“I’d be shocked if it doesn’t go pear-shaped” – Reading FC make manager decision after Paunovic’s exit: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Reading have appointed Paul Ince to work alongside academy boss Michael Gilkes as the club’s interim managers, it was officially confirmed on Saturday evening.

This announcement came at the same time as Veljko Paunovic’s departure, with the Serbian failing to win a single match in 2022 up until his final game against Preston North End at the weekend, with Lucas Joao’s brace and John Swift’s second-half finish securing a 3-2 victory at Deepdale.

However, that win in Lancashire failed to paper over some serious cracks for the Royals, losing against sixth-tier side Kidderminster Harriers last month and suffering a record home defeat in the following match as they were beaten 7-0 by promotion favourites Fulham.

With some supporters deciding to protest against Paunovic remaining in his position and results failing to improve, this departure decision was taken prior to the Preston match with the 44-year-old leaving ahead of the Berkshire club’s tie against Birmingham City tomorrow evening.

In his place, ex-England international Ince and former Reading winger Gilkes will take charge whilst the search for a permanent successor continues, with the former’s appointment being seen as a strange one considering his last big job was at Blackpool, leaving the Seasiders just over eight years ago.

Focusing more on the present day though, is this a good appointment for the relegation battlers? We asked three of our writers at Football League World to deliver their verdict on this subject.

Chris Thrope

It’s bizarre. I’m kind of