Brian: The right decision?

[Extended-Phenotype]

I think the results have clouded the improvement somewhat, but there is no denying some players have made the step up we had hoped they would but failed to do under McD.

[Once were Biscuitmen]

So I think the, ‘style of football’ criticism of Brian is a little unfair, prior to the Sigurdsson sale we played more of a passing game.

When he went Brian adopted the tactics to get the most out of a pretty limited squad, and won the league doing so!

[melonhead]

What, you mean like last time we were relegated?

erm.

yes.

there is no denying we are a bigger club now after our 2nd stint in the prem than we were before our first, that money is/was doing exactly that- enabling us to run as a business, keep good players, buy decent ones, get a training ground etc

its a long term thing though, so just taking snapshots every year or so isnt really going to yield much insight

Seem to remember last time we were relegated we couldn't afford to keep our players and the drop was the excuse used by RTG's as to why we had black holes and unavoidable sales.

Now going up, investing f/ck all and getting relegated is a strategy for making money?

we sold a numbe4r of players, the ones who wouldnt stay, or who we could get huge money for, but took the core of our prem team to attempt to get back up at the first attempt

obviously the championship requires financial readjustment, so you cant go on paying 30 odd million a year in wages.
but we still grew as a club.


lol at "excuse"
no money = no money, but we dealt with that quite well too, and still managed to reach a play off final and then get up again

[winchester_royal]

Still had more money than the vast majority of other Championship clubs though

[Man Friday]

I must confess, I haven't seen the "improvement" that others profess to have seen. As the last poster said, time will tell. Nigel's had the opportunity to hit the ground running next season so if we're struggling by, say, Christmas then it doesn't look like it's working.

Depends what you consider an improvement.

Results? Possibly a slight improvement.

Style of football? Massive improvement.

I dare say the style of football will get better, and I imagine that when we get the player NA wants, the results will also improve. Obviously being in a lower division, one would like to think that the results would improve anyway, but the method to getting the results should hopefully ensure that if we do succeed and finish the season promoted, we may stand a better chance at staying up.

To be honest, anyone who saw an improvement in the way RFC were playing towards the end of the season, probably wanted to see an improvement.

[Woodcote Royal]

I think the results have clouded the improvement somewhat

Or, the know nothings who think winning I game in 8 represents some kind of improvement are actually suffering from clouded vision thanks to their heads being rammed firmly up their own backsides.

Any management fool can watch is team getting stuffed week on week whilst playing pretty football.

[Royal91]

Its amazing this thread is still going.

Brian=Legend, but taken us as far as he can

[jellytot]

Bringing in NA was never going to change the results. The playing staff were not good enough for
pl. Until NA has brought in his own players no real point in talkimg about the results. The football gas been better (not difficult to be honest). Bringing in NA was only so that he had time to assess
The squad so that there is no time wasting in the the summer. Time will tell so let's leave it for a
bit!!

[Reading4eva]

Adkins plays good football, that's the best improvement from this scenario.

Once he has his own personnel we will see. I'm confident of an instant return.

[creative_username_1]

i don't know....we'll see what happens

[Woodcote Royal]

I'm confident of an instant return.

So am I, but that still won't justify Mc Dermott's sacking.

Brian got us up with an inferior squad after being forced to sell the striker who scored against England last night, having unearthed the teenage player in Ireland and letting him live in his house when he first came here ........................who was Atkins forced to sell at Southampton and who thinks we might have stayed up had Long still been here?

McDermott was never allowed to have a squad good enough to play attractive football but HE was good enough to make lesser players, playing a more functional style, out perform teams that cost far more money to assemble.

Sacking McDermott, and the timing of it in particular, was a highly unprofessional decision taken by an owner who clearly knows less about the game than he likes to believe.

I, too, have high hopes for Nigel Atkins but him being here was down to sheer good fortune (he wouldn't have given us a moments consideration had he been employed at a club that really values those who produce the required results) but McDermott finishing above him in the Championship for a third/fourth? time remains a distinct possibility.

