trousers

Name: Alan Bennett (on loan to Brentford) Nationality: Rep of Ireland Date of Birth: 04/10/1981 Height: 6' 2" (187cm) Weight: 12st 8lbs (80.0kg) Previous Clubs: Brentford (loan), Southampton (loan), Cork Position: Defender Irish international centre half who became the third player to join from Cork City when he signed in January 2007. Had gained plenty of experience at Turner's Cross, playing in the UEFA Cup in their successful team. His first few months at Reading were spent playing for the reserves, and he earned a call-up to Steve Staunton's full Ireland squad, playing every minute of two post-season games in America. In 2007/8 he started the season on loan at Southampton, and performed well for the Saints after a difficult start. Came back to Reading and was on the bench for the League game at Chelsea. Ended the season on loan at Brentford, and again joined the Bees in the summer of 2008 on a loan deal until January.

http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1229772,00.html READING KIDS JOIN ON LOAN Posted on: Thu 31 Jan 2008 GLENN Roeder this morning made it three loan signings in less than 24-hours by securing the services of teenage Reading stars Alex Pearce and James Henry. Pearce, a centre back, and Henry, a winger, arrive just hours after the Canaries' boss added Middlesbrough defender Matthew Bates to his squad. Pearce, 19, is described as a dominant centre back with strong aerial presence and an eye for goal. He made his debut for the Royals in an FA Cup win over Burnley last season, his only senior appearance for Reading to date. A Scottish youth international, Pearce also spent time on loan at Northampton last season, making 15 league appearances and scoring one goal. This season he was also loaned to Bournemouth, where he played 11 times.

http://www.soccerdata.net/BokotoMolami/34011742 Bokoto, Molami (M C) Club: LOSC Nation: France - Uncapped Date of Birth: 10.06.1990 Estimated Value: Not Much Ability: Sunday League Potential: Passable Bokoto, Molami is a soccer (football) player. Currently playing for LOSC in France. His best position is M C and he uses his right foot predominantly. He is a model professional within the game,

Re: Pearce Joins Saints on Loan double d, 30 Oct 2008 12:51 Ithought something happened to him he was playing amazing then just dissappearfed. hope he does play for saints hes a class defender and i do prefer him to ivar however.

...and we play Reading twice in the loan period

Mike Wilde said in his programme notes on Tuesday that we were close to signing a new CB

Morph seems to rate him.... http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81706&sid=8c184b80c2d7c9020b2e3b14e3ea6e11

From Reading's OS: "Pearce makes Southampton move Posted on: Thu 30 Oct 2008 Reading defender Alex Pearce has agreed to join Championship side Southampton on loan until 1st January. During the loan period Reading face the Saints on both 22nd November and 28th December, but Alex will not be permitted to play in either fixture. Alex can be recalled by Steve Coppell at any time after the first month of the loan - in keeping with League regulations. Director of Football Nick Hammond told readingfc.co.uk, "Alex is a very talented young centre half who needs to be playing regular first team football at this stage of his development. "With this loan he is joining a good club with good people, and the experience should get him right up to speed and ready if Steve Coppell wishes to recall him." The 19-year-old centre back has made 42(+8 ) career appearances so far, including 7(+5) for the Royals; the remainder while on loan at Northampton, Bournemouth and Norwich over the last two seasons. He had a run in the first team during the early part of this season, and his last appearance was in the Carling Cup defeat to Stoke on 23rd September."

Bennett? Did he have one sh1te game, get left out for ages, and then played well for a few games before we had to let go of him, reluctantly as it transpired....

Sounds like a good move....not sure why Reading would want to off-load a player who's played 8 times for their first team this season though.... It's not as if they need to ship players for financial reasons like we do.

15,000. Far less intimidating, especially for the youngsters.

He's a "She"....?

He's a "She"....?

It's in his pre-recorded Radio 2 slot. Not sure when it's due for transmission though. I guess it might get the chop now after recent events.

It's in his pre-recorded Radio 2 slot. Not sure when it's due for transmission though. I guess it might get the chop now after recent events.

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/175065c334f838b77c8a235d1bb32279/compdetails[url=http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/175065c334f838b77c8a235d1bb32279/compdetails][/url] http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/175065c334f838b77c8a235d1bb32279/compdetails

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4126

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4059

Check out their message board....sound familiar.....? http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/index.php?showforum=1 Fickle bunch.....

The irony being that the free kick then came to nothing and Coventry nearly got the winner on the resultant counter-attack

Probably me being a tad slow today....but what does all this mean? That MW is about to throw in the towel at SFC?

http://www.spencersofburley.com/search//4.html?n=10&minprice=100&showstc=on&orderby=price+asc&search_price_on=price

"Lawrie McMenemy, former director of football at Southampton The title director of football, or sporting director, has one meaning here and another on the continent. The old-fashioned English idea has worked in the past. When I worked as director of football at Southampton with a young manager in Alan Ball, it was about working together: I no longer wanted to manage but was able to pass on my experience and mentor Alan; he was able to work at a higher level in the game yet still have someone to lean on. It worked because in that kind of role as director of football I was able to act as a link between the manager and the board of directors without interfering in what he was trying to do. There were obviously times when, having been a manager for more than 1,000 games at club and international level you would have done something different but you have to bite your lip. You can put your point of view but the manager has to have the final say on team selection and the bringing of players to the club. The only reason I was called director of football is that someone in the club decided I had to have a title and I was already a director on the board. Viewing it from a distance, it would appear that continental-style sporting directors have not worked in England, particularly at Newcastle. On paper, the combination of Kevin Keegan and Dennis Wise should have worked: they both had experience of football management. As to why the set-up didn't work, Kevin didn't appoint Dennis and even if he had approved of the appointment it would appear that he didn't answer to Kevin in terms of player recruitment. The manager didn't have the say that he should have. That was the crux of the problem. I was one of three managers, including Bobby Robson and Brian Clough, who had success in the game at clubs where we remained for 12 to 18 years. None of our directors would have dreamed of interfering on the football side. We would do all the player recruitment ourselves with staff and scouts and would conduct all the player negotiations ourselves. Of course things have changed in today's game and even at Manchester United and Arsenal where the managers have been there for many years, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger need assistance to fulfil the roles they would have done themselves years ago. Players are recruited from around the world and the manager doesn't have the time to be haggling over contracts. However, many of our clubs have structures that work perfectly well. The sporting director's responsibilities are simply split and fulfilled by chairmen, chief executives and chief scouts. The chief executive or chairman can get involved with the negotiations over contracts, the chief scout and his network will find players to look at - it's simply the titles that are different. In terms of finding players, the role has to be taken on by someone the manager trusts, usually somebody they have appointed. The only time the directors should come in in terms of recruitment is when it comes to whether a club can afford the player or not. No one wants anything that goes over the manager's head. Harry Redknapp is making all the right noises going into Tottenham. He doesn't need a director of football, he just needs a trusted chief scout to find the players for him."

No way of knowing how much time was left? Surely someone on the bench has the job of running a stop watch for this very eventuality? We are a well oiled machine after all.... On reflection though, I do tend to agree that he was in a no-win situation given Surman's injury.....talking of which....does that mean Surman is out for Saturday?