An analysis of Reading's current situation

[Nameless]

Problem with McDermott was that there didn't seem to be any direction. You couldn't see what he was trying to achieve. With Stam we should have an enthusiastic young manager that has a Dutch philosophy of playing good tough football. If the fans can understand what their manager is trying to do, even if it takes time, they are a lot happier.
Its now down to the Thais to provide some decent funds to get a decent team together.

Sorry but you can't give someone a single January transfer window, sell your two top scorers in the process and then expect him to show you the direction he wants you to head in. All this whilst he's stuck having to use someone else's squad and players that are not going to be at the club the following season because they're on loan.

To be fair what Paddy is suggesting is we needed to see some good old fashioned management.
There is no reason that a manager cannot make noticeable changes to a team quickly.
Simple things like being organised defensively, set piece strategy, discipline, positional play can all be drilled into a team and you don't need to spend huge sums on new players. It's just getting the basics right which we didn't do all last season.
Now maybe Brian thought that could wait until preseason as long as we stayed up, but then that's kind of what we assumed Clarke did the previous year.

[Nameless]

People need to drop the reference to Sa as our 'top scorer'. Mathematically yes, but in reality he was not a goal machine and he was replaced like for like (in terms of strike rate) .

So he was our second top scorer or not?

It's not really relevant as a point in defence of Brian.
It says more about the failure of others that a guy who scored in 3 games is claimed as a big factor in Brian struggling. Sa going was pretty insignificant really, if we had kept Sa and Blackman there is no real case that we would have been any better a side in the second half of the season.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

People need to drop the reference to Sa as our 'top scorer'. Mathematically yes, but in reality he was not a goal machine and he was replaced like for like (in terms of strike rate) .

And MdDermott never played him even when he was fit so obviously didn't rate him.

[Nameless]

Or Sa had said he was going so there was very little point picking him. One day we may hear some stories about last season. I am sure a lot was going on behind the scenes ....

[Y25Beryl]

Problem with McDermott was that there didn't seem to be any direction. You couldn't see what he was trying to achieve. With Stam we should have an enthusiastic young manager that has a Dutch philosophy of playing good tough football. If the fans can understand what their manager is trying to do, even if it takes time, they are a lot happier.
Its now down to the Thais to provide some decent funds to get a decent team together.

Sorry but you can't give someone a single January transfer window, sell your two top scorers in the process and then expect him to show you the direction he wants you to head in. All this whilst he's stuck having to use someone else's squad and players that are not going to be at the club the following season because they're on loan.

Unless you were in listening to Brian McDermott being interviewed then you cant tell if it was fair or not sacking McDermott after 1 transfer window.
Maybe he told them he could get the squad he had working and get Reading a top half finish. Therefore sacking justified.
We just don't know !

[Lower West]

or were they just waiting for Nigel Howe to come back from holiday

Working, not on holiday.

[NptonOwl]

Hi all , i'm a Sheffield Wednesday fan (from Northampton , long story) but been keeping an eye on your progress seeing as the fathers of our owners are apparently like brothers.
Seems to be a lot of turmoil going on , had that with our club and it's not fun.
Are your Thai owners not making the strides you expected? Think we've been very lucky with ours , fairly regular presence and statements, spent reasonable money and seems to let the manager get on with it.
I've read that yours seems to be a bit invisible to the fans and maybe pushing their weight around.
For what it's worth never rated McDermott and think you can get someone more dynamic in, Stam might be that man.
A lot of our fans have said Reading could be dark horses next season, me included but looking at things on here that seems less likely.
We love getting players from Watfords old promotion side and many want to get Vydra back with Forestieri but know he did little last season, was he very poor or just lack of service/poor team around him?
Hope you get it all sorted out anyway , will go to the away fixture for first time next season.
Always liked Reading since Shaka Hislop days, a very hot supply teacher in school said she was a Reading fan and he was her favourite player so suddenly ended up with the whole school in Northampton rooting for them lol.

