Clear out started

[Wimb]

Yes he did - he signed gems such as Gravenberch and Rakels in the Jan window he was here and there were probably others I've forgotten.

Gravenberch was signed about three days before he was sacked in the summer, and was pretty clearly a Tevreden signing. I think it's fair to say that a couple of signings in January and then getting the boot for no reason isn't much of a chance to recruit.

Rakels was an owners signing as well.

McDermott wanted Conor Washington that window, did the ground work and then the owners pulled the plug to go for the cheap option in Rakels.

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... s-10760832

Whether Washington's career would have panned out better who knows? His only other signings were Kermorgant and Evans, neither of which turned out bad.

Tiger said in a meeting with the fans in the summer of 2016 that a lot of the players 'didn't respect' McDermott and that was one reason they decided to make a change.

Says it all about the quality of characters in the dressing room at the time tbf

[Forbury Lion]

Tiger said in a meeting with the fans in the summer of 2016 that a lot of the players 'didn't respect' McDermott and that was one reason they decided to make a change.

In hindsight, I hope he realises he should have changed the players not the manager.

I imagine Brian McDermott was getting them to do things they didn't agree with like work hard, learn some tactics, talk to each other etc etc, Not to mention having the audacity to try and sign better players to take the shirts off their backs!

I'd love to know which managers didn't respect McDermott and whether they're still here or not.

[Schmeichel the dog]

Gravenberch was signed about three days before he was sacked in the summer, and was pretty clearly a Tevreden signing. I think it's fair to say that a couple of signings in January and then getting the boot for no reason isn't much of a chance to recruit.

Rakels was an owners signing as well.

McDermott wanted Conor Washington that window, did the ground work and then the owners pulled the plug to go for the cheap option in Rakels.

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... s-10760832

Whether Washington's career would have panned out better who knows? His only other signings were Kermorgant and Evans, neither of which turned out bad.

Tiger said in a meeting with the fans in the summer of 2016 that a lot of the players 'didn't respect' McDermott and that was one reason they decided to make a change.

Says it all about the quality of characters in the dressing room at the time tbf

Simply shocking if true. Would never be in this absolute mess if we had kept faith with McD during and after the last prem campaign. I am even beginning to warm to Adkins given what he achieved with such a limited budget and interference from higher up. It was when Clarke arrived that the wheels began to come off, including so many behind the scenes changes. We have struggled as a team and a club ever since. And yes, I am ignoring the Stam year when we got to the PO final which was depressingly boring and completely turgid throughout even when we were winning.......

[RG7Fan]

Rakels was an owners signing as well.

McDermott wanted Conor Washington that window, did the ground work and then the owners pulled the plug to go for the cheap option in Rakels.

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... s-10760832

Whether Washington's career would have panned out better who knows? His only other signings were Kermorgant and Evans, neither of which turned out bad.

Tiger said in a meeting with the fans in the summer of 2016 that a lot of the players 'didn't respect' McDermott and that was one reason they decided to make a change.

Says it all about the quality of characters in the dressing room at the time tbf

Simply shocking if true. Would never be in this absolute mess if we had kept faith with McD during and after the last prem campaign. I am even beginning to warm to Adkins given what he achieved with such a limited budget and interference from higher up. It was when Clarke arrived that the wheels began to come off, including so many behind the scenes changes. We have struggled as a team and a club ever since. And yes, I am ignoring the Stam year when we got to the PO final which was depressingly boring and completely turgid throughout even when we were winning.......

We only lost out to Brighton for the playoffs by 1 point that year. Had Gunter not scored that own goal away at Brighton ...

[muirinho]

Tiger said in a meeting with the fans in the summer of 2016 that a lot of the players 'didn't respect' McDermott and that was one reason they decided to make a change.

In hindsight, I hope he realises he should have changed the players not the manager.

I imagine Brian McDermott was getting them to do things they didn't agree with like work hard, learn some tactics, talk to each other etc etc, Not to mention having the audacity to try and sign better players to take the shirts off their backs!

I'd love to know which managers didn't respect McDermott and whether they're still here or not.

Well Tiger may just be making excuses and blaming anonymous players for a decision he later realised was wrong, or unpopular.

Having said that, McShane did say something in an interview about some players not bothering to do little things - like drop used training bibs in the laundry basket instead of wherever they fell. I can remember wondering how he let them get away with that - I'd have thought that was something the captain would enforce fines for etc, but maybe some players didn't respect him either (or maybe he was the one doing the disrespecting)

[Snowflake Royal]

I was told that there were rumours going round that McDermott was having some personal issues second time round that could conceivably have led to a lack of respect for him and contributed to his sacking.

No idea if it's true, but it would make the decision to sack him a little less baffling.

I don't think he'd have coped much better than Adkins with the total lack of support and clear interference from above that went on, having taken us down. Which is a criticism of Zingarevich, not McDermott.

[Maneki Neko]

second time was only every a stop gap from the owners side.
they treated him disgracefully. both times.

[genome]

Going back to Brian's first sacking... does anyone have the stats on newly promoted sides who sack the managers who got them up and whether they subsequenly stay up?

It's not really working out for Fulham this year, didn't work for us, Middlesbrough or Hull in 2016/17, QPR in 2014/15...

[Maneki Neko]

deserved so much better than that.
from the owners and from any fan who was calling for it.
a day of genuine shame for the club.

[genome]

deserved so much better than that.
from the owners and from any fan who was calling for it.
a day of genuine shame for the club.

The Reading Way died that day

[Maneki Neko]

the club died.

weve just been an occasionally twitching corpse, ever since

[URZZZZ]

deserved so much better than that.
from the owners and from any fan who was calling for it.
a day of genuine shame for the club.

