We’ve had the first competitive game of Reading’s 2026/27 season already – a penalty shootout win at Bromley in the League Cup last Saturday – but this weekend’s match feels like more of a curtain-raiser. The Royals host Luton Town in an early kick-off: a long-awaited return both to the SCL and to League One football.
Ahead of that game, some of TTE’s finest minds penned their hopes, worries, takes on the key personnel at the club, predictions for 2026/27 and loads more. Those writers are:
- Harry Chafer (HC)
- Alex Lovell (AL)
- Marc Mayo (MM)
- Simeon Pickup (SP)
- Neill ‘Bobbins’ Rees (NR)
- Ben Thomas (BT)
- Ross Webber (RW)
If you want
to see how wide of the mark we all were on 2025/26, you can find our previous roundtable on that season right here. Or, alternatively, go back and check out the equivalent pieces for 2023/24 and 2024/25.
What’s your biggest source of optimism about this season?
HC: We are by no means a finished product, far from it. But I think it’s also fair to say that, in pre-season and against Bromley on Saturday, we’ve seen signs that Richardson wants the team to be more entertaining and show more attacking intent.
Thus, I’m actually hoping to enjoy watching Reading play this season. I know, I know, famous last words and all that.
AL: Hmm… I am a bit conflicted here because, while not sold on Richardson, we have at least now had a “famous” Leam Richardson Pre-Season™ happen, so I’m blindly hoping that this will make the 2026/27 Reading FC vintage much better than the 2025/26 Reading FC vintage (shudder at the memories).
I’m also hoping the minutes given to academy players during pre-season might translate to meaningful game time this season. Yep, I am acutely aware that both of these things are recklessly optimistic, based on history.
MM: Our Plan A is strong: stay solid at the back, get the ball out wide to tricky wingers, give Lewis Wing space to do his stuff, feed Jack Marriott and he will score. Unspectacular, probably, but at this level it should be effective.
SP: We’ve finally got a logical, coherent style of play – much more attacking and generally well suited to bringing more out of our quick wide players. It could well be good enough to get us into top-six contention, but at the very least it’ll be more entertaining than last season’s dross.
NR: That we will play better football than last season in a stadium that will be much more appealing than the last.
BT: That we will hopefully play well for a full 90 minutes and some games will actually be enjoyable. There were times last season when I was trying to find excuses not to go to matches, such was the standard on offer on the pitch.
I also think this is the season that some of those young players really kick on and stake a claim in the first team, so I’m hopeful on that.
RW: Kyreece Lisbie and Daniel Kyerewaa should be able to form a dangerous and balanced attack on opposite sides of the field. They should give Reading a lot more bite in the transition.
What’s your biggest worry?
HC: We lose our first two or three games and the toxicity from the end of last season returns. Richardson has clawed back a fair amount of credit over the last few months, but I fear it would take a lot less time to lose it again than it took to build it.
AL: That the performance levels we saw in late March, April and May last season carry over into this season, the results don’t pick up and the owners are faced with a decision to make in October/November.
The quality coming down from the Championship this year really means there is little room for error if we want to have a meaningful impact at the right end of the table.
MM: What happens when Plan A isn’t in full flow. We don’t just become a bit mediocre, we become horrible.
If we revert to the sort of park-the-bus, aimless long-ball team we saw for so much of last year – particularly when protecting a lead – not only will we drift away from contention, the atmosphere will be miserable.
SP: Reading’s midfield – the double pivot particularly – relies on Wing (who was inconsistent last season) and Andy Rinomhota (who has a worrying availability record). I’m concerned we’ll lack consistency in this key department, especially with a lack of quality back-ups who suit this season’s more intense system.
NR: Fitness, again. We don’t have the bodies or even the healthiest ones to maintain a promotion charge, not at time of writing anyway.
BT: That this season is the same as the last and we sleepwalk into mid-table or worse. There absolutely has to be progression in the style of play and consistency in results.
RW: I’m not convinced the manager is good enough, and I think a lot of the fans feel similarly. A slow start could make things toxic very early.
