How impressed are you with BMcD's return to the club?

[RoyallyFcuked]

The problems at the club are quite deep and go way beyond Brian.

You've wrote a fair bit of shite on this thread but I agree with this statement.

It still doesn't make Brian the right man for the job though. He was simply a soft and easy option for the club, happy to accept a low salary as well as everything else that isn't right.

Which other championship club would have him as boss? None of them.

[RoyallyFcuked]

FYI, McDermott's got exactly the same number of points and wins as Clarke did when he joined us. Both had 25 league games to finish the season. So no, Clarke didn't start any better. We've certainly finished badly under McDermott, but he arrested the total nosedive Clarke had us in and kept us up comfortably.

We certainly could have done worse under Clarke, who would have just oxf*rd off at the next opportunity anyway.

As I said, Clarke inherited a bigger mess and worse squad. He also comfortably kept us up from the downward spiral we had got into under Adkins, we were in 16th place and finished 19th. Meanwhile McD took over with us in 9th place and we finished 17th, so you're telling me the objective of a team in 9th place at the beginning of December that had been as high as 2nd was to 'stay up'?

And despite any of that my point still stands, there were signs of improvement when Clarke took over, we looked much better defensively for example but since McD has returned we have got worse at the back.

When McDermott took over we were 13th, not 9th.

Fact is, Clarke did no better in his first 25 games. I'm not really interested in arguing with someone who thinks they can 'personally guarantee' we'd have finished higher under Clarke and that it's ok to be rude about Brian and call for his very premature sacking. I'm just correcting your glaring errors.

Fact is, Clarke took over a bigger mess and a worse squad. Still doesn't change the fact we showed signs of improvement when Clarke took over and have got worse under McD. My mistake on our league position, I was looking at where we where when Clarke left as appose to when Brian actually took over. I'm just telling you there is no way Clarke would have seen us finish 17th this season, as much you'd like to believe we'd have done worse. You just claimed that objective of a mid table team in December that had been looking like promotion contenders was to stay up, ok then thats like saying our objective every season in the championship is to stay up. Your glaring error, not mine

And Ian I don't know why you've now buried yourself in Brian's bum crack when you were among those calling for him to go when he got sacked in 2013. Are you now prepared to see past his tactical ineptness and clueless team selections in the desperate hope of another miracle now then?

Also picking up on what a couple have said, that McD being back is their reason for still going to games? Its personal opinion of course, but that is the main reason I am losing interest and staying away recently. Going to watch these players under Brian's management just doesn't excite me whatsoever.

[Pepe the Horseman]

The problems at the club are quite deep and go way beyond Brian.

You've wrote a fair bit of shite on this thread but I agree with this statement.

It still doesn't make Brian the right man for the job though. He was simply a soft and easy option for the club, happy to accept a low salary as well as everything else that isn't right.

Which other championship club would have him as boss? None of them.

He took Reading to a play-off final and a league title, whilst having his best players taken from underneath him. Since been screwed over by two lunatic owners. What championship club wouldn't have him as boss?

[RoyallyFcuked]

The problems at the club are quite deep and go way beyond Brian.

You've wrote a fair bit of shite on this thread but I agree with this statement.

It still doesn't make Brian the right man for the job though. He was simply a soft and easy option for the club, happy to accept a low salary as well as everything else that isn't right.

Which other championship club would have him as boss? None of them.

He took Reading to a play-off final and a league title, whilst having his best players taken from underneath him. Since been screwed over by two lunatic owners. What championship club wouldn't have him as boss?

Lol don't kid yourself, not one Championship club would now have him as manager except us. Despite his achievments he is not a top manager at this level, not even close. Didn't do too well at Leeds did he?

[Pepe the Horseman]

You've wrote a fair bit of shite on this thread but I agree with this statement.

It still doesn't make Brian the right man for the job though. He was simply a soft and easy option for the club, happy to accept a low salary as well as everything else that isn't right.

Which other championship club would have him as boss? None of them.

He took Reading to a play-off final and a league title, whilst having his best players taken from underneath him. Since been screwed over by two lunatic owners. What championship club wouldn't have him as boss?

Lol don't kid yourself, not one Championship club would now have him as manager except us. Despite his achievments he is not a top manager at this level, not even close. Didn't do too well at Leeds did he?

Everyone fails at Leeds. Who would you have instead?

[Top Flight]

You've wrote a fair bit of shite on this thread but I agree with this statement.

It still doesn't make Brian the right man for the job though. He was simply a soft and easy option for the club, happy to accept a low salary as well as everything else that isn't right.

Which other championship club would have him as boss? None of them.

He took Reading to a play-off final and a league title, whilst having his best players taken from underneath him. Since been screwed over by two lunatic owners. What championship club wouldn't have him as boss?

