Who do you want to replace Clarke?

[CountryRoyal]

Do people not think that McDermott possibly only played 'hoof ball' before, because he thought that was the most effective way to get the best out of the squad he had?

I seem to recall us playing some decent stuff in the second half of 09/10, playing on the ground through the likes of Gylfi and Brian Howard, who were more suited to that type of play. We also had good overlapping full backs, particularly Bertrand, who got up and down better than Harte could after him.

He might try a different approach with the players we now have (if he's appointed, of course) and play it on the ground more.

Regardless of playing styles, however, we need to have clinical finishers otherwise all the build up doesn't really matter.

Good post. I loved the second half of the 09-10 season. 6-0 v Peterborough, 5-0 v Sheffield Wednesday, 3-0 v Coventry. I'd like to se him try to create that sort of playing style if possible which was a lot more entertaining than any of the slow possession build-up we have tried.

Agreed. In the end the season ended a bit too soon and we could count ourselves unfortunate for missing out on the playoffs. We averaged over 2ppg from when he was appointed full time manager.

[Man Friday]

Winning 6-0 = hoofball. Much prefer Adkins' and Clarke's style of play. Okay we didn't amass that many points under A + C but it was much more fun seeing us draw 0-0 (if we were lucky).

[Sutekh]

The last poll on this. Think we know the final three names from those that have been most regularly cropping up in the media in the last few days.

Think it's definitely going to be Brian for me....

[windermere_royal]

We move on

[tonyrfc]

None of the above

[Lacoste]

The last poll on this. Think we know the final three names from those that have been most regularly cropping up in the media in the last few days.

Think it's definitely going to be Brian for me....

Luzon is nowhere near being considered.

What a shit thread

[sputnik]

What a shit thread

You must be new round here

[sandman]

We move on

"We jump in a Delorean, hit 88mph and go back in time to the beginning of the match to correct the loss."

[Ascotexgunner]

It will be none of them.

[ILoveMoonPig]

Not sure I get why everyone is so desperate to have BMD back in charge. Several reasons, really:

1. Weren't we all a bit bored of the '90s style hoofball? The direct and fast approach scored goals against weaker opposition but proved really simple for average premiership sides to break up. There was no articulate passing and no decent off-the-ball movement. Does nobody remember the boing during the particularly boring game against Villa?

2. He had a good run here. What he did here was incredible, year after year and for that, he deserves his recognition. But I would be gutted for e guy if he came back, couldn't get the team right and we ended up bobbling around the lower half of the division

3. The whole point of removing a manager is to step forward, change things about and make progress. Why go back to something you had four years ago that had already shown the limits of how much it could achieve?

That said, if he does get the job, I'll still support his management of the club. At least Brian seems like a decent bloke.

[RoyalinBracknell]

I think it will be Brian and I hope it will be Brian (and most certainly out of that list!)

Therefore I went for Brian.

[bcubed]

We move on

"We jump in a Delorean, hit 88mph and go back in time to the beginning of the match to correct the loss."

So there is another option!

[RoyalinBracknell]

Not sure I get why everyone is so desperate to have BMD back in charge. Several reasons, really:

1. Weren't we all a bit bored of the '90s style hoofball? The direct and fast approach scored goals against weaker opposition but proved really simple for average premiership sides to break up. There was no articulate passing and no decent off-the-ball movement. Does nobody remember the boing during the particularly boring game against Villa?

2. He had a good run here. What he did here was incredible, year after year and for that, he deserves his recognition. But I would be gutted for e guy if he came back, couldn't get the team right and we ended up bobbling around the lower half of the division

3. The whole point of removing a manager is to step forward, change things about and make progress. Why go back to something you had four years ago that had already shown the limits of how much it could achieve?

That said, if he does get the job, I'll still support his management of the club. At least Brian seems like a decent bloke.

1. The style of play McDermott adapted for the second half of the 09-10 season certainly wasn't hoofball and was a pleasure to watch. I don't think we ever played that consistently well or as attractively under Adkins, Rodgers or Clarke. At the time McDermott had a limited amount to spend on players and we were regularly losing our best players (from memory didn't Gylfi leave on the final/penultimate day of the transfer window so we had to use the funds to bring in whoever we could afford at short notice - we got Ian Harte (which turned out to be a great signing) and Leigertwood came in on loan a few months after. In the circumstances I think McDermott adapted well to the conditions, and built a team which was strong defensively and in central midfield, had decent wing play from Kebe and McAnuff, and a more direct focus from either Long or Roberts. But I certainly don't agree it was just hoofball or that it was boring to watch - there were plenty of really strong performances with high energy and tempo, good organisation, a real grit at times and some really good play on occasions - for all some people speak about us being 'lucky' to win away to Southampton in April 2012, look at those first two goals. The cross from Kebe for the first is sensational and the link up play between Le Fondre, Hunt and Kebe for the second is a brilliant piece of play. We also had a patched up side that night with no Leigertwood or Karacan (I'm not too convinced that under Adkins or Clarke we would have won such a big game in those types of circumstance) and McDermott's attacking substitution in bringing Le Fondre on for Tabb won us the game. We scored plenty of late goals under McDermott and showed spirit and resolve in regularly coming from behind - something we've very rarely been able to do in the somewhat apathetic tedium of many of our games under our last two managers.

