Reading faced a very difficult start to the campaign last Saturday, as they faced Birmingham City.
Blues have enjoyed an excellent transfer window so far, signing several talented players, including Alfie May.
With these new additions in mind, the buzz surrounding the club and the fact they had the home advantage against the Royals, they were the strong favourites to win their opening day clash.
Ruben Selles’ side, meanwhile, haven’t made a single signing this summer due to their ownership situation, and this is a blow for them considering they have lost several first-teamers since the end of last season
Dom Ballard, Zane Monlouis and Paul Mukairu all returned to their parent clubs – and Matty Carson, Nesta Guinness-Walker, Sam Hutchinson and Clinton Mola all departed the Berkshire outfit following the expiration of their deals at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
With all of these players leaving and no one coming in, that has left the Royals with a shortage of depth in numerous positions, and that could have been disadvantageous for them on Saturday, with the likes of Andy Yiadom and Femi Azeez out injured.
However, they put in a brave performance in the Midlands, with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan putting the visitors 1-0 up just before the interval.
Alfie May’s late penalty prevented the Berkshire side from winning all three points in the end, but they can be very proud of their performance against a likely promotion contender.
Tyler Bindon and Amadou Mbengue shone against Birmingham City
The same centre-back partnership that started against Blackpool on the final day of last season started again, which didn’t come as a major surprise, with Tyler Bindon and Amadou Mbengue featuring.
This is despite the fact Bindon didn’t feature much during pre-season because of his participation at the Olympics.
The pair formed a very effective partnership during the latter stages of last season and were exceptional again on Saturday evening, with many people picking out Mbengue as their man of the match.
The 22-year-old was a brick wall once again – and his pace helped him out at times.
He may have been lucky to get away with a back pass during the game, but his performance was exceptional and it may only be a matter of time before he moves up the English football pyramid if he can continue to shine.
| Amadou Mbengue’s performance v Birmingham City | |
|---|---|
| (Source: | |
| Rating | 7.1 |
| Touches | 43 |
| Tackles | 3 |
| Clearances | 7 |
| Ground duels won (%) | 100% |
| Total duels won (%) | 60% |
The same could be said for Bindon, who hasn’t had much of a summer break, but looked brilliant in defence once again.
At just 19, the player is beginning to establish himself as one of the better centre-backs in League One and his steady performance allowed the Royals to take a point away from St Andrew’s.
If he can continue to perform well, there’s no reason why Selles should take him out of the starting lineup, unless he is fatigued.
Even then, Selles will surely be reluctant to drop him considering how much of an asset the New Zealand international is.
Reading FC may have a real issue in the loan market
Reading faced a very difficult start to the campaign last Saturday, as they faced Birmingham City.
Blues have enjoyed an excellent transfer window so far, signing several talented players, including Alfie May.
With these new additions in mind, the buzz surrounding the club and the fact they had the home advantage against the Royals, they were the strong favourites to win their opening day clash.
Ruben Selles’ side, meanwhile, haven’t made a single signing this summer due to their ownership situation, and this is a blow for them considering they have lost several first-teamers since the end of last season.
Dom Ballard, Zane Monlouis and Paul Mukairu all returned to their parent clubs – and Matty Carson, Nesta Guinness-Walker, Sam Hutchinson and Clinton Mola all departed the Berkshire outfit following the expiration of their deals at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
With all of these players leaving and no one coming in, that has left the Royals with a shortage of depth in numerous positions, and that could have been disadvantageous for them on Saturday, with the likes of Andy Yiadom and Femi Azeez out injured.
However, they put in a brave performance in the Midlands, with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan putting the visitors 1-0 up just before the interval.
Alfie May’s late penalty prevented the Berkshire side from winning all three points in the end, but they can be very proud of their performance against a likely promotion contender.
Tyler Bindon and Amadou Mbengue shone against Birmingham City
The same centre-back partnership that started against Blackpool on the final day of last season started again, which didn’t come as a major surprise, with Tyler Bindon and Amadou Mbengue featuring.
This is despite the fact Bindon didn’t feature much during pre-season because of his participation at the Olympics.
The pair formed a very effective partnership during the latter stages of last season and were exceptional again on Saturday evening, with many people picking out Mbengue as their man of the match.
The 22-year-old was a brick wall once again – and his pace helped him out at times.
He may have been lucky to get away with a back pass during the game, but his performance was exceptional and it may only be a matter of time before he moves up the English football pyramid if he can continue to shine.
| Amadou Mbengue’s performance v Birmingham City | |
|---|---|
| (Source: Sofascore) | |
| Rating | 7.1 |
| Touches | 43 |
| Tackles | 3 |
| Clearances | 7 |
| Ground duels won (%) | 100% |
| Total duels won (%) | 60% |
The same could be said for Bindon, who hasn’t had much of a summer break, but looked brilliant in defence once again.
At just 19, the player is beginning to establish himself as one of the better centre-backs in League One and his steady performance allowed the Royals to take a point away from St Andrew’s.
If he can continue to perform well, there’s no reason why Selles should take him out of the starting lineup, unless he is fatigued.
Even then, Selles will surely be reluctant to drop him considering how much of an asset the New Zealand international is.
Reading FC may have a real issue in the loan market
With Hutchinson, Mola and Monlouis all departing, the Royals have fewer centre-back options.
That’s not ideal for a club that lost Nelson Abbey, Tom Holmes and Tom McIntyre back in January.
Jeriel Dorsett may be able to play in central defence, but he’s the Royals’ only senior left-back option at this stage and with this in mind, the centre-back area must be addressed in the coming weeks.
Harlee Dean and Abraham Kanu are available as backup options, but the former didn’t enjoy a good first season at the SCL Stadium and the latter is still very young, so a signing in this area would be extremely useful.
Because of their embargo, they will be limited to signing free agents and loanees, but many options in the former market have already been snapped up.
With this in mind, recruiting a loanee would be ideal, but the Royals could face a real problem.
Many clubs will have seen Bindon and Mbengue impress at the weekend and as long as one of the two doesn’t sustain an injury, get suspended or leave the club, they look set to start most league games during the 2024/25 campaign.
With this in mind, the Royals won’t be able to guarantee any potential centre-back loanees much game time, something that could persuade clubs not to loan their talented defenders to the third-tier club.
And considering a takeover is yet to go through, they may only have a very limited amount of time to secure loan deals before the summer transfer window closes.
It’s a problem that the club needs to deal with if and/or when a takeover goes through, if it happens to go through before the end of the window.
The Royals have had to work under an embargo for several years now – and that will give fans hope that they can get some shrewd deals over the line.
