The Officially Not Official Summer Transfer Thread 2023

[repman 635]

I can just about accept Barnes as he's on a free and should be good in the dressing room or whatever. The big problem will come if we continue to hold back the development of both Sargent and Idah's by playing him instead. As long as he's the backup I don't see a huge problem, strikers are expensive and I'd rather let that money go on other positions.

 

[Conrad 170]

28 minutes ago, repman said:

I can just about accept Barnes as he's on a free and should be good in the dressing room or whatever. The big problem will come if we continue to hold back the development of both Sargent and Idah's by playing him instead. As long as he's the backup I don't see a huge problem, strikers are expensive and I'd rather let that money go on other positions.

 

Whether we sign Barnes or not, we need a striker that can score goals. Both Sargent and Idah may score good goals but neither are good goal scorers. 

[repman 635]

8 minutes ago, Conrad said:

Whether we sign Barnes or not, we need a striker that can score goals. Both Sargent and Idah may score good goals but neither are good goal scorers. 

I do have some doubts over both Sargent and Idah but they're young strikers coming into their peak years. Idah also has not had little game time in his career too. I think, provided we create the chances, they could both easily hit double figures.

[canarybubbles 1,923]

49 minutes ago, Conrad said:

Whether we sign Barnes or not, we need a striker that can score goals. Both Sargent and Idah may score good goals but neither are good goal scorers. 

A bit unfair on Sargent, who is very hit-and-miss but does score goals despite his woeful first touch, and is good enough for the Championship. As for Idah, if he is still starting games at the beginning of next season rather than being out on loan at Port Vale, we can probably say our recruitment has been gash yet again.

[KeiranShikari 1,420]

A Reading fan from another forum I use on Tom Ince.

'Ince won our fan voted POTS this year, although not much competition

We would have been relegated months ago without him. What has surprised me since he joined is he is very hardworking, I was expecting some flashy player but he's almost the opposite. Not often going to dribble past a player on skill alone, but will never stop running and will always create opportunities for himself and others based on that. Not sure how much of that was helped by playing for his Dad though. His passion has gone over the edge at times, you can tell he's been frustrated when other players are not capable at playing to his level.

Would expect him to move on over the Summer as he can still play well at this level, and obviously his Dad isn't here anymore'

This link suddenly makes a lot more sense to me.

[Monty13 2,235]

7 minutes ago, KeiranShikari said:

A Reading fan from another forum I use on Tom Ince.

'Ince won our fan voted POTS this year, although not much competition

We would have been relegated months ago without him. What has surprised me since he joined is he is very hardworking, I was expecting some flashy player but he's almost the opposite. Not often going to dribble past a player on skill alone, but will never stop running and will always create opportunities for himself and others based on that. Not sure how much of that was helped by playing for his Dad though. His passion has gone over the edge at times, you can tell he's been frustrated when other players are not capable at playing to his level.

Would expect him to move on over the Summer as he can still play well at this level, and obviously his Dad isn't here anymore'

This link suddenly makes a lot more sense to me.

He’s a decent player at this level, a couple of seasons of his career stalling before this one but Reading have been reliant on him and his stats are really good for a relegated team.

With this link and Barnes, in isolation I can understand the logic in both, my only concern becomes how the big picture fits together.

We know we need experience and fresh blood for the first team, as long as we don’t just fill the squad with available journeymen without a coherent plan though. 

[Branston Pickle 3,661]

4 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

He’s a decent player at this level, a couple of seasons of his career stalling before this one but Reading have been reliant on him and his stats are really good for a relegated team.

With this link and Barnes, in isolation I can understand the logic in both, my only concern becomes how the big picture fits together.

We know we need experience and fresh blood for the first team, as long as we don’t just fill the squad with available journeymen without a coherent plan though. 

