Next Reading Manager

[royalp-we]

Yes I know, it’s never right to speculate prior to anyone getting the tin-tack - but we are absolutely gash after all.

Arguably if Paunovic is sacked before the end of the season we need a short term fix and someone to stick a rocket up the players and get us to May above the dotted line.

I suggested on Twitter that someone like Martin O’Neill (wants a last gig, local and one of the most knowledgeable blokes in football) or Warnock would certainly get some sort of response out of the players. Even just to get us to the end of the season.

Long term I’d like to see someone like Alex Neil given the opportunity - seems to get a squad assembled and firing on limited budget, which is a model this club will need to follow once we are clear of the current restrictions.

Suggestions both short term and longer term below

[Crowbar6753]

Alex Neil would be a great long term manager, the guy has vast experience in the Chumpionship and lets face it, he's a jock! and that come's with a pretty decent temper i guess.
Short term, i still believe Brian McD would be a great choice, even if it would be to just get the fans back on board and get some bums to seats in the stadium.

[ILoveMoonPig]

I still think Pauno can bring it back. I think that if he can overcome whatever the social issues we were having, I genuinely believe he can save the season.

If however, he isn't given the chance, I go back to what I said when Jose and Bowen were sacked and I would give anything to have Slavisa Jakanovic as manager. I reckon he could get any team in the division promoted within 18 months.

But yeah, we almost definitely can't afford him. In which case, I would be really interested to give Kelly Chambers a go at the job.

[Brogue]

Ffs saw this and I thought he’d gone.

[PATRIQT]

WARNOCK - even just until the summer, then re-evaluate.

[karbota]

Short and long term.

Gotta be Parky's turn teamed up with the Mad Dog Allen.

[Zip]

Short and long term.

Gotta be Parky's turn teamed up with the Mad Dog Allen.

He can’t even cut it in non League with a vast budget and huge crowds at that level. Absolutely not.

[NathStPaul]

Oh good, another manager thread. Just what we needed.

[Ascotexgunner]

Short and long term.

Gotta be Parky's turn teamed up with the Mad Dog Allen.

On what basis? He has done nothing to merit the job.
I just don't understand people's obsession with him.
I'd rather go for a safer option and do what Rotherham did and bring Warnock in til the end of the season. Incredible job he did there.....and next season for us is harder.

[Snowflake Royal]

Short and long term.

Gotta be Parky's turn teamed up with the Mad Dog Allen.

On what basis? He has done nothing to merit the job.
I just don't understand people's obsession with him.
I'd rather go for a safer option and do what Rotherham did and bring Warnock in til the end of the season. Incredible job he did there.....and next season for us is harder.

Is next season harder?

Moore going, Puscas going, Cabral gone, Swift going...

That's most of our big earners right there.

Go down and you'll almost certainly see buyers for Meite, Joao and Ejaria, our only other big salaries.

Yes, we look like having very few senior players contracted going in to next season. But that gives us a huge opportunity to recruit right, within a reasonable budget. And to a clear plan. With a tight, dedicated squad.

A couple of contract extensions, the Academy and around 10 - 12 new, reasonably paid decent players and we have a solid platform to build back from.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Yes, next season is significantly harder if we go down.

Mass turnover of players, likely our better first team players out of contract such as Rino and Holmes probably won't renew their contracts with us and will stay in the Championship and no guarantee on anyone signing any of our higher earners either as the clubs that can afford their wages will be few and far between and will probably have better players in their respective positions anyway. They'd likely have to move abroad, other than maybe Meite who has had PL interest previously.

Joao I could potentially see a buyer for, but I'd be less confident on Ejaria personally. As much as he'd improve a lot of teams in the Championship, his consistency in recent times leaves a lot to be desired and probably isn't worth the wages for most stable clubs at this level. He'd have suitors, but I'd imagine we'd have to subsidise a fair bit of his wages if he was to move back to the Championship which only eats into our restricted budget and what we can offer other players.

