Brian: Lower league experiences made me better

Reading manager Brian McDermott has said that managing in the lower leagues of football made him a better manager today.

The 51-year old has made a tremendous rise in the past ten years, managing at the likes of Woking and Slough, before becoming a Premier League manager with Reading. McDermott revealed how he wanted to resign as Slough Town boss back in 1998, but stayed in the job and heaped the benefits from it.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Brian said: “I set up a football in the community scheme for kids in Slough, which I loved, then I became a manager at Slough for a couple of years and at Woking after that. I got sacked at Woking after 18 months, but that`s fine – it`s good to get the sack. I had a tough time at Slough.’

‘I was struggling, I couldn’t see how I was going to deal with it and I was going to resign, but a good friend of mine told me not to jack it in. He picked up the phone and told me, ‘You never resign` – and it was good advice. So the answer to your question is: Don`t resign, just win the next game.’

‘They were good times – working at that level gave me a good grounding for where I am now. I think you have to earn the right to become a manager. I think it`s nonsense when you see players turn into managers after a year. They need to learn the trade.”