The start of the season has been tough for the Berkshire side, losing all three of their league fixtures and only scoring a single goal. Boos have been heard ringing around the Madejski after a 1-0 loss to Bolton on Saturday, and some fans are rapidly losing their patience with Paul Clement, after only 11 league games in charge. So what has caused these issues, I hear you ask. Well, here are just a few of the possible reasons.
Lack of money being invested
Clement hardly inherited the most talented squad in the league, so he would have hoped to be blessed with a significant budget in the summer window. Unfortunately, he wasn’t. The majority of his dealings this summer have been free transfers, excluding the deals for Sam Baldock and Marc McNulty, so Clement and Reading fans alike have reasons to be aggrieved by the lack of activity by the ‘billionaire’ owners.
The Royals does not have a good enough squad to survive comfortably in this league, as shown by the disappointing showing last season, so improvements have been a necessity. Other than Andy Yiadom at right back, none of the new signings have improved the squad too much, yet. However, the loan signing of Josh Sims is a shrewd piece of business, so hopefully, he can help change the fortunes of Reading.
Dominating games, no end product
Reading dominated the opening two fixtures this season, but couldn’t finish off the chances and put the game to bed, which ultimately cost the Royals. In both of the opening games they had so many opportunities to get the ball into the area and give the forwards a chance to put Reading ahead, but the delivery was poor, and the chances went begging.
It is going to cost the Royals a lot of points this season if they can’t improve the supply to the strikers. It was the same problem last season and look where Reading ended up. It is going to be a long, hard season for the club if they can’t create more clear-cut chances and capitalise on the games they are dominating.
Lack of positivity
Supporters went into the season with a sense of nervousness after last season’s showing, and understandably so. But it seems as if the players have also started in a negative frame of mind, almost expecting the worst, which is precisely what you don’t want at the start of a new season. Every time Reading concede, their heads drop, and nobody seems too bothered about whether they lose the game or not.
They all seem too happy just to turn up, lose a game and get paid for it. A few exceptions to this are Liam Moore, Mo Barrow and all the new signings (have not seen enough to judge just yet). Hopefully, results turn around and the atmosphere around the Madejski can improve in weeks to come.
