New manager rumours and speculation

[Stranded]

People I think are mis-reading the situation here.

If Selles comes in this week (or soon) it will be as Head Coach not as Manager.

To me at least, it seems as though the set up we are looking for is Bowen & Carey have responsability for recruitment - working with Dublin or whoever his replacement may be - so they will bring in the players to suit the overall style the club want to move towards. A head coach will be appointed who can enhance that style using the tools supplied to him.

Now, someone will of course say, well what about Wilder. Wilder is a very good manager, who happened to become available - as a result, it was absolutely right to speak to him and see if a deal could be done - it seems that it was close but that there were too many compromises on both sides to make it a good fit, finances in terms of paying of staff, employing new staff etc (and transfer kitts) will all have been issues - all parties need to be happy.

So Selles fits what appears to be the model. Is he my #1 choice, no probably not, but he does have decent experience - including being Assistant at Copenhagen where they made the last 16 in the Europa Conference and won the Danish Title - so he has experience of winning things - he came into a Soton side on the way down.

Now he will come into the club at a very low ebb but the squad we have now will not be the squad he ends up working with - having looked at him, there is enough there to think he could be a good fit but people will, understandably, look at the time at Soton and go nah.

Sometimes you throw the dice with an inexperienced manager and it works. Sometimes you appoint an experienced manager and it doesn't..... I don't know this guy, so I can't really criticize him, just hope if he's appointed that he's good.

Indeed but again he won't be a "manager" in the way we would be used to, he'll be a head coach as the non-playing things you generally expect a manager to handle as well will be taken on by Bowen and co esp the key area of contracts and recruitment.

[From Despair To Where?]

His record at Southampton is a bit of a red herring IMO and historically, his coaching focus prior to getting jobs as assistants manager has been fitness which is one area we absolutely need to get a grip on.

Yes, he would be a massive leap in the dark, not even on my list of desireable candidates, let alone near the top of it and I'm convinced he would be an appointment driven by economics but I do think that if you drill down into his coaching history, I don't think its all doom and gloom, I think there's more to him than Gomes , Paunovic or Ince. And yes, I realise that's a fcuking low bar.

[Elm Park Kid]

I'm surprised we haven't seen more backlash about Selles. Is it just the fans being blinded by a manager with PL background, the same as the owners?

This is clearly a massive mistake to go down the same route as our previous appointments. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising the guy himself, maybe he has the potential to be a solid manager. But we are in crisis and desperately need someone who can inspire confidence from the start. Not another spin of the roulette wheel.

Every choice is effectively a “spin of the roulette wheel”. Huge clamour for Wilder yet his last three seasons:

- Relegated Sheffield United with a measly 14 points in 28 games
- Collapsed and lost out on a top 6 spot with Middlesbrough from a promising situation
- Sacked by Boro this season after a continuation of that poor form before making very little impact at Watford

Not to discredit his achievements, to take a struggling Sheffield side from L1 to the cusp of Europe was fantastic, and obviously Watford are a basket case of a club. But it doesn’t hide the fact he’s struggled in recent years

And part of a wider point that there really is no magic formula when appointing a manager (except for Warnock of course ). Easy to forget our best two managers in the last 15 years have been the ones with very little prior management experience

Sure. The truth is that most managerial appointments fail. And even if you look at all the relevant factors and go for the 'least risky' option on paper, they can still fail. But, why not go for that least risky option right now? We don't need another Coppell/McDermott to get us out of this mess, just someone with solid management skills would be fine in L1.

I get why fans might prefer to dream that a new manager might come in and be brilliant from the start, rather than deal with the reality of bringing in someone who's flaws we already know. It's like the lure of being given a choice between a prize and 'what's in the mystery box'. But I genuinely is a gamble where you are going to completely lose the vast majority of the time. Gomes/Paunovic were not 'reasonable risks' in the same way that someone like Wilder would be - they were shots in the dark. PInce was slightly better as he had some track record, but still, there was a reason he was out of management for so long.

