Bringing It Back - Reading FC

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WeArePalace

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In this series we will attempt to take Reading into the Premier League, and go one step further than Jaap Stam did a couple of years back, where they lost the play-off final. Hope you enjoy, Thanks!
 
Team Overview

This is the starting XI which I will play prior to any transfers. The team looks pretty solid for Championship level, so I'd hope for a solid enough first season. In terms of transfer budget, we are quite limited, with only 2m to spend.
 
Making Moves

We've had an extremely busy transfer window so far, despite little time having expired. We've made some insane signings as well. For one reason or another, the board have kindly given us an extra 7.5m worth to spend.
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David Raya - Our opening signing of the window is Blackburn GK David Raya, who is young, and can compete at Premier League level already. For a minimal fee (around 3.5m), I believe that this is a great deal. He will slot straight into the starting GK position as I was unsure with Vito Mannone.
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Jon Bodvarsson - We let go of starting ST Jon Bodvarsson, who joins West Brom, after we received a really decent offer for him of 7.5m pounds. I immediately accepted the offer, meaning that a new ST will be required.
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Neal Maupay - Immediately we find a new ST to vacate the space left open by Bodavarsson's departure. In is young French ST Neal Maupay of Brentford, who joins for a relatively cheap 4m pound fee. Really excited about the prospect of this player and hope he can be our star man up top.
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We loan out three of our youngsters to fellow EFL clubs around us. There weren't going to be many first team opportunities for any of them this season, so loaning them out for the year is the best option in my opinion.
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Callum Hudson-Odoi - We save the best of the lot till last. Hudson-Odoi was transfer listed by request at Chelsea, because he was apparently unhappy that he had not been offered a new contract at the club and now wanted to force a move away. While he probably had hoped to be joining a much bigger club, we swoop for him for just 8m. However, this does mean that it is highly unlikely we will be able to complete any more deals, unless we make a few notable sales, which is unlikely.
 
Pre-Season and Transfer Window

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Sone Aluko - The winger has had his role taken over by Callum Hudson-Odoi, so there was no need for him. He moves on for just 2m to Sunderland. I was happy to sell and the price was good, so this is a win-win deal.
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Curtis Jones - The money received from the Aluko deal allows us to purchase Liverpool youngster Curtis Jones for just 500k. We were a little light in midfield, so he will be a decent back-up who will develop into a starter in a few seasons.
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Chris Mepham - Our final signing as deadline day ticks over, we pick-up another steal and find Chris Mepham, who wanted to force a move through to a Premier League club. However, he was still willing to enter contract negotiations with us and we managed to sign him on the cheap.

TRANSFER ROUND-UP
Overall, I think we had a phenomenal transfer window. We were lucky to pick up some massive bargains as so many class players wanted to force moves away. We also got rid of deadwood, and reinforced it with exciting young talent. Really happy with that.

Pre-Season Round-up
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We were pretty solid throughout pre-season, however aside from Basel we didn't really face any notable opposition. The draw to Grasshopper was a little disappointing, though, but on a whole we played pretty well in Pre-Season. Hopefully this is a sign for the future.

Player of Pre-Season
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Modou Barrow - Barrow was in top form in Pre-Season, scoring 8 goals in 6 matches and getting 3 assists as well. He'll be in a battle with Josh Sims to start, but if he continues at this form then he'll win that battle for sure. He's a little tired so probably won't start the opening game against Derby.
 
Beginning the Championship Season

EFL CHAMPIONSHIP - MATCHDAY 1 View attachment 22669
Reading 1-4 Derby - We start off with an appalling result against Derby at home on the opening day. Derby are one of the better teams in the league, but I really had hoped that we would do a lot better here. Despite the score line, we dominated the stats with 22 shots to 8 in our favor. However, we missed a number of huge opportunities, and Derby's penalty in my opinion should not have been given.
EFL CHAMPIONSHIP - MATCHDAY 2 View attachment 22667
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Reading - We did face a difficult start against promotion fighting sides, so losing to Nottingham Forest was probably the expected result. This time we were dominated statistics wise and the score line does flatter us a little. Callum Hudson-Odoi had a good game today, scoring his first goal for the club, but we couldn't get back into the match, unfortunately.

