This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Reading look increasingly set to replace Mark Bowen as their manager with him set to return to a director of football role, as per Berkshire Live.

Bowen has been in charge of the Royals for less than a year and managed to guide the club to a 14th placed finish in the Championship table, but he now looks set to be ousted from his role at the Berkshire club.

Club owner Dai Yongge made the decision yesterday to remove Nigel Howe from the CEO position at the club, subsequently replacing him with Dayong Pang.

So, what do you make of this news emerging about Bowen from the Royals? Surprised?

The team here at FLW offer their opinions....

George Harbey

This does seem quite worrying from a Reading perspective.

With the new season nearly two weeks away now, preparations need to spot on and sides cannot afford to have distractions as they prepare to have the most positive season as possible, but this piece of managerial news suggests that things might be a bit shaky for Reading over the next week or so.

Eyebrows were raised when Mark Bowen effectively replaced himself with Jose Gomes last season, but he did a decent job in keeping Reading away from danger in the Championship and steering the Royals towards a 14th-placed finish, in what was a largely stable season.

It is a risk appointing a new manager at this stage of pre-season, though. Preparations for next season are well underway, tactics and systems are being taught by managers, but a new boss is likely going to want to come in and put his ideas across to the players which could be quite confusing and overwhelming at this stage of the year.

Reading have achieved mid-table finishes for a number of seasons now, and that's not good enough for them. They desperately need stability and a long-term vision in place, as this piece of news is surprising and quite frankly bizarre.

Can you name where each of these 14 ex-Reading players are playing now? Have a go now!

 

 

Jacob Potter

This is a risky move.

The new season starts in a few weeks, and you have to feel as though the Reading owners should have made this decision a lot earlier than this.

This will disrupt their preparations for the new league campaign, but their owners clearly have a plan in place to replace Bowen as manager.

I get the feeling that the Royals are going to throw money at it this season, as they look to win promotion into the Premier League.

With their well-documented financial problems, this would seem like a ludicrous move to throw money at it, but their owners clearly have ambitions of being in the Premier League.

This will go one of two ways as they could win promotion, but could face real financial difficulties if they're not promoted this season.

George Dagless

I am and I'm not to be honest.

I am because I thought that some of the stuff he did was good last season and with a full window under his belt he could have perhaps got a tune out of the squad and got them up the table.

I'm also not that surprised, though, as Reading like a change at the moment and the fan base was perhaps torn over him, with critics of him certainly vocal.

For me, I'd have probably kept Bowen in charge but it looks as though considerable changes are happening at Reading in key areas and so perhaps a new set-up is going to be ushered in, at which point it makes sense to let the manager go.