What do you think of it so far?.......

[The Royal Forester]

Brian should never have been sacked, he is the only one who can get us out of this mess! What on earth are the Thais doing? Asking for trouble, to put a bloke in charge who does not know the Championship. Why do we play the Dutch way? This is England and we play the English way. Yes, that was my thoughts last Summer and Autumn, needless to say I have changed them now. One further thought has been blown right out of the water. That was "we will be lucky to stay up, I wonder what life will be like in the bottom two tiers after all this time?"
Anyone else care to admit they were wrong? The answer to the title of this thread is certainly not "rubbish" as was the usual response from Eric. I am enjoying the ride, long may it continue.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Luckily, I stayed schtumph......although I was mighty pi55ed off with Brians sacking.

Loving the way things are going right now.......however, let's not kid ourselves....when the tide turns (as it inevitably will in the Prem or wherever).....Stams' days will be numbered and the smug herd on here will be equally as vocal.

Following the success of winning the league 2012, came the turkeys in a penn at the MadStad

It's football....that's how it goes

[NewCorkSeth]

Didnt mind Brian going at the time as I didnt think he had as much to offer the club as a fresh perspective would have. I wanted Garry Monk as I have mentioned many times but was delighted when I heard Stam had been appointed. I dont buy into the "Managers need to know the league" catchphrase so assumed that his reputation as a world class player would aid in the perceived value of our club.

I think it did. Would Moore, Swift, Blackett or Ilori(I know the jury is still out on those last 2) have joined if he wasnt here? (we will never know)
He has implemented a commendable system, achieved some great results and has done so in a composed and authoritative manner that I think has got the players believing in both the system and themselves.

Nobody thought (realistically) we would be in a false 3rd at this stage in the season despite the fact we do (and did before the transfer window) have some cracking footballers for this level. But what we have often been lacking under the previous 3 managers is the individual performances from players who we all knew had it in them and the team work we are now seeing on the pitch.

No point in speculating on further success, however, as I have said before we must persist with this system. The benefits of a sense of direction will (hopefully) bare fruit in the not so distant future.

[Ian Royal]

I thought it was poor to sack Brian at the time and I still do, although I've heard a rumour that there may have been a better reason than was apparent at the time. I doubt very much he'd have managed anywhere near as much progress as Stam has, but assuming his head was still in the game I think he'd had significantly improved us from where we were when he joined. If they didn't have the faith to give McDermott at least a full season in charge, they shouldn't have bowed to Madejski and agreed to give him the job in the first place.

The Thais rolled the dice and they appear to have come up 6s. But lets face it, no one could reasonably have predicted this turnaround with a foreign rookie 'name' manager.

I really like what we're trying to do with our play. I like the style of signings we're trying to bring in and I feel much happier with the club as a whole again. If we can keep a reasonable stability off the pitch and somehow manage to fund our enormous wage budget then I think we should be back on an upward trajectory.

It worked out in the end, just a shame we had to spend three or four years managing Anton's oxf*rd ups and put up with that clown Clarke. Let's now get some continuity back in the club for a couple of seasons.

[WAZZOCK]

Brian had to go. He didn't have the desire to be in the limelight anymore, and he had certainly lost the dressing room.

[royalp-we]

Whilst I completely agree, it's all about looking forward now. Totally different team and dynamic this season. Great example of a rebuild on a tight transfer budget.

Still lots of fans moaning around where I sit in the mad Stad about the style of play (until we score of course ), I really hope we stick to this style of play and reap the rewards for doing so.

[From Despair To Where?]

I was disappointed when Brian was sacked but could understand the reasoning, we were treading water at best.

As for Stam, he seemed no more or less of a gamble than any of the other names banded about so in that respect, I wasn't really bothered who got the job as long as they instilled a bit of heart and fight in the team and made us more difficult to beat.

Obviously it's gone much better than I expected and I think Stam has been jnstrumental in us attracting the calibre of player we have but for me, the most pleasing aspect us that there seems to be a cohesive stategy to running the team with Tevreden much more visible and involved as DoF. Now, this may have worked whoever came in but I do get the feeling there is an element of an Ajax old boys' network instilling best (or at least better) practice into running the team.

[tmesis]

he had certainly lost the dressing room.

Certainly?

It's possible he had, but that's just a phrase that get trotted out by fans, without any substantiation at all, every time a team has a poor run of form.

[NewCorkSeth]

he had certainly lost the dressing room.

Certainly?

It's possible he had, but that's just a phrase that get trotted out by fans, without any substantiation at all, every time a team has a poor run of form.

When I spoke to Quinn before the Euros he said that he thought Steve Clarke was the right man for the job and iirc a lot of people were saying Clarke had "lost the dressing room".

