FM16: Reading FC - They call us the Royals

While I continue to build this, I'll leave you with this for entertainment...
 

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, however the expected progress was not made and Adkins was relieved of his dutes after a 6-1 defeat away to Birmingham in November 2014. His replacement, Steve Clarke, saw Reading match their best FA Cup run in the clubs history by playing Arsenal in the semi-final at Wembley. Sadly they lost this game in extra time, however is it a time of change at the club and the belief has once more returned.

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.

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CLUB INFORMATION

GENERAL

Full name: Reading Football Club

Nickname: The Royals

Founded: 1871

Status: Professional

Ground: Madejski Stadium, Reading

Chairman:

Chairman Status: Enjoying life at the club

Manager: Steve Clarke

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

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

Favoured Personnel: Nicky Shorey, Shane Long, Steve Sidwell

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

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

Finances: Okay

Average Ticket Price: £26

Average Season Ticket Price: £495

Season Ticket Holders: 12,250

Estimated Value: £37M (Loan Debt: £6.5M)

Continental Competition: None

Media Prediction: 14th

Squad Personality: Determined

Captain: Paul McShane

Vice Captain: Michael Hector

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: Superb 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 5 clubs affiliated with it currently.

Of these, Galatasaray, Boreham Wood and Didcot are there purely to arrange a local friendly during pre-season, while Basingstoke and Salisbury both have player loan agreement in place as well.

Ocean City may sometimes send youth players to train at Reading, and is a long term deal involving an annual friendly match. The presence in the USA should also be of benefit to merchandising.

FINANCES

Balance: £11.4M

Transfer Budget: £2M – 2.7M

Wage Budget: £350K – £410k p/w

Current Wage Total: £325k p/w

% of transfer revenue made available: 60%

Sponsors: 1 year main kit sponsorship deal at £1.5M per season. Ends 2016

Loans Outstanding: Bank loan of £1.75M. Ends 2018

STAFF

BOARDROOM

Narin Niruttinanon - Owner

Sasima Srivikorn - Chairman

Nigel Howe - Director

Sir John Madejski - Director

Theekharoj Piamphongsarn - Director

Jack Srisumrid – Director

Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth - Director

Ian Wood-Smith – Director

MANAGEMENT

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

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - U21s Manager

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - U18s Manager

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Assistant Manager

Currently: 0 | Advised: 1 - U21s Assistant Manager

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - U18s Assistant Manager

Kevin Keen – Assistant Manager

Eamon Dolan – Head of Youth Development

Martin Kuhl – Under 21s Manager

David Dodds – Under 18s Manager

Lee Herron – Under 18s Assistant

SENIOR SQUAD COACHING

Currently: 4 | Advised: 5 Reading Coaching Staff

Steven Reid – Coach

Dave Beasant – Goalkeeping Coach

Nick Harvey – Fitness Coach

Tristan Baker – Fitness Coach

U18 COACHING

Currently: 0 | Advised: 0 - Under 21s Coaching Staff

Currently: 4 | Advised: 3 - Under 18s Coaching Staff

Colin Barnes – Under 18s Coach

Graham Dougall – Under 18s Coach

Geoff Taylor – Under 18s Coach

Ed Franklin – U18s Fitness Coach

MEDICAL

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Head Physio

Currently: 0 | Advised: 1 - Physio

Currently: 0 | Advised: 0 - Under 21s Physio

Currently: 3 | Advised: 1 - Under 18s Physio

Jonathon Urwin – Head Physio

John Alti – Under 18s Physio

Steve Cottrell – Under 18s Physio

Yvonne Moore – Under 18s Physio

SCOUTING & TRANSFERS

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Director of Football

Currently: 1 | Advised: 1 - Chief Scout

Currently: 1 | Advised: 6 - Scout

Nicky Hammond – Director of Football

Steve Shorey – Chief Scout

Brendan Flanagan - Scout

1^ST TEAM PLAYERS

GOALKEEPERS

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DEFENDERS

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MIDFIELDERS

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1^ST TEAM PLAYERS (CONT.)

