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

[MmmMonsterMunch]

The thing is though RR we are just surrendering our PL status through inept tactics. I feel bad to say it but Brian & the players collectively are totally out of their depth. We are undoubtedly getting worse each game.

And the post match interviews are getting more mental. I'm sorry for switching to the dark side I really am, but I am all out of faith now.

[SPARTA]

AZ hasn't got the bollocks to sack him because he thinks the fans share unbreakable love for him. Unless the fans turn on him, which they wont because they're so bloody nice, he will still be here wasting money in January, and into the summer when he will rebuild a new pingpong team for the Championship.

[Terminal Boardom]

You can be competitive without spending money. But, the sooner BMcD goes the better. Talk about playing 442 against a side like Arsenal. That is absolute madness more akin to putting Gary Glitter in charge of a creche. Gutless, spineless, clueless, unimaginative.

[Ian Royal]

The real problem is there is no point spending loads of money in January now, the damage is too severe. Even if Sir alex got bored and fancied the job Reading are down. So you spend a ton of cash only to go down anyway leaving the club in financial dire straits in the summer. January should be used to try and get 1 or 2 of the championships best players and get everyone whose not required next year whose on big money out the door.

Tru'dat.

RR's post above is missing the word "crap" just before "job".

[RoyalBlue]

It doesn't matter how well an employee has performed in the past if they show over a period of time that they are hopelessly out of their depth and performing dreadfully when asked to work at a higher level. Any sensible 'business' and virtually all football clubs will act to put that employee out of their misery.

Did McDermott and Gibbs not watch the Bradford game to see how they dealt with Arsenal, closing them down quickly and getting in their faces throughout? Why the hell did they think they could let their players sit off Arsenal and let them play the ball around at their leisure until they found the opportunity to play it into our area and cut our defence apart like a knife through butter?

Once again McDermott persisted with his absurd tactic of playing just two championship standard players in the centre of midfield. And the man who is reputed to be a tactical genius only spotted what was going wrong when we were 4-0 down when he finally decided to put an extra player into midfield in an attempt to stop us being overrun.

Far too many of the players in our team are completely and utterly out of their depth in the PL and that has to be the fault of the management team. It may be true that he was only given limited funds but would he have done any better had he been allowed more, given his dismal (Shorey excepted) transfer dealings over the summer?

Now McDermott is saying that he needs to sign PL quality players with experience of having played at this level. No shit Sherlock! So why the f8ck didn't he sign that type of player over the summer and why is he not playing his other two signings who fit that bill (Guthrie would have been on the bench today but had a slight thigh strain! ).

And finally we are left with another McDermott post match interview where he says everyone is doing their best (now proven not to be good enough so clearly changes needed) and talking about past achievements. Those count for absolutely f8ck all in this season's PL table. Then in the next breath he won't look forward because he is only interested in the present - And so he should be, so why all the references to the past Brian?

The player's body language after conceding the first goal said it all. There is no fire and fight left in their bellies (the two goals we scored were a consequence of Arsenal mistakes/switching off and they could and should have scored 10 not 5 against us). If nothing else, a change in the management team must be made in an attempt to lift the players once again.

[Royal Rother]

The real problem is there is no point spending loads of money in January now, the damage is too severe. Even if Sir alex got bored and fancied the job Reading are down. So you spend a ton of cash only to go down anyway leaving the club in financial dire straits in the summer. January should be used to try and get 1 or 2 of the championships best players and get everyone whose not required next year whose on big money out the door.

I really hope you are right. Splashing loads now on PL players would be absolute madness. The fans will just have to live with it.

[Pepe the Horseman]

AZ hasn't got the bollocks to sack him because he thinks the fans share unbreakable love for him. Unless the fans turn on him, which they wont because they're so bloody nice, he will still be here wasting money in January, and into the summer when he will rebuild a new pingpong team for the Championship.

Thought your m8 told you he was going after the Arsenal game

[MmmMonsterMunch]

People who think this team will just bounce back up are seriously mistaken. Why would McAnuff, Ledge etc strive for the promised land knowing that when they tasted it the first time they weren't good enough?? They will have zero motivation to try for it again, especially when they're not getting any younger.

The whole squad bar the odd few needs to be shifted out next season now. This season has been really damaging.

Someone wake me up in May please.

Agree about spending money - I wouldn't even give Brian 50p now. Utterly pointless.

[Ian Royal]

People who think this team will just bounce back up are seriously mistaken. Why would McAnuff, Ledge etc strive for the promised land knowing that when they tasted it the first time they weren't good enough?? They will have zero motivation to try for it again, especially when they're not getting any younger.

The whole squad bar the odd few needs to be shifted out next season now. This season has been really damaging.

Someone wake me up in May please.

Agree about spending money - I wouldn't even give Brian 50p now. Utterly pointless.

£££££s

[Maguire]

The real problem is there is no point spending loads of money in January now, the damage is too severe. Even if Sir alex got bored and fancied the job Reading are down. So you spend a ton of cash only to go down anyway leaving the club in financial dire straits in the summer. January should be used to try and get 1 or 2 of the championships best players and get everyone whose not required next year whose on big money out the door.

Yeah you'd have to look at loans really. Chances of staying up are so slim anything else would be a gamble. Get in players who will be in the top 10% of Championship players next season and take it from there.

Building a football club is a long game not a 17-match one. Very rare fans have the patience for it though.

[RoyalBlue]

A Portsmouth fan on TalkSport just spoke more sense than the majority of posters on this thread put together. He gets it.

And there was a complete *rse on BBCRB coming out with the 'over achievedlast season' argument - rightly shot down by Williams and Gooding - reminded me of someone on here who thinks Portsmouth fans know better.

