Sir Steve V's Big McD

[Archies Volley II]

The 106 season is, and will remain for a long time, the greatest ever achievement of this club.

and for almost any club!

The point about the 106 season is it was (and will be for some considerable time I would guess) a record - one that was built on a lot of hard, and very good, work before hand,

What BM has done since he took over, and I mean from his initial caretaker role, has been nothing short of briliant in terms of the fortunes of Reading FC this season....

.... if this continues into a serious go at the top 2 next year year then we can start to compare.

Don't get me wrong, as I have said above what Big McD has done thie season is fantastic - but the thing with Sir Steve and that season was that it was the culmination of a lot of exceptionaly good work.

For what it is worth I reckon BM has it in him to produce a similar result (i.e. automatic promotion after a lot of execptionaly good work) but as far as his achievements this season go - since we all (I assume) agree that even after the major shake up / departures over the summer we still had a much better squad than the likes of The Posh and Sheff Wed etc and also agree that (after Rodgers) all that was needed was "a back to basics" approach to get us sorted out we should not overly praise BM so far - when we are aready celebrating promotion in a years time however comparisons may be made!

[Woodcote Royal]

How the fcuk can anyone over praise what McDermott has done in 2 months with no money and someone elses squad

I hate to interrupt this Coppell w@nk fest but why not discount all the players he paid for over five years in charge or, perhaps, compare his first 11 games in charge with the players he inherited.

It may be early days but McDermott has a fantastic record despite having to cope with the cr@p Coppell & Rodgers left behind.

[ankeny]

Wonder where we would be now if BM had taken over at the beginning of the season?

[Basingstoke Royal]

McD has come in and taken over someone elses squad. A
squad of youngsters mainly, who had little or no experience at this level. They had been thrown in at the deep end. In addition they had been told to play in a way they weren't comfortable with.

When Brian came in he found a team that only knew how to lose, a team that hated playing at home, and didn't play together as a group.

To get out of a rot like that and not only survive but have a chance of promotion is a fantastic achievement and I'm not sure coppell had these motivational skills in his locker. If he did we would have gone up last year, and probably not got relegated. We ended up losing as a habit the year we went down and after Xmas last year - it was all in the
players minds but the coaching staff couldn't turn them back to being the world beaters we were before christmas of last season.

106 season was a spectacular achievement, and tactically coppell was brilliant. This season was a different challenge and for Brian to change the players mentally from what they were is exceptional.

[under the tin]

"The point about the 106 season is it was (and will be for some considerable time I would guess) a record - one that was built on a lot of hard, and very good, work before hand"
--------that pre dates Coppell, I refer you to the bloke now in charge at Southampton.

"Whereas if what you meant was that the achievements that year were, for the want of a better word, freakish"
Absolutely.

For me, THAT season was one where the team just clicked, where the group of players were collectively playing right at the top of their game. In another thread, there's a discussion about centre backs. Now, I'm a Dariusz fan, but I have to say that in 2006, Sonko was absolutely friggin imperious. He could jump higher, run faster than he had ever done before, or since.
It would appear, having kept half an eye on the careers on those who have since left, that this was one of those occaisions where the whole added up to more than the constituent parts.
Coppell, by achievements, is the best manager that RFC have ever had, but I would'nt describe him as a tactical genius.

[Royalwaster]

"The point about the 106 season is it was (and will be for some considerable time I would guess) a record - one that was built on a lot of hard, and very good, work before hand"
--------that pre dates Coppell, I refer you to the bloke now in charge at Southampton.

"Whereas if what you meant was that the achievements that year were, for the want of a better word, freakish"
Absolutely.

For me, THAT season was one where the team just clicked, where the group of players were collectively playing right at the top of their game. In another thread, there's a discussion about centre backs. Now, I'm a Dariusz fan, but I have to say that in 2006, Sonko was absolutely friggin imperious. He could jump higher, run faster than he had ever done before, or since.
It would appear, having kept half an eye on the careers on those who have since left, that this was one of those occaisions where the whole added up to more than the constituent parts.
Coppell, by achievements, is the best manager that RFC have ever had, but I would'nt describe him as a tactical genius.

Agree he's not a tactical genius - he's a motivational genius. He manages to get the most out of sometimes quite mediocre players. So far BMc seems to show both tactical and motivational nous - but it's too early to tell. Look at Ian Dowie.

[Gordons Cumming]

It's strange that a good cup run has had the opposite effect on Leeds United.

[under the tin]

"Agree he's not a tactical genius - he's a motivational genius. He manages to get the most out of sometimes quite mediocre players. So far BMc seems to show both tactical and motivational nous - but it's too early to tell. Look at Ian Dowie."

I'm not so sure about the motivational thing, either.
When interviewed, Coppell said that the 106 season was his easiest as a football manager.

However, when things started to go wrong, results/performance-wise, there didn't appear to be much in his locker.

I think Coppell's gift was the ability to spot a player, and polish up rough diamonds, if you like.
He didn't get it right all the time, but no-one ever does.
Hunt's career was going nowhere at Brentford. Now he's an established Prem player, and a full Ireland international.
Kevin Doyle, Ian Wright, you know the names. I wouldn't describe these players as mediocre. '

[readingbedding]

Coppell was tactically and motivational astute for us as a whole.
For 2 years he had English clubs mostly scratching their heads.

[Royal With Cheese]

THEN, he started to work his magic with the 1-1 and 2-1 v Liverpool (maybe he got lucky, but I think it was his management) I had predicted 1-5 in the home game!

Yes we lost at Forest but they have AWESOME home form, we dominated the second half, missed a pen and should have got a result

H WIN 4-1 Doncaster
H WIN 5-1 Leicester City
H WIN 3-0 Preston
H WIN 2-0 Coventry City
H WIN 2-1 Reading
H WIN 5-0 QPR
H WIN 2-1 Sheffield Wed
H WIN 1-0 Sheffield Utd
H WIN 1-0 Middlesbrough
H WIN 1-0 Swansea City
H WIN 1-0 Peterborough
H WIN 2-0 Crystal Palace

I'd appreciate clarification of the above as I've no idea what it means. Apologies if I'm being dim but I don't recall us beating ourselves 2-1.

That is Nottingham Forest's run of 13 straight home wins, with our narrow defeat in there.

Crystal clear now. Thanks for pointing it out.