FM15: Reading FC

History

The club was founded on Christmas Day 1871 after a meeting organised by Joseph Edward Sydenham, who would become the club's first Honorary Secretary. They were founder members of the Southern League in 1894 and moved to Elm Park two years later; it was their home until they switched to the Madejski Stadium in 1998.

Reading were elected to the Football League in 1920, but seven years earlier went on a famously successful tour of Italy. They beat AC Milan 5-0, the champions Pro Vercelli 6-0 and the national team 2-0. The respected newspaper Corriere della Sera said that "without doubt, Reading FC are the finest foreign team seen in Italy".

The club was in Division Three or Division Three South from 1920 to 1971, bar five years in Division Two between 1926 and 1931. After three short spells in Division Four in the 1970s and 1980s during which, in 1978-79, the goalkeeper Steve Death set a new English record of 1103 minutes without conceding - they finally escaped Division Three through a different door, being promoted to the second tier in 1986. They had started that promotion campaign with 13 consecutive wins, which is still a Football League record.

They only lasted two seasons, although relegation in 1988 was tempered slightly by a crushing 4-1 victory over top-flight Luton in the final of the Simod Cup. Reading had beaten four other Division One sides, including Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, on the way to the final.

The club went up to the second tier again in 1994 and were so nearly promoted to the Premier League at the first attempt. Reading finished second in the table but were not promoted automatically because of the need to reduce the Premier League from 22 teams to 20. Instead they went into the play-offs and reached the final against Bolton. They were leading 2-0 when Stuart Lovell had a penalty saved; the match ended in a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat.

They finally reached the promised land in 2006 under the management of Steve Coppell. Reading were promoted in spectacular style, winning the title with a haul of 99 goals and a record 106 points. In their first Premier League game they came from 2-0 down to beat Middlesbrough, the start of a memorable season in which they took the league by storm and finished eighth. Second-season syndrome bit hard, however, and Reading were relegated on the final day of the 2007-08 campaign.

After a short spell under Brendan Rodgers, Reading gave the manager's job to McDermott. He oversaw a famous FA Cup victory at Anfield in 2009-10 and then secured a joyously unexpected promotion to the Premier League in 2011-12, again as champions. Unfortunately the fairy tale story was cut short, and after spending most of the season at the bottom of the Premiership the club sacked Brian McDermott in 2013, bringing in Nigel Adkins as his replacement.

Adkins was unable to save Reading from relegation from the Premiership, and they would find themselves playing the 2013/14 season in the Sky Bet Championship. This was a time of change at the club as the new manager set about changing Reading’s style of play, looking to build for the future with possession based attacking tactics. The following season saw Reading miss out on the play-offs by a single point.

Kit and Crest

......... ..... .....

The first crest to appear on a Reading kit was in 1953, it featured a simple letter "R" on a shield, and it lasted for just one season. There was no crest seen again until 1981 when a new crest appeared that featured three elm trees, a reference to Reading's Elm Park ground, and the rivers Thames and Kennet.

This was dropped in 1983 when the Royals adopted a new colour scheme. The new crest, a simple presentation of the colours of the time (Yellow, Sky Blue, Royal Blue, and White), was adopted in 1987 and continued to be used until 1996.

Between 1996 and 1998, the old elm crest was revived. The significance was twofold: 1996 marked the centenary of Reading's Elm Park while 1998-99 would be the season that they would move into a new home.

This fresh start was marked by the introduction of a brand new club badge that featured the club's iconic blue and white hoops, a crown representing Berkshire's status (Windsor Castle is in the county which is often referred to as "Royal Berkshire") and the Maiwand Lion, a prominent local landmark.

In 1871, at the formation of the Club, Reading did play in hoops. This lasted for only a few years, and upon entering the Southern Football League in 1894 the Club was playing in stripes – possibly so they did not clash with other teams who were already in the Southern League and wore hoops. Reading then reverted to hoops until the beginning of the Second World War, because numbering of shirts became compulsory (in 1939), and the numbers were easier to see against a hooped background. Since then the club have had several more changes. In the mid 1960s they changed the shirts to sky blue, following the fashion introduced by Coventry City. That remained until 1969, when they returned to hoops under the orders of manager of Jack Mansell. Reading have remained in a variety of hooped shirts ever since, apart from the mid 1980s when they played in blue and white panels before hoops returned in 1992.

Club Information

General

Full name: Reading Football Club

Nickname: The Royals

Founded: 1871

Status: Professional

Ground: Madejski Stadium, Reading

Chairman: John Madejski

Chairman Status: Enjoying life at the club

Manager: Nigel Adkins

Legends: Phil Parkinson, Trevor Senior, Martin Hicks, Steve Death, Robin Friday,

Icons: Steve Coppell, Maurice Evans, Mick Gooding, Michael Gilkes, Adrian Williams, Graeme Murty, Ronnie Blackwell, Alf Messer, Jimmy Wheeler, Jimmy Quinn, Shane Long, Shaka Hislop, Glenn Little, Kerry Dixon, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Darren Caskey, Ivar Ingimarsson, Jamie Cureton, Nicky Forster

Favoured Personnel: Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell

Fierce Rivals: Oxford (Local), Swindon (Local)

Other Rivals: Southampton (Local), Bristol City (Local), QPR (Competitive), Wycombe (Local), West Ham (Competitive)

Finances: Secure

Average Ticket Price: £26

Average Season Ticket Price: £495

Season Ticket Holders: 12,000

Estimated Value: £43.5M (loan debt: £10.25M)

Continental Competition: None

Media Prediction: 8th

Squad Personality: Professional

Captain: Jem Karacan

Vice Captain: None currently

Facilities

Stadium Name:The Madejski Stadium

Location: Reading

Capacity: 24197 all-seater

Year Built: 1998

Owned By: Reading

Stadium Condition: Very Good

Under Soil Heating: Yes

Roof: No

Surface: Grass

Training Facilities: Great Training Facilities

Youth Facilities: Great Youth Facilities

Youth Setup Category: 1

Youth Coaching: Average Junior Coaching

Youth Recruitment: Above Average Youth Recruitment

Corporate Facilities: Good corporate facilities

Affiliated Clubs

The club has 6 clubs affiliated with it currently.

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[TD]Basingstoke

Benefits:

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[TD]Galatasary

Benefits:

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[TD]Boreham Wood

Benefits:

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[TD]Ocean City Nor'easters

Benefits:

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[TD]Didcot

Benefits:

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[TD]Salisbury

Benefits:

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Finances

Balance: £37.4M

Transfer Budget: £0M (Title challenge) | £0M (Promotion) | £0M (Top half finish)

Wage Budget: £353K p/w (Title challenge) | £353k p/w (Promotion) | £353k p/w (Top half finish)

Current Wage Total: £353k p/w

% of transfer revenue made available: 80%

Sponsors: 4 year main kit sponsorship deal at £750k per season. Ends 2015

Loans Outstanding: Bank loan of £1.8M (£39.5k/per month until 30/06/2017. £1.3M remaining on loan, £110k interest payable)

Interest Payable: £500k

Staff

Boardroom

Owner - Narin Niruttinanon

Chairman - Sasima Srivikorn

Director - Nigel Howe

Director - Sir John Madejski

Director - Theekharoj Piamphongsarn

Director - Jack Srisumrid

Director - Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth

Director - Ian Wood-Smith

Management

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Director of Football

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Head of Youth Development

Currently: 0 | Advised: 1 - U21s Manager

Currently: 0 | Advised: 1 - U18s Manager

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Assistant Manager

Currently: 0 | Advised: 1 - U21s Assistant Manager

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - U18s Assistant Manager

Director of Football - Nicky Hammond

Assistant Manager - Andy Crosby

Under 18s Assistant Manager - Lee Herron

Head of Youth Development - Eamon Dolan

Other

Currently: 6 | Advised: 6 - Reading Other Staff

Currently: 0 | Advised: 1 - Under 21s Other Staff

Currently: 8 | Advised: 4 - Under 18s Other Staff

Goalkeeping Coach - Sal Bibbo

Fitness Coach - Nick Harvey

Fitness Coach - Tristan Baker

Under 18s Fitness Coach - Ed Franklin

Coach - Dean Wilkins

Under 18s Coach - Colin Barnes

Under 18s Coach - David Dodds

Under 18s Coach - Graham Dougall

Under 18s Coach - Martin Kuhl

Under 18s Coach - Geoff Taylor

Head Physio - Luke Anthony

Physio - Dan Buchanan

Under 18s Physio - John Alti

Under 18s Physio - Steve Cottrell

Scouting

Currently: 3 | Advised: 6 - Scout

Chief Scout - Steve Shorey

Scout - Brendan Flanagan

Scout - Steve Head

1^st Team Players

Goalkeepers

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[TD]1 | ADAM FEDERICI

AUSTRALIA | AGE: 29

POSITION: GOALKEEPER

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★

[/TD]

