Tom Ince - confimred

[Gloucesterroyal]

A welcome to Thomas Christopher Ince, son of Paul who joins this merry band of who knows what on loan from Stoke City for the rest of the season.

Tom is 30 now and started out in Liverpool’s academy before moving on to Blackpool and starting to make a for himself in the game. After Blackpool he joined Hull, Derby, Huddersfield and Stoke and had various loan spells at Palace, Forest and Luton.

His overall career so far has reached 410 appearances and 92 goals in all competitions so his 8th goal for Reading will be his 100th career goal.

Tom is a left footed player and can play as a winger on either side of the pitch. He has also played as a striker and as more central attacking midfielder. He is fairly quick and is another with a few tricks and skills when on the ball.

Hope he's got the drive and determination of his Dad, coz that would be very useful

[CountryRoyal]

Well, like my old butcher used to say; “To mince or not to mince, that is the question”.

[blythspartan]

Happy with this signing. Not sure what his injury record is like but he has the ability to be a game changer.

With players coming back from injury and with possibly one more free agent (CB) added to the squad we SHOULD be more than capable of pulling away from trouble but I have absolutely no faith in Pauno’s ability to manage that.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Pretty happy with this all things considered. An experienced Championship campaigner with obvious quality at this level and, despite being fairly inconsistent, can produce on his day. He's definitely a good option to improve our squad and compete with others for a first team spot. With Ince, Hoilett, Halilovic, Ejaria and Meite, there is plenty of diversity and quality in wide areas now especially with them all being able to play other positions (Ince more centrally or either flank, Ejaria centrally, Meite down the middle and up top).

I am just hoping that we pick up another CB now that has experience and can come in and help lead the side. Winston Reid would be my personal pick if we wanted an experienced leader at the heart of our defence.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Think an elderly CB partnership would only work with two younger, quicker players in front of them. Would be more than happy with Dann and Morrison if Rinomhota and Laurent play in front of them. Danny Drinkwater offers absolutely nothing in the way of protection for our defence, he hasn't got the desire or hunger to do it based on the evidence we have seen.

The partnership of Laurent and Rinomhota was a big part of our success last year. Time to combine them in front of the defence again. Drinkwater out.

I do wonder if there is some sort of obligation to play him as part of the loan deal, bizarre he keeps his place in the side despite completely inept displays.

Could just be shit management though.

If that's the case, with TDB also available, would a "training accident" be amiss?

[morganb]

You can never have too many Toms - Ince, Holmes, McIntyre, Dele-Bashiru (and Andy Carroll's middle name)

[Hound]

noticed HRK calling himself 'Thomas' on SSN earlier

[Jackson Corner]

Journeyman championship has been. Never fulfilled his potential another crap signing, if he was any good would stoke be getting rid of him?

[NathStPaul]

[Snowflake Royal]

Think an elderly CB partnership would only work with two younger, quicker players in front of them. Would be more than happy with Dann and Morrison if Rinomhota and Laurent play in front of them. Danny Drinkwater offers absolutely nothing in the way of protection for our defence, he hasn't got the desire or hunger to do it based on the evidence we have seen.

The partnership of Laurent and Rinomhota was a big part of our success last year. Time to combine them in front of the defence again. Drinkwater out.

I do wonder if there is some sort of obligation to play him as part of the loan deal, bizarre he keeps his place in the side despite completely inept displays.

Could just be shit management though.

Pauno probably judges performance on stats or something. Drinkwater has our 4th highest pass completion.

That's because he hides his errors by passing 50% more than anyone else and the majority being slow nowhere 6 yard balls to mask the absolute howlers he makes on the regular. A PL winner who oxf*rd up short passes 8 times a game on average. (worst in the team)

[CountryRoyal]

The partnership of Laurent and Rinomhota was a big part of our success last year. Time to combine them in front of the defence again. Drinkwater out.

I do wonder if there is some sort of obligation to play him as part of the loan deal, bizarre he keeps his place in the side despite completely inept displays.

Could just be shit management though.

Pauno probably judges performance on stats or something. Drinkwater has our 4th highest pass completion.

That's because he hides his errors by passing 50% more than anyone else and the majority being slow nowhere 6 yard balls to mask the absolute howlers he makes on the regular. A PL winner who oxf*rd up short passes 8 times a game on average. (worst in the team)

That’s because 90% of them are backwards hospital passes.

[blythspartan]

I do wonder if there is some sort of obligation to play him as part of the loan deal, bizarre he keeps his place in the side despite completely inept displays.