Lol don't kid yourself, not one Championship club would now have him as manager except us. Despite his achievments he is not a top manager at this level, not even close. Didn't do too well at Leeds did he?

You are a contradiction in terms.

Despite his achievements of winning the league and leading a side to a play-off final in just 3 years of managing at Championship level he is not a top manager at this level.

I hope you don't work in recruitment, that's all I can say. You don't know how to recruit.

[No Fixed Abode]

I h8 being right

Actual lol

Anyway, I think you'll find I praised him when he was doing a decent job, during our run of one defeat in 10 (5 wins) having just sold our two top scorers. Not during this poor run (I've actually been quite critical of his tactics) and I've always said he needs the summer before being fully judged, in both cases.

But anyways, Brian's only 4 points worse off than Clarke over 25 league games and that's without having a summer transfer window and also having his two top scorers sold from under him

BM took Reading a whole 10 (ten) places down the table.

[RoyallyFcuked]

Everyone fails at Leeds. Who would you have instead?

I guess that's true but there is a number of managers we could have chosen. Pearson, Jokanovic, Di Matteo?

You are a contradiction in terms.

Despite his achievements of winning the league and leading a side to a play-off final in just 3 years of managing at Championship level he is not a top manager at this level.

I hope you don't work in recruitment, that's all I can say. You don't know how to recruit.

It still doesn't make him a top manager at this level, because tactically he is far from it. If he's so brilliant then why weren't there a host of championship clubs (other than Leeds) wanting him when he left us? And why did no one want to bring him in when he left Leeds?

Whatever you say pal. It's the club that doesn't know how to recruit, and you by the look of it.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Pearson was too expensive. Di Matteo would probably see Reading as a slight step down after Chelsea and Schalke. Not sure that Jokanovic's six months at Watford make him a top manager at this level.

[Rollerbob]

Surely if McDermott was wanted by anyone other than Reading, Fulham would have approached him, rather than Clarke.

Sadly, McD isn't regarded as a 'top' manager at this level, and this season won't have done him any favours. If he was, he'd have gone straight back into management instead of scouting at Arsenal.

[Maneki Neko]

I h8 being right

Actual lol

Anyway, I think you'll find I praised him when he was doing a decent job, during our run of one defeat in 10 (5 wins) having just sold our two top scorers. Not during this poor run (I've actually been quite critical of his tactics) and I've always said he needs the summer before being fully judged, in both cases.

But anyways, Brian's only 4 points worse off than Clarke over 25 league games and that's without having a summer transfer window and also having his two top scorers sold from under him

BM took Reading a whole 10 (ten) places down the table.

Brilliant kes
we were 13th when brian took over, or 9th when Clarke left. that puts us in 23rd or 19th
neither of which is the league placing we achieved.

[sandman]

Surely if McDermott was wanted by anyone other than Reading, Fulham would have approached him, rather than Clarke.

Sadly, McD isn't regarded as a 'top' manager at this level, and this season won't have done him any favours. If he was, he'd have gone straight back into management instead of scouting at Arsenal.

Maybe he was, maybe he's been wanted by a whole host of championship clubs. If Reading were just another championship club I doubt he would have joined us.

Why would he leave a top scouting job at Arsenal for a mid table championship side he has no association with?

[Top Flight]

Everyone fails at Leeds. Who would you have instead?

I guess that's true but there is a number of managers we could have chosen. Pearson, Jokanovic, Di Matteo?

You are a contradiction in terms.

Despite his achievements of winning the league and leading a side to a play-off final in just 3 years of managing at Championship level he is not a top manager at this level.

I hope you don't work in recruitment, that's all I can say. You don't know how to recruit.

It still doesn't make him a top manager at this level, because tactically he is far from it. If he's so brilliant then why weren't there a host of championship clubs (other than Leeds) wanting him when he left us? And why did no one want to bring him in when he left Leeds?

Whatever you say pal. It's the club that doesn't know how to recruit, and you by the look of it.

Tactically, McDermott is a genius.

But tactics are only 1 aspect of whether a team will win a football match. There are also other factors such as:

1) Do the players want to win? Are they giving 100%?
2) Are the players better than their opponents?
3) Tactical, are the team playing to it's strengths and outsmarting the opposition?

When you are poor on points 1 and 2 then point 3 becomes pretty irrelevant.

We are poor on point 1 because of poor management right from the top down to Clarke and Adkins prior to McDermotts arrival. Bringing in the wrong characters for the wrong reasons. We ended up with far too many CM's and we don't have any good wingers or strikers. Ola John might have been good, but he didn't seem to care enough to get himself fit to play a 90 minute match or to track players and defend in a game. He was good going forward but left us weak at the back and meant that McDermott would have to play 3 centre midfielders with Hector often playing as a holding man to compensate. Unless everyone does everything (attack and defend) you are always going to be weak.

