On a positive note - Uche Ikpeazu

[toppy]

Thick hair, straight teeth, chiseled jaw

Yeah, I have high hopes for this one

Man crush or are you creating 2D

[winchester_royal]

Thick hair, straight teeth, chiseled jaw

Yeah, I have high hopes for this one

Man crush or are you creating 2D

*Boy crush

[Simon's Church]

Would've preferred Austin tbh.

[Super_horns]

Gutted about this. Big Uche looked to have massive potential. Wouldn't be surprised to see him play in Watford's first team. They've lost nearly all of those players from last season due to the tightening of the loans from Europe rules.

Not quite - some will be coming back on permanent deals and we are likely to sign at least 4 on loan plus a couple of others.

[URZZ]

Why did we actually let him go? I thought we were upgrading our academy, and protecting the quality within.

He obviously wasn't good enough if we're to believe what's been promised in that respect. But he looks so decent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R-u_4lbRh8

[Cypry]

Why did we actually let him go? I thought we were upgrading our academy, and protecting the quality within.

He obviously wasn't good enough if we're to believe what's been promised in that respect. But he looks so decent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R-u_4lbRh8

It's an academy, not a prison - if the player is tempted by the apparent offer of first team football elsewhere next season there's really not a lot we can do to stop him leaving, after all, he's highly unlikely to be anywhere near the first team with us.

Got to echo what some have said about him anyway - that goal above is indeed a cracking goal, but I've seen him in a few important games (not least the academy final at Fulham) and in all of those he's been pretty much anonymous against defences that can match him physically...

He may turn out to be "the one that got away", he could just as easily disappear in the back streets of Watford and never be heard of again...time will tell.

[maffff]

It's an academy, not a prison.

Why's the academy known as Gulag then?

[RoyalBlue]

Is that a handbag next to him?

[Hoop Blah]

Can't believe some of the criticism towards the club for losing him that I'm reading on here.

The lad is nothing special from what I've seen of him and I can't see him getting close to our squad in the near future even if we stay at this level. The club are clearly aiming at higher level and so probably haven't offered him as good a package as Watford did.

Not at all bothered by this.

[Royal91]

Can't believe some of the criticism towards the club for losing him that I'm reading on here.

The lad is nothing special from what I've seen of him and I can't see him getting close to our squad in the near future even if we stay at this level. The club are clearly aiming at higher level and so probably haven't offered him as good a package as Watford did.

Not at all bothered by this.

This.

If Uche had the belief he could get into our first team he would of stayed. He must know every year an academy steps up and is given the chance.

[sandman]

Really? Club loses the top Academy league scorer in the country after the Owner has proclaimed in two interviews that said Academy is "essential" and "crucial" to the clubs future success and that 6, 7 or 8 could make it and it's not perceived as even a slight mis-step.

I must admit I wasn't that impressed from what I saw of him but it's still brings a strange focus on the club when they lose a young player after he's had such a successful season.

[gazzer, loyal royal]

Can't believe some of the criticism towards the club for losing him that I'm reading on here.

The lad is nothing special from what I've seen of him and I can't see him getting close to our squad in the near future even if we stay at this level. The club are clearly aiming at higher level and so probably haven't offered him as good a package as Watford did.

Not at all bothered by this.

let be honest - if he was that good at 18 he'd be in or around the first team squad now. If he's good enough he will play. not good enough, so thanks for getting the academy recognition, and I hope you have a successful career. Lets move on

[maffff]

+1 /thread.

[SPARTA]

@boyhunt
@UcheIkpeazu I go away for a few weeks and come back to ur news!! I love saying I told ya so! Good things happen to good people & players! X

[sandman]

@boyhunt
@UcheIkpeazu I go away for a few weeks and come back to ur news!! I love saying I told ya so! Good things happen to good people & players! X

Has no one told these two that they were "rubbish anyway" and they're "no big loss"?

[Wycombe Royal]

Really? Club loses the top Academy league scorer in the country after the Owner has proclaimed in two interviews that said Academy is "essential" and "crucial" to the clubs future success and that 6, 7 or 8 could make it and it's not perceived as even a slight mis-step.

I must admit I wasn't that impressed from what I saw of him but it's still brings a strange focus on the club when they lose a young player after he's had such a successful season.

We obviously didn't see him as a first team contender yet whereas Watford do. Therefore no surprise that he left us to join them. We aren't just suddenly going to change our opinion on him just because another club can offer him a higher squad status.

[RoyalBlue]

@boyhunt
@UcheIkpeazu I go away for a few weeks and come back to ur news!! I love saying I told ya so! Good things happen to good people & players! X

Has no one told these two that they were "rubbish anyway" and they're "no big loss"?

So McDermott kept picking a rubbish player?

Don't know about Uche but Hunt will show some on here wrongly underrated him.

[sandman]

Really? Club loses the top Academy league scorer in the country after the Owner has proclaimed in two interviews that said Academy is "essential" and "crucial" to the clubs future success and that 6, 7 or 8 could make it and it's not perceived as even a slight mis-step.

I must admit I wasn't that impressed from what I saw of him but it's still brings a strange focus on the club when they lose a young player after he's had such a successful season.

We obviously didn't see him as a first team contender yet whereas Watford do. Therefore no surprise that he left us to join them. We aren't just suddenly going to change our opinion on him just because another club can offer him a higher squad status.

And that's all well and good but the perception from the outside when you lose a young player who scored 28 goals for your academy to a club in the same division is not going to be quite as simple as your view. If, for instance, this had happened a couple of months ago and the lad from Hull saw something like that happen maybe he would have thought differently about moving away from his home to sign for Reading.

And no RB but nice try.

[Elm Park Pasty]

I don't ever remember saying he was rubbish, but the fact remains that those who saw him last year say he was extremely effective at scoring goals against teams he could physically dominate but was nowhere near as effective against teams that had equivalent physicality. If the coaches saw no progression in his performance in this respect, it was likely that he would have been offered terms that reflected his need to develop further. He was NOT released, he chose to go to a different club that may have offered him an opportunity to be closer to the first team set up than us, and maybe there was additional wages, bonuses etc? There is no certainty that he would be the real deal, remember Neville Roach anyone? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Roach I remember when he was the next big thing. As I understand it Ikpeazu was not released. He did not like the terms offered and signed elsewhere. I am not sure what you want the club to do? If Samuel is good enough for the first team squad and receives terms on that basis, then why should anyone who is not be offered the same?

I am really not that sure how the release of Noel Hunt relates to the Ikpeazu situation, other than being an opportunity to vent a little spleen at the club hierachy. If the manager believes a player will not fit in with the way he wants the team to play, that is his decision. Why would Adkins sanction the offering of a 2 year contract if he is not sure if he wants the player to stay (the fact that a year was offered seems to suggest this). I am not sure if letting Hunt leave was a good idea, I guess time will tell. I liked Noel Hunt, but seriously some of you are losing the plot a little.

[Mike Hunt]

Thick hair, straight teeth, chiseled jaw

Yeah, I have high hopes for this one

Took the words right out of my mouth. Lady Killer.