Knee-jerk Takeaways From Reading’s August 2026

Editor’s note: This piece was written before Reading’s 5-0 win over Mansfield Town on September 2.

Welcome to September, everyone! The beginning of the end, if you are a sunshine-inclined individual such as I am. However, it’s not all bad news: we have some actual football to talk about!

Unlike June and July (and most definitely May), some things actually happened in August. Actually, quite a lot of things: football, transfers, stadium changes, new kits and other bits and pieces for us to mull over and this writer to provide immediate, ill-informed opinions on: the knee-jerk reactions for August. On we go!
football

Let’s start with this shall we? The final pre-season game of the season – which feels like an eternity ago now – was against Charlton Athletic on August 1 and Reading secured a really respective 3-0 win, leaving fans optimistic that we could start the season well and finally see some consistent attacking play that wasn’t dependent on Jack Marriott scoring impossible goals every week.

…right. About that. With only two league games played in August (one loss and one draw) and three cup games (two draws that both led to penalty shoot-out wins, and then a win within 90 minutes at the fifth time of asking against Stevenage) the jury was still very much out.

Clearly the low point of the month was the home loss to Luton Town in the opening league game of the season, throwing away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3.

Coupled with the fact that the video which circulated of Jack Wilshere’s half-time talk really was nothing over than Wilshere saying “lads, let’s just go and score two goals shall we?”, it really raised doubts about this side’s ability to compete without Marriott (withdrawn after 65 minutes as he was working his way back from fitness).

Indeed, after the 0-0 draw away to AFC Wimbledon, familiar chants of “Leam Richardson, your football is sh*t” returned to the stands. However, it’s a little more complicated than that.

My feeling is that this frustration was very much a hangover from last season, and the ill will whipped up by so many poor performances. The break over the summer has done fans the world of good, but it’s been noted by many fans (including those on these hallowed pages) that the toxicity could quickly return if Reading didn’t start the season well.

And returned it has. The thing is though, the football has been better. Sure, the bar was low, but you can see the improvements, particularly on the right-hand side with Kyreece Lisbie and Udoka Godwin-Malife bursting out of the traps at the start of their Reading careers. However, there remains a lack of attacking fluency and the defence seem to be behaving like they have never met each other before.

You can also see the gaps in the squad that Richardson has continually called out recruitment support for. There are two sides to this coin: he ain’t wrong and the board needed to do better to get the bodies into the side to support him.

However, by continually saying things like this, he is inevitably just disengaging the playing staff and nor is he playing his hand well enough, by not being brave enough to drop under-performing regulars and utilise the academy prospects (Emmanuel Osho or Tyler Sackey, for example) or make positional changes to make the team more than the sum of its parts.

As well as this, I got a bit tired by the end of the last season of hearing about fitness levels not being good enough. Right, we get it. But come on. Stop with the excuses now please. One Famous Leam Richardson Pre-Season™ later and the players still look completely burned out after the first half. What’s going on there then and when is that going to get fixed please?

Most frustrating has been Richardson’s in-game management, or lack of it. He seems unable to tweak the set-up or adapt to situations that evolve or pro-actively make decisions to help either see out the game or tip the balance back in our favour.

Yes, the football is better but it’s simply just catchier to chant that the football is sh*t rather than chant “Richardson: your in-game management is hindering the team”, particularly when the needle on the quality of football hasn’t moved enough to see a consistent 90-minute league performance turned in. And that’s where we are with that.

We went into September with six games (five League One games and one Carabao Cup game) to turn the tide from sitting 23rd in the table (albeit having played one game fewer than those around us) to a side that looks ready to compete at the right end of the table.

This will be a big month to either get fans back on side or solidify the unity of fans wanting him out; there won’t really be much of an in-between here, unfortunately.

One bone of contention that gets “rewarded” with its own section is the unfortunate ability for this side to concede goals in, specifically, the 96th minute.

I think it happened three times in the games between January and April last season, and after a Famous Leam Richardson Pre-Season™, you’d have hoped that would have been stamped out. Nope. Maybe we just need to avoid wasting any time to wrap up games as close to 90 minutes as possible?

Maybe that’s what Richardson and the coaches have been working on? Two competitive penalty shoot-outs against Bromley Town and Wycombe Wanderers and not a single penalty missed, and Jack Stevens transforming into prime Lev Yashin. That’s a nice perk – and the quality of the penalties have been excellent too.

The other big topic for August – the incomings.

I’m not sure why exactly, but the board were really lax with bringing in much-needed reinforcements for Richardson. And when one finally arrived on August 19, it was George Earthy, in a position we didn’t necessarily most urgently need to recruit for.