STRIKERS

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RESERVE & U18 PLAYERS

Reserved

SQUAD

GETTING STARTED

FORMATIONS

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POTENTIAL TRANSFERS

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Great layout, will look forward to seeing this when completed. I think it will be a more appealing club this time around, certainly if the recent style of play continues. Not being picky, but wondered why Obita is in the midfielders list? Good start to the thread as usual anyway.

Good to see you around again Jogo!

Still need to do a bit of work, such as the bulk of the writing, and I'm still not 100% happy with the player profile images. They were a rush job and I simply copied from the Reading FC website players section. Think I'll have to remove the position text and replace this with my own, and also maybe put their CA/PA stars on the pictures as well.

The reason Obita is listed in midfield is because he was on their website. Much like John, McCleary, and Hurtado are listed as Strikers in their position text, but HRK is not. Blame Reading FC website for now. Don't worry, I will correct this. Just wanted to get something up.

Ah I see, sorry to mention it. I know it will look great when finished anyway. I'm looking forward to having a much more enjoyable go at it again this year.

Have rearranged them and started to update their player profiles to include age and position. Will complete the midfield after today's match, and then start giving each player a quick write-up.

Great opening posts Abaddon .

Started my Reading career and I'm currently in February sitting in 5th. At work at the moment so can only give a brief summary.

The only major departure was Simon Cox for £800k in the summer.

The only signing I made was Andreas Pereira on loan after a couple of injuries to attacking players.

Struggled with inconsistency to begin with which wasn't helped by the fact that I didn't know my best XI or best formation and I switched between 4-3-3 and 4-3-2-1 alot to begin with. Even though i was unhappy we were always towards the top of table as everyone else was taking points off each other.

January came and Orlanda Sa and Hal Robson-Kanu demanded moves away due to lack of first team football. In HRK's case I gladly obliged although i could only get £300k for him since his contract ran out at the end of the season. I couldn't find a buyer for Orlando Sa so he got shipped out on loan instead.

As a replacement for Sa I signed Lewis Grabban and switched my formation to a more basic 4-4-2:

Al-Habsi

Gunter

Hector

McShane

Obita

John

Williams

Norwood

Piazon

Vyrda

Grabban

Since I swithed to 4-4-2 we've won about 4/5 games on the bounce. I've also been tring to give the likes of Bond, Keown, Tshibola and now Kuhl game time. Kuhl seems like a brillant prospect this year and is already rated as my 2nd or 3rd best central midfielder depending on who gives the report.

I've started to phase him in a bit more over Norwood but Norwood satys in for the bigger games.

Also, Williams is a player that really annoys me. He's quite cleary the best CM/DM at the club and he's brilliant but he's just a red card waiting to happen. He's been sent off like 3/4 times alreay including being banned for a 6 games for a two-footed tackle. I love him irl but on the game I really don't like players like that. May look to sell in the summer becuase I could probably get a decent price for him.

Great opening posts Abaddon .

Started my Reading career and I'm currently in February sitting in 5th. At work at the moment so can only give a brief summary.

The only major departure was Simon Cox for £800k in the summer.

The only signing I made was Andreas Pereira on loan after a couple of injuries to attacking players.

Struggled with inconsistency to begin with which wasn't helped by the fact that I didn't know my best XI or best formation and I switched between 4-3-3 and 4-3-2-1 alot to begin with. Even though i was unhappy we were always towards the top of table as everyone else was taking points off each other.

January came and Orlanda Sa and Hal Robson-Kanu demanded moves away due to lack of first team football. In HRK's case I gladly obliged although i could only get £300k for him since his contract ran out at the end of the season. I couldn't find a buyer for Orlando Sa so he got shipped out on loan instead.

As a replacement for Sa I signed Lewis Grabban and switched my formation to a more basic 4-4-2:

Al-Habsi

Gunter

Hector

McShane

Obita

John

Williams

Norwood

Piazon

Vyrda

Grabban

Since I swithed to 4-4-2 we've won about 4/5 games on the bounce. I've also been tring to give the likes of Bond, Keown, Tshibola and now Kuhl game time. Kuhl seems like a brillant prospect this year and is already rated as my 2nd or 3rd best central midfielder depending on who gives the report.

I've started to phase him in a bit more over Norwood but Norwood satys in for the bigger games.

