Next Reading Manager: Press Conference @ 9:15

[windermere_royal]

What about the return of Sir Steve

Big NO

[Gordons Cumming]

A manager called Houdini perhaps?

That'd help....

[Scutterbucketz]

Paolo Di Canio4/7

Roberto Di Matteo6/1

Nigel Adkins6/1

Alan Curbishley16/1



Phil Parkinson20/1

Steve McClaren28/1

Stuart Pearce33/1

Gus Poyet33/1



Ole Gunnar Solskjaer33/1

Mark Hughes33/1

Steve Coppell40/1

Alex McCleish40/1

This betting is only on the back of him being at the game Saturday, SJM is still chairman, he will have a say in the new appointment

I'd bet money that he won't.

[Royalee]

What about the return of Sir Steve

Sidwell?

[andrew1957]

Di Canio - God help us NO. Madman who would destabilise the whole club in no time. One thing doing that with League 1 players but those tactics won’t work at this level – with him my bet is that we will be looking League 1 in the face this time next year.

Adkins - no thank you - not for me. Why did Southampton sack him? Not good enough.

De Matteo is the only one I would be happy with.

[LoyalRoyal22]

Hopefully not anyone that will carry on this 442 high temp system. We need to evolve

[Royal Dee]

I know im going to get hate for saying

Di Canio might have the right character to inspire and demand the best out of this lot of players that we have.
Brian was not good with big personalities in the squad, since he was a nobody to the new players and didnt command respect. A big personality like Di Canio might control and attract bigger players to us that Brian couldn't get.
I personally don't care about his personal values, as long as he gets the job done and isn't going to reflect his values while on the job.

intellectual arguments/comments please... but then again this is hobnob...

[P!ssed Off]

Di matteo, Solksjaer, Parkinson, Stuart Pearce or someone like Karl Robinson. Basically, someone who is not an annoying dick (di canio, hoddle, adkins, curbishley)

[P!ssed Off]

The only upside if Di Canio was hired is that if things went to sh!t I would feel absolutely no guilt in calling for him to be sacked, despicable person.

[Barry the bird boggler]

I hear Nigel Gibbs could be in line for the job.......

[1871royals]

I think Poyet would be a good shout - not sure if we can get
him though?

Atkins spent £20 mill, came 2nd to mcd last season & was just slightly ahead of us this season

Di Canio is a nob & hasnt managed above l1 please no.

[paultheroyal]

I hear Nigel Gibbs could be in line for the job.......

as number 2 to McDermott when he joins Leeds as their new manager

[Divvy]

Andrei Shevchenko - 25/1 to be next Reading manager

[Divvy]

I hear Nigel Gibbs could be in line for the job.......

Please no. This is not a time for punts on inexperienced managers, especially when they've been part of the problem coaching team.

[jonboy29red]

got to be ian brantfoot

[Hoop Blah]

When we had the discussion about who might replace him before Christmas I thought Poyet would be an excellent and realistic choice.

I can't see him being interested now that we're as good as down though. He has a good thing at Brighton and his next move will be upwards. At the moment it would be an odd choice, career-wise, for him to jump ship to a side that next year is going to behind his in terms of chances for promotion and which would basically be putting him 2 or 3 seasons behind their development.

Parky coming back would be interesting too, but I'm not sure he's proven enough to earn another chance at this level yet.

The other semi-obvious name that I haven't seen mentioned so far is Dolan, at least in a caretaker capacity.

[windermere_royal]

I hear Nigel Gibbs could be in line for the job.......

our present defensive coach?? 56 goals conceded?..yesss pleeeeasse

[jellytot]

What about the return of Sir Steve

Big NO

Agreed, We have done Sir Steve. I do not like the idea of an interim manager coming in. I would rather see someone step in on a 18 month contract and start work on rebuilding immediately. We need someone who is able to shake things up a bit and get us playing football!! More than anything a manager that LOVES a passing game. Not sure what coaching qualifications DiCanio has.. and I am not keen on him to be honest. I would prefer Adkins who has experience at PL level and gets his team to pass the ball through the midfield not over it. It is too late to change the fact that we are going down. However, at least the new man can have a good look at the staff and club before a huge summer and a mass clear out.