What do you make of the job the owners are doing at the moment?
HC: I always find it difficult to judge this because ultimately, we see very, very little of what actually happens behind the scenes.
From what we’ve seen so far this summer though, we need more investment in the squad and it’s frustrating that, although this is just the realities of a transfer window, we’re again a couple of days out from the start of the league season and need reinforcements.
AL: Fine. Not spectacular, but not terrible. This could swing either way based on what we experience when visiting the SCL for the Luton opener, and if the pitch/stadium/fan experience is visibly better or not.
There are some unhappy folks among the Reading faithful due to the sponsorship decision, but there is an understanding that we need ownership to generate revenue for the club. Which, right now, we would be more forgiving about if we could get a few more quality incomings to fill in the obvious gaps in the squad. The board have so far been oddly slack/quiet this summer window.
MM: Absolutely fine. A solid 4/5. The club is on a very solid footing, there’s a wide array of improvements being made off the pitch, and on it, the jury is out. Like it is on every owner/board at this stage of the season.
They won’t own the club in five years’ time; it’s all about sprucing us up and getting us promoted. On the former, they’ve done great. Time to do the latter.
SP: My view’s mixed. They easily pass when it comes to the fundamental asks of any owners: trying to run the club sustainably, looking to develop it more broadly, communicating well with fans and not doing anything reckless or stupid.
I wish their ambition off the pitch were backed up by the cash to be clearly ambitious on it though, while the lack of a director of football is a blindspot we may come to regret in the long run and this season’s choice of sponsor doesn’t sit right with me personally.
The bottom line however is that they’ll leave us in a good state when they depart. I don’t want that to happen right away though – we need the stability. Plus, Rick Catania and Alec Lundberg have done an excellent job helping out Reading Women, which shouldn’t be overlooked.
NR: I think they’re doing OK, but they are finding out very quickly how expensive it is to keep a club like Reading going. That and the new SCMP rules are giving them a massive headache.
BT: For me, they have until December – which will be around the 18-month mark – before I fully answer that. It’s clear there is growing unrest about their decision-making among the fanbase and I fear their mouths are writing cheques that the football on the pitch can’t cash.
RW: I think they have good intentions but occasionally try to import too much American sports business practice without first understanding English football culture.
And how about Leam Richardson?
HC: For me, it’s a clean slate with Richardson. Time has seemed to heal the personal scars that the end of last season left, and as alluded to earlier, I think we’ve seen enough from him over the summer break to be more optimistic about the direction we’re going in.
AL: He seems weirdly happy since his summer break? I don’t remember him ever really smiling last season but, so far this summer, he’s been quite chipper.
I think last season was – possibly – just about getting us to the end of the season and quick fixes. This year, he really needs to show us he can coach this team to play productive, positive and intentful attacking football that will excite the fans, while blooding the academy talent. And dropping the LinkedIn talk nonsense while actively taking ownership of mistakes.
The jury is still very much out, but it is at least clear what he needs to do to fix things.
MM: I’m pleased the vibe has improved since the end of last season; as much as I disliked how we collapsed, we couldn’t carry on with either a manager we hated or hating the manager. Couhig has stuck by him. The team is decent – to what extent we don’t quite know. We all know that he has about 20 games to prove he can put together a promotion push, or he’s out.
SP: I’m glad we’re finally seeing signs of what ‘his’ kind of team looks like, and I’m delighted that he’s seemingly much happier/more settled in his media persona, but there’s still a fair amount of lingering cynicism from last season’s mismanagement that needs to be expunged in the coming months.
NR: Well, he’s kind of got a clean slate now. If things start to go south he can rightly point the finger back at the board who haven’t backed him. It’s murkier than that, but in essence, it’s not on him anymore.
BT: It’s a big season for him as well as the team. He didn’t do well last year and I maintain that his reluctance to really attack over the Easter Bank Holiday games cost us a play-off place and we fell away soon after, playing some insipid and desperate football.