Earthy might be a good player, I don’t really know, but it kind of makes Josh Stokes’ loan move seem pointless now, since they both play in the same position. Not to mention, we have seen Charlie Savage play well in that number 10 role previously, Lewis Wing would likely be more effective deployed there – as would Jacob Brown – and Sackey is a number 10 too.

A week or so later, we saw this transfer followed up by two signings we urgently needed: defensive reinforcements. I’m not subscribed to us needing another left-back – yes, Haydon Roberts is injury-prone and Jeriel Dorsett is, well, Jeriel Dorsett, but we have Paddy Lane that can drop in, Kelvin Abrefa can play there too and we have John Ryan to come back from injury too. And, lest we forget, Benn Ward has also deputised in that role successfully too.

What we needed was centre-back reinforcements and I think Conor Masterson could be a low-key success for us: a capable squad player who is renowned for his good attitude and willingness to help wherever needed. He’s done well to earn that short-term deal, and I wouldn’t mind or be surprised to see it extended.

Likewise with Josh Knight, another experienced and seemingly capable centre-back who is finding his way back from injury and needs some game time. He could be a solid pick-up for us to give Paudie O’Connor some much needed competition, while also allowing for Phillip Duah and/or Boyd Beacroft and/or Abraham Kanu to go and get some precious minutes out on loan.

Lastly, Jamie Reid has been drafted in to give us an experienced back-up option to Jack Marriott. As Sim rightly said, it is inevitable that we will see Marriott pick up an injury, so having someone who can do a job to step in is useful for us.

Not to mention, Reid is rarely injured. For now, anyway. Not until the Bearwood Curse gets its grubby mitts on him.

There seems to be something of – at best – a collective shrug about his arrival. I get it, but also, I think this could be a solid low-key pick up. He averages around one in three at this level, he is rarely injured and he is seemingly happy to play back-up to Marriott. As well as this, he could also give us a real-time option to bring Marriott off during a game and make an impact, if Marriott is flagging or struggling to get service.

All in all, it’s been an underwhelming window, at face value. But here’s the thing: that’s not necessarily bad. Some of the best signings we’ve done in recent times have been frees such as Paul McShane, John Swift and Josh Laurent. We’ve addressed all areas of the pitch where cover, depth and experience were needed and we haven’t necessarily had to break the bank in order to do it.

Not just this, but we’ve kept everyone we wanted to keep – yes, I’m looking at you, Savage! Now we just need to get a few of the academy talents out on loans to get them minutes and experience to give us something to think about in the second half the season when the games and/or injuries start to mount up.

Richardson has been backed (eventually) and got what he needed. He’s had his Famous Leam Richardson Pre-Season™ now too. It’s time to start delivering.

I actually thought he had a pretty decent game against Wimbledon, but I’m also acutely aware that I am very much in the minority there. Luton, however, was another story.

I think there a few factors here for the drop in his performances so far this season. I don’t think he has anyone pushing him for his place in the side, so there may be some complacency creeping in. I’d imagine Savage is the next cab off the rank, but Richardson doesn’t seem to like using Savage for some bizarre reason. Perhaps Earthy too, if he can play a deeper role.

I also think Wing is playing a bit out of position. This is a side based on energy and movement, and he’s being deployed in an area of the pitch where he is expected to drive the ball forward and drop into the half-spaces to play the passes.

He’s not got the legs for that – we need to get him closer to the goal and into the opposition half in that number 10 role, so he can get more dangerous out-balls to Kyreece Lisbie and Daniel Kyerewaa out wide, but not be expected to run as much.

I also don’t like the criticism of his leadership as captain. Captaincy in the modern era isn’t about being he who shouts loudest, and not only this, but what we see in 90 minutes is only a glimpse of what his role is about.

His part in the dressing room and on the training ground is a big element of what being captain is about – setting the standards for those around him. And we don’t have an insight into this.

However, I do worry that Richardson lets him get away with a little too much and it would be nice to see Richardson sub him off in a league game (if we are ever in a comfortable enough position to do so, or if he’s turned in a bad display), or even rotate him occasionally, to keep him on his toes.

I’m a big fan of Ashqar Ahmed, so sitting here and writing about how much I like ‘Dokes’ tells you that I really think we’ve stumbled upon a gem here. There’s an element of low-key to his signing as well – it didn’t seem like anyone else was in for him and we were able to quietly drop in and get him, and he has been fantastic as a presence down the right.

He’s brave going forward, always looking to carry the ball up the pitch, and he is solid defensively too. He has already developed a strong understanding with Lisbie ahead of him, and whether you think he has been our best player so far this season, he’s certainly been our best defender.

