Iconic Reading manager Brian McDermott has urged teams to 'manage as best they can' with the upcoming World Cup break.
For the first time ever, the world's biggest football tournament is to take place in the middle of winter, in order to avoid the summer in host nation Qatar.
The Royals, along with the rest of the Championship, will take a three week gap in November to allow the group stage matches to take place- returning the week before Christmas.
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An unprecedented occurance, 2012 Championship winning manager McDermott believes clubs need to take it week-by-week and work their way through.
Speaking exclusively to the Reading Chronicle, he said: "It's never happened before, so who knows what the World Cup break will bring. You don’t know because it’s an unknown factor. You’ve got this big tournament in the middle of November, it’s never happened. It’s part of what makes this season this season. It is what it is, you just have to concentrate on the next game. You just have to try and manage it as best you can."
Almost splitting the season directly in half, it is a stage at which many expected to se managerial changes.
Just 10 matches into the campaign, three managers have already been given the sack.
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Removed from his post three times as a boss, McDermott feels it is just the way football is nowadays.
"What owners do; they do. If you consider the year we went up, the second time, we lost five of the first seven games. In this day and age, I’d have been sacked twice. From 2000-2013, we had four managers. The most important thing is a bit of stability, give the manager some time and let him do his stuff. For me, there looks to be a camaraderie between the players, the staff, and the supporters again. It’s building, and that’s a good place to be."
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