MCDERMOTT SACKED

[paultheroyal]

STAR trying very hard not to step on anyone's toes on twitter

We at STAR are shocked and saddened at the sudden dismissal of Brian McDermott as the Manager of Reading FC.

Shortly followed by;

At the same time, we also recognise Anton Zingarevich’s right to do what he thinks is best to retain the Club’s Premier League status.

It's like they are not allowed an opinion

Spineless and embarrassing.

STAR, not you SLAMMED

[West Stand Man]

STAR trying very hard not to step on anyone's toes on twitter

We at STAR are shocked and saddened at the sudden dismissal of Brian McDermott as the Manager of Reading FC.

Shortly followed by;

At the same time, we also recognise Anton Zingarevich’s right to do what he thinks is best to retain the Club’s Premier League status.

It's like they are not allowed an opinion

You make no sense at all. Those 2 statements are not even mildly contradictory nor do they imply that Star is not allowed an opinion. They simply reflect that the opinion that counts in Anton's, as he holds the power.

[The Goat was fed]

My two pence worth below. Overall theme is sadness. Sadness that a top bloke has loved a job he loved. Sadness that our club has finally succumbed to the tasteless knee-jerk culture that is ruining this game on a global level. Sadness that this signals the end of our club's mantra of trying to do things the right way - however frustrating it has been at times.

Brian has been a victim of his own success. To get that group of players into the Premier League, by winning the title, was an outstanding achievement. This is a separate argument, but I think last season was a better managerial success than Coppell's 106 season, because the 106 side had so much quality. Of the side that won promotion last year, I'd say that only about four of the squad would have walked into any CHAMPIONSHIP side. Even fewer (maybe even just Kebe for me, but that's another separate argument) would get into any Premier League side, most wouldn't make the bench. That's why it was such a managerial success. We became symbolic of what it actually means to be a "team". We were the sum of our parts and it made our group of players likable - we had something to be proud of, we were a middle finger to the likes of Leicester City and the various relegated Premier League clubs who tried and failed to buy their way out of the division.

However, this very success was ultimately our undoing this season. Realistically, we needed to replace at least 7/8 first team players of the side that won the Championship. We barely replaced any. At one point in the season (when Kebe, Roberts and Karacan were injured) we were actually playing a weaker side than the over-performing Championship side. Now some use this to highlight that Brian McDermott was too loyal to his players and unwilling to spend. I just can't believe this. For all his niceties, McDermott had a ruthless streak. Federici dropped for McCarthy when he was poor, Gorkks dropped when he was poor, Shorey dropped when he didn't jump, Gunter replaced when it became apparent he was dire, Guthrie dropped when he wasn't playing to a system and being a prick, Pearce dropped when he was at fault for goals...or not signing a contract. Now I'm not suggesting these were all right decisions, but it certainly showed he had the balls to make ruthless decisions. That's why I cannot believe he "didn't spend money that was there", he didn't spend money because it wasn't there.

Now don't get me wrong, I do not think Brian was without faults. The change to 4-5-1 came too late. A traditional 4-4-2 has no place in modern football and it seemed to go against the key lessons from last year, getting a structure in place to just win games. Everybody's favourite scapegoat Mikele Leighterwood simply doesn't have the ability to play in a two man midfield in this league, in a three man midfield, he instantly looked better and could play a role. Another prize scapegoat, Jobi McAnuff was better in this system because his defensive duties were shared and didn't have to spend half his game covering for Ian Harte. However, when we played 4-5-1, we weren't exactly world beaters either. Better defensively, but by no means a force that looked like it belonged in the Premier League, the players just weren't good enough.

I'm personally of the opinion that there is not a single manager in the world that can keep this group of players in the Premier League, they're simply not good enough. We needed massive investment in the summer to make it work - the signings of Chris Gunter etc. implied that investment wasn't forthcoming. Now it may be that I've got this all wrong and McDermott refused funds to improve his squad, but for the reasons explained above and because no other manager in history has done this, I don't think that's the case.

