Little joining Pompey

[kieran]

Obviously money was a factor and so was European football but i doubt he will get much of a see in at Pompey apart from the cups or maybe sombody gets injured.

Not so sure. We have only got Utaka and (hopefully) Wright - Philips. So, if Glen can outwork Utaka (Which wouldnt be hard) then I can see him forging a first team place. Almost certainly if we fail to get SWP.

For those that are interested - rumour is that Little will be earning just short of 40k per week - plus the normal bonuses etc. So one of the lower earners but a sum I can only dream about!

[Starry Blue Hooped Wonder]

I have to say I am disappointed at this move. Little was my favourite player from the promotion winning squad because of his ability to create chances consistently.

While I understand his motives for moving I wish he had considered the debt he owes Reading and decided to show a bit more loyalty. I think that when we took him from Burnley we gave him the opportunity to play in a team where he could show the world his talent - I suspect without this opportunity he would have still been viewed by the football world as someone who had tried and failed at premiership level due to his unsuccessful load spell (was it at Blackburn?). Also, we have supported his rehabilitation over the past 18 months while he has recoverd from his numerous injuries - again something I would have hoped he considered a debt he needed to repay. Of course he may have just been pissed off at the dressing room fall outs and lack of team spirit that have been rumoured to have happened over the last 6 months and wanted out - if that is the case then who can blame him.

As for the earlier post about extending contracts on injured players, I think this only happens when a player is out of contract while injured and the club want to give them a season to prove themselves once they have been rehabilitated - in Littles case he was still in contract and he was offered the one year to prove himself next season - so I think he has been treated perfectly fairly from that respect.

[Alan Partridge]

In fact I don't think I've even commented once on next season.

If you're not prepared to confidently state that we're going to go up before knowing what our team/squad will be, then you can hardly blame people for criticising you.

Haha - well done I see what you did there! Maybe this is just last year's feud and we should all look to next season. It's a bit difficult not to carry grudge's over though.

gROFLudge, how can you hold a grudge with someone you've never met?

I dodn't get some kind of perverse kick out of criticising someone or voicing concerns you know, seriously. I was deeply pissed off at our season ticket prices getting hiked up and next to nothing being spent on new players, something we were told that was where the money was going. I was annoyed at our dillusioned idiot of a chief executive telling the world we could be 'bigger than Arsenal' as we sign Jimmy Kebe from the French 2nd divison for £400,000. If I had seen Reading spent a bit of dosh and buy a couple of decent players, eve if we'd still gone down I personally wouldn't have been nearly as critical towards some people. As it was, it felt as though they never even tried to compete, something that's hard to take.

Come the 10th of August, I'll be there again.

[brendywendy]

If you're not prepared to confidently state that we're going to go up before knowing what our team/squad will be, then you can hardly blame people for criticising you.

Haha - well done I see what you did there! Maybe this is just last year's feud and we should all look to next season. It's a bit difficult not to carry grudge's over though.

gROFLudge, how can you hold a grudge with someone you've never met?

I dodn't get some kind of perverse kick out of criticising someone or voicing concerns you know, seriously. I was deeply pissed off at our season ticket prices getting hiked up and next to nothing being spent on new players, something we were told that was where the money was going. I was annoyed at our dillusioned idiot of a chief executive telling the world we could be 'bigger than Arsenal' as we sign Jimmy Kebe from the French 2nd divison for £400,000. If I had seen Reading spent a bit of dosh and buy a couple of decent players, eve if we'd still gone down I personally wouldn't have been nearly as critical towards some people. As it was, it felt as though they never even tried to compete, something that's hard to take.

Come the 10th of August, I'll be there again.

hasnt that been wengers model for a few years though?!


amnd the books rae out there if you want to go through what was spent and on what
you may not agree, but i think it ammounts to a significant investment in the squad team and club

[Platypuss]

Some on here may think Glen "owes us" for the support during his injuries.

Glen himself could quite legitimately argue that it was a result of the club's approach to his injury that he was out for so long in the first place.

[brendywendy]

Some on here may think Glen "owes us" for the support during his injuries.

Glen himself could quite legitimately argue that it was a result of the club's approach to his injury that he was out for so long in the first place.

i think the club consulted both glen, and some of the worlds experts on how they should proceed with the injury
the claim is a spurious one

[Royalee]

Some on here may think Glen "owes us" for the support during his injuries.

Glen himself could quite legitimately argue that it was a result of the club's approach to his injury that he was out for so long in the first place.

And he'd more than likely be right - I wonder what Convey's thinking of Fern right now.

[Royalee]

Some on here may think Glen "owes us" for the support during his injuries.

Glen himself could quite legitimately argue that it was a result of the club's approach to his injury that he was out for so long in the first place.

i think the club consulted both glen, and some of the worlds experts on how they should proceed with the injury
the claim is a spurious one

Funny how whenever one of our major players gets an injury, they end up being out for far, far longer than they should have been in theory. It's happened with Kitson twice (04/05 and 06/07), Convey and Little.

I think the claim's a pretty strong one.

[Royal Lady]

Except, wasn't it Little who wanted to carry on playing, despite having obviously injured himself badly?

[CMRoyal]

Some on here may think Glen "owes us" for the support during his injuries.

Glen himself could quite legitimately argue that it was a result of the club's approach to his injury that he was out for so long in the first place.

i think the club consulted both glen, and some of the worlds experts on how they should proceed with the injury
the claim is a spurious one

Funny how whenever one of our major players gets an injury, they end up being out for far, far longer than they should have been in theory. It's happened with Kitson twice (04/05 and 06/07), Convey and Little.

