Next Reading Manager: Press Conference @ 9:15

[jar95]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21800658

[Hoop Blah]

I really just want this to be resolved one way or another honestly im tired of waiting and i am growing increasingly anxious.

There really isn't much of a rush.

It's almost 3 weeks until our next properly competitive game, Southampton, and in the meantime Dolan can steady the ship. I've not got any real concerns about Dolan being in charge for a few games as I think that any change from McDermott probably increases our chances of getting the results needed to give us a slim chance of staying up.

Sacking McDermott was probably more about long term planning than the short term relegation battle. Therefore, realistically, as long as the manager has 3 or 4 games and a reasonably amount of time around the club and training ground to understand what he needs to do over the summer then we're in a better position than keeping McDermott until the end of the season.

If we don't have someone lined up by the end of April then it will be a shame. Will it mean getting rid of McDermott was the wrong thing to do though? No, I don't think so.

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

I really just want this to be resolved one way or another honestly im tired of waiting and i am growing increasingly anxious.

There really isn't much of a rush.

It's almost 3 weeks until our next properly competitive game, Southampton, and in the meantime Dolan can steady the ship. I've not got any real concerns about Dolan being in charge for a few games as I think that any change from McDermott probably increases our chances of getting the results needed to give us a slim chance of staying up.

Sacking McDermott was probably more about long term planning than the short term relegation battle. Therefore, realistically, as long as the manager has 3 or 4 games and a reasonably amount of time around the club and training ground to understand what he needs to do over the summer then we're in a better position than keeping McDermott until the end of the season.

If we don't have someone lined up by the end of April then it will be a shame. Will it mean getting rid of McDermott was the wrong thing to do though? No, I don't think so.

I thought our next match was against arsenal?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

I really just want this to be resolved one way or another honestly im tired of waiting and i am growing increasingly anxious.

[Hoop Blah]

I thought our next match was against arsenal?

Hence why I said properly competitive fixture.

Although we should be looking to get the most from every game we can our expectation of getting anything from Arsenal away (especially considering our history of playing them) should be very low and so the next game that really matters will be Southampton at home.

Even if you want to get hung up on the Arsenal game, there's still nearly two weeks to go until that one so the point still stands really.

[jellytot]

I want some classy manager appointed so if we have to wait til the summer I do not care! We are down so rushing and appointing the wrong man would be wrong! However, I do not think AZ would have fired BM if he thought we were certainly down. I think that he hopes that a new man would some how work. It is too late. The new man would need to be a miracle worker and we would have to appoint him by the end of thr week to
Assess the squad (it is mostly crap at pl level). Otherwise I say keep Dolan til May. Appointing him manager would be madness and would smell of SJM influence. We
Need to move forward as a club and change our ethos.

Not sure Adkins is the right choice. Perhaps he wants Dick Advocaat and has to wait til May?

[Ian Royal]

I think people are forgetting how bad a decision it was to appoint someone who tried to change the style of football, Rodgers anybody?

Its going to take a few years to change the philosophy of our football, let alone return to the premier league next season!

The problem was that Rodgers went about it very badly, not that we tried it.

[winchester_royal]

The problem was that Rodgers was sacked just when the signs were that we were turning things around, and to some extent Brian profited from that in some of the football we were playing in the second half of that season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting the contribution Brian made as manager in his 3 years here, but I don't think it is any coincidence that the style of football got progressively worse the further into his tenure we got.

Rodgers got some ridiculous flak on here, and while he made his fair share of mistakes (both footballing and political) the decision to fire him was massively short-sighted, regardless of the short term benefits that came out of it.

[Ian Royal]

The problem was that Rodgers was sacked just when the signs were that we were turning things around, and to some extent Brian profited from that in some of the football we were playing in the second half of that season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting the contribution Brian made as manager in his 3 years here, but I don't think it is any coincidence that the style of football got progressively worse the further into his tenure we got.

Rodgers got some ridiculous flak on here, and while he made his fair share of mistakes (both footballing and political) the decision to fire him was massively short-sighted, regardless of the short term benefits that came out of it.

Sorry, not enough evidence there'd been a definite turn around given we had some poorer results again immediately before his dismissal. And that decision has absolutely been vindicated by McDermott's performance over the seasons before this one.

[ZacNaloen]

That's true, equally based on what Mcdermott did immediately after he came in the step back we made, when all we really needed was a semi decent attacking mid to keep it going is frustrating. Not all Mcdermotts fault though. Still think he underestimated the ability of the players he did have... or just plain lacked the nous.. I don't know. I've just been very frustrated with the tactics this year.