2. No matter what happens McDermott's first two and half seasons with us will always be there and can never be forgotten or written out of history. Some people say 'stop looking back to the past' but it seems far more sensible for me when people look at what McDermott achieved with Reading at this level (have we ever had a more consistent manager in the Championship/Division 1 across all their seasons?) and think we might be able to build on that again, hopefully with a more stable ownership this time who will provide a bit more backing and won't be as pressurised into selling players allowing him to have the chance to build something a bit more long-term. It seems really bizarre for me when people look back to the successful past and think we should automatically rule him out because of it. Yes it would be disappointing if we ended up relegated to League 1 with him but then that would be disappointing with any manager - I think it's far more likely McDermott would avoid any such disaster though than some of the candidates mentioned and I'd back his chances of success. There's no point in avoiding making a managerial appointment that you believe should go right just on the slight possibility it might somehow go really wrong.

4. Instead we stepped back significantly, changed things about and found they didn't work, and have made no progress whatsoever - quite the opposite really in terms of our record on the pitch. I think our problems in the Premier League were as much caused by a distinct lack of investment and probably interference from the owner than anything else. Hopefully McDermott and the board as a whole will have learnt from that experience and will make better strategic decisions if we are indeed promoted (and whilst I think we need to invest much more in the summer next time we get promoted, I also think we've made mistakes in strategy when we've got relegated - on both occasions we've tried to drastically change our style of play and ended up just above the relegation zone in the Championship 18 months after relegation from the Premier League, which has probably delayed our return.)

The fact is McDermott did an excellent job leading the club at this level and has worked with some of the board before. The one time he was given decent financial backing to plug holes in the team (January 2012) he had us promoted within three months. He might not be able to take us to the top half of the Premier League but right now we're a heck of a long way from anything like that - for the moment we need to focus on being a consistently strong, competitive Championship team once again and I can't really think of any better candidate to achieve that here than Brian McDermott.

[sandman]

We move on

"We jump in a Delorean, hit 88mph and go back in time to the beginning of the match to correct the loss."

So there is another option!

Not really as the players and manager coming face to face with their past selves could put them into shock and they would simply pass out, therefore causing the match to be abandoned and us failing to gain points anyway.

Or, the encounter could create a time paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe! Granted, that's worst-case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localised, limited to merely our own galaxy.

Guess the only option is to just move on and concentrate on winning the next game rather than worrying about a past match that you can no longer change the outcome of.

[ILoveMoonPig]

The fact is McDermott did an excellent job leading the club at this level and has worked with some of the board before. The one time he was given decent financial backing to plug holes in the team (January 2012) he had us promoted within three months. He might not be able to take us to the top half of the Premier League but right now we're a heck of a long way from anything like that - for the moment we need to focus on being a consistently strong, competitive Championship team once again and I can't really think of any better candidate to achieve that here than Brian McDermott.

I really hope you're right, because I have a strong feeling that it probably will be Brian who gets the job. And the football was for the most part always enjoyable.

[moonwalklikebas]

The meltdown on this board if Luzon gets appointed will be brilliant to watch unfold though!!!

[From Despair To Where?]

Brian is absolutely by miles the best candidate for the job. Unfortunately that has less to do with his ability and more to do with the utter dross being linked with us.

[Kitsondinho]

And we all love his Royal Baldness!

[Ian Royal]

*walks back in*

Doesn't seem to be a consensus on this. For arguments sake England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland can be regarded as countries in their own right, but then the UK can also be regarded as a country. So I guess a Scotsman would be foreign to England but not foreign to the UK.

Yeah let's talk about something else

What about overseas territories? Basically the same as NI, countries too?

Also when has Wales ever been a country in its own right with a single government/ruler?

[bcubed]

"We jump in a Delorean, hit 88mph and go back in time to the beginning of the match to correct the loss."

So there is another option!

Not really as the players and manager coming face to face with their past selves could put them into shock and they would simply pass out, therefore causing the match to be abandoned and us failing to gain points anyway.

Or, the encounter could create a time paradox, the result of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe! Granted, that's worst-case scenario. The destruction might in fact be very localised, limited to merely our own galaxy.

Guess the only option is to just move on and concentrate on winning the next game rather than worrying about a past match that you can no longer change the outcome of.

So all things considered Brian saying "we move on" was actually pretty shrewd