Doyle heads to Molineux for £6.5m

Doyler's off to Wolves then. Loads has been said on this already, so I'll not drone on - after all it was only a matter of who and when, not if. Dunno why but I watched this press conference and it made me feel a little queasy to be honest. He leaves with the good will and blessing of the fans for sure - and Nicky Hammond called him 'our best ever signing'. £80,000 for four fantastic years, and then sold for £6.5m. It's good for the club and the man, but it's certainly a sad moment. He always seemed like a decent sort, but I couldn't care less if he does well or not (never liked Wolves!), sorry but that's football, we move on. Just don't be surprised if he ends up back at our place on loan in April!

Rodgers to raid Hornets for Smith?

It wouldn't be a huge surprise if the new gaffer made a raid for Watford's prize assets, especially as the Vicarage Road outfit are strapped for cash. Likely target is 29 year old Tommy Smith who was instrumental in the Hornet's turnaround last season with 17 goals. He seems to have been around for ages, and I recall he was always an out and out striker, but under Rodgers he has been very effective as a winger, an area we've had problems with recently! Slovak born Hungarian Tamas Priskin catches the eye too, a pacy striker with a deadly finish. Watford fans can sleep easy for a while at least as Reading FC have made it clear that we need to sell to make funds available for any future purchases. That will surely be remedied soon with the predicted sale of Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle (a winger and a striker...see where this is going?). Andre Bikey is being watched by Marseilles too, so it seems inevitable that significant changes are imminent.

Glory days revisited

I found this and thought it was worth a post (despite awful soundtrack!) to sort of mark the passing of an era. Made me a tad emotional to be honest , seriously though, how good were we?! Enjoy.

Why we must sell Doyle and move on

The new Brendan Rodgers sign on Reading FC's manager's door is only just up and already we've had the first transfer rumour of the close season. We all know what to expect in the next couple of months: rumour, counter-rumour and absurd fantasies are the order of the day. With a new manager in position it's going to provide even more fertile ground for the gossip-mongers, and it'll be our 'big names' that become the subject of such idle speculation. Kevin Doyle is without doubt our prize asset, despite his erratic form last season he's a proven goal scorer at the top level and is an established International for the Republic of Ireland. In the past he's attracted interest from Aston Villa but this week it's Everton who might be interested. A £7m deal that involves his tousle-haired compatriot Stephen Hunt has been mooted, and even if the source is the Daily Star let's pause for a while to contemplate what such a move would mean for the football club. Firstly, if such a deal was in the offing it begs the question, 'who is valued at what in this'? Even die-hard fans of the terrier-winger would concede that Hunty Senior was pretty dreadful for at least 75% of last season, so surely his stock has fallen dramatically since the Toffees were rumoured to be interested last August. At one point he was supposedly worth around £3-4m, yep, we'd bite off an arm and more for that right now. A package deal that involved taking Doyler makes a lot of sense to any would-be suitor, with his (Doyle's) worth surely still around the £5m mark. Let's be honest here the chances are that he wants to leave and ply his trade at the highest level, and who can blame him for that? He signed a contract extension in January but it was no secret that he wanted to get back into the Premier League. We wouldn't want to lose him, but we have to face hard facts here, and BR already has. With at least one more season in the Championship we are prey to top flight clubs looking to bolster there squads with good value signings. Everton won't be banking on Doyle or Hunt, but they'd be tidy additions to a squad that will need bolstering should they wish to improve on their excellent 6th place finish last term. With Europa League thrown into that equation it makes even more sense; they don't have stacks of wonga to chuck around, so Championship quality represents limited risk and high returns should it work out. David Moyles certainly knows how to get the very best from limited resources.

If you believe that Brendan Rodgers is the man to get the most out of our youngsters and make a few shrewd signings of his own, then losing our star striker doesn't appear to be such a disaster. What's more Doyle has been hit and miss for sure in the last 18 months, and his style of play has been a little predictable. The pace isn't quite as explosive as it was, and to go most of this year without scoring tells its own tale, despite the inadequacies of the rest of the team. We need to bow to the inevitable and trust in Brendan to use the money from any sales wisely. Simon Church could be on the verge of breaking through, but the loss of Doyle would leave options up front a little limited. Shane Long, Noel Hunt & Kevin Mooney would, along with Church, be the sum total of our striking options throughout the squad. I can't believe we would offload Doyle without having a replacement lined up. Whatever happens it'll be an interesting summer...

Royals and Hornets agree compensation for Rodgers

The open secret is almost, finally, very nearly an official announcement as Watford and Reading agreed a compensation package that will pave the way for Brendan Rodgers to take the helm at the Madejski Stadium.

I've been reading a few posts on Watford FC forums recently, as you can imagine they are particularly disgruntled, but the thing that struck me was how highly he was regarded there - even after a relatively short spell in charge. His way is certainly for a passing game that is easy on the eye, so we just need to ensure the right players are there to make that style effective. Nigel Howe has indicated this week that academy players such as Simon Church are sure to feature next season, and Rodgers certainly knows how to get the best from the youngsters as he has already spent time in charge of our youth team. Getting the balance of youth and experience right is the first challenge.

So let the 'renaissance' begin, and we wait with eager anticipation to see BR's first moves in the transfer market!

Rodgers odds on to land Royals post

It seems increasingly likely that current Watford boss Brendan Rodgers will be appointed the new Reading manager some time in the near future. Nicky Hammond is showing due care and diligence in carefully sifting through the applications and with the Hornets keen to retain the services of Rodgers nothing is certain, however it all points to the Irish man taking charge for the new season. Other names in the frame are PNE boss Alan Irvine,  and Darren Ferguson who has guided Peterborough into the Championship. Strangely enough I saw somewhere that bookies Victor Chandler had installed Alan Pardew as second favourite at 9/4. Surely some mistake?! Who do you think would be best for us and why?...