[Sutekh]

Hi all , i'm a Sheffield Wednesday fan (from Northampton , long story) but been keeping an eye on your progress seeing as the fathers of our owners are apparently like brothers.
Seems to be a lot of turmoil going on , had that with our club and it's not fun.
Are your Thai owners not making the strides you expected? Think we've been very lucky with ours , fairly regular presence and statements, spent reasonable money and seems to let the manager get on with it.
I've read that yours seems to be a bit invisible to the fans and maybe pushing their weight around.
For what it's worth never rated McDermott and think you can get someone more dynamic in, Stam might be that man.
A lot of our fans have said Reading could be dark horses next season, me included but looking at things on here that seems less likely.
We love getting players from Watfords old promotion side and many want to get Vydra back with Forestieri but know he did little last season, was he very poor or just lack of service/poor team around him?
Hope you get it all sorted out anyway , will go to the away fixture for first time next season.
Always liked Reading since Shaka Hislop days, a very hot supply teacher in school said she was a Reading fan and he was her favourite player so suddenly ended up with the whole school in Northampton rooting for them lol.

Hi, always nice to hear from supporters of other clubs.

Our Thai owners, at this point in time, are conspicuous by their absence and their silence. Seems they've turned up and saved us from the mess created by the only Russian businessman with no money, submitted building plans for residential, retail and leisure facilities on the club's car park and then gone back east never to be heard of again so there is a lot of wailing and much gnashing of teeth amongst the great unwashed here that they're just in it for property development and nothing else.

Vydra ran around a lot an put in the effort (he couldn't be faulted on that) but was utterly hopeless, yes the team around him didn't exactly help but the countless gilt edged opportunities he had missed were utterly inexcusable by the end of the season.

As to next season, expectation here is now lower than the the world record for limbo dancing thanks to the utter **** that has been served up for the last two seasons on the pitch even more so given there seems to be no sign whatsoever of any investment in players and constantly being told that youth is what counts.

Whether Stam can do anything to put us back on an upward curve remains to be seen, I don't think anyone will be holding their breath. If he gets the same sort of support as Brian McDermott got from the board then we'll be relegated by Christmas, he'll have been sacked and Reading will have completed their transition from a well respected and well run little club to the total basket case offspring of Leeds United and Charlton Athletic.

[Ian Royal]

Hey Owl.

I think the Thais have a lot of the background stuff going right, but the team management seems distinctly disorganised.

They pulled the trigger on Adkins not unexpectedly - not their man, not doing great, but went with a unseemingly quick appointment in Clarke that turned out to be a poor decision. They then allowed themselves to be persuaded by the old guard to bring back McDermott, but obviously weren't convinced and ended up binning him prematurely.

They're now apparently looking at bringing in an inexperienced foreigner to be the fourth manager of their two year tenure so far. How long he'll get is open to debate.

They're not necessarily dooming us or up to anything sinister, but they've really got to get this right or much of the good work of the last 20 years that's made us an estsblished top half Championship club could easily be undone with us finding ourselves back in League One as also rans.

[NptonOwl]

Sounds like they have no direction at all, got the club but then realised it's not that easy to run one and be successful.
We had some fears at the start especially as Chansiri said he was buying us mostly because his young son liked football.
We then signed some very poor foreign players, a random foreign coach who lasted less than a year in almost all his jobs, .Chansiri made a huge error with ticket pricing and we were rightly boycotted.
Difference seems to be that he has good advisors and learnt from his early mistakes.He's more visible, his family are involved with the club and community.Ticket prices have been sorted.He has backed Carvalhal who by design or fluke has now got a very good team playing good stuff.
The play off final showed we need far more physical players and from a much higher level, was a reality check.But most fans aren't concerned because we know Carvalhal and Chansiri saw it too and feel relaxed that it'll be corrected this summer.
I hope Reading get that confidence in their owners too at some point but they have got to earn it from you first.We have discussed signing a few of your players that we rate such as Danny Williams but don't think you'd sell to us as you have your own wealthy owners who want promotion as much as we do, that needs to be the case now to make a statement.
Some now think Chansiri's father was the intended owner all along but wanted his son to show him it was worth him investing in.TUF are slowly starting to become more prominent.If it's the same for you it could explain some of the invisibility and behind the scenes issues if the ownership structure is changing.
Looking forward to a first visit to the Madejski this coming season and hope you'll be near the top helping us (hopefully) battle Newcastle, Villa etc.

