Clement

[paultheroyal]

to be honest, they cast the net quite wide already in the academy/Development squads, at least within the Greater Reading area (is that a thing?)

Pretty much every decent kid I've come across in my time coaching is already on the books in some way or another by the age of 8

Be interesting to know what they do slightly further afield

Pretty much this. So many scouts out there - word gets out if anyone is decent watching. Also the parent has a key role to play, putting him up with advanced football centres who often play matches against professional run teams etc. In general, the cream get identified.

[paultheroyal]

Distinctly remember Glen Little saying at an "evening with" do that Doyle was fine and you could see he had something about him but Long could barely make a 5 yard pass in training when he first arrived.

Maybe McDermott was ahead of the game here then, Like British Athletics, they now search out potential athletes at schools/uni's and see what attributes they have and then match them up to any sports they should be good at...... Long presumably had the right attributes and just needed coaching/educating/toning etc to become the player he is.
This is what our academy should be doing - don't just focus on the lads who actually play football, Cast the net wider and find someone who maybe isn't even a fan of football but has the potential, then train them.

A relative of ours who is a keen young footballer was approached by Southampton and they converted him from an outfield player to a keeper solely based on the height of his parents-the dad is about 6ft 4 in and the mum about 5ft 7 in.
Up till then he had shown no interest in playing in goal.

For a while last year he travelled up to Reading from Southampton for coaching (as a keeper)-he enjoyed the sessions but because of the travelling he returned to Southampton and is now very much part of their set-up (despite our efforts to get him to carry on with Reading).
He is 11 years old.

Funnily enough also know Saints are switching from the Fraser Forster model to a more Pickford / De Gea. They plucked a kid out of their development centres, this one north of the county because they saw he was a good footballer but was not going to make it but spotted some goalkeeping credentials in a kick about at start of training. A good footballer turned keeper who is not that tall. He is now down at Staplewood. Facilities down there are quire incredible.

[Orion]

If aything, this Gourlay business has saved Clement a little bit. We wont sack out manager and our CEO in the space of a week.

[Sutekh]

If aything, this Gourlay business has saved Clement a little bit. We wont sack out manager and our CEO in the space of a week.

After the last couple of games Clement is going to be safe until after Stoke at a minimum. Therefore this was the best time to part company with RG. Would presume a new CEO will be appointed in next couple of weeks and his first act may well be to replace the manager.

[RFCMod]

to be honest, they cast the net quite wide already in the academy/Development squads, at least within the Greater Reading area (is that a thing?)

Pretty much every decent kid I've come across in my time coaching is already on the books in some way or another by the age of 8

Be interesting to know what they do slightly further afield

Pretty much this. So many scouts out there - word gets out if anyone is decent watching. Also the parent has a key role to play, putting him up with advanced football centres who often play matches against professional run teams etc. In general, the cream get identified.

Exactly,my lad is 6 and with his Sandhurst Town football and school football he also goes to a advanced football centre on a Thursday as a scout noted that even at 5/6 he held the ball well and played the ball out with a little more vision than others.I don't expect him to become Pro i just like the fact he goes some where at an early age where in a small group he gets a better insight into playing and improves his game.
His little mate went to one of the Chelsea regional academies and after 3 months was given the push at 6 yrs old

I run the U7's teams for Sandhurst and if you enter any of the tournaments around here you can guarantee they'll be a plethora of scouts there.Even at Under 6's we had a tournament where Chelsea,QPR,AFC Wimbledon,Brighton,Bournemouth,Reading and Aldershot were in attendance

[Victor Meldrew]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

[muirinho]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Well, he'd certainly make people appreciate the excitement of a Jaap Stam game....

[NewCorkSeth]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

I reckon he will be waiting for a premier league sacking. Southampton maybe?

[Victor Meldrew]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Well, he'd certainly make people appreciate the excitement of a Jaap Stam game....

Your comment is presumably based on how his (poor quality) Irish team has played of late rather than the up-and-at-em McDermott type style that he had at Leicester?

[Old Man Andrews]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Think he could do far better than us. He is someone the likes of Newcastle would bring in if Benitez goes.

[Victor Meldrew]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Think he could do far better than us. He is someone the likes of Newcastle would bring in if Benitez goes.

I don't think so- I feel that he would be seen as a yesterday's man at the top level and probably not foreign enough.

[NewCorkSeth]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Think he could do far better than us. He is someone the likes of Newcastle would bring in if Benitez goes.

I don't think so- I feel that he would be seen as a yesterday's man at the top level and probably not foreign enough.

I reckon he has a huge amount of contacts left at the top level and is still widely respected in the game. Teams like Newcastle, Southampton, Huddersfield, Cardiff, Palace would be foolish not to consider him if that have a change in manager.

[Orion]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Think he could do far better than us. He is someone the likes of Newcastle would bring in if Benitez goes.

I don't think so- I feel that he would be seen as a yesterday's man at the top level and probably not foreign enough.

He needs a break, then join a team at the end of. Aseasin, not half way through. Probably still premier quality - just.

[muirinho]

With Martin O'Neill no longer the Ireland manager does he now become a manager that we would like?

Well, he'd certainly make people appreciate the excitement of a Jaap Stam game....

Your comment is presumably based on how his (poor quality) Irish team has played of late rather than the up-and-at-em McDermott type style that he had at Leicester?

The standard of players in the Irish team probably is equivalent to or higher than the level of player he'd have here. So it's a very fair comparison.

And it's been dire.

[NewCorkSeth]

Well, he'd certainly make people appreciate the excitement of a Jaap Stam game....

