Rumour - Josh Laurent

[From Despair To Where?]

2 year contract, which is sensible. No doubt if he does the business on the pitch there will be an extension heading his way pretty sharpish. Hope he does himself justice here.

Potential to be a very good signing and hopefully a sign that there will be no more 4 and 5 year contracts being handed out like confetti.

[Old Man Andrews]

Happy to get him in but won't get carried away like most on Twitter are. Some people are absolutely wetting themselves.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yay.

[South Coast Royal]

Happy to get him in but won't get carried away like most on Twitter are. Some people are absolutely wetting themselves.

I agree.
If he plays like he did in that Cup tie that was on TV then fine but if he plays like the one who has only ever scored 6 first team goals in his career and was hardly ever selected for the 2 Championship clubs he was at (Brentford and Wigan) then we might be only seeing another Robert Codner.

On a more general point, the signings we make and the players we keep might give us an idea of whether the aim for 2020/21 is:
(1)Go for the top 6
(2)Aim to stay at the current level
(3)Hope we can avoid relegation.

[UpNorth]

The first of several new signings (and not just sales) if Howe is to be believed.

Chief Executive Nigel Howe, said “I’m very pleased to welcome Josh to Reading at the start of what I anticipate will be a very busy summer period as we build a new squad for 2020-21. It is encouraging to get this deal over the line early as we look to construct a new squad capable of achieving more next season.”

[Stranded]

The first of several new signings (and not just sales) if Howe is to be believed.

Chief Executive Nigel Howe, said “I’m very pleased to welcome Josh to Reading at the start of what I anticipate will be a very busy summer period as we build a new squad for 2020-21. It is encouraging to get this deal over the line early as we look to construct a new squad capable of achieving more next season.”

No real surprise there, plan is clearly a full refresh, getting rid of dead wood, high earners and some sales and replace with young and/or hungry players. Idea to try and build an actual team for a change.

[PistolPete]

Whelm guage?

Mildly under.

Low wages (hopefully), 2 year deal, no fee. Sensible signing.

I doubt he'll be a first choice central midfielder come December, but if he is, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Hound]

Happy with this. Big strong energetic midfielder, seemingly defensively strong

Ticks the boxes

[Simon's Church]

Thought he came across well in his interview, hopefully he can improve the team. Sounds like he'll be a different option to anyone else we have anyway.

Promising that Bowen has been after him for quite a while and knows him already.

[Zip]

It’s the sort of signing we haven’t done much of in recent times. It’s a low risk but promising punt. Happy he has joined.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Whilst big money signings are more "whelming," we've only had very modest success. If we think back to Kitson, Dolye, Hunt (Stephen and Noel), Long, Kebe: when Reading get the recruitment right, we get inexpensive players that really grow here. If it doesn't work out, not too much gambles (Fae, Aluko, I hesitate to say it but, Puskas).

So the lack of a big fee for a player from a leading club (no offence to the Shrews implied) seems to me a much better way of going about things.

[Notts Royal]

Happy with this signing & length of contract. He will see Reading a step up & we need signings like that. However, I agree the kids on Twitter getting too excited about a L1 player who they’re heralding as the messiah.

Unhappy if he takes Rino’s place...hopefully they can play in the same side.

[royalp-we]

The first of several new signings (and not just sales) if Howe is to be believed.

Chief Executive Nigel Howe, said “I’m very pleased to welcome Josh to Reading at the start of what I anticipate will be a very busy summer period as we build a new squad for 2020-21. It is encouraging to get this deal over the line early as we look to construct a new squad capable of achieving more next season.”

Better rhetoric from Nigel here. I like that he’s not leading us under any false pretences stating ‘Building a squad capable of promotion’ - like previous seasons. It’s a low risk signing but at 25 and mixed stats at L1 level, Laurent is a mediocre signing at best although I think he’s a good fit alongside our other midfielders.

Now go and get us some wingers and another LB, Nige

[CountryRoyal]

Happy to get him in but won't get carried away like most on Twitter are. Some people are absolutely wetting themselves.

