Can Reading Bounce Back From a Rocky Start to the Season?

11 September 2025
By Hob Nob Anyone?

Despite renewed ambition, the on-pitch start to the  2025/26 season has been disappointing to say the least. The Royals lost 2-0 in their season opener at Lincoln City, and then followed that up with successive home defeats at the hands of Huddersfield Town (0-2) and AFC Wimbledon (1-2). They were leaking goals and not scoring enough.

There was some respite via the Carabao Cup, with Reading defeating Championship outfit Portsmouth 2-1. A hard-fought 1-1 draw at Bolton in League One followed, which was Reading’s first point of the season, and it offered some encouragement. Another draw followed against Wycombe (2-2) before Noel Hunt’s side finally secured a victory, edging Port Vale out 1-0.

Expectations and Pressures

Pre-season chatter envisioned a resurgence. With the club operating under new ownership and ambitious signings through the door, including the likes of Derrick Williams and Jack Marriott, and promising talent like Mark O’Mahony, optimism was sparked. Even football betting markets indicated Reading would do well, with the internal belief being reflected externally.

But early adversity has tested faith. Despite outright frustration, there are signs that something is shaping, occasional flashes of cohesion, decent defensive pressing, and individual endeavour. Manager Noel Hunt’s experience in navigating mid-season turnarounds could yet prove pivotal. However, fans will become frustrated the longer a change in fortunes fails to be realised, with trust eroding.

Is a Recovery Possible?

Yes, but conditions must align. For a turnaround, several factors must come together:

Integration of new recruits: Familiarity and chemistry need to be built swiftly. The likes of Paddy Lane, Jack Marriott, and Mark O’Mahony must translate what people think they’re capable of into consistent performances.

Attacking improvement: The defence has, at times, shown plenty of grit. So now the task is to get things working at the other end of the pitch. They need rt create more chances, and they must be converted more regularly.

Managerial clarity: Noel Hunt must instil a tactical identity that plays to the squad’s evolving strengths while instilling resilience and belief.

Momentum and morale: That first league win must become a catalyst—constructive results and confident displays to lift morale and standings.

If these boxes are ticked, climbing up the table and aspiring to get to where they want to be, remains in reach. Recovery is not only about points, it’s about building a foundation that lasts. Equally important will be Reading’s home record. If they can turn the Select Car Leasing stadium into a fortress, it’s a foundation they can build on. They need to avoid losing streaks, too. Those three defeats in a row must be the end of bad runs for the season.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that Reading’s start to the 2025/26 campaign has been poor. Yet with new ownership, a refreshed squad, and signs of collective resilience, moving in the right direction from here on in is plausible. It won’t be easy, but as Hunt and the club work to recalibrate, hope persists. The Royals’ journey back to consistent good form isn’t guaranteed, but it’s certainly not beyond possibility, and their fate may hinge on how quickly confidence can be built following the Port Vale win.

Reading Squad Has Free Agent Gaps, Could Record Signing Be Set For A Return?

08 September 2025
By Hob Nob Anyone?

It has been a busy week for football fans up and down the country as fresh from the closure of the transfer window as we hit deadline day at the start of the month, we were then very quickly into the first international break of the 2025/26 campaign, and although Reading saw the clash with Northampton postponed, we fully expect to be back in action next Saturday as we make the trip to Barnsley.

With the end of the window, it inevitably means paperwork as squads are confirmed and shirt numbers for the year ahead are finalised, and the Royals were no different a couple of days back as manager Noel Hunt made the selections that would take us through to the New Year and the January window. With the EFL requiring us to name a squad of 22 professionals for our League One campaign that do not include goalkeepers, or youth prospects aged under 21 at the start of the year, there were no surprises in terms of the players that got the nod for the official list.

Of course, in the past two seasons given the off pitch issues that we had long been dealing with, we have never named a squad of more than 13 players, and when we last did this paperwork back in February we laughingly mustered only 11 players. Thankfully those days are in the rear view and it feels like we have won the jackpot at one of the Betpandacasino.io UK venues out there and we are again looking forward and this time around we named 19 players, leaving three slots available for a bit more transfer wheeling and dealing in the free agent market.

1. Kelvin Abrefa*
2. Finley Burns
3. Mamadi Camara*
4. Jeriel Dorsett*
5. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan*
6. Ben Elliott
7. Liam Fraser
8. Matty Jacob
9. Daniel Kyerewaa
10. Patrick Lane
11. Jack Marriott
12. Paudie O'Connor
13. Matt Ritchie
14. Tivonge Rushesha
15. Charlie Savage
16. Michael Stickland*
17. Derrick Williams
18. Lewis Wing
19. Andy Yiadom

* denotes home grown talent from the Academy, and of course Academy players do not have to be registered until selected for the first team and back in February our youngsters named 28.

Whilst there is nothing earth shattering in the release of this information the other day, the curious point is the three free slots as free agents can be signed and registered at any point outside of the two transfer windows in a season, so it is an educated guess to think that our gaffer is juggling a couple of balls in the background as he looks to improve the group slightly further.

It just so happens that a certain George Puscas is now on the free agency list. The 29 year old striker has been released by Turkish outfit Bodrum after scoring eight times in 34 games for the side, and he is of course well known at Reading. He joined us as a youngster back in 2019 for the princely sum of 7.5 million Euros, with 2 million Euros in bonus clauses from Italian Serie A side Inter Milan, and in doing so he became our record signing.

It is fair to say that the Romanian struggled to adapt to the English game, and the pressure that the fee placed on his head as a young lad, but having scored 12 times in the Championship in his debut season from 38 games, he ultimately left with 91 appearances to his name, with a return of 20 goals.

There will be some who believe you never go back, there will be others who feel with greater experience, if available at the right price now, he could be an asset.

We will simply have to see what the future holds.