Tipped by all and sundry (yes, ok, us) for relegation ahead of the season, Paul Ince’s Reading continue to confound expectation and economic realities to sit comfortably in mid-table ahead of Saturday’s trip — Simeon Pickup from The Tilehurst End is pleasantly surprised.

Well I thought Reading were doomed this season but it seems to be ticking along pretty nicely, how would you assess the season so far?

It’s been surprisingly competent! Your expectations matched those of a comfortable majority of Reading fans really - you’d have been hard pressed to find one of us who didn’t think we’d at least severely struggle. Given the pre-season concerns over Paul Ince and recruitment, not to mention how dreadful last season was, those worries seemed logical.

And yet, so far so good. Looking at the season as a whole it’s very much been up and down but the good balances out the bad, if not outweighs it. In stark contrast to last season’s side which was OK going forward but dreadful at the back, this time round we’re poor going forwards but pretty solid defensively. Fortunately, the latter strength means the former weakness isn’t such an issue (we’re fond of a one-goal ugly victory). This is a gritty, stubborn Reading side which knows how to find a lead from somewhere and hold onto it by hook or by crook.

That’s particularly true at home where we’re one of the best teams in the division, but in contrast, the away form’s been poor. Although we’ve moved past the early-season batterings (4-0 at Rotherham United and Sheffield United), we still tend to get edged out on the road - as was the case in the reverse fixture.

I never go into matches expecting to be entertained, but I do at least go into them with a reasonable expectation of a good performance and good result. It’s a low bar but one we couldn’t clear last season, so I’m satisfied with the progress.

Reading’s league games so far…
Blackpool 1-0 Reading Connolly 9
Reading 2-1 Cardiff Long pen 27, Ince 63 — O’Dowda 4
Rotherham 4-0 Reading Wood 7, Washington 15, Lindsay 18, Ogbene 45
Reading 3-0 Blackburn McIntyre 14, Hoilett 61, Joao 78
Reading 1-0 Boro Fornah 28
Millwall 0-1 Reading Sarr 14
Sheff Utd 4-0 Reading McBurnie 11, Ahmedhodzic 46, 81, Ndiaye 62
Reading 2-1 Stoke Joao 2, pen 57 — Wilmot 40
Reading 0-3 Sunderland Roberts 39, 41, Clarke 69
Wigan 0-1 Reading Ince 63
Reading 3-1 Huddersfield McIntyre 21, Nicholls og 36, Meite 81 — Lees 90
Reading 1-1 Norwich Hendrick 60 — Hanley 50
QPR 2-1 Reading Dykes 33, pen 85 — Carroll pen 25
Reading 0-2 West Brom Phillips 25, Gardner-Hickman 72
Swansea 3-2 Reading Darling 41, Cooper 60, Fulton 74 — Meite 26, Ince 33
Reading 2-0 Bristol City Loum 52, Carroll 90
Burnley 2-1 Reading Benson 66, Zaroury 90 — Ince 56
Luton 0-0 Reading
Reading 1-2 Preston Joao pen 71 — Evans 51, 79
Watford 2-0 Reading Pedro pen 15, 87
Hull 1-2 Reading Greaves 9 — Meite 32, Longman og 90
Reading 1-0 Coventry Mbengue 57
Birmingham 3-2 Reading Deeney 2, pen 23, Chong 36 — Joao 82, Ince 90
Reading 2-1 Swansea Carroll 27, Ince 53 — Cullen 71
Norwich 1-1 Reading Idah 53 — Carroll pen 83
West Brom 1-0 Reading Dike 60

General opinions on the job Paul Ince has done?

Solid, for the most part. He’s put together an organised and determined side which is more than the sum of its parts. Given the lack of individual ability in this squad, that’s exactly what he had to do if Reading were to stand any chance of survival, and he’s certainly exceeding pre-season expectations on performances and results.

Tactically he’s consistent, overwhelmingly playing 3-5-2 this season with a low-block set-up that’s not at all expansive going forwards. That allows us plenty of solidity at the back, but the lack of truly dynamic wing-backs, creativity in the middle of the park or pace in the final third means we’re pretty lethargic in open play. I don’t want to be too harsh given the limitations of the squad; under Ince we’re limited, but still effective.

