Brian McDermott was relieved of his duties at the Madejski Stadium on yesterday afternoon with the Royals languishing in 19th place in the Barclays Premier League table.
Paolo Di Canio and Roberto Di Matteo have both been strongly linked with the vacancy but it is understood that no discussions have taken place with anyone at this stage.
That means academy manager Eamonn Dolan is likely to be in charge for Saturday's trip to league leaders Manchester United, looking to arrest a run of four successive league defeats.
Di Canio was present for Reading's 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday and the former Swindon boss remains the bookmakers' favourite to be appointed by Russian owner Anton Zingarevich.
Former Royals midfielder John Salako feels Di Canio would be a good choice to replace McDermott and could inspire the squad to secure top-flight survival.
"This might be the perfect moment for Paolo Di Canio," Salako told talkSPORT.
"He has fallen out with the Swindon guys, he's walked away, he's in-between jobs and he might be the perfect answer.
"He could come in on an interim basis, they will say to him, 'let's see how it goes until the summer. Show us what you can do'.
"He will go and fire up that dressing room, grab people by the neck, throw cups of tea around and not let people slack off."
Several of Reading's players have used Twitter to thank McDermott for his achievements at the club after the 51-year-old guided Reading back to the Premier League last season.
He only collected the Barclays Manager of the Month award for January 33 days before being shown the door by Zingarevich, with first-team coach Nigel Gibbs also leaving the club.
In their initial statement Reading said they were actively seeking a replacement as soon as possible but it would appear they have not yet identified their number one target.
Meanwhile, Millwall manager Kenny Jackett, who is set to lead his side out in an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Blackburn on Wednesday evening, has offered his support to McDermott.
"You can't be surprised, we all know that goes with the territory now," he said.
"I don't know the ins and outs of it but I do know he's done fantastically well for the club, in lots of roles over many years.
"Promotion last year was fantastic - they won 15 of their last 17 games - and they are not down and out yet.
"He should hold his head up high in terms of what he's done for the club."
McDermott had fulfilled several roles at the Madejski Stadium since joining the club as chief scout in 2000 but paid the price for a run of results that sees only QPR below them in the table by virtue of goals scored.
Post Comment