Basically - I would rather take a manager now that we know is going to be between, say, 4-7 of out 10 than one who literally has no floor to how bad they could be. I would include Selles in the latter.

[South Coast Royal]

Apparently Karl Robinson has turned us down-no great surprise really when such uncertainty surrounds our club.

[From Despair To Where?]

I'm surprised we haven't seen more backlash about Selles. Is it just the fans being blinded by a manager with PL background, the same as the owners?

This is clearly a massive mistake to go down the same route as our previous appointments. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising the guy himself, maybe he has the potential to be a solid manager. But we are in crisis and desperately need someone who can inspire confidence from the start. Not another spin of the roulette wheel.

Every choice is effectively a “spin of the roulette wheel”. Huge clamour for Wilder yet his last three seasons:

- Relegated Sheffield United with a measly 14 points in 28 games
- Collapsed and lost out on a top 6 spot with Middlesbrough from a promising situation
- Sacked by Boro this season after a continuation of that poor form before making very little impact at Watford

Not to discredit his achievements, to take a struggling Sheffield side from L1 to the cusp of Europe was fantastic, and obviously Watford are a basket case of a club. But it doesn’t hide the fact he’s struggled in recent years

And part of a wider point that there really is no magic formula when appointing a manager (except for Warnock of course ). Easy to forget our best two managers in the last 15 years have been the ones with very little prior management experience

Sure. The truth is that most managerial appointments fail. And even if you look at all the relevant factors and go for the 'least risky' option on paper, they can still fail. But, why not go for that least risky option right now? We don't need another Coppell/McDermott to get us out of this mess, just someone with solid management skills would be fine in L1.

I get why fans might prefer to dream that a new manager might come in and be brilliant from the start, rather than deal with the reality of bringing in someone who's flaws we already know. It's like the lure of being given a choice between a prize and 'what's in the mystery box'. But I genuinely is a gamble where you are going to completely lose the vast majority of the time. Gomes/Paunovic were not 'reasonable risks' in the same way that someone like Wilder would be - they were shots in the dark. PInce was slightly better as he had some track record, but still, there was a reason he was out of management for so long.

Basically - I would rather take a manager now that we know is going to be between, say, 4-7 of out 10 than one who literally has no floor to how bad they could be. I would include Selles in the latter.

The problem with that is that the 4-7 out of 10 managers don't want to come to us job because they can get jobs at more stable clubs.

I think we're in position where we have to take a gamble on a complete unknown or with no experience. Succeed and they're a hero, fail and it was Reading, they're a complete basket case.

[Elm Park Kid]

Every choice is effectively a “spin of the roulette wheel”. Huge clamour for Wilder yet his last three seasons:

- Relegated Sheffield United with a measly 14 points in 28 games
- Collapsed and lost out on a top 6 spot with Middlesbrough from a promising situation
- Sacked by Boro this season after a continuation of that poor form before making very little impact at Watford

Not to discredit his achievements, to take a struggling Sheffield side from L1 to the cusp of Europe was fantastic, and obviously Watford are a basket case of a club. But it doesn’t hide the fact he’s struggled in recent years

And part of a wider point that there really is no magic formula when appointing a manager (except for Warnock of course ). Easy to forget our best two managers in the last 15 years have been the ones with very little prior management experience

Sure. The truth is that most managerial appointments fail. And even if you look at all the relevant factors and go for the 'least risky' option on paper, they can still fail. But, why not go for that least risky option right now? We don't need another Coppell/McDermott to get us out of this mess, just someone with solid management skills would be fine in L1.

I get why fans might prefer to dream that a new manager might come in and be brilliant from the start, rather than deal with the reality of bringing in someone who's flaws we already know. It's like the lure of being given a choice between a prize and 'what's in the mystery box'. But I genuinely is a gamble where you are going to completely lose the vast majority of the time. Gomes/Paunovic were not 'reasonable risks' in the same way that someone like Wilder would be - they were shots in the dark. PInce was slightly better as he had some track record, but still, there was a reason he was out of management for so long.