CARABAO CUP - 1st Round View attachment 22666
Reading 2-1 Northampton - We pick up our first win of the season, albeit unconvincingly with the reserves. Liam Kelly was the main man, the CDM scored both goals, but also did a class job at stopping the Northampton attacks. We're through to the next round of the Carabao Cup, however it is a competition that both the board and I feel is unimportant.

EFL CHAMPIONSHIP - MATCHDAY 3 View attachment 22665
Reading 2-0 Bolton - We manage a first win in the Championship as Liam Kelly continues his good form in the side with another goal from the spot. We dominated throughout this match, although it took a while for us to finally find the back of the end. Once we did, we were able to take full control and win the match comfortably in the end.

EFL CHAMPIONSHIP - MATCHDAY 4 View attachment 22663
Blackburn 1-2 Reading - We pick up another win here, this time a hard fought one against a decent Blackburn side. Due to fitness, Yakou Meite started ahead of Neal Maupay, and it paid off, with Meite scoring the opener just before half-time. Despite an equalizer, the goal really hurt Blackburn's style of play, and allowed us to create numerous chances, with Sims eventually putting the winner away.

EFL CHAMPIONSHIP - MATCHDAY 5 View attachment 22662
Aston Villa 1-1 Reading - This is a very decent draw with Villa in my opinion. We played quite well against them, and for once we showed that we could be a solid defensive unit, after they scored early on. We levelled late on, thanks to a Hudson-Odoi stunner, volleying the ball home from just outside the area. We're starting to pick up a bit more form now, which is good to see.

CARABAO CUP - 2nd Round View attachment 22661
Birmingham p2-2 Reading - Despite this being an unimportant tournament, I did not expect us to crash out in the 2nd round. We should really be beating a side like Birmingham and not letting them back into it in the 86th minute, to concede again in the 90+3rd. All of penalties were atrocious, even Meyler's should've been saved. I'll get some penalty taking training done, as this was absolutely terrible.

AUGUST - MONTH IN REVIEW
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We started poorly in August, dropping our first two matches, but we soon recovered, getting consecutive wins to get us back on track. Overall, we didn't do too badly, considering we did have some top Championship sides like Derby and Villa. Despite this, we are dominating and still conceding in most matches, so defence is a problem at the moment. Chris Mepham has been solid so far, but he can only do much. Liam Moore and Andy Yiadom need to step up soon or I'll have to drop them for a bit.

LEAGUE TABLE
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We currently sit 12th in the League. I don't find this too bad, it's where a side like Reading might finish in real life.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
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Liam Kelly - There were a few contenders for this award, like Josh Sims and Chris Mepham, but Liam Kelly deserved it, as he was a reliable defensive option in the midfield, and he also is our top scorer despite his position at CDM (although 2 have been penalties).
 
Finding Our Feet

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Reading 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday - We continue our promising league form, thanks to a quality double from Callum Hudson-Odoi. Neal Maupay provided a spectacular assist, providing a wonderful ball over the Wednesday defence for Hudson-Odoi to slot home. Gradually getting more and more pleased with our season performances.
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Preston 4-2 Reading - We come straight back down to earth by suffering a defeat to Preston. Hudson-Odoi did score again, though, and Neal Maupay is starting to have the desired impact.
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Reading 4-0 Norwich - WHAT A WIN! We thrash one of the top sides in the division and we fully deserved it too. Hudson-Odoi scores for the 5th consecutive match, but Neal Maupay is the star, with 2 goals and another assist. By far our best performance of the season so far.
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Reading 2-1 Hull - Another solid win against Hull. Adrian Popa was someone I didn't want to keep here, but he came onto the bench due to fitness not being too great. He netted a fantastic winner, curling home from a good 25 yards. We played quite well as well and we're looking quite good.
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Brentford 1-0 Reading - Our good form comes to an end with a defeat against Brentford. It was an even match, no side had too many chances to score, but they took their chance early on. A tough defeat to take but we aren't doing too badly.

September Round-Up
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We had a decent month here, getting a really good result against Norwich. Callum Hudson-Odoi's value is skyrocketing to almost over 15m, following a number of goalscoring quality performances. Neal Maupay had a great month as well.

LEAGUE TABLE
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We sit 8th, we look like we could make a strong play-off push, with just a bit more consistency as you can never tell what result we'll get with us.

