The Tilehurst End - Brian McDermott Sacked As Reading ManagerReading FC blog run by fans, for fans.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52568/tte_fav.png2013-03-28T09:59:24+00:00http://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/rss/stream/38545592013-03-28T09:59:24+00:002013-03-28T09:59:24+00:00Thanks Brian - Closing the book on McDermott's era
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<p>When Nigel Adkins begins his time as Reading manager on Saturday at the Emirates, perhaps spare a little thought for one man who'll probably be hurting more than most. Brian McDermott.</p> <p>There's been thousands of words written on McDermott's departure and you can find <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thetilehurstend.com/2013/3/11/4090518/brian-mcdermott-sacked-as-reading-manager" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">many of them here</a> so I won't go over the hows and whys of his sacking. Instead I thought I'd take just a few paragraphs to thank the man who got us back to the Premier League and gave well over 10 years of fabulous and dedicated service to the football club.</p>
<p>Saturday should have been the crowning glory in McDermott's 20 year journey from journeyman player to Premier League manager, as he took his Reading side to the home of Arsenal, where he'd spent the best part of five-years as a player.</p>
<p>Let's not forget where we were when Brian arrived at this football club. Reading were languishing in the third tier, struggling to emerge from the Burns era of overspending and under-performing, playing in a half-empty stadium and hurtling towards the bottom tier.</p>
<p>Alan Pardew, Martin Allen, Kevin Dillon and Steve Coppell rightly get the credit for helping the first team improve and thrive but behind the scenes there was a coach working hard to ensure players were coming through the right way, or more importantly, the 'Reading Way'.</p>
<p>While Reading's players and staff were celebrating at the Walkers Stadium after clinching promotion to the Premier League in 2006, McDermott was on the road scouting players. He wasn't one to bask in the limelight, just getting on with his job.</p>
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<div class="pullquote">"Ian Harte?! I thought he retired five years ago! and what business did we have signing Mikele Legsofwood?"</div>
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<p>The following season he took our reserve side to a national title, winning the Premier League reserve crown by beating Bolton in front of around 5,000 at the Madejski Stadium. That team contained the likes of future captain Alex Pearce and Simon Church, players who within five years would be helping the club back into the Premier League after the Coppell and Rodgers eras fizzled out.</p>
<p>Fast forward a couple of painful years and It's safe to say that most fans were pretty fed up by the time that Brian was named caretaker manager at the end of 2009. The club had slipped from 8th in the Premier League to the Championship's relegation zone in just 2-and-a-half years, Rodgers had promised much and delivered little while the Premier League's influence on our best players had left a bitter taste in the mouth. Add in the fact we'd made tens of millions in player sales with little spending and fans were far from happy. Now we'd given the managers job to a man whose only first team managerial experience came at Slough and many wondered how much lower we'd sink.</p>
<p>Brian's reign started poorly. Draws with Bristol City and Swansea were followed up by a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Plymouth and confidence was at rock bottom as were glumly plodded into 2010.</p>
<p>The respite from our league woes came in the FA Cup but few expected anything other than a defeat against Liverpool. Fans may ridicule Simon Church but had he not scored our opener in that third round tie, then I very much doubt we'd be where we are now. Although Gerrard equalised for Liverpool, it earned us a replay and set the scene for one of our most famous nights as we knocked Liverpool out of the cup with a 2-1 win at Anfield.</p>
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<p>Brian got the job on a permanent basis and the rest, is delightful history.</p>
<p>That season we saw the emergence of Shane Long, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jimmy Kebe. We tore teams apart in the run-in, with five against Wednesday, six against the Posh and even four Derby and makeshift 'keeper Robbie Savage.</p>
<p>There was also our best cup run in a generation, with the club 45 minutes from Wembley at 2-0 up against Villa before John Carew dashed our dreams.</p>
<p>The next season began with optimism but the sale of Gylfi left us wondering what magic Brian had left. Ian Harte?! I thought he retired five years ago! and what business did we have signing Mikele Legsofwood?</p>
<p>Slowly but surely we were made to eat our words. Harte was in the PFA team of the year and we went five-months without a league defeat with Ledge in the side.</p>
<p>We also made another storming run in the FA Cup. Premier League West Brom were beaten, Stevenage were slain and then the Toffees were got themselves stuck in their own back yard as Matt Mills gave the middle finger to their FA Cup hopes with a winning goal at Goodison.</p>
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<p>Win, followed win, followed win. Shane Long, a player who McDermott had taken into his family home after moving here from Ireland as a teenager, was on fire as we beat Boro 5-2. Jimmy Kebe mesmerised us all at home to Leicester and the Beast bundled us to victory at Barnsley. Best of all was a magical and crazy 4-3 win at Forest and suddenly we were Wembley bound, after smashing Cardiff in their own back yard.</p>
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<p>Reading and play-off finals never end well but none had gone as badly as the first 45 minutes in our debut under the Wembley arch. Brendan Rodgers must have had the biggest grin on his face as he took his Swansea side down the tunnel 3-0 up at the break but with nothing to lose, Brian's team came out fighting.</p>
<p>Hunt (or own-goal whatever...) 1-3</p>
<p>Mills 2-3</p>
<p>Karacan! ...... 2-3</p>
<p>Tears at Wembley but pride for a man and a team who'd performed miracles.</p>
<p>Come August we were rebuilding again, with Long, Mills and Khizanishvilli all at pastures new. Surely we couldn't recover from this? What good is signing a man from Rotherham when we've lost a 20 goal Championship striker?!</p>
