Manager Brian McDermott leaves Reading

Premier League strugglers Reading have confirmed the sacking of manager Brian McDermott.

McDermott, who was caretaker manager in 2009 before succeeding Brendan Rodgers full-time a year later, guided the club to the Premier League last season, however, a home defeat to struggles Aston Villa on Saturday was the club’s fourth league loss in a row leaving them four points adrift of safety.

A statement from the club read: “Owner Anton Zingarevich wishes to place on record his thanks to Brian.

“The search for a successor starts immediately. It is hoped a new manager will be in place as soon as possible.”

Reading struggled for the first half of this season, winning only two Premier League games, but they showed signs of improvement in
2013 with four successive victories in all competitions, including two in the top flight, and McDermott was named the January manager of the month.

However, defeats by Stoke, Wigan and Everton followed before a 2-1 loss at home to relegation rivals Aston Villa at the weekend left Reading 19th in the table, level on 23 points with bottom club QPR.

Dropping out of the Premier League would mean the club would miss out on a share of a new TV deal worth about £5bn across three years from August.

The Reading statement added: “Brian gained promotion to the Premier League last year for only the second time in the club’s history thanks to a remarkable run at the end of last season.

“However, in our current situation, owner Anton Zingarevich felt that a change was necessary.”