Player of the Month - Neal Maupay
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While Callum Hudson-Odoi had a fantastic month, Neal Maupay is top of the assist list and was more consistent than Hudson-Odoi. This may be controversial, but I feel he deserves it.
 
Absence

Hey everyone, I just wanted to quickly say I'm a little busy at the minute, so I'll try to update this soon as possible. Sorry for any delay.
 
Lack of consistency continues

October
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QPR 0-1 Reading - This is quite a poor result, as we should be beating this side and we couldn't really get going. Our defence is gathering solidity, we aren't conceding tons of goals, but it's still not as good as I would hope.
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West Brom 1-1 Reading - This is a little better, but of course Bodavarsson goes ahead and scores against us on his return! However, Hudson-Odoi is becoming really good. His value is insane so if we have to we can make huge profit on him but I have no intention of selling him at any time soon.
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Reading 3-3 Millwall - All things considered, this isn't a bad result. Millwall are a similar team to us, and when they went 2 up I really saw our defensive frailties begin to show. But Adrian Popa's goal just before halftime saw us turn it around completely, before they levelled late on. Overall, a good match.
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Birmingham 4-1 Reading - This however, is an atrocious result. Firstly, we should be getting a win against Birmingham, but a thumping at the hands of them is unacceptable. Aside from Liam Moore, who was good defensively as well, no one was even decent for us today. Terrible result. Improvement required.
View attachment 21872
Swansea 1-0 Reading - Losing to Swansea was always going to be the likely outcome. We didn't play well at all, however, we actually showed competent defensive work as we only conceded 1 from a lot of chances for Swansea.

MONTHLY ROUND-UP
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Well this month was pretty poor. We pick up just 2 points from 5 league games which is awful. No-one stood out this month, we had 3 performers who were decent but nothing special in Liam Moore, Adrian Popa and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
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Liam Moore - I do feel like Callum Hudson-Odoi is a bit hard done by to have not won this award yet, but Liam Moore stood out because he was a very solid defensive performer, and he also scored a goal against Birmingham. Overall, he wasn't brilliant but good for me.
 
Getting Better

November
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Reading 1-0 Bristol City - We start off November by collecting more points than we did in the entirety of last month. Josh Sims relatively late goal for us meant that we were able to collect a rare clean sheet and three points. A promising start.
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Reading 2-0 Ipswich - Another clean sheet get in! Starting to pull some form together for the first time in a while and our defence is looking really solid. This is a really good win against a side who is overachieving so far as well.
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Wigan 0-2 Reading - 3rd clean sheet in a row!!! Adrian Popa has scored in every game I've played him in (3) so far. I should play him more, but he doesn't do much else other than the goal, not that that's a bad contribution. Really good stuff from the lads!
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Leeds 2-1 Reading - Unlucky to lose this one here as Leeds quality strikeforce is too good for our steadily improving defence. Bacuna's strike was only ever a consolation but I feel we should've had a goal earlier in the match where Neal Maupay was put through on goal but fluffed his lines.

MONTHLY ROUND-UP
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A very solid month to turn around our misfortunes in October. We pick up 3 wins from 4 and our defence finally looks pretty solid. Really impressed with the lads! Well done.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
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Chris Mepham was really consistent at the back. While others may have had sole better games, Mepham was super consistent and never had a back game during the month. Really good work from our recent signing.

Also just thought I'd say I haven't been attaching League Tables because I either forget, or have moved forward by the time I remember. Sorry about this, I will try to have them back as soon as possible. Also, additional news is something I will be adding in, although nothing major has happened so far. Thanks!
 
