Thank you Brian!

[Cureton's Volley]

FAO BRIAN - if you're reading this and you fancy going out and getting completely shitfaced in Reading this week then let me know and they are on me.

Fancy the Fox and Hounds for the United game seeing as you won't be there?

This might be the gayest post ever but reading that made me well up. Because that's what I want to do. I am actually gutted.

Easily my favourite manager, for that feeling at HT vs Villa, for Liverpool and Everton away, for the run of games in Spring 2012, for not being your usual touchline fodder. Not the best, but definitely the one I will remember most fondly.

+1

Too pissed off to write a fitting tribute. Reading were shit this season, but they were OUR Reading. I worry that this is the last straw to follow all the other factors which have changed to make calling yourself a Royal a shadow of the pride you used to feel. We had class, if that was all we had - I was proud.

[winchester_royal]

Shocked and very much saddened by this. Shocked because I didn't expect it to happen at this time. Sad that Brian's time at the club had to end like this. He did do so much for us and gave us so many great times for which I genuinely thank him.

Sadly, however, this season and the PL seemed to be just one step too far for him and the worrying thing was that he increasingly seemed lost as to what to do about it. I suspect his January signings just added to the doubts that those above him were beginning to have.

In the end, I feel that the decision is for the best. It was almost a case of putting him out of his misery. The situation was rapidly deteriorating for everyone concerned. Pressure on the team and Brian was beginning to increase significantly. On Saturday he was very upset at his players being jeered and it then can not have been pleasant for him to watch MOTD have a good laugh at his team's expense. It would have been dreadful had the point finally been reached when the crowd really started shouting for Brian's dismissal during matches.

I'm sure some on here will have a go about crocodile tears etc. I am not going to hide, nor am I ashamed of the fact that I questionned whether he should remain as our manager. That doesn't mean that I can't acknowledge and be grateful for so much of what he did for the club during his time at Reading FC. It is just unfortunate that things had to end this way. A while back I said it would be ideal if a situation could be created whereby he could move into another role at the club and remain a hero. Sadly that was an unrealistic hope.

However, it would be nice to put aside all the bad events and memories of this season and remember him as the hero that he was.

A genuinely nice guy who defied all of the odds and with very limited financial backing from above somehow got us into the Premier League for only the second time in the club's history.

Don't often agree with you RB but this sums up my feelings tonight exactly

[loyalroyal4life]

Good thread

Huge thanks to my favourite ever RFC manager. Absolute hero!

[RoyalBlue]

Shocked and very much saddened by this. Shocked because I didn't expect it to happen at this time. Sad that Brian's time at the club had to end like this. He did do so much for us and gave us so many great times for which I genuinely thank him.

Sadly, however, this season and the PL seemed to be just one step too far for him and the worrying thing was that he increasingly seemed lost as to what to do about it. I suspect his January signings just added to the doubts that those above him were beginning to have.

In the end, I feel that the decision is for the best. It was almost a case of putting him out of his misery. The situation was rapidly deteriorating for everyone concerned. Pressure on the team and Brian was beginning to increase significantly. On Saturday he was very upset at his players being jeered and it then can not have been pleasant for him to watch MOTD have a good laugh at his team's expense. It would have been dreadful had the point finally been reached when the crowd really started shouting for Brian's dismissal during matches.

I'm sure some on here will have a go about crocodile tears etc. I am not going to hide, nor am I ashamed of the fact that I questionned whether he should remain as our manager. That doesn't mean that I can't acknowledge and be grateful for so much of what he did for the club during his time at Reading FC. It is just unfortunate that things had to end this way. A while back I said it would be ideal if a situation could be created whereby he could move into another role at the club and remain a hero. Sadly that was an unrealistic hope.

However, it would be nice to put aside all the bad events and memories of this season and remember him as the hero that he was.

A genuinely nice guy who defied all of the odds and with very limited financial backing from above somehow got us into the Premier League for only the second time in the club's history.