<p>Reading 0-2 Watford.... rock bottom and suddenly some were thinking the end had come for the man who used to manage Slough, but was a Royal now. <span>A few days later and those ideas were gaining momentum as 2-0 down to a dire Bristol City side, Reading looked a spent force. </span></p>
<p>However we should have known better than to count out Brian's Reading side and three goals later, we were back in business.</p>
<p>Gritty win followed gritty win but come January, the landscape changed.</p>
<p>TSI arrived and the future was uncertain but Brian chose the hoops over the black and gold, Kebe stayed, Jason Roberts arrived and soon so did promotion.</p>
<p>While promotion in 2005/06 was amazing for how comprehensive it was, it never had the drama of this run in, nor the special cup-tie feel that we got at Upton Park....</p>
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<p>Or the amazing euphoria we had pouring out of St Mary's.....</p>
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<p>The Premier League was a different animal and things began to change. Team selections and transfers just didn't seem to work, tactics baffled us and former heros turned into booed off villains.</p>
<p>Despite the glum we still had one final hurrah under our bald headed warrior. January's late wins over Newcastle, West Brom and Sunderland were stunning while the two late strikes to silence 2,000 Chelsea fans singing 'We are the Champions, Champions of Europe' ranks up there with the most personally satisfying moments at the Madejski Stadium.</p>
<p>But that's where Brian's luck, or Anton's patience ran out. The painful losses at home to Wigan and Aston Villa sealed his fate and regrettably McDermott's final moments on the touchline as Reading's manager were having to stand there to a chorus of boos as a player who had helped a team to Wembley and a title slowly trudged off to be replaced by a player who hadn't got on the team bus to Sunderland because 'his head wasn't right.'</p>
<p>So there will be no Arsenal reunion for Brian McDermott. They'll be no chance to have a glass of wine with Wenger or chance to take a polite round of applause from the Arsenal faithful. Instead, Brian will have to watch the man whom he got the better of last season, take the applause from the Reading faithful, and have the chance to lead the greatest of great escapes.</p>
<p>Time will tell if Brian's sacking was the right decision but for a few moments, take the time to think about the man who got us to the Emirates and was a part of an era at the club that few 'biscuitmen' fans could have ever dreamed possible.</p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/28/4152776/thanks-brian-closing-the-book-on-the-mcdermott-era-reading-fcWimb2013-03-22T13:32:52+00:002013-03-22T13:32:52+00:00Poyet Rules Himself Out Of Running
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<p>Reading's search for a new manager continues after Brighton boss Gus Poyet apparently ruled himself out of the running.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">Reports had suggested Poyet met with Reading's board on Wednesday but opted to stay at the AMEX Stadium.</span></p>
<p>Poyet's decision now means that Nigel Adkins is the favourite at evens with Dolan 100/30 and Poyet now 20/1.</p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/22/4135028/poyet-rules-himself-out-readingfcWimb2013-03-20T14:59:02+00:002013-03-20T14:59:02+00:00Gus Poyet Overwhelming Favourite For Reading Job
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<figcaption>Mike Hewitt</figcaption>
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<p>Brighton manager Gus Poyet is now a 1/10 favourite with the bookmakers to be named the next Reading manager, with Sky Sports News also reporting that he's been given permission to speak to the club.</p> <p>Poyet was appointed Brighton manager a couple of months before Brian McDermott got the Reading job and Poyet took the club up as League One Champions ahead of Southampton in 2011.</p>
<p>He signed a new 5-year deal at the club in September of that year so he won't be cheap if we do want him to take the hot seat.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">Neither club have confirmed the reports.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 9px;">We'll have more from this story as it develops.</span></p>
<p>****EDIT****</p>
<p>Now TalkSport are in on the act, exclusively <a href="http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/130320/exclusive-nigel-adkins-talks-reading-about-replacing-brian-mcdermott-194061?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">claiming that we've met with former Saints boss Nigel Adkins.</a></p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/20/4127386/gus-poyet-overwhelming-favourite-for-reading-jobThe Tilehurst End News Desk2013-03-19T17:59:58+00:002013-03-19T17:59:58+00:00Who Replaces Brian? What The Bookies Say...
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<figcaption>Nigel Adkins is the bookies' favourite to take over from Brian McDermott | Ian Walton</figcaption>
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<p>The large flurry of bets on McDermott being the next manager sacked immediately before the official announcement would suggest some people know more than others and want to make profit from the demise of others. The market on the next Reading manager is a vibrant one - let's delve in to see the movers and shakers...</p> <p>(All prices correct at 6.00pm Tuesday 19th March 2013; all prices taken from <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.betfair.com%2Fexchange%2Ffootball%2Fmarket%3Fid%3D1.108559585%26mpch%3Dads%26rfr%3D63&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fthetilehurstend.sbnation.com%2F2013%2F3%2F19%2F4124014%2Fwho-replaces-brian-what-the-bookies-say" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Betfair</a>)</p>
<p><b>Nigel Adkins 11/10 (highest price 33/1, lowest price 4/7)</b></p>
<p>Odds-on with most fixed-odds bookmakers, the former Southampton manager was matched as high as 33/1 but is now the clear favourite after a recent plunge in the market. Currently out of a job after his sacking by Southampton in January, he's been heavily linked with the Leeds job should Neil Warnock leave his post in the summer.</p>
<p><b>Eamonn Dolan 8/1 (highest price 64/1, lowest price 5/2)</b></p>
<p>The former Exeter City manager moved to Reading in 2004 to take over the Academy management and was seen by many as a stopgap for the big appointment, whether it comes in the next week or at the end of the season. But after a decent display at Old Trafford, his odds have shortened wildly (going as short as 5/2) - and whoever's sitting on the few pounds matched at 64/1 will be very happy to see more good performances under the caretaker manager - and a continuation of the Reading way of keeping things in-house.</p>
