MCDERMOTT SACKED

[Hoop Blah]

There's just so little identity left within the club. If you want results, you may as well go to any other the other identikit teams with modern out of town stadiums, with players and staff with no ties to the club, trying to spend their way to being a mid table premiership team, and pick whichever one's doing well at the time.
Supporting a football team is about being sentimental, it is about being emotional, otherwise, what is it that you're caring about? I don't go and cheer on businesses on the high street. I cheer on a football club because it's meant to be more than a business. But clearly not.

Agreed 100%. Drop me out.

I don't get that attitude.

It's a football club. Results have been appalling and the manager has made mistake after mistake. Yes he's a nice guy and he had a great stint as manager but in the real world manager who don't perform get the sack.

He's had longer than most clubs would've given him in the circumstances this season and so the clubs integrity is well intact but losing both the Wigan and Villa home games was most likely his P45 moment.

[Hoop Blah]

and of which were decent players imo
who fit within the budget given

Some of which were decent players yes, some of which weren't (no manager gets them all right), but his team wasn't good enough and he didn't get the best out of any player this season from what I've seen of them.

At any club a manager has to perform. They have to do a good job and get the most from their resources. Spunking his budget on players that didn't play and making baffling decisions throughout the season isn't getting the best from those resources unfortunately.

We're back to that budget question again. IF, and I really do think it's a big IF, he wasn't allowed any more funds despite pleading for more and making a sound case for more investment, or IF he had players given to him that he didn't want (I can't see any evidence of this but it's been mooted with Carrico and Pogrebnyak) then he can feel hard done by but he still didn't get the squad he assembled to play in a way that was good enough to get results.

[Big Ern]

I don't get that attitude.

It's a football club. Results have been appalling and the manager has made mistake after mistake. Yes he's a nice guy and he had a great stint as manager but in the real world manager who don't perform get the sack.

He's had longer than most clubs would've given him in the circumstances this season and so the clubs integrity is well intact but losing both the Wigan and Villa home games was most likely his P45 moment.

This is my sentiment exactly. The stakes are high in the Prem, Brian knew that and as he stated, the Prem was where he wanted to be. He did not deliver, that's the sad damning truth.

[Big Ern]

of course qpr could still easily crash and burn,but love or hate him,he does seem to have the lazarus effect.was their (of late) resurrection the final straw for the money men at the madstad?

No.

[HoneyRoastHoax]

'greed with both of you.

He's now on holiday and has tens of thousands coming his way.

Not a bad parting.

[Hoop Blah]

We'll see, eh. Don't forget that Di Matteo and Adkins both struggled somewhat in the Prem with clubs of similar size to Reading and both were sacked.

I will LOL if we get 9 games of Eamon Dolan as caretaker manager

Even he'll admit, he's no Terry Connor.

I'm genuinely baffled about what this will achieve.

Sometimes a change just re-envirgorates a team. I don't think that's going to happen but sticking with Brian just wasn't going to work unfortunately.

It's probably a bit easier for you because you don't get to watch the games properly or really see some of the ineptitude on the pitch being an exile, but McDermott, his style and his players have looked out of their depth this season.

Getting rid now gives us a chance to try and spark some life into the side through a change. Hopefully it means that we'll also give a new incoming manager time to work with the squad and get a head start on where a new man would be in the summer if we left this decision until May.

[melonhead]

brendy, would you concede that he bought some players, had some money and generally stuck with ledge, mcanuff, jem etc a little too much..?