The lingering implication there being he (and possibly by extension) didnt think much of Brian (of course that is entirely my thoughts based on what he didnt say rather than what he said)

Although having said that McDermott did an incredible job of creating squad harmony during his first tenure so it was clearly not a weakness of his.

[WAZZOCK]

he had certainly lost the dressing room.

Certainly?

It's possible he had, but that's just a phrase that get trotted out by fans, without any substantiation at all, every time a team has a poor run of form.

Paul McShane stated publicly (Get Reading I think) that Brian had pretty much no respect amongst the squad. Ill discipline throughout, arguments on the pitch between players and post-match 3 hour inquisitions seems to suggest that this was the case. i trust this to be the case, as I'm not sure Macca is the type of character to embellish facts in this manner.

[genome]

Link? I certainly don't remember reading that.

[Ian Royal]

Link? I certainly don't remember reading that.

Me either. I bet it's a case of someone reading hugely into a passing comment.

[muirinho]

Link? I certainly don't remember reading that.

Me either. I bet it's a case of someone reading hugely into a passing comment.

This is probably the interview that's being talked about.
http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/footb ... e-11972411

Some of the relevant bits

Little things started disappearing last season. Even if it's a simple case of turning up on time or putting your kits in the right tubs after training.

All those things count because if you don't have discipline those sorts of things creep out onto the pitch and that’s what happened towards the end of last season. It wasn’t good at the end.

***

It was really tough. Basically after the cup game against Crystal Palace I think people downed tools to be honest.

We had the perfect storm really because we had players who were coming to the end of their contracts, we had players who were on loan, we had all sorts of stuff going on.

And I think towards the end people were just going through the motions.

People found it hard to turn up every day and train to their best, which should be a given really. So it was really tough.

***
And talking about the vibe this season compared to last

The games against Barnsley and Brighton when we went down to 10 and saw the games out were really positive.

I think it’s just down to the work we’ve been doing on the training pitch together and the honesty that the manager wants us to act with. If people have a problem they are encouraged to talk it through instead of maybe going behind people’s backs.

Taking McDermott out of the equation - team captains have a lot of influence, especially a strong character like McShane - I'm a bit surprised he wasn't able to stamp a bit more of that attitude. Or maybe it would have been worse without him - who knows? Would be very interested to hear an interview with him or one of the others some years down the line of what was going on the last two seasons behind the scenes, and who the trouble-makers were. He does seem to be pointing the finger a bit there at the loanees and people whose contracts were up (ahem, HRK).

There doesn't seem to be any morale problem now, with the players who have remained - which obviously has a lot to do with Stam - but it also seems Tevreden is very keen to avoid any loanees coming in. Which is maybe another reason to suspect it was the number of loanees that were a huge part of the problem, and having seen how that panned out before, he doesn't want it to go like that again.

When there's nothing left to play for in a season - you're either doing it for the fans, or to impress the manager for next season, or for your team-mates, or to get a new contract elsewhere. Or because that is your nature, and you'd try your best anywhere.

For loanees, only the last one could possibly apply - and tbh of all the loanees, the only one I'd say it would apply to is Alex Fernandez. Normally it's not a huge thing I guess, if you have only a few loanees. But sheer weight of numbers maybe made them have a disproportionate influence.
Very few of the players would have been in the squad during the previous McDermott reign so there wouldn't have been much personal loyalty to him either. (HRK, Gunter, McCleary?)
It's possible that if he'd stayed, brought in his own players, got rid of disaffected loanees, and had a fresh start over the summer, then things would have gone better. But I don't think we would be where we are now.

[ayjaydee]

Short and simple - I'm enjoying it this season. Look forward to the next game as soon as the previous one has ended. Last year particularly it became a real chore going and at times I voted with my feet.

[harry]

I thought Brian was sacked unfairly twice. 1st for over-achieving the season before, 2nd for not getting a bunch of loanee wasters to give a monkeys. Onto this season ...

I was cautious over the appointment of a name ex-player with little managerial experience but had an open mind.
Given the overhaul in the Summer, the last 2 seasons and his lack of experience my expectations were low and anything above 17th would have been progress.

The switch to a passing possession game is positive although at times frustrating when it doesn't come off. It's easy to see the goals we concede from this approach (Man Us 4th, Derby's 2nd) but I wonder how many goals we haven't conceded due to having so much ball. If the opponents don't have the ball they can't score and if they've been worn down chasing the ball over 90 minutes they are less likely to score at the death. All theory anyway. 3rd in the table is fact.

That we are also able to grind out results and get wins when under pressure is probably a bigger factor in finding ourselves in nosebleed territory. While some of the new signings are yet to really prove themselves there seems to be a decent team spirit .

Barring any collapse play-offs look likely which would be a massive achievement.

[Ian Royal]

Link? I certainly don't remember reading that.

Me either. I bet it's a case of someone reading hugely into a passing comment.

