Reading fired coach Brian McDermott on Monday night just 33 days after he won the Premier League’s coveted Manager of the Month award for January. McDermott had spent 13 years at Reading in numerous roles. He took over as caretaker manager in December 2009 before landing the job permanently a month later. Last season, he guided the Royals to automatic promotion to the EPL on the back of an amazing run of 15 wins out of its last 17 games.

However, following four successive league defeats that have left the club level on points with bottom club Queens Park Rangers, Reading owner Anton Zingarevich has decided to look for a new manager to lead his club out of the relegation zone. The bookmakers’ favorite to replace McDermott is former West Ham striker Paolo Di Canio, who left his post as Swindon coach last month.