Clement sacked!

[Hound]

Nani is a weird one. Wonder who got him in. If it’s Gourlay, surely he’ll be gone soon as well. If it wasn’t Gourlay, no idea who did bring him in

[Old Man Andrews]

Nani is a weird one. Wonder who got him in. If it’s Gourlay, surely he’ll be gone soon as well. If it wasn’t Gourlay, no idea who did bring him in

I will give it a week and he will be gone too. Howe is very old school and he won't have Nani on the touchline before a game with the coach discussing tactics etc. Ideal time to get rid of him too before he gets too comfortable here.

[Vision]

Most astounding is the 'It was Gourlay's fault/Gourlay's interference' excuse!

Clement was recruited by Gourlay as Gourlay's man and had previously worked with the him, so surely knew what his style was before he joined. If he knew he meddled in team matters but still chose to join, then that was his choice and should not be used as an excuse for his failure to perform as a manager at our club.

I don't necessarily disagree with you regards Clement's responsibility for our on field woes but you're assuming that Gourlay's remit and influence over footballing matters was the same at Chelsea as it was here.

It clearly wasn't.

[Nomad_Royal]

Very interesting opinions in here, as when he was in the job I saw very little to suggest he had the support of the fans.

Look at the poll result on the other thread. Around 50% voted that he should not be sacked.

[linkenholtroyal]

perhaps they are waiting till after the weekend for Harry.

if we are thinking they maybe looking for a big name manager I would take Big Sam over Bruce. on a more serious note my dream team would be Phil Parkinson with Murty as assistant put a bit of pride back in the squad. explain to them what it is to be a Royal.

[WoodleyRoyal]

perhaps they are waiting till after the weekend for Harry.

if we are thinking they maybe looking for a big name manager I would take Big Sam over Bruce. on a more serious note my dream team would be Phil Parkinson with Murty as assistant put a bit of pride back in the squad. explain to them what it is to be a Royal.

would prefer ady and mick till the end of the season, they watch the team week in week out...

[Hoop Blah]

Most astounding is the 'It was Gourlay's fault/Gourlay's interference' excuse!

Clement was recruited by Gourlay as Gourlay's man and had previously worked with the him, so surely knew what his style was before he joined. If he knew he meddled in team matters but still chose to join, then that was his choice and should not be used as an excuse for his failure to perform as a manager at our club.

I don't necessarily disagree with you regards Clement's responsibility for our on field woes but you're assuming that Gourlay's remit and influence over footballing matters was the same at Chelsea as it was here.

It clearly wasn't.

Leaders establish the environment for everyone to perform in, not just the players. That seems to be overlooked a lot in football when fans blame the manager for everything they see on the pitch. It's pretty clear that the environment and culture at the club hasn't been right for years now, pretty much since Madejski's influence waned after the Zingarvich sale.

I'm disappointed that Clement has been sacked. He might not've been the right man to take us forward, and may have been Gourlays man, but I just feel the club needs a bit of stability to get the structure and balance of the squad in a better shape. Every change of manager or DoF takes us further from that situation.

Having said that, if this is a fresh start and they're going to be able to do that moving forwards, and were convinced Clement wasn't the man, then getting a new manager in now is the right time to do it.

[CavershamRoyal]

Nani has left now too. The purge is complete...

[Forbury Lion]

Nani is a weird one. Wonder who got him in. If it’s Gourlay, surely he’ll be gone soon as well. If it wasn’t Gourlay, no idea who did bring him in

You never know, it might have been Nani who advised the owners that they need a new CEO.

I imagine Howe will sit down and discuss things with Nani, unless he already has an idea of what he's been up to in the role. Maybe he has some signings/new manager lined up or some deals to offload players. Maybe he'll get a chance to impress due to a lack of any better options (plus his contract might be hard to break without a big payoff!)

[Hound]

Nani is a weird one. Wonder who got him in. If it’s Gourlay, surely he’ll be gone soon as well. If it wasn’t Gourlay, no idea who did bring him in

You never know, it might have been Nani who advised the owners that they need a new CEO.

I imagine Howe will sit down and discuss things with Nani, unless he already has an idea of what he's been up to in the role. Maybe he has some signings/new manager lined up or some deals to offload players. Maybe he'll get a chance to impress due to a lack of any better options (plus his contract might be hard to break without a big payoff!)

guess that question has just been answered then....

[Forbury Lion]

At least Howe doesn't mess around.

I predict a return to "The Reading way" of doing things...... Nicky Hammond back anyone? (the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if he's back before I even press the submit button)

[John Madejski's Wallet]

I'm a bit shocked by this. Despite being critical of Clement, I could see some improvement - I'm not convinced that it's a particularly good move.