Also, Williams is a player that really annoys me. He's quite cleary the best CM/DM at the club and he's brilliant but he's just a red card waiting to happen. He's been sent off like 3/4 times alreay including being banned for a 6 games for a two-footed tackle. I love him irl but on the game I really don't like players like that. May look to sell in the summer becuase I could probably get a decent price for him.

Good to see you back again STaphouse! Hopefully I'll be more active this year and try to give a running update on my Reading FC career save (once I get one going).

I would say that Simon Cox is definitely one to be shipped out, as he isn't at the level required for a title challenge in my eyes. Possibly a good backup player depending on your system (Shadow striker role perhaps).

I presume that Vydra was your main lone striker, hence Sa wanting away? You definitely seem to be aiming for pacey players up top, which sadly Sa isn't. Are you playing a direct counter approach?

Kuhl definitely seems to be one of the top prospects in the squad, along with the likes of Cardwell, Stacey, and Fosu. Others I've noticed to have decent potential were Keown, Owusu, and Kelly, depending on your save. There are a few players with a high variable PA from what I can tell. I still need to write up the reserve/U18 section, so would be interesting to see how you get on with some of the youth players development.

With regards to Williams, I believe Si have acknowledged there is an issue with high aggression players and the amount of red cards they receive, so I am expecting a tweak to that with a later patch. McShane also looks like one who could be a problem with this from his stats, but I guess it is very role dependant. What role have you been playing Williams, BWM?

Just starting my second season, having been promoted via the play-offs after finishing 4th in my first season, also reaching the FA Cup final where I lost to Chelsea (3 Wembley days out in one season!). Only problem was that I was so reliant on the loanees; my team scored 99 goals, with 88 coming from Vydra, John, Piazon, Fernandez and Hector. I loaned in Cristian Gamboa Luna and Jordon Mutch in January to cover for injuries to Norwood and Gunter, but didn't make any signings other than that. I played a pretty simple 4-5-1 with a DM and AMR/AML, like I do most years with Reading. Vydra, John, Piazon and Fernandez were incredible, and you can sign Fernandez for just £1.3m at the end of his loan deal which I strongly recommend. Oh, and Danny Williams got 8 red cards, meaning he missed a total of 36 games through suspension! Looks like they haven't quite got the balance right with aggressive DMs. In terms of the youngsters, Jake Cooper looks like he'll start for me in the Prem, and Kuhl will have a part to play too.

Replacing the loanees and building a Premier League team has been pretty challenging so far, and it won't be easy to stay up. I've only signed transfer-listed players to save money; Shane Long (!!!!!), Sime Vrsaljko, Vlad Chiriches and Denis Cheryshev all came in for between £1m and £4m apiece, and I picked up Alex Pritchard and Andreas Pereira on loan too, as well as Mike Williamson on a free as back-up. If injuries aren't too bad, we're in with a shout with survival. Fingers crossed!

Good to see you back again STaphouse! Hopefully I'll be more active this year and try to give a running update on my Reading FC career save (once I get one going).

I would say that Simon Cox is definitely one to be shipped out, as he isn't at the level required for a title challenge in my eyes. Possibly a good backup player depending on your system (Shadow striker role perhaps).

I presume that Vydra was your main lone striker, hence Sa wanting away? You definitely seem to be aiming for pacey players up top, which sadly Sa isn't. Are you playing a direct counter approach?

Kuhl definitely seems to be one of the top prospects in the squad, along with the likes of Cardwell, Stacey, and Fosu. Others I've noticed to have decent potential were Keown, Owusu, and Kelly, depending on your save. There are a few players with a high variable PA from what I can tell. I still need to write up the reserve/U18 section, so would be interesting to see how you get on with some of the youth players development.

With regards to Williams, I believe Si have acknowledged there is an issue with high aggression players and the amount of red cards they receive, so I am expecting a tweak to that with a later patch. McShane also looks like one who could be a problem with this from his stats, but I guess it is very role dependant. What role have you been playing Williams, BWM?

Yeah I have set up for counter-attacking football, usually with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation. Tried to get us to play how we have been in real life. I've had mixed results (much like real life).

Since I've signed Grabban though I've gone back to the old-fashioned 4-4-2. This seems to have bought a bit more consistency and Grabban upfront with Vydra is a deadly combination in the championship.

