Who do you want to replace Clarke?

[CountryRoyal]

Have I missed something or can someone tell me why Luis Enrique is 25/1?

[AthleticoSpizz]

It was mis-spelt Enrique Iglesias that's why

He was a decent goalie...and he has come in at 1/2

[Ian Herring]

It's a real shame Mark Warburton and Davie Weir are happily ensconced in their new project at Glasgow Rangers.

I watched Brentford quite a lot under Warburton - not knowing anything of him then as he had come into football from an earlier career in the City of London in the financial world.

In a short space of time he had Brentford playing a style of pressing, passing, dynamic football that sent a shiver of glee through the average football spectating soul.

Promotion from the third tier to the second - then a season where their standard of football and confidence and team spirit simply grew in the second, toppling a few 'bigger' teams and egos along the way. They reminded me at times of the best of McGhee's sides, many of Mick and Jim's, mixed with the impish mastery of some of Coppell's better efforts. Same kind of club as us - and perceived as we were when seen 'above our station' as upstarts or a flash in the pan.

Warburton the antithesis of Clarke - the former being a humble, ego-neutral chap with a real grounded passion for the game and his players, a man who galvanised a real team spirit that allowed for squad dynamics and differing levels of talent within a group. A very careful, joyful and meticulous exponent of both coaching and management who often seemed to have the balance exactly right.

Watching them spray the ball about - with a plan - gave me that fizzy feeling that I used to get watching McGhee and Lee's best picks, along with Mick and Jim's and latterly, Steve Coppell's. Even Brian McDermott found the spell of club spirit and togetherness more often than not - his tactics somewhat different - but the ethos and spirit there when it often mattered.

And when I look at the lists of the usual cesspool of 'available' managers at present, and then think about Brendan, Orange Nigel, and the depressing, non-passionate dour nothingness of our most recent dismissee - the hapless, slightly thick Clarke - I think of Warburton and Weir and think of a duo that would have been a real shot in the arm for this club (still not quite believing that the Bees had let them go in the first place). (The lists and Clarke depress me - the same Rolodex of semi-available dross, a kind of pig's-bladder LinkedIn reserves list of managers you simply wouldn't ever want near your football club.)

Warburton's teams pissed all over the Royals with ease and panache last season - if we recall - playing quick, tough, determined and attractive football that had the stands purring just a few miles up the M4.

Warburton also displayed the kind of ethics and ethos that Clarke spoke of in his own disrespectful mealy-mouthed and arrogant way and managed to practice it where Clarke failed to see the means or reason. Disagreeing with the Brentford owner Matthew Benham on the new 'mathematical' method of football and the effect this would have had on coaching decisions and transfers, Warburton and Weir stayed in their posts as promised and saw out the end of the season with real passion and commitment and a love for the club and its supporters that was manifest (and mutually returned). Every time I went to Brentford that season it felt like the Mad Stad did when Coppell took us up - and the magical days in the first season in the Glove, Hairband and Pinkboot League when we finished eighth - Reading eighth???!! (Or like Elm Park used to feel when the club started to stir after years of not very much at all as we moved into the 90s and the path towards Smallmead and a rise in the club's general fortunes as a trend.)

It's a shame they are ensconced in Glasgow, because for me they'd be the absolute fit for this club and its ambitions and capabilities right across the board.

I'd be ripping their fingers off to get them here.

Cheers.

[K.URZ13]

Parkinson 100%. Absolute no brainer for me. I think he'd do well and restore a bit of passion.

[TFF]

Apart from the fact that Pearson may not want to come to our 'lil club

Can anybody come up with any footballing reason why we shouldn't want Pearson?

Yes. Pearson (and staff) got Leicester up and kept them there.

(and staff) are currently top of the Premier League and won't be joining him.

So he'd be on his own, with a new background team. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but the 'magic' might not be his.

And I'd fear for the safety of the London Irish Wolfhound

[Sutekh]

Apart from the fact that Pearson may not want to come to our 'lil club

Can anybody come up with any footballing reason why we shouldn't want Pearson?

Pearson is a good manager won the title with Leicester when they was in the championship and got 101 points !!!!!

