shorey should go\had a bad season etc etc

[juanpablo]

most threads include a bit of Shorey slagging. Would love it if nobody ends up coming in for him because we could do with another "poor" season from him


Crosses and corners attempted and crosses and corners accuracy
Bentley 416 25.72%
Downing 383 25.07%
Young 340 26.76%
Arteta 299 26.42%
Shorey 293 26.62%
Diouf 289 22.15%
Petrov 279 24.37%
Giggs 222 23.42%
Gerrard 219 27.40%
Davies 217 24.88%


Percentage of team assists
Francesc Fabregas 23%
Simon Davies 22%
Nicky Shorey 21%
Elano 21%
Ashley Young 20%



overall 9 assists 2 less than steven gerrard and more than ronaldo

His defending wasnt as good as the previous year i dont think, however he certainly wasnt as exsposed as other elements of the defence

hope this helps

[Hoop Blah]

Brilliant.

One of our set piece takers, and our only left sided player who can cross the ball consistently, in lots of crosses shocker!

Last season Shorey was a shaddow of the player we've seen grow into one of the most cultured left backs in the country over the last 5 or 6 seasons. Whether that was down to him taking his eye off the ball because of his rumoured transfers or just a similar drop in application that we saw effect the form of a few others in the squad it's still pretty obvious he had a bit of a shocker last season.

[Sarah Star]

Hurray! Someone else who doesn't think Shorey was woeful last season. Even though I didn't have the benefit of seeing him last season, when I saw him play for the first time, I thought he was the best player on the pitch. I have to admit that in the course of events sometimes his passes seemed to go nowhere and he didn't always put in a good corner, but he wasn't playing any worse than the rest of the team. I don't know if that's evidence of his heart not being in it or not.

[Roger the Rabbit]

Isn;t there another stat that said he had one of the worst ' pass completion' rates around.

I've never been a great believer that stats tell you much about a footballer, the only way to really judge is by what you see on the pitch, assuming you watch with an open mind and a certain ability to understand what is going on ! Luckily there's a bloke near me who has those attributes and he told me Shorey had a poor season, by his previously high standards.

[Scarface]

Any fan with his eyes open will have to conceed Shorey's performance level last year was way below the previous 2 seasons. Not only was his defending, crossing and passing not up to his usual standard, it seemed clear to most that he wasn't putting in the same effort. Some of his performances near the end of the season, when we needed it most, were disgusting.

Fact is he wanted out last summer (Coppell has admitted this) and we forced him to, so like any decent professional he sulked. This is the problem we might have again this year if Coppell over prices all our want away so called stars.

[Hoop Blah]

Hurray! Someone else who doesn't think Shorey was woeful last season.

That shocked me....

Even though I didn't have the benefit of seeing him last season

But then that explained it.

I've never been a great believer that stats tell you much about a footballer, the only way to really judge is by what you see on the pitch, assuming you watch with an open mind and a certain ability to understand what is going on !

Totally agree 100%.

Stats only show a small insight and this is a real bug bear of mine. It's an americanisation of Football to drag up all these stats for a game that just doesn't lend it self to statistical analysis because, in the main, it's too fluid and varied.

[brendywendy]

i think there is an inevitable, subconcious change in fans attitudes when it is clear that a player wants to leave their club
he automatically gets coloured a little by peoples attitudes, and wheras before any criticism was shouted down, now people feel more able to criticise

while its clear he wasnt as good this season-im not sure the difference was that marked, or couldnt be explained by the changes in the rest of the defence

whatever happens we will miss him, hugely

who the hell are we going to play the ball to from th ekick off every time for starters

[Roger the Rabbit]

Fact is he wanted out last summer (Coppell has admitted this) and we forced him to, so like any decent professional he sulked. This is the problem we might have again this year if Coppell over prices all our want away so called stars.

Couple of points :

1. Coppell actually pointed out that Shorey was upset when no one came in for him in January rather than as a result of not getting away in the summer. He'd been expecting West Ham (presumably) to come back for him and they didn;t .

2. Coppell presumably can;t do right - he either 'over prices' or 'gives away' players.

[readingbedding]

The Shorey was useless last season diatribe is a complete myth.

How long was it without a goal?

Without scoring, you'll never win a match.

Anyway, don't care if he stays or goes...

I would like at least 5m for him though.

