Tim Dellor column: Why Reading boss Paul Ince should not be underestimated
- Published
Paul Ince's Reading are 13th in the Championship with two wins, two defeats and a draw from their past five matches
To understand Reading's current situation you first must understand manager Paul Ince - increasingly his team reflect his character.
After 10 months in charge, most of which has been dominated by an injury crisis, fixture congestion and a transfer embargo - not entirely unconnected - he has started to stamp his own mark on the team.
Ince is a scrapper who relishes a fight and bristles with aggression and energy.
At the same time, publicly and so far at Reading at least, he has perfect emotional control.
He simmers but never boils over and Reading play in exactly the same manner on the pitch.
Unlike last season, this time round they have shown far more stomach for a fight with energy, and have shown more of a backbone.
His disarming smile, warm demeanour and old-school sociability belies his toughness, footballing intelligence and attention to detail.
He watches more football than can possibly be good for anyone.
His love for sport generally, and his thirst for football particularly, seems unquenchable.
That is an often overlooked requirement for the very best managers.
He puts in the hours getting up and down the motorway watching games and when he isn't travelling he's at home watching games on the telly.
Yes, all managers do that, but not to the same extent as Ince.
As a consequence, the homework on opponents is more thorough and Reading teams look well prepared each game.
Sheffield United may outplay them (they did) and Burnley might have more talent in their squad (although Reading deserved to win at Turf Moor earlier in the season), but that never looks like a result of poor planning.
Ince 'sets the tone' and is role model for his players
Despite their up-and-down form this season Reading are only three points adrift of the Championship play-off places
I speak to Ince a couple of times a week and he is always courteous, polite and entertaining, regardless of what is happening on the training ground or on matchday.
He is like that with everyone.
A few minutes after the final whistle had been blown to signal defeat at West Brom, which ridiculously was Reading's second long away trip in three days and third game in six days, a cheeky steward bombarded Ince with a request to record a "hello and best wishes" video on her phone for a friend.
He would have been forgiven for respectfully declining but instead asked the steward three questions to establish the background details, and then recorded a charming 20 seconds.
This is one very minor moment, but typifies how Reading's management and players conduct themselves.
His players have a role model who has played more than 50 games for England, captained his country and appeared for some of the biggest clubs in the world, and yet remains humble and generous with his time.
He sets the tone and creates the environment.
Despite all this, the job is not yet done - this season is all about survival.
'Relegation still not completely out of question'
Every prediction I saw back in July had Reading to go down to League One this coming May.
The general consensus is 50 points should be enough to avoid relegation.
Reading need 14 points from their last 20 games (0.7 points per game) to achieve this.
So far they have claimed 36 points from 26 matches (1.4 points per game).
It would take a catastrophic dip in form to go down now but Ince keeps reminding us of the priority, because he prefers a scrap.
More optimistic fans will point to the fact Reading are three points outside the play-off zone.
Put together a good run between now and May and they could quite feasibly get a shot at promotion through the play-offs.
Reading's 100% failure rate in play-offs over the years might cool excitement over the prospect of another top-six finish, but you have got to be in it to win it.
Perhaps it will be 5th, 6th or 7th time lucky - I've lost count since the play-offs were introduced.
Reading will probably finish mid-table, or they might sneak into the top six.
Relegation is still not completely out of the question.
The one thing we can be sure of is Reading, and Ince, will keep scrapping.
