RUMOUR - Shane Long (lol)

[CountryRoyal]

Us and Burnley in for him for £10m according to @agentuefa on twitter.

Just huge lols all round.

[Snowflake Royal]

I think he could probably do a job.

[tidus_mi2]

I think he could probably do a job.

No doubt but we're not spending £10m on him so therefore the rumour is obviously BS.

[linkenholtroyal]

Don't get me wrong I think Shane long is brilliant and have fond memories of when he played for us but...

10 million pound for a 30 year old is just insane, we would be lucky to get 2 good years out of him.

If this is true it shows how the price of footballers is just insane.

If it was 2/3 million yes. I would rather spend 10 million on an up and coming youngster and take a chance.

He would be worth it short term, but no long term gain to the club.

[CountryRoyal]

Don't get me wrong I think Shane long is brilliant and have fond memories of when he played for us but...

10 million pound for a 30 year old is just insane, we would be lucky to get 2 good years out of him.

If this is true it shows how the price of footballers is just insane.

If it was 2/3 million yes. I would rather spend 10 million on an up and coming youngster and take a chance.

He would be worth it short term, but no long term gain to the club.

Thing is in this day and age ALL transfer's are primarily short term, the only long-term considerations are financial, i.e how much can they get for a player when they sell. Generally speaking, at this level, most teams looks to get the necessary players within their means to achieve promotion on any given season. Teams aren't afforded the luxury of planning for the future with a 5 year plan.

If it was a choice of 10 million for Long (which it isn't) or 10 million for Wells or Oliviera, I know which one I'd take.

[Stranded]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

[Sutekh]

Actually think this would be ideal as he is the sort of player we need up front

But then this is 99% likely to be just a load of old made up cobblers

[Royalwaster]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Well if he's agreed terms with a Prem club I'd say that's it for us surely ...

[genome]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Did you see his source?

"A close friend of the driver hired by the Chief Scout at Reading"

[CountryRoyal]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Let's just hope he's under the thumb and his missus wants to be here.

TBH if there's any truth in it then you'd have to question his ambition dropping down a division when he wouldn't have to, that being said at his age what else can he hope to achieve in the premier league beyond keeping a team in it?

[Stranded]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Did you see his source?

"A close friend of the driver hired by the Chief Scout at Reading"

Yep, it is a thing of beauty.

[Stranded]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Did you see his source?

"A close friend of the driver hired by the Chief Scout at Reading"

His latest tweet absolutely confirms this as a load of old bollocks.

[Nameless]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Let's just hope he's under the thumb and his missus wants to be here.

TBH if there's any truth in it then you'd have to question his ambition dropping down a division when he wouldn't have to, that being said at his age what else can he hope to achieve in the premier league beyond keeping a team in it?

Why would anyone chose to question a meaningless cliché like 'ambition' ?
Why would going back to a club where his career started in order to help them get promotion be any less ambitious than joining a club he has no connection to, in a part of the country he has no roots in, who are unlikely to do more than fight relegation most seasons ?
It would be refreshing to find a footballer who doesn't think that maximising the number of zero's on your pay cheque isn't the be all and end all, especially when you're already set up comfortably for life.
Be amazed if true, I don't think we actually have a 'chief scout' these days.

[Snowball]

Like Wayne Rooney "lacked ambition" when going back to Everton

[CountryRoyal]

Some Burnley fan who is supposedly ITK on that there Twitter, thinks it is between us and them for Long. Supposedly agreed terms with Burnley but wants to speak to us as we have shown interest due to strong family ties and would like to come back if possible.

Obviously complete bollocks you would think, but even if there is 1% chance of this being true it would be interesting.

Let's just hope he's under the thumb and his missus wants to be here.

TBH if there's any truth in it then you'd have to question his ambition dropping down a division when he wouldn't have to, that being said at his age what else can he hope to achieve in the premier league beyond keeping a team in it?

Why would anyone chose to question a meaningless cliché like 'ambition' ?
Why would going back to a club where his career started in order to help them get promotion be any less ambitious than joining a club he has no connection to, in a part of the country he has no roots in, who are unlikely to do more than fight relegation most seasons ?
It would be refreshing to find a footballer who doesn't think that maximising the number of zero's on your pay cheque isn't the be all and end all, especially when you're already set up comfortably for life.
Be amazed if true, I don't think we actually have a 'chief scout' these days.

Well purely going along how that seems to be the narrative that the premier league is the be all and end all. Whilst I don't agree with that if he, like everyone seemingly else thinks that's the case then one would question his motivation.

[muirinho]

Whilst I don't agree with that if he, like everyone seemingly else thinks that's the case then one would question his motivation.

Is this missing some words, or is my brain on the blink? (Or both, of course)

[CountryRoyal]

Whilst I don't agree with that if he, like everyone seemingly else thinks that's the case then one would question his motivation.

Is this missing some words, or is my brain on the blink? (Or both, of course)

Wouldn't surprise me. Might have had several beverages.

[maffff]

Be amazed if true, I don't think we actually have a 'chief scout' these days.

Unless there's been a very recent change it's still Steve Shorey.

[Nameless]

I don't think we replaced Dteve Head when he left did we ?
I assume Tevrenden is effectively in charge of the scouting set up,

Quick google shows we had a guy called Tony Spearing for a bit who was replaced by Dean Corre. Either have made an impact on my consciousness, but then why should they !

[Woodcote Royal]

Really don't understand the general LOLing running through this thread.

We need a striker, have 2 weeks to find one and it's going to cost us an arm and a leg in wages and/or transfer fees.

From the day we were bought by billionaires, neither of the above was ever going to prove an insurmountable obstacle to finding someone fit for purpose and, given what we've spent already, failing to sign a realistic strike option would render the rest of the summer's outlay rather pointless.

So, we can either, take the Oliveira route by signing the best the Champ has to offer or, seek out frustrated Prem strikers looking for a regular start.

I have no idea if Long is on Stam's radar but he definitely fits the latter category. Furthermore, and, if as suggested, he's been offered a meagre 25k a week to decamp to one of the most depressing places oop north, he'd probably accept 20k to stay down here.

In my view, Long could be just what we need. He'd still crucify full backs down the flank, knows where the goal is and would love running onto Yann's flicks. Watch this space.