[TD]31 | MIKKEL ANDERSEN

DENMARK | AGE: 25

POSITION: GOALKEEPER

CA: ★★★★★ ★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

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Defenders

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[TD]2 | CHRIS GUNTER

WALES | AGE: 24

POSITION: DEFENDER (RIGHT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]3 | STEPHEN KELLY

IRELAND | AGE: 30

POSITION: DEFENDER (RIGHT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]4 | ANTON FERDINAND

ENGLAND | AGE: 29

POSITION: DEFENDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]5 | ALEX PEARCE

IRELAND | AGE: 25

POSITION: DEFENDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

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[TD]15 | MICHAEL HECTOR

ENGLAND | AGE: 22

POSITION: DEFENDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]24 | SHAUN CUMMINGS

JAMAICA | AGE: 25

POSITION: DEFENDER (RIGHT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★ [/TD]

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1^st Team Players (cont.)

Midfielders

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[TD]6 | OLIVER NORWOOD

N. IRELAND | AGE: 23

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]8 | DANNY GUTHRIE

ENGLAND | AGE: 27

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]9 | HAL ROBSON-KANU

WALES | AGE: 25

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (LEFT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]11 | JORDAN OBITA

ENGLAND | AGE: 20

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (LEFT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★ [/TD]

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[TD]12 | GARETH McCLEARY

JAMAICA | AGE: 27

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (RIGHT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]14 | JAMIE MACKIE (ON LOAN)

SCOTLAND | AGE: 28

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (RIGHT)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]16 | HOPE AKPAN

NIGERIA | AGE: 22

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]17 | RYAN EDWARDS

AUSTRALIA | AGE: 20

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

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[TD]21 | JEM KARACAN

TURKEY | AGE: 25

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]23 | DANIEL WILLIAMS

U.S.A | AGE: 25

POSITION: DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]25 | JAKE TAYLOR

WALES | AGE: 22

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

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Forwards

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[TD]7 | PAVEL POGREBNYAK

RUSSIA | AGE: 30

POSITION: STRIKER

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]10 | SIMON COX

ENGLAND | AGE: 27

POSITION: STRIKER

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]20 | GLENN MURRAY (ON LOAN)

ENGLAND | AGE: 30

POSITION: STRIKER

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]22 | NICK BLACKMAN

ENGLAND | AGE: 24

POSITION: STRIKER

CA: ★★★★★★★★★★

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★

[/TD]

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Reserve & U18 Players

(N.B. Many of these players have random PA so results may vary - These are the ones to watch out for)

Goalkeepers

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[TD]47 | LEWIS WARD

ENGLAND | AGE: 17

POSITION: GOALKEEPER

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD] - | JONATHON HENLY

ENGLAND | AGE: 20

POSITION: GOALKEEPER

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

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Defenders

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[TD]26 | PIERCE SWEENEY

IRELAND | AGE: 19

POSITION: DEFENDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]32 | SEAN LONG

IRELAND | AGE: 19

POSITION: DEFENDER (RIGHT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]33 | SHANE GRIFFIN

IRELAND | AGE: 19

POSITION: DEFENDER (LEFT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]34 | NIALL KEOWN

ENGLAND | AGE: 19

POSITION: DEFENDER (RIGHT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

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[TD]35 | JAKE COOPER

ENGLAND | AGE: 19

POSITION: DEFENDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]46 | NANA OWUSU

GHANA | AGE: 18

POSITION: DEFENDER (RIGHT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]49 | ZAK JULES

SCOTLAND | AGE: 17

POSITION: DEFENDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

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Midfielders

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[TD]27 | CRAIG TANNER

ENGLAND | AGE: 19

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]28 | AARON KUHL

ENGLAND | AGE: 18

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]37 | JACK STACEY

ENGLAND | AGE: 18

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (RIGHT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]38 | LIAM KELLY

ENGLAND | AGE: 18

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

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[TD]39 | TARIQUE FOSU

ENGLAND | AGE: 18

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (LEFT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]45 | SAMÚEL KÁRI FRIDJÓNSSON

ICELAND | AGE: 18

POSITION: DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]- | LEWIS COLLINS

ENGLAND | AGE: 17

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER (CENTRE)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]57 | TÓMAS INGI URBANCIC

ICELAND | AGE: 17

POSITION: MIDFIELDER (RIGHT)

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[/TR]

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Forwards

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[TD]30 | DOMINIC SAMUEL

ENGLAND | AGE: 20

POSITION: STRIKER

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]36 | ANDRIJA NOVAKOVICH

U.S.A | AGE: 17

POSITION: STRIKER

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★[/TD]

[TD]42 | HARRY CARDWELL

ENGLAND | AGE: 17

POSITION: STRIKER

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★

[/TD]

[TD]42 | BOGDAN VASTSUK

ESTONIA | AGE: 18

POSITION: STRIKER

PA: ★★★★★★★★★★

[/TD]

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[/TABLE]

Squad

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

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1 | Adam Federici

2 | Chris Gunter

3 | Stephen Kelly

4 | Anton Ferdinand

5 | Alex Pearce

6 | Oliver Norwood

7 | Pavel Pogrebnyak

8 | Danny Guthrie

9 | Hal Robson-Kanu

10 | Simon Cox

11 | Jordan Obita

12 | Gareth McCleary

13 | Reading Fans

15 | Michael Hector

16 | Hope Akpan

17 | Ryan Edwards

20 | Glenn Murray

21 | Jem Karacan

22 | Nick Blackman

23 | Daniel Williams

24 | Shaun Cummings

25 | Jake Taylor

31 | Mikkel Andersen[/TD]

[TD]

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18 | Aaron Tshibola

26 | Pierce Sweeney

27 | Craig Tanner

28 | Aaron Kuhl

29 | Dominic Hyam

30 | Dominic Samuel

32 | Sean Long

33 | Shane Griffin

34 | Niall Keown

35 | Jake Cooper

36 | Andrija Novakovich

37 | Jack Stacey

38 | Liam Kelly

39 | Tariqe Fosu

40 | Stuart Moore

41 | Daniel Lincoln

42 | Harry Cardwell

43 | Robert Dickie

44 | George McLennan

45 | Samuel Fridjonsson

46 | Nana Owusu

47 | Lewis Ward

48 | Noor Husin

49 | Zak Jules

50 | Lewis Collins

52 | Aleksandar Gogic

54 | Bogdan Vastsuk

- | Royston Drenthe (On Loan)

- | Jonathon Henly (On Loan)[/TD]

[TD]

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- | George Legg

- | Luke Southwood

- | Joe Trupper

- | Tennai Watson

- | Daniel Akinwunmi

- | Joshua Chatee

- | Billy Collings

- | Sindri Scheving

- | Mark Ethelston

- | Harrison Bennett

- | Gabriel Osho

- | Axel Óskar Andrésson

- | Tómas Ingi Urbancic

- | Conor Shaughnessy

- | Amadu Waritay

- | Jake Sheppard

- | Ryan East

- | Hammed Lawal

- | Justin Thompson-Lee

- | Daniel Williams

- | Joshua Barrett

- | Conor Davis[/TD]

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Goalkeepers

1 | Adam Federici, 31 | Mikkel Andersen

Having lost Alex McCarthy over the summer to QPR, the battle for the #1 jersey has been lost this season. Adam Federici is clearly the first choice in this instance, and has proved himself to be a good goalkeeper at this level. Mikkel Andersen appears to have been downgraded somewhat and is not quite the prospect he once was. He will do a job for you for as a backup player, however you may want to look to offload him.

Best Player: Adam Federici

Hot Prospects: Lewis Ward, Jonathon Henly

Full Backs

2 | Chris Gunter. 3 | Stephen Kelly, 11 | Jordan Obita, 24 | Shaun Cummings

The left full back position has been an issue in depth for a number of seasons, and this is still yet to be addressed within the squad, as you start the season with no natural left back! While a number of players can cover in this position, none of them are natural. How you approach this depends on your tactical style. If, like in real life, you wish to have attacking wing backs then Jordan Obita is a perfect fit and is already Accomplished in this role. However, he is naturally a winger and his defensive abilities suffer as a result. For this reason, you may want to make a left full back one of your top priorities in the transfer window.