Likewise, a complete mass exodus of players and coaching staff may represent a clean slate for the club, but under restrictions it makes it a much harder sell to managers and players. We'd have so many new players looking to gel and, ultimately, how good would the players actually be? Why join Reading when you can go and play for Sunderland, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Sheff Wednesday etc who all are bigger clubs than ourselves and could probably match/exceed what we could offer top players? We could maybe play on the fact we are a recently relegated club, but with so many players leaving the club it's not as if incoming players think we'd have the squad to challenge, because we simply just wouldn't have the players outside of maybe half a dozen or so where you'd believe they were Championship quality. I'd still anticipate we'd be a good sell to top League One players that were good enough for promotion and I still believe we'd finish somewhere near the top if we were to be relegated, but it's a much tougher ask than what others have had in the past and they've not managed to get it right yet either, namely Sunderland and Ipswich for example.

[royalp-we]

Oh good, another manager thread. Just what we needed.

Cheer up sausage. The other threads are discussing the current shit show. Thanks for your input

[SCIAG]

Oh good, another manager thread. Just what we needed.

Cheer up sausage. The other threads are discussing the current shit show. Thanks for your input

While I’m loath to agree with OMA, there was a very long thread on this subject quite recently: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=189023

As I said in that thread, my dream picks without getting into the world of “Leeds appoint Bielsa” would be Hughton, Jokanovic, Hughes, and Bruce.

More realistically I would be happy with Alex Neil, Paul Lambert, former Rangers manager Graeme Murty, Michael Duff, Gareth Ainsworth, Adie Viveash (a long term pick of mine), Darrell Clarke, Ian Evatt, Liam Manning, or Ryan Lowe, to give a few examples.

I would rather stick with Paunovic than go for Pulis or Allardyce, but I’d tolerate them. On the other hand, I think anyone who would tolerate Warnock is supporting the wrong team.

[NathStPaul]

Oh good, another manager thread. Just what we needed.

Cheer up sausage. The other threads are discussing the current shit show. Thanks for your input

While I’m loath to agree with OMA, there was a very long thread on this subject quite recently: https://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtop ... 1&t=189023

As I said in that thread, my dream picks without getting into the world of “Leeds appoint Bielsa” would be Hughton, Jokanovic, Hughes, and Bruce.

More realistically I would be happy with Alex Neil, Paul Lambert, former Rangers manager Graeme Murty, Michael Duff, Gareth Ainsworth, Adie Viveash (a long term pick of mine), Darrell Clarke, Ian Evatt, Liam Manning, or Ryan Lowe, to give a few examples.

I would rather stick with Paunovic than go for Pulis or Allardyce, but I’d tolerate them. On the other hand, I think anyone who would tolerate Warnock is supporting the wrong team.

It's "loathed".

Don't be scared of me, I'm a changed man. Nobody is going to hurt you. You'll be ok, promise.

[royalp-we]

Didn’t see that - wasn’t recent enough. Feel free to merge.

Rumours Barnsley are set to approach Warnock. So that ship may have sailed for good anyway.

[Royal_jimmy]

Yes, next season is significantly harder if we go down.

Mass turnover of players, likely our better first team players out of contract such as Rino and Holmes probably won't renew their contracts with us and will stay in the Championship and no guarantee on anyone signing any of our higher earners either as the clubs that can afford their wages will be few and far between and will probably have better players in their respective positions anyway. They'd likely have to move abroad, other than maybe Meite who has had PL interest previously.

Joao I could potentially see a buyer for, but I'd be less confident on Ejaria personally. As much as he'd improve a lot of teams in the Championship, his consistency in recent times leaves a lot to be desired and probably isn't worth the wages for most stable clubs at this level. He'd have suitors, but I'd imagine we'd have to subsidise a fair bit of his wages if he was to move back to the Championship which only eats into our restricted budget and what we can offer other players.

Likewise, a complete mass exodus of players and coaching staff may represent a clean slate for the club, but under restrictions it makes it a much harder sell to managers and players. We'd have so many new players looking to gel and, ultimately, how good would the players actually be? Why join Reading when you can go and play for Sunderland, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Sheff Wednesday etc who all are bigger clubs than ourselves and could probably match/exceed what we could offer top players? We could maybe play on the fact we are a recently relegated club, but with so many players leaving the club it's not as if incoming players think we'd have the squad to challenge, because we simply just wouldn't have the players outside of maybe half a dozen or so where you'd believe they were Championship quality. I'd still anticipate we'd be a good sell to top League One players that were good enough for promotion and I still believe we'd finish somewhere near the top if we were to be relegated, but it's a much tougher ask than what others have had in the past and they've not managed to get it right yet either, namely Sunderland and Ipswich for example.