Don't often agree with you RB but this sums up my feelings tonight exactly

Bloody hell! Strange how regular combatants can suddenly be as one at a time of loss - and tonight is a time of loss. I actually am feeling really sad.

[Kebe is our Messi]

I feel a bit sad he went out on that game last saturday with all the booing at his substitutions during the game, harsh on the guy.

Will always get a fantastic reception when he returns

[Doolittle]

Thanks for all you've done Brian. Nobody could have given more to the club than you have during the past 13 years. You did a fantastic job to get Reading FC into the Premier League, and you leave the club in a much better place than when you took over as manager. You can be proud of that legacy, and will always have that bond with the supporters.

[joeroyal]

Thanks for all you've done Brian. Nobody could have given more to the club than you have during the past 13 years. You did a fantastic job to get Reading FC into the Premier League, and you leave the club in a much better place than when you took over as manager. You can be proud of that legacy, and will always have that bond with the supporters.

Thanks Mr Mcd If you could just clear your desk ASAP We move on next please

[mr_number]

As posted elsewhere, ignoring the footballing issues and the mistakes made across the club this year, it really feels like part/ most of our identity is lost with Brian. Someone who put so much into one club over so long is pretty rare these days. He gave us what was probably my favourite season ever, and some of my favourite games ever. Last season was absolutely astonishing, and he'll go down in our history for that. And he's achieved all he has whilst being an apparently great bloke, unlike many of the other characters in football today.

Whatever he's doing today, and I'm sure he's devastated, I hope he can find a bit of pride at what he's achieved over the past few years. He really made me proud to be a Reading fan. Thanks Brian.

[Elm Park Kid]

I want to add my thanks to McDermott for all he's done over the last few years. He had a fantastic approach to the game and technically remains one of our most successful managers.

[royal_ross]

FAO the moaners on Saturday, well done you got your wish!

FAO Brian, thank you so much for giving me the best 3 years recently as a Reading fan, from experiencing the lows of being at the wrong end of the championship & the playoff final defeat to the joys of beating Liverpool at Anfield and storming our way to the premier league as champions when it seemed mid table we were destined for. The group of players we have now may lack the quality but you give them something I doubt another manager could have, team spirit and belief.

Don't agree with the decision or the timing to remove you, but forever you will be remembered for the right things. A legend absolutely. As my time supporting started with Pardew, Coppell & McDermott are the best managers I've seen.

[Schards#2]

Just gutted really.

Guy's worked miracles in his 3 years here.

Really hope he gets another job in the game somewhere.

Feels like something at the club has died today

[boycey]

God speed little fellow.

There will always been a pint of fosters waiting for you at the monks.

[HoneyRoastHoax]

Thanks Brian, its been a blast.

[HoneyRoastHoax]

You too Gibbo, all the best for the future.

[Royal With Cheese]

Brina, thanks for some great memories. Your record speaks for itself. You're a top man and one of the best managers Reading have had.

Thank you. Good luck for the future.

[Z175]

Will always get a fantastic reception when he returns

Of course. But the only problem is he'll return with his Wolves/Leeds side top of the Championship, and we'll be in the bottom 3 heading for league 1, with no chief scout to rescue us on a limited budget. The Championships a bloody hard league

[floyd__streete]

I think it'll be great when McD comes back to Reading as manager of a Championship side which League One Reading draw in the FA Cup 3rd round.

[barelylubedcock]

taken from football365 letters page, much I agree with

...In early December, with us at the bottom of the league and looking implausible as a Premier League side, a friend asked me if I thought we had any chance of survival. I said probably not, but that it wouldn't be the end of the world if we got relegated. This is Reading, after all. Regardless of what happens, this will be at least our third highest final league position in our 142-year history. I then added, to my friend's incomprehension, that were I offered then and there guaranteed relegation, but with the manager not having been sacked, I'd take it.

