Howard loaned to Millwall

[peterroyal76]

one of the few footballers left in the squad..although tbf never has achieved peforemd consistently at RFC..I think due to tatics of the team more than his ability

+1

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Poor decision.

[Maguire]

Poor man's Matejovsky.

I thought Matejovsky was a poor man's Howard tbh.

Yeah but you're an idiot

[Thomas L'Heureux]

Fat man's Matejovsky.

'greed.

[howser]

Bad decision, we constantly hear moans on this site about our awful long ball tactics, no surprise really when we don't have anyone in centre midfield who can thread a pass, maybe if he had been on the bench or on the first team sheet it might have been a diferent story, but this is Reading so we will just loan him out to one of our rivals in the championship..........ah well at least it will save the very hard up club some salary !!

[Ian Royal]

Poor man's Matejovsky.

I thought Matejovsky was a poor man's Howard tbh.

Yeah but you're an idiot

Clearly not as big a one as you, though.

Howard contributed more to us scoring goals in one season than Matejovsky managed in his Reading career. He also managed to make himself first choice in a successful midfield for a period of his stay which is more than Matejovsky managed too. Matejovsky may have been technically better, *may*, but he was far less effective, and moer of a liability, which is saying something

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

According to Wiki Matejovsky was signed after B Mc had been watching him for a long time, so BM was instrumental in his signing. As for goals neither set the world alight. I would suggest both are in need of a partner, much like Harps and Sidwell made a good partnership. Sadly neither had that at RFC.

[Friday's Legacy]

Poor man's Matejovsky.

I thought Matejovsky was a poor man's Howard tbh.

you do have some funny opinions, ian.

at a time when we're struggling to create anything i would have given howard a run in the side, as we have with tabb. so he goes on loan which leaves our already weak attacking options weaker. hard to get my head around this one really.

[strap]

According to Wiki Matejovsky was signed after B Mc had been watching him for a long time, so BM was instrumental in his signing. As for goals neither set the world alight. I would suggest both are in need of a partner, much like Harps and Sidwell made a good partnership. Sadly neither had that at RFC.

Harps is available on loan, and whilst wages will be a problem, Hull might contribute to get him out of the club. Other cash strapped clubs will no doubt beat us to it anyway. Even if you don't like him as a player, his presence in the changing room is always positive.

[howser]

Hey you never know we might be bringing someone in ?? only joking......................as if you all didnt know that already lol !!

[grey_squirrel]

Another sign of how far we have fallen if we are arguing about whether it is a good thing or not.

[rfcjoe]

Poor man's Matejovsky.

I thought Matejovsky was a poor man's Howard tbh.

If that is not a joke, then you should never be let in a football ground ever again.



Oh w8...

[Stranded]

This is only a poor decision if you think he was going to play, he clearly wasn't (hence why BMc has said he could go) so good to get him away. We can recall him after 28 days if we need or want to, so no big deal at this stage.

[handbags_harris]

This is probably the first time I have to question McDermott's judgement. I have many a time suggested that Howard should be starting games alongside one of our combative midfielders, mainly Leigertwood but his form has been so questionable this season that I see no reason why Karacan shouldn't play alongside him, but now he'll have no chance. He will only ever be a Championship player at best, but he offers us something completely different to anybody else and when he plays we look so much better a team - no surprise that he was an integral part of our second half run in 09/10. McDermott's words on the OS suggest that this is terminal as well:

...the way in which he has conducted himself has been first class. He is a top professional and has been great to have around the place.

"I have got nothing but positive things to say about him. He goes to Millwall with our very best wishes."

Howard is out of contract in the summer and I feel that he may have kicked a ball for the last time as a Reading player.

[Simon's Church]

RIP any thought of us playing passing football anytime soon.

[Optimist]

Really surprised he still didn't get a look in a couple of weeks ago when the changes were rung, but if he's not gonna be used and he handed in a request, then everyone's a winner (except those of us who wanted to see him play).

As for Matejovsky, I loved watching him when he played for us, his vision and choice of pass were exceptional, and often he would even fool team-mates with some of the balls he played, let alone defenders. IMO he was a step above, and I'm still gutted that he left, and that his name carries so much negativity around HNA?

[Royals-lad14]

bad bad decision, jst when we have been calling out for him to start to give us creativity in the midfield we need and he's been loaned out, poor.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Really surprised he still didn't get a look in a couple of weeks ago when the changes were rung, but if he's not gonna be used and he handed in a request, then everyone's a winner (except those of us who wanted to see him play).

As for Matejovsky, I loved watching him when he played for us, his vision and choice of pass were exceptional, and often he would even fool team-mates with some of the balls he played, let alone defenders. IMO he was a step above, and I'm still gutted that he left, and that his name carries so much negativity around HNA?

He was undoubtedly skillful, but he was let down by his complete inability to tackle - he was always a yellow card waiting to happen. And pplayer needs the whole package to be effective, not just some of it.

[pea]

To be fair to McDermott on this one though, 'creative' passes are only any good if they go to our own players, and I can't remember the last assist Howard got that wasn't a long ball or corner...

As much as we want creativity in the side, we can't put in a midfielder who is going to lose the ball as much as Howard does. When he was playing around this time last season he was pretty hopeless and we weren't stable enough as a team to compensate for him losing the ball. Him getting dropped after his display against Norwich and replaced by Ledge was one of the best things to happen to us last season.

I like Howard, and in a stable team he can be a real asset but he's done nothing to give McDermott faith in him as a starter when the rest of the squad is unsettled and if he's not prepared to wait and bide his time for that opportunity then its completely right that we get rid of him.

[Ian Royal]

To be fair to McDermott on this one though, 'creative' passes are only any good if they go to our own players, and I can't remember the last assist Howard got that wasn't a long ball or corner...

Assists not from set pieces? Palace (H), M'boro (A) & Burnley (A) last season, I believe. So about half his assists last year.

Plus Pompey (H), Sheff U (A), Derby (A), Doncaster (H) & Burnley (A)for being involved in the build up to a goal, not as part of taking a set piece.

I'm not sure where the long ball bit comes from, he was far less prone to hitting it long than many of our players and played a lot of through balls.