Next Reading Manager

[Hendo]

It is both possible to hold the position that this season was shit and also celebrate the fact that things were turned around after VP left so as not to be a total disaster.

Yeah which is where I sit

Honestly since Ince came in we’ve been ok. Still challenges with injuries and just general lack of quality but more good times in that brief little spell than the whole of the season before that. And generally it’s been relatively entertaining and enjoyable as well.

Agreed as well. 2 things can happen at the same time.

Yeah, I'm pretty pissed off that we were so shit for this season, but I am also delighted that we stayed up.

I'll also celebrate drawing away to Bournemouth (with a late goal), away to Barnsley (with a late goal) or at home to Swansea (with a late goal and conceding 4), because I really DGAF about someone telling other people how they should celebrate.

[Hound]

Very quick count suggests 15 points from 12 games under Ince

4 wins
3 draws
5 defeats

Mid table form. With the likes of Meite, Swift, Rino and Ejaria being out for long periods in that, that really is ok for where we are with the squad

[Hendo]

Very quick count suggests 15 points from 12 games under Ince

4 wins
3 draws
5 defeats

Mid table form. With the likes of Meite, Swift, Rino and Ejaria being out for long periods in that, that really is ok for where we are with the squad

15 from 12 is correct, works out at 58 (57.5) points over a season. Which would have us 15th this year, not great but mostly an improvement over the last few years.

[Hound]

Yeah. And considering the low ebb we were at and the injuries (Baba the other key one) that’s ok

Certainly nothing to be frothing at the mouth angry about

[Hendo]

Yeah. And considering the low ebb we were at and the injuries (Baba the other key one) that’s ok

Certainly nothing to be frothing at the mouth angry about

Agreed. I'd be happy to bump that total up by another 6 points given the state we were in when Ince came in. 64 points would have us 8th which is very respectable.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Very quick count suggests 15 points from 12 games under Ince

4 wins
3 draws
5 defeats

Mid table form. With the likes of Meite, Swift, Rino and Ejaria being out for long periods in that, that really is ok for where we are with the squad

15 from 12 is correct, works out at 58 (57.5) points over a season. Which would have us 15th this year, not great but mostly an improvement over the last few years.

Yeah it's a decent record to be fair. However, Gomes' record (for the 23 league games in 18/19) was W6, D10, L7. 28 points from 23 games works out at 1.22 (rounded up) points per game which is 56.12, so 56, points per season, which isn't too dissimilar. That didn't work out the season after.

I know what the point is in general terms though, it's a pretty good record all things considered. Ince has done well to keep our heads above water, it comes down to the board as to whether we keep him on or not now.

[Hound]

Very quick count suggests 15 points from 12 games under Ince

4 wins
3 draws
5 defeats

Mid table form. With the likes of Meite, Swift, Rino and Ejaria being out for long periods in that, that really is ok for where we are with the squad

15 from 12 is correct, works out at 58 (57.5) points over a season. Which would have us 15th this year, not great but mostly an improvement over the last few years.

Yeah it's a decent record to be fair. However, Gomes' record (for the 23 league games in 18/19) was W6, D10, L7. 28 points from 23 games works out at 1.22 (rounded up) points per game which is 56.12, so 56, points per season, which isn't too dissimilar. That didn't work out the season after.

I know what the point is in general terms though, it's a pretty good record all things considered. Ince has done well to keep our heads above water, it comes down to the board as to whether we keep him on or not now.

And Gomes was lauded by many - remember Portugal day etc

And some of those players - Martinez, Baker and Miazga were top class.

It’s certainly no guarantee that Ince will be any good next year but in terms of this season he has done fine, and imo deserves the chance to celebrate a job well done

[YorkshireRoyal99]

15 from 12 is correct, works out at 58 (57.5) points over a season. Which would have us 15th this year, not great but mostly an improvement over the last few years.

Yeah it's a decent record to be fair. However, Gomes' record (for the 23 league games in 18/19) was W6, D10, L7. 28 points from 23 games works out at 1.22 (rounded up) points per game which is 56.12, so 56, points per season, which isn't too dissimilar. That didn't work out the season after.

I know what the point is in general terms though, it's a pretty good record all things considered. Ince has done well to keep our heads above water, it comes down to the board as to whether we keep him on or not now.

And Gomes was lauded by many - remember Portugal day etc

And some of those players - Martinez, Baker and Miazga were top class.

It’s certainly no guarantee that Ince will be any good next year but in terms of this season he has done fine, and imo deserves the chance to celebrate a job well done

Agree re Gomes and the players we had. To be fair, we have players now that should/could play higher than ourselves as well. Swift, Joao, Meite (when fit) etc. It's not a direct comparison in terms of squad, but more a pointer of how good results in one season won't always translate to the next season either.

