Danny Drinkwater

voyeur said:
It depends what version of him rocks up. He's won the Premier League title with Leicester and played a significant part in that. He's had 5 largely wasted years. For various reasons. He's 32 and very likely wants to make up for lost time. Grown up a bit hopefully. From his recent interview:

"The midfielder spent last season in the Sky Bet Championship with Reading where he played 32 games, and it was a loan spell that helped Drinkwater regain his confidence and start to enjoy his football again.

"I joined Reading, and I expected to be flying after eight games, but after 20 games, I was like - what's happening here? I still didn't feel properly fit and I can't get my sharpness. I felt like I wasn't really benefitting the team…and I was like 'Wow, has it gone? What's happened?'.

"Then you get a feeling back. The last part of last season, it was good. A new gaffer came in, and it was good. He helped me, and I felt I was helping the team. That's probably the first time I'd enjoyed football for years."
Click to expand...
re that last para voy, obviously we are talking about Ince. What I wonder about that if he was doing well, helping the team and enjoying himself then why didn't Reading make an offer to try and keep him.
 
voyeur said:
It depends what version of him rocks up. He's won the Premier League title with Leicester and played a significant part in that. He's had 5 largely wasted years. For various reasons. He's 32 and very likely wants to make up for lost time. Grown up a bit hopefully. From his recent interview:

"The midfielder spent last season in the Sky Bet Championship with Reading where he played 32 games, and it was a loan spell that helped Drinkwater regain his confidence and start to enjoy his football again.

"I joined Reading, and I expected to be flying after eight games, but after 20 games, I was like - what's happening here? I still didn't feel properly fit and I can't get my sharpness. I felt like I wasn't really benefitting the team…and I was like 'Wow, has it gone? What's happened?'.

"Then you get a feeling back. The last part of last season, it was good. A new gaffer came in, and it was good. He helped me, and I felt I was helping the team. That's probably the first time I'd enjoyed football for years."
Click to expand...

And there lies the concern for me, we can't afford for him to take 20 plus games to get properly match fit.
 
20togo said:
re that last para voy, obviously we are talking about Ince. What I wonder about that if he was doing well, helping the team and enjoying himself then why didn't Reading make an offer to try and keep him.
Click to expand...
I guess they felt he didn't do enough over the whole spell. Dunno.

HighfieldSeasider said:
And there lies the concern for me, we can't afford for him to take 20 plus games to get properly match fit.
Click to expand...
That may well have been a one off situation. Woukd it take 20 games again? It's not long ago he was at Reading.
 
If he's good enough for Appleton I trust his judgement, no one has a crystal ball but please not another sick note.
 
voyeur said:
I guess they felt he didn't do enough over the whole spell. Dunno.


That may well have been a one off situation. Woukd it take 20 games again? It's not long ago he was at Reading.
Click to expand...
fcblackpool said:
He said he was OK after 20, so you'd think he'd be OK from Game 1 here.
Click to expand...

Without looking into it I doubt he's had much pre-season, if any? So he will be at least 4-6 weeks behind everyone else, then due to the stupid Qatar World Cup he could just be getting up to a decent level of match fitness and then be back to square one.

He was a class player a number of years ago, then he's barely played until last season and openly admitted to not being at it for most of that season. I'm sure he would be one of our highest earners if he signed as well, it seems like a big gamble to me.
 
Reading forum says:

"Shame about Drinkwater as well but not a disaster as nobody really expected him to sign on again anyway. Would have liked to have kept him based on his performances under Ince, but if it doesn't happen I won't lose any sleep."

"Actually wouldn't mind too much if Drinkwater signed on for another year with the club.

"We’re playing a deep 5-4-1 and hitting it long. In midfield Hendrick and Fornah are downgrades on Drinkwater and Laurent.

"As Danny Drinkwater has been mentioned on this thread. It appears he is with the squad at SGP this week.

"This wouldn’t surprise me if only to get fit. DD divides opinion on here and I can’t even make up my own mind about whether I’d want him back. At times last season he turned back the clock but then sometimes he was atrocious and gave the ball away far too cheaply.

