I always wondered why we didn't go for him , seems like a bit of a bargain now for Reading , cost them £300k
I sang his praises on this very board for more than a year when he was at Rovverham as he proved he wasnt a flash in the pan by doing it over a number of years. However, since then I've learned from someone VERY well placed there who said we literally had zero chance of signing him as he made it totally clear he wanted to move down south. Perhaps we did sound his agent out and were told this?
It was £350k with add-ons and a sell on clause, but it was definitely a bargain, a shame we didn't have a go.
Oh well, what about Bradley Wright-Philips or Francois Zoko, I like Madine but Sheffield Wednesday want big money for him, we didn't go for Le Fondre because Pearson didn't rate him as he thought he was league 2 standard, guess he proved him wrong.
to be fair to pearson & walshy... i think we signed some of the best young players available to us last season... they've all got bags of potential.. the one thing they never found for us though is a good young striker...
Le Fondre is less than a year younger than Fryatt though. (5th March-2nd December 1986) EDIT: Just realised, if you go by the ages when they signed for us/Reading then Fryatt and Le Fondre were both 3 months and 3 days short of their 25th birthdays. (2nd Jan for Fryatt and August 30th (or 31st to ruin my claim) for Le Fondre.
Did you not see my post? He didnt want to stay in the north, his main priority on his next move was down south. Simple as.
Think sometimes people just refuse to read stuff. Some keep banging on about Henderson at Millwall. I've posted it up a few times, he's a London lad he wanted to move back down south. Kenny Jackett said it in an interview, he actively pushed for the Millwall move. Yet people still think he would come here!! FFS
I'd love to see us sign a striker like him in the summer, someone who can shoot with conviction and consistency. Thing is they aren't in abundance and they aren't cheap.
Francois Zoko and Gary Madine are two players who i have championed for a couple of seasons, however Zoko is hardly the most prolific he is very similar to Fryatt in the sense he needs a few chances before he scores, but he his pacey and a very physical forward which is why i suggested him. Madine is a top player, however Sheff Wed would no doubt want quite a lot for him. We need players like Madine before they go to Wednesday and grab them when there at clubs like Carlisle.
Perhaps we need to hire Scunny's scout. They seem to have a production line of profitable strikers over there (all stats from wiki): Andy Keogh - cost £50k, 19 goals from 86 games in Lg1/2, sold for £600k rising to £850k Billy Sharp - cost £100k, 53 goals from 82 games in Lg1/2, sold for £2m Martin Paterson - cost ?, 13 goals in 40 games in Lg1, sold for £1m rising to £1.3m Gary Hooper - cost £175k, 43 goals in 80 games in Chmp/Lg1, sold for £2.4m
fryatt yesterday again showed why we still need a more conistent finisher from somewhere next season, that chance 2 minutes into the 2nd half are the differences between winning matches and not, was there to be struck 1st time and once again he needs 2 touches 1st, fryatt would never have scored that goal at st marys the other night that le fondre drilled 1st time into the roof of the net