<p><b>Luis Enrique 8/1 (highest price 31/1)</b></p>
<p>This is one which has certainly come out of left-field as the legendary Spanish midfielder has been out of work since last summer after leaving Roma. But with his connections and playing experience, he could be a viable option and certainly a "sexier" one than many being mooted in the papers.</p>
<p><b>Phil Parkinson 10/1 (highest price 33/1, lowest price 7/2)</b></p>
<p>Now this is one that would make sense, and a homecoming for the Reading legend would certainly please the Royals faithful. But as we've seen with Brendan Rodgers, keeping to what (or who) you know isn't always the best idea. Currently managing Bradford, he famously led the League Two side to a Carling Cup Final where they were beaten by Swansea.</p>
<p><b>Gus Poyet 12/1 (highest price 64/1, lowest price 5/1)</b></p>
<p>Another manager currently in employment, he's leading Brighton towards a play-off push. Whether he'd leave one club potentially on the up for another which is in all probability heading down is another matter, but money talks...</p>
<p><b>Paolo Di Canio 14/1 (highest price 22/1, lowest price 4/5)</b></p>
<p>The majority of the money on Di Canio was traded at 2/1 or lower in the early trade, as the press reported that the Italian who recently left Swindon was being lined up for a quick return to management. In the last few days, though, his odds have lengthened dramatically as the speedy appointment hasn't been forthcoming.</p>
<p><b>Alan Curbishley 16/1 (highest price 44/1, lowest price 11/1)</b></p>
<p>Out of management for nearly 5 years, the former West Ham and Charlton manager seems to be linked with every post going. The market would seem to suggest we won't take the plunge.</p>
<p><b>Roberto Di Matteo 20/1 (highest price 40/1, lowest price 2/1)</b></p>
<p>Like Di Canio, two and two were quickly put together as managers out of work, and the pair were quickly installed as favourites for the post. But reports have confirmed that he's some way away from agreeing terms and the lengthening of his odds reflect that.</p>
<p>Other prices:</p>
<p><b>Dick Advocaat 25/1 (highest price 1000/1)</b></p>
<p><b>Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 37/1 (highest price 110/1)</b></p>
<p><b>Steve Coppell 37/1 (highest price 120/1)</b></p>
<p><b>Steve McClaren 41/1 (highest price 50/1)</b></p>
<p><b>Mark Hughes 45/1 (highest price 100/1)</b></p>
<p><b>Ian Holloway 64/1 (highest price 500/1)</b></p>
<p><b><a href="http://www.skybet.com/football/specials/manager-specials" target="_blank">Jimmy Kebe 33/1 on Skybet</a> </b>- well, why not...?</p>
<p>So the bookies seem to think Nigel Adkins will become the new Reading manager - but then, Paolo Di Canio was odds-on for a very long time before drifting markedly to his current price. Don't be surprised if this takes more twists and turns over the next week or two.</p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/19/4124014/who-replaces-brian-what-the-bookies-sayjonnafon2013-03-16T08:06:20+00:002013-03-16T08:06:20+00:00The Unanswered Questions Which Surrounded Brian.
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<figcaption>Ian Walton</figcaption>
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<p><em>At 5:30pm today when those of us in Old Trafford hear the whistle, many will look over at the dugout. Not to see Sir Alex, but to witness a new era for RFC. An era, which for the first time in over a decade, won’t include Brian McDermott. Instead someone else will have given the Royals their pre-match team talk, just less than 30 days after McDermott was stood there doing the same. Although the motion by the club answers the question as to whether they were happy with Brian’s undertaking of the team this season. I think it might be worth looking at perhaps why they made their decision. Brian leaves the Madejski having given both club and fans arguably four of the greatest seasons. But he also leaves with big questions over his handling of team affairs. Questions that in my mind, inevitably led to his departure.</em></p> <p>With big admiration for Brian and not wanting pessimism to get the better of me, I was unsure for weeks about how and whether to write this piece. But in a strange twist of fate, now seems the appropriate moment as it falls to his successor and the RFC Board to answer the questions he left behind.</p>
<p>From the start I think it’s best to come out and say it. Thank you for everything Brian. From accepting Alan Pardew’s invite. Those long lonely nights looking at players we probably never paid out for. Sticking around and helping for so long and when finally getting your chance, giving us all one hell of a ride from late gasps of hope at Bristol and Anfield, fever pitch at Wembley and that great night last April against Forest. Like most, I too believe the timing of his departure can be described as unfair.</p>
<p>But poignantly, April last year seems to only be how far many people go when it comes to thanking Brian. Perhaps this is because many felt it all started to go wrong for him and RFC as early as last summer?</p>
<p>Back then the pundits tipped McDermott’s men to be in the precise position they currently occupy, citing a lack of quality within Reading’s ranks. Bringing in seven players and spending around five million pounds in fees, Brian maintained he was happy with his signings, having brought in everyone he wanted thus talking up our chances against the pessimisms. So was this just an unlucky collection of bad decisions? Stubborn optimism bordering naivety? Or was McDermott seemingly making the most out of what he’d been given by the board? Another “feed the 5,000” job? Either way someone seriously misjudged what capabilities the squad possessed against what it needed to compete. Was it all Brian’s call or Brian just getting who he could with what money he was given hoping to pave over the cracks? Evidently there seemed to be more money at his disposal in January.</p>
<p>Clearly the cracks were seen in the Championship? The Jekyll and Hyde performances of Jimmy Kebe, the much chided captaincy of Jobi McAnuff, the countless games where Adam Federici literally grabbed points. Surely the fact he was often doing it indicated that Reading’s defences needed thoroughly revaluating? The sheer amount of set-pieces ruefully wasted. That just twelve (albeit crucial) goals made Adam Le Fondre top scorer (by a distance,) a concerning fact considering both Shane Long and Gylfi Sigurdsson each scored nearly double that amount in their preceding seasons. Concerning further that Alf only appeared affective as a sub, compared to starting. Although everyone was doing their best, they were still problems that followed us into the Premier League. But did Brian and more importantly the board acknowledge them?</p>