"No way would you take a player away on a training week just so they could get fit. Would have to be on the basis of a signing, if he wanted to get fit so he could play for someone else he could go run round his local park. He’s clearly a very good player, perhaps if he was a contracted Reading rather than just sent out on loan we’d see a different player. If he was playing for 10k a week I’d happily take the risk because the upside could be huge.

"Think out of all the players last year, DD was the one who improved the most once Ince came in, specifically after Rae gave him a bollocking at Bournemouth. Put in some MOTM performances towards the end of the season in key games as well - Barnsley was one and I think there was another away game as well.

"Yep. He was dire absolutely dire for much of last season so I get where Ian is coming from but he did improve a lot under Ince and was pretty much the only ballwinner in the side. If his fitness is there then I would have him back. Certainly the best tackler in the side.

"Was he really though? First month he was good. Late October to November up and down. Injured December. Horrendous January before a fairly solid last few months (from Peterborough onwards). Do think people are somewhat overweighing his awful period in January to his overall performance. Still wouldn’t take him back mind - too many bad memories.

"Looking back at my original post, I said it wasn't a bad loan spell on the whole, which I don't think it was. Poor at times, good at other times and, as I mentioned, during our best parts of the season. Two different managers have played him regularly, for full games, when he's been fit and available. Question their competence all you want, that's just fact. He was obviously seen as an important player and did perform to a much better standard from the Peterborough game onwards."

"Drinkwater isn't the answer to any Reading FC related question. We need to be done with him and his ilk, they are in football purgatory.

"I would agree we need someone who plays in the Paul Ince mould in midfield. We just have to look past ex-players I think, lets forget Danny Drinkwater.

"Big fat no. Guy should be bossing midfield in the Championship, but in the majority of his performances he dropped multiple clangers a game. He was directly at fault for multiple goals costing us games. He had one decent run of 5 - 10 games where he upped his game, and then fell apart again. We need consistency more than quality. For too long we've been a team that looks good but suicides because of individual calamities. Drinkwater is the epitome of that problem and the sort of bad signing we make. Someone with loads of skill, low application and dreadful errors.

"In response to Drinkwater, I'd have him back on a reasonable wage. He did pretty well for us last season, you could see his quality on the ball and, towards the end of his loan spell, off the ball as well. He just needs to keep himself in good shape really and, if we could build his fitness, he would be a really good asset for us I think.

"There are more players on planet Earth than the ones that used to play for us, we don't need to go back to Drinkwater under any circumstances. We need young, fit players with something to prove and not hasbeens who are clearly not interested like Danny Drinkwater. He didn't like being here and on the whole we didn't like him.
 
Last edited:
HighfieldSeasider said:
Without looking into it I doubt he's had much pre-season, if any? So he will be at least 4-6 weeks behind everyone else, then due to the stupid Qatar World Cup he could just be getting up to a decent level of match fitness and then be back to square one.

He was a class player a number of years ago, then he's barely played until last season and openly admitted to not being at it for most of that season. I'm sure he would be one of our highest earners if he signed as well, it seems like a big gamble to me.
Click to expand...
Has trained with Reading and went away for a week with them.
 
HighfieldSeasider said:
Without looking into it I doubt he's had much pre-season, if any? So he will be at least 4-6 weeks behind everyone else, then due to the stupid Qatar World Cup he could just be getting up to a decent level of match fitness and then be back to square one.

He was a class player a number of years ago, then he's barely played until last season and openly admitted to not being at it for most of that season. I'm sure he would be one of our highest earners if he signed as well, it seems like a big gamble to me.
Click to expand...
I don't think he'll be far off from what I've read, but Appleton knows he needs players for now, so if he signs you'd have thought he's ready to go pretty much.
 
We have three holding midfielders at the club - Dougall, Connolly and Stewart. I think we can forget Stewart making any meaningful run of games, it's never going to happen. We have no right back cover until January so there is always a chance Connolly may need to play there. Dougall will probably be in the Australian world cup squad, and I know we take a mid season break but might we be missing him for one or two fixtures in the lead up to it? Based on this I can see a short term contract for DD, perhaps until the end of Jan initially, making a lot of sense. Providing MA is confident that he's up to it.
 