Yeah I started off by playing Williams as a BWM but I did realise that it was probably because of this that he gets so many red cards. ut he just doesn't perform in any other role. He did alright as a box to box midfielder but at the moment I'd rather use Tshibola in that role. McShane has been alright with cards but then he's also been injured a lot so hasn't had much of a chance to be sent off .

Kuhl, Stacey, Copper and Fosu definitely look like they have the potential to be premier league players. Cardwell looks like he could have as well but he would take more developing that the other three. Bond looks to have decent potential as well and, according to my assistant reports, is only slightly worse off than Al-Habsi current ability wise.

Tshibola doesn't have massively high potential but he's performed well for whenever i've put him in as a B2B so I'm planning on keeping him around for a bit.

I think alot of the other U21's/U18's potential will vary for everyone. I'm guessing the majority will probably have

for potential.

I'm also hoping to be able to negotiate Benfica and Watford down on the agreed fees for John and Vydra. They really are performing well for me but I don't want to be splashing out £14m on two players when the budget will be limited if I get promoted.

I've also managed to get the Brazilian wonderkid Carlos to sign (realistic I know). He didn't get a work permit though so i sent him out loan to a Portugese club although the name escapes me.

I'm also hoping to be able to negotiate Benfica and Watford down on the agreed fees for John and Vydra. They really are performing well for me but I don't want to be splashing out £14m on two players when the budget will be limited if I get promoted.

I found that even when I had bids accepted for them both after promotion, neither wanted to join anyway! Same goes for Piazon too. The amount of key loan players that leave presents quite an interesting challenge in the second season.

Interesting to see a few of you have started and done well. It probably won't be long before I have a go too.

P.S. If anybody uses the Facepacks, Rowan Liburd should be represented in the next one released. I plan to use him and Savage a lot, plus the likes of Tish.

So I've just started a Reading save, and was amazed at the younger players' potentials. Usually, I release the majority. In Reading's case, I've released none, and let just 4 leave on free transfers.

So far I've signed Adam Henley from Blackburn, Del Piero (had to!), and Jamaal Lascelles on loan from Newcastle. Sold Gunter, Liburd (50% sell on fee - wasn't rated as anything more than a potential good Championship Striker), Dickie and Kanu.

Unfortunately I haven't had much time to spend playing the game since the BETA came out, but I've booked next Friday off so I'm planning a session Thursday-Monday (Sleep may become optional). For this reason, I've not been able to update the thread much or add any depth to the player reviews or squad analysis. Hopefully I can squeeze that in ready for release.

I found that even when I had bids accepted for them both after promotion, neither wanted to join anyway! Same goes for Piazon too. The amount of key loan players that leave presents quite an interesting challenge in the second season.

I would say that most of these players were rather surprising signings for the club in the summer, so perhaps them not wanting to join us in FM terms (due to rep) is justified. If you think about it, Vydra had only just signed for a Premiership team, Piazon is a Brazilian youth international who plays for Chelsea, and John is a Dutch international playing for Benfica. We simply could not compete with that kind of reputation, even after promotion to the Premiership.

Interesting to see a few of you have started and done well. It probably won't be long before I have a go too.

P.S. If anybody uses the Facepacks, Rowan Liburd should be represented in the next one released. I plan to use him and Savage a lot, plus the likes of Tish.

Great to see Liburd should be included with the next facepack. Which Savage are you referring to, not the legendary Bas Savage I hope?

So I've just started a Reading save, and was amazed at the younger players' potentials. Usually, I release the majority. In Reading's case, I've released none, and let just 4 leave on free transfers.

So far I've signed Adam Henley from Blackburn, Del Piero (had to!), and Jamaal Lascelles on loan from Newcastle. Sold Gunter, Liburd (50% sell on fee - wasn't rated as anything more than a potential good Championship Striker), Dickie and Kanu.

We definitely have some great youth players coming through, and have some of the best youth and training facilities outside of the Premiership. It all adds up to a very exciting club to use as a youth development base. Our Youth recruitment also is not bad due to our proximity to London and a rather large catchment area.

How much did you manage to get for Kanu? His ability to frustrate in real life often makes him one of the first out the door for me.

