Sent Off From The Bench

Reading eventually overcame a decent Wycombe side after penalties in the The Morrisons Car Park Cup. Only six places separate the teams in the league, and the home side will be disappointed that they didn't manage to hold onto their lead after being the better team for large parts of the game. Gomes decided to experiment with a sparkling-new 5-3-2 formation given there wasn't three points up for grabs. McIntyre, Morrison and Moore deployed at the back. Richards and Rinomhota both sat fairly deep in defence, letting Wycombe stretch the play when they had possession of the football, but then pushed right up to support attacks. Pelé sat deepest of the midfield three, Adam and Ejaria in front of him - the latter with a particularly free role. Puscas played as 9, with Boyé buzzing around in the 10 role. Shooting toward a raucous away end in the first half, you'd hope that could buoy the side on, and they definitely had their chances. Boyé missed a sitter from eight yards whe...

Reading's transfer windows are often nothing special, and on some occasions they're nothing at all. With this window meandering towards the same fate, alongside concerns over Financial Fair Play and 'soft' transfer embargoes, the club somehow went absolutely mad in the last three days to give fans real hope of achieving something this season. So with that said, here's the 25th round up of the summer's business that you've read. Ins Joao Virginia If there's one position Reading have a seemingly endless amount of depth in, it would be young goalkeepers. So it is a touch surprising that we've loaned in a 19-year-old from Everton to keep instead. That said, in the opening game this season he looked assured with possession, and his distribution was decent. Hopefully when the team improves he'll be given more options, and won't end up having to play a risky pass half the time. As of yet his shot stopping is yet to be really tested, but e...

I have spent the last few weeks telling anybody that would listen to how Reading are a changed side. Safe from relegation, and only put there in pre-season predictions by people who haven't actually watched the team since our José Gomes inspired uptick at the backend of last season. Yes, maybe some of the key personnel went back to their respective parent clubs, but we still have all 6ft 4in of Matt Miazga, and promising upstart Joao Virginia - the first step in our transition into a fully Portuguese squad a la Wolves. With all that said Saturday provided a bit of a reality check. Going into the game I said it would provide a good opportunity to see how far the squad has come since the beginning of last season. Last time The Owls visited Berkshire  they made light work of Paul Clement's men, a Reading side that has been almost totally decimated since. Mannone, Gunter, Ilori, Aluko, Meyler, Bacuna, and Baldock all started that day, with none of the three substitutes at th...