Reading FC make major decision over key club position

Reading FC have sacked manager Veljko Paunovic, the Championship club have announced.

Paunovic was appointed Reading manager back in the summer of 2020, and guided the Royals to seventh in the second-tier table last season, narrowly missing out on a play-off place.

This season however, things have been much more problematic for Reading and Paunovic, which has not been helped by a six-point deduction the club have been hit with for breaching EFL financial rules.

The Royals currently sit 21st in the Championship table, five points clear of the relegation zone, with Saturday afternoon’s 3-2 win at Preston North End ending a run of 12 games without a victory.

That success at Deepdale however, has not been enough to keep Paunovic in a job, with it confirmed less than an hour after full time in that game, that the 44-year-old has left the club by mutual consent.

With Reading now searching for a new permanent manager, Paul Ince, who is the father of the club’s on-loan winger Tom Ince, has taken interim charge of the club along with academy manager Michael Gilkes.

Ince’s job with Reading is his first managerial role since leaving Blackpool in January 2014, after less than a year in charge at Bloomfield Road.

Reading are next in action on Tuesday night, when they host Birmingham City at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

The Verdict

This does feel like a sensible decision for Reading to make with regards to Paunovic in all honesty.

With the club’s fans having made their frustrations around the manager clear, and results simply not good enough this season, this does feel like the right time for a change.

Indeed, even in that win over Preston, Reading did threaten something of a collapse, going from a 3-0 lead to 3-2, another reminder