McDermott - 'There will be changes'

Anthony Smith • Published 27 Jan 2012 09:30 0 Comments

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Boss gives thoughts on TSI takeover

BRIAN McDermott is bracing himself for a wind of change blowing in from the east.

The Reading manager believes that new Russian owner Anton Zingarevich and his Thames Sports Investment group are certain to ring the changes at Madejski Stadium.

And he insists his own future comes second when compared to the overall health of the club.

McDermott along with his coaching staff have been assured their jobs are safe.

Royals boss said: "I want what's best for the club. It's the most important thing and always is. Individuals are not important, but the club and fans will be here for a long time after me.

"I just want what's best for Reading. On the face of it, it (the takeover) looks good, but time will tell. Time will always be the judge.

"Now we have to get on with everything that involves because there will be changes, there is absolutely no doubt.

"When you talk about new ownership, things will be different, there is no doubt in my mind.

"But I don't have a problem with that. I will embrace what goes on and I think this is a really good opportunity."

Royals have been forced to sell their crown jewels in recent years to balance the books after their Premier League parachute payments ran out.

McDermott stood and watched as the club cashed in on Kevin Doyle, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Shane Long and ex-skipper Matt Mills to the tune of £22 million during the years that followed.

That meant major rebuilding was required at the end of every season.

And in spite of the sales, Reading still reported losses of around £5 million for the year between 2010-11.

Chairman Sir John Madejski, 70, has spent years searching for a wealthy benefactor to take over the reigns and pump fresh investment into the squad.

And last week his dreams were answered when 29-year-old Zingarevich agreed to buy a 51% stake in the club for around £40 million. Zingarevich has assured McDermott that Reading will stop being a selling club from now on.

"Anton absolutely guaranteed that won't happen," declared McDermott. "He can't believe we've managed to compete the way we have. The business model was to do the best we could during the season then sell our players. To keep doing so well was incredible, and that's credit to the players and staff We're around the play-offs again this season despite doing what we've had to do."

Zingarevich made those assurances during a meeting with McDermott in Milan last week.

And, according to TSI's Chris Samuelson, who acts as Zingarevich's UK representative, the pair struck it off immediately.

"We held a meeting in Milan last Tuesday because Anton doesn't have a UK visa and he had gone there to watch the Milan derby," said Samuelson. "Sir John Madejski met Anton for several hours. We left behind Brian McDermott at 5pm in the evening, and he talked football with Anton until 1am in the morning. That continued the next morning until they had to go to the airport."

Reading fans have embraced the takeover with cautious optimism, though McDermott says he was impressed by Zingarevich.

"He's a nice bloke," he stated. "He's successful and we got on well. He loves football and he wants this club to be successful. He doesn't want Reading to leak lots of money. He wants to make money from the club.

"He wants success but he wants another way of doing it than selling your best players. That's his view, and he has told us he will support us.

"His business model wouldn't be to sell Gylfi Sigurdsson, Shane Long, Kevin Doyle or Matt Mills.

"It's not mine either, but that's what I've put up with for two years. That's why I really wanted to win that play-off final at Wembley, because I knew I could keep everybody. When we lost I knew I'd lose players again. It was very difficult.

"We won't throw millions at it. As a manager you have to find solutions, a team has to gel and it might be one player who makes the difference, maybe a couple.

"At the moment we've won seven out 10, but we can be better."

Who knows what the future holds under TSI who were eager to stress that 'everything will remain the same' under their leadership.

McDermott added: "The deal isn't done until March so we're in limbo a bit.

"We've all got to get on with our work and in the meantime get results. We've done it in the past and we have to do it again."

And he also declared: "No, I'm not sceptical about this.

"There may be a sense unease, but each player will have his own thoughts. Generally players are quite resilient, they just get on with their business. They can't affect what goes on in board rooms."

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