The Reading Way died that day

The "Reading Way" died as soon as we signed Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie, both complete and upper frauds. Whilst I didn't mind Pav, the money we spent for him and the goals he scored were truly awful. McDermott had no chance second time with wasters like Vydra, John and Piazon but agree he should have been given the 2016/17 season

Whilst Stam's appointment nearly brought us Premier League football again, he's brought out the most divided fanbase in a long long time, I'd like to see average home attendances between 2015/16 and 2016/17 because even though we went from 17/18/19th to 3rd, I wouldn't be surprised to see attendances fall the football was that bad

As a club, we've never been about individuals, it's always been about the 11 starting and the players in reserve, yet somewhere it all changed for the worst

[LWJ]

When Brian took over he wasn't the owners choice, and they weren't that big of a fan.

[Snowflake Royal]

When Brian took over he wasn't the owners choice, and they weren't that big of a fan.

Then they shouldn't have signed off on him in the first place.

[muirinho]

deserved so much better than that.
from the owners and from any fan who was calling for it.
a day of genuine shame for the club.

The Reading Way died that day

The "Reading Way" died as soon as we signed Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie, both complete and upper frauds. Whilst I didn't mind Pav, the money we spent for him and the goals he scored were truly awful. McDermott had no chance second time with wasters like Vydra, John and Piazon but agree he should have been given the 2016/17 season

Whilst Stam's appointment nearly brought us Premier League football again, he's brought out the most divided fanbase in a long long time, I'd like to see average home attendances between 2015/16 and 2016/17 because even though we went from 17/18/19th to 3rd, I wouldn't be surprised to see attendances fall the football was that bad

As a club, we've never been about individuals, it's always been about the 11 starting and the players in reserve, yet somewhere it all changed for the worst

For me Vydra was a player whose confidence was absolutely shot, and it's a bit harsh calling him a waster, as it was clear he was trying (perhaps too hard).
John and Piazon, yes.

The epitome, though, of the kind of player we should never ever have hired wasn't Pav or Guthrie (can't stand Guthrie, mind you)

It's Drenthe.

[LWJ]

When Brian took over he wasn't the owners choice, and they weren't that big of a fan.

Then they shouldn't have signed off on him in the first place.

My understanding is we lost out on our first choice, so needed someone in as a stop gap to steady the ship.

BM knew the club so Howe convinced the owners.

[Ranty McRantface]

Rakels was an owners signing as well.

McDermott wanted Conor Washington that window, did the ground work and then the owners pulled the plug to go for the cheap option in Rakels.

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... s-10760832

Whether Washington's career would have panned out better who knows? His only other signings were Kermorgant and Evans, neither of which turned out bad.

Tiger said in a meeting with the fans in the summer of 2016 that a lot of the players 'didn't respect' McDermott and that was one reason they decided to make a change.

Says it all about the quality of characters in the dressing room at the time tbf

Simply shocking if true. Would never be in this absolute mess if we had kept faith with McD during and after the last prem campaign. I am even beginning to warm to Adkins given what he achieved with such a limited budget and interference from higher up. It was when Clarke arrived that the wheels began to come off, including so many behind the scenes changes. We have struggled as a team and a club ever since. And yes, I am ignoring the Stam year when we got to the PO final which was depressingly boring and completely turgid throughout even when we were winning.......

Whilst I am disappointed they went for the cheap option, I was baffled why we were going for a player who was in the same form as Samuel at the time. He was on a hot streak and doing well for the Gills at the same standard as Washington. Hindsight shows that neither have worked out well, so whether it was shocking decision by the owners I strongly doubt it would have made any difference.

As for the lack of respect..I heard a similar thing about his time at Leeds as well. We all love McDermott and what he did but let's be honest. He did wonders with his mates, who knew and respected him. When they go or play at the highest level you need a lot more than a bloody arm around you from your pal to succeed and Tabb diagrams of how to be the perfect gentleman.

He's a top bloke but I don't think he's cut out to manage at this level in the modern game.

[tmesis]

Whilst Stam's appointment nearly brought us Premier League football again, he's brought out the most divided fanbase in a long long time, I'd like to see average home attendances between 2015/16 and 2016/17 because even though we went from 17/18/19th to 3rd, I wouldn't be surprised to see attendances fall the football was that bad

Crowds rose, but not by much, from 17,285 to 17,505.

Then again, in McDermott's play-off season, where we went from 9th (with much of the season much lower than that) to 5th, crowds also only showed a small rise, from 17,408 to 17,682.

[KC Royal]

I was told that there were rumours going round that McDermott was having some personal issues second time round that could conceivably have led to a lack of respect for him and contributed to his sacking.

No idea if it's true, but it would make the decision to sack him a little less baffling.

I don't think he'd have coped much better than Adkins with the total lack of support and clear interference from above that went on, having taken us down. Which is a criticism of Zingarevich, not McDermott.

I've always thought since Eamonn Dolan's death how much his illness affected McDermott as he mentioned about the influence that Eamonn had on him after he died. I also remember when McDermott was appointed second time round him saying in his press conference that to be successful as a manager you have to be happy and with Dolan's illness and these personal issues I'm assuming that he wasn't.

[Wimb]

When Brian took over he wasn't the owners choice, and they weren't that big of a fan.

Then they shouldn't have signed off on him in the first place.

My understanding is we lost out on our first choice, so needed someone in as a stop gap to steady the ship.

BM knew the club so Howe convinced the owners.

Sounds pretty plausible.

This was around the time Tiger took over from Sassima as the one in charge. It was clear from Tevreden's appointment in February that things were going to change. In hindsight he was a dead man walking from that point, although whether a few wins would have bought him time is something we'll never know.