HRK for Wales

[Sun Tzu]

You've applied the commonsense test to the wrong statement though !!!!!!

I'd certainly argue that if you take a lad into your Academy at 15 and he becomes a regular first teamer and a full international it would be rather odd to not see him as a product of that Academy. Presumably if you think he isn;t then only those who come in at 7 and never had anything to do with another football club would be considered genuine 'products' ?

A 'product' can have a number of creators and in the case of Gylfi I am sure much credit would go to his Icelandic club (we wouldn;t have taken him on unless he had already shown ability and many other attributes) but I think it is our Academy that has taken him through to what he is today.

I see the distinction you are looking to make, I just don't think it means very much !!

[I was there at Elm Park]

You've applied the commonsense test to the wrong statement though !!!!!!

I'd certainly argue that if you take a lad into your Academy at 15 and he becomes a regular first teamer and a full international it would be rather odd to not see him as a product of that Academy. Presumably if you think he isn;t then only those who come in at 7 and never had anything to do with another football club would be considered genuine 'products' ?

A 'product' can have a number of creators and in the case of Gylfi I am sure much credit would go to his Icelandic club (we wouldn;t have taken him on unless he had already shown ability and many other attributes) but I think it is our Academy that has taken him through to what he is today.

I see the distinction you are looking to make, I just don't think it means very much !!

Gylfi joined us when he was 16 (October 2005) and presumably before he'd left school. If he's not a Reading academy product then the number of lads who've come through would be severely reduced. Didn't we pinch Pearce and Church from Oxford and Wycombe? As far as I'm aware Henry and Taylor are the only lads coming through who have never been involved at another club.

[Sun Tzu]

You've applied the commonsense test to the wrong statement though !!!!!!

I'd certainly argue that if you take a lad into your Academy at 15 and he becomes a regular first teamer and a full international it would be rather odd to not see him as a product of that Academy. Presumably if you think he isn;t then only those who come in at 7 and never had anything to do with another football club would be considered genuine 'products' ?

A 'product' can have a number of creators and in the case of Gylfi I am sure much credit would go to his Icelandic club (we wouldn;t have taken him on unless he had already shown ability and many other attributes) but I think it is our Academy that has taken him through to what he is today.

I see the distinction you are looking to make, I just don't think it means very much !!

Gylfi joined us when he was 16 (October 2005) and presumably before he'd left school. If he's not a Reading academy product then the number of lads who've come through would be severely reduced. Didn't we pinch Pearce and Church from Oxford and Wycombe? As far as I'm aware Henry and Taylor are the only lads coming through who have never been involved at another club.

Pearce joined us when he was 12.

I think there are plenty of others who have come through from a very young age (Hamer, HRK, Bignall, Baggie-Bell, Kelly)

[Stranded]

Oh, you hate to see such a school boy error - you really do.

[Turns8]

On as a sub against Croatia...replacing Earnshaw after 72mins...

Well done HRK...

[Ryn]

Church was mince apparently

[Ian Royal]

Church was mince apparently

Really? On the GE thread there is this:

Church goal Disallowed.

Church has come off and has been praised along with Earnshaw by the commentators for their shifts.

And he gets two mentions in the match review on the Beeb, with no criticism.

[leww_rfc]

Church was mince apparently

Not IMO, had his usual good work rate with some good touches and passes. And a poachers finish for his disallowed goal.

[shaka's shorts]

watched most of the game on S4C with welsh language commentary - John Hartson speaks fluent welsh!!!!

HRK was his usual self - a nuisance with his speed and athleticism but didn't get the chance to score. Croatia were easily the better team as you'd expect. Church did well, was unlucky with the goal and contributed most of the Welsh good moments, I thought. Well done both

[Hoop Blah]

Church will usually look good in one off games because he works hard, makes some decent runs, has a pretty good touch and does very little wrong.

Over a few games or a season you start to realise that although he does a lot of good things he just lacks something to make the most of them. Too often he's beaten to a ball by the defender, too often he just missess the target, and too often his attempts at goal see the keeper make a pretty regulation save.

He's not that consistent a goal scorer but his alround game is pretty decent, certainly better than Long's.

As for Robson-Kanu, well as poor as that Wales squad was I'm amazed that he's been involved.

[Wycombe Royal]

He's not that consistent a goal scorer but his alround game is pretty decent,

10 goals from 22 starts and 14 subs appearances in his first season in the Championship is damn good going in my opinion especially when you consider how few goals we were scoring as a team early in the season.

Chopra got 16 goals in 36 starts and 5 subs appearances and he is a striker who cost over £4m (and take away Chopra's goals early in the season and you will see how few he got after that.)

I just think people are too harsh on his goalscoring rate when if you look at the all the other teams and take into account the number of starts he got you will actually see it is pretty decent.

[Hoop Blah]

That's a fair comment Wycombe. I think he actually scored at an ok rate in the end, it's more the number of chances he doesn't quite make the most of (as do a lot of forwards in this division of course) and his record over his career that makes me say it.

I think he'll be a handy player, and better than Long for sure, but I don't expect him to repeat that scoring rate over the next couple of seasons. Be very happy to be proved wrong though.

[Ryn]

Church was mince apparently

Not IMO, had his usual good work rate with some good touches and passes. And a poachers finish for his disallowed goal.

This sums him up for me (from BBC):

"Wales set Simon Church free down the right, the Reading front man powering into the box but failing to find strike partner Rob Earnshaw with the crucial ball."

Valid his goals to games ratio is ok, and without his ten goals this season we would have been worse off, but I can't help agreeing with Hoop Blah; there's something I can't quite put my finger on about his game that doesn't quite pull together. Possibly his decision making?

[Wycombe Royal]

it's more the number of chances he doesn't quite make the most of (as do a lot of forwards in this division of course) and his record over his career that makes me say it.

Taking more chances is something that he needs to work on, but lets face it if he did then probably wouldn't be playing for us next season. He's shown he can finish very well - just look at the Sheffield Wednesday and Preston goals as evidence of that. He just needs a bit more consistency.

As for his record over his careeer - I believe he spent most of time at Leyton Orient on the wing and therefore didn't score many goals.

[Ian Royal]

The encouraging thing for me, was that he was getting the chances and narrowly missing them in his first season at this level. And yet still scored at a very decent rate all things considered.

Combine that with his excellent all round game and I suspect he's only going to get better. The only things he really needs to make it at a higher level for me is to work on his running of the line to stay onside better and to be more clinical.

Both things that are as likely to improve with games and experience as not.

I like Church, certainly a lot more than any of our other strikers - NHunt excluded.

[PEARCEY]

As is well known I think a lot of Churchy. However he really needs to work on his aerial ability where for a striker he really is terrible.

[Kitson12]

If anything I feel that Churchy is only going to get better. You have to remember that this is his first full season at this level, and 10 goals isn't a bad return. He's only going to grow in confidence, and a full season under MaccyD will probably do him absolute wonders!

[donface]

Andy Cole used to miss shedloads of chances, and he had an alright goal ratio.

I like Church.

[Wycombe Royal]

I like Church.

Keep religion off "The Team".

[SpaceCruiser]

Andy Cole used to miss shedloads of chances, and he had an alright goal ratio.

However, he only scored once for England. That's why I've always thought he was shite.