Andre Bikey

[Hoop Blah]

If we had waited until much later our option on him would have expired and I suspect there would have been plenty of other interest, plus Moscow would have been upping the fee.

It's a totally different situation to an 'open market' deal, effectively we have extended his contract much like we did to Doyle, Kitson and Sidwell.

I think thats probably the case and I agree it is a bit different to the rest of the open market. It still surprised me a bit though.

a natural defender like ivar perhaps?

wasnt he playing in that game too?

Yes he was. I don't remember him getting caught out like Bikey did though.

Fact remains that we were going to sign him permanently last summer but the incident in Sweden made Coppell decide on the loan option first so he could see him on a day to day basis.

It's a very different transfer to the type we usually make.

Well rumour perhaps, not quite fact. I think we were having a look at him with a view to signing and the sending off did him no favours.

Don't get me wrong, all in all I think it's an ok signing. I'm not his biggest fan but I can see the potential thats there. I'm not slagging the guy off, I just tend to have what I consider to be a balanced view of our players, they don't all have to be perfect just because they play for Reading. Furthermore I'd probably just hoped that we'd be signing better defenders than Bikey this summer to supplement those we've already got.

[Stranded]

Nothing wrong with that HB, I'm more than open to looking at players objectively and can see the flaws in their game - Bikey has some no doubts - his positional play is shocking at times but the basics are there for a 21 year old and £1.2m is a decent fee.

I'll be surprised if he is the only defender we buy.

[brendywendy]

Nothing wrong with that HB, I'm more than open to looking at players objectively and can see the flaws in their game - Bikey has some no doubts - his positional play is shocking at times but the basics are there for a 21 year old and £1.2m is a decent fee.

I'll be surprised if he is the only defender we buy.

so if we get rid of sodje, mate and halls, for instance

we'd still have Ivar, Sonks, duberry, bennett, Bikey , murty, halford, shorey and DLC.(plus golbourne and pearce)

if DLC goes we'll need some cover for nicky, but who is going to want to play second fiddle to him? perfect for golbourne i suppose, but is he good enough?

murts is covered with halford.

so who would you lose from the 5 remaining CBs we have left(plus pearce) covering two positions

even if Ivar doesnt play as much next year due to age its still 4 to get past.

or would you get rid off duberry too? he's decent cover for injuries if nothing else.and has valuable experience of winning stuff.

bennett? hardly fair if the guy hasnt played yet, will have to see next season

if bikey is set to play more in midfield id say we may bring in another
(mensah?)

pearce- would be a shame/waste to lose an academy graduate

[Stranded]

I honestly think and believe it was mentioned at the fans forum that we will see a new LB at the club over the summer to seriously challenge Shorey.

[Behindu]

It was also said that we will be both losing and gaining centre backs.

I don;t believe Bikey was included in the 'gain' column as Coppell talked about the existing set of 9.

From what Coppell said I think he wants about 7 players who can play in central defence so I reckon we will see 3 leave and 1 more come in. I would guess the leavers will be Sodje and Brown and Mate will stick around for a couple of months on loan before departing.

I then think we will sign someone who will be seen as a first team player. Upson will be available

[1871 Royal]

I am still puzzled why there isn't anything on the website. I am now home from school. Read the EP and seen the back page.Rather confused. However it is good news in my books. Think he will be the next Sonko.

[Arch]

I am still puzzled why there isn't anything on the website. I am now home from school. Read the EP and seen the back page.Rather confused. However it is good news in my books. Think he will be the next Sonko.

It won;t be announced until it's official. The EP says the deal will be done "by the end of the week".

[1871 Royal]

Ohhh I see. Thanks Arch.

[Behindu]

[I think thats probably the case and I agree it is a bit different to the rest of the open market. It still surprised me a bit though.

Agree - unusual timing and despite Coppell's comments from earlier this week I wasn't expecting it quite so soon.

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

It was also said that we will be both losing and gaining centre backs.

I don;t believe Bikey was included in the 'gain' column as Coppell talked about the existing set of 9.

From what Coppell said I think he wants about 7 players who can play in central defence so I reckon we will see 3 leave and 1 more come in. I would guess the leavers will be Sodje and Brown and Mate will stick around for a couple of months on loan before departing.

I then think we will sign someone who will be seen as a first team player. Upson will be available

Yep i agree with that - Sodje i just dont think is prem class, Brown has unfortunately left it too late at Reading with his injuries and i just dont think there is the space for Mate now. I know Coppell likes a tight squad but i see no reason why we should be concerned with having 6 CB's at the club. As a club we are still learning and its important we start from the back and have options there-plus 2/3 of the CB's could play elsewhere. Its possible we could go back for the likes of Mensah who could potentially go straight in the 1st 11 or someone like Leon Barnett who we were strongly linked with and another player of potential to complement the CB's.

[brendywendy]

what happens when sonko, ivar,duberry pearce and bikey get the hump cos mensah and barnett have cemented their places,
how do you keep the 5 reserve centre backs happy for an entire season
thats my worry

[Behindu]

The same way they have done it this season ?

[Ian Royal]

The same way they have done it this season ?

crippling each other?

