Richardson out

[Snowflake Royal]

….or maybe just conveniently missed out by those with their pre-conceived agendas?

There will be a part of that, a bit like politics, someone votes for X party and everything that party does is defended and pardoned yet party Y do something and the person goes crazy (yet if their party did it, it would be ok)

My personal POV is that I’m very unbiased and uninterested really. I’m no massive LEAM fan but also I felt we needed a change and it’s far too early to judge him too few games and the same players. Also, we are years away from being an attractive proposition to managers, yes we have a good ground, a good location and an academy but let’s be honest our premier league days are so far behind us, even being a team challenging in the championship are years ago we are where we are and we are what we are. Some are biased (partly understandable if you support a team) but if we supported a different league one club, very few of us would look at Reading and think oh yeah decent attractive club that’s going places.

Give him time and we can see.

It's the only sensible way SDR.

Regardless of whether you like or rate the appointment you've got to give it time and remember the mess he's unpicking.

It's toxic to be anything other than cautiously supportive right now, even if there are concerns and complaints.

[South Coast Royal]

Just on the point of contracts given.
With the owner seemingly reluctant to pay transfer fees that might mean he is reluctant to pay signing-on fees as well.
If that is the case then the length of the contract becomes the main issue for the player and so a longer contract could be what puts us in the frame as the best choice of club option.

Unfortunately with long contracts for old boys, as seen in the past, they become liabilities both financially and in terms of injuries so in the long run offering longer contracts rather than money up front can be a false economy.
Maybe the owner really isn't interested in the longer term and had been hoping for some success on the pitch and sell for a quick profit; after all he wasn't around at Wycombe for very long.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Just on the point of contracts given.
With the owner seemingly reluctant to pay transfer fees that might mean he is reluctant to pay signing-on fees as well.
If that is the case then the length of the contract becomes the main issue for the player and so a longer contract could be what puts us in the frame as the best choice of club option.

Unfortunately with long contracts for old boys, as seen in the past, they become liabilities both financially and in terms of injuries so in the long run offering longer contracts rather than money up front can be a false economy.
Maybe the owner really isn't interested in the longer term and had been hoping for some success on the pitch and sell for a quick profit; after all he wasn't around at Wycombe for very long.

I wonder if this is true. We don't see the financial mess inherited behind closed doors, but potentially his plan was to clean up off the pitch and sell to someone more ambitious who is willing to pay a bit more. Though that plan won't work if we go down. And it's contrary to his stated ambition. I think he's brash and boastful but I don't think he's a liar.

[West F]

Not going to be sacked.

Couhig stated that Richardson was his choice to manage Reading when he first started the process of buying out Dai Yongge. Richardson has been patiently waiting in the wings for this to happen post takeover. The problem that Uncle Bob had, was that Noel had narrowly missed out on the play-offs and had a long standing affiliation with the club and its supporters. It would have been almost impossible for him to sack Noel and put Richardson in place before the start of the season.
Richardson is Couhig’s man. He cannot allow him to fail as this reflects on his own judgement. From what I know and see of Couhig, he does not like being wrong. The whole appointment saga of Richardson and his ‘coach load’ of staff was obviously worked out far in advance of any reactive decision made following some sporadic ‘sacked in the morning’ chants. You could see a situation where they had to sack Noel, not because performances were bad. But, because performances were improving.
They didn’t employ and contract the current coaching team in record time due to their efficiency. They did it weeks beforehand. Everyone needs to realise that Uncle Bob is a successful and wealthy attorney at law. For him to say he is not a ‘strategic guy’ is frankly absurd. We, as a fan base are the jury. We need to be swayed.

[Hound]

I don’t mind LR; but tbh don’t really read or listen to his interviews a lot. Does baffle me why people pick these interviews apart so much and become ‘outraged’ by one small comment here or there

If any of us were shoved in front of a camera after a poor performance I’m sure we’d also say things we probably shouldn’t have done either. Who cares tbh. Only thing I give a toss about is if the team are playing well and getting results (which last two games we haven’t)

[Snowflake Royal]

I don’t mind LR; but tbh don’t really read or listen to his interviews a lot. Does baffle me why people pick these interviews apart so much and become ‘outraged’ by one small comment here or there

If any of us were shoved in front of a camera after a poor performance I’m sure we’d also say things we probably shouldn’t have done either. Who cares tbh. Only thing I give a toss about is if the team are playing well and getting results (which last two games we haven’t)

This.

The vast majority of interviews are trite repetitive nonsense. And that's just the questions, let alone the answers. You get more depth in a saharan puddle.

[The Royal Forester]

If I am correct these stats are correct for League matches only

Noel's last five games / Leam's first five games
Wins 1/ 2
Draws 3 / 1
Loss 1/ 2
Clean sheets 1/ 2
Fail to score 0/ 2
Points 6/ 7
Goals for 5/ 6
Goals against 4/ 5
Total shots 77/ 53
On target 24/ 22

I am not saying Noel should not have been sacked-that happens all the time in football- or that Leam should be given the big E- too early for that- but asking the question was it worth the change for so little difference in the outcome? Considering we are now paying for two managers (or have paid Noel a lump sum), the increase in coaching staff wages, Leam has had plenty of training time, with all the "downtime" we have had, I don't think so. Do you?