[Dirk Gently]

Fact is he wanted out last summer (Coppell has admitted this) and we forced him to, so like any decent professional he sulked. This is the problem we might have again this year if Coppell over prices all our want away so called stars.

Couple of points :

1. Coppell actually pointed out that Shorey was upset when no one came in for him in January rather than as a result of not getting away in the summer. He'd been expecting West Ham (presumably) to come back for him and they didn;t .

2. Coppell presumably can;t do right - he either 'over prices' or 'gives away' players.

Just to put more flesh on these bones, in the summer West Ham offered £4.5M (I think!) for Shorey, at the same time that Leighton Baines went from Wigan to Everton for £6M. SC and NS himself agreed that NS was worth more as they both felt he was a better player than Baines, and so they turned this down - but the improved offer never appeared, or in January.

Personally, what worries me most is the affect on the dressing room of having players who so clearly have lost their motivation to stay. It's now down to SC to prove what he can do by making NS (and others) motivated enough to put himself in the "shop window" - presumably for a move in January. Similar t what he did so well with Sidwell.

Although, of course, the nightmare scenario is players doing well in the first 3-4 games of the season and then being tempted away in the last week of August - when it's too late to replace them. Money in the bank won't do us much good then.

[Hoop Blah]

Just to put more flesh on these bones, in the summer West Ham offered £4.5M (I think!) for Shorey, at the same time that Leighton Baines went from Wigan to Everton for £6M. SC and NS himself agreed that NS was worth more as they both felt he was a better player than Baines, and so they turned this down - but the improved offer never appeared, or in January.

Personally, what worries me most is the affect on the dressing room of having players who so clearly have lost their motivation to stay. It's now down to SC to prove what he can do by making NS (and others) motivated enough to put himself in the "shop window" - presumably for a move in January. Similar t what he did so well with Sidwell.

Although, of course, the nightmare scenario is players doing well in the first 3-4 games of the season and then being tempted away in the last week of August - when it's too late to replace them. Money in the bank won't do us much good then.

...although we've got a good record of bringing in ready made replacements at short notice so we'll be fine....

Seriously though, I agree Dirk. This is a real test of Coppell's metal and I'm just not sure a manager who was resigned to leaving himself is the best person to persuade a set of players that they should stay and fight for the cause.

On the Shorey transfer saga, did Coppell not admit that there was a bid on the table in Jan but we wouldn't accept it until we'd lined up a suitable replacement and that didn't happen, or was that just a bit of a mix of forum feedback and HNA rumours that have stuck in my head?

[readingbedding]

Just to put more flesh on these bones, in the summer West Ham offered £4.5M (I think!) for Shorey, at the same time that Leighton Baines went from Wigan to Everton for £6M. SC and NS himself agreed that NS was worth more as they both felt he was a better player than Baines, and so they turned this down - but the improved offer never appeared, or in January.

Personally, what worries me most is the affect on the dressing room of having players who so clearly have lost their motivation to stay. It's now down to SC to prove what he can do by making NS (and others) motivated enough to put himself in the "shop window" - presumably for a move in January. Similar t what he did so well with Sidwell.

Although, of course, the nightmare scenario is players doing well in the first 3-4 games of the season and then being tempted away in the last week of August - when it's too late to replace them. Money in the bank won't do us much good then.

...although we've got a good record of bringing in ready made replacements at short notice so we'll be fine....

Seriously though, I agree Dirk. This is a real test of Coppell's metal and I'm just not sure a manager who was resigned to leaving himself is the best person to persuade a set of players that they should stay and fight for the cause.

On the Shorey transfer saga, did Coppell not admit that there was a bid on the table in Jan but we wouldn't accept it until we'd lined up a suitable replacement and that didn't happen, or was that just a bit of a mix of forum feedback and HNA rumours that have stuck in my head?

Coppell's into Judas Priest.

[Dirk Gently]

Just to put more flesh on these bones, in the summer West Ham offered £4.5M (I think!) for Shorey, at the same time that Leighton Baines went from Wigan to Everton for £6M. SC and NS himself agreed that NS was worth more as they both felt he was a better player than Baines, and so they turned this down - but the improved offer never appeared, or in January.

Personally, what worries me most is the affect on the dressing room of having players who so clearly have lost their motivation to stay. It's now down to SC to prove what he can do by making NS (and others) motivated enough to put himself in the "shop window" - presumably for a move in January. Similar t what he did so well with Sidwell.