However, he looks to have had a good summer and is speaking well, coupled with the small improvements on show during pre-season. It’s impossible to say how well he is actually doing as this now needs to be rebirth of the team on the pitch, in his image. I am behind him and have changed my feelings towards him of the last few weeks.
RW: Despite his more-than-reasonable PPG last season (especially before May), I have zero confidence that Richardson is the man to take Reading up. I hope I’m proven wrong of course.
Who will be the Royals’ top individual performer this season?
HC: Apologies, I’m going to be boring and say Lewis Wing. For the simple reason that he’s our best and most important player. By some way.
AL: Based on the current squad: any of Dokes, Stokes or Lisbie (whose name sadly doesn’t continue the rhyming continuity). They all look like exactly what this side needs.
Pre-season performances suggest Kyreece Lisbie, but I think Josh Stokes will give us something we haven’t seen from a number 10 since Harvey Knibbs, which was only a year ago now. Feels like much longer, doesn’t it?
MM: Wing. His floor is incredibly high. He plays every game. Our whole team is set up for him to shine, with Lisbie vital to drag defenders away from him in the right-centre pocket he thrives in. Mark him down for another 10-goal, 10-assist season.
SP: Benn Ward, who I really, really like as a well rounded centre-back partner for (the underrated) Paudie O’Connor. I can see him being sold for a few million next summer.
NR: Well, you probably can’t look much further than Wing. He’s still not captain material, in my opinion, but he’ll outstrip anyone else in terms of numbers. But also, I’ll be very excited to see how Lisbie performs.
BT: Lisbie. No contest.
RW: Kyerewaa should benefit massively from Lisbie being on the other side of the pitch, meaning he’ll come up against fewer defenders doubling-up on him. That should allow him to spend more time driving at his full-back and creating chances.
Which young player will break through?
HC: If I had to pick an academy product then I’d go for Emmanuel Osho. However, I’m going to perhaps bend the rules slightly and say Ward. He was a huge miss in the run-in last season, and if he stays fit he should become one of the first names on the teamsheet.
AL: I can’t say Ashqar Ahmed again – I already said him last year. Tyler Sackey signing a three-year contract extension is meaningful, so he could very much have a role to play.
John Ryan may become quite the player if he manages to go more than five minutes without being injured. However, Osho seems like the likeliest to break through right now, particularly given the minutes he was given pre-season.
MM: Probably none of them, because the good ones will all go out on loan. Have Abraham Kanu and Ahmed already ‘broken through’? Both will be squad options as we start the season; maybe one will have a first-team spot come Christmas.
SP: The safest answer to this question tends to be the youngster most liked by the manager, who – going by pre-season – was apparently Osho. His physicality, work rate and versatility all mean he’s a good fit for this system.
I’ll throw in a more left-field suggestion and say Shay Spencer will return from loan to muscle in on the first-team picture later in the season (largely because of what I said higher up in my ‘biggest worry’ answer.
NR: Given who we’ve seen step up in pre-season, I’d like to see Sackey have a breakout campaign. He’s so versatile that he could fit in all over the pitch and do a job.
BT: You’d look at Boyd Beacroft to progress. I also think Sackey will be a nice addition off the bench, but we’ll only know when we see what the line-ups in late August for the under-21s look like as absences there will mean they’ve been ‘promoted’ to the first-team squad.
RW: Beacroft is the obvious answer right now. If O’Connor or Ward miss extended time he may well get his chance to impress, with Finley Burns and Derrick Williams missing from this year’s defence.
Give us one outlandish prediction for this season
HC: We’re going to keep the most clean sheets in League One this season. The question does say “outlandish”.
AL: I got this one right last year, unfortunately, which means I must up the outlandish stakes. I think this will be Joel Pereira’s last season with us.
By the end of the season, he will have one year left on his deal and, while he is a fantastic goalkeeper and the best we’ve had since Ali Al-Habsi, mistakes were creeping into his game last season, and based on the Bromley game, they’re continuing to creep into his game.
