Squad for 2025-2026

[Vision]

It's also not exactly new that players and agents will try to bargain for better deals by claiming better offers, or biding gheir time in case something else shows up.

We should not allow ourselves to be bullied or blackmailed. If we do, every player and agent will continue to do it. If we don't, maybe we'll lose out a fair bit this summer, but people will eventually stop trying to take us for a ride and we'll weed out the chaff without having to dangle to their tune.

I do wonder if some of this is at part due to Couhig’s comments and attitude toward the transfer window. He clearly didn’t put as much emphasis into getting targets in early and seemed to suggest that he had no issues with waiting until the end of the deadline. If that’s how the club view it then targets might well be playing the waiting game as well.

I also think signing Wing and Pereira was an obvious priority but I suspect that they’re being paid a fair bit to stay. Hunt alluded to the fact that there were players who wanted near parity with them. So expectations as to what we can pay or are willing to pay have been raised for potential signings.

It’s not ideal but if that’s Couhigs position then we will just have to see how it plays out.

[andrew1957]

I think the new owners are right not to offer stupid wages and to try to run the club sustainably and I am still hopeful that Hunt will be able to fashion a competitive side during the next few weeks. However, we have lost most of our best players ex Wing and Pereira and so any thought of promotion this season must surely have gone out of the window. Realistically after losing so many of our stars, a mid table finish this time must be viewed as a great success and then continuing to build next summer for a promotion push in 26-27.

Even with a good team we got beaten twice by Lincoln last season and so I expect we will struggle on Saturday. I just hope people don’t turn on Noel, as he had a pretty much impossible job last season and excelled and frankly the start of this season looks even more difficult as he will have to fashion and entirely new team - especially as we look to have a pretty tough first 10 games. Our first 5 away games are against Lincoln, Bolton, Wycombe, Barnsley and Stockport. The results of those games last season were L 0-2 L 2-5 D 1-1 D 2-2 L 1-4. So 2 points from those 5 games and 3 heavy defeats.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

The challenge is how to please all these different stakeholders...

RC has stated many times that he wants the club to spend what it earns...

If that is to be believed at face value then a structural deficit of around £10Mpa needs to be addressed...

This doesn't equate with building a team competing at the top of L1...

Moreover, if I was an ambitious player, I'm not sure that would be a great motivator...

To get a return on the investment in Reading FC, they need to flip it relatively quickly otherwise costs will add up...

As for new revenue streams, apart from the big talk, nothing game changing seems to be happening...

[WestYorksRoyal]

Couhig could have made his life a lot easier if he'd told us all he was inheriting a burning skip, it would take a few years to turn it around and promotion was unlikely this season.

This is where my thinking was, but his words about a "strong strong strong" squad, "potentially spectacular" window and all these "you're gonna be excited when you see the next 2 weeks" adjusted my expectations completely. Now I'm having to adjust back.

His actions are far more consistent with the first scenario I outlined than his words. You can see a plan. Pay good wages for players like Wing, O'Connor and Pereira but don't throw out those contracts like confetti. Don't allow potential signings and their agents to pull our trousers down, and walk away if necessary. Ask younger players and fringe players to prove themselves. Be willing to sell Knibbs for a good fee. I've no doubt it will make us more financially sustainable and set us up well for the longer term. But, in the context of this season, we'll start slowly as teams take time to gel and the best bargains are available at the end of August.

His words and Todd's tweets have dug their own hole here.

[Hound]

Couhig could have made his life a lot easier if he'd told us all he was inheriting a burning skip, it would take a few years to turn it around and promotion was unlikely this season.

This is where my thinking was, but his words about a "strong strong strong" squad, "potentially spectacular" window and all these "you're gonna be excited when you see the next 2 weeks" adjusted my expectations completely. Now I'm having to adjust back.