On the right, you have a wide variety of options, and depth here is not an issue at all. The obvious choice would be Chris Gunter, who is already a well established championship player. Alternatively for a bit of experience you have Stephen Kelly, or for some pace you can choose Shaun Cummings.

Best Player: Chris Gunter

Hot Prospects: Nana Owusu, Shane Griffin

Central Defenders

4 | Anton Ferdinand, 5 | Alex Pearce, 15 | Michael Hector

Central defence is a area of concern, given the limited number of first team players available. Letting Sean Morrison leave for Cardiff only days after the season had begun has the central defence very weak, with only three recognised centre backs. Of those, player of the season for 11/12 Alex Pearce should be you established first choice. Despite his contract dispute several seasons ago, he has proved himself to be a useful defender and is currently the best you have. After the racial abuse and subsequent death threats he endured, Anton Ferdinand adds experience to the centre of defence after his return to English football. He is not the obvious choice to partner Alex Pearce however, as Michael Hector is a solid performer and has the potential to become even better. The choice between those two will likely be down to personal preference or form. Quality reinforcements are very much needed here.

Best Player: Alex Pearce

Hot Prospects: Jake Cooper

Central Midfielders

6 | Oliver Norwood, 8 | Danny Guthrie, 16 | Hope Akpan, 21 | Jem Karacan, 23 | Daniel Williams, 25 | Jake Taylor

Whereas defence is probably one of the weakest areas of the team, central midfield is one of the strongest in terms of quality and depth. Defensively, Daniel Williams who would be first choice starts the season injured so you are restricted to Hope Akpan in this role until Williams regains fitness. Jem Karacan is also injured for the first few months after another shocking challenge from a Leeds Utd player last season, the second in as many recent meetings between the teams. Once he comes back to the team however, he will make a good box-to-box midfielder. For a bit of creativity you have the choice of Danny Guthrie who is arguably the best midfielder at the club, if a little inconsistent, or the new arrival Oliver Norwood. For the more advanced attacking role, Jake Taylor is able to do a job, but is still a little young and needs to learn fast.

Our very own Sideshow Bob impersonator, Aaron Kuhl, is a very hot talent and already has fantastic ball skills for someone so young. He is ready for first team football and will only grow in confidence given the right chances. He could be a very good players for the club and should be given his fair share of football to help him fulfill his potential.

Best Player: Danny Guthrie

Hot Prospects: Aaron Kuhl

Wingers

9 | Hal Robson-Kanu, 11 | Jordan Obita, 12 | Gareth McCleary, 14 | Jamie Mackie, 17 | Ryan Edwards

Wide players are well covered on both flanks, although they are more favoured towards winger roles than inside forward or perhaps wide midfielders. Nonetheless, Gareth McCleary has pace and ability to unlock most defences in this league, and has the ability to play on either wing if required. Unfortunately he is out for the first 3-4 months, so a deputy will need to be found in his absence. Jordan Obita is an excellent left winger if you choose to use him there. His strength is his speed and crossing ability, and he will only improve further with game time. Jamie Mackie is adequate cover on the right, although he is on a season-long loan and so cannot be considered a long-term option. Hal Robson-Kanu is a useful player who is able to play anywhere in the final third. Naturally a left winger however, he is more than suited for this role should you choose to play Jordan Obita in defence.

In terms of youth players, you have excellent prospects for each wing. Jack Stacey has solid ability for his age and could be called upon should you need someone to cover on the right wing., while Tarique Fosu could also become a very good winger on the left given the right development.

Best Player: Gareth McCleary

Hot Prospects: Tarique Fosu, Jack Stacey

Strikers

7 | Pavel Pogrebnyak, 10 | Simon Cox, 20 | Glenn Murray, 22 | Nick Blackman

The attacking department is one where the team are slightly limited. The standout player here in terms of ability is Pavel Pogrebnyak who is a big Russian target man that has an eye for goal and a good deal of strength to hold up the ball. Returning to the club this season is also former academy player Simon Cox who provides a more technical, tenacious striker option. Glenn Murray, a similar player to Pogrebnyak with less strength, is on loan until January and is an option you may wish to peruse if you manage to get him scoring. Meanwhile Nick Blackman can inject some pace into your forward line should you need it, although may be better used out wide.

You have two very good youth prospects available coming through the ranks. Harry Cardwell is a quick and technical striker who could become a very good talent, and Andrija Novakovich who recently joined from America and is a big target man style striker who could be moulded into a powerhouse upfront with the right training.

Best Player: Pavel Pogrebnyak

Hot Prospects: Harry Cardwell, Andrija Novakovich

Getting Started

Coming soon...

Coming soon to a theatre near you...

Great thread mate, keep it up.

Thanks, pretty much a straight copy of last years thread, but with some of the details updated. Still need to finish a few sections when I get a moment. Hoping the club release new headshots of the players soon, the thread looks a little incomplete with half of them missing! That is, unless the financial situation has left them unable to afford the photo shoot...

Hopefully once I get a few games under my belt I will be able to prepare for my serious long term save with Reading. Having a play at lower league during the BETA so get to grips with the game. Will really get started once the inevitable release day patch is released and the game is ready to go. Should also help me identify some useful formations and players/staff that could help along the way.

Considering their recent youth success, they make an excellent proposition for a youth production club, and will be replacing Crewe this year.

I've decided to use Reading as my first 'test' of FM15, having not managed them for a couple of versions now.

The first team is pretty uninspiring (who says that FM does not provide realism?!?) but agree that the youth prospects offer an opportunity to try a slightly different approach at the club than before. With much lower expectations, a lack of financial strength, and youngsters on the fringe of the first team, it might make for a decent alternative to Crewe.

The long-term injuries to Karacan, Williams and McCleary at the start of the game are a blow, because all would definitely feature in the best X1 when fit. However, it does mean you can crack straight on with blooding some of the 'kids'.

I played four friendlies (all draws), then went to Wigan and grabbed a 1-0 win (Norwood, 69 mins) on the opening day of the league season. However, having sold Pogrebnyak for £2.7m (and Kelly) within days of taking over, and being beaten to the signature of my intended replacement (Emeghara) by a team from Cyprus (!) who offered him lower wages than me, I quit and will start again.

Why quit? Murray, who had scored three in four friendlies, was taken off injured in the Wigan win and would miss four months. Given that this only left Cox as a 'proper' striker at the club, and that Murray's injury would allow him only one month of action before his loan expired (surprised there was no 'option to buy' on the loan, as this was widely believed to be the case), I didn't think I could cope for four months without him in addition to the other injured trio. I don't regret the sale of Pavel - and will try to do the same next time - but hopefully Murray won't be cursed if I try again!

great thread, very well presented

I've decided to use Reading as my first 'test' of FM15, having not managed them for a couple of versions now.

The first team is pretty uninspiring (who says that FM does not provide realism?!?) but agree that the youth prospects offer an opportunity to try a slightly different approach at the club than before. With much lower expectations, a lack of financial strength, and youngsters on the fringe of the first team, it might make for a decent alternative to Crewe.

The long-term injuries to Karacan, Williams and McCleary at the start of the game are a blow, because all would definitely feature in the best X1 when fit. However, it does mean you can crack straight on with blooding some of the 'kids'.

I played four friendlies (all draws), then went to Wigan and grabbed a 1-0 win (Norwood, 69 mins) on the opening day of the league season. However, having sold Pogrebnyak for £2.7m (and Kelly) within days of taking over, and being beaten to the signature of my intended replacement (Emeghara) by a team from Cyprus (!) who offered him lower wages than me, I quit and will start again.

Why quit? Murray, who had scored three in four friendlies, was taken off injured in the Wigan win and would miss four months. Given that this only left Cox as a 'proper' striker at the club, and that Murray's injury would allow him only one month of action before his loan expired (surprised there was no 'option to buy' on the loan, as this was widely believed to be the case), I didn't think I could cope for four months without him in addition to the other injured trio. I don't regret the sale of Pavel - and will try to do the same next time - but hopefully Murray won't be cursed if I try again!

Great to see you back Jogo Bonito. Looking forward to seeing what you can achieve!

The data issues in the current data meaning you start with no transfer budget and no excess wage budget really do dampen the first season, forcing you to sell someone in the first season if you want to strengthen.

