How Long Will BM Last at this rate?????

[BrockManson]

That's mainly because some bell-end came in and paid £35million for him, and now he thinks he's gods gift, despite the fact that he's only marginally above average.

Carroll marginally above average.

[Corky341]

Madejski won't allow it.

I don't think he'd be 'happy' is BM was ousted, but..... Having said that, any new manager, knowing his job would be to keep us up, would want to spend. And spend large amounts. Is Anton prepared to splash out? Would SJM check him back?

I hope BM gets a fair crack of the whip. (I MUCH prefer the Championship in any case).

[RoyalBlue]

And many believe that The Reading Way could also be the reason that we have had to rise TWICE to the biggest, most competitive league in the world. It could also lead to us having to try to do it a third time, so I would rather see a modified Reading Way that gives us a better chance of staying there.

Being GOOD ENOUGH to stay up, is absolutely not a guarantee of staying up though. West Ham, Blackburn, Bolton - All have shown that despite having the individual players who should have kept them up at a canter, that this means absolutely nothing if those players don't gel together. What McD is good at, is gelling a team - and yes, it seems to lead to a slow start - but don't forget we rose from 19th (?) last season after the first 10 games - to WIN the league - He knows what he's doing.

Fortunately for the rest of us - your view of a "modified" Reading way, which is short termist, and gambles the future viability of the football club, has no bearing on what will actually happen.

Why do you disciples of the "Reading (Madjeski) way' find it so difficult to comprehend that there is another (middle) way, which doesn't mean blowing every penny and thus gambling the future viability of the football club?!

As for expecting the same manager and largely the same squad to replicate the astounding surge of last season in the championship in the PL - cloud cuckoo land!! Add to that, there are significantly less games during the season in which to recover from McDermott's traditional slow start.

As for McDermott 'knowing what he is doing' - I'm not sure anyone, including himself, can be absolutely sure of that. He has had no experience, whatsoever, of managing in the PL.

Fingers crossed he is a quick learner and can perform another miracle.

And many believe that The Reading Way could also be the reason that we have had to rise TWICE to the biggest, most competitive league in the world. It could also lead to us having to try to do it a third time, so I would rather see a modified Reading Way that gives us a better chance of staying there.

You spent the whole of the last season moaning, we got promoted as champions and you are straight back with the unrelenting negativity.

And you sir are just a f*cking liar! I did not spend the whole of last season moaning nor, assuming you can read, have I been straight back with 'unrelenting negativity'. So go......................

[Alexander Litvinenko]

BMc will be here as long as he likes - but I suspect that it'll be his choosing when he moves on.

And he holds all the cards - if we stay up he's praised as the greatest up and coming manager in English football and very saleable - and if we go down the perception will be that he wasn't given enough money to spend to do his job properly, and his reputation will not be damaged - and he'll still be very saleable.

[Lacoste]

BMc will be here as long as he likes - but I suspect that it'll be his choosing when he moves on.

And he holds all the cards - if we stay up he's praised as the greatest up and coming manager in English football and very saleable - and if we go down the perception will be that he wasn't given enough money to spend to do his job properly, and his reputation will not be damaged - and he'll still be very saleable.

A very naive post. Can you honestly see the board sticking with him if we are bottom at Christmas. We might not get the chance to be in the PL for a long time after this.

We are no different to any other club and MCD is no safer than any other manager if under performing. Madejski has weilded the axe in the past and we will again especially with the Russians looking to protyect theior investment.

[melonhead]

id almost rather go down and keep him, than sack him and stay up

[Alexander Litvinenko]

BMc will be here as long as he likes - but I suspect that it'll be his choosing when he moves on.

And he holds all the cards - if we stay up he's praised as the greatest up and coming manager in English football and very saleable - and if we go down the perception will be that he wasn't given enough money to spend to do his job properly, and his reputation will not be damaged - and he'll still be very saleable.

A very naive post. Can you honestly see the board sticking with him if we are bottom at Christmas. We might not get the chance to be in the PL for a long time after this.

