Bye Nicky

[Rusty royal]

New director of football required Calling Sir Steve

[Rusty royal]

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... 86341.aspx

[secks]

Nigel Howe to take over his duties, so no replacement as such then!

[tidus_mi2]

Very underrated member of the Reading FC staff, always got a good deal for our players but constantly seen as a figure of blame by fans, will be interesting if anything changes with Nigel Howe taking over.

[howser]

Probably the right time for him to go, has been here a fair time and been involved in the best ever era that the club has had. Interesting that the official site says that Howe will take over the Director of Football responsibilities (Hammond not being replaced ??) with Tevreden never heard of him ? says he is head of International football development, maybe a clue as to where our summer signings are going to come from. ?

Howe is slowly getting a huge amount of control at the club ?

[TFF]

Question marks over recent business but who knows what constraints he's been working under with the current owners. Zingarevich just cut him out with play money he never had and left him and Nige to pick up the pieces.

Under Sir John he oversaw constant success and did some amazing deals, ins and outs. Good luck to him.

Be careful what you wish for...

[sandman]

Good luck to him. unfairly maligned by many fans who didn't understand what his job entails.

[2.8 lita injection]

Part of the 106 team so he must had done something right, good luck to him.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Question marks over recent business but who knows what constraints he's been working under with the current owners. Zingarevich just cut him out with play money he never had and left him and Nige to pick up the pieces.

Under Sir John he oversaw constant success and did some amazing deals, ins and outs. Good luck to him.

Be careful what you wish for...

this....and was a half decent keeper too

Soon they wil all be gone.....all the best

[blueroyals]

Great wheeler and dealer but never seemed to have a long term plan other than buy low sell high. With managers coming and going as often as they do it's down to the DoF for some continuity in terms of the type of player being signed and we've never had that. Hence the huge turnover of players we seem to have every summer nowadays.

[George_]

Been part of the clubs most successful period & he's been very key to that. Highly rated among other clubs and has turned down offers before to move. Pulled of some great deals for the club in the past & getting a lot more £ than we should have been getting (£5 million for Mills etc)

Not sure this is a positive sign..

[RoyalinBracknell]

Disappointed to see Hammond go and a bit more uneasy about the club now, particularly concerning why he's decided to go now (.though I sense his role has possibly diminished since Anton arrived in 2012.)

Personally I think the club needs to get back to a similar strategy to that it had pre-AZ whereas Hammond going is a further step away for that, and will perhaps make Brian McDermott's position a bit more vulnerable.

Good luck to Hammond in his new role - I think he largely did an excellent job, particularly when it came to selling players for extensive sums of money.

[Winston Smith]

Good luck to him. unfairly maligned by many fans who didn't understand what his job entails.

Very much this. Absolutely slated by a small section of e-fans who had no real idea what he did while also refusing to offer up any praise when things were going well.

More disappointed with this than when many players have left us

[eddiegrundy]

Nicky Hammond at his best

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wddez3b2BLA

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Goodbye to a man who could sell ice to the Eskimos..... at 5 times the going rate

[3points]

Don't think this is good news, especially with no like for like replacement. Looks like we are continuing to cut costs with our parachute payments ending at the end of next season. Always been good selling players, but less sure about the signing of players. But still a complete surprise.

[Top Flight]

This is a very worrying sign in my opinion. Maybe Nick doesn't see a good environment to work in with the Thai owners. Hopefully he was offered a job that was too good to refuse rather than he sees difficulties and problems with our current set up.

Thanks Nick for all your hard work. Has done a great job for Reading FC for many years.

[Y21]

The idea of Nigel Howe as director of football makes me feel a little but sick.

[royal67]

The idea of Nigel Howe as director of football makes me feel a little but sick.

Don't worry, his ineptitude will shine through and he'll be off soon as well I imagine. The end is nigh, we're all doomed etc......

[Royal Ginger]

Sad to see him go, he's kept this club afloat many a time with his unbelievable deals. Still, things change, can't cling to the past.

Howe has been around football long enough that I'm willing to give him a chance. It's not like he's operating without advice, scouts will be telling him what's what, and if he's just the business end...that works for me, he's a business man.