New manager Brendan Rodgers *confirmed*

[Focher]

Personally i think there is a lot in the Ferguson story today, possibly the Peterborough chairman letting the fans know what it will take to take him away from the club so when Ferguson does go the Chairman doesn't get as much flak. thats where my money would go.

[RG30]

I think you can forget Curbishley. Current Skybet odds:

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
9/4 Ferguson
12/1 Irvine
14/1 Dolan
16/1 Curbishley

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
5/2 Ferguson
9/1 Dolan
10/1 Hoddle
12/1 Irvine
16/1 Curbishley
16/1 J Collins

Money for Dolan and Hoddle today then one must assume. And John Collins who I'm not sure I've seen on the lists before. Anothee free agent having left Charleroi in May - he has been touted as likely next manager for Monaco but is actually someone I could see coming here if that doesn't come off...

I backed Hoddle with the maximum stake allowed £25 at 40's which was suspended straight away before it went into 16's before going into 10's. As it was a brand new first time account, Skybet matched my stake gave me a free £25 bet which I used that on Dolan

[hughsies no.1]

Personally i think there is a lot in the Ferguson story today, possibly the Peterborough chairman letting the fans know what it will take to take him away from the club so when Ferguson does go the Chairman doesn't get as much flak. thats where my money would go.

posh have said on their os that reading have confirmed he aint on the 4 man short list.

[gazzer, loyal royal]

Personally i think there is a lot in the Ferguson story today, possibly the Peterborough chairman letting the fans know what it will take to take him away from the club so when Ferguson does go the Chairman doesn't get as much flak. thats where my money would go.

posh have said on their os that reading have confirmed he aint on the 4 man short list.

only because we can't agree a fee, if we do it'll become a shortlist of five

[Focher]

Personally i think there is a lot in the Ferguson story today, possibly the Peterborough chairman letting the fans know what it will take to take him away from the club so when Ferguson does go the Chairman doesn't get as much flak. thats where my money would go.

posh have said on their os that reading have confirmed he aint on the 4 man short list.

i dont believe a word any football club says to be honest.

[Sir Rodger Doyle]

I have nothing against Hammond, and I can't argue with any of the administrative achievements that you've listed above, but my concern is that I feel he has too much say over footballing matters, and his performance in the last 2-3 seasons in that aspect of his job has not been good enough. By all means keep him on and allow him to maintain an operational role, but I personally would like to see a new manager have great autonomy and control over all footballing decisions.

I work with football clubs every day, and tend to see this model working more successfully.[/quote]

You can't have anything against Hammond because he has almost nothing to do with the Footballing side of the business. He is just an administrator, all football decisions are down to the Manager. If he was involved in the football side of the business he would have gone west in "the night of the long balls" with Dillon, Downes and Coppell. The next Manager will be chosen by Sir John, Nigel Howe and the other Director (whose name escapes me) with Hammond arranging interview appointments, locations and coffee. If he's lucky he'll get to send the "we will keep your details on record" letters. Steve Coppell liked working with Nick Hammond because he took all the rubbish away and allowed the Manager to concentrate on matters on the pitch. Don't think of him as a Director of Football, more of a Football Administrator.

[PEARCEY]

I think you can forget Curbishley. Current Skybet odds:

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
9/4 Ferguson
12/1 Irvine
14/1 Dolan
16/1 Curbishley

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
5/2 Ferguson
9/1 Dolan
10/1 Hoddle
12/1 Irvine
16/1 Curbishley

16/1 J Collins

Money for Dolan and Hoddle today then one must assume. And John Collins who I'm not sure I've seen on the lists before. Anothee free agent having left Charleroi in May - he has been touted as likely next manager for Monaco but is actually someone I could see coming here if that doesn't come off...

How do the bookies arrive at such odds? They must have some info to suddenly make Pardew joint favourite for the job.

[Elm Park Old Boy]

Is it too soon to say I want Coppell back?

