Brian: The right decision?

[sandman]

people still believe in coincidences, Bless.

More to do with the players than STAR though.

[winchester_royal]

Stuart Pearce was there as well...was he Anton's second choice?

[creative_username_1]

:shock: people still believe in coincidences, Bless.

[melonhead]

Stuart Pearce was there as well...was he Anton's second choice?

[sandman]

Stuart Pearce was there as well...was he Anton's second choice?

Stuart Pearce is the manager of England's under 21's so watches games every week as part of his job as you well know. He is not, as Di Canio was at that time, an unemployed manager. He was first choice and the players vetoed it so it didn't happen.

Still if you're naïve enough to believe that it was a coincidence Di Canio was there and he really was at the Madejski Stadium to sample "a passionate atmosphere" then that is up to you.

We'll put your naivety down to your age.

[ZacNaloen]

Di Canio was watching another team the week before as well, guess he was lined up to manage there too

[Wycombe Royal]

Stuart Pearce was there as well...was he Anton's second choice?

Stuart Pearce is the manager of England's under 21's so watches games every week as part of his job as you well know. He is not, as Di Canio was at that time, an unemployed manager. He was first choice and the players vetoed it so it didn't happen.

Still if you're naïve enough to believe that it was a coincidence Di Canio was there and he really was at the Madejski Stadium to sample "a passionate atmosphere" then that is up to you.

We'll put your naivety down to your age.

Anton doesn't strike me as the type to approach another manager (and actually get him to attend a match) prior to sacking his current manager, with whom he had a very good relationship. So I'm with winchester_royal on this one.

The simple fact is that Di Canio lived locally and loves his football. It is not uncommon for out of work managers to attend matches.

[melonhead]

Di Canio was watching another team the week before as well, guess he was lined up to manage there too

[winchester_royal]

Stuart Pearce was there as well...was he Anton's second choice?

Stuart Pearce is the manager of England's under 21's so watches games every week as part of his job as you well know. He is not, as Di Canio was at that time, an unemployed manager. He was first choice and the players vetoed it so it didn't happen.

Still if you're naïve enough to believe that it was a coincidence Di Canio was there and he really was at the Madejski Stadium to sample "a passionate atmosphere" then that is up to you.

We'll put your naivety down to your age.

You can put it down to whatever you want Sandy, it won't make your ridiculous theory sound any more true.

Out of work managers, in general, watch football games...especially games in a league that they are looking to get a job in which are taking place locally. Some even go and watch other teams train. Don't you think if he was being lined up as the next manager he would be sitting with Anton, rather than slumming it with the rest of us? 'Yeah but they didn't want to attract suspicion' you may say...well in that case I massively doubt they'd put him among thousands of fans with nothing but a dodgy pair of sunglasses as a disguise. Do I think it's a coincidence he was there? No, I think he deliberately went there to watch a game of football. The fact that McD got sacked 3 days later is completely irrelevant, as shown by the fact we never displayed any interest whatsoever in appointing Di Canio.

Also, given that 'apparently' Anton sacked Bri despite Nicky and SJM 'begging' him not to, the idea that he was swayed off Di Canio by a few players having a grumble is pretty lolzworthy.

Still, I know this is nothing but a standard fishing trip from you, and that you're smart enough to realise that the jump from him watching a game of local premiership football to him having been a shoe-in to be the next manager is the footballing equivalent of a jump to light-speed, but what I find concerning is that MF actually believes it to be true.

[RoyalinBracknell]

Stuart Pearce was there as well...was he Anton's second choice?

Stuart Pearce is the manager of England's under 21's so watches games every week as part of his job as you well know. He is not, as Di Canio was at that time, an unemployed manager. He was first choice and the players vetoed it so it didn't happen.

Still if you're naïve enough to believe that it was a coincidence Di Canio was there and he really was at the Madejski Stadium to sample "a passionate atmosphere" then that is up to you.

We'll put your naivety down to your age.

Anton doesn't strike me as the type to approach another manager (and actually get him to attend a match) prior to sacking his current manager, with whom he had a very good relationship. So I'm with winchester_royal on this one.

The simple fact is that Di Canio lived locally and loves his football. It is not uncommon for out of work managers to attend matches.

I agree with this. Besides, I think the decision to dispense with McDermott was mainly down to the events of the match against Villa (a 4th straight league defeat, yet another loss against a relegation rival, losing a lead again and looking like we were falling well behind 17th, a significant proportion of the crowd starting to turn on Brian and booing substitutions etc.) Had we beaten Villa (or probably even drawn) then I'm sure McDermott would have been managing us in the next match. I can't imagine Anton had another manager in place before that Villa match (or indeed, it would seem, even before he sacked McDermott on the Monday.)

[The Prisoner]

Wigan and Villa did for Brian and our season. Wigan more so.

[Elm Park Pasty]

I BLAME ADKINS, HAMMOND, MADEJSKI & ZINGAREVICH...........

that our complete lack of transfer activity has allowed this to develop into a 43 page Lazarus thread, every time you think it's dead and killed off, nope there it goes again..........

[creative_username_1]

this is only gonna die if a mod kills it, whilst i'm on watch

[Avon Royal]

:shock: people still believe in coincidences, Bless.

Most people don't believe that it is a coincidence that only you and Man Friday think that Di Canio was Anton's first choice..........

[SCIAG]

Also, given that 'apparently' Anton sacked Bri despite Nicky and SJM 'begging' him not to, the idea that he was swayed off Di Canio by a few players having a grumble is pretty lolzworthy.

It might have been more like McAnuff telling him that the whole squad had said they didn't want to be managed by a fascist.

[winchester_royal]

Also, given that 'apparently' Anton sacked Bri despite Nicky and SJM 'begging' him not to, the idea that he was swayed off Di Canio by a few players having a grumble is pretty lolzworthy.

It might have been more like McAnuff telling him that the whole squad had said they didn't want to be managed by a fascist.

Or, more likely, Di Canio was never in the running.

[St. Brynjar]

We would never have gone for Di Canio. SJM would have shit himself.

I think NA was always our preferred candidate, we asked to speak with one or two others, Poyet declined which naturally led the media to say 'POYET OFFERED READING JOB AND REJECTS THEM COZ THEYRE SHIT'.

[creative_username_1]

guessing what some other person may have been thinking is defo gonna get this to 50 pages.

Thanks for your input

[windermere_royal]

guessing what some other person may have been thinking is defo gonna get this to 50 pages.

Thanks for your input

wow such important priorities in life. keep it up.

[Wycombe Royal]

Sandman has gone quiet. Did someone knock his castle over?