It's safe to say that not many Reading FC supporters would have predicted that their season would get under way with a new manager in the dugout. 

The Royals made the bold decision to part company with Mark Bowen not so long ago, despite having guided the Royals to a 14th-place finish in the Championship in the 2019/20 season.

Bowen was appointed as Reading's manager back in October 2019, taking over from popular figure Jose Gomes, who had reunited the club's fan base after a tough few seasons back in the Championship.

But Reading haven't been able to hit the heights that they were previously reaching, with the Berkshire-based side struggling to even stay afloat in the second-tier in recent seasons.

This made the club's decision to part company with Bowen even more bizarre, especially when their new manager doesn't have any experience of managing in English football.

Veljko Paunović is the new manager in the dugout, with the Serbian most recently managing American side Chicago Fire, before agreeing to part company with the club in November 2019.

Paunović has also managed the Serbian Under-20s national side, and guided them to World Cup glory back in 2015, but other than that, he doesn't have any other notable achievements as of yet.

However, that isn't to say that Paunović won't succeed with Reading, especially if he is given financial backing before the summer transfer window reaches a conclusion.

The Royals certainly haven't been shy of throwing sizeable amount of funds around in recent seasons, with the likes of George Puscas and Lucas Joao being just some of the players to arrive at the Madejski Stadium for some eye-opening fees.

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The club's owners clearly have ambitions of winning promotion back into the Premier League in the near future, and who can blame them, with the race for promotion in the Championship likely to be as widely open as it's ever been heading into the 2020/21 campaign.

But if the Reading owners are to 'go for it' this season, then it's vital that they get their recruitment right, and some will argue, that it should start with the manager.

With the greatest of respect to Veljko Paunović, there would have been better, and potentially safer options out there for Reading to appoint as Mark Bowen's successor, with Chris Hughton being one of those to be linked with a number of jobs in the Championship.

So, it's certainly a bold move to make by Reading's owners, and it's important that they give Paunović funds to add depth and quality to his squad, because the current options he has available have struggled to reach their potential in the second-tier in recent years.

It's a hugely frustrating and concerning period for the Madejski Stadium faithful, and they have every reason to be concerned about the club's future if they 'throw money at it' and fail to win promotion into the Premier League.

The club have well-documented financial troubles with overspending compared to other clubs in the Championship, and it's a very risky move by the owners.

But the positives are that they could outmuscle other clubs when it comes to signing players, with the Royals not exactly being short of funds. If they can do this and sign players that settle down well into life with the club, then they could well be in with a serious chance of challenging for promotion this term.

There is already some solid options available to Paunović, with the likes of Ovie Ejaria, Lucas Joao and John Swift being key players for the Berkshire-based side.

But it's no coincidence that Reading have struggled to build on the impressive season they had under the management of Jaap Stam, and the club's owners are evidently growing inpatient with the lack of progress they're making on the pitch.

Therefore, you couldn't blame the owners for stepping away from the club if they wanted to, but they've clearly got a vision in place with the club, and are eager to achieve it at the earliest of opportunities.

Only time will tell as to whether Veljko Paunović is the man to take Reading in the right direction towards the Premier League, but one thing is for certain, in saying that his appointment has divided the club's fan base, and he'll know that he simply has to pick up positive results as soon as possible in the Championship.

Reading take on Derby County on the opening weekend of fixtures in the Championship, in what is a tricky first match for the Royals on Saturday.