[winchester_royal]

The problem was that Rodgers was sacked just when the signs were that we were turning things around, and to some extent Brian profited from that in some of the football we were playing in the second half of that season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting the contribution Brian made as manager in his 3 years here, but I don't think it is any coincidence that the style of football got progressively worse the further into his tenure we got.

Rodgers got some ridiculous flak on here, and while he made his fair share of mistakes (both footballing and political) the decision to fire him was massively short-sighted, regardless of the short term benefits that came out of it.

Sorry, not enough evidence there'd been a definite turn around given we had some poorer results again immediately before his dismissal. And that decision has absolutely been vindicated by McDermott's performance over the seasons before this one.

Eh? There were one or two poor performances, as you'd expect given that we were near bottom at the time and had just sacked the manager, but we were still on a steady course of improvement.

It hasn't been vindicated though, because we've just sacked McDermott and in 3 months the club will be in just about the same position it was when Rodgers left it, meanwhile Brendan's current team are 6th in the PL, not to mention his success at Swansea.

I will always believe it to be a big error by the club. Football is changing in this country, no longer does kick-and-rush work at the top level, and we had a chance to be brave and get ahead of the tide. Instead we went for the safe option. McDermott delivered some fantastic moments for us, and he should always be remembered for them, but now we have to undergo the same transitional process we were in before if we ever want to compete at the highest level. In the long run McDermott's tenure set us back 3 (fantastic) years.

[mr_number]

Football is changing in this country, no longer does kick-and-rush work at the top level, and we had a chance to be brave and get ahead of the tide.

Not sure how the experience of Stoke and (this season) West Ham fits in with this view.

[winchester_royal]

Football is changing in this country, no longer does kick-and-rush work at the top level, and we had a chance to be brave and get ahead of the tide.

Not sure how the experience of Stoke and (this season) West Ham fits in with this view.

Stoke are an exception, I'll admit. But they certainly don't entertain their fans, and attendances at the Britannia are dwindling. West Ham are not even close to being safe yet, and they actually play better football than they are given credit for.

[Hoop Blah]

I don't think Stoke and, more so, West Ham are that long ball these days. They both have some good players and are happy lumping it at times yes, but they also play some ok football at times too.

[winchester_royal]

On a separate note..Luis Enrique now into 5/2 with Skybet. Where is this coming from?

[Z175]

The problem was that Rodgers was sacked just when the signs were that we were turning things around, and to some extent Brian profited from that in some of the football we were playing in the second half of that season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting the contribution Brian made as manager in his 3 years here, but I don't think it is any coincidence that the style of football got progressively worse the further into his tenure we got.

Rodgers got some ridiculous flak on here, and while he made his fair share of mistakes (both footballing and political) the decision to fire him was massively short-sighted, regardless of the short term benefits that came out of it.

Sorry, not enough evidence there'd been a definite turn around given we had some poorer results again immediately before his dismissal. And that decision has absolutely been vindicated by McDermott's performance over the seasons before this one.

Eh? There were one or two poor performances, as you'd expect given that we were near bottom at the time and had just sacked the manager, but we were still on a steady course of improvement.

It hasn't been vindicated though, because we've just sacked McDermott and in 3 months the club will be in just about the same position it was when Rodgers left it, meanwhile Brendan's current team are 6th in the PL, not to mention his success at Swansea.

I will always believe it to be a big error by the club. Football is changing in this country, no longer does kick-and-rush work at the top level, and we had a chance to be brave and get ahead of the tide. Instead we went for the safe option. McDermott delivered some fantastic moments for us, and he should always be remembered for them, but now we have to undergo the same transitional process we were in before if we ever want to compete at the highest level. In the long run McDermott's tenure set us back 3 (fantastic) years.

Sacking a manager who took us to the brink of League 1 and replacing him with a manager who took us to the premierleague set us back 3 years?

Thanks to Brian McDermott's heroics we stayed in the Championship, played our best players like Shane Long and Gylfi Sigurdsson in every game, had a fabulous 2 and a half years of winning most of our games, attracted foreign investment and now have an absolutely guaranteed future, with 4 years of parachute payments allowing us to cement our position as a yo yo club. That would have been unthinkable 12 years ago and wildly optimistic when Rodgers was sacked. Regardless of the terrible footballing decisions Rodgers made, there was no other option financially. There is an argument for giving a manager time when bringing in younger players and a new style, but we absolutely could not afford to give Rodgers that time then.

Brian was absolutely hamstrung on recruitment until January 2012 and did what he could with QPR cast offs, aging international full backs and the left overs of Coppell and Rodger's teams, whilst selling anyone who was any good! He was never going to build Barcelona in that situation.
No coincidence that the playing style got worse that more players we sold? I'd like to have seen Rodgers' brand of football triumph at Swansea if he wasn't given the cash to bring in Scott Sinclair.

