CONFIMRED - Sam Walker

[NewCorkSeth]

So we can't score in a brothel and Clement signs another reserve keeper?? An ex-mate from his Chelsea days to boot.

Weird one. Any news on a striker RFC?? You know, one that can score goals in the LCh??

Bit of creativity would be nice as well.

I don't think we have enough aging Irish internationals. Is Wes Hoolahan still playing or did he retire?
As for striker we should as Robbie if he wants to come back from India.

[maffff]

[P!ssed Off]

Went to a few Colchester games 4/5 years ago.
The last one I went to Walker conceded 4 at home to bottom of the table Notts County.

Can only improve on that!

[Denver Royal]

This potential signing is farcical even if Jaakkola goes, what sort of message does this send out to Legg, Ward, Southwood etc, instead of trying regain our identity of bringing through academy products, we just sign random players like this. It just does not make sense.

‘What message does it send'? Msgs and signals are largely fanspeak, and social media is littered with it. Clubs don’t care, its business now.

Paul Clement may not give a toss about regaining any ‘academy identity’at this club.

(Edit: Ian thought problems with Ansii were Stam...so any reconciliation as it relates to Clement? PC quickly says no thanks and gets rid, at least Stam gave him a chance).

[eddiegrundy]

Watched him many times at Colchester. He's decent but I'm doubtful that he's good enough to displace Mannone. He'll probably have to wait for the League Cup to get a game. He's very tall but lightly built and hence his song at Colchester "That boy Sam Walker - he's seven foot tall".

[Hound]

To be back up keeper and push Mannone for the number 1 spot

[Old Man Andrews]

If this means the end of Jaakkola I am all for this.

[NewCorkSeth]

If this means the end of Jaakkola I am all for this.

+1000000

[Sutekh]

Makes sense. Believe Rotherham are interested in Jaakkola and at their age the likes of Ward, Southwood etc. Need to be out on loan getting vital experience playing games not sitting on a bench waiting.

Also isn’t this the last year of Mannone’s deal and there is a rumour he wants to go back to Italy at the end to be near his family.

[Stranded]

This potential signing is farcical even if Jaakkola goes, what sort of message does this send out to Legg, Ward, Southwood etc, instead of trying regain our identity of bringing through academy products, we just sign random players like this. It just does not make sense, and I'm not one to moan about new signings (with the exception of John O'Shea).

I suspect it says Mannone will leave at the end of the season or soonet, Walker will step up and one of them will be second choice while the others get loan spells.

You may be right but I think it says more that Jaakkola played the first half at Eastleigh and the second at Wimbledon but hasn't been seen since. All pre-season minutes since have gone to Mannone with the exception of 11 minutes for Ward against Rubin.

This signing says to me that the club offered Jaakkola a new deal because they didn't want to be down to one senior keeper, Clement had a look at him in training and the first two friendlies, decided he simply isn't the standard he wants so we have been on the look out for a senior keeper to challenge for the number 1 slot. A 26 yo keeper with 260 career appearances behind him, who is looking to prove himself at a higher level fits that bill perfectly.

I would expect Jaakkola to head out on loan or for a very small fee shortly. One of Ward/Shortwood will also go on loan and the other stay as 3rd choice for this season. I see the logic behind the decisions made around GK this summer and Walker is potentially a good GK that Clement already knows.

[genome]

If this means the end of Jaakkola I am all for this.

Bit harsh to wish death on him tbh

[tilehurstender]

6 foot 6! Can he play upfront????

[Old Man Andrews]

If this means the end of Jaakkola I am all for this.

Bit harsh to wish death on him tbh

tbf he has been linked to Rotherham and death may be a more appealing prospect for him.

[SCIAG]

Luke Southwood is the only member of England's U20 World Cup winning squad who didn't play at least at Football League level last season. A third of them played in the Premier League or Bundesliga, and 15/23 played at Championship level or higher.

We're being ridiculously conservative once again. Either Ward or Southwood should be on our bench this season, playing cup games (and U23s when there are no clashes) and ready to come in if Mannone gets injured, suspended, or shit, or sold. The other could maybe get a FL loan. Now Walker will eat up their opportunities and we'll have to work twice as hard to find suitable loans.

[Hound]

Agree to an extent SCIAG. I'd happily have seen Southwood or Ward on the bench this season, but playing regular games in L1 or L2 would probably be better for their development at this stage. Suppose someone like Pickford or Hart would be an example of a clearly talented keeper playing at a lower level for match experience and benefitting greatly from it. Playing U23 or just training with the 1st 11 really isnt the same

Do think its slightly different for keepers as well - they have a longer career and peak a bit later

[Stranded]

Luke Southwood is the only member of England's U20 World Cup winning squad who didn't play at least at Football League level last season. A third of them played in the Premier League or Bundesliga, and 15/23 played at Championship level or higher.

