Brian: The right decision?

[Z175]

Awful decision.

If we are relegated now we will never come back up. Ever.

Hope all the people voting yes are still around in League 1. I know Anton won't be.

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

I'll sit on the fence and vote: 'not sure'.

I'm not happy at all - Brian is a Reading legend and the timing just seems very odd, too little time for a successor to make a real impact this season.

We will only know whether the decision has been a success or not until the new manager is given at least 3 months in charge next season. If we're promotion hunting (or still in the Prem!) then it's the right decision, if not, it's the wrong one.

[John Peel]

Bad decision now yes. Should have been given until Christmas when we are inevitably back in the Championship.

Anyway, seeing as it has happened, Nigel Adkins please!

[Maguire]

It's the same as Wolves last year. What on earth does it achieve now?

[P!ssed Off]

I think he should have been given until the end of the season and if we were relegated, which is most likely, then pushed to resign with grace.

But I disagree with those who say give him until Christmas. What we have learned from this season is that it is pointless being promoted from the Championship unless you have good foundations to grow from. We need a team like we had in 05/06, where the majority of the players went on to play for other teams in the Prem once we got relegated.
Brian's main pitfall this season was overloyalty to players who clearly were not good enough, who's to say that would not have happened next season.

At the end of the season, assuming we are relegated, we need to assess who has the current or potential ability to play Premiership football. Any player that does not fulfill this criteria should be let go.

If we do not have a team at the start of the season that we can honestly say has a good chance in winning the league, then there is little point in being promoted. Whilst Brian did a great job in succeeding with an average team, he was unable to build a good team. We need to start next season with a good team if there is any hope in becoming an established top-flight team which is apparently everyone's aim.

[RoyalBlue]

Extremely bad timing,

I hope we don't turn out to be another Wolves who have gone into free fall since the sacking of McCarthy towards the end of last seasons campaign.

Totally different situation. McCarthy hadn't repeatedly shown that he was struggling. What's more they then replaced him with a novice.

[RoyalBlue]

Awful decision.

If we are relegated now we will never come back up. Ever.

Hope all the people voting yes are still around in League 1. I know Anton won't be.

I think you're likely to be proven wrong on all counts.

[Divvy]

Awful decision.

If we are relegated now we will never come back up. Ever.

How dramatic is that?

[Western Royal]

100% the wrong decision. Who do we think we are? We are Reading FC, not Chelsea or even QPR. We are a well run club who take pride in doing things right, or should that be were? Brian McDermott got more out of this squad of players than the sum of their parts; exactly what did the owner expect him to achieve? How long ago was it that he got manager of the month? I find this decision depressing; Anton, I would rather you kept whatever money you actually have than you change the ethos of our football club. Next he will be paying over the odds for expensive strikers from his homeland that he has chosen himself..... Ah well, as long as we still have a league club to support at the end of Anton's flirtation with us.

And to all you boo boys out there - you have no memory whatsoever and no sense of realism. We over-achieved last season; we haven't spent as much as anyone else in this league and our squad is the weakest, so we have overachieved this season as well. You got what you wanted, personally I was just enjoying the premier league ride while it lasted.

[yuomi]

It's the same as Wolves last year. What on earth does it achieve now?

With Brian we're down. Without Brian there is still, apparently, hope. Crazier things have happened than us being saved by replacing the manager. If we still go down it gives the replacement enough time to bed in before the summer and establish what they think we need to challenge in the Championship (or very unlikely, the Prem) next season. I'm not saying it's right but that's the only rationale i can come up with.

[Scutterbucketz]

Not the right decision. Should have kept him, but he'd have lost his job if we were relegated.

His action (or complete lack of it) in the January Transfer Window have cost him his job and our place in the Premier league.

[pearcetom]

If only Brian had taken the wolves job, then come back to us in the summer...he would have had that premiership experience and we wouldnt be in this mess

[windermere_royal]

100% the wrong decision. Who do we think we are? We are Reading FC, not Chelsea or even QPR. We are a well run club who take pride in doing things right, or should that be were? Brian McDermott got more out of this squad of players than the sum of their parts; exactly what did the owner expect him to achieve? How long ago was it that he got manager of the month? I find this decision depressing; Anton, I would rather you kept whatever money you actually have than you change the ethos of our football club. Next he will be paying over the odds for expensive strikers from his homeland that he has chosen himself..... Ah well, as long as we still have a league club to support at the end of Anton's flirtation with us.

And to all you boo boys out there - you have no memory whatsoever and no sense of realism. We over-achieved last season; we haven't spent as much as anyone else in this league and our squad is the weakest, so we have overachieved this season as well. You got what you wanted, personally I was just enjoying the premier league ride while it lasted.