Got £1m. Started him first few games, did well, shipped him out. Was delighted!!

Great to see Liburd should be included with the next facepack. Which Savage are you referring to, not the legendary Bas Savage I hope?

Oops, showing my age. Bas is a blast from the past - I recall taking him home from training back in the day, nice guy - but I was trying to say Samuel though! Would love to have a dream partnership of him and Liburd if I can get both performing to a decent level. Dom was great in FM15 and looks to have been improved further, but not sure how much we might get out of Liburd.

Agree with what has been said about the youth products, it's a real bonus to have them beneath the better players and loanees of season 1.

Im starting a save with my home town team too!

The problem is so many attacking players it will be a struggle to fit them all in. I sold Cox havent brought anyone in yet but i have a healthy budget if i need too.

Won my first game!

So my first season, I won the playoffs! Had a £4m injection to hold off the receivers though "/

So my first season, I won the playoffs! Had a £4m injection to hold off the receivers though "/

Did you sign a lot of extra players? Concerning if you needed an injection of money to stay afloat.

Did you sign a lot of extra players? Concerning if you needed an injection of money to stay afloat.

I did, but I also sold a lot. My wage budget ended at £420k pw, and my net transfer spend was - £4m.

The most into the red I went was £3.7m, and the injection came in April. Naturally, by getting promoted I've the TV money, but have only signed 2 or 3 players.

How are people finding it in the Premiership? Have the owners stuck around in this edition?

Started a new save recently after finally managing to get to grips with the game.

Got promoted last night after finishing 2nd. It was a three-way battle for the top of league all season between us, QPR and Hull. PR ended up winning the league by 5 points. Hull fell short about 10 points ahead of 4th and then got knocked out of the play-offs by Leeds .

Transfer activity was kept to a minimum because I know finances are tight at the moment.

My only signings were Sam Morsy as competition for Danny Williams and Adam Clayton. I also signed Leandro Rodriguez on loan from Everton in January.

I sold Simon Cox, Hal Robson-Kanu and Orlando Sa during the course of the season. I cancelled Alex Fernandez's loan in January when Aaron Kuhl came back from his loan spell.

I was given a £20m budget on promotion and made Ola John's loan permanent for the arranged fee. I also signed Michael Hector after he went back to Chelsea for £3m. My two biggest signings have been Andrea Poli and Joel Campbell. That has pretty much eaten up most of my budget and I'm still short in a few areas.

I think the premier league is definitely going to be a struggle with such a small squad but hopefully I can get a few loans in.

Good to see people still playing as Reading.

I haven't got my save going yet, as I've been playing a lower league game as Darlington 1883. The sacking of Clarke and return of McDermott might just be the incentive I need to take over the reigns once more.

How does Adam Clayton look, is he performing for you? Since he left Crewe his stats and personality seemed to nose-dive and I never went hear him again.

Andrea Poli and Joel Campbell are interesting signings, but does that mean he rest of your squad is struggling for quality in depth?

Hopefully you can keep them up next season.

Season has started pretty well, and I currently sit 14th after 10 games after just playing Man City and Arsenal.

Adam Clayton has been brilliant for me.

Here he is:

Ahh, Adam Clayton! I got confused with Max Clayton. Adam is a much better player! Looks very solid in midfield.

How are the rest of your team performing?

I was doing a save down in League One, but when the Reading job opened up in the summer of 2016 (Steve Clarke went to Leicester!) I took a shot at it. Actually only got into FM last year, and this is my first actual English save (I'd been screwing around all over Europe before, but somehow not here), so this was a bit new actually.

Preseason, Cardwell forced his way out, but $1.8m plus 20% of next sale comforted me, and I've made $6.25m so far on a sale of Jonathan Bond to Middlesbrough. Bought Matej Delac as his (temp) replacement for less than a mil, nabbed Tom Thorpe from Rotherham and loaned in Ryan McLaughlin from Liverpool for defensive depth... splurged on deadline day to grab an unhappy Robbie Brady for $3.7m, and he's given me 8 goals and 9 assists this season. BUT, the best transfer I made was Darnell Fisher from Celtic, for just under $1m. 7.58 rating in all competitions, absolute stud for me at right back!

