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Theo Walcott


Edmonton Saint
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On 28/06/2023 at 22:10, Holmes_and_Watson said:

And had Reading not been facing a winding up order, relegated, starting with a points deduction having an owner they want rid of, with late wages paid more than once then maybe...if he had a concussion through the negotiations and both his legs suddenly fell off. Otherwise, there surely has to be a better option for him.

The points deduction was applied last season so that isn't an issue. He hasn't signed yet, presumably he might if some of the issues are resolved. There may be better options, but some players have different goals in mind at the end of their career rather than just making money. Theo is (or should be) a relatively wealthy man. Someone will end up playing at Reading, why not someone who at least has an affinity with the club. Swindon would be an alternative, but they are as much a basket case as Reading and even lower down the scale (and maybe he doesn't get on with Charlie). Personally I think he could have done a job for us, but seems like he and others think otherwise.

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Thought Walcott was just training with Reading whilst he waited for a proper club offer. But if he is actually prepared to sign for a skint club which presumably will only pay relative peanuts, why shouldn't we give him another year at a few quid more than peanuts but a lot less than he was getting before? 

He looked OK for us in the latter part of last season, and is reportedly a good influence on younger players. 

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10 minutes ago, Ken Tone said:

why shouldn't we give him another year at a few quid more than peanuts but a lot less than he was getting before? 

He looked OK for us in the latter part of last season

Maybe we are looking for better than OK for what he will cost us.

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5 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

I thought he'd find somewhere overseas. And with so many lucrative offers appearing in the middle east, perhaps there.

He offered some positive moments at the end of our nose dive last season.

He definitely was still at a level to be useful. He is not going to improve now though, will never reach the level he was once at. Can understand him not wanting to fade further. 

Good career... And still easily young enough to do something very different if he wishes. 

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Given that he initially wanted to stay and that he performed well in the second half of last season, wouldn’t some sort of deal have been sensible in a role as a possible impact sub? 
 

Just saying 

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38 minutes ago, musesaint said:

Given that he initially wanted to stay and that he performed well in the second half of last season, wouldn’t some sort of deal have been sensible in a role as a possible impact sub? 
 

Just saying 

I thought he'd have been a good option off the bench for a season, sure. Given his second option was retirement I don't think anyone can try and tell me that a vastly reduced contract wasn't possible.

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40 minutes ago, musesaint said:

Given that he initially wanted to stay and that he performed well in the second half of last season, wouldn’t some sort of deal have been sensible in a role as a possible impact sub? 
 

Just saying 

No. He didn’t perform well, he was just marginally less crap than all the others. We were in double figures for substandard attacking players we needed to shift, he was one of them.

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50 minutes ago, musesaint said:

wouldn’t some sort of deal have been sensible in a role as a possible impact sub?

Not with Tella, Sulemana, Djenepo, Edozie and the emergence of Amo-Ameyaw around. Even AA and Mara can play that role as well. Typing these names just show how bloated the squad still is! 😆

Add in the fact TW was on decent wedge it never made sense to keep him on once down.

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I was told last season that he was retiring but was going to be working with the Academy so was surprised when he was linked with Reading.  Now he has retired we shall see, although he seems to be suggesting he wants to do something outside of football and a lot has changed at the club in terms of support personnel during the the summer so perhaps it is no longer an option.

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35 minutes ago, DT said:

Walcott - nailed on as a pundit I reckon

I'd agree, he's well spoken and has always come across as reasonably sharp combined with a decent career and the inevitable recognition he has from the way he exploded onto the scene with the world cup call up.

I would have kept him for another season for me he showed enough in the second half of last season when he was playing regularly to suggest that he was more than capable of doing a job at this level the first team has already featured several player who didn't get close to his level last season so it seems a shame for him to retire when he could have bookended his career with a championship winners medal following our inevitable promotion!

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3 hours ago, East Kent Saint said:

He is telling us his heart is no longer in playing football for any club , time to do a Lineker !

Fair play. I'd imagine football would be a very easy thing to fall out of love with if you did it professionally.

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3 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Agreed, clearly very level headed and a good speaker.

He’s next on Gary Neville’s “The Overlap”, should be a good watch.

I watched that this morning, already dropped. A great watch, he's clearly level headed and intelligent. Doesn't want to take the big bucks from the Saudis, he has had offers. Treated shabbily by Capello when he was in his prime. If he gets his coaching badges then I'd like to see him at some capacity at Saints. 

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2 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Fair play. I'd imagine football would be a very easy thing to fall out of love with if you did it professionally.

I always find it fascinating those that either fall out of love for the game or never had an interest but we’re good.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto(?) of Spurs years back was one, he famously did an interview where he said he doesn’t watch football, look at the table, he just found he was good at it and it pays the bills. It was just a job for him.

I think in recent times Ben White is similar, says he doesn’t have much of an interest in the game or watch it in his spare time.

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44 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

I always find it fascinating those that either fall out of love for the game or never had an interest but we’re good.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto(?) of Spurs years back was one, he famously did an interview where he said he doesn’t watch football, look at the table, he just found he was good at it and it pays the bills. It was just a job for him.

I think in recent times Ben White is similar, says he doesn’t have much of an interest in the game or watch it in his spare time.

David Bentley admitted that he didn't like football and retired aged 27 because he'd made enough to live off. Fair play to them. A job is a job.

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46 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

I always find it fascinating those that either fall out of love for the game or never had an interest but we’re good.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto(?) of Spurs years back was one, he famously did an interview where he said he doesn’t watch football, look at the table, he just found he was good at it and it pays the bills. It was just a job for him.

I think in recent times Ben White is similar, says he doesn’t have much of an interest in the game or watch it in his spare time.

Paul Telfer was similar if I remember.

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9 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Yeah, I think I read somewhere that he went and opened a bar in Spain with his family? 

Sounds right. I don't buy all this "We want passion" stuff. I couldn't care less if a player couldn't care less or is only doing it for the money. 

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10 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Sounds right. I don't buy all this "We want passion" stuff. I couldn't care less if a player couldn't care less or is only doing it for the money. 

This.

It’s like all the players going to Saudi and saying “it’s a project to improve the league”. Bollocks.

I’d have more respect for someone coming out and saying “I’m only going to Saudi for the money, duh!” I think Ruben Neves was quoted along those lines anyway. He was a bit like “why wouldn’t I go?”

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15 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

This.

It’s like all the players going to Saudi and saying “it’s a project to improve the league”. Bollocks.

I’d have more respect for someone coming out and saying “I’m only going to Saudi for the money, duh!” I think Ruben Neves was quoted along those lines anyway. He was a bit like “why wouldn’t I go?”

Absolutely. Why can't they just say "It's about the money"? Only in football would that be a bad thing. 95% of people on here have probably left jobs for better paid ones.

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My parents used to live near the academy digs by Hill Lane surgery. Just before Walcott went to Arsenal, I saw him walking past and had a great little chat with him and he seemed like a great bloke (as is Andrew Surman by the way). On the day he went to Arsenal there were a crowd of journalists round there and I thought about what a humble guy he was and how his life was going to change. One of the good guys for sure. 

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12 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Absolutely. Why can't they just say "It's about the money"? Only in football would that be a bad thing. 95% of people on here have probably left jobs for better paid ones.

 

....and they don't get a lifetime's job - just a short career and 3 year contract,  and when that money runs out they end up driving a taxi, or working on a building site.

We may recall that Pelle (at his best) went to China for  300K / week, which was probably the same as the entire Saints squad salaries at the time. 

If they get a chance... then good luck to them, the rest of their lives may be pretty routine and boring after wards in comparison. 

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