How impressed are you with BMcD's return to the club?

[Top Flight]

We've been shit since he took over though, not just the last few weeks.

These players are sh!t.

And we've been a lot more shit in the last 7 games since safety was assured.

The players should be ashamed of themselves.

Anyway Karanka took 3 years to get Boro promoted and Dyche has just won the league after Burnely showed faith in him after Burnley getting relegated.

Give Brian a chance. Show some faith and support. Otherwise we'll be in League One the next time we change divisions.

Yeah you're right. It had nothing to do with those two clubs spending £10m+ on players.

Get real.

Well then in that case Brian hasn't been doing too badly. The setup at Reading at the moment is a mess. Brian has done alright under the circumstances. In any case, his real work starts now. Let the cull begin.

[Top Flight]

These players are sh!t.

And we've been a lot more shit in the last 7 games since safety was assured.

The players should be ashamed of themselves.

The players aren't shit, at least not all of them, but they are underperforming and we needed to use the resources we had more effectively this season plus probably add a better option here or there to help make this click.

Anyway Karanka took 3 years to get Boro promoted and Dyche has just won the league after Burnely showed faith in him after Burnley getting relegated.

Give Brian a chance. Show some faith and support. Otherwise we'll be in League One the next time we change divisions.

You keep quoting these two but the fact is that Karanka and Dyche have been afforded more time because they were succeeding in the first place.

Karanka took over a Boro side that had only won 3 games in 15, losing 6. Of his first 15 games they won 6 and lost 4 and then won 13 by the end of the season, taking them up to 12th. In his second season he got them to 4th and then this season they've won promotion. He's improved them all along the way and so they've stuck with him.

I'm not suggesting we don't give McDermott the time to prove he's on the right track, but in this day and age he has to be in a decent position come November or he's going to be under immense pressure.

Coppell didn't improve on Pardew's 4th place finish in his first season with us. He took us one step backwards before taking two steps forward.

McDermott has improved on Clarke's 19th placed finish of last season.

Anyway, this is all nonsense. If you can't see the that the circumstances at Reading under which McDermott has to manage is atrocious and are unable to take that into account then it's no wonder you take such an impatient view. Unless we get more realistic and supportive of our managers I don't see how Reading can progress. I hope the owners have more sense than most of the fans. But I don't know if they do.

[Hoop Blah]

Coppell didn't improve on 4th no, but his side finished something like 7th and 9th and in with a shout of making the play offs before going on to win the league. It wasn't all plain sailing no, but he was performing well enough and, as mentioned before, it was over 10 years ago and things are, wrongly, even more transient than they were back then.

Realistically, if McDermott isn't showing considerable signs of improvement by the time the January transfer window is looming then is position is going to be under a lot of scrutiny. That's the nature of the job these days.

As for the circumstances he's managing in. He knew that when he took over and as he's said himself, most clubs have some similar constraints on the managers control so I don't see it as too much of an excuse to be honest.

And I'm not being impatient, I'm being realistic. A manager needs to show he's heading in the right direction to keep his job.

[Maneki Neko]

Depending on circumstances.

[Ian Royal]

The squad is still better than it was last season. Also worth noting that there were signs of improvment when Clarke took over, but we have not improved at all under McD, in fact we've got worse.

FYI, McDermott's got exactly the same number of points and wins as Clarke did when he joined us. Both had 25 league games to finish the season. So no, Clarke didn't start any better. We've certainly finished badly under McDermott, but he arrested the total nosedive Clarke had us in and kept us up comfortably.

We certainly could have done worse under Clarke, who would have just oxf*rd off at the next opportunity anyway.

As I said, Clarke inherited a bigger mess and worse squad. He also comfortably kept us up from the downward spiral we had got into under Adkins, we were in 16th place and finished 19th. Meanwhile McD took over with us in 9th place and we finished 17th, so you're telling me the objective of a team in 9th place at the beginning of December that had been as high as 2nd was to 'stay up'?

And despite any of that my point still stands, there were signs of improvement when Clarke took over, we looked much better defensively for example but since McD has returned we have got worse at the back.

When McDermott took over we were 13th, not 9th.

Fact is, Clarke did no better in his first 25 games. I'm not really interested in arguing with someone who thinks they can 'personally guarantee' we'd have finished higher under Clarke and that it's ok to be rude about Brian and call for his very premature sacking. I'm just correcting your glaring errors.

