Rattled Reading boss Paul Ince got involved in a testy exchange with a BBC reporter following Sunderland's 1-0 win against the Royals at the Stadium of Light. Reading's timewasting tactics started inside the opening 15 minutes, infuriated Sunderland fans and spoiling the game, leading to Look North presenter Jeff Brown asking Ince about that strategy, saying it made the match 'pretty grim' to watch.
Ince reacted by questioning why the BBC man was at the game if he did not like what he saw, and suggested that if Brown - a sports journalist since the mid-1980s, and with more than 25 years experience as a broadcaster - had done his research he would know that many Championship games follow a similar pattern. But Brown stood his ground and labelled the game 'probably the worst I've seen here this season', but offered Ince a lifeline when he said he thought Reading probably did not play like that every week, only for Ince to refuse it and carry on the argument.
Ince's mood was not improved by the fact his side had lost, with Patrick Roberts scoring the only goal of the game six minutes from time - and it was notable that, after the goal, Reading showed a far greater sense of urgency at goal-kicks and throw-ins.
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The exchange went:
Jeff Brown: It was a pretty grim game to watch.
Paul Ince: You shouldn't be here then should you if it was that grim. What are you doing here if it's that grim?
JB: It's my job to come and watch. I'm guessing you don't play like that every week do you? Is it just because Sunderland have a lot of technicians and you were trying to nullify them?
PI: I think if you had actually done your research you would have seen a lot of Championship games like this. That's the way it is. That's the bottom line.
JB: I've not seen many like that. [There was] a lot of time-wasting in League One but this is probably the worst game I've seen here this season.
PI: Here? OK. What do you want me to answer? What are you saying?
JB: I'm saying, 'was it because Sunderland have a lot of quality players that you tried to kill the game?'
PI: What do you mean kill the game? How can you kill the game if we're not winning? When were we time-wasting?
JB: Someone takes so long to take a throw-in?
PI: Does that make it grim then? Because we're time-wasting?
JB: Pretty grim for anyone watching, yeah.
PI: Why would we be time-wasting if we were getting beat?
JB: Well, you sped up after that. I was just saying that from a neutral's point of view…
PI: No, from your point of view. Not neutral. Nobody else has said it apart from you.
JB: I'm the only one that spoke up, maybe.
Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray was also asked about Reading's timewasting, and he broadened it out by saying he has found it a feature of how away teams approach games at the Stadium of Light, and while he finds it frustrating he can understand why they do it. He said: "Since I've been here, I've found it seems to be a tactic when teams come to the Stadium of Light.
"Slow the game down, disengage the crowd, take your time on goal kicks, take your time on free-kicks, take the crowd out of the game. Whereas in our dressing room we are talking about making tackles, press, counter-press, close down, because you'll get as big a cheer for a tackle as you will for a great shot because the crowd is engaged.
"So why wouldn't they [away teams] do the opposite?"
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