Media Wrap - What the papers said about Adkins and Clarke

Starting with the sacking of Adkins, this was the media reaction.

GetReading continue their always exemplary reporting of Reading with loads of in-depth analysis and also a good video report which is worth a watch.  Although if I was being a little critical, guys video it in a lighter place!

The BBC gave as usual a factual non emotional report, focusing on what Adkins had done over his tenure, and also quoting his tweet in the morning about pushing on together.

A really interesting report and one that does open lots of questions in regards to his relevance, was Samrit Bunditkitsada's cryptic post which GetReading picked up, regarding his "Good bye and good luck" post, hardly protocol for dismissing a manager. Is anyone clear what his exact role is in the club?

There are a number of brief clips regarding us getting rid of Adkins, one of them being Sportsmole, who don't really give a lot of coverage to it, as well as interestingly the Derby Chronicle of all places, who are little bit more dramatic saying "Sacked after thrashing".

The dramatic headlines continue with the Daily Star finding the need to put SACKED in capitals against the rest of the headline, drama indeed, then continue like most others with the press release.

VitalFootball breaks a little bit of the trend, by giving commentary to the sacking (this is written by a fan), and they actually pay thanks to his support and future.

Even BT Sport get in on the act, again with dramatic headlines, "Royals sack Adkins after horror show", but to be honest I think that it wasn't just the Birmingham game that got him sacked, although the headline says otherwise.

SkySports do their usual, and get a little carried away with headlines, then just give us the standard press release - call it lazy, but I would expect an outlet like Sky Sports to give us more than just the press release!

Even our American friends get in on the act, with Yahoo! Sports giving us a mention, although they do post the release (again), they also have an interesting commentary on it, saying that we "finished 7th last season, and results have been even worse this term" - I thought finishing 7th in this league wasn't a bad effort last season, and most fans would love us to be 7th now!

The Guardian continue there good football synopsis, again with the summary at the top, give a a fairly good overview of it, once again predominately with the press release, but also with a little commentary

We also get credible mentions on the Irish Herald, Western Daily Press, the Scunthorpe Telegraph, and Setanta Sports.

Onto more happier notes.... The appointment of Steve Clarke, seems to have been met with welcome from most Reading fans, and the media reported this in an avalanche of posts!

Once again GetReading do us proud with blow by blow accounts of the press conference and the hiring, whilst I appreciate that they are our local reporters, the detail that they give us is really appreciated.

Again the BBC are factual and quote Clarke on his press conference before mentioning that he has been out of work since he left WBA. They also quote Lady Sasima Srivikorn, and I as far I have seen this is the first quote I have seen off her for a long time.

I will continue my fondness of the Guardian's football writing, again with a good summary and report of his hiring. They also point out that he lost out to Warnock for the Palace job (thats gotta hurt) and that he seems to have the hunger to be successful.

The Express lead with Clarke taking a swipe at the Baggies, by saying he has nothing to prove and effectively they haven't progressed since he has gone, and also Lady Sasima Srivikorn confirming that he was the number 1 choice.

The Independent also give us a good write up, with a slight question over the fact that he has only one managerial role prior to Reading, however he does have a good track record as an assistant, at Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham.

The Mirror are a little low on good input, again quoting the press conference and also stating that he has only had one previous manager's job.

SkySports give us a nice little video of the appointment, on their website, which is worth a look, and again the words are led by the press conference.

The Mail give us a more indepth reaction, and also have a video with Brendan Rodgers, commentating on his time at Reading and also Steve Clarke, again nice little summary at the top, and a good few pictures, (although the one of the Reading fan isn't really that flattering!). Also this one's a little interesting as it's the first one who actually say we are now mounting a promotion push, this I think is a little bit beyond our team at the moment, but I would love to be proved wrong.

The award to the most pointless story of the day goes to... ITV who present us with a Tweet and 2 lines of text, guys was it really worth the effort?

Our most far flung report comes from New Zealand where even Sportal pick up the story, albeit very similar to the rest - and is quickly followed by The West Australian sports column.

The most unflattering picture of Clarke (c'mon guys could have tried a little harder) goes to the Irish Examiner, with Clarke looking incredibly depressed to have joined us!

Talksport, BT Sport, Sporting Life all carry similar stories, which are basically sound bites from the press conference.

All in all this is one of the happier columns I have done, and the positive feeling around Steve Clarke coming in, could be very infectious. 3pm on Saturday his reign starts, and although I am not expecting massive changes in style or tactics, I am looking forward to interviews that aren't scripted or repeats from previous times, and we don't have to play Adkins bingo again!

I will be back Sunday with a round up of what the media said about the Watford game, and I am hoping that it's full of good reports and we are talking about 3 points to the Royals.