The saddest thing for me is that this decision does appear to be directly related to the crowd's reaction on Saturday. Most of what I've said has been quite balanced up until this point, but I was disgusted by those "fans" that cheered Leighterwood's departure and I can't help but think it was the "new fans". Those that see football as a product, those that want only instant gratification, those that don't really get what it is to support a football team. I implore you to have a look at the video on the BBC website at the moment, Mikele Leighterwood being carried by our fans on the pitch after Nottingham Forest. It's devastating to watch that and think it's the same fans booing him, it has to be the new fans, because I know can't boo that man for his contribution to this club. Mikele Leighterwood should be held in the same regard as Brynjar Gunnarsson, but he won't be now, because he wasn't replaced - he was shown up at a level he's not good enough to consistently play at.

I've got a bit rambly now, but to conclude, we had a very good thing under Brian McDermott, we've been let down by a board that simply didn't invest big at the right time. It didn't need hundreds of millions and any investment that kept us up would have been instantly repaid by our Premier League status next year with new, ridiculous TV revenues.

[Maguire]

I have heard from a good source

Last time you said that it was a Charlton player photshopped into a Reading kit

[72 bus]

I have some thoughts that probably won't get read - on the sacking and other things..

----

As a person I like Brian McDermott.
As a manager, he completed the amazing feat of taking us up to the Premier League as Champions.
He deserved the chance to have a shot of keeping us up in the Premier League.
In general, I think you should stand by managers when you can. Continuity is often better than change.

Having said all that, my views are actually mixed on the sacking of McDermott. I feel l really sorry for the guy, but taking emotion out of it, I think the following:

Arguments For The Sacking
- Like Coppell in the year we got relegated, McDermott has been guilty of being a little too loyal to certain players
- Allegedly he had the money to spend and I have heard from a good source that Anton lightly suggested another striker (not an individual) but McDermott was happy with what we had
- McD hasn't been tactically astute this season. For all the high-level forum chat of 4-4-2 and 4-5-1, looking deeper than that, we got it wrong tactically a few times (e.g. Wigan wasn't just down to their better players)
- Looking at our playing staff, we were set up to play 4-4-2. Part of the carrot that got Jason Roberts to the club. We had forward players to play 4-4-2, Pog was the best at playing the lone '1', but he wasn't as ideally suited to the role as Long or Doyle for example. Beyond 'Pog' we had no one to play this role (because of the way we were set up)
- (many of you may disagree with me on this one but..) We started the season under-cooked in terms of how we were set up to play. Having seen many Reading teams kick-off the season, and 2 Reading teams in the Prem, I firmly believe this was the case at the beginning. What we were trying to do was not visible at this point, nor fully formed.
- The signings haven't brought the desired improvement
- We may have a slightly higher (slim) chance of staying up with a new manager (new impetus, players playing for places/futures)

Arguments Against
- With regard to the timing, we are virtually down and it seems a strange time to roll the dice
- He recently won manager of the month and there were only 4 defeats in a row
- He deserved the full season to try and keep us up
- (MAIN REASON) In theory, he should be great in the Championship, absolutely no reason why he wouldn't be unless he has lost some of the players and we want continuity as on paper we have a great team to try and get promoted from that (if we can only lose 3-4 players)

The sacking becomes more understandable if:
- The management thought Brian would not be the right man for Reading in The Championship

Possible Unrest at the Club
IF Madejski and Hammond did not agree with this then the calm leadership of the club may be threatened. I don't know the arrangement but I am assuming Anton, with 51% can pull rank.

The Danger of Change
Listening to some people who have held/hold the Director of Football role, the philosophy is that the manager is temporary but the DoF, the philosophy, the academy, the style of play should remain consistent. We completely went against this with the appointment of Rodgers but I hope they have learnt this now. People calling for Di Matteo to come in should be warned about trying to play a certain way with players who are not suited.

Coloured in for those who haven't the attention span to follow long posts and have not grasped why he has gone.
Federici injured for two games due to stepping on someone's foot ?, my bullshit meter is twitching

[The Rouge]

I have heard from a good source

Last time you said that it was a Charlton player photshopped into a Reading kit

I got played by a good source. Different source anyway - no need to try and rubbish my input, we normally agree on most things RFC.

