by Seal »
14 Oct 2009 09:18
Interesting perspective from Steve Claridge on the BBC....
Ask Steve Claridge
Should Reading stick with manager Brendan Rodgers? I know he is inexperienced and needs time, and I am aware of the famous examples of when patience has very handsomely paid off (e.g. Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United). But the team seems to have degenerated from nice-looking passing to an aimless long-ball style. I am wondering if things will ever click? Or will we be relegated?
Douglas Chester, Reading
Steve Claridge says:-
I would never advocate that anybody should get sacked so, yes, they should stick with Brendan and give him the opportunity to turn things around.
But for me he still has an awful lot to prove. I have spoken to him a few times for BBC Radio 5 Live and he comes across as a lovely fellow but that doesn't make him a manager, and neither does his association with Jose Mourinho from his days as youth team coach at Chelsea.
Brendan Rodgers talks about his new job as manager for Reading Football Club
I was really surprised he got the Reading job at the stage he did because I didn't feel like he had done enough to earn it - I thought there were better candidates because, although Brendan had done OK at Watford, he hadn't pulled up any trees.
Even at the time, though, it didn't seem like a good job to take. Not because Reading are not a good club but because of the timing of it - following Steve Coppell was never going to be easy.
Why aren't they clicking under Brendan? Well, I have seen them play and he seems determined to stick with a 4-3-3 formation, which hasn't really worked. I think they are still getting used to it but it is a certain way of playing and you need certain types of player to play it.
It was always going to be a difficult season for them but, as far as relegation goes, I can't see them going from the play-offs to that in one year. They must have kept enough good players to avoid that.