Next Reading Manager: The Candidates

The Current Favourite

SkyBet believe that the overwhelming favourite to replace Stam is Paul Clement, offering odds of 1/10 on the 46-year-old to take over in Berkshire. Currently out of work, Clement was sacked by Swansea City in December with the club bottom of the Premier League table and having won just three league games all campaign. He had rescued the Welsh club from relegation the season before though, taking them from the bottom three to a 15th place finish in the space of four and a half months.

Whilst most of his post-playing career has been spent as an assistant manager at high profile clubs such as Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, Clement does also have experience in the Championship, having been in charge at Derby County between June 2015 and February 2016. Many people felt that he was unfairly sacked by the Rams, who were fifth in the table and only five points off top spot at the time of his departure.

The Club Legends

Also relatively high up on SkyBet’s odds list are former Reading players Graeme Murty (14/1) and Phil Parkinson (16/1), who amassed over 700 appearances for the Royals between them. Of course both are still in other jobs and doing pretty well, so a move right now doesn’t seem likely. Murty, 43, is currently in his first management job at Rangers, who sit second in the SPFL. Meanwhile, Parkinson, 50, is leading Bolton’s Championship survival charge, making a move to Berkshire even more unlikely with the Trotters in direct competition with Reading. He achieved promotion from League One last season, having also previously managed Colchester United, Hull City, Charlton Athletic and Bradford City.

Whilst a move for either Murty of Parkinson seems unlikely now, should Reading choose a caretaker manager until the end of the season, either of the pair then may decide to take the reigns in the summer.

Appointing From Within

If the Royals do want a caretaker boss to try and secure safety, it is likely that they’ll look at someone already within the club. The stand-out names in this scenario are first team coach Michael Gilkes, Under 23s boss Scott Marshall or perhaps even academy manager Ged Roddy. None of these names are on SkyBet’s list, but it would certainly not be out of the question considering that there aren’t a great deal of managers currently available.

Who Else Do The Bookies Suggest?

Steve McClaren, whose last managerial position was with Derby last year, is the second favourite with SkyBet at 8/1, whilst Mark Warburton (10/1), OH Leuven boss Nigel Pearson (16/1), and Marco Silva (18/1) also appear high up on the list.

If you want some quirky odds, Frank Lampard is 33/1 and Scott Parker is 22/1, whilst Graham Potter, who is doing a magnificent job with Ostersunds in Sweden and played five games on loan for Reading in 1999, is at 25/1. Incredibly, Pavel Pogrebnyak has also found his way onto the list at 18/1.

All odds are correct at the time of writing and were obtained from SkyBet. #GambleAware