He was almost offended by questions suggesting that relegation was a possibility next season and ruled it out completely, promising supporters that wouldn’t be the case.

It’s dangerous to promise anything in football at the best of times but when going through such a difficult period, it’s even more surprising.

Especially when the stats don’t make kind reading for Clarke since he arrived. Reading have taken 22 points from 24 league games since he replaced Nigel Adkins at the Madejski Stadium.

To put that into perspective, that points-per-game record over a whole season would’ve left Reading facing a final day relegation battle on Saturday afternoon.

It’s also considerably worse than Adkins’ record this season. He took 25 points from 21 games before being sacked.

Clarke often talks about knowing what direction he wants to go during the summer and making wholesale changes. At this moment in time I believe he’ll get it right, but it’ll be a long process and there’s now extra pressure on him due to the promise he made to supporters.

Reading have shown few signs of improvement in recent weeks and in fairness to Clarke, he has tried several different formations and combinations of players.

Everyone is expecting a heavy turnover in the summer and it can sometimes take a while for players to settle. Let’s just hope they help deliver Clarke’s promise. The fans deserve a good season.