[Ian Royal]

Sounds like they have no direction at all, got the club but then realised it's not that easy to run one and be successful.
We had some fears at the start especially as Chansiri said he was buying us mostly because his young son liked football.
We then signed some very poor foreign players, a random foreign coach who lasted less than a year in almost all his jobs, .Chansiri made a huge error with ticket pricing and we were rightly boycotted.
Difference seems to be that he has good advisors and learnt from his early mistakes.He's more visible, his family are involved with the club and community.Ticket prices have been sorted.He has backed Carvalhal who by design or fluke has now got a very good team playing good stuff.
The play off final showed we need far more physical players and from a much higher level, was a reality check.But most fans aren't concerned because we know Carvalhal and Chansiri saw it too and feel relaxed that it'll be corrected this summer.
I hope Reading get that confidence in their owners too at some point but they have got to earn it from you first.We have discussed signing a few of your players that we rate such as Danny Williams but don't think you'd sell to us as you have your own wealthy owners who want promotion as much as we do, that needs to be the case now to make a statement.
Some now think Chansiri's father was the intended owner all along but wanted his son to show him it was worth him investing in.TUF are slowly starting to become more prominent.If it's the same for you it could explain some of the invisibility and behind the scenes issues if the ownership structure is changing.
Looking forward to a first visit to the Madejski this coming season and hope you'll be near the top helping us (hopefully) battle Newcastle, Villa etc.

You're welcome to Danny Williams for a decent price. He over dribbles almost everything down blind allies, and when he doesn't he's blazing it into row Z or mouthing off at the ref, the opposition or his own team mates. Good player, but not the brightest when it comes to deciding how to use his talent on the pitch. If we can get money from him to improve the squad elsewhere and keep the likes of Quinn, Norwood, Tshibola, Evans and Kuhl in midfield I'd be delighted.

Don't spose you fancy Chris Gunter as well for a couple of mil do you? £3.5m for the pair?

[NptonOwl]

You can keep Gunter, we've got Jack Hunt at right back who isn't good enough really and i prefer him to Gunter .Norwood is another one a lot of Wednesday fans really rate .We were gutted at first we missed out on Blackman to Derby but looks like we dodged that one .Hope Gravenberch turns out to be decent, had echoes of us getting Darryl Lachman in a similar scenario who never even got a game.Think we were trying the Brentford 'moneyball' approach but very hard to get promoted with all signings working out.Hence we got Hooper and Forestieri . at £3m each same cost as Blackman and i know i'd rather have them.Who do you have for the top 6 next season? We did a topic on it and most was fairly universal in Newcastle,Norwich,Derby,Brighton top 4 with Wednesday, Villa, Brentford,Cardiff, yourselves all after the last 2 places. If Villa spend well it could be them who walk the league not Newcastle.Lot's taken the 12-1 offer on at most places for Newcastle to break 100 points for the season.My outside tip to go up is Bristol City, got pots of cash but just can't get anyone to spend it on who wants to play there .

[AthleticoSpizz]

count us out

We have a bunch of clueless c11nts asset stripping the club and changing our identity

Anyone with any alliegience to the club and it's future success has either left, or has been sacked.

