Who could replace Stam?

[Old Man Andrews]

there is very much a feel of dead man walking certainly. Didn't do the press conference yesterday, zero noise about any transfers.

I do wonder if there is something rumbling behind the scenes. Negotiating some sort of termination maybe. Or maybe not.

Anyway, agree on the young coach thing. Would be happy to see an up and coming manager given a go. Mentioned previously, but Nolan at Notts Co, Cowley at Lincoln and Jones at luton would all be on my shortlist.

How about Ainsworth at Wycombe? Local and has done a great job on a budget up there.

[John Smith]

No, you're wrong. We aren't yet in a relegation fight.

We clearly are

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

[Royalwaster]

No, you're wrong. We aren't yet in a relegation fight.

We clearly are

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

God you are deluded - just look at our run of recent results and tell me we are mid-table team. We've just lost against most of the teams below us in the table ...

[bcubed]

No, you're wrong. We aren't yet in a relegation fight.

We clearly are

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

OK I'll bite
We are only 4 points above the relegation places
We have the worst form (over last six games) of any club in the Championship
We are heading straight for the relegation positions at pace (ironically)
At what point is it a relegation fight in your view? Only when you've actually reached a relegation spot?!

[Old Man Andrews]

We clearly are

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

OK I'll bite
We are only 4 points above the relegation places
We have the worst form (over last six games) of any club in the Championship
We are heading straight for the relegation positions at pace (ironically)
At what point is it a relegation fight in your view? Only when you've actually reached a relegation spot?!

I am not speaking for John Smith here but one way of looking at it is the amount of time left in the season. It is only late January and although our form is most certainly relegation form the amount of time of the season left dictates it is possibly to early to call it a "relegation fight". If March comes and we are where we are now then fair enough we definitely are in a scrap but late January is possibly too early to label it that.

[John Smith]

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

OK I'll bite
We are only 4 points above the relegation places
We have the worst form (over last six games) of any club in the Championship
We are heading straight for the relegation positions at pace (ironically)
At what point is it a relegation fight in your view? Only when you've actually reached a relegation spot?!

I am not speaking for John Smith here but one way of looking at it is the amount of time left in the season. It is only late January and although our form is most certainly relegation form the amount of time of the season left dictates it is possibly to early to call it a "relegation fight". If March comes and we are where we are now then fair enough we definitely are in a scrap but late January is possibly too early to label it that.

Thank you Old Man Andrews, you have voiced my point perfectly.

bcubed, Perhaps you'd care to contribute to my 'February' topic poll in the main forum, as this is the most important discussion for the club currently

[Maneki Neko]

if youre fighting to keep out of the relegation spots, youre in a relegation fight

[Old Boy Blue]

Gary Bowyer would be my choice. He has done incredibly well at Blackburn under the mental Venkys and even better at Blackpool under the bonkers Oystons. Intelligent guy who plays good football and deserves a chance at a relatively more stable club like Reading.

[John Smith]

if youre fighting to keep out of the relegation spots, youre in a relegation fight

Ok well we aren't doing that. We've had a bad run of form that has seen us slip from upper mid table to lower mid table. That's all that's happened. We have just crossed the half way mark in the season. Please stop with the panic button pressing.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

if youre fighting to keep out of the relegation spots, youre in a relegation fight

Ok well we aren't doing that. We've had a bad run of form that has seen us slip from upper mid table to lower mid table. That's all that's happened. We have just crossed the half way mark in the season. Please stop with the panic button pressing.

So at what point do you concede we're in a relegation scrap? We have the worst form in the league and were only four points off the bottom three...

[Wycombe Royal]

We've had a bad run of form that has seen us slip from upper mid table to lower mid table. That's all that's happened.

I'm struggling to remember when we were "upper mid table".........

[Hendo]

What about upper of lower mid table?

[Coppells Lost Coat]

if youre fighting to keep out of the relegation spots, youre in a relegation fight

But with 54 points still up for grabs, we are still in for a play off spot

[Snowflake Royal]

No, you're wrong. We aren't yet in a relegation fight.

We clearly are

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

Over six games we're in worse form than literally everyone below us, we've recently picked up 2 out of 12 points against teams below us, have another two coming up in quick succession and we've gone from about 10 points clear to 4 points clear in roughly six weeks. And we're only 5 points off bottom.

Reading: W0, D2, L4 = 2 pts
Barnsley: W1, D3, L2 = 6 pts
Hull: W0, D3, L3 = 3 pts
Sunderland: W2, D1, L3 = 7 pts
Brum: W2, D2, L2 = 8 pts
Burton: W2, D1, L3 = 7 pts

Win two or three games in the next three or five and we should pull clear again, but right now, we're in the mire of a relegation fight. And there's no sign of us winning one game, let alone two or three in quick succession.

[WoodleyRoyal]

we're too good to go down

[John Smith]

if youre fighting to keep out of the relegation spots, youre in a relegation fight

Ok well we aren't doing that. We've had a bad run of form that has seen us slip from upper mid table to lower mid table. That's all that's happened. We have just crossed the half way mark in the season. Please stop with the panic button pressing.

So at what point do you concede we're in a relegation scrap? We have the worst form in the league and were only four points off the bottom three...

Depending where we are with 10 games to go.

With 18 games left of the season I'd say not even Sunderland are in a relegation scrap. We certainly aren't, and probably won't be, all season.

[Oilroyal]

We clearly are

We aren't. There's 18 games left and we are well clear of the drop zone. We are a lower - mid table team.

Over six games we're in worse form than literally everyone below us, we've recently picked up 2 out of 12 points against teams below us, have another two coming up in quick succession and we've gone from about 10 points clear to 4 points clear in roughly six weeks. And we're only 5 points off bottom.

Reading: W0, D2, L4 = 2 pts
Barnsley: W1, D3, L2 = 6 pts
Hull: W0, D3, L3 = 3 pts
Sunderland: W2, D1, L3 = 7 pts
Brum: W2, D2, L2 = 8 pts
Burton: W2, D1, L3 = 7 pts

Win two or three games in the next three or five and we should pull clear again, but right now, we're in the mire of a relegation fight. And there's no sign of us winning one game, let alone two or three in quick succession.

It’s alright I’m sure Jaap will seek advice from his friends in the game

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37508206

…. Oh, maybe not then

[John Smith]

It’s alright I’m sure Jaap will seek advice from his friends in the game

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37508206

…. Oh, maybe not then

Utterly irrelevant post and one only with the purpose of spreading negativity. Nice one 'fan'.

[Oilroyal]

It’s alright I’m sure Jaap will seek advice from his friends in the game

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37508206

…. Oh, maybe not then

Utterly irrelevant post and one only with the purpose of spreading negativity. Nice one 'fan'.

Irrelevant to some but to others just tells you all you need to know about the man.

[Denver Royal]

It’s alright I’m sure Jaap will seek advice from his friends in the game

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37508206

…. Oh, maybe not then

Utterly irrelevant post and one only with the purpose of spreading negativity. Nice one 'fan'.

Irrelevant to some but to others just tells you all you need to know about the man.

...and maybe about the man posting it? You had to go back to 2016 for this one, just a couple months after he was appointed, right?

I don't want a foreign replacement or a failed British manager with no affinity for us.

Why's that? Plenty of those are appointed these days. Do you feel all those clubs are doing it wrong?