Hopefully this is resolved before release as this will seriously dampen the experience, as there are some serious concerns in terms of squad depth in my view.

Shame about Murray getting injured, but this really does show the weaknesses throughout the squad. I have found from my limited testing with Reading that Pavel is actually a rather handy player in the game. the game must be broken, as neither are really showing much IRL.

I think I'll wait until release day patch (if there is one) to start my long term save. I think first season may have to be limited to a strong top 10 finish, which is almost unheard of for a Reading FC save in recent seasons. We have always been able to get promoted with relative ease. I feel that may not be the case this season however without a number of sales.

Keep us updated with your progress!

great thread, very well presented

Thanks, still needs work when I get a chance. Really hoping we get a data update on release to address the finances. £20M in the bank and no transfer or wage budget is absurd, and confirmed by the researcher as a error.

Thanks mate. I forgot to say well done again on another nicely laid out thread.

My plan was to try and progress with pretty much the existing squad, getting rid of a few that really shouldn't be at the club. I'll plug any gaping holes (like a striker if I can sell Pog again) with a free transfer or loan, but generally will use the youngsters as cover options.

The lower expectations in season 1 and lack of budget make it a perfect scenario to give the youngsters some game time. I quite like the fact that they're no longer expected to do anything, it makes for a different challenge. I think I'm keen on this approach as I want to do better than Adkins, and believe I can, even with that group of players. The other way is to do what anybody who has watched them would do - get rid of nearly everybody and bring in your own team. I may even try both styles of management!

Thanks mate. I forgot to say well done again on another nicely laid out thread.

My plan was to try and progress with pretty much the existing squad, getting rid of a few that really shouldn't be at the club. I'll plug any gaping holes (like a striker if I can sell Pog again) with a free transfer or loan, but generally will use the youngsters as cover options.

The lower expectations in season 1 and lack of budget make it a perfect scenario to give the youngsters some game time. I quite like the fact that they're no longer expected to do anything, it makes for a different challenge. I think I'm keen on this approach as I want to do better than Adkins, and believe I can, even with that group of players. The other way is to do what anybody who has watched them would do - get rid of nearly everybody and bring in your own team. I may even try both styles of management!

Thanks. Same basic format that I've used for the past few seasons. Seems to work and I don't have much time these days to make wholesale changes. Recently realised I've been doing this for 5 years now. Might have to see if anyone else wants to take it on one year. I just hate to think of the mighty Royals without a team thread to do them justice.

I like the idea of trying to keep the current squad and using the youth we already have to add depth. From what I have seen, Jake Cooper looks like he could be a useful defender given some game time. a huge 20 for jumping reach means he will rarely be beaten in the air! Just need to work on his technical abilities, and improve his strength a little. Tarique Fosu is also a useful player out wide, who could do with some game time to help his progress. Up front the likes of Harry Cardwell and Andrija Novakovich could turn good as well, so there is a nice amount of youth throughout all positions.

I do feel that left back is a serious issue though, and neither Griffin nor McLennan fill me with huge amounts of hope.

A solid first season, and some investment in the right areas could set the club up for a good push at promotion in season 2 or 3.

Should make for an interesting long term save. I have a feeling all my investment will be going into the academy and facilities first, and whatever is left over after that will be spent on signing fresh young talents.

I actually saw the Millwall home game and Sheff Wed away game this season when back in UK. I agree with you that Cooper looks promising (he made a solid debut in the latter game), whilst I heard good reports about Cardwell and Novakovich too. I also think Kuhl and Tanner could progress well, but time will tell.

I've cheated slightly. Decided to start again from where I last saved - just before the Wigan match. It means I don't need to do pre-season again, and it is only the beta version. This time we surrendered a first half lead, and Wigan equalised in the last ten minutes to draw 1-1. But Murray didn't get injured, so I'll go from there. I don't mind being two points worse off!

Interestingly, after that match we received a news item saying about Galatasaray players available for loan. Firstly, I didn't think that was part of the agreement with them - the partnership won't last anyway under the new regime, in my opinion. Secondly, it's ironic that one of the players listed was Koray Gunter! Having one Gunter is enough of a handicap, there's no way I'd double my trouble

If you haven't raised it, you might want to suggest that is reviewed? If anything, I think it was possibly with a view to exchanging training ideas or maybe youth players between the clubs. I don't recall that senior players were to be made available to either club. I'm pretty sure that, as mentioned before, the Murray loan deal has an agreed 'option to buy' too. Maybe the researcher knows differently.

I also think Kuhl and Tanner could progress well, but time will tell.

I like the look of Kuhl too - tireless, tidy technician with welcome bit of bite. Best prospect at the club by far for me. Good hair too!

I like the look of Kuhl too - tireless, tidy technician with welcome bit of bite. Best prospect at the club by far for me. Good hair too!

Haha, yes he certainly has the hair! He'll get plenty of minutes for me - when Williams and Karacan return, I will be looking to sell off Guthrie as I'd prefer to keep Norwood than him.

Hopefully the thread will have a few posts, that will be good to see.

I actually saw the Millwall home game and Sheff Wed away game this season when back in UK. I agree with you that Cooper looks promising (he made a solid debut in the latter game), whilst I heard good reports about Cardwell and Novakovich too. I also think Kuhl and Tanner could progress well, but time will tell.

I've cheated slightly. Decided to start again from where I last saved - just before the Wigan match. It means I don't need to do pre-season again, and it is only the beta version. This time we surrendered a first half lead, and Wigan equalised in the last ten minutes to draw 1-1. But Murray didn't get injured, so I'll go from there. I don't mind being two points worse off!

Interestingly, after that match we received a news item saying about Galatasaray players available for loan. Firstly, I didn't think that was part of the agreement with them - the partnership won't last anyway under the new regime, in my opinion. Secondly, it's ironic that one of the players listed was Koray Gunter! Having one Gunter is enough of a handicap, there's no way I'd double my trouble

If you haven't raised it, you might want to suggest that is reviewed? If anything, I think it was possibly with a view to exchanging training ideas or maybe youth players between the clubs. I don't recall that senior players were to be made available to either club. I'm pretty sure that, as mentioned before, the Murray loan deal has an agreed 'option to buy' too. Maybe the researcher knows differently.

You're lucky in a way that you don't have to sit through the weekly agony of watching Reading FC recently. Rotherham tonight, and whereas usually this should be considered an easy 3 points, I don't think fans will be in any doubt how important it is to win, or how difficult it may be. Good to see some of our injured players (Ferdinand, Williams) returning though.

Cooper is a massive player, and with game time hopefully will improve his positioning and timing of the challenge. He is still very raw, and I don't think we would be letting them cut their teeth just yet in an ideal world. Hector is another one who i don't feel has quite progressed as we had hoped, and I put it down partly to his sudden exposure to the first team, but needs must... The same could be said of many of our younger players.

I think we can forgive a slight indiscretion when you were faced with a crippling injury such as Murray. Just makes the game playable. Wouldn't be much fun otherwise, as like you say it's only the BETA. I guess in a way, dropping two points is karma and i think the balance has been restored.

In terms of the Galatasary loan players, we aren't actually set up with a loan agreement for Galatasary in game, so it seems strange that are offering you players. We only have a pre-season friendly arrangement in place with them (not even that in real life). I will see what i get and possibly raise it within the data forum for Kadzidlo to review. I'm not even sure if the partnership is still in place, as i can't find much mention of it on either team website (other than the initial story).

I'm not aware of whether a fee has been agreed, or whether we have first refusal for Murray. Nothing was made public that I've seen. I guess that is why nothing has been included.

I like the look of Kuhl too - tireless, tidy technician with welcome bit of bite. Best prospect at the club by far for me. Good hair too!

Welcome to the thread. Do be sure to keep us updated if you start a Reading career of your own.

Kuhl indeed looks to be a good prospect, with solid technical abilities already and a tenacity about him, the right training regime could see him become a fixture in the team and even a possible future Reading FC captain. And who wouldn't want Sideshow Bob as your team captain? Chelsea had their chance with Luiz and missed it. Now it's our turn!

Haha, yes he certainly has the hair! He'll get plenty of minutes for me - when Williams and Karacan return, I will be looking to sell off Guthrie as I'd prefer to keep Norwood than him.

Hopefully the thread will have a few posts, that will be good to see.

I've been rather disappointed with Guthrie to be honest. Never lived up to the promise he showed. Him, HRK and Pearce are three players that I wouldn't mind seeing the back of (In FM and real life).

