It finally happened then. Noel Hunt has received his P45 and departed the club after close to 11 months in the managerial hot seat.
It’s a strange feeling, because while it seems a large chunk of the fan
base wanted change, I for one didn’t expect it to happen so soon. There will be many opinions on Hunt’s time leading the team, but it still hurts to see someone we consider one of our own depart the club in such a way. Even more so when it’s the right thing to have done.
The timing was also strange: a day before the Open Day training session that had been organised by the club. I imagine the atmosphere will have been a little strange for the players and fans alike.
However, in writing the statement to the fans, Rob Couhig has said some very kind things and handled this decision well – his first time sacking a manager as an owner of a football club.
One thing I have to get off of my chest, momentarily, is regarding the answers given during the Q&A session, and the fact that a few weeks on from that, Hunt has left the club. As I said at the time, it would have been a madness for Couhig to do anything other than back Hunt publicly.
The issue wasn’t so much that Couhig backed Hunt – again, it’s essential that the owners are there to unite the club and calling out Hunt in front of fans wouldn’t have been conducive to that – it was the way in which he was backed, in terms of complimenting the coaching style and style of football on display.
Couhig would have been better off acknowledging the slow start but backing Hunt by saying he believed he could turn it around. I do also wonder whether the Q&A session was a catalyst for the review of Hunt’s position and the “internal discussions” held over recent weeks.
Now with that out of the way, we move on to find a replacement. I have put together a list of potential candidates – noting that these are not necessarily based on my opinion of who the club should be looking to bring in, but more a review of the names currently linked to the position.
I have also decided to exclude managers who are already at other teams. Based on what Couhig said during the Q&A at the start of the month (oh how long ago that all seems now), he likes free transfers in the transfer market and it seems likely that approach will extend to the appointment of a manager, and likely their accompanying coaching staff.
For funsies, I have also chucked in a name or two that could be worth consideration. For what it’s worth: my choice would have been Danny Rohl – however, he’s been nabbed by Rangers. Shall we start with the obvious then?
Matt Bloomfield
There’s no getting away from this one – this is the name we were always going to hear a lot about. Why’s that? Well, for starters, Couhig hired him at Wycombe Wanderers after Gareth Ainsworth had departed for QPR, so there is an existing relationship.
Secondly, he is available. Lastly, he has success and experience at League One level. Aside from the cost being a factor here, you do feel the recruitment here will mirror that of the playing staff, and the ownership will look to target someone who has worked at this level before and has done so to some level of success. Undoubtably, Bloomfield meets this qualification.
Bloomfield led a quite unfancied Wycombe Wanderers into the automatic promotion places last season – which, considering the league had teams such as Birmingham City and Wrexham competing for those top two places, was quite an impressive feat.
So much so, Luton Town came knocking from the Championship to get his help to save their season.
Unfortunately, Bloomfield was unable to keep Luton up (despite picking up a lot of wins towards the end of last season) and they ended up back in League One. Bloomfield oversaw their start to the season, but wasn’t able to get them to be competitive and was let go earlier in October.
The obvious question here is: was his success at Wycombe a one-off, or was Luton just not the right platform/environment for him to succeed? This would be the question mark over his possible appointment, more than his previous connections with the ownership. However, he does appear to be a good candidate.
Luke Williams
A popular name among some fans, but why? Williams has an interesting background, having retired from football very early on due to an injury and going directly into coaching, so he’s been working in a coaching capacity for getting on for three decades.
He really caught the eye in his second managerial spell, in charge of Notts County, getting them promoted from the National League in style – they were pipped to the post by a free-spending Wrexham despite recording an astonishing 107 points and 117 goals, but managed to go up through the play-offs.
This led to a consecutive promotion push, this time from League Two to League One, but their push for back-to-back promotions was derailed when Williams left in January to go to the Championship and takeover at Swansea City.
Initially, Williams made a good start there but it didn’t last, and after a poor run of form at the start of 2025, he was let go. However, despite this, he retains a reputation for playing attacking, possession-based football. Given we are a team that looks unable to score regularly under Hunt’s leadership, it would be fascinating to see what Williams could do to get us putting the ball in the onion bag more regularly.
However, we’ll have to move quickly if Williams is the number one target. Peterborough United, also managerless after the dismissal of Darren Ferguson, are rumoured to be targeting Williams.
