McDermott Hits Back

[RoyalinBracknell]

Yeah nothing really new here. The most interesting bit for me is when he says Spurs were quoting an astromonical figure for Gylfi. I always kind of assumed that Spurs just didn't want to let him go (perhaps because they couldn't bring in the players they were looking to?) but that implies that we might not have been prepared to meet the asking price. If so, I'd be interested to hear what that was. Had we got Gylfi in would we have stayed up?

In terms of McDermott not doing the deals that's obviously true. But it is the manager's responsibility to select targets we could realistically get, identify other possible targets for if those deals don't happen, and use the full length of the transfer window to assemble the best squad possible.

When he says 'I made it clear that we should have spent more money last summer' I'm not sure if he's referring to making it clear recently about what should have happened back then (i.e. to journalists) or whether he made it clear to those at the club actually at the time. I'm inclined to suspect the former and that he probably played a part in coming up with that budget. (Although I'm a little confused as I distinctly remember him saying on the Footballers' Football Show back in late August that they had been trying to get another deal done but hadn't been able to. So that suggests there was more to spend, although I accept that a budget might always have a little leeway and won't be narrowed down to the exact pound.) And again we come back to the fact of was the budget spent well enough?

[TBM]

"We also tried to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Ince for significant sums of money. Unfortunately, Blackpool weren't going to sell Tom for any price and we couldn't do a deal with Tottenham for Gylfi."

Im sorry but if this was the case, why did they leave it until the final day to try and get these players - why not try beginning/mid January and when knocked back turn the attentions elsewhere - i mean there are a hell of a lot more players out there (plus Sigurdsson would never have come back)

[Terminal Boardom]

1 As if BMcD would criticise the club while still employed by them
2 Let's believe everything that the media reports as they have never misquoted nor misrepresented anyone ever before
3 Let it go. BMcD has a new job and Reading has a new manager

[Terminal Boardom]

"We also tried to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Ince for significant sums of money. Unfortunately, Blackpool weren't going to sell Tom for any price and we couldn't do a deal with Tottenham for Gylfi."

Im sorry but if this was the case, why did they leave it until the final day to try and get these players - why not try beginning/mid January and when knocked back turn the attentions elsewhere - i mean there are a hell of a lot more players out there (plus Sigurdsson would never have come back)

Who is to say that he didn't? You know the way the club conducts business. They probably released the story at the end of the month to placate the fans into thinking that they had made a concerted effort.

Sorry, but this all boils down to the lack of preparation for the PL compared to when we went up in 2006.

[TBM]

Who is to say that he didn't?

The fact we didn't spend the £10m on anyone else......

[Terminal Boardom]

Who is to say that he didn't?

The fact we didn't spend the £10m on anyone else......

All that suggests is that the club were unsuccessful in trying to strengthen the squad in January. I prefer to look at the lack of marquee signings in January as an admission that relegation was an inevitability and that there was no point in spending a huge amount of money to sign some big names, let alone spend thousands a week on salaries. This is just an opinion with nothing to substantiate.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

McDermott, Hammond and Zingaravic all failed in their jobs. To point figures and single out one or who should take the rap / blame is human nature.

[From Despair To Where?]

What an absolute moron, he's changing what he said months ago about last summer and again said we signed more than anyone apart from Newcastle - he might have half a leg to stand on if he hadn't alienated half his signings this season by not using them properly. I hope he fails miserably at Leeds.

Sounds remarkably like another former Reading manager currently at a team beginning with L.

[howser]

Quite simply I don't think it matters who we might or might not have signed, the football we were playing was total rubbish continuously giving the ball away, unalbe to string more than a couple of passes together and in all honesty being "lucky" to have won any games at all this season, we were well and truly "sussed" by other Premiership sides very early in the season, the change should have happened earlier, with a footballing man like Adkins in charge we might have stood a chance.

It's a pity that we now see ourselves in the "blame culture" it was his fault not mine, he didnt give enough money etc................ letting himself down a little bit there, he must realise the a hard nosed owner would have got rid of him months ago, he was lucky to get the job of Reading manager and has moved away from the club with his reputation massivly higher than it was when he got the job, considered a short sighted choice by many on here when SJM appointed him, we put his name up in lights here and this is how he is now talking and critisising about the club that gave him a massive opportunity.


Big bit of sour grapes, MvDermott should be thankful that we stopped him driving around the country each weekend scouting for bargain basement buys.

[Colin Cheeselog]

These aren’t new quotes from McDermott, it’s what he said a few weeks ago. Just because a different media source has published it now, doesn’t mean it’s a new story.

Believing everything said in the media, including sensationalist headings, doesn’t reflect well on the reader.