[3points]

You can keep Gunter, we've got Jack Hunt at right back who isn't good enough really and i prefer him to Gunter .Norwood is another one a lot of Wednesday fans really rate .We were gutted at first we missed out on Blackman to Derby but looks like we dodged that one .Hope Gravenberch turns out to be decent, had echoes of us getting Darryl Lachman in a similar scenario who never even got a game.Think we were trying the Brentford 'moneyball' approach but very hard to get promoted with all signings working out.Hence we got Hooper and Forestieri . at £3m each same cost as Blackman and i know i'd rather have them.Who do you have for the top 6 next season? We did a topic on it and most was fairly universal in Newcastle,Norwich,Derby,Brighton top 4 with Wednesday, Villa, Brentford,Cardiff, yourselves all after the last 2 places. If Villa spend well it could be them who walk the league not Newcastle.Lot's taken the 12-1 offer on at most places for Newcastle to break 100 points for the season.My outside tip to go up is Bristol City, got pots of cash but just can't get anyone to spend it on who wants to play there .

You can have Norwood and Williams. Our problems have coincided with both of them being regulars in midfield.

Personally don't see Villa being near the top 6 (more Fulham than Burnley) especially if the takeover falls through. They've got Steve Clarke FFS. And their core squad of players are not suited to the Championship. How many of their squad would you want at Sheffield Weds? A couple maybe? Three or four tops.

[Ian Royal]

You can keep Gunter, we've got Jack Hunt at right back who isn't good enough really and i prefer him to Gunter .Norwood is another one a lot of Wednesday fans really rate .We were gutted at first we missed out on Blackman to Derby but looks like we dodged that one .Hope Gravenberch turns out to be decent, had echoes of us getting Darryl Lachman in a similar scenario who never even got a game.Think we were trying the Brentford 'moneyball' approach but very hard to get promoted with all signings working out.Hence we got Hooper and Forestieri . at £3m each same cost as Blackman and i know i'd rather have them.Who do you have for the top 6 next season? We did a topic on it and most was fairly universal in Newcastle,Norwich,Derby,Brighton top 4 with Wednesday, Villa, Brentford,Cardiff, yourselves all after the last 2 places. If Villa spend well it could be them who walk the league not Newcastle.Lot's taken the 12-1 offer on at most places for Newcastle to break 100 points for the season.My outside tip to go up is Bristol City, got pots of cash but just can't get anyone to spend it on who wants to play there .

I'd fancy Newcastle to win it, Norwich, Birmingham, Wigan, Derby, Ipswich, Brighton & Wednesday to be up there or thereabouts. Cardiff, Brentford, QPR to fall short. Villa could finish literally anywhere in the league quite easily. We'll either be a boring middle of the road side or glancing over our shoulders at the trap door again.

It's very early for this though. And I'm likely to be extremely wrong.

[sandman]

You can keep Gunter, we've got Jack Hunt at right back who isn't good enough really and i prefer him to Gunter .Norwood is another one a lot of Wednesday fans really rate .We were gutted at first we missed out on Blackman to Derby but looks like we dodged that one .Hope Gravenberch turns out to be decent, had echoes of us getting Darryl Lachman in a similar scenario who never even got a game.Think we were trying the Brentford 'moneyball' approach but very hard to get promoted with all signings working out.Hence we got Hooper and Forestieri . at £3m each same cost as Blackman and i know i'd rather have them.Who do you have for the top 6 next season? We did a topic on it and most was fairly universal in Newcastle,Norwich,Derby,Brighton top 4 with Wednesday, Villa, Brentford,Cardiff, yourselves all after the last 2 places. If Villa spend well it could be them who walk the league not Newcastle.Lot's taken the 12-1 offer on at most places for Newcastle to break 100 points for the season.My outside tip to go up is Bristol City, got pots of cash but just can't get anyone to spend it on who wants to play there .

Reading will be lucky to stay out of the bottom six, let alone get in the top six.

The entire structure of the club and what made it successful has been ripped apart and inadequately rebuilt.

We have a 34 year old technical director, whose previous experience is being an under 14's coach at the Ajax academy. He's bringing his mates in so they can all get a pay day, not caring that they have zero experience at this level. The main advisor to the owners is the guy who brokered the deal to sell Man City to Sheik Mansour, his only practical experience within the game is a spell with the much feared Thai national team.