I’ve also been impressed by how he’s managed expectations and drops in form: Ince kept cool when our results fell away after the first international break (around the time of our defeat to you actually) and eventually got us going again after the World Cup. I’d been worried that our drop-off would become a collapse but Ince did well to get the team going again in December. It still beggars belief that we’re in touching distance of the playoffs at this stage of the season.

Kudos too for him showing his authority. He made it very clear in comments to the media that Ovie Ejaria had been excluded from a World Cup break training trip to Tenerife due to a disciplinary breach. While he never said what that breach specifically was, he still essentially called Ejaria out when other managers may have shied away from the issue. Good on him - hopefully it’ll give Ejaria the kick that’s been needed for a while now.

I do have some frustrations though. Reading are really poor in open play - we don’t score many goals in general, but when we do they tend to be from a set piece of some kind. On the occasion we do find the net from open play, it’s probably a long-range shot. Ince has had the tools to solve that problem (four fit centre forwards for a while now) but hasn’t managed it.

Eyebrows certainly raised in W12 when you signed Lumley and Hendrick - how have they done?

Joe Lumley’s done well to be fair. We wrote him off as a bit of a joke signing when he arrived in the summer as our first signing, but he’s very much outperformed expectations and has never really been challenged as our number one ‘keeper. As a shot-stopper he’s OK - he mostly only saves what you’d expect him to save - but he commands his box really well. Reading are far better at managing narrow leads this season and a lot of that comes from the calm authority he exudes. Plus he loves a bit of shithousery, such as in our last home league when he wound up both Swansea City’s fans and manager after the full-time whistle. Top guy.

As for Jeff Hendrick, opinion seems to be split on him depending on whether you’re a Reading manager or supporter. Paul Ince apparently loves Hendrick, starting him in every single league match so far and only subbing him off twice, even rejigging the midfield to fit Hendrick in - generally he’s one of the two more advanced midfielders in the three but sometimes he’s popped up as a deeper-lying player.

Supporters on the other hand will (mostly) tell you that Hendrick offers little regardless of where he plays. I’m yet to see him properly influence a game and it’s difficult to determine what his strengths should be, even in principle. To be fair he’s pretty solid - more experienced and less error-prone than Mamadou Loum and Tyrese Fornah - but that’s as good as he gets.

January activity so far/any rumoured deals in the offing?

Minimal. We’ve been linked with a few Premier League kids on loan and Jordan Hugill, but due to reasons I’ll get into properly in the next section, the gossip seems irrelevant. As for outgoings there’s nothing on the cards as things stand.

Ins >>> Naby Sarr, 29, CB, Huddersfield, Free >>> Tom Ince, 30, RW, Stoke, Free >>> Shane Long, 35, CF, Southampton, Free >>> Sam Hutchinson, 32, DM, Sheff Wed, Free >>> Dean Bouzanis, 31, GK, Sutton, Free >>> Nesta Guinness-Walker, 21, RB, Wimbledon, Free >>> Amadou Mbengue, 20, CB, Unattached, Free >>> Andy Carroll, 33, CF, Unattached, Free >>> Jeff Hendrick, 30, CM, Newcastle, Loan >>> Joe Lumley, 27, GK, Boro, Loan >>> Tyrese Fornah, 22, CM, Forest, Loan >>> Mamadou Loum, 25, DM, Porto, Loan >>>Baba Rahman, 28, LB, Chelsea, Loan

Outs >>> John Swift, 27, AM, West Brom, Free >>> Andy Rinomhota, 25, CM, Cardiff, Free >>> Josh Laurent, 27, CM, Stoke, Free >>> Alen Halilovic, 26, AM, Rijeka, Free >>> Brandon Barker, 25, LW, Nikosia, Free >>> Ethan Bristow, 20, LB, Tranmere, Free >>> Luke Southwood, 24, GK, Cheltenham, Free >>> Orjan Nyland, 31, GK, Released >>> Marc McNulty, 29, CF, Released >>> Michael Morrison, 34, CB, Released >>> Felipe Araruna, 26, RB, Released >>> Terell Thomas, 26, CB, Released >>> George Puscas, 26, CF, Genoa, Loan

What does the team need? What's the current FFP/embargo situation affecting that?

