Loyalty?

[paddy20]

Sc wanted to know what Fulham were offering. I would guess this was mainly to do with the Transfer pot. If he went somewhere with a transfer fund of millions he would have a greater chance of success and becoming a top premiership manager.

At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend , probably no more than 2 or 3 million. He has 18 months left on his contract.

Weigh up the options and decide whats best for his own professional development.

So what??? Totally normal in my opinion. Why should he have massive loyalty to Reading , its just another job. He knows he could be sacked at any time. How much financial support has he had? Mostly loans only and we have recd £4m from Chelsea. We were already going ahead with the training ground.

Good on you Steve good manager

[Nameless]

We haven't mostly signed loan players.
We didn't have the money to develop Bearwood
Our transfer spending won't be based on you inventing numbers (although for some reason you think us offering him millions isn't the same as someone else offering millions - you need to be consistent !)
Fulham wouldn't be offering him unlimited funds
What are you using to determine that he us a good manager ? Trophies won ? Promotions ? Games won ?

[UpThePrem]

Sc wanted to know what Fulham were offering. I would guess this was mainly to do with the Transfer pot. If he went somewhere with a transfer fund of millions he would have a greater chance of success and becoming a top premiership manager.

At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend , probably no more than 2 or 3 million. He has 18 months left on his contract.

Weigh up the options and decide whats best for his own professional development.

So what??? Totally normal in my opinion. Why should he have massive loyalty to Reading , its just another job. He knows he could be sacked at any time. How much financial support has he had? Mostly loans only and we have recd £4m from Chelsea. We were already going ahead with the training ground.

Good on you Steve good manager

Absolutely. Agree 100%.

How many of us have been in the same situation in the past year? Have a look at other opportunities and then carry on with full commitment to your current role. Its the way of the world. The only exception being he does it in front of stirring media and 1000's of naive fans who believe everything they see and read.

[TFF]

We need more threads about the manager. Keep them coming

[Pepe the Horseman]

As I said elsewhere, I wouldn't have a problem if he'd been here a couple of years and wanted to see what else is out there. The fact is, he's a third of the way through his first season with us, after an overhaul of playing and coaching staff, and is already weighing up his options. It's not about loyalty, it's about seeing out the job you started. At least give it a season ffs.

[Nameless]

Why compare it to us ? Managers work on fixed contracts. They are not like most employees. If you are a contract worker and start breaking contracts chasing money you soon get a reputation for being unreliable and stop getting work. Comparing him to an office worker is fundamentally wrong !

[The Goat was fed]

I'm sorry, but this argument 'how many of us have been in the same situation?' simply doesn't apply in the same way to football. I've listened to a few offers this year and of course I only had myself/family in mind...but I don't have 20,000 people calling themselves my Barmy Army and spending their hard earned income to watch me manage something they've been emotionally connected to for however long.

Maybe I'm being overly idealistic, but if you can't see that being a football manager commands a higher level of accountability/loyalty than your average I.T. manager role, you've reached a level of cynicism that I'll never reach.

Loyalty is as big to a football manager as mathematics is to an accountant. If you show yourself to be disloyal, your players aren't going to bust a nut for you, the board are going to be less likely to back you in the transfer market, listen less to your plans to develop the club long term etc. etc.

[CountryRoyal]

Charles Watts
Charles Watts – ‏@charles_watts

Howe: We gave Fulham permission to speak to Steve because he asked to speak to them. #readingfc

So Clarke very much went out of his way to acknowledge and investigate the interest. More fool Reading for giving permission, and even more so if rumours of them not lowering compo is to be believed.

I'm not being naive and suggesting that loyalty should be ever present in today's game, but just speaking from a practical and logical view point Clarke needs to go, he has just shown the slightest incling of something better and he's off like a rocket.

Clarke out.

[royal_rumble]

bust a nut for you

I would say you do need loyalty for this!

[Coppelled_Streets]

At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend , probably no more than 2 or 3 million.

Where do you get that from? Vydra alone cost us £2.5m loan fee plus his wages of £1m.

[Focher]

I think football in general, especially the owners need to take a long hard look at how the trigger happy nature of hiring and firing managers is affecting the whole game. I don't blame Clarke for keeping his options open, lets face it he is on a poor run at the moment and in his mind he is probably thinking he could get fired at anytime.

There needs to be a transfer window for managers as well as players.

[Mr Optimist]

Charles Watts
Charles Watts – ‏@charles_watts

Howe: We gave Fulham permission to speak to Steve because he asked to speak to them. #readingfc

So Clarke very much went out of his way to acknowledge and investigate the interest. More fool Reading for giving permission, and even more so if rumours of them not lowering compo is to be believed.

