Who realistically replaces Paunovic…?

[AthleticoSpizz]

Glenn Hoddle would be a good shout

dream-on

[72 bus]

When we talked about getting one of the 106 team legends back Sonko wasn’t the first to spring to mind.

We need experience or an absolute maverick to shake everything up.

He can't even manage to keep his flys done up, "allegedly" those who were there may have more to add

[Royal Rother]

Steven Reid.

[Zip]

Steven Reid.

It’s fair to say that since he left the club we have gone downhill.

[Lower West]

https://the72.co.uk/259556/exclusive-reading-in-discussions-with-ibrahima-sonko-as-potential-veljko-paunovic-replacement/


Former Reading centre-back Ibrahima Sonko is in talks with the Royals over a potential managerial position at the club, The72 can exclusively reveal.

Isn't there an academy vacancy.

[paultheroyal]

Keane hasn't had a job since 2011! And in his less than 200 games, he won 1 more game than he lost.

Maybe we should offer Curbishly the position.

Ps - curbishley been out of work since 2008 so from your logic that rules him out.

Whoosh.

Obviously Curbishly isn’t an option. Jesus.

[paultheroyal]

Keane hasn't had a job since 2011! And in his less than 200 games, he won 1 more game than he lost.

Maybe we should offer Curbishly the position.

Ignoring the fact he’s been a number 2 since then and ready to go again?

Wooo, he's done some part time at Ireland, a year at Villa in 2014 and a year at Forest in 2019.

What a candidate.

Great googling. Well done x

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I think the title should read, "Who realistically replaces Paunovic and would actually want the job?"

Seriously though, what manager wants this job? Any manager worth their salt and wanting to prove something wouldn't want this position and could you blame them?

We've got 40+ players out of contract in the summer, who would probably be better for one reason or another to not renew with us because they'd find far better stability and opportunity elsewhere I'm sure. Why would Tom Holmes want to stay at Reading after seeing his
family attacked yesterday when someone like Forest come calling?

I feel sorry for Pauno. Flawed in some aspects, but yesterday's result for me shows a true reflection of the club, not his managerial ability. I do genuinely believe that he is a good manager and a thoroughly decent man as well. It just seems that the last 12 months has just tarnished his reputation really. Some of it he has to tame blame for, but a lot of isn't his fault. It's not just the injuries that he can't control or even the points deduction either, but the points deduction and the whole reason that came about is the reason why. I'll reiterate, yesterday's result reflects on the club. Soft, no character, no ideas, no soul.

The owners take responsibility for this mess and all that falls around it. Whilst I'm under the increasing opinion, and it's going up every game, that Pauno might not be up to this job, very few people will be. It's not on him this for me as such because this will not change until we end up with new owners which could be 2 years away or it could be 20 years away. The owners and their subsequent actions have taken the soul out of this club and it showed yesterday with those volatile scenes, that performance, the result and the aftermath. Recruitment is awful from a players perspective, our youth development hardly ever matters as we only gain short term benefit before taking disappointingly large hits on those players as we can list off many examples, Olise, Richards, Dickie, Fosu just to name a few and quite frankly nearly every footballing and even non-footballing decision these owners have made since day one has landed us in a heap of trouble. The training facilities is great, thanks for your willing investment, but their moronic views have taken this club here. We will be very lucky to survive relegation, if we even do, but honestly we do not deserve anything less than that, if it happens.

But to answer the question, who realistically replaces Pauno, I hope nobody and this man can turn this club around on the field as I really want to see him succeed, but there are probably half a dozen managers that ill be able to fill the void. Sonko I kind of like the sound of for whatever reason, probably because of his history with the club but he's probably not right at this time to do so and I certainly don't trust the owners' decision to get that right either. I will reiterate again though, why would any manager wanting to build a successful career or earn a greater reputation come to Reading Football Club at this time.

[royalp-we]

I think a short term deal to keep us up would be quite an attractive challenge with the squad we currently have.

A long term deal might be a harder sell.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

On the surface of it, yes, somebody spending the remainder of the season trying to keep us up probably would be a good challenge given you can look at this squad as an underachieving group of players but I'm not even sure that, if I was a manager wanting to build a reputation, why I'd even temporarily go to a club littered with so many issues both on and off the field.

[leon]

I think the title should read, "Who realistically replaces Paunovic and would actually want the job?"

Seriously though, what manager wants this job? Any manager worth their salt and wanting to prove something wouldn't want this position and could you blame them?

We've got 40+ players out of contract in the summer, who would probably be better for one reason or another to not renew with us because they'd find far better stability and opportunity elsewhere I'm sure. Why would Tom Holmes want to stay at Reading after seeing his
family attacked yesterday when someone like Forest come calling?

I feel sorry for Pauno. Flawed in some aspects, but yesterday's result for me shows a true reflection of the club, not his managerial ability. I do genuinely believe that he is a good manager and a thoroughly decent man as well. It just seems that the last 12 months has just tarnished his reputation really. Some of it he has to tame blame for, but a lot of isn't his fault. It's not just the injuries that he can't control or even the points deduction either, but the points deduction and the whole reason that came about is the reason why. I'll reiterate, yesterday's result reflects on the club. Soft, no character, no ideas, no soul.

