Steve Sidwell's Future

[firstdivision]

For what it's worth... When JM was doing the "footy phone in" on BBCRB, one of the last questions asked to JM was "Do you think Steve Sidwell will be a Reading player next year, to which he said " Yes definitely"

I may have misquoted him but i got the impression if he is determined to keep him.

He will be a big loss if he goes, and what cost a similar replacement?

[Binfield Royal]

I don't think its about money. I think Siddy perceives that his ambition will be better furthered away from Reading.

I think he has real ambitions to play for England. Whether or not those on this board thinks thats realistic is not important, if he believes he can achieve it he must make the decisions now that will, in his view, best help achieve that goal (s'cuse the pun!).

If he can gain and then hold down a regular place at Newcastle, that is more impressive to McLaren than doing the same at Reading as they are a bigger club and more likely to be in Europe next year than we are.

His biggest problem is to avoid doing a "Wright -Phillips" - sign for a bigger club and then not get regular 1st team football.

I believe that Sidwell will be in high demand and will not be here next year. He will leave on a free in the summer having played a blinder of a season for us.

I will not begrudge him this for one minute. It will be thanks and good luck.

[HighburyRoyale]

I believe that Sidwell will be in high demand and will not be here next year. He will leave on a free in the summer having played a blinder of a season for us.

I will not begrudge him this for one minute. It will be thanks and good luck.

And I think he's worth more to us for the whole season than would be £4m for him in January... I agree.

[readingfc_4_life_and_beyo]

His biggest problem is to avoid doing a "Wright -Phillips" - sign for a bigger club and then not get regular 1st team football.

This could really ruin him as well.

Good lad but he will need to make a very well calculated move. If he fails to do so he may find himself back in the Championship again before long.

Would we take him back if he goes to a team like Newcastle for a year then finds out he is out of sorts? I would. Would we boo him if he made a move to another premiership club? I wouldn't. Great player, great servant, and certainly earned his pennies.

[scutterbucket]

my old man was at a do at the club on friday and got talking to someone within the club (one of the directors) about Sidders. He will definitely be off at the end of the season, if not in the January.

[starbug]

yeah and my Mum met Madejski in Sainsburys last night and he told about all the players we'll be buying in January

[Royal Fleet]

clubs can start to talk to him in january but him joining them next summer

Only Foreign teams. Regulatations dictate that within the last six months of your contract you can sign a pre-contract with a foreign club, but not clubs within your own league.

[Toadie]

I've heard from a WAG that the decision is purely financially based. Why do a job in one place, when you can earn more doing the same job in another? He's got a young family and he's at the height of his earning potential. Also, he wants to play for England, a feat he doesn't think is achievable at Reading. Optimistic yes, but probably true!

At the start of the season, I'd have said break the bank to keep him, but others have adapted far better than I thought they would, and now £4m in January is, for me, too good to turn down. I'd feel comfortable with Bryn playing there for half a season, and given our unexpected good start we're probably now a far more attractive draw for out-of-favour players than we were in the summer.

A fantastic footballer and great club servant, but if his heart isn't in it, JM should cash in and invest for the future!

[Memories Of India]

I've heard from a WAG that the decision is purely financially based. Why do a job in one place, when you can earn more doing the same job in another? He's got a young family and he's at the height of his earning potential. Also, he wants to play for England, a feat he doesn't think is achievable at Reading. Optimistic yes, but probably true!

At the start of the season, I'd have said break the bank to keep him, but others have adapted far better than I thought they would, and now £4m in January is, for me, too good to turn down. I'd feel comfortable with Bryn playing there for half a season, and given our unexpected good start we're probably now a far more attractive draw for out-of-favour players than we were in the summer.

A fantastic footballer and great club servant, but if his heart isn't in it, JM should cash in and invest for the future!

I think you've raised a good point there, Bryn would indeed be OK for half a season but I'd be uncomfortable with him being the long-term replacement.

What I'd like to think is happening is that the club is resigned to losing Sids, probably for nothing, and that they are actively thinking about what to do once he's gone.

Given the start that we've had, the short term future doesn't worry me, but I'd like to know that the club has retained a long-term plan, and that they have an idea of who'd they'd like to get in if Sids, or anyone else, left the club.

[bracknell loyal royal!]

Sidwell Out £4.5m
S.Davies In £1.75m

£2.75m towards a striker, SORTED!

[Alan Partridge]

Sidwell Out £4.5m
S.Davies In £1.75m

£2.75m towards a striker, SORTED!

He's out of contract at the end of the season, you can take the 4 off that figure.

Come January and if we are no nearer a new deal for him anything around £1million would have to be tempting.

Still wouldn't mid Sheringham till the end of the season from January. Showed against us in the ten minutes or so he was on that he can still create things and be a handful.

[RobRoyal]

ok but say he does go, how much would you be happy to see him leave for?

I think £2m, which would allow us to buy a solid replacement with a little left over.

For what it's worth... When JM was doing the "footy phone in" on BBCRB, one of the last questions asked to JM was "Do you think Steve Sidwell will be a Reading player next year, to which he said " Yes definitely"

I may have misquoted him but i got the impression if he is determined to keep him.