To start with piss off newbie
So little Reading are over achieving?..so what?, does that stop us wanting to be better and compteting with the top sides in the coutry?
its this mentality that we are small so lets stay small that puzzles me amongst RFC fans, we have come a long way in the last 10 years, we can keep growing, and if that means disposing of weak links then so be it. Nice guys don`t always make the best managers.

[Bowman's Quiver]

Unfortunately I think it probably is the right decision for the long term good of the club.

I think it's probably got to the point where McDermott and his one-dimensional tactics might have reached the end of the road both in reality and in the trust and preception of the players.

Sometimes managers, like players, have a shelf life at a club. It's only the very good that can sustain (relative) success over a long period of time and they have to be able to move with the times. I'm not convinced McDermott has shown us he can do that.

Will the next appointment be the right one? Will they be successful? Only time will tell but irrespective there is a very strong case that getting rid of McDermott, and doing it now, gives us the best chance of rebuilding in the way the new owner presumably want.

I voted no, but there's a part of me that agrees with this and I hate myself for it.

[Medusa?]

Right decision? yes. We have not learned anything during the season, our players are who they are- but we do not have the international quality of any of the other teams. There has to be a problem from the top down and, much as I applaud what was done last season (utterly fantastic effort), a change needs making.
Timing? Frankly bizarre. I cannot see a new manager coming in and improving our performance that radically with only 9 days left. Unless he brings a phalanx of loan signings from top Prem teams and that takes money (or extreme luck).

However, why now? The right time was in December, when I thought that McDermott may step down. The likelihood now still must be that we go down. I would have thought that the new season would have been the right time to build anew.

This is not fair to Brian who I believe has been doing his best and is no thanks at all for what he has done. Thanks to him for all he has done and all the best - I hope he finds something soon

[Big Ern]

Awful decision.

If we are relegated now we will never come back up. Ever.

Hope all the people voting yes are still around in League 1. I know Anton won't be.

I think someone is getting a little over emotional now.

The club needs to move forward, unfortunately Brian was unlikely to be able to deliver that. Really sad, but sometimes you need to take one step backwards to go 2 forward. That probably the rational as Brian proved his tactics are prehistoric, found it hard to identify players to improve the squad, and when he did, could not manage them. I love Brian to bits for what he achieved, but this decision had to be made.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Right decision definately.

Saturdays game is a write off anyway points wise and we have 2 weeks to get someone in - at the very least even if we go down he will be able to form opinions of players and get rid of the dead wood so we can hit the ground running next season .

There are still some winnable games left and there is still a small chance of getting out of it which I do not think would be the case if he stayed. Consider the following:

1. He is responsible for putting this squad together which in his eyes was good enough when clearly it wasn't. He had an additional opportunity in Jan which was not taken.
2. It appears he cannot effectively deal with higher profile players not just Guthrie etc but also evidenced by the fact in Jan the only established prem player we went for was an old boy.
3. His stoneage tactics are easy for other sides to counter
4. We have been outplayed in nearly every game - even those we have picked up points in

[notloyalenuffroyal]

Disgusted. Wrong decision.

My 7 year old came to his first few games last season, goes to football club in Tewkesbury wearing his Reading kit and recently sang "McDermott woah" song in the middle of Swindon retail outlet!........

His immediate words on hearing the news....

"(shouts). Noooooooo! (then whimpers). He didn't deserve that! It was amazing that he got us to the Premiership in the first place. We shouldn't really have managed it with our squad. And who will we get better for 9 games anyway?"

7 years old!!!

More sense than me and all the ridiculous people on this board who called for him to go.

When we're fighting off relegation in the Championship next season, I look forward to finding these threads and asking some idiots to eat an enormous big fat humble pie.

To finish, off ran my son singing...... "McDermott woah, McDermott woah, He used to manage Slough, He doesn't manage us now" before shouting.... "it better not be Di Canio"

[BrockManson]

I think if they were going to sack him, they should've done it in January.

Whoever comes in has one hell of a lot to put right if the club is to stay in the league. For me that makes it a very poorly-timed decision, but if the right man comes in to take the club forward then it's still the correct one. Brian had taken the club as far as he could.

[loyalroyal4life]

Worst decision purely due to timing, he should have done this back in January if he felt it necessary. Why get rid of a manager with championship experience who would have done a job next season?

On top of that with names like di canio (no championship experience), adkins being mentioned what good would that be. Only name I think would justify this change would be RDM but can't see someone with champions league winner on his cv coming to a club destined for championship!!