Basically - I would rather take a manager now that we know is going to be between, say, 4-7 of out 10 than one who literally has no floor to how bad they could be. I would include Selles in the latter.

The problem with that is that the 4-7 out of 10 managers don't want to come to us job because they can get jobs at more stable clubs.

I think we're in position where we have to take a gamble on a complete unknown or with no experience. Succeed and they're a hero, fail and it was Reading, they're a complete basket case.

Yes, the situation is dire, but I would rather gamble with an established L2 manager who would be excited to be given the opportunity with a 'big' club than someone with no meaningful management experience.

There is no need to take as big a gamble as Selles represents. No need at all.

[Stranded]

Apparently Karl Robinson has turned us down-no great surprise really when such uncertainty surrounds our club.

No, all we know is Karl Robinson's agent wants people to think that is the case whilst reminding other clubs that his client is available for a managers job.

[From Despair To Where?]

Sure. The truth is that most managerial appointments fail. And even if you look at all the relevant factors and go for the 'least risky' option on paper, they can still fail. But, why not go for that least risky option right now? We don't need another Coppell/McDermott to get us out of this mess, just someone with solid management skills would be fine in L1.

I get why fans might prefer to dream that a new manager might come in and be brilliant from the start, rather than deal with the reality of bringing in someone who's flaws we already know. It's like the lure of being given a choice between a prize and 'what's in the mystery box'. But I genuinely is a gamble where you are going to completely lose the vast majority of the time. Gomes/Paunovic were not 'reasonable risks' in the same way that someone like Wilder would be - they were shots in the dark. PInce was slightly better as he had some track record, but still, there was a reason he was out of management for so long.

Basically - I would rather take a manager now that we know is going to be between, say, 4-7 of out 10 than one who literally has no floor to how bad they could be. I would include Selles in the latter.

The problem with that is that the 4-7 out of 10 managers don't want to come to us job because they can get jobs at more stable clubs.

I think we're in position where we have to take a gamble on a complete unknown or with no experience. Succeed and they're a hero, fail and it was Reading, they're a complete basket case.

Yes, the situation is dire, but I would rather gamble with an established L2 manager who would be excited to be given the opportunity with a 'big' club than someone with no meaningful management experience.

There is no need to take as big a gamble as Selles represents. No need at all.

Why would an established League 2 manager come to a basketcase club like us when they could wait 6 months and have better options available? These types of manager are not falling over themselves to join us and we may not even be able to afford compensation.

[Stranded]

Sure. The truth is that most managerial appointments fail. And even if you look at all the relevant factors and go for the 'least risky' option on paper, they can still fail. But, why not go for that least risky option right now? We don't need another Coppell/McDermott to get us out of this mess, just someone with solid management skills would be fine in L1.

I get why fans might prefer to dream that a new manager might come in and be brilliant from the start, rather than deal with the reality of bringing in someone who's flaws we already know. It's like the lure of being given a choice between a prize and 'what's in the mystery box'. But I genuinely is a gamble where you are going to completely lose the vast majority of the time. Gomes/Paunovic were not 'reasonable risks' in the same way that someone like Wilder would be - they were shots in the dark. PInce was slightly better as he had some track record, but still, there was a reason he was out of management for so long.

Basically - I would rather take a manager now that we know is going to be between, say, 4-7 of out 10 than one who literally has no floor to how bad they could be. I would include Selles in the latter.

The problem with that is that the 4-7 out of 10 managers don't want to come to us job because they can get jobs at more stable clubs.

I think we're in position where we have to take a gamble on a complete unknown or with no experience. Succeed and they're a hero, fail and it was Reading, they're a complete basket case.

Yes, the situation is dire, but I would rather gamble with an established L2 manager who would be excited to be given the opportunity with a 'big' club than someone with no meaningful management experience.

There is no need to take as big a gamble as Selles represents. No need at all.

You literally cannot know that there is no need. We don't know what conversations have been had, who has been spoken too - agents of up and coming or established L2 managers may have been spoken to and been told that their client won't leave a more stable job at this time or there is no-one that fits the intended structure.