he bought 6 players in jan, for about 5 million quid.
they were all desperately needed to fill positions we were lacking in either first team or cover.
YES, I AGREE, BUT THESE PLAYERS ARE NOT ALL 'COVER' AND HE BOUGHT GUNTER, POG ETC AT THE START OF THE SEASON...
GUNTER MCLEARY ETC ALL SOUGHT AFTER CHAMP PLAYERS IN THE SAME MOLD AS THE PLYERS BOUGHT BY NORWICH ETC LAST SEASON THAT KEPT EM ALL UP AN HAD PEOPLE CREAMING OVER THEIR APPROACH TO THE PREM.
AND GIVEN 6 POSITIONS AND 5 MILLION QUID IM NOT SURE I CAN THINK OF ANY BETTER(MICHU ASIDE!)
MARIAPPA IS OUR BEST PLAYER PLAYS EVERY WEEK< MCLEARY LOOKS DECENT ENOUGH I JUST WOULDNT QUITE PUT HIM AHEAD OF JIMMY AND JOBI< GUNTER WAS HIGHLY RATED IN THE GAME< POG LOOKS ABOUT GOOD ENOUGH IMO<SHOREY IS DECENT AND EXPERIENCED<all good purchases within the budget IMO
if hed have had 40 million he could have done a rebuild.he didnt have that, so was effectively fighting fires again.
I TOTALLY AGREE HE WASN'T GIVEN THE BUDGET TO DO VERY WELL, HE COULD PERHAPS HAVE SPENT THE MONEY BETTER THOUGH
I DISAGREE IN THE MAIN
i absolutely 100% categorically disagree in the strongest imaginable manner, that he stuck with mcanuff too long. the blokes been one of our most consistent achievers this season.easily.works harder than anyone.produces as much quality as anyone.
I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT HI STARTING GAMES, MORE HIS RELUCTANCE TO TAKE HIM OFF WHEN STRUGGLING.
NOT REALLY> HE LEAVES HIM ON AS HE IS A LEADER< AND CONISTENTLY PORODUCES MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLYER IN THIS TEAM> WITHOUT EXCEPTION>ledge has been up and down. but when hes the only all round midfielder we actually have its understandbale he hasnt been dropped.
imo hes better than all the other options in the middle. karacan can run around faster, but cant pass or tackle, and is very lightweight. guthrie can pass apparently, but does very little of it effectively that i can see, and also cant tackle, or run around as much.
GUTHRIE ON PAPER HAS BEEN UNDERPLAYED. I THINK HIS WBA HOME PERFORMANCE WAS THE BEST MIDFIELD DISPLAY OF THE SEASON ALONGSIDE LEDGE'S AT NEWCASTLE.
THE SAME LEDGE EVERYONE SAYING SHOULDNT BE NEAR THE TEAM?!
GUTHRIE DONE NOTHING TO GUARANTEE A START IMO. AND IMO IF BRIAN WANTED TO DROP HIM FOR THE SEASON AFTER SUNDERLAND HED HAVE BEEN OK WITH ME.
which just goes to show the options brian had. he didnt have the money to buyt a whole new midfield, a whole new defence, and a whole new front line, which is what was probably required to make a fist of staying up. and even if he had that money, the liklihood of getting a whole new team together and making it function while playing in the premiere league was about 10%(see qpr)
I AM IN NO WAY SAYING THAT A DIFF MANAGER WOULD KEEP THIS TEAM UP. JUST THAT ANOTHER MANAGER MAY NOT HAVE STUCK/BUILT WITH THIS TO TRY AND STAY UP. MCD, WHILST NOT HAVING A GOOD BUDGET, HAS SOME OF THE BLAME FOR THAT.
AGREE TOTALLY HE SHOULDERS THE BLAME< HE WOULD AGREE TOO> WITHOUT SOME HUGE BUDGET AN REBUILD WHICH MAY ALSO NOT HAVE WORKED< HE HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER>

[mr_number]

Of course, I accept that a lot of people think completely differently... just a few points to make

1) The fact that most of modern football behaves in a certain way doesn't mean everyone has to do it

2) Judging performance can be done over more than one season; arguably doing this makes it more reliable. One bad season doesn't make a bad manager.

3) Continuity can have huge benefits in getting organisations working well. Seeing a relegation is now all but confirmed, there is little benefit wrt this season from changing managers, and we lose the continuity benefit next season.

[The Rouge]

brendy, I think we largely agree but you are tarring me with the thoughts of others in some of that. The end point is key. I basically share the sentiment of Dirkers' middle-of-the-night piece but looking at it with detached emotion, I wrote what I did at the top of page 20.

[melonhead]

brendy, I think we largely agree but you are tarring me with the thoughts of others in some of that. The end point is key. I basically share the sentiment of Dirkers' middle-of-the-night piece but looking at it with detached emotion, I wrote what I did at the top of page 20.

im just kinda disappointed you havent continued to escalate the font size war we had started.

