HRK

[ZacNaloen]

You were doing well until you said Karacan had half a season to prove himself. Was the complete midfielder against Fulham and was showing signs of that the previous two games as well, also we already know he's good enough for the championship. I'll be very surprised if he isn't already considered good enough.

[Ian Royal]

You were doing well until you said Karacan had half a season to prove himself. Was the complete midfielder against Fulham and was showing signs of that the previous two games as well, also we already know he's good enough for the championship. I'll be very surprised if he isn't already considered good enough.

Yeah, I'm not sure how he qualifies as only a maybe when he's played almost every game under Adkins.

[SydenhamRoyal]

I think from Nigel's team selections he knows who he wants to keep/or could have a future and those he doesn't.

HRK, McCleary, McAnuff, Gunter fit into the first category and I doubt he will look to offload/take an offer for.

The jury is out on Blackman and ALF, though likely he will keep both.

Legsofwood, Hunt, Harte, Shorey, Mills along with Sheppard and Williams will be off loaded.

Pog undoubtably will be sold, assuming someone will buy.

Akpan and Karacan probably have half a season to prove themselves.

Think it is panning out nicely already.

You were doing so well until you got to the Pog and Karacan. Adkin's team selections seem to me to say he wants the Pog. Karacan looks back to his best after the Leeds and Liverpool injuries.

[AkpansBFF]

I think from Nigel's team selections he knows who he wants to keep/or could have a future and those he doesn't.

HRK, McCleary, McAnuff, Gunter fit into the first category and I doubt he will look to offload/take an offer for.

The jury is out on Blackman and ALF, though likely he will keep both.

Legsofwood, Hunt, Harte, Shorey, Mills along with Sheppard and Williams will be off loaded.

Pog undoubtably will be sold, assuming someone will buy.

Akpan and Karacan probably have half a season to prove themselves.

Think it is panning out nicely already.

By Adkins team selections, he seems to be playing players who have a future with us as said, but him including Pog in almost game apart from one surely shows you he wants to keep him? Also agree with the post or two before mine Karacan is looking a lot better already and Akpans still young dont think he will be shipped out just yet.

[loyalroyal4life]

I just hope he plays HRK upfront or just off striker

[Hoop Blah]

I don't agree with his comments today saying he feels he would been playing this well if he was given the chance 2 years ago. He is now playing really well but I think he has improved massively rather than just being given the shot, fair play to him for upping his game

I agree with you. He's found consistency, those lovely finishes (e.g. last season v. Peterborough, v. Millwall) and nice pieces of play have found a rhythm. Playing along side Bale in the national side may have helped him also - making him adapt his game to be (to reference football manager) somewhat of an inside forward.

I do agree he's getting better, but don't get carried away. Those lovely finishes were lacking a few weeks ago (can't remember the home game but it was probably Villa as I think it was one that mattered) when he had 3 or 4 decent chances and fluffed them all.

He does have the attributes to be a real threat though but he needs to learn how to use them, although to be fair he's getting better at it and doesn't seem to run into and through defenders half as much as he used to.

He could be quite a threat next season but he'll need to address his biggest weakness (for me), and that's a case of getting on the ball and into the game enough.

[RockheadRumple]

I called it before the season even started that he'd be one of if not the best player in the squad.

I was right.


Just saying.

[SCIAG]

Some crazy overrating in here. This is always the way, we underrate a player, realise we've underrated him, then proceed to overrate him to compensate, then maybe swing the other way (Karacan and Cummings are experiencing this third stage right now). HRK is a very good player but he isn't a Premier League quality player quite yet.

I'd like to see him play as a striker, not even just behind. Has all the attributes.

I think it main problem when he plays centrally is how he plays there. Essentially he plays like a "central winger", trying to get past players with the ball using his pace and power. This doesn't work very well.

If he could change his mentality so he was trying to get in behind then he'd do better. Would rather he played as an out and out striker than behind the striker, but I still think he's better as a winger where there are fewer defenders.

So, erm, anyone want to disagree with my dissenting opinion now?

I'm still of the opinion that HRK is a very good Championship winger who isn't ready for the top flight, and isn't suited to a central position. If he gets moved out wide, then I think his form will improve.