I'm not saying Selles is the only option but he may end up being the best option available to us especially as Wilder was clearly the preferred choice leaving us a week out from pre-season still looking to appoint - and not being the only club in that situation.

[Elm Park Kid]

The problem with that is that the 4-7 out of 10 managers don't want to come to us job because they can get jobs at more stable clubs.

I think we're in position where we have to take a gamble on a complete unknown or with no experience. Succeed and they're a hero, fail and it was Reading, they're a complete basket case.

Yes, the situation is dire, but I would rather gamble with an established L2 manager who would be excited to be given the opportunity with a 'big' club than someone with no meaningful management experience.

There is no need to take as big a gamble as Selles represents. No need at all.

You literally cannot know that there is no need. We don't know what conversations have been had, who has been spoken too - agents of up and coming or established L2 managers may have been spoken to and been told that their client won't leave a more stable job at this time or there is no-one that fits the intended structure.

I'm not saying Selles is the only option but he may end up being the best option available to us especially as Wilder was clearly the preferred choice leaving us a week out from pre-season still looking to appoint - and not being the only club in that situation.

Sorry, I know the club is in a bad place right now. But I fail to believe that we can't find someone who has managed more than 18 games in the English league. I would honestly . . . honestly debate whether getting PInce back would be a better option than Selles.

[From Despair To Where?]

2 reasons

A) We can't afford them.

B) They don't want to.

[Royal_jimmy]

I'd be amazed if Selles lasts the season with us if appointed.

I'm fed up with sacking managers, I'd like someone to be given 3 years but it has to be the right man. There's very little to suggest Selles will be here that long.

[Stranded]

I'd be amazed if Selles lasts the season with us if appointed.

I'm fed up with sacking managers, I'd like someone to be given 3 years but it has to be the right man. There's very little to suggest Selles will be here that long.

How many managers are anywhere for 3 years now?

If Wilder came off that would have been the coup to end all coups but there were clearly too many question marks on both sides.

If it is to be Selles, he has to be given a chance, there is actually a pretty diverse, interesting and yes successful career to date there. He started as a fitness coach, moved into data analysis, been an assistant at a title winning side and competed in European competition - now maybe #2 is his best role but he has the CV of someone who has built up a deep understanding of the game in areas that we have definitely been lacking.

I can absolutely see why we are looking at him and may even end up appointing him especially as it would most likely be in a Head Coach position.

[Snowflake Royal]

Ever get the feeling the FL are going out of their way to screw the club over...

https://therealefl.co.uk/2023/06/18/mis ... o-reading/

In addition other media reports suggest Karl Robinson has rejected the chance to take over.

That site states that we've been handed a points deduction for next season - as far as I'm aware of that's factually incorrect as of this moment. The consequences of the late payments may be points lost - but nothing has happened yet or have I missed something?

The land sale was also the reason for the points deductions last season.

Nixon is supposed to be reliable but that screams misunderstood rehash.

The FL should have it out for any cheats. Which we clearly are.

[On Strings]

I'd be amazed if Selles lasts the season with us if appointed.

That goes for literally anyone who comes in.

[Snowflake Royal]

People I think are mis-reading the situation here.

If Selles comes in this week (or soon) it will be as Head Coach not as Manager.

To me at least, it seems as though the set up we are looking for is Bowen & Carey have responsability for recruitment - working with Dublin or whoever his replacement may be - so they will bring in the players to suit the overall style the club want to move towards. A head coach will be appointed who can enhance that style using the tools supplied to him.

Now, someone will of course say, well what about Wilder. Wilder is a very good manager, who happened to become available - as a result, it was absolutely right to speak to him and see if a deal could be done - it seems that it was close but that there were too many compromises on both sides to make it a good fit, finances in terms of paying of staff, employing new staff etc (and transfer kitts) will all have been issues - all parties need to be happy.

