Strangely optimistic about next season.

[Vision]

John Smith making a late run for worst nobber of the season here

Thanks mate but SCIAG won it long ago

I put this somewhere else but it seems more apt here.

When Brian McDermott was sacked as Reading manager (29 games) we had four points more than Nigel Pearson's Leicester had at the same stage last season.

True Facts.

They are true facts, but you're comparing Reading in the Championship to a newly promoted Leicester City in the Premier League, which ended up finishing a very respectable 14th under Pearson.

No I'm not. The comparison is quite clear. What relevance it has is pretty debateable but the comparison isn't.

Maybe we will do a Birmingham City and stave off relegation next season with a hashed-together squad and build on that? You have to give them credit for where they are now after being 2-0 at Bolton with one foot in League One. A squad made almost entirely of loans at one point but a very good manager worked with limited resources.

Or even a Brighton who finished below us last season with a manager who also took over in December but didn't have an instant impact.
However with a little backing from his board in the summer to help build his own team plus the patience to see through the tough times , he's turned it around.

'greed about Rowett . Excellent job he's done there.

[John Smith]

Or even a Brighton who finished below us last season with a manager who also took over in December but didn't have an instant impact.
However with a little backing from his board in the summer to help build his own team plus the patience to see through the tough times , he's turned it around.

'greed about Rowett . Excellent job he's done there.

Not quite - they spent £10m this season. I doubt McDermott will get that much.

[Maneki Neko]

and if he does he'll have sold 20 million worth of players beforehand

[No Fixed Abode]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

[Vision]

Or even a Brighton who finished below us last season with a manager who also took over in December but didn't have an instant impact.
However with a little backing from his board in the summer to help build his own team plus the patience to see through the tough times , he's turned it around.

'greed about Rowett . Excellent job he's done there.

Not quite - they spent £10m this season. I doubt McDermott will get that much.

Or even close.

Point is, whatever the board released , they released to a bloke who didn't turn them around instantly either in a similar time frame that McD has had. I suppose you could argue he just about kept them clear of relegation but on the face of it there wasn't that much to signpost this season. He took 24 points from his 22 games last season. They even managed to lose to us But they backed a guy they employed in December presumably based on his fine track record in the championship (sound familiar) rather than any expectation of an instant fix.

[Vision]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

'greed he's done a great job this season and is a fine manager. Last season he took over in December 1 place outside relegation and they finished 2 places outside of relegation. he took 24 points from his 22 games which isn't really indicative of a fine manager. It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you.

Glad you agree then that BM should be given more time just like Hughton was despite not really doing much in those first 20 something games.

[Maneki Neko]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

how did hughton do last season when he took over?
not making a point, I genuinely don't know the answer

[George_]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

how did hughton do last season when he took over?
not making a point, I genuinely don't know the answer

Finished 1 place and 3 points behind us in 20th.

[Maneki Neko]

right, excellent.
lets use the brighton model of stability and continuity then

[John Smith]

right, excellent.
lets use the brighton model of stability and continuity then

Funded by which £10m Mr Neko?

[Maneki Neko]

The clubs?
Probably from the sale of key assets.
Which wont ammount to 10 million, and wont all be given to Brian.
So brughtons model of continuity, but with less money

[tidus_mi2]

Brighton only spent £6m in the summer though, which was only about £500k-1m more than our summer spending, I'm only unsure of our own spending as I don't know what we spent on Hurtado. So I would argue, the magical figure isn't £10m, Brighton spent £4m more in January, as being in the top 3 for the bulk of the season, they understandably felt a little financial push was justified.

[No Fixed Abode]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

'greed he's done a great job this season and is a fine manager. Last season he took over in December 1 place outside relegation and they finished 2 places outside of relegation. he took 24 points from his 22 games which isn't really indicative of a fine manager. It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you.

Glad you agree then that BM should be given more time just like Hughton was despite not really doing much in those first 20 something games.

So he took Brighton higher in the table than they were - whereas BM took Reading lower.

[Vision]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

'greed he's done a great job this season and is a fine manager. Last season he took over in December 1 place outside relegation and they finished 2 places outside of relegation. he took 24 points from his 22 games which isn't really indicative of a fine manager. It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you.

Glad you agree then that BM should be given more time just like Hughton was despite not really doing much in those first 20 something games.

So he took Brighton higher in the table than they were - whereas BM took Reading lower.

It's almost as if you completely ignored the "It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you" bit which is the point of the comparison.

Proven track record should buy McDermott time just as it did for Hughton last season.

[John Smith]

Brighton only spent £6m in the summer though, which was only about £500k-1m more than our summer spending, I'm only unsure of our own spending as I don't know what we spent on Hurtado. So I would argue, the magical figure isn't £10m, Brighton spent £4m more in January, as being in the top 3 for the bulk of the season, they understandably felt a little financial push was justified.

£10m this season. It's not a mythical figure at all

[Top Flight]

'greed he's done a great job this season and is a fine manager. Last season he took over in December 1 place outside relegation and they finished 2 places outside of relegation. he took 24 points from his 22 games which isn't really indicative of a fine manager. It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you.

Glad you agree then that BM should be given more time just like Hughton was despite not really doing much in those first 20 something games.

So he took Brighton higher in the table than they were - whereas BM took Reading lower.

It's almost as if you completely ignored the "It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you" bit which is the point of the comparison.

Proven track record should buy McDermott time just as it did for Hughton last season.

Damn right! And it will buy him time. Our owners are intelligent people. They are learning their lessons.

[Top Flight]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

He's a good manager Hughton. I rate him.

[No Fixed Abode]

'greed he's done a great job this season and is a fine manager. Last season he took over in December 1 place outside relegation and they finished 2 places outside of relegation. he took 24 points from his 22 games which isn't really indicative of a fine manager. It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you.

Glad you agree then that BM should be given more time just like Hughton was despite not really doing much in those first 20 something games.

So he took Brighton higher in the table than they were - whereas BM took Reading lower.

It's almost as if you completely ignored the "It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you" bit which is the point of the comparison.

Proven track record should buy McDermott time just as it did for Hughton last season.

6 months in charge and the team got worse. You would have hoped for some improvement over that time.

[genome]

I was watching the Brighton game last night and thought what a gr8 job Hughton has done there. A set of average players finishing in 3rd. Shame BM couldn't do that at Reading or at least climb the table with probably a better squad on paper.

High levels of investment in the summer.

Kayal, Stephens, Skalak and Knockaert are not average players btw. If they invested in a quality striker they would've walked the league.

[Top Flight]

So he took Brighton higher in the table than they were - whereas BM took Reading lower.

It's almost as if you completely ignored the "It's almost as if you need some time to put together your own side before people should judge you" bit which is the point of the comparison.

Proven track record should buy McDermott time just as it did for Hughton last season.

6 months in charge and the team got worse. You would have hoped for some improvement over that time.

I'm not surprised we didn't improve. Clarke left a shambles. It needs transfer windows to sort out Clarke's mess.
Finally, Brian can start to make improvements.