In terms of point 2 we are bang average. In terms of point 3, points 1 and 2 can often dictate point 3.

Crystal Palace tactics go out the window when Bolasie and Zaha are injured and all of a sudden, Pardew looks tactically inept. He is not really tactically inept, he has just lost two of his outstanding players and that has an effect.

Reading were absolutely sh*te last year in terms of our side, there is no doubt about it. Nothing McDermott can do tactically would have changed that. He has to get the right players in over the summer so that he can deploy the tactics he wants. You can't play fast counter-attacking football unless you have fast wingers and strikers. We were severely limited last season in terms of what the team could do with the players that were there and of course we lost alot of games because of it.

The kind of management that is needed at the moment involves selling a lot of players. That is what really needs to be done. This group of players will make a failure out of any manager. It's good players that Reading FC need right now. Good players with the right attitude. That's what we should be focusing on.

[genome]

BM took Reading a whole 10 (ten) places down the table.

Do you also h8 being wrong?

[genome]

Surely if McDermott was wanted by anyone other than Reading, Fulham would have approached him, rather than Clarke.

Sadly, McD isn't regarded as a 'top' manager at this level, and this season won't have done him any favours. If he was, he'd have gone straight back into management instead of scouting at Arsenal.

Maybe he was, maybe he's been wanted by a whole host of championship clubs. If Reading were just another championship club I doubt he would have joined us.

Why would he leave a top scouting job at Arsenal for a mid table championship side he has no association with?

IIRC he said he did have a few offers but he turned them down while at Arsenal

[Hoop Blah]

But tactics are only 1 aspect of whether a team will win a football match. There are also other factors such as:

1) Do the players want to win? Are they giving 100%?
2) Are the players better than their opponents?
3) Tactical, are the team playing to it's strengths and outsmarting the opposition?

Aren't we always told that McDermott is a master at man-management and getting the best from players? If that's the case then surely he should've been able to do a lot more to address the apparent issues with point 1?

To my mind McDermott is very good at managing certain players and putting his arm around them to boost their confidence (eg Long and Kebe) but when he comes up against players that need a little more than that to prosper he comes a bit unstuck.

[RoyallyFcuked]

Surely if McDermott was wanted by anyone other than Reading, Fulham would have approached him, rather than Clarke.

Sadly, McD isn't regarded as a 'top' manager at this level, and this season won't have done him any favours. If he was, he'd have gone straight back into management instead of scouting at Arsenal.

My point exactly, no other clubs wanted him and there is a reason for that.

Maybe he was, maybe he's been wanted by a whole host of championship clubs. If Reading were just another championship club I doubt he would have joined us.

Why would he leave a top scouting job at Arsenal for a mid table championship side he has no association with?

You're dreaming again, why wouldn't anyone with any ambition leave a scouting role to be manager of any championship team?
The truth is he is more than happy in his natural position which is a scout and not a manager. He wouldn't be comfortable or confident enough in his own abilty at any other Champ club and none of them would be able to believe in him enough to offer him a job anyway.

Tactically, McDermott is a genius.

McDermott a tactical genius The delusion levels around the guy are very strong but at least it makes me laugh.

[genome]

Anthony Smith ‏@Smudgersport 11m11 minutes ago
Hearing Brian McDermott will meet #readingfc Thai owners this week to discuss future. Let's hope they back him in the transfer market.

Ominous?

[RoyallyFcuked]

Surely if McDermott was wanted by anyone other than Reading, Fulham would have approached him, rather than Clarke.

Sadly, McD isn't regarded as a 'top' manager at this level, and this season won't have done him any favours. If he was, he'd have gone straight back into management instead of scouting at Arsenal.

Maybe he was, maybe he's been wanted by a whole host of championship clubs. If Reading were just another championship club I doubt he would have joined us.

Why would he leave a top scouting job at Arsenal for a mid table championship side he has no association with?

IIRC he said he did have a few offers but he turned them down while at Arsenal

What he didn't say was that the offers were from a handful non league clubs, a couple of Scottish second division sides and one from the League of Irelend.

[Rollerbob]

Anthony Smith ‏@Smudgersport 11m11 minutes ago
Hearing Brian McDermott will meet #readingfc Thai owners this week to discuss future. Let's hope they back him in the transfer market.

Let's hope they make it more than clear that this season was beyond sh*t, and things need to improve, fast.

Also, lets hope they make a decision to back Brian, or sack him. BACK OR SACK. I fear an in-between attempt, or a non-decision will only harm RFC