His actions are far more consistent with the first scenario I outlined than his words. You can see a plan. Pay good wages for players like Wing, O'Connor and Pereira but don't throw out those contracts like confetti. Don't allow potential signings and their agents to pull our trousers down, and walk away if necessary. Ask younger players and fringe players to prove themselves. Be willing to sell Knibbs for a good fee. I've no doubt it will make us more financially sustainable and set us up well for the longer term. But, in the context of this season, we'll start slowly as teams take time to gel and the best bargains are available at the end of August.

His words and Todd's tweets have dug their own hole here.

I think that’s pretty reasonable

As a team we’ll be fine this year but difficult to see us challenging with a few marquee signings which I don’t think we’ll do

Build for next season sustainably is a perfectly reasonable aim. Obvs as mentioned a million times we had 5 under contract a few months back and we’re selling one of those

[traff]

All about selling the dream initially I would suggest.
Clever to get Wing and JP re-signed and sell as many season tickets as possible based on the wave of optimism. Keep the expectation rising with promises of top signings and top budgets.
Make sure there are no leaks so no one peeks behind the curtain

After expected ticket sales have peaked slowly let out info about, greedy players and agents. Big signings falling through the net due to people not keeping a "gentlemen's agreement". Seems an odd way to do business for someone who is from the legal profession and has already proved he is not slow to use litigation to get what he wants.

We clearly need to cut our cloth, balance the books etc and I don't believe any sane Reading fan expects money thrown around willy nilly!
Just need to realise that the new owners are pure capitalists, who will use all the commercial and PR tools available to make money.

So long as they can reduce costs, invest as little as possible to see a maximum return.
If we continue to fall for the marketing tricks then that is just our too bad.

Expect a finish in the bottom half but safe from relegation. Savage, Garcia and any breakthrough players to be sold in January as any possibility of playoffs has gone by Christmas.

[skipper]

Our biggest problem is that our fans always start with "promotion is the aim"

We were deluding ourselves that once we were relegated, that it was always going to be a decade before we were promoted again. This is our 3rd season in League 1 and promotion doesn't look on the horizon.

[Snowflake Royal]

Couhig could have made his life a lot easier if he'd told us all he was inheriting a burning skip, it would take a few years to turn it around and promotion was unlikely this season.

This is where my thinking was, but his words about a "strong strong strong" squad, "potentially spectacular" window and all these "you're gonna be excited when you see the next 2 weeks" adjusted my expectations completely. Now I'm having to adjust back.

His actions are far more consistent with the first scenario I outlined than his words. You can see a plan. Pay good wages for players like Wing, O'Connor and Pereira but don't throw out those contracts like confetti. Don't allow potential signings and their agents to pull our trousers down, and walk away if necessary. Ask younger players and fringe players to prove themselves. Be willing to sell Knibbs for a good fee. I've no doubt it will make us more financially sustainable and set us up well for the longer term. But, in the context of this season, we'll start slowly as teams take time to gel and the best bargains are available at the end of August.

His words and Todd's tweets have dug their own hole here.

My main quibble with this is taking hyperbolic enthusiasm as meaning anything about how we'll actually be run.

We should all be capable of seeing through hype and paying attention to the actual plans outlined and deeds. And those tell a pretty clear and reasonable story.

[Royal_jimmy]

I think the new owners are right not to offer stupid wages and to try to run the club sustainably and I am still hopeful that Hunt will be able to fashion a competitive side during the next few weeks. However, we have lost most of our best players ex Wing and Pereira and so any thought of promotion this season must surely have gone out of the window. Realistically after losing so many of our stars, a mid table finish this time must be viewed as a great success and then continuing to build next summer for a promotion push in 26-27.

Even with a good team we got beaten twice by Lincoln last season and so I expect we will struggle on Saturday. I just hope people don’t turn on Noel, as he had a pretty much impossible job last season and excelled and frankly the start of this season looks even more difficult as he will have to fashion and entirely new team - especially as we look to have a pretty tough first 10 games. Our first 5 away games are against Lincoln, Bolton, Wycombe, Barnsley and Stockport. The results of those games last season were L 0-2 L 2-5 D 1-1 D 2-2 L 1-4. So 2 points from those 5 games and 3 heavy defeats.