[The Rouge]

he bought 6 players in jan, for about 5 million quid.
they were all desperately needed to fill positions we were lacking in either first team or cover.
YES, I AGREE, BUT THESE PLAYERS ARE NOT ALL 'COVER' AND HE BOUGHT GUNTER, POG ETC AT THE START OF THE SEASON...
GUNTER MCLEARY ETC ALL SOUGHT AFTER CHAMP PLAYERS IN THE SAME MOLD AS THE PLYERS BOUGHT BY NORWICH ETC LAST SEASON THAT KEPT EM ALL UP AN HAD PEOPLE CREAMING OVER THEIR APPROACH TO THE PREM.
AND GIVEN 6 POSITIONS AND 5 MILLION QUID IM NOT SURE I CAN THINK OF ANY BETTER(MICHU ASIDE!)
MARIAPPA IS OUR BEST PLAYER PLAYS EVERY WEEK< MCLEARY LOOKS DECENT ENOUGH I JUST WOULDNT QUITE PUT HIM AHEAD OF JIMMY AND JOBI< GUNTER WAS HIGHLY RATED IN THE GAME< POG LOOKS ABOUT GOOD ENOUGH IMO<SHOREY IS DECENT AND EXPERIENCED<all good purchases within the budget IMO
if hed have had 40 million he could have done a rebuild.he didnt have that, so was effectively fighting fires again.
I TOTALLY AGREE HE WASN'T GIVEN THE BUDGET TO DO VERY WELL, HE COULD PERHAPS HAVE SPENT THE MONEY BETTER THOUGH
I DISAGREE IN THE MAIN
OK
i absolutely 100% categorically disagree in the strongest imaginable manner, that he stuck with mcanuff too long. the blokes been one of our most consistent achievers this season.easily.works harder than anyone.produces as much quality as anyone.
I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT HI STARTING GAMES, MORE HIS RELUCTANCE TO TAKE HIM OFF WHEN STRUGGLING.
NOT REALLY> HE LEAVES HIM ON AS HE IS A LEADER< AND CONISTENTLY PORODUCES MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLYER IN THIS TEAM> WITHOUT EXCEPTION>
I DONT THINK HE IS A CAPTAIN TO BE HONEST, BUT WOULD HAVE PICKED HIM FOR MOST GAMES IF NOT ALL
ledge has been up and down. but when hes the only all round midfielder we actually have its understandbale he hasnt been dropped.
imo hes better than all the other options in the middle. karacan can run around faster, but cant pass or tackle, and is very lightweight. guthrie can pass apparently, but does very little of it effectively that i can see, and also cant tackle, or run around as much.
GUTHRIE ON PAPER HAS BEEN UNDERPLAYED. I THINK HIS WBA HOME PERFORMANCE WAS THE BEST MIDFIELD DISPLAY OF THE SEASON ALONGSIDE LEDGE'S AT NEWCASTLE.
THE SAME LEDGE EVERYONE SAYING SHOULDNT BE NEAR THE TEAM?!
[size=200][b]NOT ME
GUTHRIE DONE NOTHING TO GUARANTEE A START IMO. AND IMO IF BRIAN WANTED TO DROP HIM FOR THE SEASON AFTER SUNDERLAND HED HAVE BEEN OK WITH ME.
THAT WOULD HAVE LOOKED BAD ON MCD AS HE HAD ONLY RECENTLY BROUGHT HIM IN!
[/size][/b]
which just goes to show the options brian had. he didnt have the money to buyt a whole new midfield, a whole new defence, and a whole new front line, which is what was probably required to make a fist of staying up. and even if he had that money, the liklihood of getting a whole new team together and making it function while playing in the premiere league was about 10%(see qpr)
I AM IN NO WAY SAYING THAT A DIFF MANAGER WOULD KEEP THIS TEAM UP. JUST THAT ANOTHER MANAGER MAY NOT HAVE STUCK/BUILT WITH THIS TO TRY AND STAY UP. MCD, WHILST NOT HAVING A GOOD BUDGET, HAS SOME OF THE BLAME FOR THAT.
AGREE TOTALLY HE SHOULDERS THE BLAME< HE WOULD AGREE TOO> WITHOUT SOME HUGE BUDGET AN REBUILD WHICH MAY ALSO NOT HAVE WORKED< HE HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER>
OK

[Cypry]

Not quite sure what to make of this really - out on the West Coast of the USA at the moment on business so I got a bunch of texts yesterday, but little access to details until I woke up early at 4am this morning and got a chance to see what's been going on...