He will be a big loss if he goes, and what cost a similar replacement?

Sidwell Out £4.5m
S.Davies In £1.75m

£2.75m towards a striker, SORTED!

FFS. He's going to be OUT OF CONTRACT this summer. Whatever anyone pays for him in January, they're effectively paying for 6 months worth of his time. It's incredibly unlikely that anyone is going to pay more than that 6 months is worth to us because he will be a big part of us securing survival.

The only chance we have of keeping him is if a) we match the wage offers of anyone who comes in for him or b) he decides that staying at the club is worth more to him than a wage increase and/or playing at a bigger club.

There is virtually no chance of a) happening, and a pretty small chance of b). It's not worth our while losing him for pittance in January (which is all we'll get) and there's little we can do to keep him longer than the end of the season.

He's going on a free in the summer.

[scutterbucket]

yeah and my Mum met Madejski in Sainsburys last night and he told about all the players we'll be buying in January

You're cynism disappoints me.

[Seal]

There's no way we would sell him for under £2-3M in January. He will obviously not be worth this much with only 6 months left on his contract, but we are under no pressure to sell.

Therefore the only way we would sell him in Jan would be if a club (I'm thinking possibly Villa) came in with a offer substantially over his value. They would do this in order to immediately secure his services (therefore benefitting from his play for half a season) and to ensure that they gazump other rival clubs, who may be waiting to offer him a big contract when he is on a free in the summer.

I think it is very obvious he is going to leave. I also do agree that it's not entirely about money. Sidwell obviously backs himself and sees himself at a top 6 club, and we can't compete with those ambitions. He's been a great servant to us, and I wouldn't begrudge him trying to fulfil his dreams in the slightest.

[Royal With Cheese]

yeah and my Mum met Madejski in Sainsburys last night and he told about all the players we'll be buying in January

You're cynism disappoints me.

Quite. Everyone knows he shops in Waitrose.

[scutterbucket]

yeah and my Mum met Madejski in Sainsburys last night and he told about all the players we'll be buying in January

You're cynism disappoints me.

Quite. Everyone knows he shops in Waitrose.

Theres no way he could to get his food in Waitrose on the meagre wages we're paying him. Sidwells' baby's mums gone to Iceland.

[working class hero]

You're cynism disappoints me.

Your spelling / punctuation saddens me....

[Long_Boi]

ok but say he does go, how much would you be happy to see him leave for?

I think £2m, which would allow us to buy a solid replacement with a little left over.

For what it's worth... When JM was doing the "footy phone in" on BBCRB, one of the last questions asked to JM was "Do you think Steve Sidwell will be a Reading player next year, to which he said " Yes definitely"

I may have misquoted him but i got the impression if he is determined to keep him.

He will be a big loss if he goes, and what cost a similar replacement?

Sidwell Out £4.5m
S.Davies In £1.75m

£2.75m towards a striker, SORTED!

FFS. He's going to be OUT OF CONTRACT this summer. Whatever anyone pays for him in January, they're effectively paying for 6 months worth of his time. It's incredibly unlikely that anyone is going to pay more than that 6 months is worth to us because he will be a big part of us securing survival.

The only chance we have of keeping him is if a) we match the wage offers of anyone who comes in for him or b) he decides that staying at the club is worth more to him than a wage increase and/or playing at a bigger club.

There is virtually no chance of a) happening, and a pretty small chance of b). It's not worth our while losing him for pittance in January (which is all we'll get) and there's little we can do to keep him longer than the end of the season.

He's going on a free in the summer.

I agree it is pointless to let him go in Jan as we will be lucky to get more than a £1 Million & even if we did we have to pay a siginficant amount of that back to Arsenal. Would love him stay, however short of a massive change in expectation on his part, he's off.

[floyd__streete]

I believe that Sidwell will be in high demand and will not be here next year. He will leave on a free in the summer having played a blinder of a season for us.

I will not begrudge him this for one minute. It will be thanks and good luck.

Hear hear.

I was scathing in my criticism of him for his conduct during the summer but he has answered that with excellent performances and commitment to the cause. If he goes in the summer for free having having played his part in keeping us up, then good luck to him. If he goes in January for a fee with our status in the Premiership (hopefully) looking fairly secure he'd have played his part in half a job well done and I'd say good luck and thanks in that eventuality too.

[juanpablo]

I believe that Sidwell will be in high demand and will not be here next year. He will leave on a free in the summer having played a blinder of a season for us.

I will not begrudge him this for one minute. It will be thanks and good luck.

Hear hear.

I was scathing in my criticism of him for his conduct during the summer but he has answered that with excellent performances and commitment to the cause. If he goes in the summer for free having having played his part in keeping us up, then good luck to him. If he goes in January for a fee with our status in the Premiership (hopefully) looking fairly secure he'd have played his part in half a job well done and I'd say good luck and thanks in that eventuality too.

why couldnt everybody react the same with Pardew?

and unlike Sidwell he was getting seriously stiffed with the money he was on

goodluck to Sidwell when he leaves, cant help thinking we should break the bank to keep him.... suppose no player is bigger than the club