I agree.
If he plays like he did in that Cup tie that was on TV then fine but if he plays like the one who has only ever scored 6 first team goals in his career and was hardly ever selected for the 2 Championship clubs he was at (Brentford and Wigan) then we might be only seeing another Robert Codner.

On a more general point, the signings we make and the players we keep might give us an idea of whether the aim for 2020/21 is:
(1)Go for the top 6
(2)Aim to stay at the current level
(3)Hope we can avoid relegation.

The aim will be top 6, just as it will be at the start of every season. At least in the eyes of the owners.

[CountryRoyal]

Happy with this signing & length of contract. He will see Reading a step up & we need signings like that. However, I agree the kids on Twitter getting too excited about a L1 player who they’re heralding as the messiah.

Unhappy if he takes Rino’s place...hopefully they can play in the same side.

Agree. I’d like to see them in the same team. We’ve lacked in all areas of the team periodically however we often lack energy and movement in midfield. Could be good tbf, kind of excited at the prospect of 2 box to box mids and either a more attacking minded or a defensive minded one chucked in there.

[Stranded]

Happy with this signing & length of contract. He will see Reading a step up & we need signings like that. However, I agree the kids on Twitter getting too excited about a L1 player who they’re heralding as the messiah.

Unhappy if he takes Rino’s place...hopefully they can play in the same side.

Agree. I’d like to see them in the same team. We’ve lacked in all areas of the team periodically however we often lack energy and movement in midfield. Could be good tbf, kind of excited at the prospect of 2 box to box mids and either a more attacking minded or a defensive minded one chucked in there.

Midfield could easily be Laurent and Rino both as box to boxers with a more attack minded player sitting behind the striker(s). That *could* be decent.

[Old Man Andrews]

Happy to get him in but won't get carried away like most on Twitter are. Some people are absolutely wetting themselves.

I agree.
If he plays like he did in that Cup tie that was on TV then fine but if he plays like the one who has only ever scored 6 first team goals in his career and was hardly ever selected for the 2 Championship clubs he was at (Brentford and Wigan) then we might be only seeing another Robert Codner.

On a more general point, the signings we make and the players we keep might give us an idea of whether the aim for 2020/21 is:
(1)Go for the top 6
(2)Aim to stay at the current level
(3)Hope we can avoid relegation.

The aim will be top 6, just as it will be at the start of every season. At least in the eyes of the owners.

Top 6!!

[Snowflake Royal]

Genuinely quite excited by his interview.

Not so much for the player, but because it's a sign that Bowen might actually be in charge of signing strategy.

It seems it's Bowen who identified him, Bowen who contacted him, and Bowen who got this over the line.

That has to be the best news right now. That our manager seems to actually be in control of who he signs. Something we couldn't necessarily be sure of since Zingaravich took over.

[Notts Royal]

Happy with this signing & length of contract. He will see Reading a step up & we need signings like that. However, I agree the kids on Twitter getting too excited about a L1 player who they’re heralding as the messiah.

Unhappy if he takes Rino’s place...hopefully they can play in the same side.

Agree. I’d like to see them in the same team. We’ve lacked in all areas of the team periodically however we often lack energy and movement in midfield. Could be good tbf, kind of excited at the prospect of 2 box to box mids and either a more attacking minded or a defensive minded one chucked in there.

Midfield could easily be Laurent and Rino both as box to boxers with a more attack minded player sitting behind the striker(s). That *could* be decent.

Yea def...it would allow us to go 4-4-2 with more traditional wingers, or same formation but with an attacking mid in front. Then maybe for away games swapping 1 of them out for a defensive mid?

The main positive for me is the energy...we’ve been crying out to play at a higher tempo. That’s something Rino clearly likes doing but not necessarily the other players around him, bar Meite I’d say

All in all, there’s now more balance in the midfield, especially as you’d expect us to lose at least 1 of the attacking mids soon

[WestYorksRoyal]

Why hasn't this been moved to the Team board yet?