Rinomhota Tops List Of Reading Players That Fans Want To Keep

It’s no secret that Reading’s squad is bloody massive. Speaking this week, new manager Jose Gomes explained:

“But definitely the number of players we have in our squad is very, very high. We must reduce the number of players and, after that, try to bring some more players in who can have an immediate impact and help us be strong.

“We take it step by step. Now the step is to reduce the number of players we have. We cannot play like a team, feel the team spirit if we have too many players. Because, sooner or later, the players who are not in the matchday squad don’t feel part of the team any more.”

Gomes also confirmed that he had spoken to a few first team players before training on Wednesday, letting them know that they were free to leave the football club.

Out of personal interest (and just for a bit of fun), we decided to ask fans on Twitter who they would tell to do one if they were in Gomes’ shoes. Providing separate polls for 31 first team players, we gave the option to either keep, sell or loan individuals - the entire thread can be found below.

After over 1,000 votes on every player, the results are as follows...

Players to KEEP: Anssi Jaakkola, Andy Yiadom, Jordan Obita, Tyler Blackett, Omar Richards, Liam Moore, Tiago Ilori, Tom McIntyre, Gabriel Osho, Leandro Bacuna, John Swift, Andy Rinomhota, Liam Kelly, Garath McCleary, Callum Harriott, Mo Barrow, Yakou Meite, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Danny Loader

Players to SELL: Vito Mannone, Sam Walker, Chris Gunter, John O’Shea, Paul McShane, David Meyler, Dave Edwards, Sone Aluko, Pelle Clement, Sam Baldock, Marc McNulty, Sam Smith

So despite the uproar on social media after the 4-1 defeat to Swansea, fans are actually willing to keep more players (19) than they want to let go (12). Andy Rinomhota was the most popular player in the poll, with 96% of fans voting to keep the midfielder, whilst Andy Yiadom (94%) and Jordan Obita (91%) also receiving high keep percentages. Youth appears to be the way fans want this team to go in, with academy graduates Tom McIntyre, Gabriel Osho, Danny Loader and Omar Richards all warranting a place in the squad according to the polls.

At the other end of the scale, Dave Edwards, linked with a move to Shrewsbury Town, was the player that the highest percentage of fans (94%) wanted to get rid of. He was followed by David Meyler (89%), who hasn’t featured since the start of September, and club captain Paul McShane (86%). It certainly seems to be the older players getting more of the criticism, with eight of the 12 players you voted to sell being at least 29 years old.