SQUADWATCH - Summer 2026

[MR. CYNICAL]

That squad is I believe is 1988-89 which was 45 minutes away from relegation to the fourth tier.

Excitement maintained right to the end of the season, has Leam delivered that?

Top response although I'd argue the football by then with Branfoot was just as turgid as today.

Difference being we created chances and scored goals. Turgid football indeed but we had the players to suit when we won the league, agree it went downhill when we went back down but we still managed to win something (Simod cup)

[stealthpapes]

Almost all the players in red will go. The only doubts will be those with first team league games under their belt and I think they mostly stay

(so Dorsett, Yids, Rino, maybe Elliott)

We've used the loanees to plug gaps.

Finley BURNS - probably need another centre back
Mark O’MAHONY - definitely need better forward options
Will KEANE - as above
Ryan NYAMBE - need cover here
Kadan YOUNG - shame, didn't impress, best of luck next season
Kamari DOYLE - need cover here
Matty JACOB - no cover needed

So that boils down to at least a more old school, hold the line centre forward, a centre back, a flexible defender, an attacking midfielder (or two), and then replace anyone else who goes.

What sort of squad does that look like?

[Royalwaster]

Like others have said, not really too fussed who stays and who goes. Expect those with long contracts to remain unless they really want to leave. Expect the majority of out of contract players to leave. Can't see many clubs sniffing around our best players this year.

Do we need to get rid of players in order to have a decent budget for transfer fees and wages or will the summer window be mainly Couhig funded?

Where do we look for new recruits? I guess it is a mixture of out of contract players, the best players from the teams that go down and the worst players from the teams that go up, aged players, loans from the prem.

Can we get anyone else in from overseas as we still have Fraser and Danny K on the books?

God you guys are a disloyal bunch - one of the top performers for us during the Dai reign and always showed positivity on the pitch and scored some amazing goals for us, and even this season with amazing goals and assists statistics and people are happy for him to leave. We are really becoming such a self-entitled club, it makes me sick.

[stealthpapes]

rough first team squad

GOALKEEPERS (GK)

Joel PEREIRA - 2028
Jack STEVENS - 2027


DEFENDERS (DF)

Jeriel DORSETT - 2026
Paudie O’CONNOR - 2029
Haydon ROBERTS- 2028
Benn WARD - 2029
Derrick WILLIAMS - 2027
Andy YIADOM - 2026
PLUS CENTREBACK
PLUS UTILITY DEFENDER

MIDFIELDERS (MF)

Ben ELLIOTT - 2026 MAYBE
Liam FRASER - 2027
Andy RINOMHOTA - 2026
Charlie SAVAGE - 2027
Randell WILLIAMS - 2027
Lewis WING - 2028

FORWARDS (FW)

Kelvin EHIBHATIOMHAN - 2027
Jack MARRIOTT - 2028
PLUS A STRIKER
Daniel KYEREWAA - 2027
Paddy LANE - 2028
Matt RITCHIE - 2028
PLUS 1-2 ATTACKING MIDFIELD


Might be kept for cups etc

Boyd BEACROFT- 2026
Tyler SACKEY - 2026
Abraham KANU - 2026

[Hound]

Looks about right

Elliott and Yiadom will go I think. yiadom a great servant and really liked him but unfortunately time taken its toll

Possibly an outlier in the u21s - Hicks, Osho, Spencer maybe to add to that cups list

[stealthpapes]

I might also look for someone who can play across the front, but with proper pace. I thought Young might have been this but he's barely played.

Just the sort of player you put on at 82nd minute, wind up and let go.

[tidus_mi2]

Looks about right

Elliott and Yiadom will go I think. yiadom a great servant and really liked him but unfortunately time taken its toll

Possibly an outlier in the u21s - Hicks, Osho, Spencer maybe to add to that cups list

Injuries and age have definitely impacted him, just can't cut it at League One anymore.

[Royalwaster]

Elliott has Ejaria / Matejovski vibes for me - all really gifted, technical players that never quite had the impact they promised.