<p>So from those seven summer arrivals, who’s really made an impact? After 29 games only Adrian Mariappa, Garath McCleary and Pavel Progrebnyak can call themselves regulars. McCleary has made the most appearances out of them all, but most of which have been from the bench thus <a href="http://www.reading.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=311366">reportedly leading the winger to consider his future.</a> <a href="http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8544301/">Allegedly so too is Pog,</a> given what has been a frustrating season alone upfront, with his goal tally only half the amount notched by Alf. This leads me to ask, that if the two most used summer signings now want to leave, what then for the others? Secondly was everyone really given enough time and versatility on the pitch to find their best use within the squad?</p>
<p>Such quandaries deepen by McDermott signing right-backs Chris Gunter and Stephen Kelly each respectively in the summer and winter transfer windows, as well as having Shaun Cumming in the ranks who too recently signed a contract extension. This now means RFC are paying three sets of first-team wages for one position. How was this allowed to happen?</p>
<p>Contract extensions, bring me next to Alex Pearce. Last year’s player of the season was omitted from first-team involvement for ten league games! Having played at West Brom in September, Pearce wouldn’t be seen again until a sub appearance at St Mary’s in December, supposedly due to strained contract negotiations with the club. Over those ten games Reading would go on to lose the lead in six. Three of those ten games were; the draw with Norwich and the close 1-0 defeats away to Liverpool and Villa. It has to be said that if only Reading had the extra quality in defence to maybe take at least five points, rather than just one from those three aforementioned games, the season could’ve looked incredibly different. Turn back to the 2006/07 season when Steve Sidwell similarly looked destined to leave RFC and Steve Coppell contrastingly still played him regardless, helping the Royals finish 8th! McDermott however looks to have mixed boardroom politics with team selection, as frankly there was no alternative explanation as to why Pearce was missing? Fatally Brian did this for the final time at Stoke despite the last win against Sunderland seven days before. Here Reading’s losing streak would start that has ultimately cost Brian his job.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the only controversial selection decision. It would take until December before Brian finally used the same starting eleven for three straight league games. Considering how early Reading did their business in the summer it’s a perplexing notion that Brian needed so long to deduce his best side. Especially as the first-team had at least eight pre-season friendlies, double the quantity on previous years and against supposedly superior opposition too. In fact the club had one of its busiest pre-seasons and looking back at results it can’t be considered a particularly convincing one either. So how could a side seemingly giving itself more time to prepare, end up looking so… unprepared?</p>
<p>One thing McDermott couldn’t be prepared for was how poor his side would look when out of form. The contrast in performances almost looked as if a curse had been placed upon them. Along with the problems the side carried over from the Championship, pivotal players in achieving promotion turned into weak links. Federici developed butter-fingers. The solid Kaspars Gorkss was now soluble. Jem Karacan and Mikele Leigertwood looked hassled rather than hassling and Jason Roberts was doing so much elsewhere (on and off the pitch, including the physio-room) he was never forward to bag a single league goal. After a brief reprieve only Fedders would return to his former self. The rest (until Roberts “injury”) were constantly redeployed like chess pawns, giving their all for the cause, but easily swept aside game after game.</p>
<p>In previous bad spells Brian would’ve turned to Simon Church, Brynjar Gunnarsson and Jay Tabb and following the summer he had even more options. Yet only Tabb would get a run in the side that habitually he took by the horns and at times was Reading’s best player. However as soon his pawn superiors were ready again, Tabb was not only dropped but told he could leave the club making way for Hope Akpan. Arguably performances worsened once Jem and Lege replaced him, so much so that Brian’s last game would see <a href="http://www.thetilehurstend.com/2013/3/11/4087562/lash-out-on-ledge-or-backlash-on-brian">fans sarcastically jeer his substitution of Lege for Danny Guthrie</a>. Similar was seen in Fedders, <a href="http://www.thetilehurstend.com/2013/3/5/4066162/risk-assessment-danny-guthrie">Guthrie</a> and Pearce all being swiftly dropped, yet Gorkss (who too was later loaned out?) and Lege etc. still started games. Unless playing 4-5-1 only the Alf/Roberts strike partnership was used for more than four straight league games. Meanwhile barely any of the summer signings were regularly starting and substitutions ranged from ineffective to just odd.</p>
<p>Concluding on the above, why were there so many inconsistencies in how individuals were treated?</p>
<p>But it was as with the strike-force Brian would be the most frustrating. In years gone by Nicky Forster, Leroy Lita and Longy all performed well utilised as lone strikers. What they all owed to their success to was their pace. So when one looks at Pog in comparison, you’d think him more able to wrestle all three at once (and win) than challenge them in a race. Yet a lone Pog was a tactic deployed 13 times and would only bore four goals from the Russian. However the nine times Pog was partnered upfront he would score three and aid his varying partners score seven, mostly Noel Hunt. So why the persistence in playing Pog alone, when the evidence would suggest otherwise?</p>
<p>Bringing Le Fondre into the equation, why start him in the recent absence of Pog, knowing Alfie’s effectiveness from the bench? It seemed senseless that Brian would sacrifice the ace-card of “Super-sub Alfie” in place of bringing on and further pressurising an inexperienced Nick Blackman? Surely it would’ve been beneficial all-round to start Blackman and still having the Alf-card up the sleeve?</p>