I do think the writing's been on the wall for a few weeks now - Brian's been talking a lot in the media about where the club us now compared to a few years back, almost in a defensive way. Whilst this might have taken a proportion of the fans by surprise, I wonder if it comes as much of a surprise to Brian himself?

There've been a lot of rumblings that things haven't been right behind the scenes all season, and since the halting of the progress we seemed to make in January, with each game the boos have become more apparent....

The club had essentially two options, to replace Brian, or back him and let him stay.
Personally, I'd have preferred him to stay, he's shown that he can manage and gain promotion at Championship level (which after all, is most likely where we'll be). I can, however, understand how there could be some rational behind the clubs decision.
Imagine if he'd stayed, we carried on losing to the end of the season, the boos getting louder with every game. What would happen next year if we lost the first game of the season, first two games, first three? It wouldn't be unusual for a freshly relegated club to be in the situation and i suspect that Brian's position would become untenable. We'd face the possibility of scraping around trying to find a new manager who'd have to cope with whatever signings Brian had made, as well as possibly making a few last minute panic buys himself.

I also wonder if Brian's long time employment by the club has eventually worked against him - perhaps he's too close to some of the players, with whom he's been working for a long time, and it's possible that it is felt that a new man, with fresh eyes, is needed to clear out some of the dead wood? Of course this is all speculation, but it could at least partially justify the actions the club has taken.

Make a tough decision now (and I don't believe that Anton made this decision lightly - Brian would've gone sooner if that was the case), and you'll give the new man a few games to assess what he has, determine what he needs to do in the Summer, and have a (slight) chance that the "new manager bounce" might mean we stay up....he'll also (in most cases, PDC perhaps being a big exception) be given a bit of slack by most fans, a honeymoon period if you will....

Time will tell whether the decision is correct - a lot will depend on who the new man is, and how much backing he's given in the Summer.

[statto]

yes, Harry Redknapp's god-like managerial skills or the fact that he was able to spend enormous amounts of money on much better players than we've got.

The only impressive thing about it is that they're still bottom after spending as much as they have.

[Hoop Blah]

Of course, I accept that a lot of people think completely differently... just a few points to make

1) The fact that most of modern football behaves in a certain way doesn't mean everyone has to do it

2) Judging performance can be done over more than one season; arguably doing this makes it more reliable. One bad season doesn't make a bad manager.

3) Continuity can have huge benefits in getting organisations working well. Seeing a relegation is now all but confirmed, there is little benefit wrt this season from changing managers, and we lose the continuity benefit next season.

Agreed on all 3, however, continuity isn't necessarily a good thing if the manager has run his course and the squad he's built has come to an end of its road. Sometimes these things just have a natural shelf life.

Sometimes the damage of that bad year is too much for a manager to turn around.

Sometimes the realisation that the manager can't take us to the level we want is painful and it's potentially better replace him now with a manager who might be able to take us to the next level in the long term (there is no magic formula for getting that next decision right of course, but by the same token there's also no guarantee that McDermott would be able to turn things around next season).

[ebdnet]

It probably didnt help, but it was probably more due to Anton watching the same shambles we did on saturday, the terrible substitutions, the fact that Brian had lost the faithfull, when we all booed, his lack of concern post match interview, and finally the fact that Brian didnt drag tha squad in for extra training on sunday as punishment.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Don't think so - all he's good at is getting millions from gullible chairman.

We were joint bottom when he took over - and still are.

He's spent £25M and g0d knows how much on salaries; we've spent peanuts.

