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Reading’s 2020/21 season has undoubtedly shown improvement – both on and off the field. Yet, after a scintillating start to the campaign, a seventh-placed finish has ultimately been a disappointment.
A bizarre few weeks in late August saw Mark Bowen, who’d been appointed in similarly strange circumstances in October 2019, sacked from the manager’s position at the Madejski. Bowen was offered a role as Sporting Director by the Reading board – similar to the role he’d occupied prior to his ‘promotion’ to manager, but declined the offer.
In what was meant to be an FFP-free promotion pushing season, Reading were rumoured to be on the offensive. A mysterious ‘big name’ manager had reportedly been shortlisted to take the Royals to the Premier League, so it was rather bemusing when the club announced they’d appointed ex-Chicago Fire boss Veljko Paunovic.
Paunovic couldn’t have made a better start to life in Berkshire. Reading rocketed to the top of the Championship after winning eight of their nine opening league fixtures. A lack of squad depth caught up with the Royals, and despite still comfortably sitting in the play-offs at the turn of the year, a disastrous run of form post-February (five wins in 20 games since January) saw Reading finish the 2020/21 campaign in seventh place.
A huge summer lies ahead for the Royals if they are to make up for this season’s shortcomings next year.
Reading’s season can almost be summarised in five metaphorical matches.
Blackburn 2-4 Reading – Tuesday 27th October 2020
Paunovic’s late appointment had achieved the desired effect, and it took most by surprise. Upon Reading arriving at Ewood Park on a dark October night, they sat atop of the Championship table and five points clear of fellow early pace-setters Bristol City. Blackburn’s attack consisted of Harvey Elliott, Ben Brereton and Adam Armstrong, who, much like Lucas Joao, Michael Olise and Yakou Meite, had been in red-hot form in the season’s early stages.
Blackburn was to be the Royals’ greatest test of the season so far, and they passed with flying colours. Reading took the lead within nine seconds through Meite’s capitalisation on a defensive mistake, and despite Armstrong’s equaliser soon after, the visitors would go in at the break 3-1 leaders ahead thanks to further goals from Olise and Josh Laurent.
Armstrong pegged Reading back and put Blackburn back in contention with his second of the game, but Lucas Joao wrapped the win up with nine minutes to go. The Royals had produced a confident, unique performance in an important game, and soared seven points clear at the top of the Championship. A statement of intent? Very much so.
Coventry 3-2 Reading – Friday 30th October 2020
Funnily enough, it was only three days later that Reading had their first defeat of the season inflicted upon them by Coventry City. In front of the Sky cameras on a frosty night at St Andrew’s, the Royals’ lack of squad depth was fully exposed by a direct and committed Sky Blues side.
It was a game that Reading seemed destined to lose. A golden opportunity to go even further clear at the top of the Championship, coupled with a chance to do it in front of a nationwide audience, proved too much for a thread-bare Royals’ squad who simply couldn’t match Coventry’s energy or fight.
Reading’s makeshift front line that included defensive midfielder Alfa Semedo was uncharacteristically impotent. The result foreshadowed the two main issues that Reading would go onto suffer later in the season – tired legs and a perceived lack of fight.
Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Reading – Tuesday 23rd February 2021
The ‘M4 Derby’ in late February provided Reading with another excellent opportunity to, at that point of the season, solidify their place in the top six. Wycombe had been enjoying a slight upturn in form but the Royals’ should have had more than enough firepower in their ranks to overcome the Chairboys.
And they completely and utterly failed.
In what was a painful defeat for Reading, Wycombe took the lead through Fred Onyedinma who scrambled home a messy finish in the 49th minute.
The home side gave Reading every opportunity to get back into the game, with centre-half Ryan Tafazolli dismissed in the 69th minute, simultaneously conceding a penalty. Target man Lucas Joao stepped up, but his attitude had been poor all evening and it was clear to see that his head wasn’t in the right place to take the crucial spot-kick.
The penalty was saved by David Stockdale, and Wycombe clung onto the three points. It was an embarrassing result and perhaps a precursor of things to come for Reading, with the Royals only winning four more games all season.
Barnsley 1-1 Reading – Friday 2nd April 2021
When the Championship fixtures were released last summer, a Barnsley vs Reading match in early April most likely wouldn’t have been thought of as a play-off fixture in anyone’s mind. Yet, the second tier works in mysterious ways, and when Reading arrived at Oakwell we were witnessing a ‘fifth vs sixth’ face off.