<p>Now the obtuse questions;</p>
<p>Where is Daniel Carrico? Yes he looked off-pace against West Brom, but his debut wasn’t as bad as Marcus Williams’. Surely after three months on the training pitch he must be ready to feature again? Or has he thrown his toys out the pram as he allegedly did at Sporting and found himself ostracised again?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thetilehurstend.com/2013/3/8/4080156/jason-roberts-out-for-the-season-reading-career-over">Is this the same for Jason Roberts?</a> Last season’s hero can only put media appearances and sparking national debate towards tackling racism as his only notable achievements in this, his first full season at Reading. Have his extracurricular activities caused friction? Or is it just coincidence that a much rumoured argument between himself, McDermott and Pearce at Southampton is the reason he hasn’t been seen on-pitch since? It’s worth noting that in the past, crucial players with long-term injuries are often sent to specialists, such as Alex McCarthy. Why has so little been made of an injury that in theory has really hampered team-selection and progress?</p>
<p>Why has the squad been left with just three recognised centre-backs? Although Gorkss hasn’t had a good season, surely having four is a better contingency than three? Maybe this can be blamed on the miscommunication apparent in the proposed transfer of Stoppila Sunzu?</p>
<p>Then there are the failed bids for Thomas Ince and bringing Gylfi back to RFC. From having signed Blackman as well, Brian must have been trying to reconstruct Reading’s attack and give the side some form of edge or Plan B. Although he said he was happy with who he already had at his disposal, one can only imagine how much of a blow not landing either player was to Brian plans. Was it the timing or money? Or did Reading’s position sadly not appeal to the chosen parties? Sadly we’ll never know, but it’s hard not to think that surely a little extra somewhere would’ve brought one of them in?</p>
<p>Ironically, as Brian said after many games, all this is just “ifs and buts.” But sadly such a long list of them has cost a good man his job.</p>
<p>Although ultimately they all comeback to Brian, it’s curious to wonder whether other factors within the club had more of a say in what happened?</p>
<p>But sadly the ultimate king in football underlines it all… money.</p>
<p>Not how much was or wasn't spent. But how much would be lost. Along with the boos and recent hoards of fans walking out as early as 70minutes, it stood as a big metaphor to what the club would lose if it didn’t act.</p>
<p>Be seen to act and maybe so much won’t be lost?</p>
<p>Incidentally though, I know it would take more than money for me to ever swap some of the experiences under the Brian McDermott era.</p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/16/4091420/the-unanswered-questions-which-surrounded-brian-mcdermott-reading-fcThe Blue and White Jester2013-03-14T15:10:38+00:002013-03-14T15:10:38+00:00Report Card: Brian McDermott
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<img alt="Goodbye, Brian." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/frS__-9TILpwLFzypsY_W7o6zFo=/0x37:463x346/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/9717973/143564391.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Goodbye, Brian. | Ben Hoskins</figcaption>
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<p>With a few days to let the news sink in, Brian McDermott's departure has been greeted with very little jubilation and a fair bit of humiliation. This small club from Berkshire has sacked one of its best ever managers, the manager that got us to the Premier League for the second ever time in history. Hoops takes a look at McDermott's abilities as manager.</p> <p>There are 5 criteria that McDermott will be rated on. For each criteria, we'll have a look at the good and the bad and give a rating out of 10.</p>
<p><b>Tactics - 5/10</b></p>
<p>McDermott was a fairly bog-standard tactician, in all honesty. From the moment he stepped foot in the dressing room the players knew it would be a 4-4-2 formation and very little else.</p>
<p>Goalkeeper, two reserved full backs, two solid centre backs, a couple of defensive midfielders, rampaging wingers and a bit of mix and match up front. Simple, but effective... until the 2012/13 season.</p>
<p>There were no questions about tactics whilst McDermott was succeeding and the fans were enjoying themselves, but once the going got tough questions were raised. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/reading">Reading</a> were being ripped to shreds over and over again in the beginning, yet still the team were set out with a 4-4-2 and a gung-ho attitude. It failed. Time and again.</p>
<p>The good performance at <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/">Chelsea</a> in a 4-5-1 didn't change much, until the turn of the year when the team set out slightly more defensive, hoping to kill teams off with a counter attack, set piece or last minute goal.</p>
<p>Pogrebnyak's suspension meant McDermott felt he had to go back to a 4-4-2, with little success again.</p>
<p>They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results...</p>
<p><i>McDermott knew what he wanted from his team, but when that didn't work there was very little that changed. </i></p>
<p><b>Man management: 7/10</b></p>
<p>Without doubt one of McDermott's strongest points was his man management. With Brian at the helm Reading fans saw the best of <span>Matt Mills</span>, Gylfi Sigurðsson, <span>Shane Long</span> and <span>Jimmy Kebe</span>. There were no rumours of discontent, no public outcrys and no ripples in the ocean. Brian got on well with his players.</p>
<p>Well, he did. Then we were promoted to the Premier League and Danny Guthrie fell out with the gaffer, Pogrebnyak was rumoured to disapprove of his time spent on the bench and Jimmy Kebe had a pop at the owner for not spending more money. Let's not forget the <span>Alex Pearce</span> situation.</p>
<p>With the team struggling for any solidarity at the back and a lack of control in midfield, fans were screaming out for Pearce and Guthrie yet neither featured much in the first half of the season. Pearce was being kept out by the inexperienced Morrison and Guthrie was being kept out for his attitude. Of course both exclusions were put down to "gut feeling" etc.</p>
<p>Even with all this going on, there was still harmony. Every player interview given backed McDermott and backed the team.</p>