Exactly and this is why relegation would be a disaster Ian. We would be more likely to drop to non league than bounce back

[Snowflake Royal]

Yes, next season is significantly harder if we go down.

Mass turnover of players, likely our better first team players out of contract such as Rino and Holmes probably won't renew their contracts with us and will stay in the Championship and no guarantee on anyone signing any of our higher earners either as the clubs that can afford their wages will be few and far between and will probably have better players in their respective positions anyway. They'd likely have to move abroad, other than maybe Meite who has had PL interest previously.

Joao I could potentially see a buyer for, but I'd be less confident on Ejaria personally. As much as he'd improve a lot of teams in the Championship, his consistency in recent times leaves a lot to be desired and probably isn't worth the wages for most stable clubs at this level. He'd have suitors, but I'd imagine we'd have to subsidise a fair bit of his wages if he was to move back to the Championship which only eats into our restricted budget and what we can offer other players.

Likewise, a complete mass exodus of players and coaching staff may represent a clean slate for the club, but under restrictions it makes it a much harder sell to managers and players. We'd have so many new players looking to gel and, ultimately, how good would the players actually be? Why join Reading when you can go and play for Sunderland, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Sheff Wednesday etc who all are bigger clubs than ourselves and could probably match/exceed what we could offer top players? We could maybe play on the fact we are a recently relegated club, but with so many players leaving the club it's not as if incoming players think we'd have the squad to challenge, because we simply just wouldn't have the players outside of maybe half a dozen or so where you'd believe they were Championship quality. I'd still anticipate we'd be a good sell to top League One players that were good enough for promotion and I still believe we'd finish somewhere near the top if we were to be relegated, but it's a much tougher ask than what others have had in the past and they've not managed to get it right yet either, namely Sunderland and Ipswich for example.

Exactly and this is why relegation would be a disaster Ian. We would be more likely to drop to non league than bounce back

You keep saying it, don't make it true. Name 2 clubs that have dropped from tier 2 to tier 5 in the last 15 years. Or two tier 2 club that have ceased to exist within 6 years of being relegated from tier 2 in the last 20 years?

The vast majority of clubs of roughly our size getting relegated from the Championship haven't gone to L2, I can think of just 2 off the top of my head. Something like half of them get back into the Championship within around 3 seasons.

If Ejaria, Joao and Meite stay we've got a forward line way too good for L1. If they go, we get cash and much more room in the budget to bring in good L1 players.

Good decisions would see us absolutely fine.

There's always a chance the worst could happen. But it's not a certainty, it's not even particularly likely.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Yes, next season is significantly harder if we go down.

Mass turnover of players, likely our better first team players out of contract such as Rino and Holmes probably won't renew their contracts with us and will stay in the Championship and no guarantee on anyone signing any of our higher earners either as the clubs that can afford their wages will be few and far between and will probably have better players in their respective positions anyway. They'd likely have to move abroad, other than maybe Meite who has had PL interest previously.

Joao I could potentially see a buyer for, but I'd be less confident on Ejaria personally. As much as he'd improve a lot of teams in the Championship, his consistency in recent times leaves a lot to be desired and probably isn't worth the wages for most stable clubs at this level. He'd have suitors, but I'd imagine we'd have to subsidise a fair bit of his wages if he was to move back to the Championship which only eats into our restricted budget and what we can offer other players.

Likewise, a complete mass exodus of players and coaching staff may represent a clean slate for the club, but under restrictions it makes it a much harder sell to managers and players. We'd have so many new players looking to gel and, ultimately, how good would the players actually be? Why join Reading when you can go and play for Sunderland, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Sheff Wednesday etc who all are bigger clubs than ourselves and could probably match/exceed what we could offer top players? We could maybe play on the fact we are a recently relegated club, but with so many players leaving the club it's not as if incoming players think we'd have the squad to challenge, because we simply just wouldn't have the players outside of maybe half a dozen or so where you'd believe they were Championship quality. I'd still anticipate we'd be a good sell to top League One players that were good enough for promotion and I still believe we'd finish somewhere near the top if we were to be relegated, but it's a much tougher ask than what others have had in the past and they've not managed to get it right yet either, namely Sunderland and Ipswich for example.