[loyalroyal4life]

I think you can forget Curbishley. Current Skybet odds:

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
9/4 Ferguson
12/1 Irvine
14/1 Dolan
16/1 Curbishley

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
5/2 Ferguson
9/1 Dolan
10/1 Hoddle
12/1 Irvine
16/1 Curbishley

16/1 J Collins

Money for Dolan and Hoddle today then one must assume. And John Collins who I'm not sure I've seen on the lists before. Anothee free agent having left Charleroi in May - he has been touted as likely next manager for Monaco but is actually someone I could see coming here if that doesn't come off...

How do the bookies arrive at such odds? They must have some info to suddenly make Pardew joint favourite for the job.

I am quite baffled myself how they have come up with that and can only assume they know that he has been interviewed for the post

[Terminal Boardom]

Personally i think there is a lot in the Ferguson story today, possibly the Peterborough chairman letting the fans know what it will take to take him away from the club so when Ferguson does go the Chairman doesn't get as much flak. thats where my money would go.

posh have said on their os that reading have confirmed he aint on the 4 man short list.

only because we can't agree a fee, if we do it'll become a shortlist of five

According to the honest journalism that is the Evening Post, the shortlist is 5 strong. Believe it if you will...

[Sun Tzu]

I have nothing against Hammond, and I can't argue with any of the administrative achievements that you've listed above, but my concern is that I feel he has too much say over footballing matters, and his performance in the last 2-3 seasons in that aspect of his job has not been good enough. By all means keep him on and allow him to maintain an operational role, but I personally would like to see a new manager have great autonomy and control over all footballing decisions.

I work with football clubs every day, and tend to see this model working more successfully.

You can't have anything against Hammond because he has almost nothing to do with the Footballing side of the business. He is just an administrator, all football decisions are down to the Manager. If he was involved in the football side of the business he would have gone west in "the night of the long balls" with Dillon, Downes and Coppell. The next Manager will be chosen by Sir John, Nigel Howe and the other Director (whose name escapes me) with Hammond arranging interview appointments, locations and coffee. If he's lucky he'll get to send the "we will keep your details on record" letters. Steve Coppell liked working with Nick Hammond because he took all the rubbish away and allowed the Manager to concentrate on matters on the pitch. Don't think of him as a Director of Football, more of a Football Administrator.[/quote]

I'm not sure either of those are quite right....

Clearly Hammond has a big role in the footballing side of things, at the very least he has been the key person in the last 2 managerial appointments. The board of Directors will have him providing the key recommendations amd I suspectthat his recoemmndations have massive sway.

Whilst I've never seen any suggestion that he 'interferes' in football policy he does work extremely closely with the manager. He isn;t involved in tactics or training but that doesn't mean he isn;t heavily involved in identifying players and then going out and getting them.

[Royal Rother]

7/4 Pardew
7/4 Rodgers
5/2 Ferguson
9/1 Dolan
10/1 Hoddle
12/1 Irvine
16/1 Curbishley

16/1 J Collins

Money for Dolan and Hoddle today then one must assume. And John Collins who I'm not sure I've seen on the lists before. Anothee free agent having left Charleroi in May - he has been touted as likely next manager for Monaco but is actually someone I could see coming here if that doesn't come off...

How do the bookies arrive at such odds? They must have some info to suddenly make Pardew joint favourite for the job.

I am quite baffled myself how they have come up with that and can only assume they know that he has been interviewed for the post

Generally speaking the only thing that moves odds is the weight of money being placed on the various candidates. The idea of "making a book" is that you have money placed on all the viable candidates in such measures, and at such odds that, whatever the result, you will win.

Bookies do have their ear to the ground of course and in reality will, if they hear something on the quiet, adjust the odds (to be shorter than anyone else is offering) so they are unlikely to take bets on the person they have the inside info on.

Books on these "manager specials" are hugely weighted in the bookies favour as these days, with pretty sophisticated means of communicating and collating all relevant bets on the outcome to Head Office, they can very quickly adjust odds to prevent a massive coup taking place. They quite probably create some of the action by encouraging rumours that encourage the betting market which end up being completely blind alleys but result in them taking thousands of pounds on the subject of the rumour.

