The squad in July

[elrey]

On 1st July Reading's first team squad is currently scheduled to comprise the following:

1. Nelson Abbey
2. Kelvin Abrefa
3. Jokull Andresson
4. Femi Azeez
5. Dean Bouzanis
6. Andy Carroll
7. Mamadi Camará
8. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan
9. Ovie Ejaria
10. Sam Hutchinson
11. Tom Holmes
12. Tom Ince
13. Amadou Mbengue (technically out of contract this summer but has a 1 year option, which I'm fairly sure the club will take up)
14. Tom McIntyre
15. George Puscas (off to Genoa if they get promoted)
16. Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr
17. Andy Yiadom

That's 16 left after Puscas goes.

How many go up automatically from Serie B? I am sure it was just one last year. Genoa look likely to finish 2nd but is that just a playoff spot?

Top 2 go up automatically, 3-8th potentially comprise the play-offs but you only qualify if you finish within 14pts of 3rd, so currently the play-offs go down to 6th, Genoa however are 6pts clear of 3rd with 3 to play so are basically there already.

Three games to go and they're still 6 points clear after 2nd, 3rd and 4th all drew.

[tmesis]

Genoa promoted after today's results, so let's hope it's true that they have to buy Puscas now.

[Royal_jimmy]

Yay. €4m will help us massively.

[tmesis]

Yay. €4m will help us massively.

Getting £20000 a week off the wage bill will help massively.

[Royal_jimmy]

Yay. €4m will help us massively.

Getting £20000 a week off the wage bill will help massively.

£15,000 and it'll be £9,000 now we're in league one

[tmesis]

Yay. €4m will help us massively.

Getting £20000 a week off the wage bill will help massively.

£15,000 and it'll be £9,000 now we're in league one

Only if he has a relegation drop clause

[Sutekh]

I think it makes us more attractive to a new manager, if there are decent funds to bring players in. We just need to appoint someone early and give them the whole season break to shape the squad for next season, and they have some excellent people behind the scenes to help them do that.

I think I've spotted the first of two places where Reading will drop rickets. The second place will be who they appoint.

[Royal_jimmy]

Does anyone think we'll offer Southwood a new deal given Lumley will likely not return and we're now a L1 club?

He did pretty well at Cheltenham so he'll be back with his confidence on a high if we stays. I wasn't his biggest fan last season but wouldn't be disappointed if we retain him. Think it's important we have players in the side who are coming off decent seasons last year. Would mean if Bouzanis stays then it stops Andressen getting into the team. Unless we play Andressen in the Papa Johns and EFL trophy games.

CBC I think we should loan out once more before we blood him in.

We'd have 3 ok keepers for L1 level who are all on very low wages. I hope we don't waste our limited budget on another goalie.

[Stranded]

Does anyone think we'll offer Southwood a new deal given Lumley will likely not return and we're now a L1 club?

He did pretty well at Cheltenham so he'll be back with his confidence on a high if we stays. I wasn't his biggest fan last season but wouldn't be disappointed if we retain him. Think it's important we have players in the side who are coming off decent seasons last year. Would mean if Bouzanis stays then it stops Andressen getting into the team. Unless we play Andressen in the Papa Johns and EFL trophy games.

CBC I think we should loan out once more before we blood him in.

We'd have 3 ok keepers for L1 level who are all on very low wages. I hope we don't waste our limited budget on another goalie.

We have the right to extend his deal for another year under his current deal. Given our new status and the fact that he overperfomed stats-wise in terms of the side he was in, I think it could be a no brainer.

Though I do think Lumley may return as I don't see him getting many offers at Champ level - certainly not as a starter.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

The biggest thing for me is looking to try and bring players in who can play in the Championship, a few of the seasoned players we'd look to bring in over the summer ideally want Championship experience like what others in L1 brought in (Derby; Hourihane, McGoldrick, Sheff Wednesday; Flint and Vaulks etc).

Youngsters that have potential to grow need to be at L1 level and be able to progress. After today, not sure how many are ready, but Abrefa has been involved a bit so could be ok to have in, CBC needs a loan, Senga maybe later on into next season, same with Camara. Kelvin E who knows yet. But any youngsters we sign need to be at L1 level and be able to improve. See which clubs have had some promising players that we can nab seen as we will be a wealthy club for next season.

[Royal_jimmy]

CBC has a bright future but after today he really needs a loan out. Unless we play him in the EFL and Papa Johns trophies

[Needle]

CBC has a bright future but after today he really needs a loan out. Unless we play him in the EFL and Papa Johns trophies

Not the first time I've heard this. Seen him a few times for the ressies, and now today, I'm far from convinced.