Norwood for me is a better passer of the ball at times, and has much better potential. Him and Kuhl in rotation would make a very good central midfield, possibly with a holding midfielder behind (Akpan for now?)

You're lucky in a way that you don't have to sit through the weekly agony of watching Reading FC recently. Rotherham tonight, and whereas usually this should be considered an easy 3 points, I don't think fans will be in any doubt how important it is to win, or how difficult it may be. Good to see some of our injured players (Ferdinand, Williams) returning though.

Cooper is a massive player, and with game time hopefully will improve his positioning and timing of the challenge. He is still very raw, and I don't think we would be letting them cut their teeth just yet in an ideal world. Hector is another one who i don't feel has quite progressed as we had hoped, and I put it down partly to his sudden exposure to the first team, but needs must... The same could be said of many of our younger players.

I think we can forgive a slight indiscretion when you were faced with a crippling injury such as Murray. Just makes the game playable. Wouldn't be much fun otherwise, as like you say it's only the BETA. I guess in a way, dropping two points is karma and i think the balance has been restored.

In terms of the Galatasary loan players, we aren't actually set up with a loan agreement for Galatasary in game, so it seems strange that are offering you players. We only have a pre-season friendly arrangement in place with them (not even that in real life). I will see what i get and possibly raise it within the data forum for Kadzidlo to review. I'm not even sure if the partnership is still in place, as i can't find much mention of it on either team website (other than the initial story).

I'm not aware of whether a fee has been agreed, or whether we have first refusal for Murray. Nothing was made public that I've seen. I guess that is why nothing has been included.

Agree with you on the real life situation regarding those players mentioned. Although Ferdinand probably won't be any better for us than the other disappearing Anton!! Yes, I'm lucky I don't have to witness it first hand these days, although disappointed that I can't even listen to Soccer Saturday or Soccer Special anymore as SSN cut their radio station (online and app) about a month ago.

It sounds like it might just be a coincidence about the loan offers from Galatasaray then, and I'm OK on the Murray situation without the option to buy.

Edit: Signings in the last few years were awful: Guthrie, Pog, Drenthe, Kelly, Blackman, Akpan. I'm surprised and disappointed by both Pearce and HRK. Both should have been good players at this level but just don't seem to deliver. Gunter is another who has been a let down. That doesn't leave many!!

Agree with you on the real life situation regarding those players mentioned. Although Ferdinand probably won't be any better for us than the other disappearing Anton!! Yes, I'm lucky I don't have to witness it first hand these days, although disappointed that I can't even listen to Soccer Saturday or Soccer Special anymore as SSN cut their radio station (online and app) about a month ago.

It sounds like it might just be a coincidence about the loan offers from Galatasaray then, and I'm OK on the Murray situation without the option to buy.

Edit: Signings in the last few years were awful: Guthrie, Pog, Drenthe, Kelly, Blackman, Akpan. I'm surprised and disappointed by both Pearce and HRK. Both should have been good players at this level but just don't seem to deliver. Gunter is another who has been a let down. That doesn't leave many!!

Anton was never an Adkins signing, that is clear. I'm glad we have someone as cover, but would rather it not be him. You just have to hear the interviews with Adkins around the time we were rumoured to be signing him, he hardly seemed happy.

Our recent owners (current one(s) included) have had a worrying tendency to go above the manager and sign players without their agreement. Recently went to the evening with Brian McD who confirmed he practically had an agreement in place for Shane Long to return to the club after we were promoted (Shane used to live with Brian so they are very close). When he wanted to discuss the matter with Anton, he introduced him to Pavel and said we were signing him. Brian hardly knew who he was!

Shame about the loss of SSN radio for you.

I agree with Gurthie, Pog, Drenthe and Kelly. Blackman has started to show some promise, and Akpan has proved himself useful in recent games, if a little erratic at times. Hopefully he can build from a run in the team. HRK has never impressed me, too much skill for his ability. So often I've seen him try to go past his man with a bit of skill and loose the ball as a result. Seems incapable of doing simple things (I've got a thing against HRK, admittedly). Pearce was immense in our promotion season, however the contract dispute has left a sour taste in my mouth, and he has never recovered professionally from it. Never looked the same player. Add that to the fact he is useless with he isn't using his head, and he's looking rather poor. I was rather keen on Gunter, and still think he could turn good, but I think the vice-captaincy was too much pressure for him and has affected his performances.

I always had a feeling that we could have had Shane and Gylfi back, but those days have now gone forever. I re-signed both of them the last time I was managing Reading, and they were superb. It was always amusing in previous FM's to see comments about McDermott 'not knowing Shane well' despite the fact he lodged with him upon his arrival.

I'm sure the evening with Brian was a lovely occasion. By the way, I actually had the pleasure of attending the press conference when the Doyle/Long signing was completed - Shane was just a shy little lad who kind of tagged along for the ride that day, and there was hardly any attention or interest in him. He's certainly forged an excellent career since then though.

Anyway, back to FM as I've kind of de-railed your thread. I'm going to see if I can build on that solid start at Wigan, will pop up an update after a while.

Welcome to the thread. Do be sure to keep us updated if you start a Reading career of your own.

Kuhl indeed looks to be a good prospect, with solid technical abilities already and a tenacity about him, the right training regime could see him become a fixture in the team and even a possible future Reading FC captain. And who wouldn't want Sideshow Bob as your team captain? Chelsea had their chance with Luiz and missed it. Now it's our turn!

Thanks! Cool - shall do. I'm waiting for the official release before starting a proper file (just been messing about and hunting potential signings in the beta) but after initially electing for Fulham, i've had my head turned by the potential of Reading's academy graduates (naturally, headed by Kuhl, who I agree looks a future club captain) and have also rated Karacan in the game for a couple of years now (shame about that injury). Hope you're none too fond of much of the remaining squad, though as i'm planning a real scorched earth approach and will almost certainly completely rebuild. Got my revamped squad in mind but obviously, highly dependant on receiving decent fees for the likes of Robson-Kanu and Pearce but even then, I can't legislate for the inevitable rejections and work permit frustrations...

Thanks! Cool - shall do. I'm waiting for the official release before starting a proper file (just been messing about and hunting potential signings in the beta) but after initially electing for Fulham, i've had my head turned by the potential of Reading's academy graduates (naturally, headed by Kuhl, who I agree looks a future club captain) and have also rated Karacan in the game for a couple of years now (shame about that injury). Hope you're none too fond of much of the remaining squad, though as i'm planning a real scorched earth approach and will almost certainly completely rebuild. Got my revamped squad in mind but obviously, highly dependant on receiving decent fees for the likes of Robson-Kanu and Pearce but even then, I can't legislate for the inevitable rejections and work permit frustrations...

Hopefully in the release patch, the finances will be sorted and we will have some transfer budget and spare wages. They are working on having this rectified by release according to the researcher. Should help with your rebuilding process.

Karacan has been slightly downgraded this release I believe, rightly so due to his injury status. I hope it hasn't affected his injury proneness rating though, as neither recent injury has been a result of him, but rather those overly-physical Leeds players (I shall refrain from airing my personal opinion and using the normal language we would associate with them). Lets just hope Leeds get relegated or we get promoted soon so that we don't have to play them again.

I don't have a problem with restructuring the club and clearing out a lot of the deadwood. In all honesty, that could be what the team needs in real life to some extent. It also seems to be a common process among Reading FC FM managers in recent years. The club have lots of potential, but sadly not necessarily the financial strength or playing ability to fulfill that promise at the moment. By all means, if you can bring success to the Royals then I am more than happy to see it done! I shall follow with great interest.

Remember to make good use of the academy though, and try not to just bring in foreign players as clubs like Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd etc have. I always like seeing a homegrown contingent in the team.

HRK from my brief testing can command a fee of around £3M+, at least in the BETA. I can't see Pearce getting much, but good luck if you can.

Fidelitywars, I'll also look forward to seeing how your career goes at Reading. I think you have made a sensible decision to ship out as many of the squad as you can. In real life that would also be the way I would go. But I hope you won't buy youngsters, as the youth talent is probably the strongest part of the club these days and it would be great if they can come through in to your first team squad.

I've reached the end of August in my first season at the club, and with the transfer window now shut it's time to share some thoughts. It's my first effort on FM15 and although I feel I'm not really in total control of performances and haven't quite worked out the new transfer/scouting system, I'm pleasantly surprised at the start we have made. I wasn't feeling the flow of the matches to begin with, as it was a bit 'jumpy' - also the ball appeared heavy, and the grass too long for the roll to seem right. However, I've now switched to 'TV mode' and find it runs much smoother than the usual 'Directors view'.

