January transfer window

[The Biscuitman]

With the transfer window opening in less than 12 hours Sunderland appear to have made a £2.5M offer for Stephen Hunt.

Nicky Hammond has since stated that we do not expect to sell anyone in January.

£2.5M is a p*sstake for Hunt, the boy has been amongst our best players this season.

[SlackerMacker]

Hah, i highly doubt we'll sell Hunt for a while, especially if they're offering only 2.5M. Hell, they payed 3.5M for Halford and i haven't seen him doing jack at Sunderland. They can have Greg Halford but not Hunt. In my opinion, Hunt's has been the 2nd best player for Reading this season behind Kitson.

[Laudy]

There is no way Coppell will move Hunt at this point. He stated before that he would love to have 11 Hunts on the team. This team needs some definite help but I doubt they will be able to bring in some real talent. I look at the Sidwell situation and the uncertainty of Shorey's position with the team as evidence that top players don't want to play for a smaller team. If we can't keep our own stars how can we convince others to sign with us? I hope Coppell and the boys can work some magic but I just don't see any big moves this transfer season. I hope I am wrong.

[Native Aztexan]

How about getting some quality centerbacks? Sonko is starting to killing me this season. :mad:

And what's the deal with Lita? Is he going to another club?

[Neeto]

Hahnemann's contract is extended for another year.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=495204&cc=5901

[Pablo Chicago]

Any updates on Puygrenier?

Any right wing candidates yet?

[SteveCoppell]

the most likely candidated for right wing are michael kightly or danny haynes

[Neeto]

Sidwell's name has popped up a few times by making a loan move to Reading. This would be fantastic and I really hope he comes back. At the same time, I don't know how Chelsea can do this because they have many players at the African Cup of Nations. Here are some of the links:

http://www.fansfc.com/frontpage/frontpagenews.asp?newsid=179872

http://www.clubcall.com/index.jsp?storyID=332592

[Laudy]

That would be excellent to get Sidwell back. I could forgive him for his moment of weakness. I can't see that Chelsea would let another player go during the ANC but this would be the only time it could happen. Here's hoping for some good news.

[Katsbox]

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! A player of Sidwell's abilities, absolutely. Sidwell himself? Yikes! That boy has left us, time to move on. Don't listen to your friends telling you he's unhappy with his current squeeze, don't leave embarrassing messages on his answering machine, no texts, no emails, don't go around to his favorite pub dressed to the nines hoping he might drop in.

Clean break. Move on. We will survive.

[Laudy]

I can't fault the guy for looking for a big payday but he did sell out. Let's just call it a trial separation. He thought the grass was greener but it turned out to be otherwise. Give him another shot.

[SteveCoppell]

i see no reason why he would leave now. He's got a great chance of getting a league cup winners medal and possibly some other silverware. He might not be playing that regularly but he has started about 13 games this season which isnt all that bad.

[Laudy]

As Coppell stated earlier he knows Siddy will tough it out at Chelsea so all this talk is just that, talk. However, if it is at all possible I would be willing to allow Siddy to kiss and make up. In the current situation he isn't going to bail on Chelsea unless they decide to loan him out.

Just for kicks, though, how would our midfield look if Siddy would come back?

Hunt----Sidwell----Matejovsky----Convey

Would Matejovsky start over Harper? What would happen to Gunnarson? Where would Little fit in provided he comes back 100%? These all sound like good problems to have. Looking at this, would Coppell really bring back Sidwell? This brings up so many questions and my wheels are spinning. This is a little exciting but it is most likely just a damn rumor.:confused:

[Katsbox]

I'm guessing Convey is going to have to step up his game fairly quickly. Oster is getting fit (although he put in time as a center mid in the reserve game, which I thought was interesting). For whatever reason Oster has always had a hard time getting a starting role at Reading - but this may be his time. I think Coppell will favor a right footed player on the right and Hunt is tearing it up, and would probably relish getting back to the left. I'm guessing that sends Convey to a sub role the rest of the season unless he steps it up a notch.

Maybe Oster, once fit (Bolton?), will take the middle until Matejovsky is ready, with Hunt & Convey on the wings. Or...???? The one thing I do know is that the last third of the season will interesting.

[RichardL]

For whatever reason Oster has always had a hard time getting a starting role at Reading .Simply Glen Little is better than him.

[whipsmart13]

I now realize just how good Glenn Little by watching my youngest on the soccer field. She will never win a footrace with the girls on her squad and has some hard times in indoors with the smaller field but on the large field outdoors, she has the uncanny ability to turn her opponent inside out when she is one-on-one on the wings. That, to me, is Glenn Little at his finest.

[Katsbox]

Simply Glen Little is better than him.

Agreed. 100%. Maybe it's been long enough that the timing has gone from my head, but it seems like there was some amount of time where Glen was out, Oster wasn't injured yet, but still not getting the minutes I thought he would. It's all a haze now, so I won't be surprised if I have that wrong.

[Laudy]

If all that wasn't crazy enough now we have to throw Jimmy Kebe into the mix. It looks as if Coppell is planning something but I am not sure what yet. Is he adding depth for future cup runs? Is he adding players and planning to move others? We have a lot of guys who can make an impact but will be fighting for playing time. Don't get me wrong it is great to have a lot of depth but can Coppell keep all these players happy? I guess we'll have to wait and see but things are looking good at the Mad Stad.

[Postmaster]

This sounds like a great sale to me -- at least a much bigger price tag than I'd expect. It may be something to happen in the summer.

Megson: Trotters failed in late Lita deal (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=504020&cc=5901)

[RichardL]

This sounds like a great sale to me -- at least a much bigger price tag than I'd expect. It may be something to happen in the summer.

Megson: Trotters failed in late Lita deal (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=504020&cc=5901)
except it's since been revealed that Bolton didn't bid for Lita. The papers heard Megson had made a £7 million bid for an unnamed player and seemed to assume it was Lita, probably because it matched the £7 million valuation the papers also made up.