[Terminal Boardom]

From the BBC Website:

Reading manager Brian McDermott: "It sums up where we've been in the last couple of years. We've got a lot of work to do, we know that.

"We have got to get the blend right, the chemistry right. We haven't got that right at the moment and that's not just been today. It's been a couple of years at least."

So blame the last two managers but conveniently forget who was in charge immediately beforehand.

[Ian Royal]

From the BBC Website:

Reading manager Brian McDermott: "It sums up where we've been in the last couple of years. We've got a lot of work to do, we know that.

"We have got to get the blend right, the chemistry right. We haven't got that right at the moment and that's not just been today. It's been a couple of years at least."

So blame the last two managers but conveniently forget who was in charge immediately beforehand.

That's not necessarily blaming anyone, and you'd have to be crazy to deny it's true. We've been a shambles since we got promoted. It clearly isn't a short term thing.

Hopefully Williams - mouthy source of discord, Gunter - no better example of 'doesn't really want it', and HRK - flagship under-performer, all go in the summer.

[RoyalinBracknell]

I think they said on MOTD last night that West Brom haven't won in 8 and Stoke haven't won in 6. This kind of run can happen near the end of a season where collectively there is less to play for. I think our recent run can be explained by the results not being particularly meaningful, some experimental decisions ahead of next season, and in a few games just being a bit unlucky.

And no matter what anyone says, a decline in results near the end of a season has happened to far better Reading teams than this. In 02/03,we lost away to Stoke on the last day of the season having made the play-offs. In 05/06 we dropped points in our final two away games after winning the Championship. In 06/07 we went about 6 or 7 games without winning from late Feb-mid April, and lost our final home game of the season against relegated Watford. And in 11/12 we lost. 2-0 away to Birmingham on the final day having secured the Championship.

I remember before the MK Dons game in January the common view was that the play-offs were beyond us. McDermott won two of his first four games and then got a decent away point at Derby. We'd have pretty much had to start winning every game from the moment Brian was appointed, which probably wasn't realistic considering the mess we were in. McDermott's got us to another FA Cup quarter-final and there have been some promising signs, even if not consistently.

The biggest problem in my view is there is no obvious consistent style of play where the mix is completely right for the team. We got some early wins pretty much playing 4-4-2 but at times we were being overrun in midfield. We played with Hector sitting just in front of the back 4 and one up front - we were more solid but didn't have the lone striker to present a regular goal scoring threat. The diamond played against Forest led to one of our better performances of the season but hasn't really been followed up.

I'd back McDermott to build something next season though given the right support. Over the past 15 years we've had most success when a manager has been given several seasons to build something (Pardew, Coppell and McDermott) and where it hasn't felt like a couple of defeats will end up,with a manager of them sacked. All of them had their own poor runs of form - we didn't win under Coppell between Boxing Day and mid-March in 04/05 for example - so it's not as if the recent run is unprecedented for a Reading manager. Indeed I'd say I've seen far worse times, runs where I couldn't imagine us getting a point or even scoring a goal. Over the last 6 weeks we have at least been competitive in most games and in three or four of them have lost to a late goal.

There's already a limited number of things keeping me connected to the football club - Brian McDermott being here is one of the main things that keeps me coming back.

[Ian Royal]

Great post

[blueroyals]

From the BBC Website:

Reading manager Brian McDermott: "It sums up where we've been in the last couple of years. We've got a lot of work to do, we know that.

"We have got to get the blend right, the chemistry right. We haven't got that right at the moment and that's not just been today. It's been a couple of years at least."

So blame the last two managers but conveniently forget who was in charge immediately beforehand.

That's not necessarily blaming anyone, and you'd have to be crazy to deny it's true. We've been a shambles since we got promoted. It clearly isn't a short term thing.

Hopefully Williams - mouthy source of discord, Gunter - no better example of 'doesn't really want it', and HRK - flagship under-performer, all go in the summer.

Don't forget he got a new contract a few months ago purely because of a Twatter mongs outcry

[Ian Royal]

From the BBC Website:


So blame the last two managers but conveniently forget who was in charge immediately beforehand.

That's not necessarily blaming anyone, and you'd have to be crazy to deny it's true. We've been a shambles since we got promoted. It clearly isn't a short term thing.

