Opening Day
Okay, this is one game, not a period, but it feels like the culmination of pre-season. We went through the early part of the summer losing players: Paudie O’Connor, Ethan Erhahon, and Sean Roughan. We didn’t make major signings, or so it seemed, and I recall after Ryley Towler this unease among supporters that we weren’t making signings. Hell, even one or two of us on the podcast got a bit twitchy.
Then, on the eve of the season, a huge game against our former captain and his side, fancied for promotion, Jovon Makama leaves. Around £1.5m comes our way, but literally we’re in the pub, hours before kick off, and the news breaks that our exciting young star has gone. It felt like a shrug of the shoulder, an ‘oh well, we are what we are’ and an acceptance in some supporters’ minds that we were top ten hopefuls.
90 minutes later, a Paudie-less Reading have been beaten, Reeco Hackett stepping up to bag one of the two goals. We left with this comfort that maybe Sonny Bradley was a fair swap, maybe Conor McGrandles could do Ethan’s role, and maybe Ryley Towler was competent to fill in at left back. In terms of the squad, this was the base starting point, as weak as we would be at any point during the season, and we beat a promotion rival.
It felt like a big moment.
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