Updated POLL After Southampton Debacle.

[Slinxx]

Keep - for all reasons stated by Mr Angry above!

[Alexander Litvinenko]

The simple point is that there are no alternatives who could get as much out of this set of players as McDermott can.

If money was available for a significant number of players then it might be a different story - but by all accounts it won't be.

TBH I can't see anyone new being prepared to come in and try to save a sinking ship without promises of money - remember Wolves last season?

[Royal91]

I said get rid, not because I think a new manager would keep us up (they won't), but because that way they will have 6 months and 2 transfer windows to build for an assault on the Championship next year...with the additional carrot of half a season of prem football for hungry younger players. I don't think Brian is the man for that, he just looks shell shocked and out of ideas. Reminds me of the end of the Bullivant days too much.

I would hope we would be looking for a young up and coming manager looking to play some football. In fact it is kind of ironic that we would have been far better off bringing someone like Rodgers in now, knowing that at a minimum we will be playing championship football next year. There is time to work on a new playing style.

I think this promotion came too early for us and so we are looking at it as 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Whatever happens, next year we are better placed to try and get back again (infrastructure improvements, club finances, squad experience etc).

THIS. Our style has to change. I want to watch passing football

[Alexander Litvinenko]

Except that

the additional carrot of half a season of prem football for hungry younger players.

is, in reality, half a season of putting themselves in the PL shop window for half a season.

And when we go down and they they leave us to stay in the PL it rips holes in us and all the time building and preparing is lost.

[melonhead]

brian isnt stoopid. after the beginning to this season, i think hes fully aware that we need to change our style if we are to ever establish oursleves as a premiere league team at any point.

[Lacoste]

brian isnt stoopid. after the beginning to this season, i think hes fully aware that we need to change our style if we are to ever establish oursleves as a premiere league team at any point.

Really?

[Esteban]

brian isnt stoopid. after the beginning to this season, i think hes fully aware that we need to change our style if we are to ever establish oursleves as a premiere league team at any point.

This. I dare say he's aware that his current playing staff aren't good enough either.

[RoyalBlue]

Is it ever actually going to be worth trying to come back up again? If we don't intend to spend much in the way of buying in suitable players if we go up again, we'll just keep going down again and I'd far rather see us competing every week with a few wins and draws in the Championship than losing every week in the Prem. #justsaying

The first line there is the most crucial point for me, very well spotted, if indeed the club wants to continue being an attractive proposition that is.

At the moment we are in danger of becoming an easy touch for anyone looking to top-up their pension pots for the least amount of hassle.

That's one of the more ridiculous comments on this thread. Any player with two brain cells to rub together would NOT be looking at Reading to earn as much as possible! We're renowned for having one of the lowest wage budgets in the PL.

If you want McDermott out, fine, go protest in the car park, you may well get your wish. Don't whinge if the next manager spends a small fortune and takes us backwards, though (Mr Rodgers). It took us 130 years to become an established top 10 Championship side, with a few flirtations in the PL. I'm willing to be patient in our attempts to become an established PL side, relegations to boot; but I'm not happy to sack a broadly successful manager without any viable options to replace him. Keep for the time being.

Not sure Rodgers did spend a small fortune. And whilst the team was struggling (comparatively less than we are now), I have a feeling that in the longer term we would have ended up with a stronger, and certainly better in football terms, team than we have now. At least we could see what Rodgers was trying to do and the football was more attractive.

brian isnt stoopid. after the beginning to this season, i think hes fully aware that we need to change our style if we are to ever establish oursleves as a premiere league team at any point.

This. I dare say he's aware that his current playing staff aren't good enough either.

Shame he didn't do more about/better in improving the playing staff over the summer then. Instead, he has relegated his two 'star' signings to no more than a 'bit player' in one case and an outcast in the other.

[Royal With Cheese]

Keep.

I don't think there's anyone out there that would take on the challenge without assurances of significant investment. I think Brian's owed the chance if it is available.

I must admit I'm pretty downbeat at the moment.

[Hoop Blah]

I think brian deserves the whole season and if we go down, so be it. No one will be hurting more than him tonight and there's no better candidate with prem experience immediately available who springs to mind.

Keep. Today was shite but it's alway darkest just before dawn.

Agreed.

Keep and start planning for next season (as others have said).

If he's struggled this season, is he the right man to take us back up with a suitable long term game plan? Will he learn from his mistakes (unlike Coppell it would seem) and does he have the ability to do more than he already has next time?

