Updated POLL After Southampton Debacle.

[Hoop Blah]

you really think theres someone out there who will instantly just stop these players passing to the opposition, blasting their shots wide, failing to make tackles, interceptions, clearances, or mark a player effectively?
just by saying different words, or moving them around positionally a bit?

I'm not sure. Our players aren't currently playing to their maximum and tactically I think we're shooting ourselves in the foot.

I've seen players and teams respond to a change in management with improved performances though so why couldn't it happen here?

For the record, the above aside I'm not convinced sacking him is the right thing, largely for the points raised by Mr Angry.

[Hoop Blah]

he isnt responsible for them fogetting how to pass/shoot/defend

players under pressure and low on confidence tend to lump it.

The manager is responsible for creating the tactics, structure and environment plus managing the individuals to ensure they're in the best frame of mind to get the best from them.

[melonhead]

i just think that he was the one who got more than the sum of the parts out of them for the last three seasons
theyve always played above themselves under him.until now

[melonhead]

he isnt responsible for them fogetting how to pass/shoot/defend

players under pressure and low on confidence tend to lump it.

The manager is responsible for creating the tactics, structure and environment plus managing the individuals to ensure they're in the best frame of mind to get the best from them.

short of spending 30 million im not sure it was possible to radically change the squad/team this summer in order to get them to a place where tactics could be employed to change things, and their frame of mind stems from losing every week, scoring loads of goals but always letting one more in, etc not alot more the manager can do on that front
imo

[Archie's penalty]

There were fallouts last time we got relegated, what's not to say that there haven't been them this time around?

That's even without rumours and gossip. The team certainly seem a bit rudderless and down.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

fall outs?
or players pissed off with playing like idiots and losing every week?



some bloke on twitter/here saying it dont make it so imo

The illusion of the "one big happy squad, all in this together" is surely wearing a bit thin .....

There's the Federici tweets and "injury" (or not)
There's the Guthrie tweets and "injury" (or not)
There's the Alex Pearce is he dropped for tactical reason or is he dropped for contract reasons saga
And there's the common knowledge that Pog has smashed the wage structure but other haven't got parity with that.

One of these things might be coincidence, but add them all up ......

IMHO the money and profile of the Premier League is just a foul and putrid place that corrupts everything it touches - and that's happened to us a season quicker than it did last time.

[melonhead]

There were fallouts last time we got relegated, what's not to say that there haven't been them this time around?

That's even without rumours and gossip. The team certainly seem a bit rudderless and down.

no shit. i would expect them to be
but im not sure i buy this losing the dressing room inference

[Archie's penalty]

There were fallouts last time we got relegated, what's not to say that there haven't been them this time around?

That's even without rumours and gossip. The team certainly seem a bit rudderless and down.

no shit. i would expect them to be
but im not sure i buy this losing the dressing room inference

I'm not sure either, but you have to say it's a possibility.

[The Beardy Man]

I don't think even the most myopic of Reading fans expected us to have a storming season this year. As a decent championship club playing in the premier league I expected us to get beat more often than we won, and occasionally get thumped by a top draw performance from one of the big 5 or 6.

What I did expect us to be was solid, hard to beat if perhaps a little uninventive. This is pretty much what you could reasonably expect from any top half championship club who found themselves in the top flight, more so with us given our playing style over the last few seasons.

We have ended up however looking more like a club that has been air dropped in straight from league 2. Occasional good moments (such as any professional side might be expected to produce) interspersed with too many lapses and errors.

We have had some misfortune with injuries which limits the amount we could change tactics/personnel, but we have not explored the options we have had really. Nor have we showed signs of a focus on one of the troublesome aspects of our game.

My mental image of McDermott has shifted from someone who was analysing what he was seeing to someone who is throwing his hands in the air and saying 'I don't know what to do'

[Alexander Litvinenko]

The dressing room might not have been "lost" - but it's certainly not a happy place, and it's certainly not a "united, all in this together" one.

And control over it, and what comes out of it, has certainly been lost. It's ironic that a club that seems to be relying so heavily on the use of social media to boost its profile is having so much trouble from players using that.

[Hoop Blah]

he isnt responsible for them fogetting how to pass/shoot/defend

players under pressure and low on confidence tend to lump it.

The manager is responsible for creating the tactics, structure and environment plus managing the individuals to ensure they're in the best frame of mind to get the best from them.

short of spending 30 million im not sure it was possible to radically change the squad/team this summer in order to get them to a place where tactics could be employed to change things, and their frame of mind stems from losing every week, scoring loads of goals but always letting one more in, etc not alot more the manager can do on that front
imo

So we're getting the best from Pearce, Guthrie, Pogbregnyak etc?

There isn't a need to learn how to effectively defend a lead, perhaps by changing shape?

[melonhead]

i dont think, in a team performing this badly that feds and his missus having a dig, and guthrie havinga whinge(and dig at our style) is really that much


agree though- its clearly not the happiest place.and i wouldnt expect it to be.

