Sack The Manager... REALLY?!

[Winston Smith]

Let Bri Bri ship out the bad eggs, get rid of the loans, bring back some of our youngsters and give him 18-24 months and see how things look then.

There are people on here who have been very spoiled over the last 10 years and think that is how it should always be when reality is quite different. If we see improvement and the performances and results are heading in the right direction then stick with him.

[Maneki Neko]

Brian McDermott will get 8-10 games next season to show what he can do.

If he fails to improve the team and the way we play he will be collecting the P45.

id give him till december, but agree generally
and that's as it should be. he knows that

[Maneki Neko]

'there have been promising signs' what exactly?

he stopped the terminal decline we were in, dragged us safely into midtable, made the defence more solid, instilled some spirit and cohesion, some stability in selection, got us playing some nice football on occasion.

id give him a C- over all, given the circumstances, and context.

[Maneki Neko]

I know i would trust Brian to deal with this transition of new signings over the summer more than anybody else.

agreed.
no one better.especially since finances will dictate we lose the loanees the high earners, and replace them with youth players and lower league punts,

[bobby1413]

Fans whining about Brian should also keep in mind just how much experience he has in terms of scouting.

[From Despair To Where?]

I just hope the expectation for next season isn't the playoffs or better. I'd be happy to see mid table obscurity if it meant that we are building a decent squad that has a bit of fight and heart.

[bobby1413]

I just hope the expectation for next season isn't the playoffs or better. I'd be happy to see mid table obscurity if it meant that we are building a decent squad that has a bit of fight and heart.

Unfortunately very few fans will share that mindset.

We win against West Brom 3-0 one week, lose a league game and the crowd are on their back.

[One8Seven1*]

At the back end of last season when we were losing near enough every week (we won 1 out of the last 10 games including losing to Rotherham & Charlton and drawing with Blackpool with nothing performances, but "It's not Clarke's squad" and everyone said judge him in the summer.

This is NOT Brian's squad and we need to give him time. This summer is MASSIVE and the club need to get a lot right.

I know i would trust Brian to deal with this transition of new signings over the summer more than anybody else.

Brian simply wont get the time he needs, and in all honesty he needs two seasons to get the team he wants together on the budget he'll be working with. This summer see's a huge cut in parachute payments, and an excessive wage bill which needs to be reduced. Several loanees will, thankfully, bugger off back to their parent clubs - but that's several players leaving before a single addition is made, and before a single player is sold, and there will be a few to bring in decent money (Bye bye Cooper, Williams..). Williams will go, and I'm pleased about that. I've never warmed to him. His attitude stinks, he's quite clearly an individual and not a team player, so any fee for him will do - but it's a key player leaving that we will struggle to replace like-for-like. Then there's the free's leaving on top of the loanees. All in all there will be too much change this summer, and you cannot possibly expect a manager to conjur up a promotion chasing side in that one transfer window (he wont last until the January window).

[sandman]

Fans whining about Brian should also keep in mind just how much experience he has in terms of scouting.

Fans moaning about Brian should remember the success of the last three years since the last time they moaned about Brian.

[One8Seven1*]

Fans whining about Brian should also keep in mind just how much experience he has in terms of scouting.

Couldn't agree more, Bobby. What we need is more:

Akpan's
Blackman's
Mooney's
Jo Mills'
Khumalo's
Manset's
Sheppard's
Antonio's (whoops)



He has, on occasion, found a gem. But, if we sit here and go through all of his signings, he's not half as good a scout as some like to portray him as.

[handbags_harris]

I just hope the expectation for next season isn't the playoffs or better. I'd be happy to see mid table obscurity if it meant that we are building a decent squad that has a bit of fight and heart.

Exactly this, and I'd not even stick an arbitrary time limit on his tenure.

[No Fixed Abode]

I just hope the expectation for next season isn't the playoffs or better. I'd be happy to see mid table obscurity if it meant that we are building a decent squad that has a bit of fight and heart.

Exactly this, and I'd not even stick an arbitrary time limit on his tenure.

Managers are rarely given time these days. I think another season of mid-table obscurity like this one will see BM out of a job and it's back to square one again. So I think you guys need to hope for an improvement next season.

[From Despair To Where?]

Watching a team with some spirit and fight will be an improvement. We need continuity, not more change and if that means tempering expectation for a couple of seasons and building from the foundations up then so be it and if the owners have any sense, they will realise that.

[floyd__streete]

Watching a team with some spirit and fight will be an improvement. We need continuity, not more change and if that means tempering expectation for a couple of seasons and building from the foundations up then so be it and if the owners have any sense, they will realise that.

Well said.

/Thread.

[SCIAG]

I hate the "sacking culture" of modern football.

Sacking Rodgers was just about justified, he'd spent a lot of money and sent us to the opposite end of the table. McDermott came in, brought players from out of the cold and we were in excellent form for the second half of the season.

Sacking McDermott could perhaps be justified by his numerous mistakes throughout the season (primarily persisting with 4-4-2 for so long), but given we only got to the Premier League because of him, it was harsh and imo unwarranted.

Sacking Adkins seems silly in hindsight but he had lost the fans and that 6-1 was going to be hard to recover from.

Sacking Clarke only makes sense in light of him agreeing to speak to Fulham.

All that chopping and changing hasn't made much difference. We've had three great managers at this level and haven't qualified for the playoffs. I don't think sacking McDermott is likely to do much good.

Give him the job until a) it looks like we're going to go down due to his decisions, or b) it becomes clear that he is definitely holding us back (or c) gross misconduct). This should be what we do anyway, and it should be standard for most clubs. It's ridiculous that most managers don't last two years in their jobs.

[Forbury Lion]

As long as we're operating the Reading way there is no better manager than Brian who has demonstrated an ability to get the most out of players and get success on a shoestring/the Reading way.

I think the club is still in recovery from the Anton era, It's got to be something more behind the scenes - maybe our scouting network needs an overhaul, maybe the academy outputs need to be better, maybe it's the coaches, medical staff or maybe the mix in the dressing room to generate the same buzz as the cup games, maybe it's the interference from above.... it's something the manager needs to identify & act on.

[DaddyKuhl]

Sometimes there's too much over analysis. This season started with too much hype. Clarke rolled the dice and lost. Not enough permanent signings. Too many imports from abroad as well.

Don't think that really matters, tbf. Boro had 5 vs our 4 starting and 10 vs our 6 in the squad. You can have 11 brits and still be kack.

[Maneki Neko]

Fans whining about Brian should also keep in mind just how much experience he has in terms of scouting.

Fans moaning about Brian should remember the success of the last three years since the last time they moaned about Brian.

[Maneki Neko]

I think you guys need to hope for an improvement next season.

I see you have run out of shit, mr sherlock

[RoyalJack]

People need to get a grip.

After last season, not many would've expected much from this season other than mid table building. Some good signings in McShane and Quinn with other flip a coin signings in Sa and loans. Going with Blackman as your goal getter after a few pre season goals was frowned upon, but we over achieved up til October to be second.

Then we got found out. Teams knew how to stop Blackman and stop us, he got the hump, we did some good business in getting a fee rather than nothing after a few more petulant months(he doesn't even get in the Derby squad that sacked their manager), we had no plan b, no manager and no better option than Brian.

So, after a cup quarter final, we find ourselves mid table but without the stability. Only three teams will have a good season in our league, one of them playing three extra games. Having had three years in the elite out of 145 years, we have no divine right to think it should be us!! 11 years ago we would have been happy to stay in this league.

Quite how this means we should look for a new manager that wasn't available five months ago is beyond me.

Everyone off of the Dellor train!!!