Brian: The right decision?

[winchester_royal]

*Checks into thread*



*Checks out of thread*

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

As usual there's some utter guff and history re-writing on this thread.

Firstly this notion that we used to be a club that looked after managers who served us well for many years. Take Maurice Evans, about as decent and loyal a guy as you could get who was unceromoniously dumped in favour of Ian Branfoot.

Brendan Rodgers who despite being tasked with a huge transition in personnel and playing style was given barely 6 months in the job. His many years helping to develop the Academy into something the club frequently boast about now didn't count for shit.

Likewise McD's 10 years of service don't come into the reckoning if the chairman can't see any future with him at the helm.

Personally I didn't agree with any of those dismissals but sometimes tough decisions have to be made and they need to be made with a clear mind not distracted by misty eyed notions of loyalty. In that sense the club hasn't changed one little bit and as much as i might not agree with it, it's probably the best way for them to operate.

The only time I can remember loyalty getting in the way of making a cold decision was when fan power effectively kept Coppell around for an extra season when neither his head nor his heart were really in it.

On the flipside though is the absurd revisionism of the McD era from the Adkins disciples. I'm not sure what league those people are looking at but the last time I looked at the championship it was made up of 24 teams and being in and around the top 6 doesn't constitute mid table. Also the 4th Highest wage bill in the division? Once we got promoted and paid the title winning bonuses it might have been up there but whilst we were actually playing the games we certainly weren't that high up on the salary front. Certainly i'd wager that we're closer to that level now under Adkins than we ever were under McD but even that's to be expected as a recently relegated Premiership team.

Oh and don't get me started on the whole McD only played hoofball debate either. Because it's bollocks.

FWIW I think Adkins is doing a decent job. he has a talented (if a little lopsided in places) squad for sure but is probably dealing with more changes and issues on and off the field than he envisioned when he took over. Sure he's a bit of a smarmfest when interviewed and I'm not convinced that the style of football is as progressive as some would have us believe but we're still in a very good position in the league. I'm hoping that he'll stop tinkering around with formations and personnel as much as he does (injuries permitting of course) and manages to settle things down a bit more for the second half of the season.

Either way, comparisons with McD's time here are pointless as it's a whole different situation. He's doing a decent job and any talk of sacking him (aside from the dubious trolling enjoyment) is ridiculous really.

I'd suggest it's a bit desperate to go back as far as Maurice Evans as an example of us not showing loyalty to managers. Wasn't he before Madejski's time? As for Rodgers, we were sliding perilously close to a relegation fight and he'd been tasked with promotion within three years. He may have been able to turn it around, I have serious doubts about that. But they very fact that McDermott did turn it around so effectively justifies his sacking to my mind. As I said, we show loyalty and patience to a point, but when relegation is threatening we take decisive action. Some times that action may be debateable, but that's not a bad approach to take.

.

I'd suggest you've missed the point Ian. I'm addressing the notion that somehow we've suddenly become a far more ruthless club that shows no loyalty or respect for previous service. By using examples of decisions made by previous chairman to managers who had done an awful lot for this club previously I'm showing that when need be, as a club in my lifetime we've never let loyalty get in the way.

I guess the main difference between Rodgers and Evans/McD was that he hadn't achieved promotion as a manager. Doesn't alter the fact that the previous good work he'd done for the club didn't save him from the sack. Ditto Evans and McDermott. The club felt the time was right for a mangerial change and that was that.

Surely it's down to the fact that there is so much money in the top flight these days thus bringing massive pressure onto the clubs hierarchy to make sure we get there? It's not really a shock we've become less patient with our managers over the last five years or so. Having three seasons in the PL in the last eight years has only increased this.

[Cureton's Volley]

[Cureton's Volley]

[Royalee]

[madstadblues]

Interesting looking at the Cardiff investment this Summer and the potential wages they are paying. We brought in Shorey, Pog, Mariappa, Gunter, Guthrie and Mcleary for less than they paid for Andreas Cornelius . Looking back, to start a Premier League campaign with Gunnerson, Church, Tabb, Ledge, Gorkes as 20% of the 25 man squad was a bit bonkers (+ all the youngsters)

•Andreas Cornelius (£7.5m, from FC Copenhagen)
•John Brayford (£1.5m, from Derby)
•Simon Moore (Undisclosed, from Brentford)
•Steven Caulker (£8m, from Tottenham)
•Gary Medel (£11m, from Sevilla)
•Kevin Theophile-Catherine (£2.1m, from Rennes)
•Peter Odemwingie (£2.25m, from West Brom)

[maffff]

Yeah, but how many World Cups does McDermott have?

[floyd__streete]

<

[Man Friday]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

[Royalee]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

[Cureton's Volley]

Yeah, but how many World Cups does McDermott have?

Good work

[Cureton's Volley]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

Excuses, excuses

[sandman]

Yeah, but how many World Cups does McDermott have?

Five.

However, being a humble fella he doesn't like to brag and just keeps them on the mantelpiece rather than waving them about like a 50 pence tart.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

1 relegation to his name, though.

[3points]

•Andreas Cornelius (£7.5m, from FC Copenhagen)
•John Brayford (£1.5m, from Derby)
•Simon Moore (Undisclosed, from Brentford)
•Steven Caulker (£8m, from Tottenham)
•Gary Medel (£11m, from Sevilla)
•Kevin Theophile-Catherine (£2.1m, from Rennes)
•Peter Odemwingie (£2.25m, from West Brom)

To be fair, that's a lot of cash for quite a lot of dross. and it looks like it's going to cost Malky his job as well. The DoF has already been canned for "overspending"

[Man Friday]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

1 relegation to his name, though.

[Ian Royal]

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

1 relegation to his name, though.

Generously taken off Bri's hands for a good price.

[Extended-Phenotype]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

[maffff]

How many trophies has Nige won for Reading?

He might have struggled given he's not completed a full f*cking season yet.

1 relegation to his name, though.

2 - Scunthorpe. He did bounce back with immediate promotion though.

[Sanguine]

Tbf I'd have bought Kevin Theophile-Catherine for £10m, nevermind £1m, just for the name.