<p><i>McDermott man managed admirably, even though there were a few rough patches.</i></p>
<p><b>Transfers: 6/10</b></p>
<p>Every manager has a few hits and a few misses in the transfer market. Even the legendary Steve Coppell signed Emersae Fae.</p>
<p>For every hit that McDermott had (Griffin) there seems to have been a miss (Gunter). For every success story (<span>Ian Harte</span>) there's been a horror story (Marcus Williams). For every diamond (Le Fondre) there's been a plain old rock not far behind (Karl Sheppherd).</p>
<p>It's fair to say that not all signings have been purely down to McDermott but it is fair to say that he certainly had an input into them, and some of them have been wonderful. Others not so.</p>
<p>This season in particular he seems to have missed more than he has hit.</p>
<p><i>The lack of consistent successful signings might be the reason his battleship has sunk.</i></p>
<p><b>Press: 10/10</b></p>
<p>Brian McDermott never once messed up in his press conferences.</p>
<p>Controlled, honest and frank, McDermott didn't get flustered and didn't let the media glare shine too brightly on his players. They needed their feet on their ground, and on the ground they were kept.</p>
<p>He might not have been the most open with the press, but he never wound them up, snapped at them or attacked his players. Couldn't ask for much more.</p>
<p><i>Represented the club brilliantly.</i></p>
<p><b>Attitude to fans: 10/10</b></p>
<p>The number one thing to Brian McDermott was the fans. Football is all about the fans for him. They pay to come and watch the game, they should be entertained, they are the twelfth man.</p>
<p>McDermott did his best to please the fans and keep them on board, and it wasn't until this season that a select few turned on him for his tactical hesitancy.</p>
<p>Right until the very end, the fans came first for Brian, who always made the effort to applaud the fans.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I thought the fans were fantastic at the start of the game. The fans want to see their team win. We've had a lot of good days in the past three years. The past three weeks have been difficult. The fans just want to see the team win.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><i>It was all about the fans for Brian.</i></p>
<p><b>Overall rating: 38/50</b></p>
<p>A great manager, a wonderful human and a outstanding role model. Royals fans could be left wondering what could have been for years to come if his successor fails to live up to expectation.</p>
<p><i>Disagree with any of the ratings, or have anything to add? Leave a comment below.</i></p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/14/4103482/report-card-brian-mcdermottRoyal Hoops2013-03-12T20:11:32+00:002013-03-12T20:11:32+00:00The Downfall of Brian McDermott
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<figcaption>Clive Mason</figcaption>
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<p>As Brian McDermott is linked with a return to Reading, here's how Wimb looked back on his career in the immediate aftermath of his sacking in 2013. </p> <p><i>The original article was penned in March 2013. </i></p>
<p>*****</p>
<h3>The Team Just Got Worse</h3>
<p><span>Funnily enough the day before Brian was sacked I'd started writing an article about how Brian's teams were capable of playing decent attacking football if they had the right personnel. The shocking thing for me was how far the quality in our strongest eleven has dropped over his tenure despite almost unprecedented success.</span></p>
<p>Consider this lineup that thrashed Preston 4-1 on the final day of Brian's first season in 2010.</p>
<p><b>2010:</b><i> Federici, Mills, Griffin (Karacan), Bertrand, Pearce , McAnuff, Tabb, Howard (Gunnarsson), Kebe, igurdsson , Long (Church)</i></p>
<p>Is it just me or do you not think that the team above is superior to the one that lined up against Villa this past weekend?</p>
<p><b>2013</b>: <i>Taylor, Harte, Mariappa, Pearce, Kelly, McAnuff, Leigertwood (Guthrie), Akpan (McCleary), Robson-Kanu, Le Fondre, Hunt (Blackman)</i></p>
<p>Pearce and Tabb are much of a muchness, Brian Howard is maybe a wash with Leigertwood but otherwise I almost universally prefer the 2010 team. Kebe and McAnuff were younger, you had superstars (for our level) in Long, Bertrand and Sigurdsson while Mills was as capable as Mariappa and Griffin was as good as Kelly has been in his short spell.</p>
<p>My question is how on earth have we ended up with a weaker starting XI despite two cup quarter-finals, a play-off final and promotion to the Premier League?!</p>
<p>A lot of the fault has to go on the owners but then that's not exactly fair on Sir John, who openly said he had no more money to put in and didn't want to gamble with our financial future.</p>
<p>With Anton Zingarevich it's another story and probably a debate that will rage long beyond our fate this season. Needless to say his investment has hardly been superior to anything we saw under Sir John.</p>
<p>The likes of Long, Bertrand and Sigurdsson were just never replaced, while we've not seen the raw quality of a <span>Jimmy Kebe</span> style player signed either. Prospects like Church have lingered too long while how Bryn was still in our 25-man squad is beyond me, which leads me on to point two.</p>
<p>******</p>
<h3>Too Much Faith In the Old Guard</h3>
<p><span>Mikele Leigertwood</span>, Jason Roberts, <span>Kaspars Gorkss</span>... what do they all have in common? Answer, they were discarded by Premier League teams last season.</p>
<p>The reasons are varied but whatever way you look at it, QPR (finished 17th) and Blackburn (relegated) all thought they could do without them. Now, I appreciate that sometimes players just don't gel at a club and I was probably one of many who wondered why Neil Warnock got rid of Gorkss, but his decision was vindicated by the fact that he's now been bombed out on loan to Wolves halfway into the season.</p>
<p>Leigertwood has been relegated twice, and then sold after promotion by QPR, while Jason Roberts was let go by a Blackburn team who were heading for the drop. I can't possibly praise the three of them highly enough for the role they played in our promotion and as squad players they all could have had a role in our 25-man squad, but not as starters every week. You could probably throw <span>Jobi McAnuff</span>, <span>Jay Tabb</span> and <span>Noel Hunt</span> into this mix as players who've never been in the Premier League and you have to say that we now know why.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote">How any manager could go into a Premier League season with Jay Tabb as your fourth best midfielder is poor</div>
