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Tommy Smith wants to be at Reading according to Brendan Rodgers

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Watford's Tommy Smith 'wants' to join Reading FC

By Jonny Fordham
July 08, 2009

Brendan Rodgers today admitted that top transfer target Tommy Smith wants to join him at Reading.

The Northern Irishman sees his former Watford striker as the ideal replacement for Kevin Doyle after his record £6.5million sale to Wolves last week.

Royals’ bid of £750,000 was rejected by the Hornets last week and Sheffield United had a £1.8million offer accepted the same day.

But the 36-year-old Reading boss admitted: “He wants to be here. He’s a player that has turned down a number of moves.

“My job is to identify the players that I want and then I, in exactly the same scenario as Steve Coppell, let (director of football) Nick Hammond and the board get on with it.

“I’ve made it clear we’ve made the intent that this was the offer.

“There were a number of other offers for Tommy and then one big one came in (from Sheffield United).”

Rodgers has been linked with a number of Watford players after he left Vicarage Road for Madejski Stadium last month.

And Rodgers has always been a keen admirer of the 29-year-old who scored 17 goals last season with 12 assists to boot.

But he added at the moment there was little he could do.

“He doesn’t have to go anywhere unless he wants to,” said Rodgers.

“But there’s been good communication.

“Nick Hammond’s been having good communication with the chairman there and hopefully, I’m not sure how quickly, there will be some sort of resolution on it.”

Rodgers continued: “At the moment Tommy is a Watford player, he’s a player who I’ve identified and would love to bring in.

“I know his work and he’s a big player in the Championship.

“When you lose 18 goals in Kevin Doyle you want to replace someone with that efficiency and Tommy in every aspect is a big player.”

Rodgers also ruled out an offer for Watford’s Tamas Priskin and Leeds United’s Robert Snodgrass- two other players linked with joining his Royals revolution.

But when he was asked if he was looking at loaning some of Chelsea hottest young talents Rodgers said that option was “a strong possibility”.

He refused to name names but when Michael Mancienne, Ryan Bertrand and Jack Cork where all put to the Reading boss Rodgers did manage a slight smile.

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To the Reading man living in Swindon..Wow what a choice of teams you have...As for your brain the facts are in your PAPER about Prisken,and the Facts are Rogers rates Prisken Very Highly,the facts are he is wanted but is happy to stay..The facts are you are selling most of your assets and will replace them by loanee's,the youngsters and possibly a few cr@p watford players that will turn into superman..and not get you promoted..Lets see how you do this year..and Will you give us a Ghost goal to even things up from last season?

I hate hooped shirts
10/07/2009 at 21:12

JC here

I like dross, watford have been dross for 105 years of their 120 year existence...why change now

it seems the Reading fans have caught the dreaded swine flu from newcastle, leeds and wolves fans....

and as for owning up to be a reading fan from swindon..what ever next...

Jeremy Clarkson
10/07/2009 at 10:05

to the i hate hooped shirts bloke, please get facts right, understand nobody wants priskin,he's c**p, even integrity man said that he don't want him. seems you watford boys totally overate your squad, and although i admit there may be 1 or 2 gems at vicarage rd. the rest of the squad is dross, even loach isn't good enough to be 3rd choice at our place, hence why you finished the season where you lot did and we finished where we did.

ajr111, swindon
10/07/2009 at 08:48

As a life long Reading supporter I find this set of comments funny and sad at the same time Here we have so called Reading fans whinning about Watford fans moaning about Rodgers walking out on them These ae the same people who would still scream and swear at McGhee and Pardew for doing the same thing As for the comments on transfers Reading are probably the biggest joke in Football with transfers Recently our record is a joke Henderson ..let go for peanuts ..since transfered for millions Sidwell alloweded to leave for nowt Leroy cost 1mill allowed to leave for nowt when he could still do a job for us now Doyle's gone Doyle undervalued in todays market Hunt cost us nothing . being priced out of the market when he clearly doesn't want to be here Tyson sold for peanuts again ..now rumours claim we will pay 1 mill+ to buy back. Cox sold for nothing..recently brought for almost 2mill to come back and huant us. Come on people get real remember Football ..its a funny old game..not life or death ...talking of Death now there was a keeper ..what would he had been worth today..To Reading they would prob have let him go on a free as being to small..