I have no idea why we signed a Sutton keeper, much less give him a long contract. The no1 shirt is one of my biggest concerns for next season.

[Ascotexgunner]

Does anyone think we'll offer Southwood a new deal given Lumley will likely not return and we're now a L1 club?

He did pretty well at Cheltenham so he'll be back with his confidence on a high if we stays. I wasn't his biggest fan last season but wouldn't be disappointed if we retain him. Think it's important we have players in the side who are coming off decent seasons last year. Would mean if Bouzanis stays then it stops Andressen getting into the team. Unless we play Andressen in the Papa Johns and EFL trophy games.

CBC I think we should loan out once more before we blood him in.

We'd have 3 ok keepers for L1 level who are all on very low wages. I hope we don't waste our limited budget on another goalie.

We have the right to extend his deal for another year under his current deal. Given our new status and the fact that he overperfomed stats-wise in terms of the side he was in, I think it could be a no brainer.

Though I do think Lumley may return as I don't see him getting many offers at Champ level - certainly not as a starter.

I like Lumley. As solid a keeper as we could get. I hope he stays.
I heard Yiadom charged down the tunnel at the final whistle. Guess he won't stay by the sounds of it.

[Royal_jimmy]

As good as Lumley has been for us he's probably surplus to requirements now. Maybe we can re-sign him if we make it back to the championship and we need a better keeper when that time comes. Save the money for much needed midfield and up front targets now.

I hope Tom Ince stays but would accept £1.5m for him. Ejaria should leave on a nominal fee or a free then we'll have £7-8m to spend on wages. That's a squad average of around £5-6k a week which is very competitive for league one. We should be able to do that without needing to offload more than Ejaria really.

Surely it'd be unfair if the EFL restrict us below 75% of wages to turnover in the business plan and the one for league one is merely set based on that?

[Sutekh]

So now we await the confirmation on who is going to be offered a new contract and who the club will release. Obviously expecting Joao and (sadly) Meitie to leave but if there is a surprise it may be in the club offering a deal to Southwood.

[Royal_jimmy]

CBC has a bright future but after today he really needs a loan out. Unless we play him in the EFL and Papa Johns trophies

Not the first time I've heard this. Seen him a few times for the ressies, and now today, I'm far from convinced.

I have no idea why we signed a Sutton keeper, much less give him a long contract. The no1 shirt is one of my biggest concerns for next season.

Bouzanis looks a solid if not unspectacular keeper for us based on what I saw. A bit like Lumley but not quite as good and a bit less commanding.

The downside to keeping both is we'll have 2 keepers on the smaller side.

[NathStPaul]

So now we await the confirmation on who is going to be offered a new contract and who the club will release. Obviously expecting Joao and (sadly) Meitie to leave but if there is a surprise it may be in the club offering a deal to Southwood.

We should certainly be offering Southwood a contract. He is League 1 level for sure.

[Sutekh]

CBC has a bright future but after today he really needs a loan out. Unless we play him in the EFL and Papa Johns trophies

Not the first time I've heard this. Seen him a few times for the ressies, and now today, I'm far from convinced.

I have no idea why we signed a Sutton keeper, much less give him a long contract. The no1 shirt is one of my biggest concerns for next season.

Bouzanis looks a solid if not unspectacular keeper for us based on what I saw. A bit like Lumley but not quite as good and a bit less commanding.

The downside to keeping both is we'll have 2 keepers on the smaller side.

Steve Death and Steve Francis were both on the small side yet both were outstanding keepers for Reading.

[Royal_jimmy]

So now we await the confirmation on who is going to be offered a new contract and who the club will release. Obviously expecting Joao and (sadly) Meitie to leave but if there is a surprise it may be in the club offering a deal to Southwood.

I think we'd be nuts to not offer him a renewal now tbh. If we stayed up then he'd 100% not get a new contract offer.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

So now we await the confirmation on who is going to be offered a new contract and who the club will release. Obviously expecting Joao and (sadly) Meitie to leave but if there is a surprise it may be in the club offering a deal to Southwood.

We might trigger his deal although I'd still potentially expect us to sign somebody better and then have a first choice goalkeeper and then Bouzanis and Southwood for 2nd and 3rd choice. Whether Southwood wants to stay for that sort of role or would prefer more first team games elsewhere is another matter, I suspect it may be the latter.