Hopefully Williams - mouthy source of discord, Gunter - no better example of 'doesn't really want it', and HRK - flagship under-performer, all go in the summer.

Don't forget he got a new contract a few months ago purely because of a Twatter mongs outcry

I'm banking on him shining un France and some mug funding our summer by buying him.

Maybe agent Hammond could recommend him at his new club.

[Top Flight]

I think they said on MOTD last night that West Brom haven't won in 8 and Stoke haven't won in 6. This kind of run can happen near the end of a season where collectively there is less to play for. I think our recent run can be explained by the results not being particularly meaningful, some experimental decisions ahead of next season, and in a few games just being a bit unlucky.

And no matter what anyone says, a decline in results near the end of a season has happened to far better Reading teams than this. In 02/03,we lost away to Stoke on the last day of the season having made the play-offs. In 05/06 we dropped points in our final two away games after winning the Championship. In 06/07 we went about 6 or 7 games without winning from late Feb-mid April, and lost our final home game of the season against relegated Watford. And in 11/12 we lost. 2-0 away to Birmingham on the final day having secured the Championship.

I remember before the MK Dons game in January the common view was that the play-offs were beyond us. McDermott won two of his first four games and then got a decent away point at Derby. We'd have pretty much had to start winning every game from the moment Brian was appointed, which probably wasn't realistic considering the mess we were in. McDermott's got us to another FA Cup quarter-final and there have been some promising signs, even if not consistently.

The biggest problem in my view is there is no obvious consistent style of play where the mix is completely right for the team. We got some early wins pretty much playing 4-4-2 but at times we were being overrun in midfield. We played with Hector sitting just in front of the back 4 and one up front - we were more solid but didn't have the lone striker to present a regular goal scoring threat. The diamond played against Forest led to one of our better performances of the season but hasn't really been followed up.

I'd back McDermott to build something next season though given the right support. Over the past 15 years we've had most success when a manager has been given several seasons to build something (Pardew, Coppell and McDermott) and where it hasn't felt like a couple of defeats will end up,with a manager of them sacked. All of them had their own poor runs of form - we didn't win under Coppell between Boxing Day and mid-March in 04/05 for example - so it's not as if the recent run is unprecedented for a Reading manager. Indeed I'd say I've seen far worse times, runs where I couldn't imagine us getting a point or even scoring a goal. Over the last 6 weeks we have at least been competitive in most games and in three or four of them have lost to a late goal.

There's already a limited number of things keeping me connected to the football club - Brian McDermott being here is one of the main things that keeps me coming back.

Fully with you.

[No Fixed Abode]

Can I just say - LOL @ Ian and Genome etc who constantly backed BM

I h8 being right most of the time.

[genome]

I h8 being right

Actual lol

Anyway, I think you'll find I praised him when he was doing a decent job, during our run of one defeat in 10 (5 wins) having just sold our two top scorers. Not during this poor run (I've actually been quite critical of his tactics) and I've always said he needs the summer before being fully judged, in both cases.

But anyways, Brian's only 4 points worse off than Clarke over 25 league games and that's without having a summer transfer window and also having his two top scorers sold from under him

[Royal Ginger]

I'm still fully behind Brian. Not because it's been great, it clearly hasn't, but I don't think a triumvirate of the best managers in the world would have produced anything better than two or three places higher.

In my opinion any manager in position 2-3 years as long as they don't get too close to relegation is better than changing every year.

[Ascotexgunner]

I have never been impressed with McDermott, I have always thought he was lucky to get promoted last time and that showed, as we got relegated at first time of asking.

Sir John and his cronies are holding the club back, they should leave the new owners to spend their money how they want.

In what way was he lucky? Were we lucky at Southampton that night? NO!!!!!!!
Was 10 straight wins lucky? NO!!!!!!!
Was getting a Premier League MOTM award lucky? NO!!!!!!
So dont talk sh%t.
Next season is when we judge him.......not when half the team is useless loanees that he had nothing to do with.
Christ there's some fickle t+ts on here.

[Ian Royal]

I have never been impressed with McDermott, I have always thought he was lucky to get promoted last time and that showed, as we got relegated at first time of asking.

Sir John and his cronies are holding the club back, they should leave the new owners to spend their money how they want.