AZ and Hammond have to take some of the blame for this failed season. I prefer someone to come in soon. Man U next then international break which is perfect for thinking long and hard about who we need to take the club forward and return us to the PL! Have new man in for Arsenal.

[windermere_royal]

When we had the discussion about who might replace him before Christmas I thought Poyet would be an excellent and realistic choice.

I can't see him being interested now that we're as good as down though. He has a good thing at Brighton and his next move will be upwards. At the moment it would be an odd choice, career-wise, for him to jump ship to a side that next year is going to behind his in terms of chances for promotion and which would basically be putting him 2 or 3 seasons behind their development.

Parky coming back would be interesting too, but I'm not sure he's proven enough to earn another chance at this level yet.

The other semi-obvious name that I haven't seen mentioned so far is Dolan, at least in a caretaker capacity.

Madejski always promoted from within, not always a wise choice, I think AZ might be different

[BrockManson]

Anyone really surprised BM got the heave ho? I'm not in the least surprised as it's been long coming.

First of all though - the man should be thanked for sorting out the hideous mess Brendan Rodgers was making. I've been a season ticket holder since Pardew took over, and never have I seen the club in such a dire fix. Brian came in and kept the club up (relegation would've been catastrophic at that point) - definitely a massive achievement in itself given the hangover clubs relegated from the premiership often experience. He's been a loyal servant to the club for years and brought the iconic Doyle and Long to the club (Kitson as well?).

His getting the team to a playoff final and then finishing as champions the next season were nothing short of miraculous. The squad was paper thin even when they got relegated from the premiership, and only let more players go each season without bringing in proper reinforcements. People may disagree but it's clear to me Brian got the job because he wasn't going to kick off at Madjeski's lack of critical investment in the playing staff (yes, JM has done wonders for the club since he bought it but that's another matter). He even sang the owner's praises when Sigurdsson was sold to a non-club who threw money at our chairman.

Unfortunately for him, the premiership is a cruel league and he's simply out of his depth at this level. His and the board's abject failure in the transfer market has also cost the team dearly. Going into the premiership with Ian Harte as your first choice LB, Gorkss (to start with), McAnuff and Leigterwood as key players is absolutely unforgivable. Signing Guthrie was a good move on paper, but incredibly naive as he just doesn't fit into the sort of system Brian uses. McDermott is totally unable to adapt tactically to matches. He only ever has a vague plan B - last season it was to move Karacan to right back and move McAnuff into the middle (which was utter crud). This season has been to bring on Le Fondre to try and nab a goal. With an overachieving lower playoff-standard team, you need organised tactics to make up for your players' lesser quality.

Tactics have been to simply play at a high tempo and get the ball forward, which hasn't worked. It was fine in the Championship where spirit, graft and kick & rush can get results, but you need that something extra to succeed at this high a level. McDermott only changes the formation after several games where his lineup hasn't delivered. Even during the run of form in January after finally switching to a more conservative 4-5-1, he still didn't adapt the team for the important home games where more attacking formations would've won games. There's next to no defensive cohesion or consistency because the defence is never the bloody same. Pearce not signing a new contract doesn't help, but nor does hurting the team by leaving your best centre back out of the side and playing an academy graduate who hadn't even played for the club at championship level. We've had the weakest left flank in the entire league for the majority of our games, and every team we've played as exploited this.

He was always living on borrowed time thanks to his and the team's heroics last season, but he became to reliant on this. It was like Brian bingo after a game - 'these players have given me everything', 'this time last season we were at the bottom of the table' etc. He needed to drop the players who were out of form, not continuously alienate those who were on the bench. Zingarevich has wanted to get rid of him for ages, but clearly has a good relationship with Mr Madj so has stuck with his manager. Two back to back home defeats against Wigan and a very poor Villa side is unacceptable. Did Brian take responsibility? No. He got the tactics wrong, he got the team selection wrong, and this has been the case all season.

It's stupid to let him go with so few games left. Should've sacked him in January and given a new manager the transfer window. Now the club are crying out for a manager who will be able to secure the long term future of the club rather than swan in and flog a dead horse that is this current league campaign. Adkins maybe - he did well at Southampton but the core of his team had been put in place by Pardew. My big worry is whoever comes in to replace McDermott has a major restructuring of the club to do, and most likely have to accept relegation on their CV.