That's my sentiment as well. However what's to say that we won't have a fire sale of our best players next summer as well and we fail to replace them too?

Whilst I'll forever be grateful to Couhig and co for saving the club I hope they won't stick around too long if their plan is to have us stagnate in this league.

[Esteban]

Couhig could have made his life a lot easier if he'd told us all he was inheriting a burning skip, it would take a few years to turn it around and promotion was unlikely this season.

This is where my thinking was, but his words about a "strong strong strong" squad, "potentially spectacular" window and all these "you're gonna be excited when you see the next 2 weeks" adjusted my expectations completely. Now I'm having to adjust back.

His actions are far more consistent with the first scenario I outlined than his words. You can see a plan. Pay good wages for players like Wing, O'Connor and Pereira but don't throw out those contracts like confetti. Don't allow potential signings and their agents to pull our trousers down, and walk away if necessary. Ask younger players and fringe players to prove themselves. Be willing to sell Knibbs for a good fee. I've no doubt it will make us more financially sustainable and set us up well for the longer term. But, in the context of this season, we'll start slowly as teams take time to gel and the best bargains are available at the end of August.

His words and Todd's tweets have dug their own hole here.

My main quibble with this is taking hyperbolic enthusiasm as meaning anything about how we'll actually be run.

We should all be capable of seeing through hype and paying attention to the actual plans outlined and deeds. And those tell a pretty clear and reasonable story.

+1

[Snowflake Royal]

Couhig could have made his life a lot easier if he'd told us all he was inheriting a burning skip, it would take a few years to turn it around and promotion was unlikely this season.

This is where my thinking was, but his words about a "strong strong strong" squad, "potentially spectacular" window and all these "you're gonna be excited when you see the next 2 weeks" adjusted my expectations completely. Now I'm having to adjust back.

His actions are far more consistent with the first scenario I outlined than his words. You can see a plan. Pay good wages for players like Wing, O'Connor and Pereira but don't throw out those contracts like confetti. Don't allow potential signings and their agents to pull our trousers down, and walk away if necessary. Ask younger players and fringe players to prove themselves. Be willing to sell Knibbs for a good fee. I've no doubt it will make us more financially sustainable and set us up well for the longer term. But, in the context of this season, we'll start slowly as teams take time to gel and the best bargains are available at the end of August.

His words and Todd's tweets have dug their own hole here.

My main quibble with this is taking hyperbolic enthusiasm as meaning anything about how we'll actually be run.

We should all be capable of seeing through hype and paying attention to the actual plans outlined and deeds. And those tell a pretty clear and reasonable story.

+1

And I would suggest for the twatterati who are incapable of that, that's their issue, not EC/TT's and they should be completely ignored as deserved.

[Hound]

My main quibble with this is taking hyperbolic enthusiasm as meaning anything about how we'll actually be run.

We should all be capable of seeing through hype and paying attention to the actual plans outlined and deeds. And those tell a pretty clear and reasonable story.

+1

And I would suggest for the twatterati who are incapable of that, that's their issue, not EC/TT's and they should be completely ignored as deserved.

Don’t disagree but no doubts some of that reactive crowd are also ones turning up on Matchday and setting the tone of the support. Would have been better to have toned down the hyperbole and been a bit more realistic for the short term

[Snowflake Royal]

+1

And I would suggest for the twatterati who are incapable of that, that's their issue, not EC/TT's and they should be completely ignored as deserved.

Don’t disagree but no doubts some of that reactive crowd are also ones turning up on Matchday and setting the tone of the support. Would have been better to have toned down the hyperbole and been a bit more realistic for the short term

Idiots gonna idiot regardless of what anyone said.

I'm no fan of hype though, granted.

[traff]

Need a little bit of patience to see how the new plans turn out.
I'm hoping that once we get all the technical upgrades, we can adjust the slider x1 and bring the defence up to normal speed.

[Brogue]

All gone