2026 Pre-Season Thread - fixture list (1st post) - Reading MATCH THREAD Sat 2:15pm (p56)

Covered_End_Lad · July 29

Carey is a funny one, started last season well and scored some really important goals but I’m not sure he adds loads in terms of build up play, if we are moving to a more fluid attacking style it might not suit his game.

he reminds me of a championship version of Berry in that he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and a decent striker of the ball but can often be a passenger in games, he’ll certainly be a good option off the bench but u don’t think he’s a guaranteed starter this season particularly if Knibbs stays fit as he offers move in terms of stretching teams and pressing high.

soapboxsam · July 29

Only seen the highlights above:

When ever new players come to the valley in pre season or young players step up it always take time to work out who's who unless it's Karlan Grant coming home which feels a good signing as he is a bona fide Championship forward and at 28 seems a good acquisition.

I was reading about Nathaniel Chalobah last week being available but didn't realize he had turned up at CAFC as a trialist.
His appearance has changed so often since he was at Chelsea and his 40+ apps for the U21 and his one cap for England when he came on in added time for 6 minutes !

Mwamba, and Koumetio I will have to study and Mesik the Slovakian looks destintive so good to see the new faces even if only in a short video.

Charlton passing and moving with Knibbs looking like the athlete and footballer we bought a year ago.

Personally I want Charlton to be pleasing on the eye when ever possible as I don't want to see CAFC emulate England in the last 30 minutes in the semi final in every match.

MickeyBennett · July 29

Covered_End_Lad said:

Carey is a funny one, started last season well and scored some really important goals but I’m not sure he adds loads in terms of build up play, if we are moving to a more fluid attacking style it might not suit his game.

he reminds me of a championship version of Berry in that he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and a decent striker of the ball but can often be a passenger in games, he’ll certainly be a good option off the bench but u don’t think he’s a guaranteed starter this season particularly if Knibbs stays fit as he offers move in terms of stretching teams and pressing high.

I thought Careys pressing was pretty good in first half of season, was very noticeable in first game against Watford.

All aspects of his game dropped off in second half of season tbf.

ForeverAddickted · July 29

MickeyBennett said:

Covered_End_Lad said:

Carey is a funny one, started last season well and scored some really important goals but I’m not sure he adds loads in terms of build up play, if we are moving to a more fluid attacking style it might not suit his game.

he reminds me of a championship version of Berry in that he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and a decent striker of the ball but can often be a passenger in games, he’ll certainly be a good option off the bench but u don’t think he’s a guaranteed starter this season particularly if Knibbs stays fit as he offers move in terms of stretching teams and pressing high.

I thought Careys pressing was pretty good in first half of season, was very noticeable in first game against Watford.

All aspects of his game dropped off in second half of season tbf.

Didn't help we lost Knibbs in January and only got him back for the last three games

I think it probably made life a bit too safe for Carey in the starting eleven, given the alternatives were Berry or Fullah

Also hindered Sonny, in the sense that he never really got given a break either

Pavoren007 · July 29

Knibbs looked like Reading Knibbs for the first time since he arrived in the friendly last night. Was it lower opposition or his fitness and mojo are back? Hopefully the latter, he is a very good and dangerous player when on it.

Pavoren007 · July 29

Also am loving Mesik so far and think he will make Josh’s life difficult to get back in which is a great headache to have when we were so deprived on that side last season.

Sword65pf · July 29

TheHerminator said:

People seem to have decided Carey is no good because he was knackered at the end of last season? He scored the goals that kept us up. We can't be dismissing him already

I think Carey has the potential to get better, so based on the most part of last season he is starting from a good place. He’ll be shagging more wives before you know it.💪

SteveACS · July 29

Covered_End_Lad said:

Carey is a funny one, started last season well and scored some really important goals but I’m not sure he adds loads in terms of build up play, if we are moving to a more fluid attacking style it might not suit his game.

he reminds me of a championship version of Berry in that he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and a decent striker of the ball but can often be a passenger in games, he’ll certainly be a good option off the bench but u don’t think he’s a guaranteed starter this season particularly if Knibbs stays fit as he offers move in terms of stretching teams and pressing high.

I was critical of Knibbs last season. I didnt think he did enough, besides the few goals he scored.

Then he was excellent in the box midfield against Hull.

The jury's still out for me, but one thing is for sure. He has the size and physicality to be a top player for us. He just needs to get all the parts of his game to work together to be a really integral part of our team.

soapboxsam · July 29

Sword65pf said:

TheHerminator said:

People seem to have decided Carey is no good because he was knackered at the end of last season? He scored the goals that kept us up. We can't be dismissing him already

I think Carey has the potential to get better, so based on the most part of last season he is starting from a good place. He’ll be shagging more wives before you know it.💪

I thought that was why Carey lost energy at the business end of the season 🧐

Ducktapeshoerepairs · July 29

Not read this thread. Did we play 4 or 5 at the back ?

21cws · July 29

4, looked a lot better first half

msomerton · July 29

21cws said:

4, looked a lot better first half

Watched on the stream, we had more threat in the first half than the second. Even after the mass change in players in the second half.

NabySarr · July 29

The last 30 minute group has been poor in every game pretty much, whoever has been playing in it. Think we can safely assume that this group get quite a lot of running done in the week so that 30 minute run out is actually them pushing their limits rather than them being fresh. Don’t think we should read too much into the 2nd group’s performances in any of the games

Bostonaddick · July 29

Is it safe to assume that the next friendly we may see a lineup that resembles our starting lineup for the beginning of the season.

fenaddick · July 29

Bostonaddick said:

Is it safe to assume that the next friendly we may see a lineup that resembles our starting lineup for the beginning of the season.

