Which of these four chaps gets your vote?
November was quite the varied month for Reading. The Royals played six games: two of them at home, four away; three in the league, three in the cup. The Shrewsbury Town game being moved actually meant Reading didn’t have a single home league game in November.
It was a really good month though. Reading won three of those games (including an excellent victory at Peterborough United), drew twice (both on the road in the league) and lost just once, with effectively an under-21s side narrowly beaten 1-0 at Cheltenham Town in the Pizza Cup.
Performances were strong too. The display at London Road was Reading’s best of the season, sandwiched by solid showings against Newport County and Barnsley. The performance at Cheltenham was the only real misfire, and even then not a particularly one.
In fact, the average from our Player Ratings comes to 6.04/10, a hair’s breadth below the season-best month from August of 6.09/10. Pleasingly, November’s score was markedly up on September (5.2/10) and October (5.56/10).
Accordingly, quite a few players could have made it onto our shortlist for this edition of Player of the Month, so some missed just missed out. An honourable mention therefore to goalkeepers David Button and Joel Pereira - both of whom I thought came out of November with credit in their three appearances each - as well as Ben Elliott and Lewis Wing.
We also have the October winner to announce! Congratulations to Amadou Mbengue, who comfortably won in the end with 54%, ahead of Joel Pereira (24%) and Sam Smith (22%). That ends Ben Elliott’s run of POTM wins, after he emerged triumphant in August and September.
Average rating: 6.75 / Man of the match awards: 1st (Fleetwood H), 2nd (Peterborough United A), 3rd (Barnsley A)
Rumours have gone around recently that Bindon is set to leave in January for a bumper fee, and regardless of how true they are, he’s certainly been earning that level of hype. Bindon was excellent at the heart of defence for Reading in November, particularly in tough away games at Peterborough and Barnsley, alongside a trio of partners: Amadou Mbengue, Abraham Kanu and Louie Holzman. Bindon also opened his account for the season in November, giving Reading the lead against Fleetwood with a well struck shot from Savage’s delivery.
Average rating: 6.6 / Man of the match awards: 1st (Stevenage A), 3rd (Newport County H),
After a slow start to the season, November was the month when things started to click for Fem... I mean Chem Campbell. Seriously, there are more than a few parallels here. Campbell was excellent against Stevenage, setting up Knibbs’ equaliser, before grabbing two assists against Newport and one at Oakwell, and he generally seems a lot sharper and more confident than in his early games.
Average rating: 6.8 / Man of the match awards: 3rd (Stevenage A), 1st (Newport County H), 1st (Peterborough United A)
It’s hard to look past Knibbs for this award, let’s be honest. He got the highest average rating of anyone in the squad to play regularly, netted five goals (including back-to-back braces) and was the only player to get more than one Man of the Match award.
Average rating: 6.5 / Man of the match awards: 2nd (Stevenage A)
Although August was the month when Savage grabbed all three of his 2024/25 goals so far, November was probably his best all-round month. Savage seems a more mature, disciplined player in the heart of midfield, and more than played his part in tough away games at Peterborough and Barnsley.
He also proved to be something of a creative force, laying on two assists for his teammates in November. Against Fleetwood he sent in the set piece that Bindon converted for 1-0, and he also helped Reading double their lead at London Road when cleverly playing through Knibbs.
Who was your POTM for November? Vote below or through this link.