[Broxroyal]

Was out yesterday evening and only got the news late. Am now posting in my lunch hour and don't have time to read 27 pages.
My views, for what they are worth:
Full respect to Brian, genuine nice guy, but after the Villa game it was time to go.
You have to expect that we are down anyway and the more time a newcomer can have to assess the squad for next season the better.
It gives the incoming manager a chance to decide whether he wants to keep Guthrie, Shorey, Roberts etc.
The timing looks odd to outsiders who assume that we have made the move to try and save ourselves with only 9 games left but I really couldn't see us getting another point this season anyway under Brian.
As I say, full respect and good wishes to Brian. Goodbye and thanks but this decision is correct.

[Thomas L'Heureux]

Admittedly I just posted this in another thread, but upon reflection it may be better suited here. I rarely post here these days but I wanted to put my thoughts into writing, so here goes:

Brian McDermott did an unbelievable job of getting the group of players he had to perform to such a level that we won the Championship last season. He will forever hold legendary status for coming from within the club to steady the ship after the Rodgers experiment failed, and everything he achieved will be remembered and appreciated by the genuine fans amongst us.

However, I do not believe that McDermott had the managerial-nouse to succeed in the Premier League. Not only were his tactics slightly naive and one dimensional, but his man-management skills seemed to be lacking somewhat when it came to handling the 'bigger personalities' amongst the squad. Installing passion and belief in a group of largely lower league players, adding the experience of Roberts, and installing a real sense of togetherness last season is one thing, but when it came to managing the likes of Guthrie, an unhappy Federici, and an increasingly frustrated Pavel Pogrebnyak, unltimately I think Brian failed. Knowing he has a far better track record of managing professionals from the lower leagues who have had to show determination and willingness to get to where they are and would undoubtedly be thankful for a shot at the 'big time', he turned to the likes of Akpan and Blackman in the January transfer window, and picks the likes of Leigertwood and McAnuff over Guthrie and co. Those personalities are far easier to manage for a character like Brian and I think that played a massive part in both team selection and transfer targets.

Whilst I feel for Brian and am incredibly thankful for what he achieved at the club, if the new regime are serious about making us an established top-flight side, I feel the change was necessary. It's still yet to be seen who will replace Brian, but I doubt it'll be another quiet, reserved ex-scout (no disrespect intended).

[The Beardy Man]

Not quite sure what to make of this really - out on the West Coast of the USA at the moment on business so I got a bunch of texts yesterday, but little access to details until I woke up early at 4am this morning and got a chance to see what's been going on...

I do think the writing's been on the wall for a few weeks now - Brian's been talking a lot in the media about where the club us now compared to a few years back, almost in a defensive way. Whilst this might have taken a proportion of the fans by surprise, I wonder if it comes as much of a surprise to Brian himself?

There've been a lot of rumblings that things haven't been right behind the scenes all season, and since the halting of the progress we seemed to make in January, with each game the boos have become more apparent....

The club had essentially two options, to replace Brian, or back him and let him stay.
Personally, I'd have preferred him to stay, he's shown that he can manage and gain promotion at Championship level (which after all, is most likely where we'll be). I can, however, understand how there could be some rational behind the clubs decision.
Imagine if he'd stayed, we carried on losing to the end of the season, the boos getting louder with every game. What would happen next year if we lost the first game of the season, first two games, first three? It wouldn't be unusual for a freshly relegated club to be in the situation and i suspect that Brian's position would become untenable. We'd face the possibility of scraping around trying to find a new manager who'd have to cope with whatever signings Brian had made, as well as possibly making a few last minute panic buys himself.

I also wonder if Brian's long time employment by the club has eventually worked against him - perhaps he's too close to some of the players, with whom he's been working for a long time, and it's possible that it is felt that a new man, with fresh eyes, is needed to clear out some of the dead wood? Of course this is all speculation, but it could at least partially justify the actions the club has taken.

Make a tough decision now (and I don't believe that Anton made this decision lightly - Brian would've gone sooner if that was the case), and you'll give the new man a few games to assess what he has, determine what he needs to do in the Summer, and have a (slight) chance that the "new manager bounce" might mean we stay up....he'll also (in most cases, PDC perhaps being a big exception) be given a bit of slack by most fans, a honeymoon period if you will....

Time will tell whether the decision is correct - a lot will depend on who the new man is, and how much backing he's given in the Summer.

Well said, agree with all that

[jar95]

right decision, wrong timing