McDermott vows to complete 'unfinished business' with Reading

Anthony Smith • Published 23 Feb 2012 13:30 0 Comments

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Royals boss determined to make up for last year's Wembley disappointment

READING manager Brian McDermott says he is staying at the Madejski Stadium because he has 'unfinished business.'

The 50-year-old signed an improved three-and-a-half year contract on Wednesday after rejecting a move to Premier League Wolves.

It finally put paid to a week of intense speculation over his future after the Reading Chronicle broke the story linking McDermott with Molineux as Mick McCarthy's replacement.

But McDermott says he is determined to erase the memory of last year's play-off final defeat to Swansea City by clinching promotion to the Premier League this time around.

The former Slough Town boss declared: "I've got unfinished business here. We were very close to promotion last season at Wembley and we want to erase that memory.

"The pain of the play-off final defeat is still there. It's what drives us on. We're in a stronger position this year with the backing of the new owners."

McDermott listed the overwhelming support from Reading fans, players, chairman Sir John Madejski and new owner Anton Zingarevich as key reasons behind his decision.

"I was listening to the radio phone ins and I couldn't believe the amount of support I received from the fans, I was very touched by that, it was really important to me," added McDermott.

"I've received great support from the players too. Anton got Jason Roberts, Tomasz Cywka and Jason Connolly in for us and Jimmy Kebe signed a new deal.

"They committed to me and I committed to them. It was really important I did the same for them."

McDermott has also struck up a good relationship with Zingarevich who was eager to improve his manager's rolling one-year contract.

"I had a conversation with Anton and he said something which will remain between him and I, but which was really important to me," revealed McDermott.

"It's really important the manager and owner are side-by-side. If that wasn't the case we would have had a problem. But it's not the case here, he's a good guy."

In further developments, Thames Sports Investment's Chris Samuelson said their takeover of Reading FC could be completed earlier than expected.

Zingarevich is poised to buy a 51% stake in the club for £25 million.

Samuelson said: "We're happy with the progress. The end of March is still the deadline and we will see if we can do it sooner."

Zingarevich, 29, has now resolved his visa issues and paid his first visit to Madejski Stadium last Friday to see Roberts score the winner in a 1-0 victory over Burnley that leaves Royals fourth in the Championship table.

McDermott's men will be looking for a fifth successive victory and clean sheet this Saturday when they travel to the Riverside to face promotion-rivals Middlesbrough (3pm).

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