We have so far had pretty strong rumours from a number of sources about Rodgers, Curbishley, Hoddle, Pardew, Dolan, Ferguson but in all probability it's mostly guesswork and rumour-mongering, if not actually started by then probably aided and abetted by the betting industry in some way.

[Sun Tzu]

And a lot of it starting from agents.

Interesting to here Pardew on the radio this evening stating that most managerial jobs are decided by which agent you have. Certain agents have the ear of certain chairmen and if you haven;t got the right agent you won't get the job.

I suspect he should change his agent.....

[Rawlie19]

I'm going to get 20 of my friends to open up new accounts and put money on me being the next manager and see if that gets my name on the list. I really don't pay much heed by those lists as in my opinion they are RARELY right.

[Barry the bird boggler]

According to the honest journalism that is the Evening Post, the shortlist is 5 strong. Believe it if you will...

The fifth'll be Gordon Strachan's application arriving then...

[brendywendy]

or does it prove we are all just being a little over sensitive and gay about that whole thing

Of course! It's football, it been going on for years...it's only the likes of the man-child Spacey that gets his knickers in a twist that anyone dare leave Reading FC in pursuit of furthering their career....the same goes for any other football club where a player or manager dare have a career move. Sure, if it's your club, it's going create wounds, but if Ferguson is who the club wants...fluff it, get him in.

Come on Madejski, you've shown the cleavage, don't be a prick tease...

P.S. I think this is the first time we've agreed on anything. Woohoo!

[brendywendy]

There are quite a few managers I would prefer to Alan Pardew but I still think he would be a lot better than some of the others suggested (like Hoddle).

I hope that we go with the likes of Rodgers, Martinez or Ferguson, however - new managers with a lot to prove.

As for compensation £1M really does not sound a lot to me when compared to the profits the club has made over the last few years. If we make the wrong managerial choice then it could end up costing millions in the long run so I really hope Sir John does not go for the cheap option and is prepared to pay what it costs for the right man.

i dont like hoddle much but.......

surely an ex england manager, renowned for good football, and with a track record at this level, all be it with the swine, would be a very good, high level and high profile, experienced appointment for us.

[Terminal Boardom]

I don't think that we should lose sight of the importance of the backroom staff the new manager will appoint.

[Deathy]

There are quite a few managers I would prefer to Alan Pardew but I still think he would be a lot better than some of the others suggested (like Hoddle).

I hope that we go with the likes of Rodgers, Martinez or Ferguson, however - new managers with a lot to prove.

As for compensation £1M really does not sound a lot to me when compared to the profits the club has made over the last few years. If we make the wrong managerial choice then it could end up costing millions in the long run so I really hope Sir John does not go for the cheap option and is prepared to pay what it costs for the right man.

i dont like hoddle much but.......

surely an ex england manager, renowned for good football, and with a track record at this level, all be it with the swine, would be a very good, high level and high profile, experienced appointment for us.

Knowing us then, step forward Peter Taylor

[loyalroyal4life]

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1802_5359347,00.html

MacAnthony warns Ferguson suitors
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony insists it would take big money for any club to prise manager Darren Ferguson away from London Road.

Reading made an approach for Ferguson last week as they continue their search for Steve Coppell's successor.

Ferguson was keen to talk to the Royals, but MacAnthony rejected the Championship side's request to speak to the former Manchester United midfielder.

"What I can't understand is a Championship club wanting to interview him rather than just offer him the job, that to me was a bit of an insult," MacAnthony told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. "There is no get-out clause in his contract, if people want to come after our best assets they will have to pay a lot of money.

"Is there a figure for Darren? Like everything else, if it's right for the club and it suits us then of course there is a figure

"It's not a sign he wants to leave, there's no problem, we haven't fallen out, there's no aggro between myself and the gaffer. I think maybe we caught him at the wrong moment, it's an off-the-cuff remark, does he really want to go to Reading over us? I don't think so."