Reading fans will be hoping for improvements in all areas after a poor start to the season against Luton Town on Saturday at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Despite racing into a promising 3-1 half time lead thanks to a hattrick from Jack Marriott, the Royals collapsed in the second half, and finally lost 3-4 to a stoppage time winner for Luton.
Before the new season got underway the club's owners were keen to promote incoming improvements to the "match day experience" to try and draw supporters back through the turnstiles - but instead have had to send a blanket e-mail apology to all registered supporters, saying: "A huge amount of work has taken place across the stadium over the summer, much of it long overdue, as we continue to invest in improving the matchday experience for our supporters. Unfortunately, we experienced delays in completing some areas of that work, which meant everything wasn't where we wanted it to be when we opened the doors on Saturday."
The newly laid playing surface was not in good condition with obvious patches short on grass by the end of the game, despite postponing the final pre-season match against Charlton that was scheduled for two weeks ago. Poor quality food, which was already in short supply during the half time break, continues to be a persistant problem. Not providing the basics is a massive loss of revenue to the club. The new PA system was louder but reported to be difficult to hear clearly in areas of the stadium. A new coat of paint in some areas didn't give the improvements some were expecting.
On the pitch Jack Marriott was the standout, and is currently averaging a huge 9.4 in the Hob Nob Anyone? player ratings. As Luton introduced players from the bench our defensive problems were all too clear and both Jeriel Dorsett (3.0) and Paudie O'Connor (3.9) have average ratings under 4 out of 10 for their performances. Jack Marriott was replaced by Jacob Brown on 65 minutes with the score at 3-3, and it killed off Reading's threat in front of goal. Brown is scoring just 3.6. You can submit your own player ratings after every game using the player rater on match reports.