I'm not being naive and suggesting that loyalty should be ever present in today's game, but just speaking from a practical and logical view point Clarke needs to go, he has just shown the slightest incling of something better and he's off like a rocket.

Clarke out.

Always a tricky one that in terms of giving someone permission to talk to another club, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Dixeyroyal]

Sc wanted to know what Fulham were offering. I would guess this was mainly to do with the Transfer pot. If he went somewhere with a transfer fund of millions he would have a greater chance of success and becoming a top premiership manager.

At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend , probably no more than 2 or 3 million. He has 18 months left on his contract.

Weigh up the options and decide whats best for his own professional development.

So what??? Totally normal in my opinion. Why should he have massive loyalty to Reading , its just another job. He knows he could be sacked at any time. How much financial support has he had? Mostly loans only and we have recd £4m from Chelsea. We were already going ahead with the training ground.

Good on you Steve good manager

Another totally unfounded post that contains more fiction than Steve Clarke's press conference this morning!

How have you come to the conclusion that Fulham would have a transfer fund of millions when their owner has publicly said that they spent enough money in the summer and now need to make these players work before spending anymore - maybe it's this that put Clarke off because it was too much of a challenge for him

"At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend, probably no more than 2 or 3 million" - do you actually watch and follow Reading or just support them via your phone app?
Vydra - £2.5 million loan fee
Sa - £1.1 million
Hurtado - undisclosed
Bond - £250,000
McShane - wages alone
Quinn - wages alone
Al Habsi - wages alone
Piazon - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages (although god know why)
Fernandez - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages
John - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages

Add to that the wages for the backroom staff brought in and i am sure that you will find that it comes to far more than your £2-£3 million, even allowing for transfer fees received from Chelsea for Hector, which incidentally was not paid up front and will be paid in installments, part of the agreement being that we loan him back for the season.

Why should he have loyalty to Reading? - because he was backed with the funds mentioned above and basically given liberty to do what he wanted with the playing staff. Loyalty works both ways and the owners have given him their full backing and all he wanted to do was s**t on them.

And as for the good manager bit, that remains to be seen, good managers get results, know how to change games, act with integrity, and have a plan for the length of their contract.
On that basis I would argue that he is far from being a good manager!

[sandman]

Sc wanted to know what Fulham were offering. I would guess this was mainly to do with the Transfer pot. If he went somewhere with a transfer fund of millions he would have a greater chance of success and becoming a top premiership manager.

At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend , probably no more than 2 or 3 million. He has 18 months left on his contract.

Weigh up the options and decide whats best for his own professional development.

So what??? Totally normal in my opinion. Why should he have massive loyalty to Reading , its just another job. He knows he could be sacked at any time. How much financial support has he had? Mostly loans only and we have recd £4m from Chelsea. We were already going ahead with the training ground.

Good on you Steve good manager

Another totally unfounded post that contains more fiction than Steve Clarke's press conference this morning!

How have you come to the conclusion that Fulham would have a transfer fund of millions when their owner has publicly said that they spent enough money in the summer and now need to make these players work before spending anymore - maybe it's this that put Clarke off because it was too much of a challenge for him

"At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend, probably no more than 2 or 3 million" - do you actually watch and follow Reading or just support them via your phone app?
Vydra - £2.5 million loan fee
Sa - £1.1 million
Hurtado - undisclosed
Bond - £250,000
McShane - wages alone
Quinn - wages alone
Al Habsi - wages alone
Piazon - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages (although god know why)
Fernandez - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages
John - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages

Add to that the wages for the backroom staff brought in and i am sure that you will find that it comes to far more than your £2-£3 million, even allowing for transfer fees received from Chelsea for Hector, which incidentally was not paid up front and will be paid in installments, part of the agreement being that we loan him back for the season.

Why should he have loyalty to Reading? - because he was backed with the funds mentioned above and basically given liberty to do what he wanted with the playing staff. Loyalty works both ways and the owners have given him their full backing and all he wanted to do was s**t on them.

And as for the good manager bit, that remains to be seen, good managers get results, know how to change games, act with integrity, and have a plan for the length of their contract.
On that basis I would argue that he is far from being a good manager!

Interesting you select the Hector transfer in your example but fail to mention getting the likes of Pog, Feds, Jem, Pearce, Akpan and Guthrie, who were all signed to high wages off the wage bill. Hector may be the only transfer fee but those wages are a hell of a lot of money off the budget and it would be surprising if those who came in are on nearly as much money.

Were the outgoing staff being paid nothing whilst they were here?

The only naive people in football are the fans.

[DaddyKuhl]

Another totally unfounded post that contains more fiction than Steve Clarke's press conference this morning!