Tried to implement my pet formation (a 3-3-3-1; I'm a fan of Guardiola's tactical leanings) and made it to the top of the table but after a dip in results and overall mediocre performances, I switched to a 4-3-3 midseason after seeing a tactic on here I liked, and we really took off. Sold Simon Cox and Jake Taylor (both of whom were constantly complaining and not finding any time in my rotation) to Bristol City; didn't get as much as I'd have liked but to get them off my back and off my payroll it was worth it.

Ended up winning the league after duking it out with Huddersfield the whole way, and now I have no clue what to do with all this transfer budget money! To-do list, though, is to hopefully sell off Ferdinand (old, not performing, fell out of my rotation) and Daniel Williams (one of my best players, but probably peaked in value and SO, SO AGGRESSIVE... 20+ yellow cards without trying!), and then buy a CM to develop, a new GK, and maybe a legit striker up top (platooning Sa and Blackman has worked well, but not great). Hopefully I'll be able to poach more unhappy players and get some nice value additions so we can stay up next year, and go from there!

I had fallen out of love with FM since the new year, but picked it up again yesterday for the first time in a while. Looking for a new challenge, I decided to go with Reading again but this time only using academy graduates. It always frustrated me that getting promoted in my first season always seemed to hinder the first team opportunities and growth of our best youngsters, so this time I'm expecting to spend a few years in the Championship while our hot prospects develop. I did make one signing - Ben Hamer returned to the Madejski as I wasn't happy with Stuart Moore as our no. 1, and Alex McCarthy wasn't interested in a return to the club. My current line-up is as follows:

The team is coping pretty well at this level - both Cox and Novakovich have chipped in with a few goals each, and Tshibola has been our best performer overall. We've won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1 of our opening 5 games, and I'm hoping that despite our inexperienced squad, we can come close to meeting the board's expectations of a mid-table finish.

I know what you mean about promotion too soon, because you want to stay in the league you have to get players in so match time for the youngsters suffers a bit.

Really like the idea of using just youth graduates for the team, goes to show just how strong the youth system is at Reading that you can manage to put out a fairly solid team still.

What have you done in terms of the other players, have you sold them to raise funds to improve coaching, or are they still at the club?

Great idea, and I hadn't noticed how strong the Reading youth was until I checked it out..

May even end up blatantly ripping off your idea and doing it myself.

The ONLY positive thing at the club is the youth set up. But that more than makes up for all the other failings, as the talent pool is very deep - especially in FM where you as the manager can actually make use some of these promising youngsters. I'll always be happy to check out your progress with a philosophy like that - and don't forgot there are some even better players who were in the Academy as schoolboys who we let slip through the net...

Really like the idea of using just youth graduates for the team, goes to show just how strong the youth system is at Reading that you can manage to put out a fairly solid team still.

What have you done in terms of the other players, have you sold them to raise funds to improve coaching, or are they still at the club?

So far I've shifted all the ones that didn't join in the summer. Probably could have got some more money for them, but I wanted them off the wage bill ASAP to start saving for improved youth facilities - which incidentally I've just had approval for!

Great idea, and I hadn't noticed how strong the Reading youth was until I checked it out..

May even end up blatantly ripping off your idea and doing it myself.

Be my guest, would be interesting to see how others get along with this too.

The ONLY positive thing at the club is the youth set up. But that more than makes up for all the other failings, as the talent pool is very deep - especially in FM where you as the manager can actually make use some of these promising youngsters. I'll always be happy to check out your progress with a philosophy like that - and don't forgot there are some even better players who were in the Academy as schoolboys who we let slip through the net...

Yep, the likes of Austin, Wickham, McCarthy and of course Gylfi are definitely on my radar for the future! In the shorter term I'll be trying to get Hector back permanently too.

Evening guys!

Well after a complete mess of a year on FM16 due to constant moves and work, I really have not been able to tie down a good FM16 save!

After endless starts with teams in the championship and just not feeling it, I've decided after reading this Thread I've decided to give the Royals a go!

I'm not following you around the threads Jogo honest

Wish me Luck

@smp: Good luck, I'll be keeping an eye on your progress!