Certainly though, he deserves praise for a job well done. Try and pick up what we can in the last couple of games and prepare for the summer build.

[Stranded]

Very quick count suggests 15 points from 12 games under Ince

4 wins
3 draws
5 defeats

Mid table form. With the likes of Meite, Swift, Rino and Ejaria being out for long periods in that, that really is ok for where we are with the squad

15 from 12 is correct, works out at 58 (57.5) points over a season. Which would have us 15th this year, not great but mostly an improvement over the last few years.

Yeah it's a decent record to be fair. However, Gomes' record (for the 23 league games in 18/19) was W6, D10, L7. 28 points from 23 games works out at 1.22 (rounded up) points per game which is 56.12, so 56, points per season, which isn't too dissimilar. That didn't work out the season after.

I know what the point is in general terms though, it's a pretty good record all things considered. Ince has done well to keep our heads above water, it comes down to the board as to whether we keep him on or not now.

Also the improvement has come the longer he has been with the squad, naturally you don't discount any result but 3 defeats in 4 to start with, has moved to a W3 D3 L2 run since (69pt season) - Saturday was awful but you could make a case for the players being mentally shot having pulled off 2 key results over Easter to essentially get the job done. Is important for me that we finish with W1 L1 or even D2, and not just 2 on the beach performances by players (and indeed manager) who may not be involved with the club again after the 7th.

Will be an interesting view on Ince's mindset - if he is walking off to the sunset then we may get the latter but if we plans to stick around then we may see a more focussed performance.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

15 from 12 is correct, works out at 58 (57.5) points over a season. Which would have us 15th this year, not great but mostly an improvement over the last few years.

Yeah it's a decent record to be fair. However, Gomes' record (for the 23 league games in 18/19) was W6, D10, L7. 28 points from 23 games works out at 1.22 (rounded up) points per game which is 56.12, so 56, points per season, which isn't too dissimilar. That didn't work out the season after.

I know what the point is in general terms though, it's a pretty good record all things considered. Ince has done well to keep our heads above water, it comes down to the board as to whether we keep him on or not now.

Also the improvement has come the longer he has been with the squad, naturally you don't discount any result but 3 defeats in 4 to start with, has moved to a W3 D3 L2 run since (69pt season) - Saturday was awful but you could make a case for the players being mentally shot having pulled off 2 key results over Easter to essentially get the job done. Is important for me that we finish with W1 L1 or even D2, and not just 2 on the beach performances by players (and indeed manager) who may not be involved with the club again after the 7th.

Will be an interesting view on Ince's mindset - if he is walking off to the sunset then we may get the latter but if we plans to stick around then we may see a more focussed performance.

True - by the same token you'd also discount Gomes' first 3 games (Millwall defeat, QPR draw, Swansea defeat) for similar reasons as well which would also bump his figures up. Not defending Gomes' time at the club, but just drawing that similarity.

I think given they are professionals we won't be seeing 2 on the beach performances as players and the manager are still working for their futures at the club.

[Hound]

I’d like to see Thomas, Barker, Ehib and a few fringe players start. See what they are about and if they are worth signing

Not that bothered by the result. Anyway just start Ejaria and we’ll win regardless of the rest of the side

[Stranded]

Yeah it's a decent record to be fair. However, Gomes' record (for the 23 league games in 18/19) was W6, D10, L7. 28 points from 23 games works out at 1.22 (rounded up) points per game which is 56.12, so 56, points per season, which isn't too dissimilar. That didn't work out the season after.

I know what the point is in general terms though, it's a pretty good record all things considered. Ince has done well to keep our heads above water, it comes down to the board as to whether we keep him on or not now.

Also the improvement has come the longer he has been with the squad, naturally you don't discount any result but 3 defeats in 4 to start with, has moved to a W3 D3 L2 run since (69pt season) - Saturday was awful but you could make a case for the players being mentally shot having pulled off 2 key results over Easter to essentially get the job done. Is important for me that we finish with W1 L1 or even D2, and not just 2 on the beach performances by players (and indeed manager) who may not be involved with the club again after the 7th.

Will be an interesting view on Ince's mindset - if he is walking off to the sunset then we may get the latter but if we plans to stick around then we may see a more focussed performance.

True - by the same token you'd also discount Gomes' first 3 games (Millwall defeat, QPR draw, Swansea defeat) for similar reasons as well which would also bump his figures up. Not defending Gomes' time at the club, but just drawing that similarity.