Followed up with:

"At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend, probably no more than 2 or 3 million" - do you actually watch and follow Reading or just support them via your phone app?
Vydra - £2.5 million loan fee
Sa - £1.1 million
Hurtado - undisclosed
Bond - £250,000
McShane - wages alone
Quinn - wages alone
Al Habsi - wages alone
Piazon - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages (although god know why)
Fernandez - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages
John - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages

Add to that the wages for the backroom staff brought in and i am sure that you will find that it comes to far more than your £2-£3 million, even allowing for transfer fees received from Chelsea for Hector, which incidentally was not paid up front and will be paid in installments, part of the agreement being that we loan him back for the season.

Gotta love it... in summary "Your unfounded speculation is bullsh*t, to show you it's bullsh*t, here is some more unfounded speculation which proves you wrong"

[WoodleyRoyal]

Another totally unfounded post that contains more fiction than Steve Clarke's press conference this morning!

Followed up with:

"At Reading we have a restricted amount to spend, probably no more than 2 or 3 million" - do you actually watch and follow Reading or just support them via your phone app?
Vydra - £2.5 million loan fee
Sa - £1.1 million
Hurtado - undisclosed
Bond - £250,000
McShane - wages alone
Quinn - wages alone
Al Habsi - wages alone
Piazon - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages (although god know why)
Fernandez - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages
John - loan but we will still be paying some of his wages

Add to that the wages for the backroom staff brought in and i am sure that you will find that it comes to far more than your £2-£3 million, even allowing for transfer fees received from Chelsea for Hector, which incidentally was not paid up front and will be paid in installments, part of the agreement being that we loan him back for the season.

Gotta love it... in summary "Your unfounded speculation is bullsh*t, to show you it's bullsh*t, here is some more unfounded speculation which proves you wrong"

"Your unfounded speculation is bullsh*t, to show you it's bullsh*t, here is some more unfounded speculation which proves you wrong" should be the HNA? mission statement

[ddetisi]

Agree with the initial post. All the comments of "His hearts clearly not in it if he wants to leave"
I don't care if he hates working at Reading, your own 'emotional connection' does not have any bearing on how much the staff employed by the club choose to deal with their own careers.

"We backed him with funds and freedom in the transfer window and now he wants to leave"

The only people that even slightly affects is the owners, and if he hadn't of spent that money or moved anyone on then he'd of been sacked by now anyway.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Agree with the initial post. All the comments of "His hearts clearly not in it if he wants to leave"
I don't care if he hates working at Reading, your own 'emotional connection' does not have any bearing on how much the staff employed by the club choose to deal with their own careers.

"We backed him with funds and freedom in the transfer window and now he wants to leave"

The only people that even slightly affects is the owners, and if he hadn't of spent that money or moved anyone on then he'd of been sacked by now anyway.

What about the Paul McShanes, Stephen Quinns and Ali Al-Habsis of the team who he sold the project to, only to try and duck out at the first opportunity?

[Toxteth O'Grady (USA)]

I'm sorry, but this argument 'how many of us have been in the same situation?' simply doesn't apply in the same way to football. I've listened to a few offers this year and of course I only had myself/family in mind...but I don't have 20,000 people calling themselves my Barmy Army and spending their hard earned income to watch me manage something they've been emotionally connected to for however long.

Maybe I'm being overly idealistic, but if you can't see that being a football manager commands a higher level of accountability/loyalty than your average I.T. manager role, you've reached a level of cynicism that I'll never reach.

Loyalty is as big to a football manager as mathematics is to an accountant. If you show yourself to be disloyal, your players aren't going to bust a nut for you, the board are going to be less likely to back you in the transfer market, listen less to your plans to develop the club long term etc. etc.

I agree 100%. Football is not the same. The whole dynamic is different.
When I contemplate leaving my boss doesn't know, the owners of my company don't know, (I don't have fans), and importantly the people working for me don't know. My "loyalty" or commitment is not questioned because there is no reason to.
In football, everyone knows. It's ostensibly a public institution and therefore the rules of the game are different.
How can you command respect from your team if they see you are not committed to the cause and/or prepared to be mercenary? Can he stop players talking to other clubs in January? His leadership has been totally undermined. In my view he is now a sitting duck. A few good results doesn't change fact. What is done, is done. He has to go for the good of the club.

[sandman]

Agree with the initial post. All the comments of "His hearts clearly not in it if he wants to leave"
I don't care if he hates working at Reading, your own 'emotional connection' does not have any bearing on how much the staff employed by the club choose to deal with their own careers.

"We backed him with funds and freedom in the transfer window and now he wants to leave"

The only people that even slightly affects is the owners, and if he hadn't of spent that money or moved anyone on then he'd of been sacked by now anyway.

What about the Paul McShanes, Stephen Quinns and Ali Al-Habsis of the team who he sold the project to, only to try and duck out at the first opportunity?

They won't care as long as they're getting paid.