he played as we played a flat 4-4-2

An odd signing in hindsight but no one would have envisaged the winning run we went on

Did we sign him before Zingarevich took over? If we did that would help explain the signing as he seemed to be a decent Championship-level player (maybe would've played more the following season if Kebe left).

January signing wasn't it?

[Clyde1998]

Was an attacking midfielder I believe but slotted in as a RM on the few occasions he played as we played a flat 4-4-2

An odd signing in hindsight but no one would have envisaged the winning run we went on

Did we sign him before Zingarevich took over? If we did that would help explain the signing as he seemed to be a decent Championship-level player (maybe would've played more the following season if Kebe left).

January signing wasn't it?

Yeah, but didn't the takeover happen halfway through January. I'm fairly certain we signed someone prior to the takeover happening/being announced, but could be wrong or thinking of the wrong player. Of course, I doubt anyone expected us to get promoted that season - so he probably would've played more for us had we not been promoted.

[Hendo]

Did we sign him before Zingarevich took over? If we did that would help explain the signing as he seemed to be a decent Championship-level player (maybe would've played more the following season if Kebe left).

January signing wasn't it?

Yeah, but didn't the takeover happen halfway through January. I'm fairly certain we signed someone prior to the takeover happening/being announced, but could be wrong or thinking of the wrong player. Of course, I doubt anyone expected us to get promoted that season - so he probably would've played more for us had we not been promoted.

Cywka signed on 26th Jan.

Sounds like we confirmed that we were looking to sell to AZ on 21st Jan.

Might've been someone we were always looking at, but might not - probably too close to the crossover date to confirm.

[CountryRoyal]

Did we sign him before Zingarevich took over? If we did that would help explain the signing as he seemed to be a decent Championship-level player (maybe would've played more the following season if Kebe left).

January signing wasn't it?

Yeah, but didn't the takeover happen halfway through January. I'm fairly certain we signed someone prior to the takeover happening/being announced, but could be wrong or thinking of the wrong player. Of course, I doubt anyone expected us to get promoted that season - so he probably would've played more for us had we not been promoted.

Your memory is better than mine! I remember signing roberts and getting kebe’s contract done but that would have been after zing.

EDIT: just looked we brought in Karl Shepherd as well

Plus a few useful loans that played their part, Matt Connoly, Hayden Mullins and Benik Afobe.

[Millsy]

I pronounce his name "smiff" cos I'm from Readin'

And for that reason I'm in.