Confrimed - Abbey and Holmes going

[Stranded]

Fabrizio Romano reporting Taylan Harris to Luton is a done deal.

Am OK with that, if fee is OK. It is trading cash in now to hopefully avoid any more first team sales v the chance he improves, makes the team, excels and we sell him for more.

It’s ok-ish

Starting to get a bit annoying now with losing all these highly rated 16/17 year olds.

But yes better than losing Smith for example. Let’s hope it’s an instead of rather than as well as

You can't have an Academy without a club. You can have a club without an Academy.

If selling off Academy talent now means the club survives and hopefully in L1, then I grudgingly support selling the likes of Harris over Wing/Smith etc..

[morganb]

I am ok with it as the bottom line is the club are doing what they have to in order to avoid administration. Despite my protestations the outgoings (apart from Abbey) have been sensible.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I think they are just selling whoever they can to cover the bills until the takeover talks finish. I don't think they have the slightest care about the impact on the team.

My impression is that Dai has given up and just wants rid, whether that's selling to a new owner, or just liquidating, it's all the same to him.

It does look like a tactic to cover the bills at the club but we only have a certain window when we can generate cash via player sales so need to get enough in to tide us over until any takeover is complete. Needs must and all that...

Are we just selling whoever we can? Most of the players who have gone were out of contract in the summer and in a position where we have some depth. Hopefully the impact on the team and results will be minimal. The Academy sales will not affect the first team this season so again will not have much impact at the moment. Also other teams must have been scouting them and then be willing to pay for them, and to pay what Pang was happy to accept.

[WestYorksRoyal]

I am ok with it as the bottom line is the club are doing what they have to in order to avoid administration. Despite my protestations the outgoings (apart from Abbey) have been sensible.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I think they are just selling whoever they can to cover the bills until the takeover talks finish. I don't think they have the slightest care about the impact on the team.

My impression is that Dai has given up and just wants rid, whether that's selling to a new owner, or just liquidating, it's all the same to him.

It does look like a tactic to cover the bills at the club but we only have a certain window when we can generate cash via player sales so need to get enough in to tide us over until any takeover is complete. Needs must and all that...

Are we just selling whoever we can? Most of the players who have gone were out of contract in the summer and in a position where we have some depth. Hopefully the impact on the team and results will be minimal. The Academy sales will not affect the first team this season so again will not have much impact at the moment. Also other teams must have been scouting them and then be willing to pay for them, and to pay what Pang was happy to accept.

If everyone was for sale, suitors would be queuing up for Smith and Wing. Bolton have spent the window chasing another striker and Smith would fit the bill well.

[Stranded]

Fully aware that this could change today but I expect *most* would have said this was our strongest team at the beginning of Jan

Button

Yiadom
Abbey
Holmes
Dorsett

Craig
Wing
Azeez
Knibbs
Mukairu

Smith

Yes a lot can change but given the doom and gloom that a lot of people are embracing, if you had said to me that from that XI, we would only have lost 1 player to date (given Holmes is back on loan) then I think most would have bitten your hand off.

Even outside that, we lost TMC, who looked likely to be no more than a bench option for the forseeable and whose spot on the bench, we should be able to adequately cover - then the club have bought in some much needed funds, saved on much needed wages without really damaging the matchday 18.

Again, this could all change today - Earnshaw saying though that he understands the only likely outgoings will be fringe players like Harris though that could of course change if other clubs sell and need replacements. One would hope that as that would be a differnet dynamic, we would only sell for a very decent price.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Hopefully Earnshaw's murmurings of no key outgoing is right, but deadline day moves quickly. E.g., Plymouth sell Morgan Whittaker, sign Dion Charles as a replacement and Bolton go for Smith as a last minute replacement.

Will be relieved when the window is closed.

[Stranded]

Hopefully Earnshaw's murmurings of no key outgoing is right, but deadline day moves quickly. E.g., Plymouth sell Morgan Whittaker, sign Dion Charles as a replacement and Bolton go for Smith as a last minute replacement.

Will be relieved when the window is closed.

Bolton are very much after Aaron Collins from Bristol Rovers and been linked with moves loan or otherwise for a couple of fringe Championship strikers. Smith appears to be a long way down their list. Doesn't mean it won't happen.

Today will probably be quite quiet, with a couple of "fair enough" outgoings, before a probably very nervous last couple of hours as moves elsewhere make us nervous. May even throw in a very surprise loan signing.

[Sutekh]

Thank god that window's gone. Club has retained all its key players except one but even he's been returned for the rest of the season. Now it's just getting shot of the owner before the end of this season that's an absolute must.

[Stranded]

Thank god that window's gone. Club has retained all its key players except one but even he's been returned for the rest of the season. Now it's just getting shot of the owner before the end of this season that's an absolute must.

Window is open until 11pm tonight

[Sutekh]

Thank god that window's gone. Club has retained all its key players except one but even he's been returned for the rest of the season. Now it's just getting shot of the owner before the end of this season that's an absolute must.

Window is open until 11pm tonight

Really! Why doesn't it end at the end of January?