[melonhead]

What an absolute moron, he's changing what he said months ago about last summer and again said we signed more than anyone apart from Newcastle - he might have half a leg to stand on if he hadn't alienated half his signings this season by not using them properly. I hope he fails miserably at Leeds.

youre a dick

[melonhead]

Hang on, BM says he spent all of his budget, but he then says he also wanted Sig and Ince. Clearly he didn't spend it all then.

all of his budget in the summer.
ince and sig was in jan. and transfers have always been down to hammond.
brian says yes, id like tghat player, hammond goes to negotiate. so not getting those players can never really be layed at his door tbf

[Cobi]

McDermott, Hammond and Zingaravic all failed in their jobs. To point figures and single out one or who should take the rap / blame is human nature.

Agreed. I just hope AZ now realises he wont get success on the cheap. I know he wants us to look at the kids, which is great, but you also need to invest as well. Failure to do so could see us do a Wolves next season.

[melonhead]

McDermott, Hammond and Zingaravic all failed in their jobs. To point figures and single out one or who should take the rap / blame is human nature.

Agreed. I just hope AZ now realises he wont get success on the cheap. .

despite getting success twice on the cheap

[Hoop Blah]

When he says 'I made it clear that we should have spent more money last summer' I'm not sure if he's referring to making it clear recently about what should have happened back then (i.e. to journalists) or whether he made it clear to those at the club actually at the time. I'm inclined to suspect the former and that he probably played a part in coming up with that budget. (Although I'm a little confused as I distinctly remember him saying on the Footballers' Football Show back in late August that they had been trying to get another deal done but hadn't been able to. So that suggests there was more to spend, although I accept that a budget might always have a little leeway and won't be narrowed down to the exact pound.) And again we come back to the fact of was the budget spent well enough?

That's pretty much how I see it, and it's hard to read too much into the article because it starts with a totally inaccurate statement about Zingarevich saying he didn't spend his budget in the summer.

It sounds like he told the club they needed to spend more in the summer, but as I've heard him say that he spent all his budget in the summer, then followed that up with a comment that he was then working on adding a couple more I find it a little confusing and contradictory.

As for the 'I did my bit' and it was the 'clubs job to seal the deals' comments. They sounds a little overly defensive to me and we probably should've been targetting more realistic options when we were in the desperate position we were in.

[blueroyals]

"We also tried to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Ince for significant sums of money. Unfortunately, Blackpool weren't going to sell Tom for any price and we couldn't do a deal with Tottenham for Gylfi."

Im sorry but if this was the case, why did they leave it until the final day to try and get these players - why not try beginning/mid January and when knocked back turn the attentions elsewhere - i mean there are a hell of a lot more players out there (plus Sigurdsson would never have come back)

This. Of course Spurs were going to quote an astronomical price it was fukking deadline day. Had we made an offer on 1st. of Jan it would have given them a whole month to find a replacement. At the time Gylfi wasn't playing at all much and AVB would have been grateful for the cash to buy a striker.

At the end of the day, the club have fukked up both transfer windows this season and nobody wants to take responsibility for it. I believe that in the summer McD spent his budget but January was a complete joke - we were staring relegation in the face and we buy a couple of league two players we'd seen in the cup. He can't give it all that about signing more players than anybody else - quantity wasn't going to keep us up - it's quality that we needed. What more did we expect from Brian though given the last 4 years?

[melonhead]

the sig deal was nearly done. only the late fall through of spurs deal for another player killed it.

[melonhead]

"We also tried to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Ince for significant sums of money. Unfortunately, Blackpool weren't going to sell Tom for any price and we couldn't do a deal with Tottenham for Gylfi."

Im sorry but if this was the case, why did they leave it until the final day to try and get these players - why not try beginning/mid January and when knocked back turn the attentions elsewhere - i mean there are a hell of a lot more players out there (plus Sigurdsson would never have come back)

This. Of course Spurs were going to quote an astronomical price it was fukking deadline day. Had we made an offer on 1st. of Jan it would have given them a whole month to find a replacement. At the time Gylfi wasn't playing at all much and AVB would have been grateful for the cash to buy a striker.

At the end of the day, the club have fukked up both transfer windows this season and nobody wants to take responsibility for it. I believe that in the summer McD spent his budget but January was a complete joke - we were staring relegation in the face and we buy a couple of league two players we'd seen in the cup. He can't give it all that about signing more players than anybody else - quantity wasn't going to keep us up - it's quality that we needed. What more did we expect from Brian though given the last 4 years?

the last 4 years of progression and almost huge success?

[Wimb]

I don't think Brian took us forward though Brendy, I just think he made the best, the very, very, very best out of what he had left to work with from the Coppell era and riches that came from it.

He was great at tweaking the squad to get the best out of it but couldn't take it forward. Whether that was down to him, the support he was given or just bad luck we'll never know.

[Bowman's Quiver]

McDermott, Hammond and Zingaravic all failed in their jobs. To point figures and single out one or who should take the rap / blame is human nature.

Agreed. I just hope AZ now realises he wont get success on the cheap. I know he wants us to look at the kids, which is great, but you also need to invest as well. Failure to do so could see us do a Wolves next season.

And I wonder what former owner put that idea in his head in the first place?