So Selles fits what appears to be the model. Is he my #1 choice, no probably not, but he does have decent experience - including being Assistant at Copenhagen where they made the last 16 in the Europa Conference and won the Danish Title - so he has experience of winning things - he came into a Soton side on the way down.

Now he will come into the club at a very low ebb but the squad we have now will not be the squad he ends up working with - having looked at him, there is enough there to think he could be a good fit but people will, understandably, look at the time at Soton and go nah.

Sometimes you throw the dice with an inexperienced manager and it works. Sometimes you appoint an experienced manager and it doesn't..... I don't know this guy, so I can't really criticize him, just hope if he's appointed that he's good.

Indeed but again he won't be a "manager" in the way we would be used to, he'll be a head coach as the non-playing things you generally expect a manager to handle as well will be taken on by Bowen and co esp the key area of contracts and recruitment.

I think this is a very optimistic view and a muddying of waters with a job title switcheroo.

Ince operated under the same conditions. Not a Head Coach. McDermott and Coppell both had Hammond in a similar way, not Head Coaches. Unless you're using Head Coach interchangeably with modern Manager, in which case you lose your distinction about why Selles is a good fit for our approach compared to others.

This is also generally the norm these days.

[Snowflake Royal]

I'd be amazed if Selles lasts the season with us if appointed.

I'm fed up with sacking managers, I'd like someone to be given 3 years but it has to be the right man. There's very little to suggest Selles will be here that long.

How many managers are anywhere for 3 years now?

If Wilder came off that would have been the coup to end all coups but there were clearly too many question marks on both sides.

If it is to be Selles, he has to be given a chance, there is actually a pretty diverse, interesting and yes successful career to date there. He started as a fitness coach, moved into data analysis, been an assistant at a title winning side and competed in European competition - now maybe #2 is his best role but he has the CV of someone who has built up a deep understanding of the game in areas that we have definitely been lacking.

I can absolutely see why we are looking at him and may even end up appointing him especially as it would most likely be in a Head Coach position.

Selles would just be a repeat of all the mistakes of the past hoping for a different outcome.

Just like Clement, Stam, Paunovic, and Gomes.

[morganb]

Gary O'Neil: Bournemouth sack head coach less than seven months after permanent appointment

As this is Bournemouth does it follow that:

Chris Wilder: Bournemouth appoint new head coach

Also, would Reading now approach O'Neil?

[Hound]

Genuine wtf at Bournemouth sacking him. Bizarre on the surface of it

[Stranded]

Sometimes you throw the dice with an inexperienced manager and it works. Sometimes you appoint an experienced manager and it doesn't..... I don't know this guy, so I can't really criticize him, just hope if he's appointed that he's good.

Indeed but again he won't be a "manager" in the way we would be used to, he'll be a head coach as the non-playing things you generally expect a manager to handle as well will be taken on by Bowen and co esp the key area of contracts and recruitment.

I think this is a very optimistic view and a muddying of waters with a job title switcheroo.

Ince operated under the same conditions. Not a Head Coach. McDermott and Coppell both had Hammond in a similar way, not Head Coaches. Unless you're using Head Coach interchangeably with modern Manager, in which case you lose your distinction about why Selles is a good fit for our approach compared to others.

This is also generally the norm these days.

No Hammond worked to get players over the line that the manager wanted. There was no real structure in place under Ince until late in the window and as was documented recruitment was done on a wing and a prayer with Bowen in particular pulling in favours.

Now if you believe what Bowen has been saying (and completely understand if you don't), the set up is quite different and designed to give the club an identity i.e. he, Carey and Dublin/whoever are responsible for identifying and recruiting players to fit the way we want the club to play, they will recruit a head coach/manager based on them having a similar outlook, so if it goes pair shaped we aren't left with X number of players at the club but new guy Y wants to play a different way, so we add another Y players to the mix and hope to get rid of the old ones.

Totally appreciate I could be putting 2 and 2 together here and making 5 but given the info we have had in the past an appointment like Selles (or someone else) makes sense. As mentioned Wilder being available and interested was a wild card (in my mind) and one worth trying to get over the line.