[Brogue]

jfc

[Hound]

Tbf I had no idea when it finished until I checked yesterday

Suppose it’s an obvious statement but whilst these sales may be ‘fair enough’ of course have to remember the money is just going into Dai’s pocket and only happening due to him stopping funding the club after his own incompetence and overspending

Selling the likes of Harris is damaging the future of the club. Its only happening to allow us to pay the wages til the end of the year as Dai is refusing

[Stranded]

Tbf I had no idea when it finished until I checked yesterday

Suppose it’s an obvious statement but whilst these sales may be ‘fair enough’ of course have to remember the money is just going into Dai’s pocket and only happening due to him stopping funding the club after his own incompetence and overspending

Selling the likes of Harris is damaging the future of the club. Its only happening to allow us to pay the wages til the end of the year as Dai is refusing

I'm assuming by "going to Dai's pocket" you mean the money raised is just going to mean he has to find less money to cover whatever running costs he is choosing to cover this month. Tax and wages were paid on time this month, so someone is covering it (doubt enough money was raised to cover it all) - its the minimum expectation of course but it has been paid somehow.

Selling the likes of Harris may mean the club has a future and whilst I agree, we would be less likely to sell him now if we were a normally run (not even well run) club - the Academy at its heart is meant to be a factory for producing sellable assets - it would be great if we saw them in the first team first but always likely that some of the better talent will get picked up by clubs further up the food chain before that happens.

The only way we start the 24/25 season in any division is with a new owner, if these sort of sales mean that that happens and a new owner has a L1 club to start with, then great. The other option is liquidation and no club, in which case selling the young talent makes literally no difference as there won't be a first team for them to get into.

[WestYorksRoyal]

If we start 24/25 in L1 with a new owner it's not hyperbole to say the Academy has saved us. Allowing us to field a competitive squad on the pitch and bring in cash off it to ensure we survive.

Kudos to all the staff running it who have kept up professionalism and high standard during Dai's disastrous era.

[Hound]

Agreed on the academy.

Guessing Dai isn’t reducing his asking price despite the squad being worth even less

This takeover needs to happen asap

[YorkshireRoyal99]

If we start 24/25 in L1 with a new owner it's not hyperbole to say the Academy has saved us. Allowing us to field a competitive squad on the pitch and bring in cash off it to ensure we survive.

Kudos to all the staff running it who have kept up professionalism and high standard during Dai's disastrous era.

I wonder where we would be if we were Cat 2 instead for this season. It does seem like the upkeep of the academy is proving significant though as well, but it's certainly proved it's worth to keep us going, but we haven't maximised it's potential by any means over the last decade, in fact we've probably only benefitted from a fraction of it.

[Snowflake Royal]

If we start 24/25 in L1 with a new owner it's not hyperbole to say the Academy has saved us. Allowing us to field a competitive squad on the pitch and bring in cash off it to ensure we survive.

Kudos to all the staff running it who have kept up professionalism and high standard during Dai's disastrous era.

I wonder where we would be if we were Cat 2 instead for this season. It does seem like the upkeep of the academy is proving significant though as well, but it's certainly proved it's worth to keep us going, but we haven't maximised it's potential by any means over the last decade, in fact we've probably only benefitted from a fraction of it.

Well if we'd just accepted going down to Cat 2 previously rather than trying to get it back, we'd be a few million better off (still completely oxf*rd financially) and we wouldn't have Vickers and a bunch of other good young players we've used/sold this season, so we'd 6/7 points adrift.

[WestYorksRoyal]

If we start 24/25 in L1 with a new owner it's not hyperbole to say the Academy has saved us. Allowing us to field a competitive squad on the pitch and bring in cash off it to ensure we survive.

Kudos to all the staff running it who have kept up professionalism and high standard during Dai's disastrous era.

I wonder where we would be if we were Cat 2 instead for this season. It does seem like the upkeep of the academy is proving significant though as well, but it's certainly proved it's worth to keep us going, but we haven't maximised it's potential by any means over the last decade, in fact we've probably only benefitted from a fraction of it.

Perhaps Cat 1 / Cat 2 is the wrong way to look at it. It's more that everyone working there continues to do their job well. If you read in depth articles on our plight or listen to ex pros, the consensus is that the "Reading Way" died years ago and the culture of the club is shot. But through this, we have continued to produce players who are not only technically skilled, but rounded individuals with the maturity to contribute. It suggests there may be more resilience in the club than we appreciate. And this could be true for Cat 2/3/4, it's not about the scale of the operation but the behaviours and actions of the people doing their jobs.

[Stranded]

Less than 12 hours to go.

[morganb]

https://twitter.com/james_e1871/status/ ... 0557638669

All hope may not be lost... Understand the club are exploring options for one or two loan deals to add depth, predominantly at the back. Due to financial restrictions, the club will be relying on the parent club to cover most, if not all, of the costs for any deal.

[Brogue]

James Earnshaw
@james_e1871
All hope may not be lost... Understand the club are exploring options for one or two loan deals to add depth, predominantly at the back. Due to financial restrictions, the club will be relying on the parent club to cover most, if not all, of the costs for any deal. #readingfc