^^ That

We've actually had some backbone coming back into games the last few matches

Clement had also finally really that Aluko etc. can fukk off. Sadly a new man will likely bring all the 'names' back in and the cycle will start again

Almost a year here and all we can say about the bloke is we've bit "a bit less shit" lately i.e. "some backbone" lately. So.... not losing by as much, getting shit results like home draws but playing a bit less shit.

Come off it. He's been here almost a year and apart from these few straws we're clutching at we can't really hand on heart say he's done anything positive. We're almost just as shit as Stam's shit days. Perhaps Nani has made a difference yeah, but let's not pretend he suddenly had turned a corner.

He wasn't for us.

Mate i never wanted him to join and wanted him out a couple of months ago. However I can still see that something seemed to have changed in the squad the last few games. Maybe it was dropping Aluko and the falling out with Barrow. Or (finally) bringing in a couple of youngsters. Either way, i felt like we were turning a bit of a corner so was just surprised he went

[leon]

^^ That

We've actually had some backbone coming back into games the last few matches

Clement had also finally really that Aluko etc. can fukk off. Sadly a new man will likely bring all the 'names' back in and the cycle will start again

Almost a year here and all we can say about the bloke is we've bit "a bit less shit" lately i.e. "some backbone" lately. So.... not losing by as much, getting shit results like home draws but playing a bit less shit.

Come off it. He's been here almost a year and apart from these few straws we're clutching at we can't really hand on heart say he's done anything positive. We're almost just as shit as Stam's shit days. Perhaps Nani has made a difference yeah, but let's not pretend he suddenly had turned a corner.

He wasn't for us.

Mate i never wanted him to join and wanted him out a couple of months ago. However I can still see that something seemed to have changed in the squad the last few games. Maybe it was dropping Aluko and the falling out with Barrow. Or (finally) bringing in a couple of youngsters. Either way, i felt like we were turning a bit of a corner so was just surprised he went

I couldn't agree more with this post.

[Hound]

its certainly weird timing. As McNulty mentioned, if he had scored his pen, it would have been 3 relatively good results in a row

Obvs Howe had made his mind up long ago. Bit of a shame as I did think we were well on the right track. If we go back to McShane/Aluko/Edwards etc, going to be screwing basically

[leon]

If we go back to McShane/Aluko/Edwards etc, going to be screwing basically

Is that why they're so shit?

[Lower West]

Obvs Howe had made his mind up long ago. Bit of a shame as I did think we were well on the right track. If we go back to McShane/Aluko/Edwards etc, going to be screwing basically

Howe was in China prior to turning up at Elland Road. A plan was formulated then by the looks of things. The Chinese bought into his vision. Though things must of happened discreetly over the past couple of weeks to start the ball rolling. With only 3 weeks or so until the transfer window, Little point in kicking out Clement and Nani. If matters weren't well advanced elsewhere. Hence the apparent speed the past couple of days. .

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Obvs Howe had made his mind up long ago. Bit of a shame as I did think we were well on the right track. If we go back to McShane/Aluko/Edwards etc, going to be screwing basically

Howe was in China prior to turning up at Elland Road. A plan was formulated then by the looks of things. The Chinese bought into his vision. Though things must of happened discreetly over the past couple of weeks to start the ball rolling. With only 3 weeks or so until the transfer window, Little point in kicking out Clement and Nani. If matters weren't well advanced elsewhere. Hence the apparent speed the past couple of days. .

This feels plausible, and hopeful. It doesn't seem plausible it went like this:

Owners: "Hey, Nige, fancy being CEO? You can start tomorrow."
Howe: "Yes I do, thanks. Err, is it OK if I sack Paul? - I've been thing about it for minutes now."
Owners: Yes. Do it first thing on your first day. Then get rid of the Director Football. We'll decide what to do after that."

[Lower West]

Obvs Howe had made his mind up long ago. Bit of a shame as I did think we were well on the right track. If we go back to McShane/Aluko/Edwards etc, going to be screwing basically

Howe was in China prior to turning up at Elland Road. A plan was formulated then by the looks of things. The Chinese bought into his vision. Though things must of happened discreetly over the past couple of weeks to start the ball rolling. With only 3 weeks or so until the transfer window, Little point in kicking out Clement and Nani. If matters weren't well advanced elsewhere. Hence the apparent speed the past couple of days. .

This feels plausible, and hopeful. It doesn't seem plausible it went like this:

Owners: "Hey, Nige, fancy being CEO? You can start tomorrow."
Howe: "Yes I do, thanks. Err, is it OK if I sack Paul? - I've been thing about it for minutes now."
Owners: Yes. Do it first thing on your first day. Then get rid of the Director Football. We'll decide what to do after that."

Think that you are underestimating our owners. Didn't make their money in business by having any sentiment. NH no longer has the protection of SJM. His neck is on the line if this goes wrong. After all they are the ones funding the payoffs. Clearance for which must have already been given and money made available.