[southbank1871]

The fact is, we will never really know if it was the right decision to sack McDermott. I'm sure we would still have been relegated if he had not been, but even if we win the league under Adkins next season, we'll never know if we would done that under BM as well. The idea that we've played nicer football and had more possession under NA doesn't really prove anything.

[Stranded]

I'm confident of an instant return.

So am I, but that still won't justify Mc Dermott's sacking.

Brian got us up with an inferior squad after being forced to sell the striker who scored against England last night, having unearthed the teenage player in Ireland and letting him live in his house when he first came here ........................who was Atkins forced to sell at Southampton and who thinks we might have stayed up had Long still been here?

McDermott was never allowed to have a squad good enough to play attractive football but HE was good enough to make lesser players, playing a more functional style, out perform teams that cost far more money to assemble.

Sacking McDermott, and the timing of it in particular, was a highly unprofessional decision taken by an owner who clearly knows less about the game than he likes to believe.

I, too, have high hopes for Nigel Atkins but him being here was down to sheer good fortune (he wouldn't have given us a moments consideration had he been employed at a club that really values those who produce the required results) but McDermott finishing above him in the Championship for a third/fourth? time remains a distinct possibility.

Its Adkins! I know he's only been here a couple of months but come on get the guys name right.

[RoyalBlue]

The fact is, we will never really know if it was the right decision to sack McDermott. I'm sure we would still have been relegated if he had not been, but even if we win the league under Adkins next season, we'll never know if we would done that under BM as well. The idea that we've played nicer football and had more possession under NA doesn't really prove anything.

But is does make supporting/watching the team a lot more emjoyable!

I think the results have clouded the improvement somewhat

Or, the know nothings who think winning I game in 8 represents some kind of improvement are actually suffering from clouded vision thanks to their heads being rammed firmly up their own backsides.

Any management fool can watch is team getting stuffed week on week whilst playing pretty football.

And any management fool can watch their team getting stuffed week on week whilst playing absolutely dire football. Of the two scenarios, I know which I prefer. Can anyone really say they preferred the pointless (in all senses of the word) shyte that we witnessed in the last weeks of McDermott's time to the football that we have seen since Adkins took over?

As for those confidently predicting that McDermott and Leeds will finish above us next season, I have some doubts whether he will actually see the season out with that particular club - not saying he can't do a good job in the Championship (he has proven he can), I just don't see him and Leeds as a good fit.

[Hoop Blah]

I'm confident of an instant return.

So am I, but that still won't justify Mc Dermott's sacking.

The justification is purely that his mistakes over the length of the season, and the potential unhappy/frustrated dressing room, were significant contributory factors in our relegation as was his inability (and potentially reluctance) to spend the money needed to improve our chances of staying up.

It seems pretty clear that the direction the club wants to take is along a more modern path of football that will give us a better long term chance of competing. Adkins early showings look like he already has the edge over McDermott for getting players to play a different way and hopefully get a different level of performance from them (Karacan for example).

Brian got us up with an inferior squad after being forced to sell the striker who scored against England last night, having unearthed the teenage player in Ireland and letting him live in his house when he first came here ........................who was Atkins forced to sell at Southampton and who thinks we might have stayed up had Long still been here?

Oxlade-Chamberlain, but it's a pretty pointless argument as they went straight through from League One to the Premier League so their players didn't need to leave. If McDermott had won promotion with Long in the side then he wouldn't have lost him. Same probably would've happened with Lambert and others at Southampton if they hadn't come up with us.

McDermott was never allowed to have a squad good enough to play attractive football but HE was good enough to make lesser players, playing a more functional style, out perform teams that cost far more money to assemble.

Sacking McDermott, and the timing of it in particular, was a highly unprofessional decision taken by an owner who clearly knows less about the game than he likes to believe.