[brendywendy]

The same way they have done it this season ?

no, becuase we only had 3 at the start of the season.+pearce

and of the ones brought in in jan bennett was between seasons so unlikely to start many games before the end.

i was talking about if they got rid of sodje, and brought in 2 potential 1st teamers

[Behindu]

The same way they have done it this season ?

no, becuase we only had 3 at the start of the season.+pearce

and of the ones brought in in jan bennett was between seasons so unlikely to start many games before the end.

i was talking about if they got rid of sodje, and brought in 2 potential 1st teamers

We have 9 centre backs on the books and only 2 were signed mid season.

Sonko
Ivar
Pearce
Sodje
Mate
Bikey
Brown

plus
Bennett
Duberry

We've kept them happy because some have got injured and some have gone on loan. 9 is too any but I think we will end up with 7 and loan 1 out.

[Ian Royal]

The same way they have done it this season ?

no, becuase we only had 3 at the start of the season.+pearce

and of the ones brought in in jan bennett was between seasons so unlikely to start many games before the end.

i was talking about if they got rid of sodje, and brought in 2 potential 1st teamers

So at the start of the season we had three? Who out of Ivar, Sonko, Bikey, Brown, Sodje and Mate did we not have then? Not forgetting Pearce of course.

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

what happens when sonko, ivar,duberry pearce and bikey get the hump cos mensah and barnett have cemented their places,
how do you keep the 5 reserve centre backs happy for an entire season
thats my worry

I think that Coppell has to upset the apple cart a little to enable us to have a squad strong in depth in certain areas.CB is an area that a team like ours has to have quality cover, we have been lucky that bar the injury to Sonko toward the end of the season, our CB's have come through unscathed this season. However yes,I agree that it could be difficult to keep players happy in this way, but in all honesty i would say Duberry and Bennett were bought to complement the squad and they that they understand that they are not the automatic CB pairing.

I also think that next season there may be a player or two who do not reproduce the same form as they have done this season, that maybe they reached their peak in performance. Immediately who springs to mind is Ingi and maybe Murty too(cue groans!). Of course there is no evidence to back that up but i think you have to look at the potential players who might not reproduce the form- there will be undoubtedly one or two players who wont kick on from this season (this season you could argue Convey though his injuries took its toll) and so its important to have the necessary cover in those areas where players form may dip.

[RIP ELM Park]

I also think that next season there may be a player or two who do not reproduce the same form as they have done this season, that maybe they reached their peak in performance. Immediately who springs to mind is Ingi and maybe Murty too(cue groans!).

No groans, but many thought that these two were the most likely not to make the step up to the prem. One is now the front runner to be player of the season & the other is the one player we have struggled to cover when he's out injured.

[brendywendy]

The same way they have done it this season ?

no, becuase we only had 3 at the start of the season.+pearce
EDIT + 2 unknown loanees

and of the ones brought in in jan bennett was between seasons so unlikely to start many games before the end.

i was talking about if they got rid of sodje, and brought in 2 potential 1st teamers

We have 9 centre backs on the books and only 2 were signed mid season.

Sonko-yes
Ivar- yes
Pearce-way too young at the start of the season to even be considered for our 1st prem campaign-may make it next year who knows
Sodje-yes,but last minute panic buy, just to get the numbers up
Mate-unknown loanee came in after start of season didnt he? before the window shut-seem to remember spotting him at a midweek reserves game a couple of weeks in, signing announced the next day.
Bikey-unknown loanee with suspect temperament.
Brown-too young for prem yet, injured

so at the start of the season i would say we had 2 recognised CBs ready to play 1st team prem footy in ivar and sonko
1 back up, sodje
plus two unuseable youngsters. pearce and brown

plus
Bennett-jan
Duberry-jan

We've kept them happy because some have got injured and some have gone on loan. 9 is too any but I think we will end up with 7 and loan 1 out.



we had two proper 1st team CBs at the start of the season, with bits and bobs to cover them.which is why gunnarson played there a few times at the start.
of course we kept them happy, ivar and sonks knew they were 1st team, the rest were just ecstatic to get a game.

what i am talking about is if now, like everyone is saying, we have 4 recognised 1st team premiere league CBs,

plus duberry, bikey, pearce ,bennett and brown

how do you keep sonko, ivar, mensah, barnett, all happy, they all would want the regular spots.

the bits and bobs would never get a look in.
can you see how that is different?

[Ian Royal]

The same way they have done it this season ?

no, becuase we only had 3 at the start of the season.+pearce
EDIT + 2 unknown loanees

and of the ones brought in in jan bennett was between seasons so unlikely to start many games before the end.

i was talking about if they got rid of sodje, and brought in 2 potential 1st teamers

plus duberry, bikey, pearce ,bennett and brown

how do you keep sonko, ivar, mensah, barnett, all happy, they all would want the regular spots.

the bits and bobs would never get a look in.
can you see how that is different?

I think it's academic as we won't have that many players.

Bikey will be happy just to be here, as will Pearce and probably Bennett. There is no point in considering players who arn't here yet. certainly not more than one quality CB. I can't see Doobs staying personally. So that lives maybe 3 quality centrebacks with a reserve and a few untested younger players. I think that is what we'll be looking at.