The Royals suffer a loss in the league for the first time under new boss Noel Hunt.
So, the game that had so much hype in the last few days ended up being One Of Those Days: a pretty miserable 90 minutes and a poor performance, matched by an earnest desire from the person doing the report to be able to move on as quickly as possible. I’d much rather be thinking about the Deliveroo I’m getting after this is done than lingering on this game, I’ll be completely honest with you.
Above all it’s a real shame that Noel Hunt’s first outing as permanent Reading boss panned out so badly. He took the job in unenviable circumstances just over a week ago and kicked off his tenure with an impressive point at Adams Park. Despite a midweek penalty shootout defeat at Walsall (and even in that game there were positives), anticipation was high of a fun afternoon against Blackpool a few days later.
After all, a bumper crowd were on their way and Reading’s home form this season has been excellent. The Royals had conceded just four league goals at the SCL in 2024/25 and only lost once: as it happens, the last time we had a Saturday 3pm kick-off (a 1-0 defeat to Leyton Orient in September).
Simply put, the vibes just seemed right. Unfortunately, to paraphrase the meme, over the course of the afternoon the vibe continued to deteriorate.
Reading (4-3-3): Pereira; Craig, Mbengue, Bindon, Garcia; Elliott, Wing, Savage; Campbell, Smith, Knibbs
Subs: Button, Ahmed, Dean, Holzman, Sackey, Camara, Wareham
Even when Reading were doing relatively alright in the first quarter or so of the game, you could tell they weren’t at the eye-catching level they’ve shown on numerous previous occasions at home this season. The intensity, momentum and creativity were lacking, with the Royals creating chances - just not quality ones...
...with one exception. Lewis Wing received the ball from a short corner and whipping it into the six-yard area, where Harvey Knibbs was waiting. Normally such a reliable converter of that kind of opportunity - where composure and ruthlessness were required rather than any great skill - Knibbs somehow got under the ball and cleared the bar.
That was about as good as it got for Reading all afternoon, and shortly after, in the 24th minute, it was 1-0. Amadou Mbengue didn’t do enough to stop Kyle Joseph from collecting and laying off a long ball, with Albie Morgan subsequently popping up in space around 25 yards out and finding the bottom corner with an excellent strike.
Reading tried to respond but didn’t do so convincingly. The performance hadn’t been anything catastrophic to that point but the Royals did need to dig deep and up their game going forward. That wasn’t forthcoming though.
In the 37th minute Blackpool doubled their lead. Reading were left wide open at the back when Mbengue was beaten out on the right, and although Joel Pereira made the initial save, Rob Apter was on hand to convert on the rebound.
Again Reading needed a response, again Reading couldn’t find it.
When the half-time whistle blew I was left feeling deflated, certainly, but not all that lacking in hope: the balance of the game had been fairly even although the visitors had been more ruthless with their chances. On another day, Knibbs buries that chance at 0-0 or one of the various longer-range shots goes in and the first-half performance looks better.
It was on Reading to put the scoreline right in the second half though, but they just didn’t have the quality to do so. The Royals struggled to create anything of note after the break, looked increasingly sloppy all round, and Blackpool were a threat on the counter.
Still, it felt for a decent chunk of the second half as it just needed that one bit of quality, that one goal, to get Reading back into the contest. A really good pass from Wing, a long shot from Savage into the corner, a smart bit of pressing from Knibbs.
That moment didn’t come, and Blackpool killed the game in the 72nd minute. Tyler Bindon defended a deep free-kick delivery initially, but the ball was eventually put back into the danger area via a low cross, with Ashley Fletcher prodding home.
The final 25 minutes (18 of normal time, seven added) were a miserable experience. The match was over as a contest and, though it would have added a nice twist for Reading to be able to grab a consolation, in truth they just didn’t look capable of it.
While this wasn’t a ‘3-0 bad’ performance across the full course of the 90 minutes (Reading were alright, not all that bad, in the first half), it’s concerning just how much things unravelled as the game progressed, and also just how incapable the Royals were of getting the match back under control.
On other hand Reading have put in a flawed/poor performance and been ruthless enough to get the points, leaving you with a feeling that a better side would have punished us. Blackpool, to be fair, were that better side. Even in their relative weaker periods of the game, the visitors kept us at arm’s length well, and of course they put away their chances.
The danger from a Reading point of view isn’t that we’ve suddenly become a bad team: games like this happen, even to the best sides, even on their own patch. The danger is that these players, going through the uncertainty of a change in management and off-field distractions, start to believe they’re a bad team.
It’s now on Hunt to ensure that doesn’t happen, that Reading can put this particularly poor game in the rearview mirror and kick on. We’ve done that before successfully, it just tends to have been away games when things go wrong the most.
Let’s not get too down about today, as frustrating as it was. Enjoy the rest of your weekends, and up the ‘Ding!
