How Long Will BM Last at this rate?????

[SCIAG]

McDermott has the job until he doesn't want it any more, and rightly so.

Hopefully that will be during the off-season so Dolan can take over smoothly.

[Ascotexgunner]

I don't care if we go down with a record number of lowest points ever. I want him there. He's the kind of manager that learns quickly. One thing I hate is seeing the same old failures ending up at clubs they don't deserve to be at or inexperienced people being promoted into positions at panic sticken clubs because they've had a few bad results.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Ok, let's assume the team did "overachieve" last season (not that I agree with that, but for the sake of argument). Rooting for us to go back down...

nobody is rooting for us to go down.

I for the life of me cannot wrap my brain around the mindset that we would have been better off not being promoted after last season or we will be better off if we go right back down after this one.

Nobody is saying we'd be better off going down this season than staying up.

It's just a consolation that maybe going down, and getting some parachute money, might put us in a better position than if we'd not gone up at all.

[Cypry]

Ok, let's assume the team did "overachieve" last season (not that I agree with that, but for the sake of argument). Rooting for us to go back down to sort things out would be like finding one of those coveted Willy Wonka golden tickets, tearing it up and saying "don't worry we'll just get another one the next time".

I for the life of me cannot wrap my brain around the mindset that we would have been better off not being promoted after last season or we will be better off if we go right back down after this one.

Right now what needs to be focused on, not by us but by the people running this team and the players who actually play the game, is how to generate more than the only 1 to 2 shots on goal per game we have seen the past couple excitement filled encounters.

I'm not rooting for us to go down, or disappointed at promotion, but I do wonder if promotion last year didn't "fit the business plan" of TSI.

It seems that they had planned for another year of Championship football, with enough investment to retain existing players, and strengthen where needed for a big Championship push this year, whilst sinking significant funds into the new training ground - as McD said this week, http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/footb ... ing_ground

I do wonder if that's why we haven't strengthened as much as some would like, I suspect the budget was already allocated to areas other than big expenditure on transfer fees....and in that context, yes, perhaps we did get promoted a year too early....

TSI say they have a five or six year plan, and in that context, would relegation really be a disaster? It'd be disappointing, and staying up would be really helpful, but look at QPR - they're in year 4(?) of a 5 year plan, dropped back for a year, walked the Championship and look stronger for it.....

I suspect that TSI are looking at the bigger picture - yes, they look, on paper, to have got a bargain paying Championship prices for a team that was immediately promoted, but the perceived increase in value can only be recognised if they sell the club and I cannot see that happening for a few years yet....


As far as Brian goes, I'm sure I read somewhere that Anton had promised him his job was safe even if we did get relegated this year......perhaps I dreamt that bit....

[percy_freeman]

A lot of sensible conversation going on here, most unusual for Hob Nob. None of us would want BMc to go, he has worked wonders. The old saying, "You can't polish a turd" springs to mind, no, but you can roll it in glitter! Another year in the Championship to build??? Ask Leicester,Cardiff or Dirty Leeds if that's a good idea.....We took our chance and whether you like it or not, this season was always going to be a battle. I just hope there are three teams worse than us. Unfortunately, I fear as nice as Anton appears to us, the negative thoughts have probably already been sewn.

[Victor Meldrew]

I would love to know what Brian really thought of the type (cost) of player that he was allowed to bring in.
His view IMHO on players like Church,Tabb,Hunt,HRK,Morrison,Bryn,Cummings would be interesting.
Was it just a case of numbers?

He obviously thought that the squad needed improving:-
Up front-Pog
Wide-McCleary
Centrally-Guthrie
Right-back-Gunter
Left-back-Shorey
Centre-back-Mariappa
All of those,bar Mariappa,have now started games so he wanted them as first-teamers and the concensus so far seems to be that they have all done o.k and it's the established players like Fed,Harte,Gorkss,Ledge,McAnuff that have struggled.

IMHO our promoted side was a Championship team and needed a major overhaul just to survive but to do that in one swoop is very difficult and I can only think Of Charlton last year( who signed 16 players) as an example of a team making it work straight away.
I get the feeling (despite what he says in public) that Brian was very restricted on capital outlay and that the club(our chairman) learnt very little from the relegation season when we made no significant signings of real quality.
Fulham signed Berbatov (rather than try to get Pog),West Ham went for Carroll and Jarvis,Saints went for the expensive midfielder,West Brom went for the Chelsea lad who scored yesterday,Sunderland went for Fletcher,Stoke went for Owen etc.
There are lots of reasons why we wouldn't and couldn't go for any of those but we are now in the Premier league and need impact players-game-changers.
Kebe has been one of those at a lower level but will he ever come back and can he do it at this level?

I have a feeling (expressed on here when the window closed) that we will be relegated but has Brian been supported enough by the club?
Is he so stupid and disproportionately loyal that he was genuinely happy with what we have brought in?
If so then he might not last but if ,as most of us suspect,his hands were tied and he had a very small budget he needs to be backed more by the club in the transfer market which could well be next season in the Championship as January could be too late.
With parachute money and excess from this season he could well build a side that is Premier-in-waiting (as per Coppell's 106 side) rather than a very good Championship side which is where I feel we are at the moment.
We messed up before by lack of investment and it could be history repeating itself and don't forget there is no guarantee that we will come back up again.