<p> </p>
<p>These are all top, honest, hard working pros who deserved a chance to make a claim and perhaps earn themselves a squad role but not at the sake of our Premier League survival and certainly should not have been earning the number of starts in the first team that they have this season.</p>
<p>What's made this worse has been the sacrificing of players who had Premier League quality, or at least potential for most of the season. McAnuff and Leigertwood were undroppable while Gorkss was kept in ahead of Pearce despite looking woefully out of his depth.</p>
<p>Roberts included in the 25-man squad despite a chronic hip injury and didn't score a league goal all season. I'm sorry but when the man who got you up from the Championship by looking a class above his three team-mates is ineffective... what hope does it give you for the other three? <span>Simon Church</span> was duly dispatched, but that left Noel Hunt and <span>Adam Le Fondre</span>, strengthened only by an equally untested <span>Pavel Pogrebnyak</span>.</p>
<p>Speaking of the Pog....</p>
<p>*****</p>
<h3>Quality Of Signings</h3>
<p>While I've lamented how our squad has failed to improve, Brian hasn't exactly bought brilliantly in his time here.</p>
<p>Brian's new signings this season had combined to start just 45% of the available games this season, hardly a ringing endorsement of his recruitment. Summer signings <span>Nicky Shorey</span>, Danny Guthrie, Pogrebnyak, <span>Garath McCleary</span>, <span>Chris Gunter</span>, <span>Daniel Carrico</span> and <span>Nick Blackman</span> have ALL been dropped repeatedly and it's only really <span>Adrian Mariappa</span> that's really lived up to his transfer fee and wages this season. Whether the rest COULD and SHOULD be playing is another question but if Brian doesn't have the confidence to play them, well then he's either bought badly or is a bad judge of character/talent and either way it's played a part in his downfall.</p>
<p>How any manager could go into a Premier League season with Jay Tabb as your fourth best midfielder is poor, especially when two of the three above him are the aforementioned PL reject Leigertwood and an untested Jem Karacan. That's just poor squad construction plain and simple.</p>
<p>Throw into the mix busts like Mathieu Manset, Jo Mills, <span>Karl Sheppard</span>, Brett & Marcus Williams and it's not a ringing endorsement for the man.</p>
<p>However McDermott did sign players like Andy Griffin, Leigertwood, Le Fondre and <span>Hope Akpan</span> so he's certainly not been total bust on the transfer front.</p>
<p>Again, this is an area where you have to ask what was available to him and who he may have passed on. If he was given no money then I guess you get what you (don't) pay for but if he did have funds to spend or had more choice... well he's picked badly. When a man who cost the club over £2 million is out of the squad within six months it doesn't look good.</p>
<p>******</p>
<h3>A Victim Of His Own Success?</h3>
<p>When Brian was handed the reigns the club were in a bad position, having been left in a state of chaos after the failure of Brendan Rodgers' <strike>three year </strike> six month plan.'</p>
<p>To survive that season would have been seen as a success but the spectacular run that saw us smash teams like Sheffield Wednesday, Derby and Peterborough and then get to within 45 minutes of an FA Cup semi-final raised expectations quickly. The departure of Sigurdsson helped lower them the following summer but an astonishing run to Wembley raised hopes once again - suddenly Brian had nothing but success on his CV.</p>
<p>A month into the 2011/12 season and suddenly the mood had changed. The departure of Shane Long & <span>Matt Mills</span> left us short of quality in key areas and the team sat second from bottom of the Championship. Brian once again worked wonders, turning those £11m worth of sales into a solid team by spending just 10% of it, on the likes of Gorkss, J Mills and Le Fondre. The return to form of key players like Leigertwood and McAnuff helped but it was only the arrival of TSI and Jason Roberts that suddenly turned us into Championship contenders.</p>
<p>Lets be honest though... who looked at our team during that run and thought... <i>yeah that's a Championship winning team?</i> While our ability to get results was fantastic, it was a run that had more than a few strokes of good fortune. The backs to the wall win at Brighton helped by a Federici penalty save, the win over Forest helped by a block on the line by Pearce, West Ham choking just before half-time at Upton Park, Roberts fluking a rebound from a dire penalty against Bristol City or even likes of Coventry being denied by a superb goalkeeping display by Federici. Now you can of course argue how much those were down to 'luck' but we weren't dominating sides and you can't tell me we'd win those games 9/10 as true juggernaughts such as our 2005/06 squad or <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://cominghomenewcastle.sbnation.com/">Newcastle</a> back in 2009/10 would.</p>
<p>The squad that went up was a plucky, savy side but one that was wholly unprepared for the top level. This wasn't a young untested squad in their prime that just needed a chance like in 2005/06.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote">it's easy to see why the decision was made but it comes down to whether you think given time and money, Brian could change and adapt, or if you think he's a limited manager who's mistakes have just outweighed his successes.</div>
<p> </p>
<p>However, when you're in the Premier League it's easy to forget such things and suddenly a manager is expected to paint a masterpiece on MS Paint, or build a solid hurricane proof house out of sticks and prit stick.</p>
<p>Brian never had a chance to build a Premier League ready side, he just had a good Championship side that was capable of going on a good run. West Ham showed that you can have quality but struggle for consistency because of inexperience and sadly <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/reading">Reading</a> have been found out as having just the opposite, solid consistency but a lack of quality beyond that.</p>
<p>Had Brian been given £8m in the Championship could he have bought a few more players whom given 12 months would have been PL ready? Debatable but I'd fancy us to survive with a team that contained a full year of Championship tested Blackman, Akpan, Cummings etc more than this one.</p>
<p>******</p>
