Long becomes target man
Just two days after Reading lost out in the Championship promotion play-off at Wembley, Madejski has already resigned himself to losing Long, though the club might have to accept a quarter of his glowing evaluation now that they have been condemned to another season in the Championship.
Still, the £20m price tag, even if aspirational, is a measure of just how far the Tipperary boy has come since joining Reading from Cork for less than €20,000 just six years ago.
Unfortunately for the Airtricity League First Division side, Cork City won’t make a penny from any Long transfer, since it’s understood that the sell-on clause in his contract was disposed of during the liquidation process following the winding up of the previous holding company of the club in January 2010.
As the hunt for the signature of Long intensifies, John Madejski has confirmed that Celtic appear to be leading the charge.
“I’m aware of Celtic’s interest in Shane Long,” said the Reading chairman. “Neil Lennon has been watching him for three games now. He’s been at our past two games and he was there again at Wembley. We are still to hear anything official from Celtic but it’s obvious they are interested.
“How confident am I we can ward off Celtic’s interest? Not very. It’s sad that we didn’t get promoted because Shane would have liked to stay at Reading if we had reached the Premier League. But that has changed because we will be in the Championship.
“Shane is world-class. What is the value I would place on him? £20m. Now we will just have to see what happens with him. As well as being a great player, he’s a lovely lad. If Celtic are to land him, they will be privileged indeed because he’s just a super player and a super individual. He has all the right credentials to go to the very top of the game. He’s hard working and extremely cool in front of goal. I don’t know if he will end up at Celtic but what is certain is that he will not be at Reading next season.”
But if Reading aren’t going up to the Premiership, Marco Tardelli is convinced that Long is. The striker was due into the Irish camp yesterday afternoon, just 24 hours after suffering the crushing disappointment of his club’s failure to get the better of Swansea in that thrilling play-off at Wembley.
The Ireland assistant manager expected the Tipperary man would be “very sad” but has predicted happier days ahead for the player who willreplace Kevin Doyle in Skopje onSaturday.
“Football is fantastic because after two or three days everything can change,” said Tardelli. “We know Shane Long will be very sad but he will be fine.”
Tardelli said he wasn’t surprised to hear reports linking Long withpossible moves to Liverpool andNewcastle United as well as Celtic.
“I think he will be the key man in the transfer window,” said Tardelli. “Yes, I see him as a Premier League player now.
“He’s very good now, he has improved. Like McGeady was when we arrived here, he was very shy but like him he has improved. Shane physically has become very strong, he’s not scared, he’s very fast and he reads the game better.”
Sadness was a minor theme of Marco Tardelli’s briefing in Malahide yesterday, as John O’Shea, Aiden McGeady and Kevin Kilbane all reported for duty after suffering setback with their respective clubs.
Dismissing any fears that O’Shea might have been carrying a knock after failing even to make the Man United bench for the Champions League final, Tardelli said: “He is very good. I spoke with him and he is sad about the match but John O’Shea is a good professional player.”
Meanwhile, the sight of Sean St Ledger taking a full part in training also raised hopes, however slim, that he might yet win his race to be fit for Saturday. “Yes, he trained today and he played well but I think we need two or three days for him,” said the assistant manager. “The other players are fit. (Keith) Andrews has a bit of a problem so he rested today but he will be fine to play against Macedonia.”
However, back-up ‘keeper Darren Randolph has had to return to Motherwell with an arm injury and has been replaced in the squad by Brian Murphy, who is now a free agent, having been released by Motherwell.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, Tardelli accepted that a comparison with the away match in Montenegro in 2008 is valid.
“Maybe Montenegro had two or three more skilful players but it’s the same type of challenge because we will find in Macedonia very tough fans like Montenegro and tough players. And it will be hot too.”
And, reflecting on the preparation value of the Carling Nations Cup games for the big test ahead, he added: “I think Macedonia are better than Northern Ireland but maybe not better than Scotland.”
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