[cmonurz]

The real problem is there is no point spending loads of money in January now, the damage is too severe. Even if Sir alex got bored and fancied the job Reading are down. So you spend a ton of cash only to go down anyway leaving the club in financial dire straits in the summer. January should be used to try and get 1 or 2 of the championships best players and get everyone whose not required next year whose on big money out the door.

Yeah you'd have to look at loans really. Chances of staying up are so slim anything else would be a gamble. Get in players who will be in the top 10% of Championship players next season and take it from there.

The irony of loaning in January some of the players fans wanted us to buy in the summer.

[noelgallagher]

It doesn't matter how well an employee has performed in the past if they show over a period of time that they are hopelessly out of their depth and performing dreadfully when asked to work at a higher level. Any sensible 'business' and virtually all football clubs will act to put that employee out of their misery.

Did McDermott and Gibbs not watch the Bradford game to see how they dealt with Arsenal, closing them down quickly and getting in their faces throughout? Why the hell did they think they could let their players sit off Arsenal and let them play the ball around at their leisure until they found the opportunity to play it into our area and cut our defence apart like a knife through butter?

Once again McDermott persisted with his absurd tactic of playing just two championship standard players in the centre of midfield. And the man who is reputed to be a tactical genius only spotted what was going wrong when we were 4-0 down when he finally decided to put an extra player into midfield in an attempt to stop us being overrun.

Far too many of the players in our team are completely and utterly out of their depth in the PL and that has to be the fault of the management team. It may be true that he was only given limited funds but would he have done any better had he been allowed more, given his dismal (Shorey excepted) transfer dealings over the summer?

Now McDermott is saying that he needs to sign PL quality players with experience of having played at this level. No shit Sherlock! So why the f8ck didn't he sign that type of player over the summer and why is he not playing his other two signings who fit that bill (Guthrie would have been on the bench today but had a slight thigh strain! ).

And finally we are left with another McDermott post match interview where he says everyone is doing their best (now proven not to be good enough so clearly changes needed) and talking about past achievements. Those count for absolutely f8ck all in this season's PL table. Then in the next breath he won't look forward because he is only interested in the present - And so he should be, so why all the references to the past Brian?

The player's body language after conceding the first goal said it all. There is no fire and fight left in their bellies (the two goals we scored were a consequence of Arsenal mistakes/switching off and they could and should have scored 10 not 5 against us). If nothing else, a change in the management team must be made in an attempt to lift the players once again.

100% this. Completely agree.

[Esteban]

I will always love Brian, and what he's achieved at Reading, he could move on to become manager of Aldershot, and I'd still shake his hand.

But... Tonight was one of ther most tactically inept performances I've ever seen. Ripped to pieces time and time again by, this season's standards, a very average team. Insistence on playing a midfielder whose second touch is a tackle, and the only completed passes were to the ball boy behind their goal, and was so far off the pace, Stephen Hawking would have beaten him in a game of pictionary.

Brian, sorry mate, you''ve reached your limit with this bunch of workhorses. Time for someone new to come in and work miracles. Maybe even someone with three most un-reading like, Plan B.

I'll never quite admire them as much though...

I really hope Reading become an 'average' side like Arsenal. Through to the knock out stages of the CL and fifth in the PL.

[Alan Partridge]

The real problem is there is no point spending loads of money in January now, the damage is too severe. Even if Sir alex got bored and fancied the job Reading are down. So you spend a ton of cash only to go down anyway leaving the club in financial dire straits in the summer. January should be used to try and get 1 or 2 of the championships best players and get everyone whose not required next year whose on big money out the door.

I really hope you are right. Splashing loads now on PL players would be absolute madness. The fans will just have to live with it.

I would really like to see this squad with someone like Allardyce in charge and see if they get done like that at home. I don't think the players are good enough but I don't think they should get beat 3-0 at sunderland, nor play like that tonight. That was a meek, pathetic, gutless surrender tonight which was caused by the manager's tactics. Not often I will criticise manager's because i think they get too much stick for under performing players but you have to at least have a game plan, a shape and sensible outlook on how to stop Arsenal or Man City or even Spurs who play this fast counter attacking fluid style. Just going 2 v their 3 in the middle is suicide. The time and space allowed was frightening and Arsenal whose confidence had to be low after Bradfordgate strolled to scoring 5.

[Royal Rother]

A Portsmouth fan on TalkSport just spoke more sense than the majority of posters on this thread put together. He gets it.

And there was a complete *rse on BBCRB coming out with the 'over achievedlast season' argument - rightly shot down by Williams and Gooding - reminded me of someone on here who thinks Portsmouth fans know better.

Never used the expression "over achieved" in my life. It's a completely illogical and crap thing to say and, because you hang on my every word, you will know damn well I don't talk crap.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Am now watching Neville's scathing analysis. Grim viewing.

[SPARTA]

"That result wont be defining for us this season. There's a lot of home games to come"

[cmonurz]

Wimb's apparently reliable source says Pearce was dropped for contractual reasons. It's disgraceful.

[Maguire]

It doesn't matter how well an employee has performed in the past if they show over a period of time that they are hopelessly out of their depth and performing dreadfully when asked to work at a higher level. Any sensible 'business' and virtually all football clubs will act to put that employee out of their misery

Well I manage a fair few people and if someone who's performed well for 2.5 years has a four month spell when they're not doing so well then I'd probably sit down and have a chat to them, try to manage them through it, support them etc. If I tried to sack them i'd be a bit of a pcunt and probably have a lawsuit on my hands.

Football's different of course. Short term contracts and separation clauses and all the rest of it but Brian's never managed at the top-level before so why is there an expectation he'll have us sailing along in 12th place? Isn't it reasonable to expect him to be on a bit of a learning curve and that he'll get better over time?

The damage has been done now so why not try to prepare for next year with a man you know can win the title?

/Devil's advocate