Griffin Saver!

[juanpablo]

best is long gone prepare to be utterly dissapointed anybody thinking he will be some sort of rock, he coasted through games for Stoke so I expect the same or worse for us

[UpNorth]

Griffin has more grey hair than me and is 24 years younger!

The problem with Griffin is a lack of match fitness, like Mills he has not played enough games this season. Let us hope he gets into the swing of things quickly.

[CMRoyal]

Of course his best days are behind him - he wouldn't be coming to us otherwise! For the level we are at right now, I'm sure he'll do a decent job.

[Archie's penalty]

CM Royal - exactly. His street smarts will see him through (I hope).

[Alan Partridge]

On the face of it, decent signing for Reading. They absolutely needed a right back and Griffin has played the majority of his career in the Premiership so he can't be bad. 30 isn't old and he should be easily good enough in this league.

The only thing that would concern me is that we hear he lacks pace. He should fit in with the rest of the defenders here!

[Dirk Gently]

It's a move with a minimum of risk, which has to be good.

[Comfortably Numb]

best is long gone prepare to be utterly dissapointed anybody thinking he will be some sort of rock, he coasted through games for Stoke so I expect the same or worse for us

Long gone? The poor bloke is 30. 29 = in your prime, at his peak, 30 = finished, best days are long gone..

[Barry the bird boggler]

As long as he plays like Peter Griffin and not Meg.

[leww_rfc]

As long as he plays like Peter Griffin and not Meg.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Seriously it wasn't funny a week ago and it's not funny now.

A bit like Family Guy actually....

[facaldaqui]

We didn't get this bloke in to help us get promotion, we got him to help us avoid relegation. It will make a difference just having an experienced professional right back in the team. I only hope the crowd bear with him and don't expect him to be perfect. Well done Brian Mac for addressing this glaring flaw in the team.

[rhroyal]

Seriously it wasn't funny a week ago and it's not funny now.

A bit like Family Guy actually....

+1! South Park is the way forward.

[Arch]

best is long gone prepare to be utterly dissapointed anybody thinking he will be some sort of rock, he coasted through games for Stoke so I expect the same or worse for us

Long gone? The poor bloke is 30. 29 = in your prime, at his peak, 30 = finished, best days are long gone..

In fairness, juanpablo's judgment is probably more than just statistical. Griffin played a lot in the Premiership and was a regular in some pretty decent teams. Hasn't done for a couple of years and has hardly played at all this year. That could be construed as best days are long gone, i.e. at least two seasons ago.

[juanpablo]

best is long gone prepare to be utterly dissapointed anybody thinking he will be some sort of rock, he coasted through games for Stoke so I expect the same or worse for us

Long gone? The poor bloke is 30. 29 = in your prime, at his peak, 30 = finished, best days are long gone..

In fairness, juanpablo's judgment is probably more than just statistical. Griffin played a lot in the Premiership and was a regular in some pretty decent teams. Hasn't done for a couple of years and has hardly played at all this year. That could be construed as best days are long gone, i.e. at least two seasons ago.

exactly im not sure what the average football players peaking age has to do with it,think I heard on the news he hasnt played in the prem for a year? The thing is I saw him captain stoke live on many occasions and I didnt rate him then, im not being negative for the sake of it. I have seen him play many times live and if Bryn keeps even half the form from tonight Griffin wont be in the team

[yappy]

I hope he's better than the last right back we took from Stoke. That said it's going to take something to talk Brynjardinho out of the team!

[moo]

Do Reading and Stoke just trade sh1t players with each other?

[RoyalBlue]

Just like to say that Andy Griffin today dismissed most of my doubts/concerns. A very solid defensive performance and, as I posted elsewhere, his passing today (and not just across the back) was of extremely high quality. I would be interested to see what his pass completion rate was. I started counting and it was 100% up to 9 when I stopped (yeh OK, it was too cold to take my shoes and socks off!).

The only 'criticism' of him I had - up until the last 10 minutes or so - was that he wasn't pushing forward beyond the half way line and we were therefore missing out in overlapping runs and support in attacks down the right. The moment they removed the electric fence on the halfway line, he produced that sublime pass and we scored. After that I was hoping he would stay back and defend but the altitude appeared to have got to his head and he kept pressing forward!!

[Dirk Gently]

Agreed - really good performance. Couldn't really see that he was particularly short of pace or fitness, but in any case his reading of the game and his positioning was superb - showing his experience there.

Didn't do anything dramatic, but you don't want that from a full-back. You want him to be steady and dependable, and that's exactly what he gave us today.

[papereyes]

I was about to say - I really didn't notice him but that's often what you want from a right back.

[Ian Royal]

Agreed - really good performance. Couldn't really see that he was particularly short of pace or fitness, but in any case his reading of the game and his positioning was superb - showing his experience there.

Didn't do anything dramatic, but you don't want that from a full-back. You want him to be steady and dependable, and that's exactly what he gave us today.

Spot on. With his experience (both playing and captaining)I'd be tempted to finally drop Ivar and play Cisse instead to give us more pace and ability to play the ball at the back. I think Ivar has been very poor most of the season. He's been better in a few games recently from what I've seen. But he's not close to the player he used to be.