The two owners, I'm not including the little old lady they wheel out as their spokesperson but is an owner in name only, have sacked almost as many managers in the last 18 months as John Madejski did in 22 years.

Of course they now need to rebuild the team because they took in so many loan players last season, who have all gone back to their clubs after doing bugger all. The problem being that they, as confirmed by Steve Clarke a month or so ago, don't actually have money to invest.

But hey, who better than Brian McDermott to help with that rebuild? He is a man who is used to losing key players every season and rebuilding a team with new tactics and formations. But oh wait, they've sacked him and replaced him with the 34 year old's mates. They were at the famed Ajax academy after all. You remember Ajax? They were good 20 years ago.

Still, Paultheroyal likes the owners. Then again, he's a former referee whose favourite "musician" is Leona Lewis.

[Ian Royal]

[CountryRoyal]

Good from you sandmong. Fairly accurate description as well tbf.

[NptonOwl]

Leona Lewis *shudders at the thought*.
Looks like we've been very lucky with our ownership which i think most realise and why we all stayed at Wembley to applaud the team and staff at full time whilst Hull lifted the trophy.
Villa should get the takeover signed off tommorrow, £35m for players plus any sales money , if they use it well should go close.
But then we're trying to get McCormack supposedly for a ridiculous £12m at nearly 30 so £35m might not get their squad improved enough from what it is now.
When Chansiri bought us he vowed to get us promoted by this season in time for our 150 year anniversary, nearly managed it a year early.He will dread the play offs again so need to go for the top 2 which is going to take an amazing start and additions in January.
Looks like your owners tried to appease fans with the Vydra loan , expect Rhodes to drop back to the Championship on loan even if in January so maybe you'll end up with him.
If your not planning to spend and want to push youngsters as all you need then i guess getting people in from the Ajax academy makes you look like you know what your doing to fans.Charlton thought the link with Standard Liege would progress them initially so hope you don't end up like them .
What does Madejski make of all this?, always seemed a traditional decent genuine owner.

[10539.4 Miles Away]

Leona Lewis *shudders at the thought*.
Looks like we've been very lucky with our ownership which i think most realise and why we all stayed at Wembley to applaud the team and staff at full time whilst Hull lifted the trophy.
Villa should get the takeover signed off tommorrow, £35m for players plus any sales money , if they use it well should go close.
But then we're trying to get McCormack supposedly for a ridiculous £12m at nearly 30 so £35m might not get their squad improved enough from what it is now.
When Chansiri bought us he vowed to get us promoted by this season in time for our 150 year anniversary, nearly managed it a year early.He will dread the play offs again so need to go for the top 2 which is going to take an amazing start and additions in January.
Looks like your owners tried to appease fans with the Vydra loan , expect Rhodes to drop back to the Championship on loan even if in January so maybe you'll end up with him.
If your not planning to spend and want to push youngsters as all you need then i guess getting people in from the Ajax academy makes you look like you know what your doing to fans.Charlton thought the link with Standard Liege would progress them initially so hope you don't end up like them .
What does Madejski make of all this?, always seemed a traditional decent genuine owner.

Don't think that it was appeasing fans that got Vydra in, not sure what the hell it was in hindsight, loan fee in the millions for a season of rubbish. Clarke stacked the team with loanees and unfortunately couldn't get them to gel or indeed perform individually.

Madejski has been progressively sidelined over the last year and a half, he was chairman when the Russian was with us and then supposed to move into an honourary life president role, when they fell apart he was back in charge, frankly as there was no one else to do it. Since the Thais have come in we haven't heard a great deal from him, especially not in the last 6 months. I can't imagine he's over the moon about whats going on, one of the other directors who had worked with Madejski at the club for 21 years left recently with very little fanfare.

No one really has a clue whats going on at the club unfortunately but I sure as hell won't be putting any of my money on us finishing anywhere near the top 6!