They way the side of tactics is going, all keepers will soon need to be a Hugo Loris type. They almost need to play as sweepers. Unfortunately, Bond hasn't got that in his locker. WT is right - If he doesn't have it by now, you wont ever have it. Manuel Neuer was taught from probably the same age that he needs to stand higher up the pitch and how to control the ball and play almost as another defender.
Yeah, there were - Bond isn't good enough and never will be - FACT. He'll make a decent career for himself, playing Championship/League 1 level and good luck to him, but your constant misty-eyed garbage makes me wonder if Brain of a Raisin has created himself an alternative log-in. Bond isn't even the best goalkeeper on Reading's books at this moment, even before they decide whether or not to sign Al Habsi. Stuart Moore will be Reading's first choice keeper within 2 years and has a far higher potential than Bond.
They're not in conflict at all. What it shows to me though is that developing goalkeepers is pretty much a pointless endeavour for a top 30 club. Unless you've got an absolute star on your hands (see Ben Foster or Jack Butland moving for mega bucks before the age of 20) you're best off getting them as far as you can with a couple of loans, picking up as big a fee as you can and letting them go off to a lower club to carry on their development. Obviously it would be particularly good business if you can maintain a stake in their future (eg. through sell on, buy back or international cap clauses). In my opinion this situation is almost unique to goalkeepers.
Erm, I think you'll find the player development was one of the reasons the Pozzos were so keen on the club; that we're playing less kids is down to the fact that we now have the bodies to not need to flood the squad with talented 17 year olds like we might have done previously And don't kid yourself thinking we weren't a trading club previously either; it's just that now it's a multinational version. We brought in plenty of players (even in the skint years) to sell on: Danny Graham probably being the best example.
If correct, probably heavily loaded against performance. For example Reading getting promoted and Bond getting a full cap both of which are as likely as Bazza buying the club back!
The academy will likely be the source of the majority of HG talent as established British players are very expensive currently. We are yet to sign any development players aside from Ikpeazu recently but perhaps we will soon.
Has a full costing been published of what it costs to develop a player from say 14 to first professional contract?
That may be true, though I question whether Butland is an absolute star. But since we've done the development on Bond, I still think it's a shame we didn't loan him out last season and this so we could see what he had with more experience. Once he fully recovered from the Poleon incident, which took some time, he looked a very good keeper indeed.
All clubs trade to some extent, and a middle-range club like Watford will always be a selling club. But are you telling me that there's no difference in emphasis between GT1-Dyche and the Pozzo era?
Now he's been sold I can safely say he will never make a top keeper ... Just like Loach, he doesn't think fast enough and although his reactions are decent they are still a long way off instant. If we really got over a million for him I'd be flabbergasted.
Al Habsi has been on trial for weeks, they were always going to sign him. I'm sure Bond knew this when he joined.
I do believe that this was on the cards when Bond actually signed for them, so he'll have known. Ali al-Habsi isn't a great keeper any more, I genuinely think they'll both be competing for the first team place and Bond will probably have a good chance of being the first choice by next season at least.
Even though al-Habsi is a decent keeper I sincerely hope that Reading will be looking to make Bondy a part of their starting XI giving him much needed confidence and experience. Hes got plenty of talent and potential with his height and range. I beleive he would make a top class keeper and I hope Reading see it to and will play Bondy instead of a 33-year old Ali al-Habsi
Given the Number 1 shirt this season and started in goal for Reading today as they lost to Birmingham. Al Habsi on the bench. Interesting to see how long that lasts.
Sounds like the old 'commanding the area' problem. Haven't seen it but it sounds like he flapped at one. Chamberlain has been taken off first team duty, how long before he's finished with the academy? If he is the problem then surely we don't want the kids picking up bad habits early on?
Not going down at all well with the fans after his first few games :sign15::sign15: "By God this team tests your mental fortitude , it's going to be a bloody long season , a goalie who couldn't catch a cold don't help ,he looked ****e Saturday better learn quick or else." "Bond. license to spill" "That is seriously one of the worst pieces of keeping I've seen for ages. Useless ****." Just brilliant! The hilarious journey to non-league football continues apace.
Struggling with this one. Why is it hilarious? Of course you could just be a total **** which would explain it, I think that's pretty likely.
Don't understand the mentality of fans who want to see players who leave us fail, just to justify our decision to let them go. Whether it's bond, loach, ****inson, garner, why would you not want them to bounce back and do well?
No, you misunderstand me. It's not the slide to non-league, it's the manner of it. You see, I'm a huge fan of slapstick, whether it's Laurel and Hardy carrying a piano downstairs, Tommy Cooper doing a simple magic trick, or Jonathon Bond collecting a routine cross. It's the inevitability of it all that does me every time.
Bond = Loach mark 2. The fans will get on his back and as a confidence player he'll disappear into obscurity. I have no ill will against Reading. Spent 4 years of my life there at University, I do want to see our ex-players, especially those that served the club well, go on to have a decent career.
I don't think people are looking to justify the club's decision to let them go. It's just forums like this see a lot of people being unrelentingly positive about any player who pulls on the shirt so for the few who actually correctly identify that a player isn't much cop it's good to come back and do the 'I told you so' thing. Bond was a player molly consistently pointed out wasn't up to standard and, in fairness, so did I. Personally I think it's much too soon into his Reading career to say he's a failure but this is just another sign.
yes but it's one thing to legitimately say "told you so" and quite another to say "brilliant" that he's screwed up and is already getting stick from royals fans.
Of all the team, it is the keeper whose errors are the most obvious and costly. Ask any Tottenham fan about Gomez and compare their opinions to ours. Did we or Man Utd get the best out of Foster? I remember Gary Sprake at Leeds, I only saw him play through TV highlights and thought him very poor. But read the views of the people who played with him, they all thought he was a brilliant keeper who gained more points for the team than the occasional mistake. It is the curse of being a keeper. I have no particular interest in Reading, but i do not want their season defined by the mistakes of Jonathan Bond. i hope he has a successful career in football, for no other reason than why would i want anyone to fail?
I also hope he has a successful career in football. He's still young enough to work on the flaws in his game & improve. He might end up another Loach but it's too early to know if that will be the case.
