Paul Ince comments following reported Reading FC permanent job offer

Paul Ince has refused to be drawn into reports that have stated he has been offered the Reading managerial job on a permanent basis.

The Sunday Mirror (April 10, page 73) stated that the former England international has been asked if he wants to continue in his role but in a full-time capacity.

Ince though is said to want assurances that he can make changes to the club’s squad in the summer months following a relegation battle this season – in which they’re still not safe from with five matches to go in the 2021-22 season and are eight points clear of Barnsley in 22nd place going into the final stretch.

The Royals’ form has been up and down since Ince replaced Veljko Paunovic in the dugout at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, winning three matches, drawing twice and losing on four occasions.

With some important matches coming up in the coming weeks, Ince did not want to go into public contract discussions but did not deny that he had been offered the job by the Reading hierarchy.

“I can’t tell you anything,” Ince said, per the Reading Chronicle.

“The bottom line is that the challenge has to be to keep this team up, that’s all that matters.

“Then when we keep this team up, hopefully, I’ll tell you more after that.

“The focus is on keeping this team in the Championship and then we’ll go from there.”

The Verdict

Ince would definitely not be the fans’ choice to move forward in the managerial role – however he’s not done a disastrous job.

It was definitely an odd choice to begin with considering he hadn’t worked as a manager for over eight years, but Birmingham, Blackburn and Stoke have created a bit of a gap to the bottom three.

However even though he’s been somewhat of a short-term fix, it would be a major risk to give Ince