I think given they are professionals we won't be seeing 2 on the beach performances as players and the manager are still working for their futures at the club.

The last point was what I was getting at. Ince keeping cards close to his chest, he may not want it or may have realised that he actually preferred sitting in a studio, so may walk away have succeeded.

For a lot of players - most will already know if a) the club wants them or b) what other offers they have. With 2 games to go and all likelihood the fact we are finishing 21st, you could understand if the players aren't as up for it as they may be, if an injury puts paid to that new 3 year deal at West Brom.

[Stranded]

I’d like to see Thomas, Barker, Ehib and a few fringe players start. See what they are about and if they are worth signing

Not that bothered by the result. Anyway just start Ejaria and we’ll win regardless of the rest of the side

Fair point, if we see decent minutes for the like of Thomas & Barker, to see if they could actually do a job next year, then that would make sense and make the result less important.

[Nameless]

I think given they are professionals we won't be seeing 2 on the beach performances as players and the manager are still working for their futures at the club.

Can’t really see any players who are playing for their futures here. Nyland /Thomas/ Barker maybe but other than that there really aren’t any.
Likewise the last couple of games will have zero relevance to whether Ince gets offered / accepts a long term contract. He’s done all he was asked to do, if he’s not the right man now a couple of wins won’t make him the right man. Perhaps a couple of good wins might persuade him to stay on and might persuade a couple of players to stay but tgat’s Very different from them needing to impress to get new deals.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I think given they are professionals we won't be seeing 2 on the beach performances as players and the manager are still working for their futures at the club.

Can’t really see any players who are playing for their futures here. Nyland /Thomas/ Barker maybe but other than that there really aren’t any.
Likewise the last couple of games will have zero relevance to whether Ince gets offered / accepts a long term contract. He’s done all he was asked to do, if he’s not the right man now a couple of wins won’t make him the right man. Perhaps a couple of good wins might persuade him to stay on and might persuade a couple of players to stay but tgat’s Very different from them needing to impress to get new deals.

It depends how they look at it. 2 wins in the last games will make him look a lot better than 2 defeats or 2 draws, his record will look significantly better. Yes, just looking at the 2 wins won't, but looking at his overall record, it will make a difference. Whether that means he will get the job or not is a different question.

The players that are playing for their futures here are all of those who are out of contract. Just because they are free to discuss contracts with other suitors doesn't mean they aren't playing for their futures here, what is to say that we aren't offering the best deals for them all things considered at the moment? Given our situation, I'd be reluctant to say we'd just offer contracts to players if they aren't performing, just to keep them on.

[Nameless]

I think given they are professionals we won't be seeing 2 on the beach performances as players and the manager are still working for their futures at the club.

Can’t really see any players who are playing for their futures here. Nyland /Thomas/ Barker maybe but other than that there really aren’t any.
Likewise the last couple of games will have zero relevance to whether Ince gets offered / accepts a long term contract. He’s done all he was asked to do, if he’s not the right man now a couple of wins won’t make him the right man. Perhaps a couple of good wins might persuade him to stay on and might persuade a couple of players to stay but tgat’s Very different from them needing to impress to get new deals.

It depends how they look at it. 2 wins in the last games will make him look a lot better than 2 defeats or 2 draws, his record will look significantly better. Yes, just looking at the 2 wins won't, but looking at his overall record, it will make a difference. Whether that means he will get the job or not is a different question.

The players that are playing for their futures here are all of those who are out of contract. Just because they are free to discuss contracts with other suitors doesn't mean they aren't playing for their futures here, what is to say that we aren't offering the best deals for them all things considered at the moment? Given our situation, I'd be reluctant to say we'd just offer contracts to players if they aren't performing, just to keep them on.

I really don’t think it will work like that. The players hold all the cards currently. We won’t be deciding whether to offer Yiadom a new deal over the next 2 games, and we won’t be finding him another £500 if he plays well.
It seems much more unlikely that we would offer a player a deal just because they do well in 2 dead rubbers than we would base it on what they have done over 2-3 years and their potential. We won’t be offering any deals ‘ just to keep players on’. Every player we resign has to be value for money, but every one will probably be able to earn more elsewhere.

[SCIAG]

I think some of our uptick in form under Ince can probably be attributed to regression to the mean rather than genuinely being caused by changing managers. That being said, if a genuinely better manager becomes available then we should appoint them, otherwise I think we should stick with Ince.

I mean, no shit… but I suppose what I mean is we shouldn’t just “roll the dice”. Either change deliberately, or stick, don’t just appoint a randomer with no strategy.

