News and Views
Confirmed: Paul Clement Is New Reading Manager
23 March 2018
By Hob Nob Anyone?
Former Swansea City manager Paul Clement has been revealed as the new Reading manager following the sacking of Jaap Stam earlier this week.
In a statement released by the club, confirming Clement has agreed terms, they emphasised his first target is to take Reading into an "eight-game battle" to avoid relegation into League One: "Not only has he coached at some of the greatest clubs in Europe, winning trophies, league titles and European honours and working with some of the greatest players in the world, fundamentally he also has a rich understanding of English football having managed in both the Championship and the Premier League in recent years. Now, everyone at Reading Football Club is fully behind Paul and his squad of players as, together, we initially set our sights on an eight-game battle and continue to strive to the take this club forward."
Clement spent a year at Swansea after being appointed at the start of 2017 and being dismissed just before Christmas in the same year. His record at Swansea was mixed, winning 14 of his 41 games in charge, drawing 5 and losing 22. His previous job in management was at Derby County where he was given even less time, again failing to complete a full year in charge, and winning 14 games out of 33. Although his record at Derby was better, and he was dismissed after a poor run, it was reported at the time he was sacked due to his style of unattractive football and his inability to work out the best way to use a large group of players available to him.
Opinion is split if Clement is the right man for the job, with his style of management similar to the outgoing Jaap Stam. Clement also enjoyed a positive start at Swansea before results quickly went downhill leading to him being sacked after less than a full 12 months in charge. Swansea were struggling at the foot of the Premier League when Clement arrived and fortunes immediately picked up as the Swans won 5 out of 9 Premier League games to begin a climb up the table. Results dipped before the Welsh side finished the season with four wins out of five to finish in 15th place and well clear of the bottom three.
The following season Clement failed to build on his success with a run of just 1 win in 11 games seeing the club show him the door before Christmas. It all feels far too similar to Jaap Stam's time at Reading with the Dutch manager seeing a first season of success as his took Reading into the play-off final before he ran out of ideas with the club plummeting towards the relegation zone.
Reading fans will be hoping Clement can provide a similar impact at Reading on arrival and provide a "new manager bounce". If Clement can halt the slide and pick up enough points to guarantee Championship football next season then we will have already achieved at Reading, then next season we will perhaps really see what he can do with this team.
Clement will arrive with the support of the Reading fans, and a couple of wins between now and the end of the season will make him a popular choice. However, if he fails to halt the slide he could see another short tenure added to his managerial statistics. It will be interesting to see if he arrives at Reading on a short term contract or if those in charge at Reading FC believe he is the man long-term.
Discussion On This Story:
royalp-we
And Right now, we need the best from the players we have got.
Best choice out of the options to be suggested.
#WelcomePaul
10539.4 Miles Away
Click on his profile, friend or foe, click foe, wont see the idiots posts anymore. easily done.
This is very good advice.
Feeling optimistic about Clement, he does indeed have a long and successful coaching history and hopefully he will have learned something at Derby so he can make the changes necessary to his style to make it work for the Championship this time round.
Anonymous
winchester_royal
I very much doubt Clement goes into clubs advocating 'boring, negative' football. After all, it's not like the Chelsea, Madrid, and Munich teams he coached played that way.
It should also be noted that his only real 'failure' as a manager has been 3 months at a Swansea team that had lost their key player who they didn't come close to replacing.
He's a highly respected coach, who's worked with some of the best players in world football, has lots of contacts we can make use of, and I'm sure he'll be desperate to prove a point.
Personally I'd rather we'd gone for a younger manager from the lower leagues, but that in itself would have brought tons of risk given the position we are in, and now the decision has been made I'm more than happy to get behind him - which I think we all need to do.
Haag Royal
Frankly anyone who takes the RFC job at this point should be applauded. The whole club is a mess - so, you expecting Pep to become manager? Get real.
And if it is Paul Clement then great. FFS get behind him and the team. If not then a few seasons in League 1 will sober many of you up.
John Madejski's Wallet
Exactly how much style coaching do the likes of Ronaldo need?
Not exactly champ plodders on a wet tuesday night in Burton is it....
I thought everyone pretty much agreed that good coaches =/= good managers
I am bored of possession football. Bored, bored, bored
If the style of play stays the same under the new manager the crowds are not exactly going to be flocking back and staying
// As i've said, i'll support him and wish him (and us) all the best. Can't help but feel nonplussed at the thought of more passing about at the back
genome
I like it as an appointment. It's not perfect, but the best we could probably do in our current situation. He won't totally dismantle Stam's philosophy, which I actually think is a good thing, but maybe sort out defence out at the same time. He's a Reading lad, and will bring an assistant manager with him who has connections to one of the club's most successful periods, and he's also got experience right at the top of the game, and the contacts with it.
We could do worse.
*yeah, I know
Norfolk Royal
Exactly how much style coaching do the likes of Ronaldo need?
Not exactly champ plodders on a wet tuesday night in Burton is it....
I thought everyone pretty much agreed that good coaches =/= good managers
I am bored of possession football. Bored, bored, bored
If the style of play stays the same under the new manager the crowds are not exactly going to be flocking back and staying
// As i've said, i'll support him and wish him (and us) all the best. Can't help but feel nonplussed at the thought of more passing about at the back
I'm bored with possession football as well. We should give it to the opposition and enjoy their play instead.
Victor Meldrew
Sounds exactly like what we need at the moment. Just give him a contract until the end of the season and decide then what to do long term.
Can't see him accepting a short term deal.
RFC is renowned for giving lucrative long term deals to managers and players.
BTW as a coincidence there is a horse called Clement running in the 5-45 at Kempton tonight.
Can this be a sign?
The bad news is that the horse hasn't won for 2 years, a record even worse than Reading's of late.
Hound
Sounds exactly like what we need at the moment. Just give him a contract until the end of the season and decide then what to do long term.
Can't see him accepting a short term deal.
RFC is renowned for giving lucrative long term deals to managers and players.
Expect it will be 2 year deal with a couple of get out clauses on either side.
I'm not sure Clement would want to be managing in the 3rd tier tbh either. Think he'd rather be an assistant at a big club
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