League One odds 2026/27

[BRO_BOT]

Yeah, come on lads, support a glory boy team you have absolutely no connection to, and bask in the reflective prestige, you’ll find people respect winners and that rubs off on you.

Hmm, but which one?

I'd suggest Arsenal, but don't fully commit until you see how it pans out!

I saw on TV the last match had a big pre game fireworks display. The club seems to have a fairly complicated membership setup. On the pitch they are functional rather than entertaining, and there is American ownership in place. The manager is also an ulikeable twat. Could be worth considering.

I like your thinking, traff

[Lower West]

Before 1970 I think Reading fans had accepted their lot having got the message that the succession ambitionless and potless owners had been selling so successfully for the 100 years they’d been owning the club.

The Thames Valley Royals attempt woke that support up to the fact that there might be something better to be had out there and since then it’s been a cycle of showing promise then completely failing to capitalise.

Now we’ve been utterly ruined by three successive terrible owners we’re lucky to still be here and are, indeed, are now being reset to the next expectation level hoping it will be something along the lines of a Brentford, Fulham or Bournemouth.

Issue this season will be that while we’re still one of the bigger sides in the division we’re up against some very big names at this level, plus a few sides that have been at higher levels more recently, therefore it is likely to be really challenging to get the best of the talent that might available over the summer.

Can somone explain to me what a "reset" is..... I mean if we are going through one now, we spent 2.16m on players who are quite frankly guff... With the exception of Marriot.... We are gonna be in this league a long time at this rate. Shit manager, shit buys, and a league one league that looks stronger than ever.
I'd put us same place as this season again unless this changes.

According to someone on here the few years ago the "reset" he was looking forward to when we were struggling in the Championship, , was relegation, followed by new grounds to visit, winning more matches, promotion after a couple of seasons. That worked out well. then. Whatever happened to him?

We had a decent academy back then. Dai shafted us totally.

[stealthpapes]

"followed by new grounds to visit, winning more matches, promotion after a couple of seasons. "

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

#freetheIanRoyalone

[Ascotexgunner]

Thank fcuk I don't support Reading, seems such a miserable endeavour

Yeah, come on lads, support a glory boy team you have absolutely no connection to, and bask in the reflective prestige, you’ll find people respect winners and that rubs off on you.

Hmm, but which one?

I think one that clearly has a shit falling down stadium with a leaky roof. Maybe finished 15th in the PL recently, but then were so bad that they even lost a European final to a team that finished 17th. I want them to get into Europe but don't want them to play many games, possibly the minimum 40 in a season as it could be expensive. Can't think of any team that meets that criteria though.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

"followed by new grounds to visit, winning more matches, promotion after a couple of seasons. "

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

#freetheIanRoyalone

Ah, the great reset!

Look at us now, taking on the world!

[traff]

Unfortunately, we reset the system to the factory settings and lost all our data and progress.

[West F]

The great reset happened. If anything, it worked a little too well.

A team of Pereira, Bindon, Mbengue, Craig, Garcia, Wing, Savage, Knibbs, Smith, Azeez and Ehibhatiomhan, would probably be in the automatic promotion discussion. It is not an inability to acquire good players that really hurts teams. It is the inability to retain your best ones that will hold you back.
I fear that the business model we currently have prohibits us from levelling up at all. Anyone worth anything will be sold and replaced with the free transfers our owner loves and believes in. There are two reasons why a player is available on a free. Him and his pimp are either looking for a big payday. Or, he is not wanted by his current club for some reason or another.
The player who is looking for a payday, is effectively owned by his pimp. It is the pimp that is paid the ‘transfer’ fee. This means that we, along with many other clubs are rummaging in skips for the players who still have something to give, while accepting that there may be flaws in them that led to them being skipped in the first place.

[Vision]

Genuine question. How many transfers at the level we're operating at aren't free agents or free transfers?

I'd argue that the sides similiar to us in size (or smaller) that we're looking enviously up at, yer Brentfords, Bournemouths and Brightons have built their success on selling their best players then identifying replacements who at the time they were purchased weren't at the level of the players they sold.

