Exclusive: Sky pundit names who Reading FC should appoint - Tony Mowbray and Gareth Ainsworth mentioned | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie has named who he believes Reading should go after following the dismissal of Noel Hunt

EFL expert and Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has revealed who he believes Reading should try and appoint as their new manager following the sacking of Noel Hunt on Sunday.

After ten months in the job following taking over from Ruben Selles, on Sunday Reading announced that they have decided to sack former player Noel Hunt from his position as manager, with the Royals sitting 19th in the League One table, just two points above the drop zone.

Hunt, who made 162 appearances and scored 39 goals during a five-year stint with Reading as a player, is a popular figure among Royals supporters, which helped him land the job on a permanent basis after previously acting as a caretaker boss under Paul Ince.

Following his dismissal, Chairman Rob Couhig said in a statement, "This is a difficult day for everyone at Reading Football Club. As I said recently, football is a performance-based business and while we have seen moments of progress this season, results have not reached the level required. After honest discussions inside the club in recent weeks, I believe this is the right moment to make a change to move us forward.

"Noel has conducted himself with integrity, hard work and total commitment. He cares deeply about Reading Football Club and he leaves with his head held high."

With Reading in real danger of slipping into League Two this season, the next appointment the club makes must be the right one, otherwise, they risk slipping into the fourth tier for the first time since 1986.

Sky pundit names the candidates Reading should go after in the wake of Noel Hunt's sacking

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky pundit Lee Hendrie has name-dropped who the manager candidates he believes Reading should go after following the dismissal of Noel Hunt on Sunday.

Hendrie said, "I think it's a tricky one, it's not going to be Matt Bloomfield, there's not many managers around, you would say so, unless you're trying to prise someone away.

"The managers that you'd be looking at that have a success rate at promotion, the likes of Paul Warne, who has been a serial promotion killer in League One.

"I've said this before, Gareth Ainsworth, [he] knows the league, I think it's managers that know the league well enough, particularly if you want success.

"It's a tricky one, there are certainly managers out there, the likes of Tony Mowbray, you'd say so, Carrick, I think he'd be delving too far down in the divisions and losing sight of what he did at Boro, so I can't see him going down any further than that.

"There's plenty of managers that are certainly worth prising away for a club of that status; it's just where they go, who they turn to, and what style they want."

Paul Warne, Gareth Ainsworth, and Tony Mowbray named as potential successors at Reading after Matt Bloomfield drops out of the running

Both Warne and Ainsworth are currently plying their trades in League Two with MK Dons and Gillingham, respectively, having both managed in each of League One and the Championship previously.

Warne spent six years as manager of Rotherham United between 2016 and 2022, helping them achieve promotion to the Championship on three occasions, but also relegated on three occasions, having mastered the art of winning promotion from the third tier but unable to maintain his side in the second.

He'd also win promotion from League One with Derby County 2024, confirming four separate promotions from the third tier, and is now currently manager of MK Dons in League Two, where he hopes to win another promotion.

Ainsworth began the season on fire with Gillingham, going the first nine league games unbeaten, but have no gone winless in their last five, in what has been a tale of two halves so far this season for the former Wycombe Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers boss.

Both him and Warne have experience of getting teams out of the third tier, with Ainsworth achieving that feat with Wycombe Wanderers in 2020.

Tony Mowbray has been out of work since his brief stint with West Brom in the second half of last season, and like the other two managers mentioned, also has a promotion from League One on his CV, achieving this feat with Blackburn Rovers in 2018.