In what way was he lucky? Were we lucky at Southampton that night? NO!!!!!!!
Was 10 straight wins lucky? NO!!!!!!!
Was getting a Premier League MOTM award lucky? NO!!!!!!
So dont talk sh%t.
Next season is when we judge him.......not when half the team is useless loanees that he had nothing to do with.
Christ there's some fickle t+ts on here.

FYI - it was 8 straight wins. Coppell did 10 in 05/06.

[Ascotexgunner]

I have never been impressed with McDermott, I have always thought he was lucky to get promoted last time and that showed, as we got relegated at first time of asking.

Sir John and his cronies are holding the club back, they should leave the new owners to spend their money how they want.

In what way was he lucky? Were we lucky at Southampton that night? NO!!!!!!!
Was 10 straight wins lucky? NO!!!!!!!
Was getting a Premier League MOTM award lucky? NO!!!!!!
So dont talk sh%t.
Next season is when we judge him.......not when half the team is useless loanees that he had nothing to do with.
Christ there's some fickle t+ts on here.

FYI - it was 8 straight wins. Coppell did 10 in 05/06.

Thank you for the correction sir. You are of course correct. Still though his comment "he was lucky" was ridiculous and it was then followed with comments to insinuate it was his fault we were relegated.

[Ian Royal]

In what way was he lucky? Were we lucky at Southampton that night? NO!!!!!!!
Was 10 straight wins lucky? NO!!!!!!!
Was getting a Premier League MOTM award lucky? NO!!!!!!
So dont talk sh%t.
Next season is when we judge him.......not when half the team is useless loanees that he had nothing to do with.
Christ there's some fickle t+ts on here.

FYI - it was 8 straight wins. Coppell did 10 in 05/06.

Thank you for the correction sir. You are of course correct. Still though his comment "he was lucky" was ridiculous and it was then followed with comments to insinuate it was his fault we were relegated.

Not saying I agree with him... although my personal view is that if you were able to re-run the season we wouldn't end up champions 9 times out of 10, with at least one of West Ham and Saints finishing ahead of us most times. And I don't think Brian did a good job in the PL. But we were still clearly in the top 3 best teams in the Championship and were always going to struggle to stay up in the PL

[Maneki Neko]

I think they said on MOTD last night that West Brom haven't won in 8 and Stoke haven't won in 6. This kind of run can happen near the end of a season where collectively there is less to play for. I think our recent run can be explained by the results not being particularly meaningful, some experimental decisions ahead of next season, and in a few games just being a bit unlucky.

And no matter what anyone says, a decline in results near the end of a season has happened to far better Reading teams than this. In 02/03,we lost away to Stoke on the last day of the season having made the play-offs. In 05/06 we dropped points in our final two away games after winning the Championship. In 06/07 we went about 6 or 7 games without winning from late Feb-mid April, and lost our final home game of the season against relegated Watford. And in 11/12 we lost. 2-0 away to Birmingham on the final day having secured the Championship.

I remember before the MK Dons game in January the common view was that the play-offs were beyond us. McDermott won two of his first four games and then got a decent away point at Derby. We'd have pretty much had to start winning every game from the moment Brian was appointed, which probably wasn't realistic considering the mess we were in. McDermott's got us to another FA Cup quarter-final and there have been some promising signs, even if not consistently.

The biggest problem in my view is there is no obvious consistent style of play where the mix is completely right for the team. We got some early wins pretty much playing 4-4-2 but at times we were being overrun in midfield. We played with Hector sitting just in front of the back 4 and one up front - we were more solid but didn't have the lone striker to present a regular goal scoring threat. The diamond played against Forest led to one of our better performances of the season but hasn't really been followed up.

I'd back McDermott to build something next season though given the right support. Over the past 15 years we've had most success when a manager has been given several seasons to build something (Pardew, Coppell and McDermott) and where it hasn't felt like a couple of defeats will end up,with a manager of them sacked. All of them had their own poor runs of form - we didn't win under Coppell between Boxing Day and mid-March in 04/05 for example - so it's not as if the recent run is unprecedented for a Reading manager. Indeed I'd say I've seen far worse times, runs where I couldn't imagine us getting a point or even scoring a goal. Over the last 6 weeks we have at least been competitive in most games and in three or four of them have lost to a late goal.

There's already a limited number of things keeping me connected to the football club - Brian McDermott being here is one of the main things that keeps me coming back.

In.a.nutshell.