Exactly and this is why relegation would be a disaster Ian. We would be more likely to drop to non league than bounce back

You keep saying it, don't make it true. Name 2 clubs that have dropped from tier 2 to tier 5 in the last 15 years. Or two tier 2 club that have ceased to exist within 6 years of being relegated from tier 2 in the last 20 years?

The vast majority of clubs of roughly our size getting relegated from the Championship haven't gone to L2, I can think of just 2 off the top of my head. Something like half of them get back into the Championship within around 3 seasons.

If Ejaria, Joao and Meite stay we've got a forward line way too good for L1. If they go, we get cash and much more room in the budget to bring in good L1 players.

Good decisions would see us absolutely fine.

There's always a chance the worst could happen. But it's not a certainty, it's not even particularly likely.

I'm not with the crowd that believes we would go bust, but you've mentioned it yourself there, "good decisions". That's something that's been at a premium really since the Dai's took over, but of course that's looking at it in hindsight.

Dave Prutton has rightly said it himself now though as well, looking at the spine of our team with the likes of Morrison, Dann, Laurent, Drinkwater, Swift and Joao, there is no way those players should be competing at the bottom end of the Championship. Sometimes situations take over a club, like we are seeing at the moment. Points deductions and injuries have hindered more than its helped, but I think most fans, pundits and neutrals were in agreement at the time of our deduction, we should still be relatively fine this season, yet we are in real danger of going down. So even having players that are too good for the division they play in doesn't necessarily translate to success. Sheffield Wednesday have a number of players in their squad who were there during their play off campaigns a few seasons back and would probably be playing Championship football anywhere else, yet they aren't even making the play offs in League One and they are not particularly close either really.

I don't think we'd go down to League Two, I wouldn't say it's quite that bad and, even with a further points deduction should we not comply with the EFL's business plan over the summer, I still don't think we'd go down either. But the warning signs are there and there have been clubs with situations far easier than our own currently that have struggled to get out of League One for a number of years now and, whilst it's uncommon, there still examples of clubs that have been where we have been, a solid Championship club in the main, but have ended up tumbling down the divisions due to poor management and hostile relationships with the fanbase. You've had your likes of Blackpool who only came up last season after a fair few years away and a brief stint in League Two as well as Ipswich, Sunderland, Charlton, Sheff United etc and even going more historical with the likes of Bradford, Swindon and Oldham for instance. Again, I don't think it would be that bad, but we shouldn't need reminding that it has happened and we aren't exactly "too big" for it to happen to use either,

[Once upon a time .]

What I don’t understand is if it’s so good in div 1 , why did we try so hard to get out of it ? Also why suddenly will we start to make these good decisions and recruit the right players ( on low wages ) , when we haven’t done it for years !
Of course we will be worse off , and watching worse teams than being in the Championship .

[YorkshireRoyal99]

What I don’t understand is if it’s so good in div 1 , why did we try so hard to get out of it ? Also why suddenly will we start to make these good decisions and recruit the right players ( on low wages ) , when we haven’t done it for years !
Of course we will be worse off , and watching worse teams than being in the Championship .

To be honest most of our signings this season haven't been that bad. Some have been more disappointing than others but most are low risk anyway as they didn't cost a fee and they are restricted to about £8k a week, which is hardly a stellar Championship wage. But of course, it's the situation and embargo we find ourselves in that have forced our hand with those signings, rather than perhaps the club itself making the decisions with no restrictions.

A lot of our summer hinges on what division we are playing in, who stays and who goes before we can really evaluate how good/bad our signings will be and how many we will need as well.

From a personal point of view, I'd look forward to away days at places like Sheff Wednesday, Accrington, Bolton, Sunderland, Rotherham, Wigan and Doncaster providing they all stay in the league as the latter 3/4 might not. There would also be some trips to Burton and Shrewsbury that I wouldn't mind either and I'm sure a lot of the more local fans might appreciate short trips to MK Dons, Wycombe, Charlton, AFC Wimbledon and Oxford providing they are remain in the league next season as well. Obviously, I'd much rather be in the Championship.