I was reading about Wagner at Huddersfield - they signed 13 players that close season and went for a ‘back to basics’ team bonding session in Sweden which was regarded as important in getting his team ethic into the players.  We probably have a better starting point than they did, but maybe it’ll be a similar affair this summer.  I imagine that he’ll want the majority of his players in sooner rather than later.

[Terminally Yellow 2,454]

1 minute ago, Branston Pickle said:

I was reading about Wagner at Huddersfield - they signed 13 players that close season and went for a ‘back to basics’ team bonding session in Sweden which was regarded as important in getting his team ethic into the players.  We probably have a better starting point than they did, but maybe it’ll be a similar affair this summer.  I imagine that he’ll want the majority of his players in sooner rather than later.

That's an interesting comparison.

[chicken 2,627]

On 06/05/2023 at 10:54, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

No way near as big as you’re suggesting. Quite telling that you think that, given how highly you think of yourself. 

You're the one that thinks highly of themselves. Obviously though, I bow down to your knowledge that is far superior to Dyche's. Not to mention a comparison of the two players at the top level.

[Billyboybunters 26]

On 06/05/2023 at 18:01, KeiranShikari said:

A Reading fan from another forum I use on Tom Ince.

'Ince won our fan voted POTS this year, although not much competition

We would have been relegated months ago without him. What has surprised me since he joined is he is very hardworking, I was expecting some flashy player but he's almost the opposite. Not often going to dribble past a player on skill alone, but will never stop running and will always create opportunities for himself and others based on that. Not sure how much of that was helped by playing for his Dad though. His passion has gone over the edge at times, you can tell he's been frustrated when other players are not capable at playing to his level.

Would expect him to move on over the Summer as he can still play well at this level, and obviously his Dad isn't here anymore'

This link suddenly makes a lot more sense to me.

And the fact Wagner signed him for Huddersfield in the prem ...

[Capt. Pants 4,246]

Ince is 31 and seems to have been around years and not really pushed on.

It will be interesting to see how we balance getting out of the Championship and actually developing talent for a higher level.

[Tommo 51]

Like to see us go for Lyndon Dykes along with Barnes.

variety of goals and neat touches to create opportunities on this video :-

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTY0OTksMjg2NjQsMTY0NTA2&feature=emb_share&v=5g8sS3N-p2A

[Barham Blitz 653]

It depends on who else we sign and the tactics we deploy as to whether Barnes would be a decent signing.  He is a better technical player than many give him credit for.  If nothing else, he has the strength, touch and nous to hold the ball up and bring others into the game as well as the experience to win free kicks all of which we have been sorely lacking since Holt. Some invention, pace and goals around him and he could be an excellent acquisition in the short term.  Slinging long balls and crosses at his head as plan A possibly not so much ...

I also hope this doesn't result in Sargent being permanently played either as a 10 or wide as standard as he is woefully unsuited to either, whereas he can be an effective 9 at this level.

 

[chicken 2,627]

2 hours ago, Tommo said:

Like to see us go for Lyndon Dykes along with Barnes.

variety of goals and neat touches to create opportunities on this video :-

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTY0OTksMjg2NjQsMTY0NTA2&feature=emb_share&v=5g8sS3N-p2A

Been mentioned a lot over the years. Not prolific - around a 1 in 4 strike rate. Argument that in a better team he might score more perhaps? From what I can see, he's never scored more than 12 goals in a season at any level. 

[chicken 2,627]

1 hour ago, Barham Blitz said:

It depends on who else we sign and the tactics we deploy as to whether Barnes would be a decent signing.  He is a better technical player than many give him credit for.  If nothing else, he has the strength, touch and nous to hold the ball up and bring others into the game as well as the experience to win free kicks all of which we have been sorely lacking since Holt. Some invention, pace and goals around him and he could be an excellent acquisition in the short term.  Slinging long balls and crosses at his head as plan A possibly not so much ...

I also hope this doesn't result in Sargent being permanently played either as a 10 or wide as standard as he is woefully unsuited to either, whereas he can be an effective 9 at this level.

