Bowen out rumour

[Stranded]

Bounce to 2nd, then 24th, 20th, 20th does very little for us though.

2nd would get us promoted. Different ball game then.

22nd would see us relegated. Rolling the dice too many times is asking for trouble.

Of course it does but, it "feels" to me that they are putting together a sustainable structure at management level - hence why Bowen is taking on the role he is alleged to be doing. If all the clubs in the Championship essentially have a free pass this year for owners to put money in, then tieing that into those changes make sense.

I may be totally off but these feel like changes that were always going to happen at some point but COVID and the likely freeing up of the FFP reigns have made this the right time to push forward with them.

[Millsy]

Paunstar would be utterly utterly uninspiring. I can't see anything about his history that fills me with excitement.

There was a time I remember when new manager talk was exciting. There'd be all sorts of names flying around. In the past few years it's been lots of changes and always totally useless nobody names or total noob managers coming in. Stam, Gomes, Bowen, and now some total nomark randomer.

We've probably just become really unattractive as an option I imagine.

[Simon's Church]

Would be pretty funny if this was all just a wind up by some kids on twitter and Bowen doesn't go anywhere.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Would be pretty funny if this was all just a wind up by some kids on twitter and Bowen doesn't go anywhere.

[Simon's Church]

[Forbury Lion]

Would be pretty funny if this was all just a wind up by some kids on twitter and Bowen doesn't go anywhere.

We can confirm that Mark Bowen has departed Reading Football Club.

Having stepped away from his position as First Team Manager a few days ago, Bowen was offered a new role within the Royals’ restructure, but after careful consideration he has chosen to pursue new opportunities elsewhere.

As manager, Mark successfully steered the club away from the threat of relegation last season, coming through the final nine games of the 2019-20 campaign when the season finally resumed after lockdown in June, to achieve a 14th-placed finish in the Championship.



Owner Mr Dai Yongge said, “I would like to thank Mark for the hard work he put in as manager and the commitment he showed to our first team affairs before, during and after football’s lockdown situation. I would like to wish him well in his future endeavours.”

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2020/august/bowen-departs/

Twitter are not impressed with the lack of openness at the club, spinning it as though Mark Bowen chose to step away from the managerial role to move upstairs again...... maybe he did, maybe he's had enough of dealing with the way the club is run?

[oggy]

I have been a Reading Supporter for over 60yrs and i dont think there has been a worse time in their history than now, the way the owners are treating this club is disgusting, the manager roundabout is just not on , when are we going to keep a manager for 12 months and more and also get one that is known.
Bring back the Elm Park Days

[Mr Angry]

The big problem with this decision by the club is that it doesn't appear to be part of any over-reaching strategy, or part of any sort of vision for the future; yes, of course they would say their vision is to "get to the promised land" but right now thats unrealistic bollox. Instead all they do is lurch from one short term tactical decision after another, the corporate equivilent of running around like a headless chicken.

What is happening is the same as things were at the club in the late 90's, when Sir JM took his eye off the ball as we moved into the Mad Stad (Tommy Burns anyone??); I remember Coppell at a Fans Forum describing Reading as "all fur coat and no knickers" when he arrived, and we are like that now.

Until there is an owner who realises that to be successul you need a realistic vision as to what constitutes success, then to plan properly for that success putting all the neccessary infrastructure in place both in and out of the changing room, and with a Club where EVERYONE - including the fans - have all bought into that vision, all we will get is further disappointment and more seasons (not just the coming one) of mediocrity and failure.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Having stepped away from his position as First Team Manager

Interesting way to spin it...

[andrew1957]

I am only speculating but the fact Bowen flew out to Portugal suggests that he was at least considering staying on as DOF. Perhaps he wanted to decide for himself whether he could work with Paunonvich. If so perhaps that did not go well........

In any case none of us can blame him for wanting out from this mess. Hope he gets a chance to prove himself elsewhere. Lets hope the owners don't end up regretting their decision in a few months.

[WoodleyRoyal]

the average tenure of a championship manager? So, on average, at the start of the 2019-20 Championship, a manager lasted 374 days, which is the equivalent of 1 year, 1 week and 2 days

https://sqaf.club/average-premier-leagu ... me-in-job/

we are no worse than any other club with the chopping and changing.

[Nameless]

the average tenure of a championship manager? So, on average, at the start of the 2019-20 Championship, a manager lasted 374 days, which is the equivalent of 1 year, 1 week and 2 days

https://sqaf.club/average-premier-leagu ... me-in-job/

we are no worse than any other club with the chopping and changing.

How long were Burns, Bullivant and Rogers in post under the much lamented ‘Reading Way’ ?

