Clement sacked!

[LWJ]

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2018/d ... ul-clement

Club statement | Royals part company with Paul Clement
First team manager departs Reading Football Club…

Just now


Reading Football Club can announce that Paul Clement has left his position as manager of the club with immediate effect.

Clement was appointed towards the end of March and earned two victories and a final day draw in Cardiff which proved enough to secure the club its Championship status at the end of a challenging 2017-18 campaign.

However, following five wins in the first 22 league and cup matches of 2018-19, owners Mr Yongge Dai and Ms Xiu Li Dai have made the difficult decision that the time is now right to make a change.

We would like to thank Paul for his hard work during his time as manager of Reading Football Club and we wish him the very best of luck in his future endeavours.

CEO Nigel Howe will now seek to swiftly identify and appoint a new manager who will fit the Reading mould, build a team which can deliver performances and results that will help us climb the Championship table and lead the club towards promotion in the future.

The club will make no additional comment at this time but will provide further updates as soon as possible.


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Deserves a new thread

[genome]

Shameless nobbing LWJ

[LWJ]

Gives the new man a month to assess players before transfer window. Surely we will invest.

[LWJ]

Shameless nobbing LWJ

Tbf people wouldn't see it in the midst of the other thread, I don't click on it due to the waffle of shite in there.

[Forbury Lion]

Strange timing, especially as we've been playing relatively good football recently - perhaps someone became available or maybe the owners did their once a year look at the football table? On the other hand, If your going to replace a manager, getting someone else in before the transfer window makes sense.

I feel a bit meh about this, unlike Stam's departure which was long overdue, At least Clement will be able to enjoy Christmas with the family - a rare occurrence in the football world.

CEO Nigel Howe will now seek to swiftly identify and appoint a new manager who will fit the Reading mould, build a team which can
deliver performances and results that will help us climb the Championship table and lead the club towards promotion in the future.

Good that Nigel Howe is running things, maybe McDermot will be back again

[LWJ]

I thought he had bought us round slightly, but it's a results business and we've been seriously under performing.

This could tempt be back tbf

[Ascotexgunner]

I thought BBCRB announced Howe entered the office this morning.....Blimey quick work......
At least we have a CEO that now shows ambition......I trust him to find us a good manager.
Have to say though it is a bolt out the blue......I thought even if we carried on losing Clement would be here at Christmas......

[Jackson Corner]

Surprised and a bit disappointed as he seemed a decent bloke. But it’s a results business. No coincidence the day after Howe was appointed CEO.

[Maneki Neko]

thought he was turning things around, but it has been painfully slow.
if theyre gonna pull the trigger, now is the time, so fair play to them on that. and also fair play for their patient approach. he would have had 10 games at other clubs.
whoever comes in is going to need some money because its the imbalanced and low quality squad that is the main issue here

[Snowflake Royal]

We should have sacked Aluko, McShane, Meyler and Swift. Not Clement.

[Hound]

I could have understood him being sacked a few months ago, but sad to see him go at this stage.

IMO, he has given the new manager a lot to work with, unlike the shambolic mess he inherited. Despite the poor win percentage, I'll keep a reasonably good impression of him, and good luck to him in the future

He was clearly Gourlay's man originally. I expect the owners wanted to wipe the slate clean of the whole sorry Gourlay saga and move on.

Be very interested to see who Howe has in mind. Jokanovic would be the obvious choice, but I do think they want to go back very much to the 'Reading way', whatever that is. No sure if he fits that mould

edit: ah yeah, forgot about Murty. Can see that happening.

[Norfolk Royal]

Yes I don't harbour any ill feeling towards Clement either, always seemed a decent sort.

However, ultimately there didn't seem to be any improvement on the way or vision to take us on a step. Some of his selection decisions were baffling, particularly over Aluko. It always seemed to be one step forward then two steps back.

I think there's a nucleus of a squad there that can improve particularly with the introduction of the younger players but they must get rid of some of the deadwood in January and get a decent f***ing left back. That would improve the team about 30 per cent.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

Maybe the owners have learnt not to stick with a man for too long if things aren't going right. Agree that Clement should have been given more time but after the Stam saga last season, sticking with a manager almost went horribly wrong.
Good luck to Clement, thought he would have eventually fixed the issues but time was not on his side. Hope the players have a hard look at themselves and buck up their ideas.

[sandman]

Really disappointed with this. With a clean slate I really think he could've turned it around.

Gutted for him as I think he really wanted to succeed, not just for Reading but his own managerial career.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

Really not sure how to feel about this. Yes results this season have been poor, but I feel things were improving. I would have like to have seen Clement given the next 3-5 games to see if the players would respond to the news that the new CEO is tried and trusted.
I just hope the next managerial appointment is the right man for Reading FC.

[The Prisoner]

Wrong decision IMO as inherited bloated and injured squad and has never even had the likes of Obita or Harriott to select. Paying for previous poor acquisitions. Only major gripe was that he couldn't wake the squad up from the Stam tedium into any sort of an attacking unit.

List of usual suspects being touted to replace.

Meh.

[andrew1957]

Have to say I am surprised and a tad disappointed. Clement still had the backing of around 50% of the fans, whereas by the time he was sacked Stam had virtually zero support. Managers are not normally sacked until they have totally lost respect from the fan base. #

I have always liked the way that Clement has come over during interviews and for one wish him the best for the future and hope he gets another chance elsewhere.

But the truth is none of us know what has been going on behind the scenes and Howe is normally a safe pair of hands and so we have to assume that he and the owners don't think Clement was doing a good job.

The next managerial appointment is arguably one of the most important in the club's history and so I hope they get it right!

[Ranty McRantface]

Wrong decision IMO as inherited bloated and injured squad and has never even had the likes of Obita or Harriott to select. Paying for previous poor acquisitions. Only major gripe was that he couldn't wake the squad up from the Stam tedium into any sort of an attacking unit.

List of usual suspects being touted to replace.

Meh.

He also brought in "leaders" to an already bloated squad, sent our top scorer on loan to Holland and changed the team every week. Nice bloke, I like his honesty but the fact is he's got a lot wrong. Clearly Howe was not a fan either.

[sandman]

Wrong decision IMO as inherited bloated and injured squad and has never even had the likes of Obita or Harriott to select. Paying for previous poor acquisitions. Only major gripe was that he couldn't wake the squad up from the Stam tedium into any sort of an attacking unit.

List of usual suspects being touted to replace.

Meh.

He also brought in "leaders" to an already bloated squad, sent our top scorer on loan to Holland and changed the team every week. Nice bloke, I like his honesty but the fact is he's got a lot wrong. Clearly Howe was not a fan either.

You don't really believe it was Clement that sent Novakovich to Holland?

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Feels a bit harsh. Results were improving after that awful start and the players were certainly still giving it their all for him. You could argue that he hasn't been able to coach improvement into our defending but I'm not sure anyone could given some of the players he has to work with.
Maybe their are some behind the scene issues where he's seen as coming up short i.e player relationships, man to man management etc. There was the Barrow issue and I often wonder if the vast array of last minute injuries are real or a result of a training ground fall out. For example, does McShane keep falling down the stairs every time he recovers from an "injury" or has there just been a massive falling out after the Blackburn game ?
Anyway, what's done is done. Let's hope we get a experienced manager first and foremost as opposed to a coach.