Bye Nicky

[Silver Fox]

Charles Watts raises the question of working with the Thais as a possible reason for his departure, surly SJM hasn't sold us down the river again ?????

Nicky wasn't backed by the Thais when he opposed Clarke's overhaul of the back room staff, maybe that continued?

Pretty sure this is bad news but don't really know what he outcome will be long term, impressed that so many on here know how it will turn out mind

[Ian Royal]

Say it ain't so! Hammond, we love you!

Like others this leaves me with a certain nervous worry about whether there's issues behind the scenes. But I have little issue with Howe who has also been an important part of our success and I'm not convinced the Thais doing things their way is automatically bad.

Mills £5m
Hughes £500k
Broken Sonko £3m
Sulky Shorey £3m
Fae £2.5m back
Halford £2.5m back
Blackman £4m
Doyle & Long £75k
Shorey £35k
Kitson £130k
Ingimarsson £150k

[paultheroyal]

A new era, exciting times.

[tee peg]

Who will be next?

[download]

I remember hearing Warnock bitching about what a tight arse Hammond was to deal with. If he annoyed Colin, I'm happy that he was doing a good job.

[Archer]

Really concerning on a lot of levels. Hammond has been such a key part of the club going back to Pardew. He and Coppell made Reading what it was at it's best both on and off the pitch. So many clubs at this level aspired to be Reading and to have their own Nick Hammond.

We all know he's been approached before so why now? Consider that Hammond never walked away whilst Anton put us through all that shit really says something about his relationship with the current owners.

Congrats to West Brom btw. I'll give Pulis a month before Hammond brings in a better manager. Coppell deserves another shot in the Prem.

[Maneki Neko]

Terrible sign of the shit going on behind the scenes. Would never r have left a couple of years ago.
Bad news. Would love a bit of coppell, or no replacement

[RoyalBlue]

On BBCRB this PM, Mick Gooding made it pretty obvious that he wasn't a great fan of Hammond (although gave him credit for bringing Coppell in).

According to Gooding, Hammond twice prevented him from returning to the club.

If only we had someone of Gooding's character amongst our backroom staff right now.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I remember hearing Warnock bitching about what a tight arse Hammond was to deal with. If he annoyed Colin, I'm happy that he was doing a good job.

I remember saying what a tough but very professional person to deal with he was. I took that as a massive compliment to our DoF and to our club.

[UpThePrem]

And this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Tevreden_(footballer_born_1981)

Who I have never heard of before. How long has he been working at RFC for

Well there's the link to the Dutch centre back sorted then. This guy must have been recruited by the Thais as part of the broader scouting network

Yep there's the Dordrecht link sorted.

Now why has avram been at the mad Stad so much? It's a possibility

Exactly this. Expecting Avram to be named the DoF in the very near future and will take over from McD when he eventually gets the boot. Not sure timewise but hopefully sooner rather than later. Would prefer to have a manager that has the full support of the owners rather than one that only two of the owners want.

[sandman]

Would prefer a manager with all his coaching qualifications instead of Grant.

[genome]

Expecting Avram to be named the DoF in the very near future

Brian said they won't be replacing him in the post match interview today

[Archer]

On BBCRB this PM, Mick Gooding made it pretty obvious that he wasn't a great fan of Hammond (although gave him credit for bringing Coppell in).

According to Gooding, Hammond twice prevented him from returning to the club.

If only we had someone of Gooding's character amongst our backroom staff right now.

No agenda from Gooding then.

I bet we'll be top of the agent fees paid table next season at least.

[UpThePrem]

Expecting Avram to be named the DoF in the very near future

Brian said they won't be replacing him in the post match interview today

In which case Brian's going even quicker than I thought. Brian's replacement rather than Nicky's.

[RoyalBlue]

On BBCRB this PM, Mick Gooding made it pretty obvious that he wasn't a great fan of Hammond (although gave him credit for bringing Coppell in).

According to Gooding, Hammond twice prevented him from returning to the club.

If only we had someone of Gooding's character amongst our backroom staff right now.

No agenda from Gooding then.

I bet we'll be top of the agent fees paid table next season at least.

Of course he has an agenda but he also knows an awful lot of what goes on behind the scenes at that place and the way that Madejski, Howe and Hammond operated. As I say, he did give Hammond some credit but equally I suspect he knows some less favourable attributes about him too. And why would Hammond block his return? Could it be that Quinn and Gooding didn't earn themselves a reputation as weak 'yes men'?

That team would not have performed in the disgraceful manner they did today (and in many other games) had Gooding been anywhere near the dressing room.

[sandman]

Probably blocked it in the grounds that there aren't many teams with estate agents on their payroll.

[Royal_jimmy]

I am another who is gutted to see him go. It makes me think what must be going on behind the scenes for him to jump ship.

He's a legend getting £4m for Blackman and £5m for Matt Mills. Not the best buyer of players but he did a brilliant job under some constraints.

Definitely don't like these Thai owners. Obviously Madejski has sold us to crooks again. I'm really worried about us now.

[Archer]

On BBCRB this PM, Mick Gooding made it pretty obvious that he wasn't a great fan of Hammond (although gave him credit for bringing Coppell in).

According to Gooding, Hammond twice prevented him from returning to the club.

If only we had someone of Gooding's character amongst our backroom staff right now.

No agenda from Gooding then.

I bet we'll be top of the agent fees paid table next season at least.

Of course he has an agenda but he also knows an awful lot of what goes on behind the scenes at that place and the way that Madejski, Howe and Hammond operated. As I say, he did give Hammond some credit but equally I suspect he knows some less favourable attributes about him too. And why would Hammond block his return? Could it be that Quinn and Gooding didn't earn themselves a reputation as weak 'yes men'?

That team would not have performed in the disgraceful manner they did today (and in many other games) had Gooding been anywhere near the dressing room.

Yeah Geordie would have shown some real pashun.

[Lower West]

I am another who is gutted to see him go. It makes me think what must be going on behind the scenes for him to jump ship.

Probably personal reasons, i.e. new job and challenge. End of an era with Nigel Howe, Sir John etc. Football has changed. Reading most sit well down the financial table. Back to bargain buys.

[tmesis]

I am another who is gutted to see him go. It makes me think what must be going on behind the scenes for him to jump ship.

Probably personal reasons, i.e. new job and challenge. End of an era with Nigel Howe, Sir John etc. Football has changed. Reading most sit well down the financial table. Back to bargain buys.

That was what we did best.

Our complete inability to find or sign anyone decent in our premier league years ought to be a little worrying for WBA.