[Hound]

Can’t really see any players who are playing for their futures here. Nyland /Thomas/ Barker maybe but other than that there really aren’t any.
Likewise the last couple of games will have zero relevance to whether Ince gets offered / accepts a long term contract. He’s done all he was asked to do, if he’s not the right man now a couple of wins won’t make him the right man. Perhaps a couple of good wins might persuade him to stay on and might persuade a couple of players to stay but tgat’s Very different from them needing to impress to get new deals.

It depends how they look at it. 2 wins in the last games will make him look a lot better than 2 defeats or 2 draws, his record will look significantly better. Yes, just looking at the 2 wins won't, but looking at his overall record, it will make a difference. Whether that means he will get the job or not is a different question.

The players that are playing for their futures here are all of those who are out of contract. Just because they are free to discuss contracts with other suitors doesn't mean they aren't playing for their futures here, what is to say that we aren't offering the best deals for them all things considered at the moment? Given our situation, I'd be reluctant to say we'd just offer contracts to players if they aren't performing, just to keep them on.

I really don’t think it will work like that. The players hold all the cards currently. We won’t be deciding whether to offer Yiadom a new deal over the next 2 games, and we won’t be finding him another £500 if he plays well.
It seems much more unlikely that we would offer a player a deal just because they do well in 2 dead rubbers than we would base it on what they have done over 2-3 years and their potential. We won’t be offering any deals ‘ just to keep players on’. Every player we resign has to be value for money, but every one will probably be able to earn more elsewhere.

Agree with the gist but I do feel you over estimate how in demand some of these players will be.

Are other teams going to offer more than 10k pw to Yiadom, Rino Holmes, Hoilett, Morro, Nyland?

Some of these players have been consistently lower end of champ for years

When you throw in having to uproot etc I expect the all the above will re-sign if we want them to

I do worry about Camara and to a lesser extent Azeez, who may well get their heads turned

Swift will almost certainly go

Laurent will have offers - but again I don’t think it will be substantially more than we can offer. Plus again having to uproot, and leave a club where he is happy. Plus we do have the facilities that he might not get elsewhere

I think far more is made of it than needs to be. In fact it’s quite nice to have the choice on a lot of these players

[windermereROYAL]

Well his post match interview on Saturday he spelt out what the situation was, said he wanted to sit down with the owner and discuss the options while acknowledging the problems facing us next season regarding financial restraints and the 12 players out of contract if he doesn`t get reassurances I would think he will walk.

[Stranded]

It depends how they look at it. 2 wins in the last games will make him look a lot better than 2 defeats or 2 draws, his record will look significantly better. Yes, just looking at the 2 wins won't, but looking at his overall record, it will make a difference. Whether that means he will get the job or not is a different question.

The players that are playing for their futures here are all of those who are out of contract. Just because they are free to discuss contracts with other suitors doesn't mean they aren't playing for their futures here, what is to say that we aren't offering the best deals for them all things considered at the moment? Given our situation, I'd be reluctant to say we'd just offer contracts to players if they aren't performing, just to keep them on.

I really don’t think it will work like that. The players hold all the cards currently. We won’t be deciding whether to offer Yiadom a new deal over the next 2 games, and we won’t be finding him another £500 if he plays well.
It seems much more unlikely that we would offer a player a deal just because they do well in 2 dead rubbers than we would base it on what they have done over 2-3 years and their potential. We won’t be offering any deals ‘ just to keep players on’. Every player we resign has to be value for money, but every one will probably be able to earn more elsewhere.

Agree with the gist but I do feel you over estimate how in demand some of these players will be.

Are other teams going to offer more than 10k pw to Yiadom, Rino Holmes, Hoilett, Morro, Nyland?

Some of these players have been consistently lower end of champ for years

When you throw in having to uproot etc I expect the all the above will re-sign if we want them to

I do worry about Camara and to a lesser extent Azeez, who may well get their heads turned

Swift will almost certainly go

Laurent will have offers - but again I don’t think it will be substantially more than we can offer. Plus again having to uproot, and leave a club where he is happy. Plus we do have the facilities that he might not get elsewhere

I think far more is made of it than needs to be. In fact it’s quite nice to have the choice on a lot of these players

It doesn't need to be 10k pw though, just more than what we can pay.

Our total budget next season is 16m - this includes signing on fees, bonuses etc.

Agree that the facilities etc are a big bonus for us and might actually let us keep (or sign) a player or two, who would otherwise have gone elsewhere because we have one of the top training facilities in the division. Reading's location always helps as players can live in London if they want with no real issue when it comes to communting etc.

It is also more likely that the ones more likely to sign are the older players, who we may not want en masse but may well lose some of the younger players who see the opportunity to join a bigger club as enough of a benefit to their careers.