 

Having looked at his stats etc on transfermarkt it does look a lot like Barnes is used to being deployed in that 'Stiepermann' type role behind the main striker. Not a lot of assists though, but then Stieps often used to slide it left or right too. I still think he has more to his game than an out and out cart horse.

[Danke bitte 965]

21 minutes ago, chicken said:

Having looked at his stats etc on transfermarkt it does look a lot like Barnes is used to being deployed in that 'Stiepermann' type role behind the main striker. Not a lot of assists though, but then Stieps often used to slide it left or right too. I still think he has more to his game than an out and out cart horse.

I think the obvious assertion is the fact that Barnes is a frontman. Whether that means coming on a sub or starting we’ve desperately needed that no nonsense experience for nigh on 2 seasons now. To me the fact he’s a free transfer, won’t ask for super high wages given his stage in his career but a drive to play and play makes this a no brainer for me.

Let’s worry about the Prem transfers when we get there.

[repman 635]

Barnes makes enough sense to me, it's not a signing I'm massively excited over but the thought behind it is right. Unless we sell Sargent I think it's likely that we'll go into the season with Sargent/Idah/Barnes as our strikers. Sargent and Idah are 23 and 22 respectively and tied down for a while, we've struggled getting the two of them game time in their best position so it's time we make that a priority. The fact he's on a free is good as we don't really want to be spending money on a player who, if things go to plan with our other strikers, won't be needed in a year or two.

[Danke bitte 965]

1 hour ago, repman said:

Barnes makes enough sense to me, it's not a signing I'm massively excited over but the thought behind it is right. Unless we sell Sargent I think it's likely that we'll go into the season with Sargent/Idah/Barnes as our strikers. Sargent and Idah are 23 and 22 respectively and tied down for a while, we've struggled getting the two of them game time in their best position so it's time we make that a priority. The fact he's on a free is good as we don't really want to be spending money on a player who, if things go to plan with our other strikers, won't be needed in a year or two.

Who’s to say Idah will be one of a front formation? Likelihood he will be but I’m fairly certain most of the goals will come from midfield with him acting as a foil 

[ged in the onion bag 855]

On 05/05/2023 at 20:44, Branston Pickle said:

Loans are a fact of life - we’ve not made the best use of them recently but it’s not a reason not to use them. Look at the better sides in this division and you often see key players are loanees.

@Danke bitte, ok, I’ll take the bait!     I’d agree with the above statement for some clubs and for ours if the funds and strategy aligned ….but neither do.    
 

IF, we want or wanted a competitive squad in the EPL, we need enough of our own quality players to accommodate injuries.   Players only develop and prove themselves on the pitch and so they need game time and by association, we need to gamble on that opportunity, especially in the championship.    
 

These teams getting promoted with loans and have to them replace them at the expense of improving the squad.   For all Skipp’s efforts and talent, he was always going to leave a hole…  we can’t fill the holes. 

At the moment, we have more pressing issues.   Does anyone know what changes / developments have been going on with our recruitment team (analysis and scouting)?     If we haven’t sorted that then it seems pointless bringing in any players.   
 

When that’s sorted, first, we need a CDM, then another one, then a third in the u23s.

After that a philosophy and we might be back in business.    

If the likes of Ashley Barnes are happy to sit on the bench and help out, fine, if we’re expecting him to be focal, we’re heading in the wrong direction.    Personally, I think this management structure has lost its way and no longer has the mindset to make the best decisions…. There seems a touch of desperation about everything.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,735]

On 06/05/2023 at 02:16, KeiranShikari said:

Barnes makes perfect sense for several reasons. He'd fit the style Wagner wants to play, he'd replace the experience we're losing and he's also a bit nasty which is something we severely lack.

What he was on last season at Burnely doesn't mean a thing. That contract was signed years ago and he's obviously not going to be expecting those wages at 33 and signing for a club in the Championship.

