It's almost pointless to get rid of him at this point. I can't see how anyone else coming in is going to be able to do enough in the time frame to save the club from relegation. That's not to mention the time it will take to actually get someone in.
If the club are going down either way, a new manager now has time to both see how current players play under his tactics, how well they adjust to his organisation and will be massively better prepared for the summer.
IE if manager x takes over in May-August, he won't see his players in competitive games after he makes changes until into the season, he might find one player is great in training, crap in real games, he might find certain players just can't adjust even after 3 months of training. In August its too late to find that out, find that out now, and he can replace the player over summer much more easily.
If the team is going down either way, its been pretty much shown at this point that McDermott didn't make a string of smart buys of under rated players who could cut it in the premiership, and the large majority of his buys for top level football were complete failures, he can't cut it at this level. Why persist with a manager who can't. A better manager can win the championship with a better team more able to compete in the premier league, if that is the end goal, why wait till summer when you can give a new guy a couple months to access the current players and go into the transfer window/preseason massively better prepared.
Its a smart decision, they did exactly what people on here complain about other clubs not doing, they gave the manager a chance to prove his worth, he got them promoted and has had a season in charge in the top flight, two transfer windows and time after both to make the team better, he's failed, Reading are 99.99% going down. If they fired him in December people would complain they didn't give him a real chance, they clearly did, and he failed, now they are preparing for next season as best as possible, and this is the best way possible.
Better than appointing a manager in Jan, watching him fail(because the team simply isn't high enough quality) and having the fans baying for his blood at the end of the season.
What would have happened if he stayed? They get relegated, but he just doesn't have the ability as a manager to make the team tactically stronger, and doesn't have the eye for a quality player to make better buys and build a better team for their next promotion, so they'd be right back where they are today, might get promoted again, still wouldn't have the quality.
Small businesses with a director/ceo who then go international or grow massively, that same guy in charge simply might not be up to the job, no one cares when a company appoints a guy better suited to the job. Its not loyalty, 10 years means nothing, if he isn't capable at this level, he's not capable at this level, no idea why people think football should be any different.
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