Marked for Jérôme Boateng
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reading this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Andy Rinomhota falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Reading, 1‑0 the final word against Bristol City in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jérôme Boateng, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Reading had the best player on the pitch.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Reading
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jack Marriott was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Reading training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Héctor Fort is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Reading supporters have found a favourite in Josh Stokes
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Josh Stokes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Paddy Lane
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Sheffield leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reading this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Reading training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Wing is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A wage question at Reading
Daniel Kyerewaa has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lewis Wing and Reading agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reading this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Will Keane falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Charlie Savage, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Reading, another week without a signature from Charlie Savage.
In brief
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Market
Reading bring in an old head
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Market
Reading bring in an old head