BFC_53 said:
We have three holding midfielders at the club - Dougall, Connolly and Stewart. I think we can forget Stewart making any meaningful run of games, it's never going to happen. We have no right back cover until January so there is always a chance Connolly may need to play there. Dougall will probably be in the Australian world cup squad, and I know we take a mid season break but might we be missing him for one or two fixtures in the lead up to it? Based on this I can see a short term contract for DD, perhaps until the end of Jan initially, making a lot of sense. Providing MA is confident that he's up to it.
Click to expand...
I doubt DD would sign for less than a season?
 
voyeur said:
I doubt DD would sign for less than a season?
Click to expand...
Possibly not, time will tell but I'm not sure he's in a particularly good negotiating position. Either way, I doubt it'll be for anything other than 12 mths maximum (assuming the rumour is true of course!)
 
BFC_53 said:
We have three holding midfielders at the club - Dougall, Connolly and Stewart. I think we can forget Stewart making any meaningful run of games, it's never going to happen. We have no right back cover until January so there is always a chance Connolly may need to play there. Dougall will probably be in the Australian world cup squad, and I know we take a mid season break but might we be missing him for one or two fixtures in the lead up to it? Based on this I can see a short term contract for DD, perhaps until the end of Jan initially, making a lot of sense. Providing MA is confident that he's up to it.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid neither Dougall or Connolly are good enough to take the single defensive midfield position MA wants to play. We need either Kevin Stewart back from injury and then stay fit (I know!) so DD would be the perfect player to come in and do the job. 32 is a good age still, he will be a leader and an influence on the younger players around him. The likes of Patino, Fiorini and Carey will benefit massively from his experience and he will also help the defence. I read all the stuff about him, he made a right mess of things, he has held his hands up, but when he went to Chelsea they got a new manager who froze him out and the next 5 years were a disaster for him on the pitch. Reading gave him a chance, it took him 20 games to settle in and get his confidence back, he freely admits he suffered with mental health problems and once Ince came in he turned it round.

If MA rates him and wants him then he will know how to get the best out of him and we could have a player who we would never dream of having for 2 or 3 years. For me, if there's any truth in it and MA wants him and he wants to come here I think it will be a really excellent signing.
 
hertfordseasider said:
I'm afraid neither Dougall or Connolly are good enough to take the single defensive midfield position MA wants to play. We need either Kevin Stewart back from injury and then stay fit (I know!) so DD would be the perfect player to come in and do the job. 32 is a good age still, he will be a leader and an influence on the younger players around him. The likes of Patino, Fiorini and Carey will benefit massively from his experience and he will also help the defence. I read all the stuff about him, he made a right mess of things, he has held his hands up, but when he went to Chelsea they got a new manager who froze him out and the next 5 years were a disaster for him on the pitch. Reading gave him a chance, it took him 20 games to settle in and get his confidence back, he freely admits he suffered with mental health problems and once Ince came in he turned it round.

If MA rates him and wants him then he will know how to get the best out of him and we could have a player who we would never dream of having for 2 or 3 years. For me, if there's any truth in it and MA wants him and he wants to come here I think it will be a really excellent signing.
Click to expand...
Maybe but maybe not. He doesnt look or sound like someone who has properly sorted his head out yet. In the process of, maybe. But has developed bad habits and had almost stopped playing prior to going to Reading.

All this knocking of Dougall is just out of order Herts. He's served us superbly and kept turning up game after game, and doing the job. Now you want to ditch him (again) and bring someone in with a really flaky record who had a few games at the tail end of last season when he finally contributed a bit. Risky strategy.

But I'm not in a position to judge where DD is at in his head right now. I hope Appleton makes the right call.
 
20togo said:
re that last para voy, obviously we are talking about Ince. What I wonder about that if he was doing well, helping the team and enjoying himself then why didn't Reading make an offer to try and keep him.
Click to expand...
I've spoke to Incey but can't declare the reason.
 
Maunder said:
Yes, the last thing we need is a 32 year old premier league winning midfielder 🙄
Click to expand...
Surprised Reading didn't offer him a contract after his loan spell there last season.

He should have waved his PL medal around infront of the Reading chairman. Would have got a 5 year deal in no time.
 
voyeur said:
Reading forum says:

"Shame about Drinkwater as well but not a disaster as nobody really expected him to sign on again anyway. Would have liked to have kept him based on his performances under Ince, but if it doesn't happen I won't lose any sleep."