A. XYZ
10/07/2009 at 07:11

watford fans please!please! understand its not how good a player is that determines a transfer fee at this level, its the contract the player is on. its the pay your player earns and how much time they have for it to run. Unless of course they have something like ronaldo or gerard to offer and there is no other talent like them available, and i somehow don't think tommy smith is in that div. Am i right in thinking smith is going into the last year of his contract, if so thats why reading have made the offer they have and doyle had a price clause in his and 4 yrs. to run on twice his wage no doubt. hence why smith wants to come to reading

ajr111, swindon
10/07/2009 at 00:19

To all you Reading fans that keep saying we are bitter and twisted and should move on..This is not about that at all,its about your manager now saying things in interviews he should not say, it just shows how Raw Rogers is. One min it's Smith he wants,then its Prisken and he is making himself look a total idiot.

And even Reading fans on a lot of website's are wondering what they have employed and are already questioning this appointment. Rogers think's he is allowed to do as he pleases,and this "Smith Saga" will backfire unless he coughs up £1.8mill

Good luck with The "Intergity Man"

I hate hooped shirts
09/07/2009 at 22:23

To me alot of people seem to be missing the point here. Reading are trying to get him on the cheap that is to be expected. But at the end of the day the buck stops with the chairman of the club. He has told everyone he is not going to put the financial future of the club at risk. So please read between the lines he is not going to spend up large, move on get on with life.

Expom, Christchurch New Zealand
09/07/2009 at 21:15

Stonorbill - That's what Smith is worth? £5.7m less than Doyle?

In spite of Rodgers virtually equating them?

Get Real

And we don't want him back; the man is an ethical vacuum

hacked off hornet, Bovingdon
09/07/2009 at 16:53

JC here again

I agree that the Watford fans should move on and forget about Reading, probably to Oxford or even better to Swindon..much nicer places, even the train announcer at the station is annoying

Jeremy Clarkson
09/07/2009 at 16:17

Again more bitter & twisted Watford fans with nothing better to do! Tommy will be a Reading player by the end of July. Theres nothing you can do.....just move on....thats football.

Johnny 5
09/07/2009 at 16:02

Watfordrob, sir john only offered the amount he did because thats about what smith is worth ,and once more RODGERS IS HERE ,forget him and grow up a bit .

STONORBILL, reading
09/07/2009 at 15:53

Why would Tommy want to go to Reading, when he could pocket a nice signing on fee at Sheff Utd? I dont want to see him leave Watford because he is a local boy and my favourite player for a long time. I have his name on my shirts and named my son after him. I have met him several times and he is without doubt a very talented player. Lord John Mad Jet Ski may have plenty of cash, but why does he belittle us by offering a derisory 750k for a proven goalscorer? even SHunt dont want to be with you, so why would Tommy? As for Buck - well he did the biggest u turn since Maggie Thatcher. Promised the earth to make Watford a top side, then quit after 7 months. I was begining to warm to a 36 year manager who promised to make my team great again, but then quit. I just cant wait till 24/04/10 to hear the Vicarage Road fans taunt him for 90 minutes. sorry Nesso if there was any typos here but its just a chatroom, not university!!

watfordrob, aberdeen
09/07/2009 at 14:56

Watford fans - you really have to get over this and your bitterness. You have to appreciate that in football, like everything else, there is a food chain.

Currently, like it or not, Reading are higher than Watford in that food chain, not because we are a "bigger club" or we have a "great stadium", but because we are stil receiving parachute payments and have immediate ambitions (which may well not be fulfilled) of a quick return to premiership. Watford, however, for whatever reason have financial difficulties and have been forced in to a fire sale of some of their baset assets, including their manager and Tommy Smith.

Reading are ourselves much lower in the food chain than a lot of other clubs, hence the sale of Doyle to Wolves, and in the past the departure of Pardew to West Ham and McGhee to Leicester. We didn't like it at the time, but we were not big fish compared to where they were leaving to go to, that's life.

However, I don't believe the Smith issue has been handled well, and agree that, if we want to buy him, should just pay up the bloody money for him and get on with it. It's obvious he doesn't want to go to Sheff Utd otherwise he would have gone already.

JE, Reading
09/07/2009 at 14:29

Can't we do a swap for SHunt ?

Kingsley Royal, Woodley
09/07/2009 at 13:33

JC here

Tommy Smith going to Reading, you are having a laugh!

the only good thing that goes any where near Reading is the M4 and even that makes a detour and doesnt stop there.