Gaining Form

December Preview
This month looks pretty decent once we get Stoke and Middlesbrough out of the way. We should be able to get some decent results against Rotherham, QPR and Millwall. Currently in 8th, maybe we can push for the play-offs this month as we pass the half-way point.
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Reading 2-0 Stoke - This certainly wasn't how I was expecting to start! What a great win! Maupay was really good with an assist and he really is starting to find his form. Possibly one of our best wins this season, purely because of the solid defence and it really shows how far the team has progressed.
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Reading 1-0 Sheffield United - This is another really decent result, with our first late winner coming here from Callum Hudson-Odoi, who scores yet again. We're starting to push up the ladder now, and Sheffield United are 2nd as well.
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Rotherham 1-2 Reading - This scoreline really flatters Rotherham because we were all over them for the 90 minutes, they only had 3 shots compared to our 24. We dominated but we didn't do the best job of taking chances, needing a penalty to get us across the line. Still, I'll take it.
View attachment 21069
Reading 1-1 Middlesbrough - This is a pretty decent result and we showed we could defend really well in parts of this match, we just have to make that more consistent. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Neal Maupay have practically switched the roles I was expecting them to play, with Hudson-Odoi the top scorer and Maupay top of the assist list.
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Millwall 1-4 Reading - I decided to rest a few players for this match and it definitely paid off. Maupay's replacement Sam Baldock scored a hat-trick in his first start for the club under my management and Hudson-Odoi's replacement in Josh Sims got 2 assists. To make it even better, both of them came on later and Hudson-Odoi set up Maupay for a goal. Wonderful performance from the lads!
View attachment 21067
QPR 0-1 Reading - This team troubled us last time out, and they troubled us again here. Luckily, they were wasteful with their chances, notably Idrissa Sylla missed a few decent opportunities. Maupay scored again to continue his excellent form and we're really finding our feet now.

MONTHLY ROUND-UP
View attachment 21065I couldn't really ask for better than this! We were brilliant from the beginning and now we are really hitting form with a W8 D1 L1 record over the past 2 months, which I think is pretty insane. Well done lads!

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 21066
We're looking very solid now, sitting 4th in the league. Credit to Preston, they weren't expected to be here either and they're practically running away with the league.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
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Neal Maupay - Again, Hudson-Odoi will likely feel hard done by, but Maupay has been my ideal player this month. He's such a hard worker, with numerous assists and he is consistently amongst the goals as well. No one was bad this month either so it was difficult.
 
January Preview
This is a mixed month, with cup fixtures coming up and a few difficult matches in the league such as Swansea, Derby and Nottingham Forest. In the window, we have no funds nor any players I want to sell, so I won't do any business.
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Reading 1-1 Swansea - We start with an alright result here against Swansea. We deserved at least a point but Hudson-Odoi missed a few chances in quick succession but couldn't quite take control of it.
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Reading 0-0 Northampton - This was disappointing even from the reserves that we couldn't win here. I was expecting a lot more from Liam Kelly in particular but no one could deliver. A replay will be required and I'm going to play a much stronger side.
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Reading 1-1 Nottingham Forest - Another decent point here, and Liam Kelly redeemed himself in this match with a solid performance. This time our defence did well and kept Forest out for the most part to prevent more goals.
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Northampton 0-2 Reading - This was better from a relatively strong side, with a few players rested. Pretty comfortable in the end but we really should've won by more, but I won't make too many complaints.
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Derby 4-1 Reading- I was going to use this match to show how we've improved through the season since the 4-1 loss to Derby on opening day, but in the end it was identical to the previous encounter! Our defence was at a shambles again and we were unconvincing in attack as well. Overall, one of our worst performances this season.
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Reading 1-1 Millwall - It'll be yet another FA Cup replay against fellow Championship club Millwall. Slightly disappointed but hopefully we can progress.
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Bolton 0-1 Reading - Finally we get back to winning ways with a narrow victory against Bolton and it's no more than we deserved. Maupay was the hero again as we just edge past lower opposition.

MONTHLY ROUND-UP
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Still looking pretty good in terms of the league. We drop one spot but we're still going in the right direction. Overall, positive from the lads.
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Liam Kelly - This time Hudson-Odoi can't feel hard done by - he was pretty poor this month! Kelly was solid for the most part and stepped into the first team numerous times this month and performed.
 
So if you've read my latest post this save won't open or do anything, so unfortunately it has been forcibly discontinued. I was enjoying it but thankfully hadn't done too much yet. Thanks!
 
Hey guys, after a long time, I've finally fixed my Football Manager 2019 situation with saves, meaning I no longer will need to continue starting new stories almost all the time! I'm really happy with this and after a long period of thought I have decided to start a new story which will last for a decent amount of time for once!
 
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So with my FM situation fixed, I've decided to start another story with a decision coming soon. It will only stop if i get sacked or find it too easy. Thanks.
 
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