All in all this was a very pleasing first year using only academy graduates, and we finished significantly higher than I had previously expected. However, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed at how the season ended, as three defeats and a draw in our last four games meant we slipped out of the play-off spots, despite looking like contenders for automatic promotion during the previous months. Nonetheless, a 7th placed finish exceeds the expectations of the board, so I can't be too disappointed.

What did disappoint me was finding out that the scheduled upgrade to our youth facilities had been cancelled due to a lack of funds, even though I was well below my wage budget throughout the season. Getting our academy status up from Category 2 to Category 1 is a real priority for me, and I will be requesting that again as soon as possible.

Speaking of the academy, plenty of youngsters made their mark in the first team this season as expected. Although relative veterans Simon Cox and Hal Robson-Kanu provided most of our goals, the likes of Aaron Tshibola, Aaron Kuhl, Niall Keown, Jake Cooper, Nana Owusu and Jack Stacey all featured regularly and performed to an exceptional standard considering their lack of experience. Despite them not playing in every game, we received significant bids for Josh Barrett (Newcastle, £2.9m) and Andrija Novakovich (LA Galaxy, £3.8m), however we are presently quite short on midfield and attacking options so I simply wasn't willing to lose the two players. Regardless, it's pleasing to see that other clubs are noticing what we are doing, and rate our youngsters highly.

There was some further good news when I completed a deal that will see Michael Hector rejoin the club on a permanent basis for £3.5m, £500k less than what Chelsea paid for him a year ago. I feel slightly guilty that he didn't actually get to spend a single day at Chelsea, but re-signing him was a priority as he is a quality defender and a good option in holding midfield as well.

If there are any specific academy graduates that you'd like to see a screenshot of, just give me a shout and I'll provide one.

Excellent stuff offen, and a very nice first season finish, even if disappointing the way it ended.

Great deal on Hector, having him and Cooper should give you a very solid base again. I was wondering why you played Cooper on the right of the pair though?

I guess you'll be adding Fosu, Tanner and Samuel to your group for season 2 with the latter likely to be capable of making an impression. Does Liburd qualify on your rules, and if so do you think he might be featuring at all? Hopefully you'll get that Category 1 approval soon.

Excellent stuff offen, and a very nice first season finish, even if disappointing the way it ended.

Great deal on Hector, having him and Cooper should give you a very solid base again. I was wondering why you played Cooper on the right of the pair though?

I guess you'll be adding Fosu, Tanner and Samuel to your group for season 2 with the latter likely to be capable of making an impression. Does Liburd qualify on your rules, and if so do you think he might be featuring at all? Hopefully you'll get that Category 1 approval soon.

Thank you! Cooper did in fact play LCB and Hector at RCB contrary to what the earlier image suggested. Fosu has been involved as I was able to recall him from his loan, although he was kept out of the team by Robson-Kanu and Stacey and didn't make a tremendous impression when given the chance. Samuel will leapfrog Novakovich to become our second choice striker behind Cox, and as you say, I am hopeful he can make an impact.

I wasn't planning on using Liburd as he was never a member of the academy, however I have without thinking been using Lisandro Semedo whose situation is similar. Regardless, I don't see myself using him as Samuel, Novakovich and Cardwell are all better presently and have greater potential.

Also, this just happened...

Not sure how I feel - it's a lot of money, but replacing him will be very difficult.

This season saw the return of Dominic Samuel and Craig Tanner from their loan spells at Gillingham and Plymouth Argyle respectively, and both were expected to make an impact. However, this wasn't the case - they seemed way off the pace and both ended up back out on short term loans. It was Josh Barrett who was this season's emerging star, as a change of system allowed him to thrive in an attacking midfield role from which he scored 11, assisted 11 and picked up the Championship Player of the Year award aged just 18. The big money departure of Jordan Obita to Sheffield Wednesday left a gap at left back, however Shane Griffin duly filled in and impressed in his first full season.

We started the season fairly steadily, but got into our stride in February when we strung together 7 consecutive wins to fire us into the automatic promotion spots. Our late season form was patchy, but so was that of our title contenders Wolves, and we just about stumbled over the finish line to claim our first piece of silverware during my tenure, and promotion to the promised land of the Premier League.