<h3>Premier League Inexperience & Stubborness</h3>
<p>Brian never really seemed comfortable with the media spotlight this season and just didn't seem to know how to handle tricky situations on and off the field.</p>
<p>Off the pitch he never got to grips with the increased egos and demands of players once they're in the Premier League. His stalwart goalkeeper Federici kicked off and broke ranks over why he was dropped/injured, then came repeated bust-ups with Danny Guthrie plus a reported falling out with Jason Roberts after the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://stmarysmusings.sbnation.com/">Southampton</a> game. Add to the mix the problems with selecting <span>Alex Pearce</span> and you have a backroom nightmare. I'm still not sure who told or advised Brian to drop him, I've been told by sources close to the club that it came from Nick Hammond but if that's the case then why is Brian letting others make key selection policies?</p>
<p>The tactics and team selections were also rooted in the past. Time and time again Brian went to players that had done well in a lower league rather then test the potential or place faith in those who had extra quality. To try and play 4-4-2 in the Premier League when your strikers are average and your central midfield paper-thin was suicide.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote">I think that given time and money, Brian would have risen to meet those challenges but his first attempt was admittedly poor and Anton Zingarevich obviously didn't feel that he'd get any better.</div>
<p> </p>
<p>There was never a midgame change of plan either. Reading have dropped 24 points from winning positions but how often did you see the team go 4-5-1 and try to hold the lead? There was never any creativity or even attempt to change things, the best we ever got was putting Jobi McAnuff into the middle and throwing on another striker.</p>
<p>When he did change things, shock horror things picked up. Of our 23 points this season, 14 have come in games where we started 4-5-1 and yet once again we've gone back to the well bested 4-4-2.</p>
<p>Reading have just never seemed to have a different way of playing and while I think that's in part down to the quality of player available, the lack of an attempt to change was disappointing.</p>
<p>*****</p>
<h3>Luck</h3>
<p>It's not exactly been a great year for us on the luck front. Whether it's our previously solid 'keeper dropping two clangers in the first two games, his replacement diving into a post or a handball goal being allowed to stand, we've just not had it our way for most of the year.</p>
<p>I could go on and on with these examples. Torres scoring an offside goal, a marginal offside call going against us last Saturday, clear penalties at Stoke and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://royalbluemersey.sbnation.com/">Everton</a> not being given or Barry's questionable climb on Shorey, the rub of the green hasn't really gone our way time after time.</p>
<p>Now I know things have gone our way from time to time but you only need one or two of the above bad bits of luck to go our way and it's a different season entirely.</p>
<p>Brian also had awful luck with injuries this season. Federici, McCarthy, Karacan, Mariappa, Kebe, Shorey, Guthrie, Roberts, Pogrebnyak, Robson-Kanu and Hunt have all been injured at points this season. When your squad is as devoid of quality as ours, those injuries are utterly devastating.</p>
<p>*****</p>
<h3>Closing Points</h3>
<p>Brian's downfall has plenty to do with his own mistakes but more than a small part of it is down to bad luck or circumstances beyond his control. The lack of funds given to build a team capable of competing in the Premier League is obvious but Brian didn't help himself by buying poorly when given limited funds.</p>
<p>LIkewise, he had players at his disposal to change certain games but chose to ignore them, or gave too many chances to players that had shown themselves just not up to the top division. When you add in bad luck on the pitch and in the treatment room plus backroom bust-ups and there was only one way our season was going to go.</p>
<p>As mentioned elsewhere, Brian has become the fifth manager of the last six to guide his team up automatically only to get sacked before the end of the following season. The expectations and demands of the Premier League just seem to go up and up and few managers who ply their trade in the Championship seem capable of rising to match those demands.</p>
<p>I think that given time and money, Brian would have risen to meet those challenges but his first attempt was admittedly poor and Anton Zingarevich obviously didn't feel that he'd get any better.</p>
<p>With the above it's easy to see why the decision was made but I guess it comes down to whether you think given time and money that Brian could change and adapt, or if you think he's a limited manager who's mistakes have just outweighed his successes.</p>
<p>Whatever the case I can only thank Brian for what he's done and hope that he goes on to lead another team in the Premier League.</p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/12/4095072/the-downfall-of-brian-mcdermottWimb2013-03-12T09:10:15+00:002013-03-12T09:10:15+00:00Dolan in temporary charge
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<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/epl/teams/reading">Reading</a> have confirmed that former Academy Manager Eamon Dolan will take temporary charge of the first team after Nigel Gibbs also left the club.</p>
<p>There's currently no word on the fate of other first team coaching staff including Sal Bibbo and Karl Halibi.</p>
<p>Dolan arrived at the club after leaving Exeter where he managed for one full season and led the club to sixth in the Conference.<br><br>He succeeded Brendan Rodgers as Academy manager and helped oversee the devlopment of current first teamers <span>Alex Pearce</span>, <span>Hal Robson-Kanu</span>, <span>Jem Karacan</span> and <span>Alex McCarthy</span>.</p>
<p>I still don't see him as a long-term option but should we decend into some sort of Wolves-esque farce, I think he'll be a steady and respected pair of hands to see us through till the summer.</p>
<p>****EDIT*****</p>
<p>It also seems that Greek coach Yannis Anastasiou has left the club. The former Greek international joined the coaching setup back in January after spells at Panathinkaikos and Ajax.<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: #f5f5f5; display: inline ! important; float: none;"></span></p>
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2013/3/12/4093060/dolan-placed-in-temporary-chargeWimb