This is probably the interview that's being talked about.
http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/footb ... e-11972411

Some of the relevant bits

Little things started disappearing last season. Even if it's a simple case of turning up on time or putting your kits in the right tubs after training.

All those things count because if you don't have discipline those sorts of things creep out onto the pitch and that’s what happened towards the end of last season. It wasn’t good at the end.

***

It was really tough. Basically after the cup game against Crystal Palace I think people downed tools to be honest.

We had the perfect storm really because we had players who were coming to the end of their contracts, we had players who were on loan, we had all sorts of stuff going on.

And I think towards the end people were just going through the motions.

People found it hard to turn up every day and train to their best, which should be a given really. So it was really tough.

***
And talking about the vibe this season compared to last

The games against Barnsley and Brighton when we went down to 10 and saw the games out were really positive.

I think it’s just down to the work we’ve been doing on the training pitch together and the honesty that the manager wants us to act with. If people have a problem they are encouraged to talk it through instead of maybe going behind people’s backs.

Taking McDermott out of the equation - team captains have a lot of influence, especially a strong character like McShane - I'm a bit surprised he wasn't able to stamp a bit more of that attitude. Or maybe it would have been worse without him - who knows? Would be very interested to hear an interview with him or one of the others some years down the line of what was going on the last two seasons behind the scenes, and who the trouble-makers were. He does seem to be pointing the finger a bit there at the loanees and people whose contracts were up (ahem, HRK).

There doesn't seem to be any morale problem now, with the players who have remained - which obviously has a lot to do with Stam - but it also seems Tevreden is very keen to avoid any loanees coming in. Which is maybe another reason to suspect it was the number of loanees that were a huge part of the problem, and having seen how that panned out before, he doesn't want it to go like that again.

When there's nothing left to play for in a season - you're either doing it for the fans, or to impress the manager for next season, or for your team-mates, or to get a new contract elsewhere. Or because that is your nature, and you'd try your best anywhere.

For loanees, only the last one could possibly apply - and tbh of all the loanees, the only one I'd say it would apply to is Alex Fernandez. Normally it's not a huge thing I guess, if you have only a few loanees. But sheer weight of numbers maybe made them have a disproportionate influence.
Very few of the players would have been in the squad during the previous McDermott reign so there wouldn't have been much personal loyalty to him either. (HRK, Gunter, McCleary?)
It's possible that if he'd stayed, brought in his own players, got rid of disaffected loanees, and had a fresh start over the summer, then things would have gone better. But I don't think we would be where we are now.

Thank you. That's more and worse than I expected, but still far from damning of McDermott. Much more of the loanees and HRK etc.

I think we all knew that those who weren't here for the long run were just going through the motions. I think that would have been the case regardless of who the manager was. I agree we almost certainly wouldn't be doing as well if McDermott had stayed, but I still believe he'd have got us on an upward curve, bar other factors getting in the way.

[genome]

But Wazzock said...

Paul McShane stated publicly (Get Reading I think) that Brian had pretty much no respect amongst the squad.

It doesn't say that anywhere. Interesting interview though - it was certainly obvious that the squad downed tools after Palace.

[WAZZOCK]

Well, maybe I'm getting a bit mixed up with what was written in the article and what I know from talking with people at the club then.

Fact remains, downing tools at the start of March and letting the players run amok does not reflect well on Brian's appetite for the job or the players' respect for the figurehead of the group.

[Sutekh]

Well, maybe I'm getting a bit mixed up with what was written in the article and what I know from talking with people at the club then.

Fact remains, downing tools at the start of March and letting the players run amok does not reflect well on Brian's appetite for the job or the players' respect for the figurehead of the group.

Brian was the wrong appointment in the first place. He doesn't strike me as a disciplinarian, which is probably what was needed, and was caught between a rock and a hard place with half the team being on loan and not particularly bothered and the other half picking up on the negativity and laissez faire attitude.

Brian should have dropped all loanees as well, as soon as we were mathematically safe (about 4/5 games from the end) and started the rebuild with the youngsters but didn't until the last game. He also got a bee in his bonnet with that damn silly diamond formation which just didn't work.

All in all a complete waste of time and possibly the worst period of watching Reading as they were bad through not really giving a toss rather than putting in a bit of effort and just not being good enough.

[No Fixed Abode]

Brian should never have been sacked, he is the only one who can get us out of this mess! What on earth are the Thais doing? Asking for trouble, to put a bloke in charge who does not know the Championship. Why do we play the Dutch way? This is England and we play the English way. Yes, that was my thoughts last Summer and Autumn, needless to say I have changed them now. One further thought has been blown right out of the water. That was "we will be lucky to stay up, I wonder what life will be like in the bottom two tiers after all this time?"
Anyone else care to admit they were wrong? The answer to the title of this thread is certainly not "rubbish" as was the usual response from Eric. I am enjoying the ride, long may it continue.

Genome and Ian.........