The results are in from our second approval rating on Leam Richardson, which we ran following the end of his first season in charge, and… they’re not good. You’ve given him an average score of 1.7/5, which is one of the lowest scores we’ve ever recorded for a Reading manager.
To break down the voting, the overwhelming majority of you (87%) gave him either a 1/5 or a 2/5. A handful of you went for 3/5 and barely anyone opted any higher than that.
A quick side note, in case you wondering: yes, these
are the results after adjusting for people spamming the poll with loads of 1/5 votes in a row. We see your tricks, you rascals.
I’m not a fan of Richardson personally and gave him a 2/5, but an average score of 1.7/5 still feels harsh for someone who’s delivered a mid-table finish at a club in a transition period. Have I seen enough positives under this manager to give me reassurance that he’s the man for the job long term? No, but we’ve also had much worse seasons too.
Regardless, this score is a remarkable drop-off for someone who started with a decent enough one in his first approval rating. When we ran this poll in January, a few months after his appointment, Richardson got a very respectable 3.67/5. The vast majority of respondents were middling (3/5) or pleased (4/5) in their outlook.
Richardson’s score dropping by almost 2/5 in a matter of months reflects just how uninspired a lot of fans are by his management. Performances and entertainment levels have been problems throughout his 33-match spell in the dugout, and even his star trait (getting results) fell away in the closing weeks of the season.
Supporter disillusionment culminated in pretty widespread chanting in the last few matches of 2025/26 for Richardson to be sacked. Otherwise, go on social media and it’s seemingly easier to find people saying they’re likely to not renew their season tickets next season than it is to find backers of Richardson.
All in all, it doesn’t make for a pretty picture. Here’s how Richardson’s May 2026 score compares to those of his predecessors – interestingly, Noel Hunt signed off with a much more positive score of 3.02/5.
Where do we go from here?
I want to end on a more optimistic note as a) although a lot of the negativity is warranted, I’d rather be positive where possible, b) it looks pretty clear that Richardson’s going nowhere. And to be fair, there are reasons to be at least a little cheery.
Richardson referred to this summer as being a proper ‘building window’ for Reading when he spoke at STAR’s Q&A a few months ago (as opposed to January having a more immediate focus). Expect the Royals to bring in a number of younger players to set the squad up for the longer term, following on from the additions of Haydon Roberts and Benn Ward in January. This should give Richardson more individual quality and young talent to draw on.
It’ll also be a big few months in terms of sorting out the squad’s fitness, which was a big drag on our 2025/26. Richardson now has the opportunity to get energy levels up and keep them up, as well as acting to avoid injuries before they occur. That’s important when you consider just how much we were held back by lacking players such as Jack Marriott and Kamari Doyle in the second half of the season.
So, if we get this pre-season right, Richardson’s got a good chance of turning things around and kicking on with this side in 2026/27. That’s the theory, at least.
The obligatory pessimistic note is that, regardless of the above, Richardson still needs to develop this side tactically if Reading are to do well next season – something he hasn’t given much indication of being capable of, just yet. He’s also got a lot of work to do to win back a fanbase that’s at best largely tuned-out, at worst actively hostile.
Hopefully though we can see some really positive signs of growth over pre-season, including in summer friendlies, from team and manager alike.