[Hoop Blah]

i just think that he was the one who got more than the sum of the parts out of them for the last three seasons
theyve always played above themselves under him.until now

He might've got the best out of the group at Championship level, and with Championship players, but that's not the job this season.

I'm pretty sure the likes of Leigertwood, Gorkss and others could be more effective and turn those draws into the odd win and those single goal losses into draws.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

For me, one of the big differences between a Coppell team and a McDermott team is that the former had good "football intelligence" - they'd take the initiative on the pitch themselves and know how to makes changes as required by the game. And SC would encourage them to do that and allow them to succeed (or fail) on their own.

But this squad, in particular, seems to be really short of intelligent footballers. Coupled with a real lack of on-field leaders I think that's got a lot to do with it.

[Lacoste]

i dont think, in a team performing this badly that feds and his missus having a dig, and guthrie havinga whinge(and dig at our style) is really that much


agree though- its clearly not the happiest place.and i wouldnt expect it to be.

Someone form RFC could rape your mum and you'd say

'Oh well, I wouldn't expect everyone to be happy and they needed to get their frustration out anyway. Brian in'

[The Beardy Man]

For me, one of the big differences between a Coppell team and a McDermott team is that the former had good "football intelligence" - they'd take the initiative on the pitch themselves and know how to makes changes as required by the game. And SC would encourage them to do that and allow them to succeed (or fail) on their own.

But this squad, in particular, seems to be really short of intelligent footballers. Coupled with a real lack of on-field leaders I think that's got a lot to do with it.

I think that is a really good point. It was noteable under Coppell that we sought out quite a few youngsters that had come through coaching systems we clearly admired but who hadn't quite made it (plenty of ex arsenal youth players in evidence). The current crop do not have that same sort of background in general, being mostly homegrown or from the lower leagues originally. Does make you wonder if it comes down to early coaching at least in part?

[melonhead]

The manager is responsible for creating the tactics, structure and environment plus managing the individuals to ensure they're in the best frame of mind to get the best from them.

short of spending 30 million im not sure it was possible to radically change the squad/team this summer in order to get them to a place where tactics could be employed to change things, and their frame of mind stems from losing every week, scoring loads of goals but always letting one more in, etc not alot more the manager can do on that front
imo

So we're getting the best from Pearce, Guthrie, Pogbregnyak etc?

There isn't a need to learn how to effectively defend a lead, perhaps by changing shape?

tbf pearce got games but was then dropped due to results, (unluckily imo- but basically due to gorkss left foot/experience)
yeah hes a decent player- but imo hes no massive improvement on any of our CBs and isnt going to walk in and suddenly shore up or swiss cheese defence

guthrie also got games, but didnt pull up trees, and was dropped to change things up, and th change saw improvements in performances and results- he then had an ill advised moan, and was kept out of the side for a bit, and got injured. i dont think he did anything to deserve the right to demand a start, and criticising the manager rest of the team on twitter certainly deserved some censure imo.

Pog has been a failure-and again, theres nothing ive seen in the games leading up to him being dropped that means he should be a shoe in up front- especially when roberts came back he looked good, and did a decent job, nhunt scored a few goals, and so did ALF.
he got a long run in the team, and didnt really contribute- again- if he looks at himself he must surely realise it was justified to stop playing him.

in terms of those things, im not sure i disagree with McDs reasoning much.

id have brought pearce back sooner, and not inferred stuff about contracts.
and if guthrie hadnt been injured id have brought him back sooner(But he was, so.....)
also agree it would have been sensible to change the shape to try and shore up teh defence when ahead in games sometimes- but we all know that this can have the opposite effect and invite pressure on to our creaky defence

[Archie's penalty]

Pog has only been a failure because we're not playing to his strengths. We don't play the ball on the ground enough and he's not a typical 'target man'.

The bare bones of it is we need to play the ball on the ground more, or shore things up the way Stoke do.

We're not doing either of the two, we're obviously not good enough.

[melonhead]

i just think that he was the one who got more than the sum of the parts out of them for the last three seasons
theyve always played above themselves under him.until now

He might've got the best out of the group at Championship level, and with Championship players, but that's not the job this season.

I'm pretty sure the likes of Leigertwood, Gorkss and others could be more effective and turn those draws into the odd win and those single goal losses into draws.

without 30 milion to do a total rebuild he was kind of stuck with what he had though


he had 10 million for wages and fees, and 5 positions that absolutley needed filling.



imo gorkss sudden shakiness and lack of belief in hmself isnt down to mcdermott, nor is ledges traditional up and down fade in and out nature

[melonhead]

i dont think, in a team performing this badly that feds and his missus having a dig, and guthrie havinga whinge(and dig at our style) is really that much


agree though- its clearly not the happiest place.and i wouldnt expect it to be.

Someone form RFC could rape your mum and you'd say

'Oh well, I wouldn't expect everyone to be happy and they needed to get their frustration out anyway. Brian in'

no. i wouldnt

id appreciate it of you stopped talking about my mum being raped too