Sidwell's comments in the post today

[No Hoops]

Perhaps the interview went like this:

Reporter: "What do you think of the pre-season tour Steve?"

Sidwell: "It's ok but todays team were a bit of a joke, even the manager could have beaten them."

Laughter all round. Reporter thinks I can sell that quote if I just change it round a bit.

Reporter: So than Dave, what do you think of the trip so far.

Kitson: Why are you asking me? Who cares what I think? All I want to do is get home and play football. As a team we are all pretty close anyway so why would we need this trip to bond.

Don't always believe what you read in the papers. It is very rarely true.

[Peter Kay - Top of the To]

I cant decide what Im more sick off..

1. Nick 'Bit of a Prick' Ive in the Evening Post, sometimes stirring up a story or a controversy, even when there isnt really one there

or

2. People on here reacting to any minor comment Sidwell makes through the tinted specs of 'he thinks hes too good for us'.

Sidwell is after the best deal for himself and that may or may not be the right deal for RFC. Im happy to watch the whole thing play out and if he stays he stays.

I think his point around that particularly match of the tour is a fair one, he is clearly after the best build-up to the Premiership season possible. Whilst it was obviously a nice touch to play the Swedish team in their 80th year RFC might have done better with a higher quality opposition.

Please remember the Evening Post need to have an RFC story across the backpage every day, which means that Ive has his work cut out.

[Don Finch]

Who are you going to get in for £2/3m then?

Bryner certainly isn't as good as Sidwell and I doubt you'll find a [good] midfielder for the same value or less than Sidwell if we sold him. I'd be gutted if he left, I think he'll regret it if he leaves, the lad's got much more to come and he's one player who I think could definitely hack it at top level.

With regards to the thread, he should just keep his mouth shut in future, it's not for him to make comments like that, he's paid to play football against whoever the manager decides. He's not paid to think.

[Platypuss]

Would/should Sidwell have been given stick for saying the following?:

"The game we had on Saturday was disappointing, I must admit, both in terms of the quality of the surface and the way the opposition chopped and changed.

That's not what we're looking for but we had to put up with it."

[Gordons Cumming]

Would/should Sidwell have been given stick for saying the following?:

"The game we had on Saturday was disappointing, I must admit, both in terms of the quality of the surface and the way the opposition chopped and changed.

That's not what we're looking for but we had to put up with it."

That is exactly what Coppell said.

[Arch]

In Sidwell's defence, if he had been allowed to move to Charlton he could have been enjoying pre-season thrillers like their 1-0 defeat at the hands of the mighty Welling (Conference South).

[surrounded by saints]

siddy needs to remember hes got to the prem.as part of a team.a good team at that. what gives him the right to suddenly become all bolshy. heshould have a listen to his own comments on the promotion dvd,before he got greedy!

[Royal Lady]

In Sidwell's defence, if he had been allowed to move to Charlton he could have been enjoying pre-season thrillers like their 1-0 defeat at the hands of the mighty Welling (Conference South).

Has any team actually come in with an offer for him?

[Ian Royal]

In Sidwell's defence, if he had been allowed to move to Charlton he could have been enjoying pre-season thrillers like their 1-0 defeat at the hands of the mighty Welling (Conference South).

Has any team actually come in with an offer for him?

How would we know if they have. there have been rumours, but sine when have Reading ever told anyone what was going on until the player was bought/sold.

if the offer was rejected, should there have been one, then I doubt we'd have heard about it from an official source

[rabidbee]

Sidwell said he had been up to Shitty and had a look around, spoken to people at the club, &c. The only that could have been legitimate, one assumes, is if we had given permission for it to go ahead. I presume from that, therefore, that Shitty lodged a bid with us, and we allowed Sidwell to discuss terms with them whilst we considered the bid. Sid is pretty positive about Shitty, so I can only assume that we turned down the bid, (or Shitty thought better of it).

[The Goat was fed]

My theory as to why Sidwell's so p*ssed off is that his agent cocked up his contract.

By including the clause that Sidwell could talk to clubs who bid £2.5 million (or whatever the amount is), he believed that therefore his client would be transferred to a club who bid that much, subject to agreeing wages.

Trouble is, they didn't read the small print. Just because they can talk to him, doesn't mean that RFC will sell him for that amount. So Mr Sidwell spends the summer touring round Charlton, Man City, etc, expecting to walk straight in, only for RFC to say, thanks, but no thanks.

Basically you or I could bid for Sidwell, invite him round our local for a pint and chat, offer him £5 million a year in wages, only for the club to turn our money down.

Could be totally wrong of course, but it seems that way to me. RFC have got him by the short and curlies, and he and his agent didn't spot it until it was too late. Egg on face for the agent.

[.:BigDaveInTheDungeon:.]

i see charlton have just signed amdy faye off newcastle or are just about to, no need for sidders there anymore then.
plus didn't city sign someone in midfield a few weeks back, could be these stories in the papers are more likely exaggerated by his agent in a cynical ploy to push up his wages.

[royalsteve]

All I will say is that didn't do us any harm playing these types of teams last summer did it Steve?

i think the club use it as a way of team building and to get away from the limelight...plus its easier to setup a fair number of games in quick succession.....whereas it is very difficult to get friendlies against good sides.

[Alan Titchmarsh]

Throw away comment form Sidders like Kits last year. Games like this are totally pointless and even unhelpful to some observers but SC has his reasons for taking the club over to play these games and you can't exactly say that in the 4 years we've been doing them they've hindered our progression.

Anyway, next up is the usual home defeat to the only decent side we play in pre season!

[Scarface]

Just sums up the fact the club is still a joke and no where near a Premiership setup.

I really fear our pre-season preparation has been very sub standard for the upcoming season.

[Royal Lady]

Well, we'll have to wait and see on that won't we. Fact is Coppell is in charge, he thinks going to Sweden is a good idea, irrespective of what one or two of the players may think, it's their job to play football, where and when Copps says imho.

[Wycombe Royal]

Just sums up the fact the club is still a joke and no where near a Premiership setup.

I really fear our pre-season preparation has been very sub standard for the upcoming season.

So much of a joke that they have justed achieved Premiership status for the first time in their history.

And just like last season our pre-season schedule has been so sub standard that it will almost certainly have an effect on our campaign this season, just like it did last seas....... oh.

[Stranded]

Maybe Sidwell's comments today puts everything in to a bit more context for people:

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/pa ... 23,00.html

[TFF]

Maybe Sidwell's comments today puts everything in to a bit more context for people:

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/pa ... 23,00.html

Didn't we sign a new PR man over the summer?

He's working hard already.

[RobRoyal]

Just sums up the fact the club is still a joke and no where near a Premiership setup.

I really fear our pre-season preparation has been very sub standard for the upcoming season.

Welling 1-0 Charlton
Fulham 1-0 Maccabi Petach Tivka
FSV Mainz 5-0 Liverpool
Grasshopper 2-0 Liverpool
Man City 3-4 Kashima Antlers
Doncaster 2-0 Middlesbrough
Oxford 0-0 Portsmouth
Notts Co. 0-0 Sheff Utd
Morton 1-3 Sheff Utd
Boreham Wood 2-5 Watford
Northwood 1-3 Watford
Halifax 1-2 Wigan


If our preparations are really substandard, then we're in good company.
Pre-season is about fitness for god's sake, and having players get game matches under their belts.