Pereira is an excellent goalkeeper – I am in no doubt about this – but I have no idea what has happened to him over the summer, because he no longer seems to be the confident, ‘expected goals conceded stat defier’ that he once was.

Is it because he has no serious competition to take his starting place? Is it because the coaching restructure that saw Tony Warner leave the club and an internal replacement take on more bandwidth in goalkeeping coaching has affected him? Is it Ben’s theory on the TTE Podcast that he’s not got the best relationship with O’Connor in front of him?

Whatever it is, it’s worrying and I hope this start to the season is just a blip and that normal service will return soon.

You can see what I am trying to do here – rotate between the positive and the… well, not so positive. And Lisbie has been an absolute hit for us down the right hand-side so far.

He is so fast, direct and able to knit play together, while providing opportunities for those around him. He is also a hard-worker, often tracking back to support in defence and win the ball, showing his strength.

He was absolutely worth the wait. If he carries on like this, I will genuinely be amazed if he is still at the club in 12-18 months’ time.

Dorsett is a strange case – he was one of the (very) few beneficiaries of the appointment of Richardson, seemingly getting his best run of consistent games on the left of the defence, leading to his best form in a Reading shirt.

However, the drop-off since the start of the season has been massive. He’s clearly not a natural left-back, but despite having been playing in that role for around three seasons, he still looks unable to grasp the fundamental basics of it. He looks a little more confident in the centre-back role, but a long way away from being a reliable squad member. 

I also don’t like that he has seemingly spent more time bulking up at the gym. He’s a big, strong defender but we need him to be leaner, fitter and quicker. How this has been allowed to go unchecked from Richardson is a real worry. We will do well to find anyone who would ever buy him for cash money from us.

First-half hat-trick against Luton? Yes please, more of that! Just making an absolute mockery of not being able to keep defying his xG statistics. He is so important to this Reading side right now that, without him, we just don’t seem to have any solutions.

Whilst it is great that we do have him, we kind of need to work on that.

We know what he’s about – he’s a threat with his pace and directness, and now we have someone over on the right who can mirror that, we can spread the threat.

However, the criticism about his end product is still there. Yes, he’s still relatively young and has time to be coached and he can improve but he has at least delivered one assist in the Vertu Trophy this season, so he can give us end product, sometimes. It would just be nice to see it more consistently.

He was fortunate to have kept his place in the side in August, when potentially his skillset would currently lead him to be a better impact substitute for tiring defences and with the aforementioned Lane and Osho knocking down the door to be involved.

I’ve been really impressed with Osho over both pre-season and most particularly, against Wycombe Wanderers, and would love to see him given more game time.

Having said that, Lane really impressed against Stevenage, so they are both pushing to get that one available starting spot in the side. It’s a welcome headache to have.

It’s been a bit hit and miss so far, hasn’t it? We saw a light show after the Wycombe game, we can also see that the pitch surroundings are now electronic screens for advertising, which I suppose is good for generating revenue. The pitch looks good and some of the seats seem to have been updated.

However… not all the seats have been updated and it’s not clear when that will be done, or if it even will be done. While the toilets are clean, I’ve still not seen any works completed on these and, indeed, some have just remained shut around the stadium.

When will they open? When will the toilets be upgraded? And when will the taps not gush out a torrent of hot water any longer?

The food hasn’t changed from what I can see; only the prices have gone up slightly while the WiFi and general phone signal is as bad as it ever was. At least the tannoy system is much improved, on the plus side.

Ultimately, it is what it is. The issue becomes more about the ownership at this stage. They really made a big push about “hey, we’re spending £5m on upgrading and improving the stadium to improve the fan experience”. And rightly so – that was exciting news.

But there is work still to be done, and a lot of it is unclear when it will be done. Where have the communications been on this topic? Surely they should know the fanbase well enough to know that getting ahead of the narrative and just owning it could turn a loss into a positive, to see the ownership are actively there and understand the concerns and are working to get the improvements that they promised.

So far, it might sound churlish to say but the improvements established seem to be more for the benefit of someone who might want to buy the club, as opposed to directly benefitting the fans.
kits

Let’s end on a positive, shall we? The new kits have gone down really well with the majority of fans. Me, personally, I like the home kit the most and I’m not a massive fan of the other two. However, the third kit is delightfully retro and mad so I think it will grow on me once the shock wears off.

Macron have rarely gone wrong for us over the years and credit to them for their creativity in thinking up these new designs. I really can imagine the third kit becoming a cult hit among the fanbase, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the famous Purple Turtle third kit.

I also absolutely love the training jacket that goes with the third kit – it’s an absolute hit. I really hope they do an accompany hoodie in the same design.