[rhroyal]

Trouble is, investing too much is a mistake too, as it takes the team too long to gel and build the spirit that won you promotion. Look at how it's working for QPR. You invest a lot to be on a par in player terms with other teams, who are streets ahead of you on the chemistry and understanding side of things.

But don't invest enough, and you can just be found out. It's a really difficult balancing act. Swansea and Norwich got it right last season.

Without doubt, the easiest way is to win promotion with a Premier League team in waiting. That's what we did in 2006, and what West Ham have done, and what the likes of Newcastle and West Brom have done recently.

Obviously I want us to stay up; I'd happily never see us play a Championship match again in our life. However, if we do go down, we must view it as an opportunity to allow players to learn from this season, use the parachute payments and AZ's money, to come back up again with a stronger team; a team closer to the Premier League standard they need to be.

Back to original topic, BM is the man to do all of this.

[Ascotexgunner]

Just wonder, and I'm not sure if its been mentioned, if we needed just a bit more quality or experience maybe some players could have been bought in on loan if they didn't want to spend the dosh. There must have been a few available.

[larry1971]

I have a feeling (expressed on here when the window closed) that we will be relegated but has Brian been supported enough by the club?
.

problem is we don't know exactly what our new owners intentions are [ like anybody else buying a new club he probably wants to get his own man in and is just biding his time untill he can find a good enough excuse to replace Brian.

[Divvy]

Loyalty and friendship don't go a long way when you're in the Premiership. Anton is young and very very ambitious. All these big plans for a world class training ground, stadium expansion to 40,000, Cat 1 Academy status and more, all depend on the income the Premier League provide.

He's reiterated that he see's the club as a business, and whilst he will put his/his fathers money in, and wont shell out the £10's millions he will need to to make all of that and more happen.

So to his great relationship with Brian.. I just wonder if his patience will be tested if we continue to struggle. He's young, is he also naive? I guess we'll see.

Personally, I'm a big fan of McDermott, but when so much depends on your Premiership survival, then chairman/owners and especially new owners are often found to be very ruthless.

[facaldaqui]

I would love to know what Brian really thought of the type (cost) of player that he was allowed to bring in.
His view IMHO on players like Church,Tabb,Hunt,HRK,Morrison,Bryn,Cummings would be interesting.
Was it just a case of numbers?

He obviously thought that the squad needed improving:-
Up front-Pog
Wide-McCleary
Centrally-Guthrie
Right-back-Gunter
Left-back-Shorey
Centre-back-Mariappa
All of those,bar Mariappa,have now started games so he wanted them as first-teamers and the concensus so far seems to be that they have all done o.k and it's the established players like Fed,Harte,Gorkss,Ledge,McAnuff that have struggled.

IMHO our promoted side was a Championship team and needed a major overhaul just to survive but to do that in one swoop is very difficult and I can only think Of Charlton last year( who signed 16 players) as an example of a team making it work straight away.
I get the feeling (despite what he says in public) that Brian was very restricted on capital outlay and that the club(our chairman) learnt very little from the relegation season when we made no significant signings of real quality.
Fulham signed Berbatov (rather than try to get Pog),West Ham went for Carroll and Jarvis,Saints went for the expensive midfielder,West Brom went for the Chelsea lad who scored yesterday,Sunderland went for Fletcher,Stoke went for Owen etc.
There are lots of reasons why we wouldn't and couldn't go for any of those but we are now in the Premier league and need impact players-game-changers.
Kebe has been one of those at a lower level but will he ever come back and can he do it at this level?

I have a feeling (expressed on here when the window closed) that we will be relegated but has Brian been supported enough by the club?
Is he so stupid and disproportionately loyal that he was genuinely happy with what we have brought in?
If so then he might not last but if ,as most of us suspect,his hands were tied and he had a very small budget he needs to be backed more by the club in the transfer market which could well be next season in the Championship as January could be too late.
With parachute money and excess from this season he could well build a side that is Premier-in-waiting (as per Coppell's 106 side) rather than a very good Championship side which is where I feel we are at the moment.
We messed up before by lack of investment and it could be history repeating itself and don't forget there is no guarantee that we will come back up again.

I think Brian is very happy with the players he has brought in--not with their current performances, maybe. The reason he is happy with these players is because they suit his management style. They represent his best chance of keeping the job. If it is just a matter of buying proven players, then he knows we don't need him--any manager will do. Brian gets the best out of regular players: that's his calling card, and I believe we will see him do it in this league, but he's learning what this league takes.

[facaldaqui]

Just wonder, and I'm not sure if its been mentioned, if we needed just a bit more quality or experience maybe some players could have been bought in on loan if they didn't want to spend the dosh. There must have been a few available.