Ideally we’d go out and find a midfielder or two, both of the creative variety. We’re badly in need of a proper playmaker in the middle of the park to knit things together and add some variety in the final third, but instead we have to rely on Tom Ince (an out-of-position winger). As things stand we can’t convincingly switch to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 as Paul Ince might like due to the lack of an appropriate attacking midfielder.

But the restrictions make any impactful signing highly unlikely. Reading are currently at the overall squad limit (25) as decreed by the EFL’s business plan, and even if we could move an unwanted player out (which doesn’t seem likely) we’re at our loan complement too. If there’s a free agent available out there, we don’t have the financial clout to lure them here - wages are severely restricted by the EFL too.

Fortunately our needs aren’t critical and we can afford to keep the squad as it is for the rest of the season. We did really well in the summer to make the squad as fit-for-purpose as it is. The restrictions should end in the summer though, allowing us a badly needed extensive rebuild.

Stand out players and weak links this season?

As for stand-out players, Tom Ince is the obvious call. He’s the squad leader for goals (six) and assists (three) and is hugely relied on as a creative player in general. He doesn’t really have bad games, but if he’s less effective the team as a whole is more likely to struggle. Out of possession he’s excellent too, charging around the pitch to close opposition players down, which has really endeared him to the fans. As things stand I’d be shocked if he doesn’t end up as our player of the season.

Otherwise Tom Holmes has stepped up really well this season. He was promoted to vice-captain in the summer and he plays with the maturity of a squad leader despite only being 22. Tactically he’s gone from various spots in a back four last season to right-sided centre half in a three this season, and then into the middle. That’s a demanding position, especially in a team that soaks up a lot of pressure, but he fulfills it really well.

On the flipside I’m worried about Naby Sarr, who’s probably our first-choice left-sided centre half in Paul Ince’s view - despite Tom McIntyre being better in mine. Sarr’s an excellent defender on paper - a towering guy who can play out from the back too - but in practice he’s recently been too erratic and error-prone. I’m hoping those issues are down to a lack of match sharpness, but then again Huddersfield Town fans warned us about them, so maybe not.

Elsewhere our left-wing-back spot is up for grabs - it’ll either be taken by a player who’s solid but doesn’t really impact the game that much (Baba Rahman), a centre back who the manager likes to play out of position (McIntyre) or a promising young attacking wing-back who’s poor defensively (Nesta Guinness-Walker). I’d pick the latter personally.

Ironically, when you asked me this in October I gave a similar answer but with different players (“my main worry is our left flank defensively: left centre back Tom McIntyre and left wing back Nesta Guinness-Walker”). I feel more confident about both players nowadays, but annoyingly neither have yet nailed down their respective spots - more down to the manager than their own shortcomings.

Expectations for the remainder of the season?

The only focus we have really is on whether we’ll stay up. Given the usual points requirements and where we’re at now, another five wins should seal it. In all likelihood we’ll get there with a decent amount of time to spare, but I can’t see us pushing for the playoffs - we’re not good enough going forwards and don’t have the depth. We’ll finish somewhere in mid-table. I said 14th last time and I’ll stick with that.

Links >>> Official website >>> Tilehurst End — Blog >>> Hob Nob Anyone? Forum >>> Reading Chronicle — Local Paper >>> Get Reading — Local Paper >>> Elm Park Royals — Podcast

The Twitter @TheTilehurstEnd, @SimFromBucks, @loftforwords

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TacticalR added 18:21 - Jan 12 Thanks to Simeon. It sounds like it shouldn't be working at Reading, but somehow it is. Maybe a few individuals like Tom Ince can carry the team? As regards the ex-QPR players...I am glad things have worked out for Lumley. At the end at QPR his confidence had gone completely. I am a Hendrick sceptic. We were told he was brought in as an advanced midfielder who could link up play, yet he always ended up playing deep. Maybe that's why Paul Ince likes him.

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