Leam Richardson
Not a name that many would have thought of when thinking of Reading’s next manager, but one that has seemingly popped up on the internet as a possible contender, and on face value, it makes some sense.
Richardson has had experience managing both in League One and the Championship with Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United, most notably having success with Wigan in difficult circumstances, after the club went into administration.
He didn’t immediately take over as manager – instead, he worked as an assistant under a couple of different managers brought in, and had a number of occasions working as a caretaker.
He eventually was appointed on a full-time basis and got Wigan back into the Championship at the first time of asking.
However, the step up to the Championship appeared to be too much for him, and he was relieved of his duties after Wigan slipped into the relegation zone.
He then had a spell at Rotherham, but left the club after they were relegated from the Championship, having recorded just two wins from 24 under his tenure.
Richardson has experience, and seems to be the kind of manager that is able to build good team dynamics and squad morale. However, you worry (based on his record) that, while he may be able to be competitive in League One, in the right team, he will probably struggle should Reading go up.
His appointment wouldn’t be a long-term one, that’s for sure. He’s also known for playing quite defensive football, which could compliment our backline, but it would remain to be seen how he would improve the attacking transitions.
Gareth Ainsworth
Another one that has previous with the current owners, from his time at Wycombe Wanderers. He is currently in League Two with Gillingham, which makes it seem unlikely that the owners will approach him. What makes this even more unlikely is that Ainsworth recently underwent heart surgery, and is taking some time off. It seems incredibly unlikely that a switch of teams would be on the cards.
However, the links remain until they don’t, given the fact he has that close connection to the owner. His record in League One is reasonable, having gotten Wycombe promoted and kept them in the Championship for a while.
His style of defensive football is unlikely to be one that the fans buy into though, and he also doesn’t have a great track record working with and developing younger players.
Basically: this seems unlikely for a number of reasons and that’s probably for the best.
Jon Brady
Not a name I was familiar with, so I had to do some digging here. However, you can see why the Australian’s name has come up as a possible candidate from his work at Northampton Town.
If you’re not familiar with his work, then he recently spent three years at Northampton while they were in League Two, laying down the groundwork to get them promoted to League One and keep them there.
The stature of Reading in comparison to Northampton is a big step up, but he is no stranger to this kind of step up. His previous managerial spell was a successful six or so years at Brackley Town. It stands to reason that a move to Reading wouldn’t be daunting for him.
However, he left Northampton in 2024 to spend more time with his family. It’s possible he has an itch to get back into football, but it’s also possible that he’s content with taking the time off.
Robbie Savage
Stranger things have happened. This seems incredibly unlikely, and as he is already with Forest Green Rovers it technically rules him out of my list, but I thought it would be a fun, if incredibly unlikely, curveball.
Scott Marshall
I was surprised to see Marshall’s name on the list of potential successors in the betting odds, but there we are. I think it’s likely he’ll be the one to lead the team until a new manager is found, as he has done so before in a previous life, but he seems very unlikely to take on the role in a full-time capacity.
Indeed, it’s not even entirely clear if his future will be with the club. Depending on who is appointed, we could see him leave.
However, it’s possible he stays. After all, James Oliver-Pearce stuck around after Paul Ince left and Ruben Selles came in.
I think there are two reasons that make this unlikely to happen: the fact he hasn’t really got much experience as a manager is the first one. However, that was never a deterrent for the appointments of Selles and Hunt, so if Marshall does well in the temporary spell then it may give them cause for consideration.
However, I think the main reason it’s unlikely to happen is it’s not really clear what level of impact, if any, his coaching has had on the team this season, since he came in during the summer.
Indeed, some fans are questioning whether we have felt the loss of Nigel Gibbs from the back room more keenly than we first thought we would.
Maybe one of Stephen Hunt’s clients?
A quick Google tells me Keith Andrews is a client of Hunt. It seems unlikely he would come down two divisions to improve our throw-ins, though. However, John O’Shea is a coach who is on his books too, working with the Ireland set-up currently.
This is all very tongue-in-cheek, but O’Shea obviously has links to Reading from his playing and coaching days, so while he hasn’t got any experience at management level, or indeed in League One coaching full stop, he does at least have a connection to the club that might make him give it some thought if approached.
