Ivar

[moo]

I love how we signed the guy, some 100k bit part player from Wolves. Funnily enough we signed him, got promoted with 106 odd points and crushed the Prem. Still you guys diss him. Possibly the finest player to grace this club with the exception of doyle . fufkc u all

The reason why he's been getting "dissed" is because he hasn't been great. You can't defend a player just because they were good "in the past". Not taking anything away from him though as he was immense in that record breaking season and first year in the prem.

He was immense the 2nd year in the Prem too, and funny how we blew promotion when we lost Ivar last season.

[moo]

The guy is 32, for a player that is not old, especially a centre-back. He has a good 2 or 3 seasons left in him. Laughable.

[Hoop Blah]

The guy is 32, for a player that is not old, especially a centre-back. He has a good 2 or 3 seasons left in him. Laughable.

That doesn't change the fact he's looked far less of a capable defender this season than at any other point since he arrived.

Put it down to age, the slowing of his reflexes, the effect of his 6 months out injured or just being exposed by a poor team around him, he's still been pretty poor far too often.

[Terminal Boardom]

I would rather have Ivar on crutches, blindfolded, and with one leg missing than have Alex Pearce in the starting line up.

[Jimbo]

The guy is 32, for a player that is not old, especially a centre-back. He has a good 2 or 3 seasons left in him. Laughable.

That doesn't change the fact he's looked far less of a capable defender this season than at any other point since he arrived.

Put it down to age, the slowing of his reflexes, the effect of his 6 months out injured or just being exposed by a POOR TEAM AROUND HIM, he's still been pretty poor far too often.

Aren't we top (or near the top) of the Championship form table?

I'm sure someone who can be arsed can provide exact stats but I think in the League:
Without Ivar P11 W2 D3 L6
With Ivar P25 W11 D6 L8

In our last 10 league games we have conceded 7 goals. Not bad for someone slow, showing affects of injury, exposed by a poor team(!) and pretty poor.

Do you actually go to any games?

[Wimb]

The guy is 32, for a player that is not old, especially a centre-back. He has a good 2 or 3 seasons left in him. Laughable.

That doesn't change the fact he's looked far less of a capable defender this season than at any other point since he arrived.

Put it down to age, the slowing of his reflexes, the effect of his 6 months out injured or just being exposed by a poor team around him, he's still been pretty poor far too often.

^^^ this.

Yes the stats show we've defended well but it's as Ian said on the other page, the fact is he's looked shakey at times and has been a shadow of the immense defender we saw from 04-08.

He's not a BAD defender, if he was he wouldn't be in the team. However we should be looking to improve not stand still and it's hard to believe Ivar is going to get better from this point onward. I might be wrong and would be delighted if I was, but I just feel it's time for him to be moved aside, to either a backup role or to go elsewhere.

[Hoop Blah]

The guy is 32, for a player that is not old, especially a centre-back. He has a good 2 or 3 seasons left in him. Laughable.

That doesn't change the fact he's looked far less of a capable defender this season than at any other point since he arrived.

Put it down to age, the slowing of his reflexes, the effect of his 6 months out injured or just being exposed by a POOR TEAM AROUND HIM, he's still been pretty poor far too often.

Aren't we top (or near the top) of the Championship form table?

I'm sure someone who can be arsed can provide exact stats but I think in the League:
Without Ivar P11 W2 D3 L6
With Ivar P25 W11 D6 L8

In our last 10 league games we have conceded 7 goals. Not bad for someone slow, showing affects of injury, exposed by a poor team(!) and pretty poor.

Do you actually go to any games?

I go to the majority of games thanks, and that's where I form my opinion on how a player is playing, you know, out on the pitch. Ingimarsson has played his part in the revival yes, and he's been an important player for us since Coppell signed him.

Unfortunately his performances are on the decline though. Take a look at the goals we've conceeded and you'll see that he's a major contributing factor to too many off them (not the only one to blame of course as 99% of goals are a culmination of more than one mistake) and I expect and defender at this level to have prevented a few of them. That's what the Ingimarsson of old would've done, but unfortunately not for the most part this season.

[rabidbee]

I think one of the reasons he appears to be the guy making mistakes - especially in the first half of the season - is that he is often the last man, hence the man who has to make the desperate, must-win challenges. He's looked more solid since Mills and Griffin have come in partly because he's playing besides a better player (the sum of the parts, &c.), and partly because he's less often put in such awkward situations.

[Scarface]

Whatever happens this summer, we need a new CB. Mills has proven his worth and Ivar still has miles in his legs. The problem lies when either Mills or Ivar gets injured or suspended. Alex Pearce? No thanks. I would rather see us play with Simon Sheppard in goal and Shaun Cummings at right back.

We are way too keen to slag off players for being too old.

What he said.

Pearce was in the Soton defence last year that shipped goals left right and centre and he was in our back four when we did the same. Ok he's a local lad and I'll have him as the 4th CB in the squad, but he's not good enough to start regulary in this league (unless you want to get relegated).

If Ivar agrees to sign a one year contract then I'd be more than happy for him to stay, on the premis we sign another CB as competition. The same goes for Bryn.

[Sarah Star]

Granted he's not the fastest on the pitch, but there's got to be a fair few goals that would have been scored against us had Ivar not been in the right place at the right time. I can't see that he's as bad as some of you seem to be making out. If you compare him to Pearce, his experience shows.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Ivar as cover for Kish/Mills next season. A group of centre halves more than good enough to form the spine of a promotion side....

[RIP ELM Park]

Out of action for the rest of the season

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/roundup/articles/2010/03/23/45549-breaking-news--ivar-out-for-season/

[brendywendy]

could possibly have played his last game for the royals.

[Z175]

debate over for 5 months.

Zurab available for the playoff semi v Notting forest ?!

[Sun Tzu]

Sad news for all.

Makes the Zuba signing look pretty important !

Frankly the loss of Ivar worries me a whole lot less than it could have done as I think Mills and Zuba will be a very solid pairing.

Hope Ivar makes a full recovery and returns to the team asap.

[brendywendy]

as long as millsy remains fit were ok.

ill wager pearce, cummings and kelly will look like players alongside him

[andrew1957]

Very sad if he has played his last game for us. He has been a great servant to the club and I hope he does play a couple more seasons somewhere.

Hope the recovery goes well Ivar.

[loyalroyal4life]

Very sad if he has played his last game for us. He has been a great servant to the club and I hope he does play a couple more seasons somewhere.

Hope the recovery goes well Ivar.

yeah anywhere apart from with us

[Thankgodisfriday]

From my own perspective,Ivar has been a solid performer for us and rightly one of the first names on the team sheet, the money he cost has been paid back many times in terms of performance.We currently have no one to take his place next season who is better...I feel its unlikely Kish will be here....Pearce is just as slow and lacks Ivars positioning sense.As a club we do have areas that need strengthening,id be happy to see Ivar stay, we will probably sign an additional CB, but in Brian we must trust

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Testimonial?