I'd imagine the sticking point might  be playing time. He can probably get Championship football at a club where he starts most weeks if hes fit. Here, you'd hope, we would view him more as more of a depth option.

 

On 06/05/2023 at 03:03, 7HAR1980 said:

Signing a 33 turning 34 year old is going backwards. It's disappointing that supporters believe signing Barnes is a good idea.

This forum in a nutshell

[Red_Spartan 18]

The assumption that Barnes would be used as a striker could be incorrect. If he were considered as a replacement for Dowell that leaves Sarge as 9, Onel & Tzolis wide & bolsters muscularity of the midfield.

[Branston Pickle 3,661]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

 

This forum in a nutshell

No, it’s how the world is - everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it; they often depend whether you look at things from a positive or negative bent.

[king canary 7,609]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

 

This forum in a nutshell

Yes, it's unique to this forum that posters have different opinions.

[Dr Greenthumb 750]

13 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

No, it’s how the world is - everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it; they often depend whether you look at things from a positive or negative bent.

You’re allowed an opinion on here? 

[Branston Pickle 3,661]

1 minute ago, Dr Greenthumb said:

You’re allowed an opinion on here? 

I do wonder sometimes 

[mrdi 373]

9 hours ago, repman said:

Barnes makes enough sense to me, it's not a signing I'm massively excited over but the thought behind it is right. Unless we sell Sargent I think it's likely that we'll go into the season with Sargent/Idah/Barnes as our strikers. Sargent and Idah are 23 and 22 respectively and tied down for a while, we've struggled getting the two of them game time in their best position so it's time we make that a priority. The fact he's on a free is good as we don't really want to be spending money on a player who, if things go to plan with our other strikers, won't be needed in a year or two.

Sargent plays like he’s wearing Crocs most of the time, while Idah plays like his feet are made of of sugar. I’d be happy to see the back of them both. 

[Petriix 2,840]

After the last couple of seasons, I've concluded that we need to sign at least three genuine wide midfielders of whom you couldn't possibly say "and they could also play up front". We need skill and vision combined with pace and disciplined positioning.

For two years we've been persevering with strikers and wingers who don't have a clue how to link up play or perform the defensive side of the game. They need to be 10 yards deeper by default and capable of doing the full range of midfield duties. If I see Sargent, Idah, or Tzolis playing wide midfield again I might just explode. And don't get me started on Hernandez and Nunez and their positioning. 

[Samwam27 527]

4 minutes ago, Petriix said:

After the last couple of seasons, I've concluded that we need to sign at least three genuine wide midfielders of whom you couldn't possibly say "and they could also play up front". We need skill and vision combined with pace and disciplined positioning.

For two years we've been persevering with strikers and wingers who don't have a clue how to link up play or perform the defensive side of the game. They need to be 10 yards deeper by default and capable of doing the full range of midfield duties. If I see Sargent, Idah, or Tzolis playing wide midfield again I might just explode. And don't get me started on Hernandez and Nunez and their positioning. 

Hey but what about Placheta 🤣

[Conrad 170]

2 minutes ago, Petriix said:

After the last couple of seasons, I've concluded that we need to sign at least three genuine wide midfielders of whom you couldn't possibly say "and they could also play up front". We need skill and vision combined with pace and disciplined positioning.

For two years we've been persevering with strikers and wingers who don't have a clue how to link up play or perform the defensive side of the game. They need to be 10 yards deeper by default and capable of doing the full range of midfield duties. If I see Sargent, Idah, or Tzolis playing wide midfield again I might just explode. And don't get me started on Hernandez and Nunez and their positioning. 

Whilst I agree with you we also need (due to Handley's injury) two central defenders, a defensive midfield player (still), a creative midfield player (still) and now that Pukki has gone two good goalscorers. With your request for some wide midfield players, this basically means replacing the whole team. Good luck.

[Petriix 2,840]

7 minutes ago, Samwam27 said:

Hey but what about Placheta 🤣

He has one of the four attributes...