And so there it is: 2025 has been brought to a close and we welcome 2026 with open arms. It was quite the transformative year for Reading, when you compare the start of 2025 to the start of 2026.
Sim goes into some excellent detail in his review of the year, but summarily: we had Sam Smith leading the line for a Noel Hunt team being “led” by Dai Yongge. After a busy summer window, a coaching staff reshuffle and the big ownership change, all those names have been replaced.
December was the first month
when we started to see what a Leam Richardson team should look like, and it is here that I’ll provide some knee-jerk reactions to what it was we saw in that period, as we enter a year that has the potential to bring about a lot, but not the guarantee.
Performances and style of play
The results are there and we are definitely scoring more goals. The fans will grumble but at least we are picking up the points. Richardson will need to prepare for when we stop picking up the points, because playing like this and getting points despite ourselves is not sustainable, and we will soon revert to the mean.
We either need to build on this to develop better attacking transitions, or we need to find a new game plan to enhance the skills in the team and become more dominant in our performances.
And Richardson will likely need to do this with the resources he has at his disposal, despite his asks for further investment. January will be interesting – we either come out of the other side looking healthy with a playoff push on the horizon, or we fall back to where we were before, and hovering above the relegation places.
The November signings
Out of nowhere, we saw Randell Williams and Andy Rinomhota arrive in quick succession in November, to give us more options in the squad. Presumably Rinomhota was to provide cover for Liam Fraser, maybe also Ben Elliott, and possibly to give Lewis Wing some rest.
However, we’ve barely seen him play in any games because he’s either not been match fit, been on AFCON duty (before returning early for personal reasons), or when he has been available to come on, we’ve needed an attacking substitution, which he is not.
Unless the play is to shift Wing further up the pitch and have Rino cover, that is, but I think I’ve given up on that dream. As nice as it has been to see him return, he’s not yet done anything of note for us.
However, Williams has been a different story. He had been almost an ever-present on the team sheet, before injury at Plymouth Argyle, offering a goal and assist so far. And, do you know what? I rather like him.
I don’t like that he’d been taking minutes away from Garcia, but he’s versatile in being able to play anywhere across the three roles behind the striker and at wing-back, works hard for the team, and is quick and able to carry the ball further up the field.
I am just mystified why this side has such a reticence to play the kind of passes that we do to Kyerewaa on the left out to Williams on the right, when he is probably more reliable in his end product.
With a contract due to expire in January, we really need to sign him up on a longer-term deal. He could even be a good solution for us in the number 10 role.
Derrick Williams
He made quite the impression coming in as a late summer window signing, until picking up an unfortunate injury. Then Dez came back and we just seemed so much more… secure in defence. He’s been our best defender this season, by a long stretch.
If we didn’t see that coming, then his progression since returning from injury has allowed him to demonstrate another skill in his game: he’s quite the playmaker. The goal he set up for Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan against Luton Town was sublime – I’m not sure what he was even doing so far up the pitch in the first place, but if that’s what happens when he goes for a wander then I’m totally OK with it.
Up until his second injury, away to Plymouth, he also demonstrated that he was quite an aerial presence in either box. Bringing in Paudie O’Connor in the summer, we expected the former Lincoln City man to be the aerial master, and he has certainly been effective, but Williams has quietly stolen that crown from him too.
His loss to injury could have been a real set-back for us, but fortunately, his replacement has timed a return to form perfectly.
Finley Burns
Speaking of which, welcome back Fin! Coming in from Manchester City and having picked up a player of the season award in his previous League One spell, with Stevenage, there was a lot expected of him.
It’s perhaps unfortunate that he wasn’t getting the coaching he needed, seeming to regress as each game passed at the start of the season. He also seemed to suffer for not having any experience to support him in the back line, with O’Connor and Andy Yiadom injured.
Drafted in to cover for Williams in December, and playing alongside Yiadom, Burns has been imperious. His ability to read the game and make covering blocks and/or runs has helped keep us solid at the back, and he also demonstrates an ability to deftly pass the ball into midfield, when that’s asked of him.
This was the player we wanted to see and I am excited to see him continue this form. So much so that, upon Williams’ return to the line-up, I’d rather see O’Connor dropped so the two can be paired together. I believe it could be our strongest available centre-back pairing.
Jack Marriott
Quite simply, we just look like an entirely different proposition with him leading the line. It’s not just about the goals, although he’s rather good at getting them for the side when feeding off scraps, and that’s entirely reassuring.
It’s also about the work rate he offers. He provides an outlet up top and is willing to drop into midfield to do the dirty work, to either hold up play or win possession back. While doing this, he is beginning to build up a good understanding with Kamari Doyle – who has been excellent to provide mobility and legs up top – and Kyerewaa, who just loves running.
