READING FC have confirmed that Veljko Paunovic has left the club by ‘mutual consent’.
The decision comes after his side ended their dreadful run of form, losing seven games in the Championship in a dreadful run of form, and minutes after the club won their away fixture against Preston North End.
In a statement, the club’s Chief Executive, Mr Dayong Pang, said “I met in person with Pauno yesterday morning and I would like to personally thank him for his commitment and dedication to our club during his time as first team manager – but also his professionalism throughout what have been undeniably challenging circumstances this season.
“Everyone at Reading Football Club would like to wish Veljko the very best of luck in his future career.
“The board and I will now work diligently to identify the right candidate to take this club forward. This work will be done quickly but without undue haste as we fully appreciate the importance of our decision to appoint a new manager at this crucial stage of the campaign.”
In the short term, Reading will be managed by former England captain Paul Ince, father to Royals loanee Tom Ince, alongside Academy Manager Michael Gilkes.
Celebrating 150 years of Reading FC on Saturday, hundreds of fans gathered outside of the Select Car Leasing Stadium prior to the match against Coventry to protest against the management and the owners.
After Reading were beaten 3-2 by Coventry City, a small number of supporters took to the pitch to vent their frustrations at the poor management on and off the field at the club.
Before a 0-0 draw against Peterborough on Wednesday, and today’s 3-2 win, The Royals had lost their last eight matches in all competitions, which included a humiliating defeat in the FA Cup third round to National League North side Kidderminster Harriers.
The cup exit was then followed with a 7-0 home thrashing at the hands of Fulham.
The Serbian leaves the Royals with the club just one place off the relegation zone in 21st in the Championship.
Paunovic took over from Mark Bowen as Royals boss in September 2020 in a controversial move just a week prior to the start of the 2020/21 season.
He made an incredible start to life as Reading boss by winning his first seven matches in charge which put the Royals at the top of the Championship table.
An impressive first-half to the season saw the Royals put themselves in a fantastic position to make the play-offs come the end of the campaign.
However, their form tailed off after the goalscoring form of Lucas Joao dwindled and an injury to key player John Swift meant that he missed a crucial period in the season.
The season ended in disappointment with a poor run of results seeing Reading finish in seventh, one place outside of the play-offs, but seven points off sixth-placed Bournemouth in the end.