Some of the results have been a bit flattering, but we seem to be quite solid in defence - which is how I like to build all of my teams. At Wigan, we grabbed a first half lead, but conceded in the last 10 minutes, whilst the Cup win over Luton was very comfortable. The Ipswich home win was remarkable for the fact that we scored first after 84 minutes, saw the visitors lose two men to red cards shortly afterwards (including ex-Royals midfielder Jay Tabb, who was lining up alongside Mikele Leigertwood in midfield), added a second in stoppage time, and still saw them pull back a consolation seconds before the final whistle. The wins over Huddersfield and Forest were real 'smash and grab' affairs with late goals giving us maximum points in both, probably a little bit fortunately. Our Cup triumph over Leyton Orient saw us earn a tie against Liverpool in Round 3, and then last time out we looked comfortable at Middlesbrough, but let slip a two goal advantage in the last 10 minutes.

I've seen a couple of goals handed to us by poor backpasses, and hopefully these will reduce as they were not very realistic scenarios. We tend to concede either from long range rockets or corners, but the goals we score are mainly from crosses in to the box from open play, via corners/free kicks, or as a result of nice counter-attacking moves. Balls to the wingers inside the full-backs seem to have dropped to realistic levels now, and there seem very few inaccurate crosses smacking against the bar, so all that is very positive improvement within the ME.

Results and scorers

As far as the squad is concerned, I've been keen to give some of the young Academy players some minutes, and therefore only made one new signing. Having sold forward Pavel Pogrebnyak and defender Stephen Kelly, I felt we needed one more striker to support Simon Cox and Glenn Murray in attack (I play counter-attacking 442 at the moment). After missing out on free agent Innocent Emeghara, being quoted a ridiculously high figure for Croatian talent Andrej Kramaric, and not being able to afford the loan proposals made by the clubs of Darren Bent and Harry Kane, I finally settled for one player that was a real life target in the summer, Nahki Wells. An initial outlay of £2.2m was within budget, and his wage demands were reasonable, so the deal was done. As he is Cup-tied, he made his debut from the bench at half time of the Middlesbrough match. That might further limit the playing time of Nick Blackman, who has been a surprisingly successful option coming off the bench so far.

In addition to the two sales and youngsters loaned out, I've actively tried to sell Danny Guthrie for around £2m, but have had no interest in him at this stage. We'll see what happens there, but with Danny Williams and Jem Karacan due back in a month or so, his services are not really required. I'm aware that we need to make some improvements in order to satisfy FFP, although the situation doesn't appear to be too critical at this stage. For that reason I also baulked at paying the significant loan fee and wages required to bring Ben Davies on loan from Tottenham - a decision I am comfortable with as long as Jordan Obita stays injury free. I didn't try to sign any other players, and hopefully when the injured men are fit to return, we will have enough to maintain a healthy league position (currently 3rd).

Transfer summary

I've reached the end of August in my first season at the club, and with the transfer window now shut it's time to share some thoughts. It's my first effort on FM15 and although I feel I'm not really in total control of performances and haven't quite worked out the new transfer/scouting system, I'm pleasantly surprised at the start we have made. I wasn't feeling the flow of the matches to begin with, as it was a bit 'jumpy' - also the ball appeared heavy, and the grass too long for the roll to seem right. However, I've now switched to 'TV mode' and find it runs much smoother than the usual 'Directors view'.

Some of the results have been a bit flattering, but we seem to be quite solid in defence - which is how I like to build all of my teams. At Wigan, we grabbed a first half lead, but conceded in the last 10 minutes, whilst the Cup win over Luton was very comfortable. The Ipswich home win was remarkable for the fact that we scored first after 84 minutes, saw the visitors lose two men to red cards shortly afterwards (including ex-Royals midfielder Jay Tabb, who was lining up alongside Mikele Leigertwood in midfield), added a second in stoppage time, and still saw them pull back a consolation seconds before the final whistle. The wins over Huddersfield and Forest were real 'smash and grab' affairs with late goals giving us maximum points in both, probably a little bit fortunately. Our Cup triumph over Leyton Orient saw us earn a tie against Liverpool in Round 3, and then last time out we looked comfortable at Middlesbrough, but let slip a two goal advantage in the last 10 minutes.

I've seen a couple of goals handed to us by poor backpasses, and hopefully these will reduce as they were not very realistic scenarios. We tend to concede either from long range rockets or corners, but the goals we score are mainly from crosses in to the box from open play, via corners/free kicks, or as a result of nice counter-attacking moves. Balls to the wingers inside the full-backs seem to have dropped to realistic levels now, and there seem very few inaccurate crosses smacking against the bar, so all that is very positive improvement within the ME.

As far as the squad is concerned, I've been keen to give some of the young Academy players some minutes, and therefore only made one new signing. Having sold forward Pavel Pogrebnyak and defender Stephen Kelly, I felt we needed one more striker to support Simon Cox and Glenn Murray in attack (I play counter-attacking 442 at the moment). After missing out on free agent Innocent Emeghara, being quoted a ridiculously high figure for Croatian talent Andrej Kramaric, and not being able to afford the loan proposals made by the clubs of Darren Bent and Harry Kane, I finally settled for one player that was a real life target in the summer, Nahki Wells. An initial outlay of £2.2m was within budget, and his wage demands were reasonable, so the deal was done. As he is Cup-tied, he made his debut from the bench at half time of the Middlesbrough match. That might further limit the playing time of Nick Blackman, who has been a surprisingly successful option coming off the bench so far.

In addition to the two sales and youngsters loaned out, I've actively tried to sell Danny Guthrie for around £2m, but have had no interest in him at this stage. We'll see what happens there, but with Danny Williams and Jem Karacan due back in a month or so, his services are not really required. I'm aware that we need to make some improvements in order to satisfy FFP, although the situation doesn't appear to be too critical at this stage. For that reason I also baulked at paying the significant loan fee and wages required to bring Ben Davies on loan from Tottenham - a decision I am comfortable with as long as Jordan Obita stays injury free. I didn't try to sign any other players, and hopefully when the injured men are fit to return, we will have enough to maintain a healthy league position (currently 3rd).

Nice start so far. The latest 15.0.3 update has definitely fixed a number of ME issues.

It's good to see that you have managed to keep a solid defence. If you would like to come to the club and teach the current lot how to defend then I would gladly pay for your travel and even put you up with B&B! Defence has been one area where I have struggled slightly in the this release, although I havent played much with the latest ME. What settings have you got across the back?

Glad to see you've been true to your word and given youth a chance. Who have you given debuts to so far?

I'm not sure if it was just me, but Kramaric always seemed to score against me in the friendly match we had arranged for pre-season. I presumed I was just playing very poorly. Nice to know he is actually a bit of a talent (never even thought to look!). Nahki Wells should make a good addition to the attack.Hopefully he works well with Cox and Murray up front and can keep up your promotion push at this rate!

I believe FFP is a big reason behind our current financial situation in the game, so I believe there may be some changes made to that come release, but it does seem to be a slight concern. Clearly we will have to watch our spending this season. It's a shame it forced you to miss out on Ben Davies, he would have given great cover/competition for the left back position. Who are you playing at left back if Obita gets injured (Fingers crossed he doesn't for you)?

Nice start so far. The latest 15.0.3 update has definitely fixed a number of ME issues.

It's good to see that you have managed to keep a solid defence. If you would like to come to the club and teach the current lot how to defend then I would gladly pay for your travel and even put you up with B&B! Defence has been one area where I have struggled slightly in the this release, although I havent played much with the latest ME. What settings have you got across the back?

Glad to see you've been true to your word and given youth a chance. Who have you given debuts to so far?

I'm not sure if it was just me, but Kramaric always seemed to score against me in the friendly match we had arranged for pre-season. I presumed I was just playing very poorly. Nice to know he is actually a bit of a talent (never even thought to look!). Nahki Wells should make a good addition to the attack.Hopefully he works well with Cox and Murray up front and can keep up your promotion push at this rate!

I believe FFP is a big reason behind our current financial situation in the game, so I believe there may be some changes made to that come release, but it does seem to be a slight concern. Clearly we will have to watch our spending this season. It's a shame it forced you to miss out on Ben Davies, he would have given great cover/competition for the left back position. Who are you playing at left back if Obita gets injured (Fingers crossed he doesn't for you)?