[Clyde1998]

Elliott has Ejaria / Matejovski vibes for me - all really gifted, technical players that never quite had the impact they promised.

Flair players have never really worked for us unfortunately. Matejovsky always seemed to be a level above the rest of the team and was trying to do things the others couldn't anticipate.

[Orion1871]

Elliott has Ejaria / Matejovski vibes for me - all really gifted, technical players that never quite had the impact they promised.

Flair players have never really worked for us unfortunately. Matejovsky always seemed to be a level above the rest of the team and was trying to do things the others couldn't anticipate.

James Harper said he could never play with Matejovsky because Harper would look around for him and he'd be at right back. Whereas when he played with Sidwell and Gunnarsson he knew exactly where they would be.

[West F]

Elliott has Ejaria / Matejovski vibes for me - all really gifted, technical players that never quite had the impact they promised.

Flair players have never really worked for us unfortunately. Matejovsky always seemed to be a level above the rest of the team and was trying to do things the others couldn't anticipate.

You have to accommodate them in your team. At the time, our midfield pairings were workrate and legs for 90 minutes. Matejovsky, or a player like him would be in the Doyle position in this current set up. Exactly how you would play Elliot. The best midfield we had recently was Wing, Savage and Elliot. Wing, Savage and Knibbs offered more of a goal threat with the first triumvirate offering more possession and control.

[blueroyals]

You missed John Ryan and Tyler Sackey from your list of expiring contracts, two promising youngsters completely frozen out because of us signing all those duds and misfits.

[stealthpapes]

Sackey's a 19 year old centre midfielder. Exactly which players are keeping him out of the first team. Help me out here.

In any case, he's played all three EFL trophy games and what looks like every reserve team game. So, he's exactly where we want him to be. Maybe a loan next season and

I genuinely don't know how the club can combat nonsense of this calibre.

[stealthpapes]

John Ryan's at the other end of the 'youngster' scale, as he's 3 years older than Sackey. I thought he looked alright and assured in the cup games he played this season, but I'm also aware he's been out injured for a big chunk of his time at Reading - didn't play any football at all 2024-25.

[Hound]

Ryan looked ok if lightweight in the cup games. But constant injuries have wrecked his career so far including most of this season

Like to see a bit more of Sackey next year if he hangs about. Either a loan to a good level or a few more cup games

[katweslowski]

I wish we'd get rid of Kelvin. I am sick of his inconsistency, his generally lethargy and most often than not, his just inability to do anything on the pitch. Granted he doesn't often get much service, but he just looks so lackluster most of the time

[tidus_mi2]

I wish we'd get rid of Kelvin. I am sick of his inconsistency, his generally lethargy and most often than not, his just inability to do anything on the pitch. Granted he doesn't often get much service, but he just looks so lackluster most of the time

I'm happy to keep him as I think he's actually quite good as an inside forward but please don't play him as a lone striker for the love of God.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

John Clarke is the first player who's announced he's leaving at the end of the season.....sad as there's a good player there but always seems to have been injured, and not even figured from the U21's I don't think.

Hope he can make a comeback somewhere.

[Stranded]

John Clarke is the first player who's announced he's leaving at the end of the season.....sad as there's a good player there but always seems to have been injured, and not even figured from the U21's I don't think.

Hope he can make a comeback somewhere.

4 first team apps and only 14 u21 apps in all his time here tells the story of his injuries - if he stays fit there is a decent Champ/L1 player there but would unfortunately be foolish of the club to offer a new deal based on his history.

[ILoveMoonPig]

It's a shame, I feel like under Hunt, there was a path for players coming from the academy into the first team, but I think that seems like it's unlikely for a lot of these youngsters now.

Happy for Richardson to make his own decisions over the summer, but in the context of there no longer being "it's not my squad" / "didn't have a preseason" excuses if things don't improve next year (measured in terms of 'did we get more than 2 shots on target in a game').