Monday 1 August 2016 11:50, UK
All the transfer news, fan's views, predictions and odds ahead of Reading's 2016/17 Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Last year's finish: 17th
Manager: Jaap Stam
Title odds: 40/1 with Sky Bet
First five games: Preston (H), Wolves (A), Newcastle (A), Brighton (H), Cardiff (A)
Players In: Anssi Jaakkola (Unassigned Players,Transfer), Joseph Mendes (Le Havre, Undisclosed), John Swift (Chelsea, Undisclosed), Roy Beerens (Hertha Berlin, Undisclosed)
Players Out: Simon Cox (Unassigned Players, Contract Ended), Anton Ferdinand (Unassigned Players, Contract Ended), Rowan Liburd (Stevenage, Undisclosed), Hal Robson-Kanu (Unassigned Players, Contract Ended), Aaron Tshibola (Aston Villa)
Fan's view - David Johnstone, Royals Rendezvous
Expectations: If you had asked end of last season I'd have said no more than mid-table. However the arrival of a new manager with a distinguished playing career, half-a-dozen new signings - mostly European influences - is making a squad who are seemingly clicking quite nicely in pre-season friendlies. So I'm ambitiously going to up that to a finish around the play-off positions - but really no idea on which side of 6th!
Star man: No obvious star; the average age is much younger with many from the U21 squad banging on the first XI door. Goalie Ali Al-Habsi was crowned RFC Player of the Season and again will positively influence the youngsters. Gareth McCleary promises, I'd say…
Who will win the league? Newcastle
Dark horses? Wigan
One Championship player you'd want to sign? To be truthful, most Royals fans seem happy with Stam's decisions so far, though it's early days, so I will gentlemanly pass...
Ollie's prediction: 15th
It's hard to predict how Stam will cope with the Championship - his reputation got him the job. He fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson once, so he should be good to watch. They could be a dark horse or they could struggle, hence why I've put them in mid-table.
Sky Bet odds
Reading's 2015/16 campaign ended in a disappointing 17th and they are 10/1 to take another backwards step and be relegated. For those who expect the Royals to get back among the leading lights in the division, the Football League sponsor offer 33/1 for Reading to win the title, 8/1 for promotion and 3/1 for a top-six finish. They open up their new season with a home clash against Preston and are 21/20 for a perfect start, while they're 6/5 to finish higher than Wolves in a season match bet and 5/6 to finish higher than Cardiff.