The club may decide to decide to cash in, especially if one of the many goalkeepers in the academy (like Matt Rowley or Tom Norcott) can prove their credentials out on loan.
MM: We will sign a Premier League kid on loan on deadline day who will be a complete revolution and fire us to promotion.
SP: While it feels a bit mean to call this ‘outlandish’, Paddy Lane will have a good season and get at least 12 goals and assists (combined). Also, none of the relegated sides will go straight back up.
NR: We won’t sell Charlie Savage.
BT: That Richardson makes it through the season unsacked.
RW: Noel Hunt returns to the club for a third time as coach.
Who’s getting promoted and relegated?
HC: Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City to go up, and Bromley, MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon and Burton Albion to go down.
AL: Obviously Leicester are getting promoted. Sheffield Wednesday look like a solid shout as well, but the rebuild for them might make it more likely next season, though I think not. This could be Stockport County’s year too.
Going down… despite us making them look like world-beaters, Bromley will surely be relegated and are likely to be joined by Burton, Cambridge United and Wimbledon.
MM: Can you repeat the question please, I don’t understand that word? Promo… Nope, don’t know it.
Up – Plymouth, Leicester, Wycombe Wanderers. Down – Cambridge, Doncaster Rovers, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon.
SP: Promoted – Plymouth, Stockport and Bradford (in no particular order). Relegated – Bromley, Doncaster, Peterborough United and MK Dons (in no particular order).
NR: I guess the likes of Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday will be stronger than most, but I’m usually wrong with these things. Also Plymouth. Relegated: Cambridge, Notts County, Burton, Wimbledon.
BT: Promoted: Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and I do feel like MK Dons will do well. Relegated: I mean most of the division could go through the trapdoor. Barnsley, Burton, Cambridge, Stevenage.
RW: Promoted: Leicester, Luton, Plymouth. Relegated: Wimbledon, Mansfield Town, Cambridge, Leyton Orient.
Editor’s note, for those of you keeping count:
Promotion shouts: Leicester x5, Plymouth x5, Sheffield Wednesday x4, Luton x2, Stockport x2, Bradford x1, Wycombe x1, MK Dons x1
Relegation shouts: Wimbledon x5, Cambridge x5, Burton x4, Bromley x3, MK Dons x3, Doncaster x2, Wigan x1, Peterborough x1, Notts County x1, Barnsley x1, Stevenage x1, Mansfield x1, Leyton Orient x1
How will Reading’s season play out and where will we finish?
HC: The optimist angel on my shoulder is saying “like last season, but it ends better (and there’s no midseason managerial change)”.
I think it will be a slightly tricky first few weeks as we hopefully bed in some new players and get to grips with a more positive style of play. But come May we’ll be there for thereabouts for the play-offs.
AL: This could all change if we bring in two more centre-backs, a back-up number 10 and another striker, but right now, I think we will be a bit more energetic but ultimately face the same structural issues with the playing style, probably starting slowly then finishing around 10th.
I just don’t think we have the depth in quality or the right person coaching the team to get us into the play-off positions in a more competitive league this year. Here’s to hoping that I’m wrong.
MM: We’ll start relatively well, hovering in and around the top six. That will encourage Couhig to spend a little bit in January. We’ll lose in the play-offs.
SP: A slowish start, but with some promise, before we gradually kick into gear midway through the season. Form will improve enough to get us into promotion contention, but not enough for the top six. Eighth.
NR: I said on Gab Sutton’s EFL Debate podcast that we’ll finish eighth. I feel we can win more than enough games, but still come up very short in others. Eighth is probably adventurous, more like 10th.
BT: We’re set for another mid-table finish unless we start quickly. We need a few players in to add to the depth we don’t have, but the overall main 11 is good enough to challenge.
When we get to the dog days of December/January however, this squad just won’t cut it. So I’m saying mid-table and any advance on 12th will obviously be progress from last season.
RW: Reading will start fast before fading in late autumn once teams work them out. After that we’ll slowly fall out of the play-off spots and finish 10th.