[Big Ern]

I have heard from a good source

Last time you said that it was a Charlton player photshopped into a Reading kit

Murked!

[SLAMMED]

STAR trying very hard not to step on anyone's toes on twitter

We at STAR are shocked and saddened at the sudden dismissal of Brian McDermott as the Manager of Reading FC.

Shortly followed by;

At the same time, we also recognise Anton Zingarevich’s right to do what he thinks is best to retain the Club’s Premier League status.

It's like they are not allowed an opinion

Spineless and embarrassing.

STAR, not you SLAMMED

I gathered

[@sonkimarsson]

Coloured in for those who haven't the attention span to follow long posts and have not grasped why he has gone.
Federici injured for two games due to stepping on someone's foot ?, my bullshit meter is twitching

After running into Fedders and a bunch of Villa players at the Hilton on Friday evening, I can confirm Fedders IS injured.....

.....unless he was wearing a medical boot as a fashion statement.

[72 bus]

Coloured in for those who haven't the attention span to follow long posts and have not grasped why he has gone.
Federici injured for two games due to stepping on someone's foot ?, my bullshit meter is twitching

After running into Fedders and a bunch of Villa players at the Hilton on Friday evening, I can confirm Fedders IS injured.....

.....unless he was wearing a medical boot as a fashion statement.

Probably looking for a move.....

[Cureton's Volley]

Jonny Fordham ‏@JonnyFordham
Just had a text from McDermott, simply said: "Devastated" #readingfc

So are we

45% of our fans are certified oxf*rd

[Terminal Boardom]

complete joke.

I blame all those disgruntled fans on saturday

And I hate Zingarevich

Anton out

+1, Zingarevich can fukk off!!!!!!

Absolutely. Blame the fans for shit football and shit tactics. If Zingarevic deserves flack it is because BMcD should have gone before Christmas. This is 97/98 all over again with a clueless manager and rubbish players. What's needed is a clear out of dodgy vindaloo proportions.

[Cureton's Volley]

Failing that a "oxf*rd off Di Canio, McDermott was ours", if he gets the job.

Sing it either way, maybe that will give AZ the message the bookies can't seem to grasp!

[Cureton's Volley]

complete joke.

I blame all those disgruntled fans on saturday

And I hate Zingarevich

Anton out

+1, Zingarevich can fukk off!!!!!!

Absolutely. Blame the fans for shit football and shit tactics. If Zingarevic deserves flack it is because BMcD should have gone before Christmas. This is 97/98 all over again with a clueless manager and rubbish players. What's needed is a clear out of dodgy vindaloo proportions.

What planet are you on? You sound like a spoilt little Chelsea fan.

Clear out the team which is made up in the majority by players who got Reading FC into the top tier for only the 3rd season in its history? Not only this but the gaffer was instrumental in getting the club to this point due to 10 years graft scouting and coaching youngsters - a shít load more than those who boo and harass thinking they are 'doing their bit' for the club.

We are destined for the Championship anyway so why not stick with a team of players and management proven to get us out of it?

[West Stand Man]

Failing that a "oxf*rd off Di Canio, McDermott was ours", if he gets the job.

Sing it either way, maybe that will give AZ the message the bookies can't seem to grasp!

You seem to assume that simply because a few (misguided?) fans think PDC is 'in the frame', AZ has also gone that way? Are we to sing chants against all the potential replacements that you/we don't like?

Football is like this. Players and managers come and go. It has ever been thus and we all learn to live with it. I can remember being gutted when Roy Bentley left - I couldn't imagine why the club would choose to lose its manager, but we moved on (to coin a phrase ). We will move on again.

I am sure this is a mix of AZ needing to be seen to do something and a bit of planning for next year. For all the +ve things said about BMcD it would have been a huge challenge for him to rebuild a Championship winning mentality after such a negative season. At least a new man will be able to kick off afresh without the yoke of this year's disappointment. If, by some miracle, we do stay up then the new man will go into next season as the saviour and you will all be hailing him.