The Tykes were confident ahead of a fixture that could have seen them dump the Royals out of the top six for the first time since mid-December – and for only the second time all season. Reading seemed to be standing up to the task when Ovie Ejaria put them ahead just after the half-hour mark. Their lead remained intact into the second-half, before Alex Mowatt drew Barnsley level from the penalty spot.
And then, Lady Luck seemed to shine on Reading. A mix up in the Barnsley backline saw the ball fall for Lucas Joao who faced a gapingly open goal.
Yet, the one person Reading fans wanted in that position managed to miss a seemingly unmissable shot. Joao had been polarising fan opinion over previous weeks and only compounded such misery, seeing Reading fall to within one point of Bournemouth who sat seventh. The beginning of the end was near.
Reading 1-1 Cardiff City Friday 16th April 2021
Good things don’t last forever, and Reading making the play-offs simply wasn’t to be. The Royals were one of only a handful of sides who had played 41 games when Cardiff arrived in Berkshire. A lacklustre, slow, dispirited draw opened the gates for Bournemouth to demote Reading from the top six with their game in hand.
Manager Veljko Paunovic will likely disagree with this sentiment, but the Cardiff match proved that Reading seemed to have a mentality problem. The team were stuck in a rut and didn’t even seem to try to take the game to Cardiff, instead appearing to go through the motions in a game that they simply had to win.
Physically, the team was shot and key players such as Joao, Olise and Bayern Munich bound Omar Richards failed to deliver. Reading wouldn’t recover and finished the 2020/21 season in seventh place.
On the transfer front
You could say that Reading’s ultimate failure to make the play-offs in the 2020/21 campaign was due to their poor transfer performance.
Of course, the impact of COVID-19 and Financial Fair Play should be taken into consideration, too. The extent to which this impacted the Royals’ dealings isn’t entirely known, but regardless, they failed to strengthen in one key area – attack.
Ironically, it was Reading’s attacking prowess that has been refreshing to watch this season. The Berkshire side haven’t enjoyed a front four as fruitful as Michael Olise, Yakou Meite, Lucas Joao and Ovie Ejaria for some time, but squad depth was a concern from the off.
Some fans appeared content with the threadbare squad the Royals possessed, but it was blatantly obvious to see how a lack of an out and out winger and Lucas Joao-esque striker came back to bite Paunovic’s side.
By April, Reading were burnt out and there, quite simply, wasn’t enough players in the squad to actually execute a defined ‘plan B’.
Josh Laurent, as we’ll expand on further on in the article, has proved to be a transfer miracle, but the rest of Alfa Semedo, Lewis Gibson and Tomas Esteves were ineffectual at best and a liability at worst.
The Player(s) of the Season
Josh Laurent was awarded Reading’s Player of the Season trophy before the final day clash with Huddersfield Town at the Madejski.
A free transfer from Shrewsbury Town, Laurent and his midfield counterpart Andy Rinomhota have complimented each other immensely in the middle of the park. Laurent is a powerful, dynamic midfielder who has impressed going forward and in defence, and whilst sometimes going a little under the radar, his vision and demeanour on the pitch has been crucial for Reading.
Lucas Joao, despite tailing off towards the end of the season in terms of form, is the first Reading striker to score over 20 goals in a season since Shane Long in the 2010/11 campaign.
He has been fantastic this year, and it’s a shame that other factors seem to have somewhat clouded his reputation in the last few months. Honourable mentions also go to Michael Olise (EFL Young Player of the Year), Tom McIntyre, Michael Morrison and Tom Holmes.
The Verdict
Reading have progressed this season, but if the 2020/21 campaign had to be classified as a success or a failure, it would fall into the latter category. Not because Reading didn’t make the play-offs, because out of context that isn’t a failure given recent season’s performances, but because of the manner in which they didn’t make the top six.
The fact Reading aren’t in the play-offs is completely their own doing. From mentality to squad depth to individual mistakes, the factors are all internal. Injuries haven’t helped the Royals’ case at all, but this problem should have been pre-empted. One always had the feeling that Paunovic and co. simply ‘hoped’ that they wouldn’t have to face injuries.
Paunovic more than deserves another season, and Reading are in a good place on paper at least, but given general fan opinion, you do feel that the Berkshire outfit need to start next season quickly to offset any lingering doubts from this season.
A play-off finish is an expectation next year should Reading keep the core of the squad together, but in reality, if the Royals don’t make the top six in 2022, then the 2020/21 campaign was little more than a wasted anomaly.
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