If we want to play someone behind the striker, it should be Drenthe, McAnuff, Obita, Taylor, or Tanner, in roughly that order.

[Ian Royal]

He's got all the attributes. He just isn't putting it together. Which makes me worry about whether he's got the brain.

Seems to have quickly dropped behind Obita, who hasn't put in performances as good as HRK has managed at his best, but also has been far from as bad as HRK at his worst.

[Reading4eva]

HRK is poor. He runs round like a headless chicken

Let's be honest he wanted a premier league move. After realising the prem thought he was sh1t... Smiler and our dopey football club decided to pay what his brother thought was good for him

[Royal Ginger]

It's really that black and white now is it? To say HRK is "poor" is a sweeping and inaccurate statement. He's had a poor game, however he was one of the less-lo points against Charlton in the second half, and was excellent and scoring freely in the second half of last season. I don't think he's particularly special, but poor is unfair. The best players in the world will look poor in a team that's struggling with it's system.

[St. Brynjar]

He's been very poor all season. We have much better options on the wing and up front at the moment.

[Maguire]

HRK's performances this season are bemusing. He looked really decent last year (I don't mean the goals w/penalties included but his all round performances). Thought he'd be a real force in this division so why has he been so incredibly poor?

Looks a bit heavy to me too. Not Drenthe heavy,mind.

[Wimb]

HRK's performances this season are bemusing. He looked really decent last year (I don't mean the goals w/penalties included but his all round performances). Thought he'd be a real force in this division so why has he been so incredibly poor?

Looks a bit heavy to me too. Not Drenthe heavy,mind.

Might be a mental hangover to do with having to gut it out in the Championship when he probably thought he was getting a Prem move?

Otherwise as you said it's a bit of a letdown how he's taken such a step back

[ZacNaloen]

Definite step back, can't blame injuries or fitness now.

Disappointing after the development he showed last year.

[leon]

HRK's performances this season are bemusing. He looked really decent last year (I don't mean the goals w/penalties included but his all round performances). Thought he'd be a real force in this division so why has he been so incredibly poor?

Looks a bit heavy to me too. Not Drenthe heavy,mind.

Exactly, he looks too muscley and slow. Which is funny because he's easily muscled off the ball. Based on his performance this season in terms of development file under Church.

[SPARTA]

HRK's performances this season are bemusing. He looked really decent last year (I don't mean the goals w/penalties included but his all round performances). Thought he'd be a real force in this division so why has he been so incredibly poor?

Got a big fat new undeserved deal..

We will see a massive clear-out this summer. I know you can take some players for granted, but losing HRK will not bother me one bit. I'd much sooner see a young Tanner come in than an over-paid demotivated fat arsed lump like him get a game! What Adkins see's in him I don't know. Lack of options only I hope.

[SCIAG]

The ability of baseball players can vary by about 20% from season to season.

Given football has far more variables than baseball, it isn't unreasonable for HRK to be doing significantly worse without actually being significantly worse.

Last season, when people were saying he play for a top-half Premier League side, people were seeing a string of performances at the top of his game where he scored a few goals. He wasn't really a top half player, it was just natural variation (and over-excitement on behalf of the fans). This season, it isn't that he's got massively worse, it's just natural variation in performance levels again- and he's playing an a position he's clearly not suited to.

I would suggest what Adkins sees in HRK is two seasons of good contributions from the Reading bench prior to promotion, then some good performances in the top flight, then some poor performances in the Championship. Being quite a smart guy, Adkins says "OK, this is about his level, he's useful, let's give him some games and in the long run it will work out for us".

Using HRK in the middle means he doesn't need to do as much defensively, which has been a real weakness for him. Nonetheless, I would strongly prefer us to play another of the wingers there, as they have more subtlety to their games. Ideally not McCleary.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I reckon he's spent too much time trying to develop as a forward option (his own misplaced ambition or perhaps encouragement from management due to the club lacking strikers), he's kinda lost what he was good at as a winger.

Perhaps a combination of that and a loss of confidence has contributed to a rather forgettable season for him so far. But he has class in there somewhere, I'm sure he will find it again.

[72 bus]

Perhaps a combination of that and a loss of confidence has contributed to a rather forgettable season for him so far.

That, and being a bit of a lard arse.