A number of our players are already looking ready for top flight football, namely Josh Barrett, Aaron Tshibola, Jake Cooper and Michael Hector, however I'm a little concerned about our attacking options. Simon Cox stormed to the 20 goal mark within roughly 25 games, but then his form dipped dramatically and the fans are unhappy with his performances. Novakovich, Samuel and Cardwell all look a long way away from being able to cut it in the Premier League too. Looking at academy graduates now playing elsewhere, Charlie Austin isn't interested in rejoining, and Connor Wickham's wage demands are ridiculous. I haven't given up on Wickham though as I think he would be a key player for us next season.

Obviously, the only aim for next season is survival. The club have restarted work on our youth facilities, so I'm hoping we will be moved up to the highest category next season which will be a great help in the long run.

Looks amazing,

Does Barrett have random stats I wonder, because he looks vastly different in my save... His natural fitness is 18 in mine for example.

Looks amazing,

Does Barrett have random stats I wonder, because he looks vastly different in my save... His natural fitness is 18 in mine for example.

Quite possibly, his fitness is a slight concern for me but I can hardly complain, he's been fantastic.

In truth, I was absolutely shocked that we stayed up this season. We lost the most games and conceded the most goals, but were essentially saved by doing an unlikely double over Chelsea of all teams. On the last day of the season, three points adrift of safety, we somehow came from behind to win 4-2 against the London club and survive by the finest of margins.

The season wasn't exactly going smoothly before January, and when Simon Cox suffered a broken foot I feared we were doomed for relegation. I was therefore forced to stump up £3.8m and £60k per week for Connor Wickham, a player I definitely wanted to sign, but wasn't too keen to pay so much in wages. He scored 7 times, including some important goals, to help us to safety.

Finances absolutely weren't an issue though - we made a £54m profit in our first PL season, and are well under our wage budget. As a result, the Mad Stad is being expanded by 12,000 seats, and we will be playing at Stamford Bridge this coming season which I doubt the fans will be thrilled about. However, it'll be worth it in the long run for sure.

This coming season could prove very tricky. I managed to pick up Alex McCarthy for just £300k which was a great bit of business, but Barrett, Kuhl, Fosu, Hector and Cooper are all keen to move on to a bigger club, and the mood in the dressing room is not what you'd expect from a team who have just pulled off a truly great escape. We simply don't have the squad depth to let key players move on, so keeping everybody happy will be vital this season. Once again, survival is my only aim.

Edit: This transfer window has turned out better than anticipated...

He had been inexplicably transfer listed at Swansea and even though they removed him from the list, he still wasn't happy at the club. We were the only team willing to meet the previously stated asking price, and at the third attempt, we managed to bring Gylfi home!

If I was a bit more on the ball with this one I could have saved around £8m, but Shane Griffin just wasn't PL quality at left back and I couldn't turn down the opportunity to sign him even at an inflated price. Neither deal puts us in any kind of financial jeopardy, so I'm chuffed and feeling a lot more optimistic about the season ahead. Hopefully this sways the wantaway players and convinces them to stay too.

Great updates offen94, and nice to see Gylfi heading back home along with McCarthy, Obita and Hector before that. With Wickham too, that's looking quite a strong squad given the restrictions in your philosophy! What about Shane Long?

Well done on survival

Great updates offen94, and nice to see Gylfi heading back home along with McCarthy, Obita and Hector before that. With Wickham too, that's looking quite a strong squad given the restrictions in your philosophy! What about Shane Long?

Well done on survival

Thank you! I'm very pleased with the way the squad looks at the moment.

Unfortunately Long won't be returning as he was never involved in the academy, he's 31 now anyway so not too much of a miss. Same goes for Michail Antonio who signed professionally from Tooting & Mitcham. The only other player I remain interested in is Charlie Austin, but I'm not willing to pay over the odds for him as he is 29, and he recently joined West Ham so won't be available on the cheap.

I forgot to mention our other signing, former academy striker Uche Ikpeazu who moved to Watford a few years ago. He was released by the Hornets, but still looks as good a prospect as Novakovich and Cardwell, so it's a risk-free move on a free with low wages.

Fair point on Long, and it will be interesting to see if Ikpeazu offers anything. I guess Jonny Hayes is probably too old and/or poor also, but luckily the real talent lies in the youngsters anyway.