Royals ready to pay for Bikey?

[Big Ern]

£1.5 Million is a good price for a young player who has come in and notably improved with every gane he has played. I hopw we sign him up as I think he could be really good in a few years. He is similar to Sonks in the way he plays, but his distibution is better than Sonks and feel he would prove an absolute bargain.

As always, SC sees the players in training, and having worked with him for 1 year, if Coppell thinks he is worth the money, than who are we to disagree.

[Z175]

Hes fantastic on the ball, great touch etc and hes strong like Sonko, but his tackling method appears to be to grab the opponents shirt, and kick at them until they get the free kick/penalty.

Is there any point a club like Reading spending over a million (he'd be our 2nd biggest signing) for a defender whom we need to teach to tackle?

Matthew Upson will be available when Wet Sham get relegated,surely we'd be in with a chance there...

[Stranded]

So you'd rather us pay say £3m for an injury prone defender who's on a very high wage than £1.5m on a defender who has shown potential and can be improved quite easily (and has already) as the coaches work with him.

We are not really in a position to buy finished articles at this time due to the fees and wages involved, so players like Bikey though a risk, are often one worth taking.

[Royal Rother]

his tackling method appears to be to grab the opponents shirt, and kick at them until they get the free kick/penalty....

How on Earth has this myth spread? He does it yes, but no more than many defenders.

How many penalties has Bikey conceded?

How many has Sonko conceded?

(I actually don't know the answer for sure and am hoping your response will support my view.)

[topfuller]

Hes fantastic on the ball, great touch etc and hes strong like Sonko, but his tackling method appears to be to grab the opponents shirt, and kick at them until they get the free kick/penalty.

Is there any point a club like Reading spending over a million (he'd be our 2nd biggest signing) for a defender whom we need to teach to tackle?

Matthew Upson will be available when Wet Sham get relegated,surely we'd be in with a chance there...

And his injury record is !

[Behindu]

Upson would cost how much ?

His wages would be how much ?

Based on the game at Birmingham his tackling method appears to be 2 footed and knee high - we'd need to teach him to tackle...

[RG30]

I would rather have Andre Bikey than Matthew Upson.

[Muskrat]

£150,000 yes.

£1.5 million - No thanks.

Keep your money in your pocket Steve, see what's available in the summer, and don't forget you've still got Ingimarsson, Sonko, Bennet, Duberry, Pearce, Sodje, Gunnarsson and Halford who can all play there.

Bikey has got better this season and lets face it he needed to but £1.5 million for a player who gets booked virtually every game and gets sent off with alarming regularity is too much IMO.

[Royal Rother]

Sent off with alarming regularity? How many times has he been sent off for us?

Booked virtually every game? What percentage qualifies as "virtually every" in your mind?

Well someone had to...

[brendywendy]

£150,000 yes.

£1.5 million - No thanks.

Keep your money in your pocket Steve, see what's available in the summer, and don't forget you've still got Ingimarsson, Sonko, Bennet, Duberry, Pearce, Sodje, Gunnarsson and Halford who can all play there.

Bikey has got better this season and lets face it he needed to but £1.5 million for a player who gets booked virtually every game and gets sent off with alarming regularity is too much IMO.

1.5 million for a 21 yr old beast of a player, with european lague/prem experience is a great price

and id rather have him for 1.5 than injury prone upson for 5 million

and as for too many defenders, maybe copps sees bikey and halford as long term replacements for harps and sids in the midfield
u never know

[SpaceCruiser]

Sent off with alarming regularity? How many times has he been sent off for us?

Booked virtually every game? What percentage qualifies as "virtually every" in your mind?

Well someone had to...

I'm shocked that somebody like you would defend this player. Dare I say I agree with you?

[Shortbread]

How many times makes up 'alarming regularity', Muskrat? Edit: beaten to the line here. But do read on!

Granted there's an issue with bookings - 7 times in 11 starts plus 6 sub appearances is a bit of a change to what we're used to at the back. If I was Bikey though, I'd be more concerned about not being selected on Saturday and that his replacement had an excellent game. If Duberry keeps that standard of performance up - booking apart! - I can't see Bikey getting back in the team unless he perhaps gets another opportunity at the end of the season, and that may see the end of his chance here.

Shame, in my opinion, as I think he's definitely worth £1.5m of our money. But, as others have said, we do have a lot of options at the back and I wouldn't want to see him progress there if it was at the expense of, say, Pearce. Of course, we may have a vacancy next season for a holding centre midfielder which he may well be able to fill - and which might also benefit Harps's game.

[Stranded]

I don't think Bikey's future here depends on him playing in any of the last few games. Coppell made the decision to go with the older head on Saturday given the role he wanted one of his CBs to play.

I can almost guarantee that Coppell has made his mind up with regards to Bikey already.

PS Duberry's booking was the worst case of mistaken identity I've seen.

[RoyalBlue]

Bikey has already shown signs that he is likely to turn into an awesome player be that either in the centre of defence or as an extremely strong midfielder. And I don't think it will be long before he delivers on that promise either.

I seem to remember that a few TV pundits have already pointed him out as being another shrewd signing by Sir Steve.

£1.5M is a good price for him.

[Muskrat]

Well here are the facts:

Played 12(6) games.
1239 minutes on the pitch.
Booked 6 times.
Sent off once.
That's a booking or a sending off once every 177 minutes. More than one every two games.

Taking a pro-rata, he would be booked 19 times a season, not counting cup games.

Reading have received 31 yellow cards this season. Bikey alone accounts for 19% of them.

If people on here think that's acceptable then fine, obviously my standards are higher than most.

And that's not to mention headbutting an opponent in a pre season freindly resulting in another sending off (drat I've mentioned it now).

I just think over the season he's too big a liability that's all.

[Behindu]

PS Duberry's booking was the worst case of mistaken identity I've seen.

You missed the Paul Bodin / Gareth Davis debacle then ?

[Behindu]

If people on here think that's acceptable then fine, obviously my standards are higher than most.

It's no basis on which to decide not to sign him though.

Several of his bookings have been dubious (including his red card )

They tend to fit into the picture of a player who is talented but very raw.

I have no doubt that as his play develops and he gains experience his disciplinary record will improve.

Wayne Rooney had a shocking disciplinary record when he started out, lucky he wasn't turfed out of Everton on that basis !

[Stranded]

PS Duberry's booking was the worst case of mistaken identity I've seen.

You missed the Paul Bodin / Gareth Davis debacle then ?

At least they both had the same colour skin.

[Huntley & Palmer]

It's what Stephen would have wanted

[Tinrib]

PS Duberry's booking was the worst case of mistaken identity I've seen.

You missed the Paul Bodin / Gareth Davis debacle then ?

It was a Welsh thing..