Haha. Next time we get one of our major powercuts, I might take up that offer to come and coach them. I've got quite basic defensive instructions, with just four TI (retain possession, whipped crosses, close down more, stay on feet). Structured and counter approaches probably keep the shape solid, as none of the defence or central midfielders have extra demands put upon them. I do ask Mackie to close down much more (which should be higher up the pitch), but the only other players with individual instructions are Robson-Kanu/Blackman on the left, plus Cox/Murray/Wells in attack.

So far, I've given minutes to Kuhl, Taylor and Tanner (before Wells joined), and I start with Akpan, Hector and Obita of course. Cooper is next in line at CB (before Ferdinand) and Kuhl will be selected before Guthrie. I've not needed to blood Andersen, Samuel, Tshibola, Edwards, Long or Griffin yet - but would happily play any of them. Before the end of the season they will all appear, and hopefully Cardwell and Novakovich too.

Kramaric is definitely a good young player in real life, but I preferred to buy Wells in the end as he was already familiar with the league. I'm not quite sure how I will juggle the three of them, but I'm very happy having that trio - and obviously, Murray may not be there after January anyway. As for Davies, he would have cost £100k p/m and would have been a starting LB, but I like Obita there as I see his long term future in that position. Should he get injured, well, it will either be Cummings, Griffin or Owusu. Cummings has already been used at RB a few times and as a defensive RM option too, so he's in the frame to play at any time.

Looking forward to getting going on a game with Reading. I started one during the beta and sold Pog and HRK for just over £5M before bringing in Wells for £2.6M. I struggled to bring in a CB who would actually improve the side though but did manage to bring in McLaughlin from Liverpool on loan.

I think my main aims when starting the full game will be:

Sell HRK

Sell Pog

Sell Kelly

Sign a CB

Sign a striker

Sign a LB

Secondary options include selling Andersen, Taylor , Guthrie and Akpan.

Is 4-4-2 the way to go do people think?

Welcome along RFM. I think with the injured trio, 442 is the best way to start. Once Karacan and Williams return, it strengthens the case for switching to some form of 433, so that they and Norwood/Kuhl can all start. Whilst that system would also suit McCleary, it does effectively leave you playing one central striker - when you are quite well blessed with Cox, Murray (until January at least), and Wells (if signed). You could play Cox on the left I suppose (getting him to come inside), but I'm not so sure how that would work.

I've kept 442 and just rotated Williams and Karacan whilst they get back to their best levels of fitness, occasionally pairing them together and resting Norwood. I totally agree with you about selling Pogrebnyak and Kelly, as I did. HRK has been better in game than in reality, so I haven't taken a decision to sell him yet. Guthrie was hard to shift when I started, and now in January his value has dropped to around £300k - plus he wanted a cash incentive to leave due to a wages drop at any new club. Taylor can fetch you nearly £1m, and you can get a further £2m for Blackman.

The only issue with selling Taylor and HRK for me is that they are both Academy graduates. Having said that, in reality I think neither has fulfilled their promise and is unlikely to. I like Andersen, so I'm keeping him, but Akpan is also available for transfer. The board gave £3m towards FFP in my game (not sure that's the purpose of FFP) - but there are still indications that we will fail on that front. In view of this, there won't be any more incoming players for me, and more sales are likely.

I've just hit the start of January in my game. We've maintained fairly good form (better than expected when I started), and remain in contention for a play-off spot. Wells and Cox have been reasonably efficient as striking partners, and the value of my £2.2m signing has already more than doubled. Murray on the other hand has been disappointing, possibly because I expected so much from him. Robson-Kanu has performed well on the left wing, and we now have Williams, Karacan and McCleary back in the team. Mackie has been out injured for three months, but being out of the window I couldn't curtail his loan. The defence has been least affected by a pretty poor injury record, and in the main we have kept it pretty tight back there. Starts have been given to almost every player in the first team squad, including Andersen, Cooper, Kuhl, Edwards and Taylor - plus Griffin due to a minor injury for Obita. I think only Ferdinand and Tanner have not started a match yet (the latter being injured since August), whilst even Cardwell got some minutes from the bench on one occasion.

We currently sit 3rd heading in to January, and I'm about to offload Blackman to Wolves for £2m, and possibly Guthrie and Taylor too. I'm not sure if I can terminate Mackie's loan now, or even whether I should do, especially as I don't yet know if I can keep Murray either. Certainly there won't be any other incoming transfers.

I'll probably update from 15.0.3 to the 'full game' version later - if I have the confidence that the defensive side of things is working properly (as it has been in my BETA), and if there are enough hours in the day for the necessary download on Steam to complete...

Started my full game save last night.

Transfers in:

Martin Taylor - Free

Francis Coquelin - Loan from Arsenal - End of Season

Yaya Sanogo - Loan From Arsenal - End Of Season

Matt Ritchie - £3.7M

Transfers Out:

Danny Guthrie - Fulham £3.3M

Hal Robson Kanu - Nottm Forest £3.2M

Tried to get rid of Pavel as well, but he's stayed for now, needed to get a left back in, but annoyingly my number one target got injured 3 days before the window closed and he failed a medical. Will sign him in January. Ryan Haynes from Coventry. Currently playing Cummings there and is working ok.

I'm in mid September now, having played 8 league games, currently sitting on 12 points. Scored 17, conceded 14. Lot of goals being conceded from corners at the near post. Had a crazy game against Middlesborough and lost 6-4. Into the 3rd round of the cup having beaten Southend at home and Bradford away, I have Newcastle away in the 3rd round.

Playing 4-4-2 normally, and have flirted a bit with 4-4-1-1. Need to bring Mccleary back in, should balance the side a lot more, currently playing Obita on the left wing a lot, who is good, but would prefer someone with a bit more experience there. Obita will probably move into left back until January once he's back. Starting strikers are Cox and Sanogo.

Season 1 completed...

In the January transfer window I sold Nick Blackman (Wolves, £2m), Jake Taylor (Brentford, £925k) and Royston Drenthe (Groningen, £1m). Unfortunately I had to agree a contribution towards the Dutchman's wages, but I just wanted him off the books. Glenn Murray returned to Crystal Palace as he hadn't delivered as much as I expected (just three goals). The only arrival was Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, who would become the third striker option. After a slow start, he began to score from the bench and was then used a little bit more as the season went on. There were no takers for Danny Guthrie - either for transfer or loan - so he will leave at the end of his contract, and Hope Akpan is joining Derby for £850k in the summer (only £250k upfront). All other first team players are on contracts until at least 2016, except Alex Pearce. I have tried to get him to sign a new deal but after talks broke down six months ago his agent won't even talk to me. There seems to be no option to bypass the agent to speak to Pearce, or to get the agent sacked. I'm not sure this is how it should be, it seems a bit of a nonsense to me.

Anyway, we had a reasonably stable campaign. Despite a few blips we were always in the top six, as the graph below shows...

We scored 70 goals and conceded 51, and I think that demonstrates that the scoring in the game is fairly accurate. Bournemouth were easily the best team in the league, and scored over 20 goals more than anybody else (97) but conceded a massive 72. The relegated teams were Ipswich (22nd), Blackpool (23rd) and Rotherham (24th).

Our performances in the Play-off matches were a pleasant surprise and after beating Wolves comfortably home and away, we were always in charge against Cardiff at Wembley. They scored a consolation towards the end, but we deserved the victory on the day. Over the season I'm not so sure we deserved promotion, and now I'm not sure whether to continue or not.

The point of managing Reading was to really increase the amount of youngsters regularly playing in the team year by year - but doing that in the Premier League would be brave and probably cost me my job. On the other side of the coin, the board (who have been rumoured to be taken over for many months) have advised we would have £18m transfer budget and £500k p/w wage allowance for the next season.

Whilst I ponder that decision, here are the squad stats for the season across all competitions (excludes Murray and those sold during the season)...

Never done this before, so sorry for any lack of details. Feel free to question anything i've done.

Did the first season with Reading throughout the beta period. As the team I support it will be my long term save this FM.

Transfers

As you can see from the image below, very few players left during the Summer (mostly because I was unable to shift Pogrebnyak or Drenthe in my cost cutting exercise). I did manage to get good amounts for Guthrie and Robson-Kanu though, as well as something for Kelly - the latter two didn't really suit my intended formation for the season and I needed money for players in. Almost all of my transfer expenditure went on a club record fee of MK Dons youngster Alli. I then spent various amounts on squad fillers in key positions where I felt I was lacking depth (Strikers and Central defenders).