The reason for this is simple - today's sacking of Brian McDermott may be the end of everything I've grown to love about my football club. Under John Madejski, we have been a model of stability and decency. When we've won, we've won the right way. We've taken punts on players from the lower divisions and from the more unfashionable leagues of Europe, and unearthed countless gems. We've played an attacking, if rarely technically gifted or defensively competent, brand of football, and have normally gone about it in a sporting manner.

We've grown our fanbase as we've gone along by turning the heads of kids from Reading and the nearby Thames commuter-belt towns from distant London clubs. We're an absurdly polite bunch of fans too - Brighton were so moved by this last season as to feel compelled to write us a thank you note (I know there are many football fans that pride themselves on their anti-social behaviour that will snort with derision at this point, but I like being polite. So f**k off). We're often a 'second club' for fans of other teams, and remarkably few people seem to dislike us (apart from Oliver Holt for some reason).

All of this makes me proud to support Reading. Throw in the bonus of that record breaking Championship season, our first year in the Premier League with Sir Steve, and some of our best ever cup runs, and it's been an incredible 10 years or so. I look at a club like Chelsea, and I genuinely don't know how I could have continued to support them had I been a fan who's seen their club turned into a billionaire's peculiar football freakshow. So is that what we can look forward to under our very own new Russian owner?

I desperately hope not. On the basis of his behaviour so far, I can't discount the possibility that he's taken a keen interest, knows his football, is aware of the dressing room and has made a reasonable, if slightly brutal call. But it may well not be that, and this may well be the point that we start behaving like so many other clubs, chasing a ridiculous dream and thowing money and dignity all over the place in the process.

Farewell to Brian then - a great manager for the club. I'm sorry he's gone.

[Badger Finger]

taken from football365 letters page, much I agree with

...In early December, with us at the bottom of the league and looking implausible as a Premier League side, a friend asked me if I thought we had any chance of survival. I said probably not, but that it wouldn't be the end of the world if we got relegated. This is Reading, after all. Regardless of what happens, this will be at least our third highest final league position in our 142-year history. I then added, to my friend's incomprehension, that were I offered then and there guaranteed relegation, but with the manager not having been sacked, I'd take it.

The reason for this is simple - today's sacking of Brian McDermott may be the end of everything I've grown to love about my football club. Under John Madejski, we have been a model of stability and decency. When we've won, we've won the right way. We've taken punts on players from the lower divisions and from the more unfashionable leagues of Europe, and unearthed countless gems. We've played an attacking, if rarely technically gifted or defensively competent, brand of football, and have normally gone about it in a sporting manner.

We've grown our fanbase as we've gone along by turning the heads of kids from Reading and the nearby Thames commuter-belt towns from distant London clubs. We're an absurdly polite bunch of fans too - Brighton were so moved by this last season as to feel compelled to write us a thank you note (I know there are many football fans that pride themselves on their anti-social behaviour that will snort with derision at this point, but I like being polite. So f**k off). We're often a 'second club' for fans of other teams, and remarkably few people seem to dislike us (apart from Oliver Holt for some reason).

All of this makes me proud to support Reading. Throw in the bonus of that record breaking Championship season, our first year in the Premier League with Sir Steve, and some of our best ever cup runs, and it's been an incredible 10 years or so. I look at a club like Chelsea, and I genuinely don't know how I could have continued to support them had I been a fan who's seen their club turned into a billionaire's peculiar football freakshow. So is that what we can look forward to under our very own new Russian owner?

I desperately hope not. On the basis of his behaviour so far, I can't discount the possibility that he's taken a keen interest, knows his football, is aware of the dressing room and has made a reasonable, if slightly brutal call. But it may well not be that, and this may well be the point that we start behaving like so many other clubs, chasing a ridiculous dream and thowing money and dignity all over the place in the process.

Farewell to Brian then - a great manager for the club. I'm sorry he's gone.

That's a good read...

Pretty much spot on too

[stickywhisky]

Cheers Brian & Nigel - i'll never forget the run we went on last season to win the championship or the play-off final.
I hope you find a decent club that will appreciate your efforts