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The waters at the Madejski Stadium have gone a little choppy recently. Last week it was revealed that Steve Clarke was in talks to take over at Fulham, where there's been a vacancy since the sacking of Kit Symons, and the very public nature of the whole episode greatly undermined the faith of many fans in the current Reading manager.
However, it now seems like there might have been a similar reaction from the club's Thai owners. Last Saturday's 2-1 win was attended by a large contingent of media personnel from Thailand, who were understandably keen to hear the thoughts of Reading's owners who were in attendance.
Speaking to the Thai edition of Goal.com after the game, Reading executive Samrit Thanakanchanasut made it clear that there certainly is pressure on Clarke to deliver. Indeed, Thanakanchanasut said that, in order to achieve the big goal that the club has this season - i.e. to win promotion to the Premier League - the Royals should have 40 points by Boxing Day. Currently, Reading stand on 27 points from 17 matches, which means that we'll need to have racked up 13 points in the next six games.
Interestingly, the article says that the future of Clarke at Reading is not guaranteed if results aren't achieved - presumably referring to the 40 points target that has been set out. What isn't clear though is how much that is linked to Clarke's recent discussions with Fulham.
Although you'd imagine that Reading's owners would hardly be impressed by Clarke being so potentially open to a move; they did of course give him permission so must equally have been happy that he decided to stay. You could also say that the prior drop in form is a potential factor. Nonetheless, add those two things together, and it's understandable that Thanakanchanasut would make a statement that clearly reminds Clarke of the pressure that is on him.
On another note, the article mentions that Reading's owners are keen to add more strikers to the squad when the transfer window reopens in January. That's directly related to the poor form of Matej Vydra, who the article mentions as having not scored enough since making his loan move from Watford. With that in mind, the recent rumour of a move for LA Galaxy's Gyasi Zardes certainly does make sense.
The original article from the Thai edition of Goal.com - which you can find here - was translated with the help of a native Thai speaker.