Reading FC's 5 worst managers ever (Ranked) | OneFootball

The Royals have made some excellent appointments in the 21st century - but some very poor ones have been made too.

Reading made two particularly brilliant appointments during the 21st century, with Sir John Madejski making the decisions on both.

The Royals were in need of a good replacement for Alan Pardew in 2003, following his move to West Ham United.

Pardew was able to guide the club to the second tier of English football and arguably set the foundation for what was to come during the noughties.

Steve Coppell was appointed as his replacement - and he ended up playing a key role as manager during the Berkshire side's remarkable and record-breaking 106-point season.

This brilliant season gave them the opportunity to play in the Premier League - and the Royals were also promoted to the English top tier under Brian McDermott - who turned out to be another inspired appointment.

But below, we're a look at the club's five worst managers, based on their points-per-game record.

5 Paul Ince - 1.14 (permanent spell)

Paul Ince had spent eight years out of the game before he became caretaker boss, but he succeeded in his mission to keep the Royals up.

Appointed the club's permanent manager in the summer of 2022, he wasn't the most popular appointment, but fans got on board and they were delighted when the club made a good start to the 2022/23 campaign.

Unfortunately, that success didn't last long and the club slid down the table, with their six-point deduction in April 2023 not helping.

With the club in major relegation danger, he was dismissed shortly before the end of the season, and caretaker manager Noel Hunt couldn't keep the club in the Championship.

Ince's style of play annoyed a lot of supporters - and he won't be fondly remembered by fans.

Plenty of fans like Jose Gomes a lot more than Ince, but he didn't do that much better.

Like Ince, he had the assignment of keeping the Berkshire side up and that's what he was able to do after succeeding Paul Clement in December 2018.

The Royals' transfer business during the following month helped his cause, with loan additions Emiliano Martínez, Matt Miazga, Lewis Baker, Ovie Ejaria and Nelson Oliveira all going on to be big successes.

A big summer of spending in 2019 looked to have given Gomes and the Royals the opportunity to push for a finish at the top end of the division.

But they were in relegation danger when he was dismissed in October 2019.

Terry "the Taxi" Bullivant didn't cut the mustard at Elm Park, with results under his stewardship resulting in their relegation from the First Division.

He wasn't short of squad options during his time in Berkshire, but he couldn't make the most of them and a very poor run of form towards the latter stages of his spell resulted in his departure.

Their start to the 1997/89 season wasn't ideal either, going winless in their opening six league games and winning just one point from a possible 18.

On paper, Brendan Rodgers looked to be a good appointment from Watford.

But the Royals struggled to adapt to his style of play and he didn't even last a full season at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, being appointed in the summer of 2009 and then sacked in the December of the same year.

It's a shame it didn't work out for Rodgers, because he is a talented manager who went on to be successful elsewhere, doing well at Swansea City, Celtic and Liverpool.

However, his departure allowed McDermott the opportunity to shine, and that proved to be a turning point for the club.

This was another appointment that looked fairly good on paper.

Paul Clement was probably the best candidate out there to replace Jaap Stam at the time - and he just about managed to guide the club to safety at the end of the 2017/18 season.

He had to build on that during the 2018/19 campaign if he was to stay in his job though, and he couldn't do that.

Unfortunately, the Royals didn't really have an identity under the former Derby County boss and they lost far more games than they should have.

It was no surprise when he was dismissed in December 2018.