Its more reasonable to argue that Rodgers himself set back the McDermott era by pissing away the last chance of success. Imagine if we had just gone straight to McDermott after Coppell? Given we topped the form table all the second half of the season, we might easily have gone up that season instead. And you wouldn't be criticising the style of a team with Sigurdsson and Long in it, so Brendan Rodgers set back the Brian McDermott era by 2 years, and if we get relegated, possibly longer.

[Pepe the Horseman]

On a separate note..Luis Enrique now into 5/2 with Skybet. Where is this coming from?

If we got him it would be the greatest day of my life, even if he does fail to turn us into the Barca of the Championship

[ankeny]

On a separate note..Luis Enrique now into 5/2 with Skybet. Where is this coming from?

Eddie Howe appears 22/1 !!

[winchester_royal]

Sacking a manager who took us to the brink of League 1 and replacing him with a manager who took us to the premierleague set us back 3 years?

Thanks to Brian McDermott's heroics we stayed in the Championship, played our best players like Shane Long and Gylfi Sigurdsson in every game, had a fabulous 2 and a half years of winning most of our games, attracted foreign investment and now have an absolutely guaranteed future, with 4 years of parachute payments allowing us to cement our position as a yo yo club. That would have been unthinkable 12 years ago and wildly optimistic when Rodgers was sacked. Regardless of the terrible footballing decisions Rodgers made, there was no other option financially. There is an argument for giving a manager time when bringing in younger players and a new style, but we absolutely could not afford to give Rodgers that time then.

Brian was absolutely hamstrung on recruitment until January 2012 and did what he could with QPR cast offs, aging international full backs and the left overs of Coppell and Rodger's teams, whilst selling anyone who was any good! He was never going to build Barcelona in that situation.
No coincidence that the playing style got worse that more players we sold? I'd like to have seen Rodgers' brand of football triumph at Swansea if he wasn't given the cash to bring in Scott Sinclair.

Its more reasonable to argue that Rodgers himself set back the McDermott era by pissing away the last chance of success. Imagine if we had just gone straight to McDermott after Coppell? Given we topped the form table all the second half of the season, we might easily have gone up that season instead. And you wouldn't be criticising the style of a team with Sigurdsson and Long in it, so Brendan Rodgers set back the Brian McDermott era by 2 years, and if we get relegated, possibly longer.

'To the brink of League 1? Rofl, we weren't even half way through the season.

Also, you go on about Rodgers getting the cash to bring in Sinclair...but what about Roberts last season for us?

This is a pretty pointless argument now so I'm going to leave it and look forward to the future. No doubt most will disagree with what I've said here based on how Rodgers was treated while he was here, but for me it was a harsh sacking that in the long run has worked out better for him than it did us.

[Ian Royal]

The problem was that Rodgers was sacked just when the signs were that we were turning things around, and to some extent Brian profited from that in some of the football we were playing in the second half of that season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting the contribution Brian made as manager in his 3 years here, but I don't think it is any coincidence that the style of football got progressively worse the further into his tenure we got.

Rodgers got some ridiculous flak on here, and while he made his fair share of mistakes (both footballing and political) the decision to fire him was massively short-sighted, regardless of the short term benefits that came out of it.

Sorry, not enough evidence there'd been a definite turn around given we had some poorer results again immediately before his dismissal. And that decision has absolutely been vindicated by McDermott's performance over the seasons before this one.

Eh? There were one or two poor performances, as you'd expect given that we were near bottom at the time and had just sacked the manager, but we were still on a steady course of improvement.

It hasn't been vindicated though, because we've just sacked McDermott and in 3 months the club will be in just about the same position it was when Rodgers left it, meanwhile Brendan's current team are 6th in the PL, not to mention his success at Swansea.

I will always believe it to be a big error by the club. Football is changing in this country, no longer does kick-and-rush work at the top level, and we had a chance to be brave and get ahead of the tide. Instead we went for the safe option. McDermott delivered some fantastic moments for us, and he should always be remembered for them, but now we have to undergo the same transitional process we were in before if we ever want to compete at the highest level. In the long run McDermott's tenure set us back 3 (fantastic) years.

The improvement was three wins and a draw against a couple of mid-table sides and two strugglers. Followed by a home draw with Scunthorpe and a 4-2 loss to Palace. Both of whom were also struggling with relegation.

Hasn't been vindicated? We went from struggling towards the bottom of the table to finishing 9th, making teh PO Final and promoted as champions. In three months time we won't be where we were with Rodgers unless we do much worse than I think most of us reasonably expect. What Rodgers has done elsewhere is utterly irrelevant.

McDermott has in no way set up back three years. just utterly