I’ve had a quick look to see whether he would have played against an Ismael side, but I don’t think he has. Feel free to correct me if wrong but I think the closest he got was an unused sub when Stoke beat Brom 1-0 in 2021-22
Will be a good signing for a mid table team like us, better than the shyte we have in midfield at the moment and not for off goals/assists compared to our superstar players Pedro and Sarr. His Dad will be manager by October.
3 years takes him to 34 which is nothing for some players, no idea of his injury record but plenty of players these days have long careers and can still do the business well into their 30s. Scoring 9 goals in that Reading team is an achievement. If Clevs and Gos are leaving then we need an older head in the midfield anyway. Manga said he wanted a blend of experience and youth so this fits the Manga model perfectly. I didnt know he had developed into a CM as last time I knew he was an LW. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Fml.
Saw a post from someone saying if it’s 3 year deal to get him, assuming you’re taking a gamble on the 3rd year, you could pay off the contract and add that to the low transfer fee to justify it. I guess that works if the weekly wage isn’t too much. What do you reckon we’d be paying? £10k a week? So if we had to pay off a full year it’s £520k plus the £50k signing on. If he makes himself a starter for 2 seasons and produces the stats he did at Reading that would be a good deal
Decent enough player, but much like Andre Gray I just don't like him and never did. At least he's decent at this level, unlike Andre Gray.
Gray won Championship Player of the Season, Ince has never done that. Gray was good at this level, just not for us.
I knew a fella once who was ITK at Stoke City. They'd fallen from the Premier League like a stone which surprised me given their squad wasn't half bad. When having a chat about it I was told the players were a toxic squad who didn't give a ****. Tom Ince was cited as the very worst of the bad bunch and was taking the piss on an almost daily basis. His own team mates hated him. Stats might not lie, I'm sure he might score a few. But when the only real hope for next year is to turn out toxic bunch of mercenary over rated divas into a cohesive team that work for each other and dig in, this one signing would be a kick in the nuts.
Major difference being, of course, we didn't sign Gray for Championship level. Not that it stopped him being crap when he ended up here with us anyway.
Luckily we have a good record of bringing in people that clearly hate us. Gray and Hodgson are the perfect role models for Ince. If we’re going for a **** who hates us, I’d rather it was Zaha.
This doesn't surprise me sadly, but is there a chance that he's matured a bit (or at least mellowed out now, back then he might have thought he was too good for the team, whereas now he's probably realistic about the level he's playing at)
Some interesting comments from Reading fans, most are happy to see him go, a few though have said that he does work hard for the team (yet even those people say his attitude was terrible)
Spoke to a friend who is a Reading fan who said he is brilliant, and don't want him to go. If we get him for £50k, we have a bargain. Also: 1) He is English, so helps towards our Engish quota of players. 2) He looks like a good backup player. 3) He is 31 so a good mentor for the young players. Personally, can't see any downside to this signing.
No downsides, except from the fact he will be 34 and decrepit at the end of his contract. Oh, and he's also a ****.
I agree he’s a ****, and that’s the only caveat I have with signing him. Will he be trouble in the dressing room? However, I have him down as a player who has a winning mentality. I think losing bothers him, which will be a refreshing change. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the contract. If we got promoted/relegated he’ll move on. If we stay in the Championship, as is most likely, then we’ll probably get a good couple of years out of him, then the final year will probably see him turn into a bench/impact player, which is perfectly fine. He’s probably got a few offers to consider, but a 3-year contract to one of the better Championship clubs, is going to be attractive to him. We’ve got to sell ourselves a bit too when signing players. No one is going to run over broken glass to sign for us.
Don't disagree but we have a long history of signing players that look like they'd be good backups then injuries or useless first choice signings mean they end up starting a large chunk of the games...
Wow. Just Wow. After all these years of signing players who have turned out crap, we now know why. HB1 has been laying a trail of broken glass shards down from their car to the training ground. No wonder they cannot run or in the case of Davis, move at all.
Most of our first team were signed or defended as 'good back ups' last season. We've a lot of 3rd or 4th choice players but no 1st choice.
Our '1st choice' line up looked pretty good on paper. Trouble is we had way too many injuries and our '3rd choice' ended up being regulars. Bachmann Gaspar Sierralta Hause Kamara Choudhury Louza JP/Asprilla Sarr Pedro/Davis Sema We need to either sort out the medical team/stop signing fragile players/have better strength in depth
People can play at 34 you know and why worry about that right now. Can he make a difference this coming season and I would say he can and that's all that really matters right now
'The good on paper' is a matter of opinion and disproven in many cases for those. Lots are utter ****.
