James Henry

[pea]

Well he's had more of an effect this season than Henry did in his whole time with us and was clearly the better of the two in league one last season.

[Big Foot]

his dad, who is also his agent, thought James was beyond where he actually was and subsequently told him so. hence his attitude problem!

And you know that for confirmed fact?

[Hoop Blah]

Henry was the wrong type of winger for the way we've been trying to play. He was very much a Coppell winger - stay wide and get good crosses into the box for strikers to attack and head in. Under Rodgers & Mcdermott it's been much more about cutting inside or pull backs - hence why Kebe has started to shine, it's what he does best.

He'd be an excellent winger to have alongside Long & Hunt IMO. Both good at attacking crosses and he can chip in with a few goals too.

McAnuff & Kebe are both better though.

West Ham will be keeping track on him for next season at this level.

Certainly he's more of a technical player than a runner or athlete like Kebe, Kanu or Antonio but he was still a winger who could come off the wing, get involved, run at centre backs, support the loan forward and most importantly score goals. Oddly enough he played on the left for Millwall on Saturday and did exactly that.

During his time at Reading he also played upfront and in the hole too, so not sure I agree he was the wrong type, apart from not being a runner.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

1st goal for 13 months, been off the radar since August. Thats why we let him go.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

A goal in open play, sign him up.

[26-10-06]

Mentioned in the Gossip section on the BBC that Wigan, West Ham and Stoke are monitoring him. Must be doing something right!

[Plymouth_Royal]

One of about three players on the pitch on Saturday who looked championship quality but still faded at times. Great goal but its his first this season and he's got a decent amount of assists until you realise half of them came in one match.

Antonio, Kebe and McAnuff are all better and I'd have played sig on the wing ahead of Henry at the time we sold him too. Still, hope he does well and we receive a Cox-sized sell on fee in a few years.

really

Not totally convinced by antonio yet. He's quick, a bit unorthodox and strong, but he has the touch of a rapist and when opposing teams figure out his game i'm not sure he has the skill or brain to combat that.

[ZacNaloen]

I'm not convinced even Antonio knows his game, he makes it up as he goes along.

[Ian Royal]

One of about three players on the pitch on Saturday who looked championship quality but still faded at times. Great goal but its his first this season and he's got a decent amount of assists until you realise half of them came in one match.

Antonio, Kebe and McAnuff are all better and I'd have played sig on the wing ahead of Henry at the time we sold him too. Still, hope he does well and we receive a Cox-sized sell on fee in a few years.

really

Not totally convinced by antonio yet. He's quick, a bit unorthodox and strong, but he has the touch of a rapist and when opposing teams figure out his game i'm not sure he has the skill or brain to combat that.

Reminds me of Bas Savage, but with some actual quality as well.

[prostak]

Reminds me of Bas Savage

[Mike Hunt]

his dad, who is also his agent, thought James was beyond where he actually was and subsequently told him so. hence his attitude problem!

And you know that for confirmed fact?

If you frequent UR&G, you will know that gazzer is legit.

[Royal With Cheese]

Reminds me of Bas Savage

Absolutely.

They're both black.

[Ferris]

his dad, who is also his agent, thought James was beyond where he actually was and subsequently told him so. hence his attitude problem!

And you know that for confirmed fact?

If you frequent UR&G, you will know that gazzer is legit.

Too legit to quit.

[Hoop Blah]

That may well be the common view within the club, it doesn't mean that it's the truth in Henry's head though.

As ever there are probably two sides of the story, with the truth nestled somewhere in the middle. As with Cox before him I think Henry deserved a bit more of a chance in the first team, but if there were issues the club had with him off the pitch that might explain those lack of extended chances.

[brendywendy]

like cox, henry was just not good enough for what we needed, when we needed it.
we all get emotionally attached people get to our players-epecially our yoof prospects- im just glad someone else has to make the decisions to let players go/stay

[Hoop Blah]

Obviously I disagree in both these cases and have said so many times in the case of Cox. When we needed something a little bit different he could've offered that and wasn't given a go, despite those in the side failing and Cox looking impressive on a couple of occassions. You don't have to be good enough (long term or short term) to be a catalyst for a change in fortunes of a side, you just need to be able to shake things up a bit.

As for Henry, he was overlooked for what I consider to be inferior players and not really given the run he deserved. Such is life, and managers have to take tough decisions but that doesn't mean I agree with them all the time.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Reading has got a long history of not risking youngsters as much as we should.

Nicky Shorey sat in the reserves for about year longer than he should have done (according to Pards)

[Hoop Blah]

I think we're kind of a victim of our own success in that regard. For a long time all our managers were under pressure for results because we were challenging in one way or another (how many years was it that our last game counted for something?). In that situation, and when for the most part Madejski provided reasonable funds to buy established players, I can understand a manager opting for experience instead of risking youth.

Rodgers at least threw a few in, even if it did ultimately end in him losing his job!

[Svlad Cjelli]

I think we're kind of a victim of our own success in that regard. For a long time all our managers were under pressure for results because we were challenging in one way or another (how many years was it that our last game counted for something?). In that situation, and when for the most part Madejski provided reasonable funds to buy established players, I can understand a manager opting for experience instead of risking youth.

Rodgers at least threw a few in, even if it did ultimately end in him losing his job!

Which is why he was bleating about expecting along-term job but being sacked over short-term results.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

One of about three players on the pitch on Saturday who looked championship quality but still faded at times. Great goal but its his first this season and he's got a decent amount of assists until you realise half of them came in one match.

Antonio, Kebe and McAnuff are all better and I'd have played sig on the wing ahead of Henry at the time we sold him too. Still, hope he does well and we receive a Cox-sized sell on fee in a few years.

really

Not totally convinced by antonio yet. He's quick, a bit unorthodox and strong, but he has the touch of a rapist and when opposing teams figure out his game i'm not sure he has the skill or brain to combat that.

I've never understood the popularity of that metaphor. It doesn't make a blind bit of sense, as well as being a dull-witted cliche (which should be avoided like the plague, obviously).