Players who started off great and stayed great/got better

[blythspartan]

I thought we needed this one too

For me, Ritchie Bowman, Kerry Dixon and Simon Osborn were all players that hit the ground running and maintained a high level of form throughout their Reading careers.

[stealthpapes]

I posted his stats elsewhere, but Doyle basically did this. 4 seasons that coincide with our best, kept in on for one season post-relegation and then goes for big money. Solid career thereafter but nothing as great as his time here.

Slight tangent but for managers, going to go Pardew. The sense of inevitability under him is something I've never experienced since. He came in, we got good, we got better, we got better still. The John the Baptist to Coppell's Jesus.

[Clyde1998]

I thought we needed this one too .

Glad to see I've created a trend of ideas for good threads!

[Clyde1998]

I posted his stats elsewhere, but Doyle basically did this. 4 seasons that coincide with our best, kept in on for one season post-relegation and then goes for big money. Solid career thereafter but nothing as great as his time here.

I agree Kevin Doyle stands out for this. He wasn't even expected to be one of the first choice strikers, from a fans' view anyway, in the 2005-06 season - Kitson and Lita were. He took his opportunity once he got it and stayed at a very high level throughout his career.

Only real blips seem to have been the second Premier League season and the second half of the Championship season after relegation. I seem to recall he had fitness/injury issues in his final season, so I could realistically see him getting over 30 goals that season without them (as he basically didn't score in the second half of the season). If he wasn't the one with fitness issues/injuries, certainly the service was affected by key players around him having those issues.

[Clyde1998]

The only recent* examples that even come to mind as potentially fitting this (all both very debatable and subject to mis-remembering) are Danny Williams and Lewis Wing (based on what he's done so far). Certainly not at the Kevin Doyle level of impact.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

I posted his stats elsewhere, but Doyle basically did this. 4 seasons that coincide with our best, kept in on for one season post-relegation and then goes for big money. Solid career thereafter but nothing as great as his time here.

Slight tangent but for managers, going to go Pardew. The sense of inevitability under him is something I've never experienced since. He came in, we got good, we got better, we got better still. The John the Baptist to Coppell's Jesus.

I think it took Pardew a while to get going; Burns was sacked late September and we were in the bottom 4 in January on a long winless run and several fans wanted Pardew out and SJM took a lot of stick for going for a cheap option. Then he got the cheque book out and signed Martin Butler which was a huge signing back then for third tier and Forster got fit and it turned round.

[blythspartan]

I posted his stats elsewhere, but Doyle basically did this. 4 seasons that coincide with our best, kept in on for one season post-relegation and then goes for big money. Solid career thereafter but nothing as great as his time here.

Slight tangent but for managers, going to go Pardew. The sense of inevitability under him is something I've never experienced since. He came in, we got good, we got better, we got better still. The John the Baptist to Coppell's Jesus.

Yeah, Doyle is definitely in this category.

If we can count loan signings I’d include Matthew Upson. I can’t remember, but did we win every game he played in? Maybe not, but my memory is hazy these days.

[Snowflake Royal]

Kitson, Ingimarsson, Harper, Sidwell. Sigurdsson, McAnuff, Wing, Bindon, Harte.

[Sutekh]

Steven Death

[Crusader Royal]

[quote="Snowflake Royal"]Kitson, Ingimarsson, Harper, Sidwell. Sigurdsson, McAnuff, Wing, Bindon, Harte.[/

Can hardly leave Olise off the list (he’s probably already been mentioned). Quite likely to become the best player ever to play for us and had a stratospheric rise.

[Sutekh]

Neil Webb

[AthleticoSpizz]

Jimmy Quinn

[stealthpapes]

I posted his stats elsewhere, but Doyle basically did this. 4 seasons that coincide with our best, kept in on for one season post-relegation and then goes for big money. Solid career thereafter but nothing as great as his time here.

Slight tangent but for managers, going to go Pardew. The sense of inevitability under him is something I've never experienced since. He came in, we got good, we got better, we got better still. The John the Baptist to Coppell's Jesus.

I think it took Pardew a while to get going; Burns was sacked late September and we were in the bottom 4 in January on a long winless run and several fans wanted Pardew out and SJM took a lot of stick for going for a cheap option. Then he got the cheque book out and signed Martin Butler which was a huge signing back then for third tier and Forster got fit and it turned round.

my memory was we stopped losing so much, but checked and yes, long winless run. I had mentally filed that under Burns.

[Clyde1998]

Kitson, Ingimarsson, Harper, Sidwell. Sigurdsson, McAnuff, Wing, Bindon, Harte.

Hard to tell with Harte, as his final season was in the Premier League, but he certainly didn't have a great season (but then very few did). I feel he'd dropped a level by then and would've had a tougher season had we been in the Championship.

[NewCorkSeth]

The only recent* examples that even come to mind as potentially fitting this (all both very debatable and subject to mis-remembering) are Danny Williams and Lewis Wing (based on what he's done so far). Certainly not at the Kevin Doyle level of impact.

I literally came back here today after almost 2 years away to say I met a dude at a party last night who is friends with Danny Williams and he's going to call me next time he's with him. The dude couldn't believe I knew who Danny Williams is.

[stealthpapes]

Kitson, Ingimarsson, Harper, Sidwell. Sigurdsson, McAnuff, Wing, Bindon, Harte.

Hard to tell with Harte, as his final season was in the Premier League, but he certainly didn't have a great season (but then very few did). I feel he'd dropped a level by then and would've had a tougher season had we been in the Championship.

[Snowflake Royal]

Kitson, Ingimarsson, Harper, Sidwell. Sigurdsson, McAnuff, Wing, Bindon, Harte.

Hard to tell with Harte, as his final season was in the Premier League, but he certainly didn't have a great season (but then very few did). I feel he'd dropped a level by then and would've had a tougher season had we been in the Championship.

[sputnik]

lol

[Vision]

I posted his stats elsewhere, but Doyle basically did this. 4 seasons that coincide with our best, kept in on for one season post-relegation and then goes for big money. Solid career thereafter but nothing as great as his time here.

Slight tangent but for managers, going to go Pardew. The sense of inevitability under him is something I've never experienced since. He came in, we got good, we got better, we got better still. The John the Baptist to Coppell's Jesus.

I think it took Pardew a while to get going; Burns was sacked late September and we were in the bottom 4 in January on a long winless run and several fans wanted Pardew out and SJM took a lot of stick for going for a cheap option. Then he got the cheque book out and signed Martin Butler which was a huge signing back then for third tier and Forster got fit and it turned round.

my memory was we stopped losing so much, but checked and yes, long winless run. I had mentally filed that under Burns.

Key factor if I recall was Pardew binning Gorman and getting Allen in as assistant.

[Sutekh]

I think it took Pardew a while to get going; Burns was sacked late September and we were in the bottom 4 in January on a long winless run and several fans wanted Pardew out and SJM took a lot of stick for going for a cheap option. Then he got the cheque book out and signed Martin Butler which was a huge signing back then for third tier and Forster got fit and it turned round.

my memory was we stopped losing so much, but checked and yes, long winless run. I had mentally filed that under Burns.

Key factor if I recall was Pardew binning Gorman and getting Allen in as assistant.

Don’t think Gorman was binned, think Gorman wanted to go to team up again with Hoddle