RUMOUR kebe to qpr

[gazzer, loyal royal]

WBA were interested and are rumoured to be keeping tabs on him. QPR will spend if they go up so it's a likely move if Kebe doesn't return to France as he has previously indicated he'd like to do. Kebe wont be here certainly after next summer. We're a s£lling club now.

old news

Yes - I was first with this news back in the Summer.

Kebe to West Brom i told people about in January

[Mid Sussex Royal]

We're a s£lling club now.

Not like the good old days, eh? Remember how we gave Shaka 20k a week to fend off Premier League interest? I dread to think how different our history could be if we'd have let Robin Friday go to a bigger club, too.

Seriously, which halcyon days are you harking back to? Those of Herbert Smith?

We did sell Friday to a bigger club - Cardiff (old Div 2 at time) in Dec 1976 and were relagated to Div 4 that May

[Platypuss]

There may be a petite whooshette on its way......

[prostak]

Is it possible to have a whoosh²?

[loyalroyal4life]

Kebe to West Brom i told people about in January

Is that before or after he plays against them in the FA CUP?

[andrew1957]

Mc D is bigging up Antonio. Presume this is so the club can say we have a ready made replacement after cashing in on Kebe in January.

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/page/NewsDet ... 61,00.html

[brendywendy]

actually i would say thats not presumable at all.
it is presumable that BmcD is bigging him up to bump up the lads confidence, and reward him for his hard work and application.

[Ian Royal]

actually i would say thats not presumable at all.
it is presumable that BmcD is bigging him up to bump up the lads confidence, and reward him for his hard work and application.

I'm more inclined with Andrew but it could also be to keep McAnuff & Kebe on their toes.

If he'd been that good he'd have been playing the last few games instead of having a striker on the wing.

[andrew1957]

actually i would say thats not presumable at all.
it is presumable that BmcD is bigging him up to bump up the lads confidence, and reward him for his hard work and application.

I'm more inclined with Andrew but it could also be to keep McAnuff & Kebe on their toes.

If he'd been that good he'd have been playing the last few games instead of having a striker on the wing.

Ian - I guess it all depends upon whether there is any ambition left at all or whether financial issues are now the totally dominant focus. Time will tell but if the latter then any good offer for Kebe will be accepted and we will buy some cheap replacement to soften the blow.

[Ian Royal]

Any good offer for Kebe will be put to him regardless. It's The Reading Way.

And the club will also be better placed than us to know if he really does want to go back to France, in which case it would be better to take what we can now.

[under the tin]

actually i would say thats not presumable at all.
it is presumable that BmcD is bigging him up to bump up the lads confidence, and reward him for his hard work and application.

I'm more inclined with Andrew but it could also be to keep McAnuff & Kebe on their toes.

If he'd been that good he'd have been playing the last few games instead of having a striker on the wing.

Ian - I guess it all depends upon whether there is any ambition left at all or whether financial issues are now the totally dominant focus. Time will tell but if the latter then any good offer for Kebe will be accepted and we will buy some cheap replacement to soften the blow.

I think you overstate the power the club has in all of this.
Right now, Kebe has it within him to singlehandedly butt f*ck Championship defences: the impact he made in the Leeds game when he came on highlighted that. He is in the form of his career. He knows that, his agent knows that, he ain't getting any younger, and the January window represents the perfect timing for him to get a big money move and big pay rise.
I am convinced he will go, and it will be to a team that wants to "get there", like Cardiff, or a team that wants to "stay there", like Wolves.

I am also confident that the sale proceeds will be used to fund a striker, and Brian will stick with Antonio/HRK.

[Snowball]

To date they hasn't been a WHISPER about Kebe wanting to sign
an extended contract, and if we had any genuine intention
of keeping him (or believed we could) surely we would have
made the offer?

So if we DID make an offer it's been turned down. Kebe, sadly, is going.

But good luck to him. Let's just hope we get decent money.

My feeling is we'll get lowish offers. Then we need to decide whether
it's better to keep him and go for it next season, knowing he goes for nowt,
but is it ever worth holding on to a player who wants to be elsewhere?

[Hoop Blah]

I think that's probably a pretty fair assessment of the situation there snowball.

It could be that negotiations are ongoing of course, and we'll suddenly hear at some point that he's signed an extension, but I'm really not expecting it.

As for keeping a player who doesn't want to be here, I'd usually say no it's not worth it. The margins between success and failure are so fine at this level that is you have a player not quite giving his all (even subconciously) because they're not fully committed it can really tell. Having said that, if no offers come in for Kebe that offer him that big pay rise then I don't think he'll be a player who doesn't want to be here. Yes he'll go in a flash for a decent increase in pay, but if offers don't come in I expect he'll be happy to see his contract out here.

[brendywendy]

To date they hasn't been a WHISPER about Kebe wanting to sign
an extended contract, and if we had any genuine intention
of keeping him (or believed we could) surely we would have
made the offer?

So if we DID make an offer it's been turned down. Kebe, sadly, is going.

But good luck to him. Let's just hope we get decent money.

My feeling is we'll get lowish offers. Then we need to decide whether
it's better to keep him and go for it next season, knowing he goes for nowt,
but is it ever worth holding on to a player who wants to be elsewhere?

if we kept him, and went up, then i reckon hed stay for th eprem. would be pretty much our greatest hope of keeping the lad-
maybe if he hadnt spent the first couple of years being bood and groaned at he may like us more and want to stay

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Perhaps had he played better he would not have got the grief.

I look forward to us getting £1.5m for him.

[andrew1957]

To date they hasn't been a WHISPER about Kebe wanting to sign
an extended contract, and if we had any genuine intention
of keeping him (or believed we could) surely we would have
made the offer?

So if we DID make an offer it's been turned down. Kebe, sadly, is going.

But good luck to him. Let's just hope we get decent money.

My feeling is we'll get lowish offers. Then we need to decide whether
it's better to keep him and go for it next season, knowing he goes for nowt,
but is it ever worth holding on to a player who wants to be elsewhere?

To be fair with 18 months left on the contact it is hardly panic stations over a new contract but if he does not get sold in Jan I would expect the contract to be extended soon - or else we will know he is most likely off in the summer.

[brendywendy]

Perhaps had he played better he would not have got the grief.

I look forward to us getting £1.5m for him.

hes worth 150 million if hes worth a dime i tell you!

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

If you're a Prem team looking in trouble come January, Kebe is exactly the sort of players you'd take a risk on keeping you. No other player with his skills set outside the Prem. Personally if I was Avram Grant, Martinez, Di Matteo etc, Kebe would be top of my list.

I wouldn't expect anything less than £4m. I'd like to think we'll hold on to him till the summer. In fact I'd be very surprised if we didnt see him sign a new deal in Jan, with the understanding he can go in the summer if we don't go up. I'm sure his agents (I think its agents actually) will be pushing for a bosman though.

[brendywendy]

personally i dont think hed go to some struggling half arsed prem team like those you mentioned

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Not even for 25k a week?