In January I had a real lack of funds and so tried to get as good value for money as possible. Particularly trying to strengthen my strikeforce with me not wanting to pay for Murray permanently and my general lack of goals in the first half of the season.

Competitions

Although knowing it would be difficult in comparison to previous years, promotion was my main aim. I knew that if I could hang on until November with key players returning from injuries I had a team capable of promotion. I did not care too much about cups this season with that goal in mind largely playing changed teams. I played against three Premier League sides between the two cups but only managed one win with West Ham and Everton knocking me out reasonably early on.

In the league I had a slow start, down in about 15th place by October (so not too dissimilar to real life) but as soon as the injured players arrived I went on a good run of form until Christmas with lots of classic Brian McDermott 1-0 wins / 2-1 wins on the counter. With January reinforcements plugging some weak spots in my team (sitting in 7th position) I had a fairly good second of the season in a tightly packed play-off hunt (I believe 8 teams still had a chance of play-offs with two games to go) and managed to finish in 3rd. I was catching the top two very quickly but just ran out of time. I went from narrow 1-0 wins of the first half of the season to big 3-1 / 4-2 wins with lots of goals. I narrowly missed out on having the best defence in the league because of this, which given my formation and personnel I thought was achievable.

Play-offs were not too difficult, 4-3 AET win over Bournemouth and 1-0 win over Wolves in the final were scorelines that suggested closer games than they really were.

Players

Finally, below is my final player ratings for the season. You can see that I never really had a settled striker until Babacar came in. He was just ridiculous. The type of striker my tactics had been crying out for (a mobile target man) and that despite trying neither Murray, Pogrebnyak or Kane were able to manage. My team was fairly average on the most part but with a couple of stand out performers who got me over the line. Obita won the POTS for the second year in a row, narrowly beating Norwood.

As you can see I used a 3-5-2 formation. Swap Akpan and Alli around (no idea why they are that way round) and I guess that was my first choice 11. Was hard to find the personnel to make it work, especially the key areas of central defence and strikers but the midfield 5/6 were all very good throughout the season.

At the end of the season Reading also got taken over by an Algerian businessman, who was generous enough to give me a £30m transfer budget for our return to the Premier League, so stay tuned for that in the future...

So with the latest patch hopefully having made the game more stable, it's time to embark on my annual Reading FC career game! This year, unlike many previous years, appears to be a bit more of a challenge due to the Financial Fair Play regulations. With the club due to fail FFP by almost £7M at the start of the game, slashing the wage budget and recovering as much money as possible is one of the main priorities, possibly even more important than gaining promotion!

Backroom Staff

First thing first, I decided to review the backroom staffing issues. Reading FC have a very heavy bias towards youth coaches, and a lack of first team coaching. Sadly, due to board restrictions this is not something that can be addressed in the first season, and so drastic changes will have to wait until promotion to upgrade my coaching staff. What I did want to address was the scouting however, as I wanted a very strong understanding of the players around me and my options going forwards. To accomplish this, I increased my scouting team and replaced my chief scout.

Players

The playing staff at the Madejski Stadium are decent, if unspectacular. The biggest strength is the youth, and this is certainly something I'm looking to concentrate on. The likes of Aaron Kuhl, Jack Stacey, Harry Cardwell, Andrija Novakovich and of course Jordan Obita all look like they could be good players in the future, so I will be closely monitoring their progression and doing all I can to assist them with playing time wherever I can.

Sadly however, due to the financial situation I find myself in, sales were very necessary to cover the FFP.

I know I am still a little weak at the left back position, but I am hoping to play Obita there and possibly look to bring in another loan or use Griffin or McLennan. That is my only real worry so far in terms of the squad.

Nice one Abaddon, I look forward to seeing how you go! You did well to get £3.8m for Guthrie. I wanted to offload him from the start and there was no interest all season, so ended up releasing him! The other sales are logical, although HRK performed much better for me than he does in reality. Regarding your incomings, I like the loan of Kenedy - a player that was strongly recommended to me in real life by Chris Makin a couple of years back after a club youth tournament in Qatar.

Thanks, I was lucky in that both HRK and Guthrie were wanted at the start of my game by Fulham, which made selling them a lot easier. All sales were done from a wages point of view as I only had £1K/week left in wage budget and I needed to drastically cut it to meet the FFP restrictions. All of those players sold were on £20K+ from what I remember, and I couldn't turn down savings like those. In addition to that I got Kenedy and Bonazzoli on season-long loans with their parent clubs agreeing to pay their wages in full, so there is no impact on my finances at all until Savitskiy arrives in January. Sadly he failed his work permit, but for £61K compensation and only £5K/week I can afford to take the risk on this superb young inside forward. Will enable me to push Obita back to left back if he gets a work permit in January.

Talking of youth, Jack Stacey has been a revelation for me in the handful of games we've played so far. Already has 4 goals, 3 assists and 1 MoM in just 5(2) appearances. I've had quite a few injuries recently so I've been giving youth a huge chance, and they are really taking it. Aaron Kuhl is keeping Oliver Norwood out of the team currently, and Shane Griffin is getting plenty of time at left back in rotation with Cummings and Gunter. Hoping to get Harry Cardwell some game time as he looks like he could be a star at this level in time, but he isn't quite shaped how I would need him playing a False Nine role up front. Might consider shaping him into a Shadow Striker to fit my tactic.

So pre-season was very successful in my eyes. We managed to secure the financial future of the club, and also strengthen the squad with a few loan signings, but what about when the season itself began?

Well January has just arrived, and we are looking good so far.

Tactic

I decided to use a 4-2-3-1 Wide formation to make use of the wide players we had at our disposal, and disguise the lack of strikers at the club.

Fixtures

We started the season reasonably well and after a slight wobble at the start with loses to Ipswich and Nottingham Forest, we went on a long unbeaten run throughout September and much of October that saw us rise through the league meteorically.

Sadly after losing to Arsenal in the Capital Cup, our form had a slight wobble and we started drawing, which saw moral drop and some those draws even turned into losses. This saw us lose ground on the top spot, and could spell disaster for our season unless I can put a halt to the slide soon.

League Table

Special Mention

You may notice from my tactic screenshot that we made a slightly special signing at the very start of January (currently 6th January in game). More will be revealed in a future update towards the end of the season!

Oh yeah, and Nick Blackman is now an international, playing for... Poland?!?!

I realize its been a long while since anyone posted in here. But I'm considering one last game on FM2015 and its Reading who somehow caught my attention. The biggest debate is whether I should use an updated database for most of the summer transfers (at least up to this point).

what formation works best for reading?

I'm definitely still playing my Reading save, although I've found time hard to come by and am only in the 19/20 season. Yet to win the league or conquer Europe sadly. The thread stopped getting replies though, so I didn't want it to become a one man thread all about my game.

I realize its been a long while since anyone posted in here. But I'm considering one last game on FM2015 and its Reading who somehow caught my attention. The biggest debate is whether I should use an updated database for most of the summer transfers (at least up to this point).

Some of the new signings are definitely exciting compared to what we had previously, the likes of Hurtado, Sa, McShane, etc.

Whether you play with the existing database or an updated one depends on your preferences. I've personally never touched custom databases, although I can see their appeal, especially with the new season kicking off.

What attracted you to Reading? Not been an overly popular choice in recent years.

what formation works best for reading?

I would say 4-1-4-1 DM, 4-4-1-1, 4-2-3-1 Wide, or 4-1-2-3 DM Wide are some of the most suited, but it all depends on who you decide to bring in.

Generally the starting squad are strongest on the wings and in centre midfield, whilst there is a lack of good strikers at the club, so single striker tactics are most suited.

I have a Reading save going on at the moment. Will update later with my transfers in and out, but basically I am in my 2nd season - I won the Championship in Season 1 and I am currently 3rd after 7 games in the Premiership. I sold (as I tend to when I start with any team) some of the older players, so out went Gunter, Pierce, Ferdinand, Federici, Cox, Pavel, Mcleary which raised some good money for me. I also got James Wilson in on loan, and Munir from Barcelona B. I spent money on Mings and Joe Gomez and a few others. We only lost 4 games in the Championship, but we drew so many games that we were down in 7th in the March, we then went on a winning streak to take us to the title. Kuhl and Obita were fantastic for me and have continued into the Premier League! I have been bought out by a Ukranian (I think) - hasn't really added any finance but has sorted out a couple of debts from what I can recall!