Could just be shit management though.

Pauno probably judges performance on stats or something. Drinkwater has our 4th highest pass completion.

That's because he hides his errors by passing 50% more than anyone else and the majority being slow nowhere 6 yard balls to mask the absolute howlers he makes on the regular. A PL winner who oxf*rd up short passes 8 times a game on average. (worst in the team)

That’s because 90% of them are backwards hospital passes.

Do you think Drinkwater is just a poor player now or could a better manager find a position to maximise his strengths, whatever they may be?He used to be a quality player and he is still young enough to be able to have an impact at this level.

[Ascotexgunner]

Not sure what I think of this signing. Certainly great things were expected of him but it never quite happened.
Be interesting to see how he does.

[Zip]

Journeyman championship has been. Never fulfilled his potential another crap signing, if he was any good would stoke be getting rid of him?

He’s been playing well for Stoke. His record is considerably better than that of a journeyman.

[CountryRoyal]

Pauno probably judges performance on stats or something. Drinkwater has our 4th highest pass completion.

That's because he hides his errors by passing 50% more than anyone else and the majority being slow nowhere 6 yard balls to mask the absolute howlers he makes on the regular. A PL winner who oxf*rd up short passes 8 times a game on average. (worst in the team)

That’s because 90% of them are backwards hospital passes.

Do you think Drinkwater is just a poor player now or could a better manager find a position to maximise his strengths, whatever they may be?He used to be a quality player and he is still young enough to be able to have an impact at this level.

I think we could definitely utilise him better, but a lot of the shit he does is just individual sloppiness and what appears like complacency and or a lack of effort.

[NathStPaul]

Pauno probably judges performance on stats or something. Drinkwater has our 4th highest pass completion.

That's because he hides his errors by passing 50% more than anyone else and the majority being slow nowhere 6 yard balls to mask the absolute howlers he makes on the regular. A PL winner who oxf*rd up short passes 8 times a game on average. (worst in the team)

That’s because 90% of them are backwards hospital passes.

Do you think Drinkwater is just a poor player now or could a better manager find a position to maximise his strengths, whatever they may be?He used to be a quality player and he is still young enough to be able to have an impact at this level.

I think he had a very good season in a very good team at Leicester and has lived off it ever since. I reckon I'd look pretty good in midfield if I had Kante alongside me. He does the work of 3 players.

[Hound]

He had some good seasons getting Leicester up didn’t he? Remember him getting in the pfa team I think

But yeah been desperately disappointed in him. It’s not so much the getting bypassed - other reasons for that - it’s the lack of quality on the ball. He certainly doesn’t look like he is busting a gut either - not sure if that’s a lack of fitness or possibly effort

[YorkshireRoyal99]

He had some good seasons getting Leicester up didn’t he? Remember him getting in the pfa team I think

But yeah been desperately disappointed in him. It’s not so much the getting bypassed - other reasons for that - it’s the lack of quality on the ball. He certainly doesn’t look like he is busting a gut either - not sure if that’s a lack of fitness or possibly effort

You do really wonder what his motive is in football. Loan moves at Burnley failed due to off the field issues and we didn't see/hear much of him when moving to both Villa and then Kasimpasa really and then, you'd have hoped, from what he'd said that he may have turned a corner and he's just wanted to concentrate on his football, in his own words. So you'd think he'd have something to prove. He has obvious quality when you see him play and has had some good games for us this season, but he has also been a liability as well. It's not as if this is the first time he's stated his desire to get his career on track either.

It makes me believe it's more down to his character and lifestyle where he hasn't been able to get out of certain bad habits. Drink-driving offences isn't a great start and he then got attacked outside a nightclub in Manchester. Maybe it's just lifestyle choices that's lead to his lack of fitness and probably the psychological factor of knowing he's seen as one of the biggest failures in English football every time he steps onto a football pitch. In fairness, that must haunt him.

[Hound]

Not sure he is one of the biggest failures in football as such. Good times must surely well outweigh the bad for him

Suspect he has just lost the necessary edge and motivation since the Chelsea move didn’t work out. If we’d been a better side he might have done ok but he certainly isn’t what we need now

[Sutekh]

Journeyman championship has been. Never fulfilled his potential another crap signing, if he was any good would stoke be getting rid of him?

He’s been playing well for Stoke. His record is considerably better than that of a journeyman.

Stoke fans are happy because, like with Liam at this end, it’s another big wage off the books. Some have also said though he’s largely not given too much return during his time at Stoke his current form is the best seen from him for a long time.