I think the claim's a pretty strong one.

Hmmm, there's also a claim for bringing people back too early (Duberry, Sonko) or keeping them playing when they were struggling with injury (Gunnarsson, Hunt). And that's just last season. It's all anecdotal, isn't it?

I'd be interested in a sports physiotherapist's view on this. Are you one, royalee? What's the theoretical time scale for fixing and recovering from the injuries mentioned? I think these accusations really ought to be backed up by evidence, oughtn't they?

[brendywendy]

yep, you are right, it may appear that way
but the fact is they are all major injuries, that could always have gone on for a very long time

but they still consulted, and got the advice of all the people involved, and the worlds experts as to the best way to proceed

though i agree its something we need to at least look at, as the perceived pattern is becoming quite obvious

[Royalee]

Hmmm, there's also a claim for bringing people back too early (Duberry, Sonko) or keeping them playing when they were struggling with injury (Gunnarsson, Hunt). And that's just last season. It's all anecdotal, isn't it?

I'd be interested in a sports physiotherapist's view on this. Are you one, royalee? What's the theoretical time scale for fixing and recovering from the injuries mentioned? I think these accusations really ought to be backed up by evidence, oughtn't they?

Well given that the club have put timescales on these things to begin with and then things have ended up taking three or four times as long as predicted at times, I think they're giving their own evidence. I could of course be wrong, but it's just my opinion.

[brendywendy]

sometimes recoveries dont go smoothly, there are complications

sometimes one person takes longer than average

sometimes the experts get it wrong/misdiagnose/dont spot something they should spot


sometimes medicine/physiotherapy/injury isnt an exact science

not that im disagreeing with the premise that the list of recent injuries does seem to point to something

im just warning that jumping to conclusions may not be a good idea

[Southbank Old Boy]

Fearn has been here over a period of time where we've had an excellent injury record.

The last couple of years there seems to be an increase in non-impact injuries and prolonged absence through what appears from the outside mis-diagnosis or treatment of the injuries.

Now Fearn can't be a complete muppet as he's been here through our good times as well as with these high profile long term and repetitive cases. So what's causing the difference? Personally I think we suffering from the effects of two three things.

Firstly we lost Nial Clark when Pardew head hunted him for West Ham. I don't think we've been as pro-active and well prepared since he left and his methods have slowly drifted out of the clubs thinking.

Secondly we've not had a squad with enough competition. This means that players have been rushed back into action and we've seen them pick up further injuries.

And finally, we're not winning anymore. I'm not suggesting that the long term injuries didn't want to come back, but it's probably a little less motivating for a players when they see their team mates struggling than if they're winning and the want to get back into a winning side. You can often become a better player whilst your out of the side as those playing are having a shocker.

Except, wasn't it Little who wanted to carry on playing, despite having obviously injured himself badly?

The clubs medical team should not be dictated to by a player though. The player might be the only one who truely knows how their body is feeling, but the professional medical team should be able to pick up on whether or not they're in a good enough condition to play again.

[Royal Lady]

I'm not disputing that, I'm just saying that Little himself could take some of the blame rather than whoever it was saying it was all Fearn or the club's fault. The way I saw it at the time, he was checked out by Fearn, in spite of or despite what Fearn may have said to him, he went back on the pitch, soon after he was subbed - maybe when Fearn got back to the dug out he told Coppell that Little refused to come off and Coppell took the initiative after advice from Fearn and got him off. Pure conjecture of course, but that's only what Royalee and others are talking anyway.

[double d]

Obviously money was a factor and so was European football but i doubt he will get much of a see in at Pompey apart from the cups or maybe sombody gets injured.

Not so sure. We have only got Utaka and (hopefully) Wright - Philips. So, if Glen can outwork Utaka (Which wouldnt be hard) then I can see him forging a first team place. Almost certainly if we fail to get SWP.

For those that are interested - rumour is that Little will be earning just short of 40k per week - plus the normal bonuses etc. So one of the lower earners but a sum I can only dream about!

I though Kranjar could play at right mid as well he looked decent in euro 2008

[Roger the Rabbit]

I'd be amazed if one of Pompey's lower earners is on 40k basic !
The sums simply wouldn;t add up !

But you simply could not begrudge Little that sort of money.

[double d]

Another note; I personally think Glenn Little is a prem class player he did not get a chance to proove himself very much but when he did he made an impact (Chelsea Away the cross to Lita) he would be brilliant in the champianship but I do think he could be a good prem player IF he gets a chance. I just have a feeling he won't get that chance. Also i think it was Fearn who got Litas broken leg back quite quickly in rehab?

[Richi Royal]

Another one is when Sonko got injured against Sheffield United, he had clearly done some damage from the first time he went down but Sonko said he was OK when he clearly wasn't and instead of Fearn saying, "i am the professional and you are going to do more damage than good, there is no way you are going onto the pitch again", he let Sonko back on and potentially did more damage to Sonko than was originally done. There is no way of telling if more damage was actually inflicted by playing on but there should never have been a situation where a clearly injured player (potentially seriously) is allowed back on to do more damage. I am no doctor or physio but i could tell from the way sonko went down, the way he got back up, the fact he never stays down, that he was injured and Fearn should have put his foot down.

Also there is no way Little is on 40k a week, he will be on alot more than he would have been on here but, a player who has made two sub appearances in over 12 months, is in the twighlight of his career and has a reputation for been injury prone will not get that sort of deal. Will prob have some sort of basic pay (which will be more than he gets here) with hefty appearance bonuses.

[Royal Lady]

Actually, it may have been Sonko I was thinking of, not Little re the playing on whilst injured in a game.