Former Arsenal player Scott Marshall has been announced as the new Reading U23s manager as confirmed by the club’s official website.

The 44-year-old was last seen as Aston Villa’s interim coach, a position he held for just one game, a 2-1 victory over Leicester in the FA Cup.

Prior to that he was Paul Lambert’s assistant coach at Villa Park and has also had a stint as Norwich City’s U23 manager.

During his playing career, which spanned 13 years and six different clubs, Marshall won the Premier League trophy once with Arsenal in 1998.

The Scot is taking over from former U23s manager Martin Kuhl who has, according to the report on the Royals’ website, “left the club to pursue a fresh new challenge in football”.

The Verdict

This appointment makes a lot of sense in terms of Marshall’s experience as an U23s coach.

Reading haven’t been performing too well in the Premier League 2 this season with just one win from their opening three and the board will surely be looking for an improvement on that front with their new manager.

Despite the fact that we now live in a world where the world record transfer fee is nearing £200 million, many clubs like Reading use youth teams as a basis for the future so Marshall will need to start getting the results in quickly.

What do you think Reading fans? Can Scott Marshall lead your youngsters to better things? Let us know in the comments down below!