On yesterday's performance, I don't think we need a bit more quality and experience; we need the players we have now to play better. Once that happens, we will start winning again. Half our players can do better--the pressing isn't what it was, for a start. Nor is the passing--last year we wouldn't have had Harte and McCarthy (Feds) mishitting passes to attackers, or Feds making a series of hashes, or Leigertwood being slow to the tackle. We will get there and be beating teams like West Brom before long. McCarthy and Shorey have been an improvement, which shows we have alternative options in the squad. I'd like to see Mariappa tried in the league cup.

[loyalroyal4life]

Now that we are in the prem there should be no looking beyong ensuring survival and then seeing how we do next year! Mcderm is the man to ensure our safety and i for one do not have any doubts thus far.

We have played chelski and spurs out of the 4 games and have a long long way to go!

[themadstad]

The thing with last season is despite the poor start we were largely average. After 23 games we were 6th on 36 points (imagine 72 for whole season) from memory half of that time we spent just below mid table.

By 27 games, before new arrivals, we were 5th on 42 points (71/72.) The final 19 we collected 47 points, Roberts' arrival seemed to really help us. We got no higher than 4th before Roberts came in and he is currently not in this team. I'm not saying he's our saviour but more that prior to him, promotion, at least automatic would not have happened.

We looked like play offs might have been our finishing point. Now we still look like a championship team in how we are playing subsequently not getting away with what we would or in fact did in the Championship.

[Snowball]

I'm on record saying I believe we were (and then only just about) the third-best team in last year's championship
and that we stole the championship "somehow". It would have taken very little to have happened differently for
us to have lost at West Ham, Saints and Brighton, for example, and had we lost those games, we might have dropped other points.

I'm aware, just as everybody is, that we won the league, but it always felt (to me) like "WTF, how did we win that?"


If the reality is we were really "just about a play-off side" then we were going to need a major overhaul rather then "improvement"
but wouldn't it be hard for a manager to say to owners, "West Ham and Southampton have much better players than we do." ?

Last season I said we didn't have game-changers. Only Kebe, IMO is/was a player who MIGHT do something out of the ordinary.

In the premiership, who would we have who might do something special and make a goal from nothing?

IMO we were always going to be up against it, and fourth-bottom would have been (will be) an achievement.

Let's remember that this is pretty much the norm. MOST promoted sides struggle to stay up.



IMO Gunter is a definite improvement on Cummings, a far more positive player, and he's "OK" as a Prem RB, but a bottom-third player.

I said before the season (tho' I admire Harte the man) that if Harte was our No 1 LB in January we would be relegated. If Shorey
is to replace him, again, he's an OK, just about Premiership player, but bottom third.

Guthrie looks a step up in quality for us (would look awesome in the Championship) but he looks to be playing to a script
and the scrip isn't working because our wingers, when given opportunities, seem to have lost the plot. If we are to
continue the Reading way we have to be banging in many, many more crosses, so Pog/Roberts and ALF/Hunt have
something to work with.

Marriappa is still to play. I think that might turn out to be a mistake.

What worries me most is the FEEL of the team. I do wonder if there is dressing room unrest or something. Whether we were outclassed
or not we usually FOUGHT (the exception being home to Watford last year) but the players look a shadow of themselves energy-wise
and attitude-wise. Shorey must have been getting more and more peed-off, ditto Mariappa, and/or maybe something isn't gelling
in the middle. I really don't KNOW what the problem is but the tempo, the sheer bloody enthusiasm has gone and we need it back.

Will Guthrie give 101% if we continue losing? Will Pog run through brick walls like Long did?


I have to say, right now we smell like a side destined never to get out of the bottom three, and though
I can't put my finger on it, something feels slightly "off" in a squad renowned for its spirit

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

The only time Mcdermott could even be considered for sacking is if we were in the relegation zone of the Championship. The man worked miracles with this team who he hauled up from the relegation zone in 2009 to promotion last year. I will not even give a serious thought to the notion that he could go.

What I would like to see is if we are still struggling by Xmas money invested in Jan, but that's a story for another day

[Theroyalbox]

Every season we've started slow under MCD anyway

[themadstad]

Will the new owners provide funds in Jan transfer window?

[peterroyal76]

The mere suggestion that McD should go is just lunacy. Even if we do get relegated I would like to see him in charge next season. You don't become a bad manager overnight and even some of the top manager have been relegated.

Oh and Harry Rednapp....He can fook right off.

THIS

[larry1971]

I'm on record saying I believe we were (and then only just about) the third-best team in last year's championship
and that we stole the championship "somehow". It would have taken very little to have happened differently for
us to have lost at West Ham, Saints and Brighton, for example, and had we lost those games, we might have dropped other points.I'm aware, just as everybody is, that we won the league, but it always felt (to me) like "WTF, how did we win that?"

I don't think you're a long way from the truth there on paper West Ham were by far the strongest team in the Championship but like Southampton both clubs in the 2nd half of last season their form and consistancy was poor Reading took advantage of that and I think it was more down to the team spirit and togetherness rather than the quality in the squad that we went on that amazing winning run. Team spirit and togetherness might just be enough to stay up this season but it wont be in future Mcdermott is going to have to be ruthless and get rid of some of the players who won promotion last year and who are not good enough for the premiership otherwise It could cost him his job.