[WoodleyRoyal]

the average tenure of a championship manager? So, on average, at the start of the 2019-20 Championship, a manager lasted 374 days, which is the equivalent of 1 year, 1 week and 2 days

https://sqaf.club/average-premier-leagu ... me-in-job/

we are no worse than any other club with the chopping and changing.

How long were Burns, Bullivant and Rogers in post under the much lamented ‘Reading Way’ ?

Burns - 25 March 1998 - 16 September 1999
Bullivant - 30 June 1997 -18 March 1998
Rodgers - 4 June 2009 -16 December 2009
Adkins - 26 March 2013 -15 December 2014
Clarke - 16 December 2014 - 4 December 2015

[SCIAG]

the average tenure of a championship manager? So, on average, at the start of the 2019-20 Championship, a manager lasted 374 days, which is the equivalent of 1 year, 1 week and 2 days

https://sqaf.club/average-premier-leagu ... me-in-job/

we are no worse than any other club with the chopping and changing.

The more relevant stat is probably the number of managers in eg a five year period. How do we compare there?

[Woodcote Royal]

I wouldn't have sacked Bowen but his appointment has now been placed in it's true perspective and, whether or not you agree with the decision, I wouldn't call it shambolic, more an owner committed to taking the club where he wants it to be, having never shown the slightest sign of being unwilling to pay for it, apparently electing to install his DoF as manager mid season and install a long term replacement in the summer if required.

On that basis, I think many fans would swap places with us.

[Lower West]

I wouldn't call it shambolic, more an owner committed to taking the club where he wants it to be,

In the process losing the confidence of the very people he needs on board. Clubs that succeed have an internal structure that's built around football. The owner doesn't appear to understand the relationship between club and community. Remember when Liverpool had those two US idiots. Had no understanding of the club at all which resulted in a negative atmosphere around the club for some years. Reflected in their performances on the pitch.

[Woodcote Royal]

In what way is the “structure” not built around football where is it’s non footballing element? Bowen was offered a position that would only have strengthened that structure but he declined.

I understand why some fans will not like it but Hobnob is like an echo chamber with a short circuit.

[Stranded]

I wouldn't call it shambolic, more an owner committed to taking the club where he wants it to be,

In the process losing the confidence of the very people he needs on board. Clubs that succeed have an internal structure that's built around football. The owner doesn't appear to understand the relationship between club and community. Remember when Liverpool had those two US idiots. Had no understanding of the club at all which resulted in a negative atmosphere around the club for some years. Reflected in their performances on the pitch.

It has alienated some who, understandably, react emotionally to decisions affecting their club rather than trying to look at things with some objectivity.

I don't agree with WR on a lot of things but here I pretty much do. When Bowen was appointed it was sold as just to the end of the season. The mistake currently appears to have been offering him a deal for this year too, one additional season is hardly a ringing endorsement and when you look objectively at 2020s results as a whole,

P22 W6 D6 L10 Pts 24

And we don't need to talk about the home form or some of the performances.

You can see how well we started under Bowen but seriously tailed off, for a number of reasons. That is barely a 50pt season and that will have factored into this review.

So, again, I see the logic in the change. It fits with the original plan post Gomes and the "mistake" to date was the new deal to Bowen - but again, I see logic to that - We were flying at the time and you would not want to lose a potentially good manager for nothing as his deal expired but a year extra is still cheap to pay up if needed.

[kwik-silva]

And we don't need to talk about the home form or some of the performances.

You can see how well we started under Bowen but seriously tailed off, for a number of reasons. That is barely a 50pt season and that will have factored into this review.

The new guy's away form is something else, even by that standard

I'm with you on Bowen's poor 2020, but the decision should have come much earlier over summer. To do it this late really hardly sets us up to hit the ground running.

[Stranded]

And we don't need to talk about the home form or some of the performances.

You can see how well we started under Bowen but seriously tailed off, for a number of reasons. That is barely a 50pt season and that will have factored into this review.

The new guy's away form is something else, even by that standard

I'm with you on Bowen's poor 2020, but the decision should have come much earlier over summer. To do it this late really hardly sets us up to hit the ground running.

Yeah I agree but if you take the quotes from the owners at face value this has been an ongoing process over the past few weeks, so it may just have taken them time to pinpoint who they think is the right manager - they way well be wrong of course, thats part of the fun.

As for it being too late, the players only had what 2 weeks training with Bowen before the change and we only play 4 games before the next international break due the League Cup being squeezed into September - so as long as we don't go P4 L4, we still have a good 6 or 7 weeks until the season gets into full swing.