Your comment is presumably based on how his (poor quality) Irish team has played of late rather than the up-and-at-em McDermott type style that he had at Leicester?

The standard of players in the Irish team probably is equivalent to or higher than the level of player he'd have here. So it's a very fair comparison.

And it's been dire.

Uhm.. There a few players notably better than the standard here (Coleman, McCarthy, Brady) but most are about our level.

[muirinho]

Your comment is presumably based on how his (poor quality) Irish team has played of late rather than the up-and-at-em McDermott type style that he had at Leicester?

The standard of players in the Irish team probably is equivalent to or higher than the level of player he'd have here. So it's a very fair comparison.

And it's been dire.

Uhm.. There a few players notably better than the standard here (Coleman, McCarthy, Brady) but most are about our level.

Not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me here! The Irish football team has, in the main, been extremely painful to watch over the last while. If that's the best he can do with those players, then why would he be able to do any better with Reading's players? Victor seems to be claiming that Ireland were dire because of the players - by that reckoning Reading, would be worse.

[NewCorkSeth]

The standard of players in the Irish team probably is equivalent to or higher than the level of player he'd have here. So it's a very fair comparison.

And it's been dire.

Uhm.. There a few players notably better than the standard here (Coleman, McCarthy, Brady) but most are about our level.

Not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me here! The Irish football team has, in the main, been extremely painful to watch over the last while. If that's the best he can do with those players, then why would he be able to do any better with Reading's players? Victor seems to be claiming that Ireland were dire because of the players - by that reckoning Reading, would be worse.

I both agree and disagree. The team has been awful for sure. But could they have done that much better? I don't think so. The average player in the ireland team isn't that much better than a Reading player.

[muirinho]

Uhm.. There a few players notably better than the standard here (Coleman, McCarthy, Brady) but most are about our level.

Not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me here! The Irish football team has, in the main, been extremely painful to watch over the last while. If that's the best he can do with those players, then why would he be able to do any better with Reading's players? Victor seems to be claiming that Ireland were dire because of the players - by that reckoning Reading, would be worse.

I both agree and disagree. The team has been awful for sure. But could they have done that much better? I don't think so. The average player in the ireland team isn't that much better than a Reading player.

N Ireland are better to watch with lower standard players.

Wales have fairly similar players and beat us on aggregate 5 -1

We had 5 shots on target and no goals over the last 4 games.

We have been harder to watch than Reading at their worst under Jaap Stam, while having players that are as good as, or better than, Reading's players.

So why on earth would anybody think MON would be a good manager at Reading?

He might be fine at a PL club, with better players than he has at his disposal than he has with Ireland - but that's not the question here.

[NewCorkSeth]

Not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me here! The Irish football team has, in the main, been extremely painful to watch over the last while. If that's the best he can do with those players, then why would he be able to do any better with Reading's players? Victor seems to be claiming that Ireland were dire because of the players - by that reckoning Reading, would be worse.

I both agree and disagree. The team has been awful for sure. But could they have done that much better? I don't think so. The average player in the ireland team isn't that much better than a Reading player.

N Ireland are better to watch with lower standard players.

Wales have fairly similar players and beat us on aggregate 5 -1

We had 5 shots on target and no goals over the last 4 games.

We have been harder to watch than Reading at their worst under Jaap Stam, while having players that are as good as, or better than, Reading's players.

So why on earth would anybody think MON would be a good manager at Reading?

He might be fine at a PL club, with better players than he has at his disposal than he has with Ireland - but that's not the question here.

Because I think comparing a manager at international level and championship level is tricky. The Ireland players are, for the most part, championship and low premier league level. (Yes that's the same for Wales and Northern Ireland.. Northern Ireland probably lower...) so it's not like he took over a stronger level team like Austria or Switzerland and made them crap. They were crap to begin with.

I thinks it's easy to forget the injury issues he faced and the lack of talent coming up. He showed how good a manager he can be at the start of his reign then faded after the euros. The benefit of Reading over Ireland is that reading has the ability to create squad depth. MON could do nothing about the lack of CBs or LBs or wingers. Reading has a lot more flexibility in that sense.

The manager I want to take over is Michael O'Neill. He has shown he can make a low quality team perform and that's the reality for us now. We're shite.

Anyway I don't think we could get him if we wanted him. He'll get a better job.

[Kulshaw72RFC]

to be honest, they cast the net quite wide already in the academy/Development squads, at least within the Greater Reading area (is that a thing?)

Pretty much every decent kid I've come across in my time coaching is already on the books in some way or another by the age of 8

Be interesting to know what they do slightly further afield

Pretty much this. So many scouts out there - word gets out if anyone is decent watching. Also the parent has a key role to play, putting him up with advanced football centres who often play matches against professional run teams etc. In general, the cream get identified.

Exactly,my lad is 6 and with his Sandhurst Town football and school football he also goes to a advanced football centre on a Thursday as a scout noted that even at 5/6 he held the ball well and played the ball out with a little more vision than others.I don't expect him to become Pro i just like the fact he goes some where at an early age where in a small group he gets a better insight into playing and improves his game.
His little mate went to one of the Chelsea regional academies and after 3 months was given the push at 6 yrs old

I run the U7's teams for Sandhurst and if you enter any of the tournaments around here you can guarantee they'll be a plethora of scouts there.Even at Under 6's we had a tournament where Chelsea,QPR,AFC Wimbledon,Brighton,Bournemouth,Reading and Aldershot were in attendance

how can a 6 year old be given the push? bit harsh that!