For that to work you need a solid scouting network, recruitment team, coaching skills and coherent football style. All of that doesn't happen overnight and yeah Bournemouth gambled heavily when in the championship but only once they'd gotten those above positions in place.

The Summer transfer window was a bit of a stinker (albeit with some mitigating circumstances) but the signs in January with the signings of Roberts and Ward are that we're looking in the right places. I think very short term it's our loan signings that we really need to do much better with. They were mostly busts.

Having said all that. Bottom line is that the way modern football is, it will only take 2 poor transfer windows and years of good work can be very quickly undone.

[Ascotexgunner]

The great reset happened. If anything, it worked a little too well.

A team of Pereira, Bindon, Mbengue, Craig, Garcia, Wing, Savage, Knibbs, Smith, Azeez and Ehibhatiomhan, would probably be in the automatic promotion discussion. It is not an inability to acquire good players that really hurts teams. It is the inability to retain your best ones that will hold you back.
I fear that the business model we currently have prohibits us from levelling up at all. Anyone worth anything will be sold and replaced with the free transfers our owner loves and believes in. There are two reasons why a player is available on a free. Him and his pimp are either looking for a big payday. Or, he is not wanted by his current club for some reason or another.
The player who is looking for a payday, is effectively owned by his pimp. It is the pimp that is paid the ‘transfer’ fee. This means that we, along with many other clubs are rummaging in skips for the players who still have something to give, while accepting that there may be flaws in them that led to them being skipped in the first place.

Indeed when you look at the talent in that team, and possibly the the season before it really highlighted how Selles was completely overrated (and looking at Hull have done since he got sacked proves the point). Even worse, as you say, is the squad Noel Hunt had last season. How that didn't even make the playoffs just proves what an inexperienced and poor manager he was..... Yet there are some that say he was harshly treated.....wbich is ridiculous.... We are now in territory where we have had out chance and it's gone... Teams coming down from the Championship are strong and the automatic places will get harder leaving you with the lottery of the playoff.....

[Vision]

The great reset happened. If anything, it worked a little too well.

A team of Pereira, Bindon, Mbengue, Craig, Garcia, Wing, Savage, Knibbs, Smith, Azeez and Ehibhatiomhan, would probably be in the automatic promotion discussion. It is not an inability to acquire good players that really hurts teams. It is the inability to retain your best ones that will hold you back.
I fear that the business model we currently have prohibits us from levelling up at all. Anyone worth anything will be sold and replaced with the free transfers our owner loves and believes in. There are two reasons why a player is available on a free. Him and his pimp are either looking for a big payday. Or, he is not wanted by his current club for some reason or another.
The player who is looking for a payday, is effectively owned by his pimp. It is the pimp that is paid the ‘transfer’ fee. This means that we, along with many other clubs are rummaging in skips for the players who still have something to give, while accepting that there may be flaws in them that led to them being skipped in the first place.

Indeed when you look at the talent in that team, and possibly the the season before it really highlighted how Selles was completely overrated (and looking at Hull have done since he got sacked proves the point). Even worse, as you say, is the squad Noel Hunt had last season. How that didn't even make the playoffs just proves what an inexperienced and poor manager he was..... Yet there are some that say he was harshly treated.....wbich is ridiculous.... We are now in territory where we have had out chance and it's gone... Teams coming down from the Championship are strong and the automatic places will get harder leaving you with the lottery of the playoff.....

Lol. How many of those players listed had been anywhere close to the first team before Selles played them? Now apparently it's a line up that should've been Top 2. It was the youngest back 4 in the division by miles.

They're pretty much all academy players or free transfers. Even the likes of Wing,Smith and Knibbs came from clubs like Wycombe and Cambridge who certain people on here are ridiculing as avenues for good players. And they, along with Savage, all came in a very short window of time when we could actually sign players. There weren't many more universally ridiculed signings than Pereira when he joined.