Ride the wave.

[Arch]

If they were going to get rid of him, they should have done it at Christmas.

Obviously they've left it too late for even God to prevent relegation now.

Out of all the many people who have said this, I'm going to randomly pick on you, Stretts, because I know you to be a knut and can take it. This whole fuss with the timing utterly baffles me. We are four points from 17th place with nine games to go and there are immeasurable shitloads of money at stake. We've somehow forgotten that four points adrift with nine games to go is not dead and buried, and the reason we've forgotten it is because of what the team and it's mentality is at this stage. We had all the "down if we lose to Villa" business, and for all that some of us (myself included) put on our James May wigs and said "well, we're not strictly speaking down - that won't happen until the team in seventeenth place etc, etc", everyone - really everyone - took the Villa defeat as the end of the line. We are relegated. But four points adrift with nine to play? That's not relegated. What we have to do is win our winnable games. And there are surprisingly many of them, but we've been losing our winnable games. The current regime is done. Seriously, what is lost by trying something new in the remaining games. It's not like we have to win every game. It seems to me that everyone but the really rich guy has given up on what can still be achieved - even the team. So why not roll the dice? What's to lose.

Integrity, decency, the Reading way. All good answers and things I believe in and have argued for on this site, but I also think there's a danger in being overly sentimental. I would have loved to see Brian succeed and totally buck the trend of modern football. I'll desperately miss his interviews, like i miss Steve Coppell's. But let's not get carried away. Being sacked as a Premiership manager is not like you or me getting sacked. It's an almost inevitable part of the job, and it's largely an invitation for the ambitious to employ you. I really think it's all about winning your winnable games. That's what did us in in '08 as now. There are winnable games left and a massive amount at stake for someone who has sunk quite a few cool millions into the team already.

So I don't think that this is a stupid argument, even though there's been some ridiculous overreaction on both sides. I won't get to read this or other threads again until it's after lunch for most of you but that doesn't mean I've had my say and don't care about the replies. See y'all tomorrow afternoon for more of the genius of Reading FC.

[Arch]

... i think there's a danger in being overly sentimental..

Shit, I was just posting something about this on facebook and got overly sentimental. Brian will do that to you. I will seriously miss him more even than Coppell.

[Terminal Boardom]

+1, Zingarevich can fukk off!!!!!!

Absolutely. Blame the fans for shit football and shit tactics. If Zingarevic deserves flack it is because BMcD should have gone before Christmas. This is 97/98 all over again with a clueless manager and rubbish players. What's needed is a clear out of dodgy vindaloo proportions.

What planet are you on? You sound like a spoilt little Chelsea fan.

Clear out the team which is made up in the majority by players who got Reading FC into the top tier for only the 3rd season in its history? Not only this but the gaffer was instrumental in getting the club to this point due to 10 years graft scouting and coaching youngsters - a shít load more than those who boo and harass thinking they are 'doing their bit' for the club.

We are destined for the Championship anyway so why not stick with a team of players and management proven to get us out of it?

Go do one you tool. The quality of football is light years behind where it needs to be. BMcD, whereas performing miracles to actually get the club into the top flight has been proven to be out of his depth. By all accounts, the youngsters in the Academy are encouraged to play football correctly. It all goes wrong when introduced to the cloggers in the first 11.

FTR, thrughout the 40 odd years I have been watching, each relegation season has had exactly the same taste and feel about it. This year is no different. The people who have witnessed multiple relegations will back me up. Quite frankly, this squad is not good enough and the dross needs to be removed. Bring in players who can actually play and build the team around a strong spine. One of BMcDs biggest faults has been his inability to have any other tactic than to attack from wide. That is old news to the rest of the footballing world and the better opposition are more than competent enough to deal with it.

[The Rouge]

Jonny Fordham ‏@JonnyFordham
Just had a text from McDermott, simply said: "Devastated" #readingfc

That is awful, it should have been devast8d.

(Seriously though, it should have been)

That is awful.

[Royal Ginger]

Just got in from a heavy 15 hour shift to this news...

Devestated. Dark dark days indeed.