Player was never the same after leaving Coventry City for £1.2m: View

•  Marc McNulty’s move to Reading FC from Coventry City did not work out as expected. He struggled to establish himself as a regular starter and only made 17 appearances for the club.
•  McNulty’s career took a downward turn after leaving Reading, as he joined Orange County in the American second-tier and has struggled to make an impact.
•  Looking back, McNulty may regret his decision to leave Coventry, as they have the potential to be in the promotion mix this season and he could have had a similar opportunity to shine in the second tier.

Scoring 28 goals and registering 11 assists in 52 competitive appearances during that campaign, he played a huge part in guiding Coventry City back to League One.

His two assists in the play-off final against Exeter City reinforced just how valuable he was – and it was inevitable that he was going to attract plenty of interest during the summer transfer window.

The Scotsman had two clear options during that summer: stay at Coventry who were on the rise under Mark Robins, or make a step up to another club.

How did Marc McNulty get on at Reading FC?

In the end, he decided to make the switch to the then-Championship club Reading for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.2m, with the forward linking up with Paul Clement.

The Royals may have only narrowly avoided relegation at the end of the 2017/18 season – but they were second-tier play-off finalists the campaign before that and had plenty of potential on paper.

Not only this, but McNulty had a genuine chance of making a real impact at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, with Yann Kermorgant’s contract being terminated during the summer of 2018 and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson not doing enough to nail down a starting spot in Berkshire for the long term.

Unfortunately, McNulty never managed to establish himself as a regular starter for the Royals, making just 17 competitive appearances for the club in total with 15 coming during the 2018/19 campaign.

He never got a consistent run of games to prove his worth and his missed penalty against Leeds United in the November of that season rubbed salt into the wound.

In fairness to him, he responded brilliantly with a goal against Stoke City in the following game after being given the opportunity to start against the Potters.

But he only appeared once more during the season after that – and McNulty’s Reading career was pretty much over at that point – even though he didn’t know it at the time.

Failing to be given further playing opportunities by Jose Gomes, Mark Bowen and Veljko Paunovic, he went out on loan several times to the likes of Sunderland, Hibernian and Dundee United before he was finally released by the Royals when his four-year deal expired in 2022.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t have good things to say about the Royals as he was approaching the latter stages of his time in Berkshire, telling the Scottish Daily Express: “My contract is finally up in the summer so who knows what will happen. But it’s a relief to be the one in charge of my future now.

“You can look at it two ways, there’s the stress of being out of contract and not having a club. I might end up working as a cleaner here at St Andrews, you don’t know!

“But for me, with all the [expletive] I have seen there over the years I’m just glad it’s going to be over and I don’t have to go back down there. I would probably be happy to be unemployed than go through that [expletive] again.”

How has Marc McNulty got on since leaving Reading FC?

Quite frankly, those comments were unprofessional, even if they were true.

He was still contracted to the club at that point – and the fact he said that goes to show he wasn’t the right sort of character to have in Berkshire.

The forward hasn’t exactly done well since his departure, joining American second-tier side Orange County in January.

Scoring just three times in 25 competitive appearances for them, he hasn’t been able to thrive on the other side of the pond.

Looking at how his career has panned out, he will be regretting his decision to leave Coventry, who are struggling in the second tier at the moment but have the potential to be in the promotion mix by the end of the season considering how well they did last term.