Appointing any manager is a shot in the dark. Past success doesn't mean it would be repeated here, only that we'd feel more confident in what said incumbent was about.

To be honest I'd be happy with either Bergkamp or Pearson but in different ways.

All we can do is wait and see...

[windermere_royal]

3 votes for Di Canio? , they walk amomg us guys, be worried. be very worried

[Oilroyal]

Sun saying Stephen Hunt has put himself forward with Coppell in back room support.

Much of the quarter page piece is about Clarke going to Fulham and Pearson to us.

Hunt and Coppell.. I might be persuaded.

[Ian Royal]

Sun saying Stephen Hunt has put himself forward with Coppell in back room support.

Much of the quarter page piece is about Clarke going to Fulham and Pearson to us.

Hunt and Coppell.. I might be persuaded.

I wouldn't. Steven always came across as, shall we say 'not a deep thinker'. All confidence and bluster with not a great deal to back it up.

His two second half seasons of poor form are big reasons we got relegated and then failed to bounce back.

[harry]

3 votes for Di Canio? , they walk among us guys, be worried. be very worried

They keep stepping on their knuckles as they walk.

[bobby1413]

I'm largely indifferent to the next manager, but would love to see Coppell in a director position, or similar, or even just some kind of honorary position, like Ferguson at Utd.

1 trillion percent agree. SC (the real one) is welcome any day and I'd love him to be in some kind of higher up position.

In regards to manager... I think we've lost track of "the reading way". I don't quite know how to describe that but Dicanio is definitely not fitting in with that!

I agree with the great post by Ian Herring - Warburton would be a great fit.

Also Parkinson would be great too

Don't like the idea of Stephen Hunt though. If we're going for he 106 squad then I'd love Graeme Murty - but he's at Norwich and also not sure he's experienced enough to lead us.

[bobby1413]

Just been thinking - surely Parkinson is the obvious, no brainer choice here?

He has strong connections to club and even now is well thought of and sung about

He has managerial experience, where he's shown consistent, level headed performances and has had some brilliant results

Managing us would - I guess - appeal to him

He's currently managing in league one - so it could be seen as a step up?

[Norfolk Royal]

If you read what the Bradford fans say about him they don't think he has the nous to manage a club in a higher league. I think they're probably right.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Denis Bergkamp?!?

[Platypuss]

Apart from the fact that Pearson may not want to come to our 'lil club

Can anybody come up with any footballing reason why we shouldn't want Pearson?

Yes. Pearson (and staff) got Leicester up and kept them there.

(and staff) are currently top of the Premier League and won't be joining him.

So he'd be on his own, with a new background team. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but the 'magic' might not be his.

And I'd fear for the safety of the London Irish Wolfhound

Pearson's other management stints have been pretty good too, it's not as if he's a one hit wonder.
He's surely the stand out choice.

[Norfolk Royal]

There seems to have been a rather blasé workaday reaction to the news on here that we're apparently after Bergkamp.

I don't know about anyone else but I completely lost control of all bodily functions when I heard about it.

[Extended-Phenotype]

I mean, fantastic player and huge star but I have no idea about his credentials as a manager. Oddly though, well up for it.

[Sutekh]

I mean, fantastic player and huge star but I have no idea about his credentials as a manager. Oddly though, well up for it.

Dream team; Bergkamp and Coppell

[Norfolk Royal]

Well, Bergkamp is assistant boss at Ajax so he has some experience.

To be honest I wouldn't actually care if he took us down three divisions, it would still be a great bragging point that one of the world's best players ever was managing us.

He'd be such a draw for other signings as well, I mean what sort of player would turn down the chance of playing for Bergkamp.

My hunch is that he'd probably be a decent manager, think he was one of the more intelligent footballers tbf.

[Sutekh]

Well, Bergkamp is assistant boss at Ajax so he has some experience.

To be honest I wouldn't actually care if he took us down three divisions, it would still be a great bragging point that one of the world's best players ever was managing us.

He'd be such a draw for other signings as well, I mean what sort of player would turn down the chance of playing for Bergkamp.

My hunch is that he'd probably be a decent manager, think he was one of the more intelligent footballers tbf.

Plus a line of Ajax (& and quite possibly) Arsenal loanees, certainly beats Chelsea cast offs...