Although, of course, the nightmare scenario is players doing well in the first 3-4 games of the season and then being tempted away in the last week of August - when it's too late to replace them. Money in the bank won't do us much good then.

...although we've got a good record of bringing in ready made replacements at short notice so we'll be fine....

Seriously though, I agree Dirk. This is a real test of Coppell's metal and I'm just not sure a manager who was resigned to leaving himself is the best person to persuade a set of players that they should stay and fight for the cause.

On the Shorey transfer saga, did Coppell not admit that there was a bid on the table in Jan but we wouldn't accept it until we'd lined up a suitable replacement and that didn't happen, or was that just a bit of a mix of forum feedback and HNA rumours that have stuck in my head?

Just looked at the Fans' Forum notes and apparently not - SC said that there was the offer last summer and then no interest in January.

[westongeezer]

Trouble with shorey is we treat him like a slave

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

whether you argue if shorey had a shocker last season or not, the fact remains that we have lost/set to lose our 2 most creative and productive players in shorey and little. We have Hunt (for now) who cant cross and Kebe who appears to like weaving down blind alleys, and a seemingly 'unfit' Convey. Unless Coppell changes his playing style we will have to make sure that the replacements sought are a genuine threat from set pieces,deliveries and crosses as it is more than likely we will not have this expertise come the beginning of the season.

[Archie's penalty]

whatever happens we will miss him, hugely

who the hell are we going to play the ball to from th ekick off every time for starters

LOL! And very true!

Btw my two cent's worth is that Shorey looked uninterested and out of sync with other Reading players last year.

I agree Coppell needs to motivate the guy and I am a little worried that Coppell's skills of motivation took a huge hit
with relegation.

I think we need to get to the season as soon as possible and get some wins under our belt (or absolutely hammer everyone in pre-season).

The lads need an arm around their shoulder. This is one of the reasons a new signing could help - someone like Brian Howard who takes control of games and gees the other players up. At least Murty is talking a good game at the moment if no-one else is...

[Royalee]

Shorey was below par last season, but even so he still created more than 'player of the season' Hunt despite having a bad season, which says it all really. Those wishing for Shorey to go should take a look at the incredibly small list of potential replacements before being stupid enough to wish him elsewhere. Personally, I think it would have been hard for Paolo Maldini to look like a class full back behind Hunt and the rest of our midfield last season.

[brendywendy]

Shorey was below par last season, but even so he still created more than 'player of the season' Hunt despite having a bad season, which says it all really. Those wishing for Shorey to go should take a look at the incredibly small list of potential replacements before being stupid enough to wish him elsewhere. Personally, I think it would have been hard for Paolo Maldini to look like a class full back behind Hunt and the rest of our midfield last season.

or along side our ever changing defence

[readingbedding]

whatever happens we will miss him, hugely

who the hell are we going to play the ball to from th ekick off every time for starters

LOL! And very true!

Btw my two cent's worth is that Shorey looked uninterested and out of sync with other Reading players last year.

I agree Coppell needs to motivate the guy and I am a little worried that Coppell's skills of motivation took a huge hit
with relegation.

I think we need to get to the season as soon as possible and get some wins under our belt (or absolutely hammer everyone in pre-season).

The lads need an arm around their shoulder. This is one of the reasons a new signing could help - someone like Brian Howard who takes control of games and gees the other players up. At least Murty is talking a good game at the moment if no-one else is...

2 things.

A great pre-season in no way ensures or helps to have a great season.
The lads don't need an arm round the shoulder, the game against Derby is long gone.

[CMRoyal]

Hurray! Someone else who doesn't think Shorey was woeful last season. Even though I didn't have the benefit of seeing him last season, when I saw him play for the first time, I thought he was the best player on the pitch. I have to admit that in the course of events sometimes his passes seemed to go nowhere and he didn't always put in a good corner, but he wasn't playing any worse than the rest of the team. I don't know if that's evidence of his heart not being in it or not.

Shorey's likely to be one of the best players on the pitch no matter who he plays for. He's just one of those naturally gifted footballers. His problem last season was not in the percentages, it was in his regular tendency to switch off for short but vital minutes. Clearly his head was elsewhere, and his heart was sometimes a percentage or two short of 100% in it. That can make a big difference at the top level, but it doesn't really show up in Opta stats and the like.