We had a pretty light schedule in December and we will have similar again in January: only the six in total, including just one midweek game, at home to Exeter City. This both gives Marriott the recovery opportunity and Leam Richardson the time to develop a longer-term solution for the side, to either rotate Marriott in busier periods or provide cover for injury. Let’s not wait for it to happen – we should get ahead of the game with our planning, please.
Daniel Kyerewaa
Kyerewaa seems to have firmly established himself as the first-choice left-winger in this side, and in principle, you can see why. He’s a real outlet with his pace and ability to dribble, and he causes headaches for the defences he is playing against. He is also beginning to demonstrate an ability to drop back and support his left-back, which is great to see.
However… however. He kind of reminds me of that Bash Brother kid from The Mighty Ducks, specifically in the first movie.
He was found playing hockey down an alleyway by the team coach, after he smashed the coach’s car window and the coach was amazed at how hard he could hit the puck. But – there was a catch. He could only hit the target he was aiming for one out of five times. (He also didn’t know how to ice skate, but that’s not so relevant here.)
This is why he reminds me of Kyerewaa. Because Kyerewaa seems to have endless amounts of opportunities to put dangerous passes/crosses into the box, chances to run at defences and shots, but very few of them really lead to much.
But eventually, given enough opportunities, he will get it right and either provide a goal or add the finishing touch to a move.
The challenge for the coaching team here is to develop the consistency for Kyerewaa, to get more of an end product. We won’t always play against sides that give us countless opportunities and we need to be more ruthless. This system is designed to use Kyerewaa as the outlet to get the play up the pitch, so we need him to give us a better end product to get more goals that can help put us in more control of the games. The talent is there.
Lewis Wing
I bemoaned Wing playing too deep, which was preventing him from being able to causes problems further up the pitch, and thus reducing his attacking output, as well as preventing the centre-backs stepping up.
And in the last couple of games in December, Wing has scored three goals and provided two assists – because he is spending more time further up the pitch now. Sometimes football really is just that simple.
Charlie Savage
However, while we’ve seen improvement from Wing, Savage… not so much. Indeed, I think he is beginning to regress. Allow me to caveat this.
If you watch Savage play, he’s really developed his ability to understand when to push up and hassle/press the opposition, and when to drop back and offer defensive support or a passing outlet to play out from the back. His work helps to knit together good passing movements in the middle of the park.
But if you look at where he is passing, I am baffled. He often selects to either pass back to one of the centre-backs, occasionally sideways to Wing or, if he does play it forward, it will be the exact same pass to Kyerewaa. Literally, every time. I never see him play that kind of ball out to the right. Why?
He is such a technically gifted player, good with both feet and has a really good passing range. It makes no sense, and I can only logically draw the conclusion that this is a direction being given to him from Richardson and the coaching staff. But, again… why? It actively stops Savage from opening the game up for us to push further upfield or launch counter-attacks. It’s a mystery to me.
Andre Garcia
The absolute breakout star from last season, he was excellent in an unfamiliar left-back role, essentially a kid playing a man’s game. Since proving himself able to compete at this level, he’s gotten bigger, stronger and more ready to step up and make a difference.
Except… he’s not getting picked. Why not? I know it was said in the summer that his minutes had to be managed owing to his growth spurt, and fair enough, but… what’s going on here?
Matty Jacob picked up an injury and Garcia’s not being given a run-out to give Jeriel Dorsett a rest.
Paddy Lane has disappeared, Randell Williams is now injured and Matt Ritchie struggles to complete a full 90 while he himself is working his way back from injury. Why on earth isn’t Garcia getting some minutes out wide? And if not, why not at full-back?
He showed what he can do when given some (limited) minutes, with an excellent attacking run from left-wing-back against Peterborough United – a really dangerous Peterborough, at that – and he has surely got to be worth a look-at for a side screaming out for players who like to run at defenders.
Nigel Howe
I will tread carefully, as this is a topic we haven’t broached on this site. Nigel Howe has done so much for this club in the past years, and I remember that, when he left the club, it was for the right reasons – being disillusioned with the direction the ownership was going in.
When he came back, it felt like the first time Dai Yongge was taking the sale of the club seriously, and we as a fan base immediately had more confidence in the process with Howe on board.
However, it didn’t come without its challenges and it was obvious that Howe was being backed into a very difficult corner. People will remember his press conference comments in September 2024, which went down like a lead balloon, and they dented his legacy somewhat.
The sale was completed and he was able to walk off into the sunset with his head still held high. Perhaps not seen in the same light as he had been before – football fans famously don’t have short memories – but at least it was job done.
To come back and then file for a winding-up petition against the club because they owe you money? It’s textbook “how to ruin your legacy” stuff. I’ll leave it at that.