We are no different to any other club and MCD is no safer than any other manager if under performing. Madejski has weilded the axe in the past and we will again especially with the Russians looking to protyect theior investment.

Not naive in the slightest - just realistic. Not only are the board completely in thrall to BMc for what he's achieved here, there is no succession plan in plan and they appreciate just how much it'd cost them in contractual terms to replace him and find a successor. They also feel that anyone they'd replace him with mid-way through the season would almost certainly be an inferior option to what we have now - they saw what happened at Wolves last season only too closely.

The whole point is that - in this at least - we *are* still different to other clubs - we deplore the knee-jerk reactions that other clubs do in these circumstances and recognise that it usually doesn't work. And that'd be true even if BMc wasn't "one of us" and having a relationship with the board and owner's son that is different to the relationship other managers have with their clubs.

[Hoop Blah]

Only just catching up on this thread, and for the most part I think Snowball and BR have covered off my sentiments.

McDermott shouldn't really be under any pressure unless he is genuinely doing a Coppell and failing to improve the squad through some form of misplaced loyalty to players who just aren't quite good enough.

That's the crux of it, we have a lot of players that no other Premier League side would've come sniffing for had we failed to go up last season. They're mainly decent Championship players and we're struggling to impose ourselves on Premier League sides because of it.

Our style of football doesn't really help us much either. We played a percentages game last season by defending in numbers and wearing teams out without too much creativity or guile. That doesn't really work in the Premier League where you need more quality to earn your chances as it's not enough to just put pressure on teams and make them pay for their mistakes.

Stoke was definitely a must win and the team was very unlucky not to do so. He managed to conjure a spirited performance away to Chelsea too, which showed that when the team is in the right frame of mind then they can score goals at this level.

How were we unlucky against Stoke? We got a late equaliser from the spot which was pretty much the only decent effort their keeper had to face.

Games against the top 4 are effectively cup games where we can sneak something from then if everything goes our way. We never really looked in control or in danger of winning the Chelsea game did we?

...if Carroll, had come to Reading, Mcdermott would of had to completely change the styile of football the team plays to accomodate him and I'm not sure he would of been prepared to do that...

What style of football do you think we play that wouldn't suit a player of Carroll's type and ability?

[melonhead]

How were we unlucky against Stoke? We got a late equaliser from the spot which was pretty much the only decent effort their keeper had to face.

passed it around nicely, controlled the game, gave them a goal from a very tame shot due to keeper error

[Hoop Blah]

BMc will be here as long as he likes - but I suspect that it'll be his choosing when he moves on.

And he holds all the cards - if we stay up he's praised as the greatest up and coming manager in English football and very saleable - and if we go down the perception will be that he wasn't given enough money to spend to do his job properly, and his reputation will not be damaged - and he'll still be very saleable.

That last paragraph all depends on the money made available to McDermott by TSI and how well they think he's spent it on getting his squad to the right levels required for this division. If they think he's failed on that front then I don't think he'll be in such a great position as you allude to.

The interesting thing for me is that McDermott made a big thing about the cosy chat he had with Zingaravich when he wasn't talking to Wolves. My impression of that chat was that he was told TSI would be showing the ambition to match McDermotts and that his job was safe in the short term.

IF that's the case, and it's only my gut instinct from listening to interviews at the time, then TSI aren't going to be showing the same patience that Madejski did with Coppell if they feel the manager isn't doing enough to bring the results they want.

[Hoop Blah]

How were we unlucky against Stoke? We got a late equaliser from the spot which was pretty much the only decent effort their keeper had to face.

passed it around nicely, controlled the game, gave them a goal from a very tame shot due to keeper error

Fair enough. I think our lack of quality meant we didn't force a proper save out of their keeper and that, after they'd gone a goal up, they played to defend that lead and contain us.

