There are very few moments in football when a large portion of the fanbase starts from the same place, but last summer was one of them.
After years of decline and uncertainty, ultimately followed by the relief of new ownership, there was a genuine sense of optimism surrounding Reading Football Club. Nobody expected miracles, but there was an acceptance that the club finally had direction again.
Rob Couhig and his ownership group had restored communication, begun investing in the infrastructure around
the club and promised an era of openness, integrity and honesty. More importantly, they weren’t afraid to talk about taking Reading back up the Football League.
The overwhelming feeling wasn’t expectation, it was hope.
Last season doesn’t need dissecting in great detail, but for those who have only recently joined the Reading journey through One Royal(!), we collected points through performances that were – more often than not – far from convincing.
There was an underlying feeling that the league position perhaps flattered the football being produced, yet somehow the side found themselves in and around the playoff places towards the business end of the season, before the wheels came off and we hit a tree.
Performances deteriorated, confidence disappeared, players were frustrated, supporters became increasingly disconnected from what they were watching and a season that had promised so much finished with more questions than answers.
Within the club it should’ve encouraged caution. It should’ve reminded everyone how difficult promotion really is and reinforced the idea that there is still plenty of work to do before Reading can genuinely be considered one of the strongest sides in League One.
Great expectations
Instead, it appears to have done the opposite and Reading’s leadership have consistently spoken about promotion.
Couhig has been unequivocal. He has spoken repeatedly about winning being the only currency that ultimately matters, making it clear that nobody’s position should ever be considered safe if results aren’t delivered.
His comments that “if you don’t win, your tenure for us is not going to be for long” and that he “doesn’t much care about the style of play” were never designed to lower expectations. If anything, they deliberately raised them.
John Coleman has been equally forthright. Shortly after arriving at the club after Aldershot chose not to keep him, he explained that he would not have taken the job had he not believed promotion was achievable. He has also spoken publicly about Reading being a club where the expectation should be promotion, or at the very least competing for the playoffs.
Rick Catania has perhaps struck a more measured tone, but his messaging has been more consistent. Whether through interviews or on social media, he has regularly spoken about building the processes, culture and foundations needed to take Reading back to where the club belongs. Following last season, he described it as a year of learning while insisting the club was building the right environment to become successful and “get where we should be”.
Joe Jacobson has also struck a pragmatic but ambitious tone. While much of his focus has understandably been on recruitment, he has spoken openly about building a squad capable of making “a big push for promotion”.
Finally, Leam Richardson. Probably the most measured due to his experience, he’s consistently added an important caveat. While talking about raising standards and creating an elite environment, he has also openly acknowledged that the squad is not yet where it needs to be. Depending on which interview you watch, he still wants or needs between two and five players, with conversations ongoing around that.
It all creates an interesting contradiction.
The ownership are talking like this is a football club ready to challenge for promotion, while the manager continues to explain why the squad still needs significant work before it can realistically do so.
Together, however, they have shaped the conversation surrounding Reading Football Club.
That point is important because expectations rarely appear out of nowhere. They are usually created by the people leading the football club and, once that benchmark has been established, everything else is viewed differently.
A defeat on a cold Tuesday night in Sto… Stevenage becomes dropped points in a promotion race. A quiet transfer window is no longer simply a cautious approach to recruitment or a consequence of financial restrictions.
It becomes a discussion about whether the club has done enough to deliver against the ambitions it has publicly set itself, and ultimately – perhaps unfairly – it raises questions over the manager if we are not in the top six.
Accountability
Perhaps that explains why Reading supporters increasingly appear to be having different conversations.
Some remain understandably cautious because they have experienced too many false dawns to fully embrace another ambitious summer. They have heard bold statements before and would rather wait until March than get carried away in July.
Others, albeit I think a tiny amount, have bought completely into the project. They trust the ownership, trust the recruitment process and believe Reading should be aiming for nothing less than promotion.
Between those groups sits another group who are not demanding promotion because they have invented unrealistic expectations. They are judging Reading against the expectations Reading have chosen to create.
That distinction matters because accountability is too often confused with negativity – certainly whenever I post on Twitter it is anyway!
This seems to regularly get lost on social media. Reading have had, for many years now, a stream of people coming through the door telling fans what they want to hear, or telling them nothing, without being held accountable for their words.
In my opinion, it is not wrong or negative to point out what a club representative has said, and then shine a light on whether that is actually happening. In fact, as a fanbase, Reading are more justified than at least 90 other teams in the Football League to scrutinise what’s going on.
For example, questioning whether the current squad has enough depth to sustain a 46-game promotion challenge is not automatically criticism of Richardson. After all, he himself continues to say more players are needed.
Equally, asking whether recruitment reflects the ambition expressed by the ownership is not an attack on Couhig, Jacobson or Catania. It is simply assessing whether the football operation currently matches the objectives being communicated by those leading it.
And talking of perception, Reading have just sold Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan. It looks like an excellent move for him personally and one that could ultimately benefit the football club financially, but it also leaves Reading looking incredibly light up front.
The Marriott Boy is currently struggling with a back issue and Sean Patton is rumoured to be facing a spell on the sidelines too, so while everyone hopes both are back sooner rather than later, neither situation inspires confidence going into a 46-game campaign.
Richardson himself has repeatedly spoken about needing further additions, so if the club’s publicly stated ambition is promotion, replacing Ehibhatiomhan with genuine quality is no longer simply desirable, it becomes essential.
Then there is the pitch.
Again, whether the issues are down to the weather or something else is almost irrelevant. Reading’s final pre-season friendly being cancelled because the pitch is not ready is an exceptionally embarrassing situation for the owners.
The pitch has been one of the centrepieces of the infrastructure investment supporters have rightly applauded throughout the summer. A cancellation means lost revenue, inconvenience for supporters and inevitable criticism.
Setting the benchmark
Football has an unfortunate habit of forcing every discussion into opposing camps. Positive or negative. Back the manager or sack the manager. Trust the owners or question everything they do.
Supporters who ask difficult questions are not always hoping to be proved right. More often than not, they are simply listening to what the football club has told them.
For years, fans have wanted owners who communicated openly, set high standards and weren’t afraid to talk about success. It would be strange to criticise this ownership for doing that alone. What naturally follows ambition, however, is accountability.
If Reading achieve promotion this season, the ownership will deserve enormous credit for establishing a clear vision and delivering it. If they fall short, supporters will inevitably ask why, and neither reaction would be unreasonable because this summer’s expectations haven’t been created by podcasts or social media, they’ve been created by Reading Football Club itself.
The club have set the benchmark.
Now everyone, from the boardroom to the dugout to the pitch, will be judged against it.
