SIGNED - Nick Blackman

[Taffster]

Fordham confirms the deal is done 3 1/2 year contract. Good luck to the lad

[howser]

Agree with that, welcome Nick good luck to you here at the Mad Stad

[akranes]

Agree with that, welcome Nick good luck to you here at the Mad Stad

+1

[royalp-we]

Johnny Fordham tweeted:

@JonnyFordham: Blackman doing interviews in the Directors' Box as we speak. . . . . #readingfc #utb

Meltdown

[SPARTA]

He's 23!! Not a punt we can offer a lot of time to come good then, this guy needs to hit the ground running; especially at £1.2m..

[Scutterbucketz]

If he's not 4 times better than ALF then McDermott OUT!

[Esteban]

How many current players do we need to move on to fit our new signings into a squad of 25?

[sharp-blade]

Good Evening Royals!

I'm a blades fan and I come in peace, I just wanted to give you lot my own personal insight into Nick Blackman as I see he is set to join you in the next few hours or so.

Personally I rate him, I think he has a lot going for him and is definitely one for the future. He has a great first touch and has plenty of pace about him and quite frankly he can be very dangerous when in possession running at the opposition. I don't want to put too many negatives however I feel it's only fair to give you my own honest opinion on what to expect. He is all of the above however even in League One i feel he is far from the finished article, in a couple of years he has the potential to be real quality however at the moment he is still very much learning and I personally feel his workrate needs to improve significantly if he is to progress.

We may have hindered his progress a little as I think he likes to play up front and due to our own problems we have had to play him out wide but never the less in my own personal opinion he's not ready for the Premier League wee in week out. In the past we've had players move on to premiership clubs eg Jagielka,Walker, Naughton, Lowton. The major difference being that when they were said to be moving on to the top flight you could understand it and believe it and you knew they had ability and class to cut it at that level however I don't get the same feeling about Blackman. A couple of seasons nurturing and who knows because he has the potential to do something but really needs to put in the work to get there.

In a nutshell for those who couldn't be bother to read. A good raw talent with potential, needs to significantly improve his workrate and has a great deal to learn and improve on. Was still learning his trade in league one and I felt him to be far from the finished article with us therefore I don't think he's ready for the best league in the world.

I wish the lad luck, I wish you lot good luck in your relegation battle as well! Your a good honest team, a decent set up as well and are in the Premiership through merit, all the best!

Sharp Blade!

[akranes]

Good Evening Royals!

I'm a blades fan and I come in peace, I just wanted to give you lot my own personal insight into Nick Blackman as I see he is set to join you in the next few hours or so.

Personally I rate him, I think he has a lot going for him and is definitely one for the future. He has a great first touch and has plenty of pace about him and quite frankly he can be very dangerous when in possession running at the opposition. I don't want to put too many negatives however I feel it's only fair to give you my own honest opinion on what to expect. He is all of the above however even in League One i feel he is far from the finished article, in a couple of years he has the potential to be real quality however at the moment he is still very much learning and I personally feel his workrate needs to improve significantly if he is to progress.

We may have hindered his progress a little as I think he likes to play up front and due to our own problems we have had to play him out wide but never the less in my own personal opinion he's not ready for the Premier League wee in week out. In the past we've had players move on to premiership clubs eg Jagielka,Walker, Naughton, Lowton. The major difference being that when they were said to be moving on to the top flight you could understand it and believe it and you knew they had ability and class to cut it at that level however I don't get the same feeling about Blackman. A couple of seasons nurturing and who knows because he has the potential to do something but really needs to put in the work to get there.

In a nutshell for those who couldn't be bother to read. A good raw talent with potential, needs to significantly improve his workrate and has a great deal to learn and improve on. Was still learning his trade in league one and I felt him to be far from the finished article with us therefore I don't think he's ready for the best league in the world.

I wish the lad luck, I wish you lot good luck in your relegation battle as well! Your a good honest team, a decent set up as well and are in the Premiership through merit, all the best!

Sharp Blade!

Great post, much appreciated!

[pea]

BBC Sheffield just had a quick interview with him from the Mad Stad via one of the BBC reporters there. Said he was gutted to be leaving the Blades, they gave him the platform to show what he could do but this was an opportunity he had to take. Doesn't expect to play straight away given the quality of our strikers (and made a crap joke about the megastore not being able to print a shirt with his name on it in time for the Chelsea match) but said there was a strong possibility he could make his debut for us in the cup against Man Utd.

[Simon's Church]

I felt him to be far from the finished article with us therefore I don't think he's ready for the best league in the world.

Luckily he's got at least a couple of years with us before he moves to Germany.

[SPARTA]

Top man, thanks!

[SPARTA]

said there was a strong possibility he could make his debut for us in the cup against Man Utd.

With Akpan.

[thirtyyarder]

BBC Sheffield just had a quick interview with him from the Mad Stad via one of the BBC reporters there. Said he was gutted to be leaving the Blades, they gave him the platform to show what he could do but this was an opportunity he had to take. Doesn't expect to play straight away given the quality of our strikers (and made a crap joke about the megastore not being able to print a shirt with his name on it in time for the Chelsea match) but said there was a strong possibility he could make his debut for us in the cup against Man Utd.

Lets hope he combines well with Akpan.

Dam you Sparta, I was too slow!

[Norfolk Royal]

The bit I liked about the Sheffield fan's post (thanks for that pal) was the 'one for the future' bit.

[SPARTA]

BBC Sheffield just had a quick interview with him from the Mad Stad via one of the BBC reporters there. Said he was gutted to be leaving the Blades, they gave him the platform to show what he could do but this was an opportunity he had to take. Doesn't expect to play straight away given the quality of our strikers (and made a crap joke about the megastore not being able to print a shirt with his name on it in time for the Chelsea match) but said there was a strong possibility he could make his debut for us in the cup against Man Utd.

Lets hope he combines well with Akpan.

Dam you Sparta, I was too slow!

[akranes]

confirmed by those people that say stuff on twitter, by the name of reading fc

[tomrfcurz]

Done deal, as expected.

[Bandini]

this guy needs to hit the ground running

Pog can teach him that.

[Royal Ginger]

Done deal, as expected.

Hope he's good but...meh.