Jose Gomes insists that he wishes Reading ‘all the best’ after he was sacked by the club two weeks ago and replaced by Mark Bowen.
The former Royals boss watched on as a guest in the Sky Sports studio as Reading earned a point away at QPR with a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.
Despite being an unpopular decision with many fans, the Royals have earned four points in their opening two fixtures with former sporting director Bowen in charge.
Speaking on his 10 months in charge of the Royals, Gomes said: “First of all give me this opportunity to say how grateful I am feeling to Reading fans. All the messages they sent me during this time, they have been amazing.
“I look back and this is our life, a manager’s life, the business around how the football is working right now.
“I wish all the best to Reading, I spent fantastic days there. It was a fantastic experience, we saved the club last season.
“When we arrived there were nine thousand people in the stands, we finished with 20,000 and celebrating keeping the club in the Championship.”
After the game, Gomes praised the performance of his former players as they came from behind twice to earn a draw, including Sam Baldock who was mainly an outcast under his tenure but started his first Championship game of the season and marked it with a goal.
“I would like to say a special word to Baldock. I told him in front of all the players when I said goodbye that he’s a great professional. He was an underdog fighting for the position. He always worked very hard, he got his chance and he deserved it.
The Portuguese manager also stated that he would be keen to continue working in England with another club.
“I really enjoyed my time with Reading and I hope I can go on in English football because you can not find this atmosphere anywhere else in the world.”