The owners take responsibility for this mess and all that falls around it. Whilst I'm under the increasing opinion, and it's going up every game, that Pauno might not be up to this job, very few people will be. It's not on him this for me as such because this will not change until we end up with new owners which could be 2 years away or it could be 20 years away. The owners and their subsequent actions have taken the soul out of this club and it showed yesterday with those volatile scenes, that performance, the result and the aftermath. Recruitment is awful from a players perspective, our youth development hardly ever matters as we only gain short term benefit before taking disappointingly large hits on those players as we can list off many examples, Olise, Richards, Dickie, Fosu just to name a few and quite frankly nearly every footballing and even non-footballing decision these owners have made since day one has landed us in a heap of trouble. The training facilities is great, thanks for your willing investment, but their moronic views have taken this club here. We will be very lucky to survive relegation, if we even do, but honestly we do not deserve anything less than that, if it happens.

But to answer the question, who realistically replaces Pauno, I hope nobody and this man can turn this club around on the field as I really want to see him succeed, but there are probably half a dozen managers that ill be able to fill the void. Sonko I kind of like the sound of for whatever reason, probably because of his history with the club but he's probably not right at this time to do so and I certainly don't trust the owners' decision to get that right either. I will reiterate again though, why would any manager wanting to build a successful career or earn a greater reputation come to Reading Football Club at this time.

Who are you?

[Sutekh]

Sonko, OMG has to be a wind-up?.

Could actually be a reasonable possibility given the likely cheapness of it all and Sonks’ previous attachment to KSV Roeselare. Presuming it’s nothing more than the wrong end of the stick being picked up somewhere.

However if this is true (and if I was VP I’d be seeking assurances from the CEO this morning) then isn’t it just total panic and really likely to do nothing more than make a bad situation worse.

[Stranded]

I'll be amazed if Sonko is in the frame for anything more than Academy Manager - that may well be with a view to him finishing his UEFA Badges and becoming first team coach in the fullness of time and if so, I'd have no issue with that as it would show that we are starting to build in some succession planning.

The near term future of our first team is likely to revolve around a bulk of academy graduates being supplemented by some loans/freebies, so it would make sense to hire the next first team manager as the U23 manager with an eye to promote when needed. Would also likely make the academy more appealing to top talent as there will be an obvious path to the first team as impress the guy in charge of the academy and you know sooner rather than later he'll be in charge of the firsts.

Anyway, silence is deafening from the club - this often means something is brewing in the background, fully expecting Paunovic to be in charge tomorrow though.

[SCIAG]

Ignoring the fact he’s been a number 2 since then and ready to go again?

Wooo, he's done some part time at Ireland, a year at Villa in 2014 and a year at Forest in 2019.

What a candidate.

A far better candidate than Jaap Stam, Jose Gomes or Veljko Paunovic tbf.

But would much rather the recent experience of Alex Neil.

Stam got us to a playoff final and Paunovic got us to seventh. Keane hasn’t had any comparable achievements for a decade.

[Eaststandman]

Don't we have to lower our sights a little Paul Cook perhaps???

[Dai Brainbocs]

The ex-Newport manager is Michael Flynn and he did a fantastic job before running out of ideas and walking away but I wonder if he could repeat that anywhere else; he really gets the distinctive local mindset where supporters are ecstatic one week and in despair the next and jump wildly between the two. He also has a track record of going cool on players soon after signing them and allegedly opposed bringing in a DoF last summer to sort out recruitment. He might prove to be a brilliant leftfield choice but I'd say he needs to prove himself managing in L2 or L1 away from his home town first.

[KDRF]

We can only afford to pay Andy Carroll a grand a week, yet somehow we would have enough to sack a manager, pay off his contract and then hire someone else? No chance. We are stuck with Paunovic whether we like it or not till we can get out of this financial mess.

[Stranded]

We can only afford to pay Andy Carroll a grand a week, yet somehow we would have enough to sack a manager, pay off his contract and then hire someone else? No chance. We are stuck with Paunovic whether we like it or not till we can get out of this financial mess.

We have a strict cap on the playing budget that played into the wages to Carroll - so that aspect plays no real impact to firing VP or not.

[Hound]

yeah pauno is only under contract for another 5 months anyway. Won't be a huge pay off. Probably about the same as prize money for getting through a couple of rounds of the FA Cup

Of course there are options out there. Some terrible ones as well. Paul Cook might be ok and cheap short term. Darrell Clarke interesting. Ian Evatt. Ainsworth. All lower league managers who could step up.

I'd rather not go down the Pulis/McCarthy/Colin route. Neil would be my choice

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I don't think I'd want anybody from the lower leagues unless we ourselves was relegated this season and we wanted to poach them in the summer. It would be a harder sell given we'd potentially be in the same league as the one's like Evatt and Ainsworth but I still think they'd be more than interested.

Alex Neil has spent considerable time at both Norwich and Preston that I don't think he would get with us. I wouldn't mind him, he would be a steady choice, but he would probably want to be here for a good 3 seasons I'd imagine. I'm sure Pauno is thinking the same and I don't think Pauno or Neil will end up getting 3/4 seasons here to really build something.