[silverbaggie]

Just been announced that Steve is to take over from Nigel Adkins at Reading.

Good luck to the bloke. I hope he does well.

ps. Would you like Kiely & Downing as part of your team???

[Bournemouth Baggie]

Good appointment for Reading

[santasabaggie]

Just been announced that Steve is to take over from Nigel Adkins at Reading.

Good luck to the bloke. I hope he does well.

ps. Would you like Kiely & Downing as part of your team???

Nah,he will probably take the backstaff he had at our place.
Wish he would take Downing at least

[WBA-Josh]

I liked Clarke and was always behind him when he was at the club. That being said, Peace removing him was the best decision for the club at the time. Reading is a good club in the Championship for him to learn more about being a number 1 and I wish him all the luck in the world.

I wonder what the odds are off us drawing Reading in the FA Cup if both teams get through to the next round.

[Lord Snooty]

I liked Clarke and was always behind him when he was at the club. That being said, Peace removing him was the best decision for the club at the time. Reading is a good club in the Championship for him to learn more about being a number 1 and I wish him all the luck in the world.

I wonder what the odds are off us drawing Reading in the FA Cup if both teams get through to the next round.

Not a chance in hell, mate.  

[Squirrel Regis]

Good luck to him, but don't understand why the media thought his sacking was unfair.
His last few games were proof he had no plan B, selected players not on merit but his favourites and his record over the last 12 months was shocking....
Hmmm sounds a bit like Irvine...

[Slick_Footwork]

Thought Clarke did a decent job and should be a good appointment for Reading.

His team selection was spot on more often than not. He wasn't scared to make the big calls (dropping club captain Brunt) or bring young players through. We often played decent attacking football and he oversaw some good wins at Old Trafford and Anfield.

Thought he was unfortunate not to be backed by Peace in January of his first season when Yacob was ruled out. Considering how well we were doing at the time, it made sense for us to get a replacement in. Peace preferred to do things on the cheap as we looked 'safe'. That was when the rot started.

His one big mistake was thinking Anelka was an adequate replacement for Lukaku (If Clarke did make this decision).

He was light years better than the muppet we have now. In fact, if Clarke has this squad, I think we'd be comfortably in mid table and not have to watch Dorrans keeping out superior players week in and week out.

[tidy]

I think that if Irvine had this squad PLUS Lukaku we would be top half of the table.

Jus sayin....

[Lets-talk-about-Teix]

Strange how fate works.  I'd argue Albion haven't been the same team since that implosion at Reading in January 2013 under Clarke when we were flying in the league and 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go and lost 3-2 against a team who was bottom of the league. The club on and off the field has been a shambles ever since.

Thought Clarke flattered to deceive tbh. He inherited a top 10 side + Lukaku and Ashworth running the show behind the scenes. Once he lost both of those he had absolutely no idea how to turn it around and the style of play got progressively worse as he became more and more afraid of losing (a bit like someone else we know).

It's a good fit for him given Reading have a similar structure to us I think with the DoF.  Nonetheless I'd be surprised if he managed (or head coached) in the top flight in the near future.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Really, I think it was the defeat at Swansea in November 2012 which started the rot. We staggered on and picked up a couple of wins afterward, but you could see the cracks showing (i.e. Fulham at home, New Year's Day), and the Reading match just finished the job. Clarke didn't help himself (I found it telling after the Arsenal match on telly the other week, when he made a comment along the lines of "Alan Irvine got his tactics spot-on today; all West Brom can really do in the Premier League is keep it 0-0 for an hour and then try to nick a goal") but he was also failed big-time by recruitment. In January 2013 we needed at least one new pacy wide man, and probably a new central midfielder, too. By summer 2013 we still needed both of those things, plus two new full-backs, plus a ten-goal-a-season striker. We're still suffering the effects of that dithering even now.

It would have been interesting to see what Clarke could have accomplished in 2013 with better tools. Best of luck to him.