Fans Verdict: Mark Bowen Appointed New Manager

On Monday afternoon, it was revealed that Mark Bowen - who as sporting director would presumably have been in charge of finding Jose Gomes’ replacement and had a say in Gomes getting the sack - had been appointed as the Portuguese’s successor.

Gomes had spent the last 10 months or so gluing back together all the bits that had broken at the club during the previous 18 months. And, on the whole, he did a very good job of uniting the fanbase. To be fair to the club, they have continued that united feeling in the fanbase with the hiring of Bowen - just not how they would’ve liked to.

As soon as the news broke, Twitter went absolutely crazy. I don’t think I have seen one tweet, even one small remark, that has been in favour of the former Stoke City assistant manager becoming the new number one at the Mad Stad. If he didn’t know already, Bowen will certainly know now that he is walking into a baptism of fire.

The pressure will be on the Welshman from the get go - I mean, it already is. Yes, he could go on and completely change our form and lift us up and up the table and, for his sake above all else, I seriously hope he does. However, he will be faced with pessimism, anger and frustration from the fans immediately because, let’s face it, the idea of the man who may have sacked the last manager making himself the new one doesn’t really smell too good does it?

Like it or not, it is now our job and duty as fans to get behind the team. We need to come to realisation of the fact that Mark Bowen is the new manager of Reading Football Club and, at this point in time, there isn’t a fat lot we can do about it.

Here’s a selection of the more family-friendly, cleaner opinions from the Reading faithful...

Conclusion

So then, as you can see - it hasn’t been the most positive of responses from the Loyal Royals. I just hope Bowen knows what he’s walking into. Honestly, one or two bad results and the pressure will ramp up - big style.

It all kicks off for the Welshman on Saturday at home to Preston North End and, as I’ve previously mentioned, whether we like it or loathe it - we have to get behind the club and the players on Saturday. I feel exactly the same and am just as unconvinced and apathetic about the situation as the next Reading fan. But I want Bowen to prove me wrong. I want him to be a good manager for us, because at the end of the day, I love the club more than anything else.

We need to look forward, and look ahead to Preston. Bowen wins that game and it’ll go a long way to winning over the fans... I hope.

If you did want a little more reaction from the fans to the news of Bowen’s appointment - I’ll leave the official confirmation tweet from the club for you to have a read of the replies. It’ll give you a good, concise overview of the overall thoughts towards the decision...

URZ