It was a decision made for the long term good of the club and made total sense after giving McDermott the chance to save the season with January and the last two 6 pointers against Wigan and Villa. Once he'd lost both of those we were down and McDermott had blown his chance.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I think the results have clouded the improvement somewhat

Or, the know nothings who think winning I game in 8 represents some kind of improvement are actually suffering from clouded vision thanks to their heads being rammed firmly up their own backsides.

Any management fool can watch is team getting stuffed week on week whilst playing pretty football.

Not sure why seeing (or even mistaking) improvement means I’ve contorted my head up my arse, but I welcome your rage with open arms. I get power from it. Like Obi Wan.

Disagree if ya like, but I think Maps, Morro, Gunter, Guthrie, Karacan, McCleary, HRK and Jobi have all looked better players since NA has come in and while results haven’t gone our way we’ve dominated games at times and looked more of a threat. Sometimes, as anybody who has been a football fan for a while will know, the result does not always reflect the game. We aren't there yet, but results will come once we've adapted and continued to improve.

Happily optimistic.

[Extended-Phenotype]

we sold a numbe4r of players, the ones who wouldnt stay, or who we could get huge money for, but took the core of our prem team to attempt to get back up at the first attempt

obviously the championship requires financial readjustment, so you cant go on paying 30 odd million a year in wages.
but we still grew as a club.


lol at "excuse"
no money = no money, but we dealt with that quite well too, and still managed to reach a play off final and then get up again

Not really my point. Just thought it was amusing that last time around relegation was the pretext of losing our team, now when caused by underinvestment, it’s the pretext for building a better one!

[winchester_royal]

McDermott was never allowed to have a squad good enough to play attractive football but HE was good enough to make lesser players, playing a more functional style, out perform teams that cost far more money to assemble.

I don't get this argument. When a manager is in charge for >3 years he will have assembled a squad of players that will be playing the way he wants them to play. It was McD's choice to use the Siggy money to replace him with Leigertwood. It was McD's choice to abandon to midfield of Tabb/Howard that was looking so effective towards the back end of the 09/10 season. It was McD's choice to replace an overlapping full back in Bertrand with a guy who didn't offer much in open play but would help with set pieces.

He opted for efficient, percentage football. It got us promoted, so it obviously worked, and for that he will rightly get plenty of praise. But lets not pretend that he was forced into playing that way, our wage bill was one of the highest in the league. We've decided to move forward and adopt a style of play that will hopefully be more than just efficient, and there is little evidence to suggest that Brian would have wanted to, or been capable of overseeing such a transition.

[Extended-Phenotype]

^ Spot on.

McD fashioned a team to play a particular style of his choosing. I don't get the argument that Reading's simplistic and sober style was thrust upon him.

[Big Foot]

I'm confident of an instant return.

So am I, but that still won't justify Mc Dermott's sacking.

Brian got us up with an inferior squad after being forced to sell the striker who scored against England last night, having unearthed the teenage player in Ireland and letting him live in his house when he first came here ........................who was Atkins forced to sell at Southampton and who thinks we might have stayed up had Long still been here?

McDermott was never allowed to have a squad good enough to play attractive football but HE was good enough to make lesser players, playing a more functional style, out perform teams that cost far more money to assemble.

Sacking McDermott, and the timing of it in particular, was a highly unprofessional decision taken by an owner who clearly knows less about the game than he likes to believe.

I, too, have high hopes for Nigel Atkins but him being here was down to sheer good fortune (he wouldn't have given us a moments consideration had he been employed at a club that really values those who produce the required results) but McDermott finishing above him in the Championship for a third/fourth? time remains a distinct possibility.

Agreed

+, as it goes Adkins is a perma-tanned, smug, Scouse, ex-Saints tosser who looks like a massive pleb in a blue tie.

I see the club's marketing department have emailed out that STHs will receive a letter from Adkins outlining his plans for the new season in an attempt to get us to renew. I wasn't going to renew anyway and knowing that's coming in the post makes me want the 2013/14 football season to either a) Not start or b) Start with 46 consecutive league defeats so that said perma-tanned, smug, Scose, ex-Saints tosser who looks like a massive pleb in a blue tie gets the bullet.