For the 25 minutes or so Stoke had looked by far the more dangerous side (we were finding our feet I'm sure) and looked like they had a lot more threat even if Federici didn't have a great deal of saves to make. We grew into the game yes, but unlucky not to win? As much as I'd love to, I can't agree with that I'm afraid.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

BM will go when eiher he or the board decide it is right, fwiw and one that believes in stability even if we go down he should be keep on for a season, the same as Coppell did, as he would be the best man to ake us up the following season, as he knows the players and what they are capable of.

[Royalclapper]

The Championship is largely the domain of 'course and distance' managers. McD is a natural born killer at this.

The transition process into the Premier League is foremost about pace, power AND that extra bit of quality when it matters. Unfortunately, it is made increasingly difficult by competitors who spend their pension money on players who may or may not be good enough, only the big clubs have the luxury of buying finished products.

It would be ridiculous not to give him at least a season's worth.

[larry1971]

What style of football do you think we play that wouldn't suit a player of Carroll's type and ability?

just think that Carroll is better suited to the type of football and tactics that Allardyce likes to play.

[Victor Meldrew]

What style of football do you think we play that wouldn't suit a player of Carroll's type and ability?

just think that Carroll is better suited to the type of football and tactics that Allardyce likes to play.

Which is probably just about the same as us:-
Vaz Te and jarvis out wide providing crosses for a central striker,otherwise long-ball and hope.

[Hoop Blah]

What style of football do you think we play that wouldn't suit a player of Carroll's type and ability?

just think that Carroll is better suited to the type of football and tactics that Allardyce likes to play.

Have you watched us much though? What do they do significantly different to us and how would that make much difference?

Our results improved quite dramatically last season when we brought in a forward who was a physical presence upfront and could win the ball when we played long balls and hold on to it whilst also getting on the end of those crosses we looked to get in with our wingers.

Since we sold Sigurdsson we have been, by and large, a direct and percentage football team, much like the one that Newcastle had built around Carroll when he was at his most potent.

Carroll does all of that really well.

[fruits]

id almost rather go down and keep him, than sack him and stay up

That is barmy! I want Reading Fc to be in the Premiership and hopefully later in Europe, I do n´t want to support a team that gets promoted, stays in the Championship for 4-5 years gets promoted again, goes down again. I want us to be superior to Stoke who never really look like going down but unlike them I want us to push on and be a top 6 team.

I have supported this club for 56 years. I never thought I would see us in Division 1 let alone the Premiership,was going to say I am enjoying every minute of being in the Prem again,not with the results so far, and am hopeful that Brian can turn it around.

It is great to be in the Premiership again, and I want us to stay there. I am sorry but if we are bottom at Christmas, Brian must go and we will have to get a new manager, I could n´t care less if it is ´arry , Curbishley, Mourinho, Mitt Romney or Guardiola all I want is for Reading to maintain their position in the Prem.

[Reading4eva]

´arry , Curbishley, Mourinho, Mitt Romney or Guardiola all I want is for Reading to maintain their position in the Prem.

Harry for me IF Brian does go... but I dont want him to, I want him to become good.

Heard that Romney guy isnt available though

[E. Andrew]

Ok I'd take Guardiola.

[facaldaqui]

It is great to be in the Premiership again, and I want us to stay there. I am sorry but if we are bottom at Christmas, Brian must go and we will have to get a new manager, I could n´t care less if it is ´arry , Curbishley, Mourinho, Mitt Romney or Guardiola all I want is for Reading to maintain their position in the Prem.

So do I, but Brian has as good a chance as any. Miracle man Harry didn't pull off a miracle for Southampton, now, did he? Nothing is guaranteed. I don't want Harry Redknapp anywhere near this club. I would rather we went down than stayed up with Harry. When he did leave, which would not be long after, we'd slump down again--leaving us with the feeling that we'd sold our souls for a short stay of grace. His court case showed him to be a semi-literate, memoryless, setter upper of tax-saving (to put it kindly) accounts in Monaco. Talented manager, but needs money to do it; wide boy. Unfortunately, I think he'd be attracted to the job, because it's within driving distance of Sandbanks.