News and Views
Paul Ince Sacked - Noel Hunt Steps Up
11 April 2023
By Hob Nob Anyone?
Reading have sacked manager Paul Ince after a terrible run of form combined with a six point deduction has left Reading deep in relegation trouble. Under Ince the Royals have won just two games all year and have gone the last eight games without a victory - a run of 5 defeats and 3 draws.
Paul Ince went the way of so many recent Reading managers - a promising start followed by a massive drop in form and a rapid drop down the Championship. The big difference was his lack of dignity compared with previous managers, persistently blaming his players and failing to take any blame. His claims that his players weren't good enough to play football in a recent post match interview said it all. It is no surprise to see him go and the right decision with so little of the season left. The Royals are now firmly in the bottom three and facing relegation to League One.
Under 21 manager and former player Noel Hunt will step up to take temporary charge. Hunt has five league games left to save Reading's future - but won't be expected to achieve that.
Discussion On This Story:
Webster750
Reading Football Club can confirm that the contract of first team manager Paul Ince has been terminated with immediate effect.
Ince was appointed initially on an interim basis with his assistant Alex Rae in February 2022 and, alongside the likes of Academy Manager Michael Gilkes and Under-18s manager Mikele Leigertwood in the dugout, he did an admirable job in helping the club stave off the threat of relegation with four wins from the final 14 fixtures last season.
Ince took the reins on a permanent basis in the summer and, having to cope with strict transfer embargo restrictions, he helped to piece together a new squad on a much-reduced wage budget - and with five wins from our first seven home games the season began brightly.
However, without a win in our last eight matches and with a relegation battle to fight following a six-point deduction imposed last week, owner Mr Dai Yongge has decided that a change is needed.
Assistant Manager Alex Rae has also departed the club.
Our Under-21s Manager and former Royals striker, Noel Hunt, has been installed as Interim First Team Manager until the end of the season.
Ince was appointed initially on an interim basis with his assistant Alex Rae in February 2022 and, alongside the likes of Academy Manager Michael Gilkes and Under-18s manager Mikele Leigertwood in the dugout, he did an admirable job in helping the club stave off the threat of relegation with four wins from the final 14 fixtures last season.
Ince took the reins on a permanent basis in the summer and, having to cope with strict transfer embargo restrictions, he helped to piece together a new squad on a much-reduced wage budget - and with five wins from our first seven home games the season began brightly.
However, without a win in our last eight matches and with a relegation battle to fight following a six-point deduction imposed last week, owner Mr Dai Yongge has decided that a change is needed.
Assistant Manager Alex Rae has also departed the club.
Our Under-21s Manager and former Royals striker, Noel Hunt, has been installed as Interim First Team Manager until the end of the season.
Zammo
Yeah, the football has been sh!te recently and his post match interviews have become quite bizarre affairs but I'm probably in a minority of one who feels a tad sorry for him. Think he changed the mood in the camp upon his arrival. We had a most excellent home record 'till recent weeks. We all wanted Long and Carroll and he delivered them on a zero budget. His remit was to keep us up and had we kept the six points I'm pretty sure he would have. And Blackburn at home this season we were awesome. Its all too late now anyway. Noel Hunt won't be saving us.
YorkshireRoyal99
Players look like they need a lift. Get the crowd behind them etc, Hunt can certainly do that
I suspect Bowen may also be having his say in the background
Yeah I don't think Hunt will be left on his own, although it can't get much worse anyway. If the unthinkable happens and we do beat Burnley, I think it would give everyone a massive lift and would genuinely shit up the sides around us.
Franchise FC
You’re not alone
The job he did last season was massive in the circumstances and the whole club has been hamstrung by previous indiscretions. However, my sadness is tempered somewhat by his own decline since October.
Given what I’ve seen and heard of AC2 I’d like to think he could add something to the team motivation even if he’s not qualified for coaching
Hound
You’re not alone
The job he did last season was massive in the circumstances and the whole club has been hamstrung by previous indiscretions. However, my sadness is tempered somewhat by his own decline since October.
Given what I’ve seen and heard of AC2 I’d like to think he could add something to the team motivation even if he’s not qualified for coaching
Yeah I’ve sympathy for him and he was doing a great job til Christmas but he was taking us only one way and the football has got worse as the season has gone on
Hope people remember him for pushing through necessary change at the club rather than the tired uninspired tactics etc that he ended with
tmesis
You’re not alone
The job he did last season was massive in the circumstances and the whole club has been hamstrung by previous indiscretions. However, my sadness is tempered somewhat by his own decline since October.
Given what I’ve seen and heard of AC2 I’d like to think he could add something to the team motivation even if he’s not qualified for coaching
Yeah I’ve sympathy for him and he was doing a great job til Christmas but he was taking us only one way and the football has got worse as the season has gone on
Hope people remember him for pushing through necessary change at the club rather than the tired uninspired tactics etc that he ended with
I think his crazy insistence on playing for a draw away from home didn't help, but yes, I think people vastly underestimate the difficulty of the job he faced.
I do wonder when the players found out about the points deduction, because it does feel like there's been a real slackening of attitudes since the start of the year.
Regardless of how it's turned out on the field, I think Ince deserves massive credit for telling the owner that the club was appallingly run and needed a proper structure put in place.
The Cap
What is it about Don Goodman? Whenever he talks about Reading, he never seems to have a positive word to say about us as a football club. His inference on Sky, a short while ago, is that he feels PInce has been hard done by. Really? Am I right in saying that he carries bad blood from the results we had against Wolves at Elm Park? Stick to your golf, Goodman.
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