I'm not sure if he is right now unfortunately.

[melonhead]

brian isnt stoopid. after the beginning to this season, i think hes fully aware that we need to change our style if we are to ever establish oursleves as a premiere league team at any point.

Really?

yes.


just plonking guthrie and poig ion the middle of this team isnt enough. but with the injuries and lack of alternatives he hasnt any choice to continue like this until jan

[Hoop Blah]

The simple point is that there are no alternatives who could get as much out of this set of players as McDermott can.

If money was available for a significant number of players then it might be a different story - but by all accounts it won't be.

TBH I can't see anyone new being prepared to come in and try to save a sinking ship without promises of money - remember Wolves last season?

How do you know there are no alternatives who could get more from them?

We're not maximising their ability as it is so I can't get this view point.

[glenroyal]

Keep.

No-one could do a better job with the available resources and to have got us promoted last season from where we were in September/October was a miracle.

Personally, I'd like my club to show some loyalty to a manager who took over when we were at a pretty low ebb, then got us to a Play Off final and then promotion against the odds, and all whilst having to sell our best players.

We may well get relegated (though I'd love Brian and the team to turn things round and ram the negative and destructive shite that a number of oxf*rd on here seem to think is worth posting as valid comment right back down their throats); but the point is, so will 2 other clubs who have spent shed loads more than us.

Finally, if we do get relegated who better to try and get us back up, especially as the nucleus of the side that won the Championship are still likely to be at the club, as unlike when we went down before, I don't think a lot of our players will be in huge demand from other clubs.

Spot on.

+1

[melonhead]

Not sure Rodgers did spend a small fortune.

dpeneds on your measure of small, and fortune

he did spend a fair bit, while at the same time leaving the squad short in areas

[melonhead]

The simple point is that there are no alternatives who could get as much out of this set of players as McDermott can.

If money was available for a significant number of players then it might be a different story - but by all accounts it won't be.

TBH I can't see anyone new being prepared to come in and try to save a sinking ship without promises of money - remember Wolves last season?

How do you know there are no alternatives who could get more from them?

We're not maximising their ability as it is so I can't get this view point.

you really think theres someone out there who will instantly just stop these players passing to the opposition, blasting their shots wide, failing to make tackles, interceptions, clearances, or mark a player effectively?
just by saying different words, or moving them around positionally a bit?

[RFCSPACE]

The simple point is that there are no alternatives who could get as much out of this set of players as McDermott can.

If money was available for a significant number of players then it might be a different story - but by all accounts it won't be.

TBH I can't see anyone new being prepared to come in and try to save a sinking ship without promises of money - remember Wolves last season?

How do you know there are no alternatives who could get more from them?

We're not maximising their ability as it is so I can't get this view point.

you really think theres someone out there who will instantly just stop these players passing to the opposition, blasting their shots wide, failing to make tackles, interceptions, clearances, or mark a player effectively?
just by saying different words, or moving them around positionally a bit?

Getting our players to look left and right, not just forward at Jason Roberts might help the passing issue, and inherently might reduce the number of tackles that need to be made (and therefore the number of missed tackles) because we're constantly under attack from not holding the ball.

As for blasting shots wide, I don't remember any of these lately.

[melonhead]

he isnt responsible for them fogetting how to pass/shoot/defend

players under pressure and low on confidence tend to lump it.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

The simple point is that there are no alternatives who could get as much out of this set of players as McDermott can.

If money was available for a significant number of players then it might be a different story - but by all accounts it won't be.

TBH I can't see anyone new being prepared to come in and try to save a sinking ship without promises of money - remember Wolves last season?

How do you know there are no alternatives who could get more from them?

We're not maximising their ability as it is so I can't get this view point.

I don't *know* -it's all opinions, of course.
But a large part of the success of McDermott in the past has been down to his relationship with *his* players, and that, coupled with the "group mentality" he cultivates so deeply, is what caused them to over-achieve last year. So I don't think that anyone else could get more out of these players.

But then again I don't think the fundamental problem is the manager- they squad just isn't good enough, and it's as simple as that. Even getting them back to the level they were playing at last season won't be enough in this league - as I think we only have a handful of players capable of performing at this higher level.

[Archie's penalty]

But if there have been fallouts in the squad then what he's renowned for is gone. We may need to replace him to change the dynamic.

[melonhead]

fall outs?
or players pissed off with playing like idiots and losing every week?



some bloke on twitter/here saying it dont make it so imo