We're being ridiculously conservative once again. Either Ward or Southwood should be on our bench this season, playing cup games (and U23s when there are no clashes) and ready to come in if Mannone gets injured, suspended, or shit, or sold. The other could maybe get a FL loan. Now Walker will eat up their opportunities and we'll have to work twice as hard to find suitable loans.

Keepers are different, there is only one position in a team they can play in as opposed to outfield players being able to cover elsewhere.

Looking at the u20 squad last season of the keepers. Freddie Woodman, managed one League Cup game for Newcastle and 5 games on loan at Aberdeen (nothing special), playing week in week out at Bath would have been better for him. Henderson did well at Shrewsbury however, both are best part of a year older. Fully expect we are trying to get Southwood a loan at L1 or L2 level where he can play week in week out at the mo.

[russyb]

This potential signing is farcical even if Jaakkola goes, what sort of message does this send out to Legg, Ward, Southwood etc, instead of trying regain our identity of bringing through academy products, we just sign random players like this. It just does not make sense, and I'm not one to moan about new signings (with the exception of John O'Shea).

I suspect it says Mannone will leave at the end of the season or soonet, Walker will step up and one of them will be second choice while the others get loan spells.

You may be right but I think it says more that Jaakkola played the first half at Eastleigh and the second at Wimbledon but hasn't been seen since. All pre-season minutes since have gone to Mannone with the exception of 11 minutes for Ward against Rubin.

This signing says to me that the club offered Jaakkola a new deal because they didn't want to be down to one senior keeper, Clement had a look at him in training and the first two friendlies, decided he simply isn't the standard he wants so we have been on the look out for a senior keeper to challenge for the number 1 slot. A 26 yo keeper with 260 career appearances behind him, who is looking to prove himself at a higher level fits that bill perfectly.

I would expect Jaakkola to head out on loan or for a very small fee shortly. One of Ward/Shortwood will also go on loan and the other stay as 3rd choice for this season. I see the logic behind the decisions made around GK this summer and Walker is potentially a good GK that Clement already knows.

+1 on Stranded's comments, makes perfect sense here. The thing i like about PC, is he seems to suss players out pretty quickly, last season took a look at JVDB and thought nope! i think he thinks the same with Jaakkola. Walker seems to have experience and is a good age and can provide a good challenge.

[SCIAG]

It's definitely not clear what exactly the "right" path for players is, sure. There are a lot of variables, players developing at different rates, fine. I still think we're being unnecessarily conservative.

Let's take a look at some recent Reading goalkeepers and recent England youth internationals (last 10-12 years). Southwood turns 21 in December while Ward turns 22 in March. Don't know what this will turn up.

At Southwood's age, Federici was our back-up goalkeeper in the Premier League (remember the Man United game?), McCarthy played 13 games for us after a season in League One, Hamer played a full season in League One, and Ashdown was... still three years away from his debut.

Rob Green was a regular at this level with no loans. Chris Kirkland had 32 PL appearances. Scott Carson had seven, plus a Championship loan. Hart made 26 appearances for Man City that season. Forster was at Stockport. Ben Foster had some non-league loans. Frank Fielding was in League One and Two. Scott Loach was Watford's goalkeeper after some previous non-league loans. Jason Steele was well-established as Middlesborough's goalkeeper. Tom Heaton was playing for Man United's reserves. Butland had a full season at Birmingham under his belt. Pickford was at Bradford in League One, followed by a year at Preston in the Championship. Pope was bouncing around on loan.

tl;dr: about half of goalkeepers of Southwood's calibre have been trusted to keep goal for Championship clubs or better at this stage in their career. So it's not a disaster that he isn't, but it's also unnecessary for us to be putting roadblocks in his way and we should probably be being more ambitious with loans.

[Hoop Blah]

Perhaps it's just that they're not good enough? You're comparing them to some very very good goalkeepers there who played at the level they did at early ages because they're outstanding.

I remember having a similar conversation about some of our other youngsters, Hector being one, that they weren't as good as some thought and the levels they were getting loaned out to indicated that.

I tend to agree that we're too conservative with trusting out youngsters though and I'd much rather we took a bit more of a gamble on them now and again.

[SCIAG]

Sure. You don't have to be Joe Hart to play for Reading. That's partially why I threw Feds, McCarthy, Hamer, and Ashdown on there. I feel confident comparing Ward and Southwood to Hamer and McCarthy.

But I think the comparisons to players at other clubs are the sort we should be making, given their achievements at youth level and international recognition. Particularly look at the likes of Loach and Steele, or Ross Turnbull maybe. But then on the other hand, see Foster and Forster and Pope.

As for Hector, seems a bit of a strange example. I must admit that my memory is that he only started to attract attention when he had a good Football League loan (Shrewsbury?) and there was only really any hype when he was at Aberdeen. I was softly in favour of him ahead of Jack Mills and Angus MacDonald when he was bouncing around and think there are posts to that effect. Someone like Lawson D'Ath might serve the point better.