"Actually wouldn't mind too much if Drinkwater signed on for another year with the club.

"We’re playing a deep 5-4-1 and hitting it long. In midfield Hendrick and Fornah are downgrades on Drinkwater and Laurent.

"As Danny Drinkwater has been mentioned on this thread. It appears he is with the squad at SGP this week.

"This wouldn’t surprise me if only to get fit. DD divides opinion on here and I can’t even make up my own mind about whether I’d want him back. At times last season he turned back the clock but then sometimes he was atrocious and gave the ball away far too cheaply.

"No way would you take a player away on a training week just so they could get fit. Would have to be on the basis of a signing, if he wanted to get fit so he could play for someone else he could go run round his local park. He’s clearly a very good player, perhaps if he was a contracted Reading rather than just sent out on loan we’d see a different player. If he was playing for 10k a week I’d happily take the risk because the upside could be huge.

"Think out of all the players last year, DD was the one who improved the most once Ince came in, specifically after Rae gave him a bollocking at Bournemouth. Put in some MOTM performances towards the end of the season in key games as well - Barnsley was one and I think there was another away game as well.

"Yep. He was dire absolutely dire for much of last season so I get where Ian is coming from but he did improve a lot under Ince and was pretty much the only ballwinner in the side. If his fitness is there then I would have him back. Certainly the best tackler in the side.

"Was he really though? First month he was good. Late October to November up and down. Injured December. Horrendous January before a fairly solid last few months (from Peterborough onwards). Do think people are somewhat overweighing his awful period in January to his overall performance. Still wouldn’t take him back mind - too many bad memories.

"Looking back at my original post, I said it wasn't a bad loan spell on the whole, which I don't think it was. Poor at times, good at other times and, as I mentioned, during our best parts of the season. Two different managers have played him regularly, for full games, when he's been fit and available. Question their competence all you want, that's just fact. He was obviously seen as an important player and did perform to a much better standard from the Peterborough game onwards."

"Drinkwater isn't the answer to any Reading FC related question. We need to be done with him and his ilk, they are in football purgatory.

"I would agree we need someone who plays in the Paul Ince mould in midfield. We just have to look past ex-players I think, lets forget Danny Drinkwater.

"Big fat no. Guy should be bossing midfield in the Championship, but in the majority of his performances he dropped multiple clangers a game. He was directly at fault for multiple goals costing us games. He had one decent run of 5 - 10 games where he upped his game, and then fell apart again. We need consistency more than quality. For too long we've been a team that looks good but suicides because of individual calamities. Drinkwater is the epitome of that problem and the sort of bad signing we make. Someone with loads of skill, low application and dreadful errors.

"In response to Drinkwater, I'd have him back on a reasonable wage. He did pretty well for us last season, you could see his quality on the ball and, towards the end of his loan spell, off the ball as well. He just needs to keep himself in good shape really and, if we could build his fitness, he would be a really good asset for us I think.

"There are more players on planet Earth than the ones that used to play for us, we don't need to go back to Drinkwater under any circumstances. We need young, fit players with something to prove and not hasbeens who are clearly not interested like Danny Drinkwater. He didn't like being here and on the whole we didn't like him.
Click to expand...
Hmmm. Not sure I want him based on these quotes
 
This picture appeared in loads of papers a few weeks ago - the bloke is still ripped if he can revive the talent in his feet.

EYJXaghXQAAmvl4.jpg-large.jpeg
 
He seems a bit of a troubled fella to me! If he's settled and consistent would be a good signing but feels like a big if.
 
Whoever it is I hope it's the signing kd a player, who has Prem experience, which has the effect Kevin Phillips or Barry Ferguson did rather than James Beattie or Jason Wilcox.
 
voyeur said:
He seems a bit of a troubled fella to me! If he's settled and consistent would be a good signing but feels like a big if.
Click to expand...
You'd think MA knows him pretty well. When to give him a cuddle and when to slap him with a dead fish, so if he thinks he's right, then I'd back his judgement.

Just don't let these things drag on so if you want him, get him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top