I don’t think so. We have the cup game and a behind closed doors game still to go

cafcsinger · July 29

I think people are underrating Carey a lot. 100% we would have gone down if we hadn’t signed him. Not only is he a (and we don’t have many) goalscorer, he also drives the ball forward and has the best trait in football - availability! He’s decision making needs work but IF he sorts that out, then he won’t be with us for long imo.

WoolwichAddick · July 29

Always thought that Carey would look on the cusp of being a bit out of shape. He has a good engine but isn’t the most athletic body shape!

thenewbie · July 29

cafcsinger said:

I think people are underrating Carey a lot. 100% we would have gone down if we hadn’t signed him. Not only is he a (and we don’t have many) goalscorer, he also drives the ball forward and has the best trait in football - availability! He’s decision making needs work but IF he sorts that out, then he won’t be with us for long imo.

I think he suffered from Knibbs injury last season, in an ideal world you can swap between the two depending on fitness/tactics and rotate them a bit, if one loses a bit of form the other steps in etc. Last season we didn't really have that option (unless you include Berry, which I don't) so he was basically trying to carry it all on his own.

If Knibbs is fit and firing again hopefully this means he can share the load, if that means Carey gets used as more of an ace card to chuck on looking for a late goal I really can't say that would be an issue.

Potentially there's also Fullah but he will need to managed carefully I think.

NabySarr · July 29

thenewbie said:

cafcsinger said:

I think people are underrating Carey a lot. 100% we would have gone down if we hadn’t signed him. Not only is he a (and we don’t have many) goalscorer, he also drives the ball forward and has the best trait in football - availability! He’s decision making needs work but IF he sorts that out, then he won’t be with us for long imo.

I think he suffered from Knibbs injury last season, in an ideal world you can swap between the two depending on fitness/tactics and rotate them a bit, if one loses a bit of form the other steps in etc. Last season we didn't really have that option (unless you include Berry, which I don't) so he was basically trying to carry it all on his own.

If Knibbs is fit and firing again hopefully this means he can share the load, if that means Carey gets used as more of an ace card to chuck on looking for a late goal I really can't say that would be an issue.

Potentially there's also Fullah but he will need to managed carefully I think.

I think this is exactly it. Carey started 40 games last season, the 3 seasons before he’s started 23, 23 and 26 games.

That’s a big jump while also jumping from league 1 to the championship which is a higher intensity. It’s no surprise he dropped off in the second half of the season

2121 · July 29

Carey was knackered second half of the season. Learning curve and will hopefully come on for it this season. Hopefully we have good enough options to give him a rest

Kap10 · July 29

MickeyBennett said:

Covered_End_Lad said:

Carey is a funny one, started last season well and scored some really important goals but I’m not sure he adds loads in terms of build up play, if we are moving to a more fluid attacking style it might not suit his game.

he reminds me of a championship version of Berry in that he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time and a decent striker of the ball but can often be a passenger in games, he’ll certainly be a good option off the bench but u don’t think he’s a guaranteed starter this season particularly if Knibbs stays fit as he offers move in terms of stretching teams and pressing high.

I thought Careys pressing was pretty good in first half of season, was very noticeable in first game against Watford.

All aspects of his game dropped off in second half of season tbf.

Wasn't he played a little deeper?

Addicksi · July 29

Hope Chalobah gets a run out against Reading. Would be interesting to see if he's as dominant against better opposition.

NabySarr · July 29

Addicksi said:

Hope Chalobah gets a run out against Reading. Would be interesting to see if he's as dominant against better opposition.

I think he will be. He’s championship quality

I remember watching him opening day of last season against Leicester, was the best player on the pitch, scored and then off injured after half an hour. He’s definitely good enough it’s just big question mark around his injury record

Addicksi · July 29

I can't remember a trialist impressing me as much. He looked really classy and brought the best out of Mwamba and Knibbs in my opinion.

Crispywood · July 29

Not sure how true it is a reading ITK suggesting that they game may not go ahead at Readings stadium on Saturday due to their pitch not being ready

DamoNorthStand · July 29

That would hit us hard…. Vital we get all our minutes before the season. If there is any chance of that we would either need to host it at our training ground or at theirs

Fanny Fanackapan · July 29

Crispywood said:

Not sure how true it is a reading ITK suggesting that they game may not go ahead at Readings stadium on Saturday due to their pitch not being ready

PSF v a Charlton team at Dorking Wanderers @ 3pm on Saturday.

Reading cancelled ? Send a stronger squad !

Simples.

sam3110 · July 29

Crispywood said:

Not sure how true it is a reading ITK suggesting that they game may not go ahead at Readings stadium on Saturday due to their pitch not being ready

Just play it at a training ground, easy

Covered End · July 29

golfaddick said:

Covered End said:

golfaddick said:

FishCostaFortune said:

golfaddick said:

killerandflash said:

MuttleyCAFC said:

It doesn't bother me that we lost. It was offensively we were toothless and players just wanted to make simple passes. You want a few clues that we might be able to score goals. Jones was not happy apprently, so fans are entitled not to be either.

A shame we didn't hear NJ after the game, as that would have been interesting, as NJ isn't someone who can hide is feelings.

Colchester tomorrow, it'll be interesting who plays, as you'd imagine the probable "starting 11" will play more minutes at Reading on Saturday.

I would like to think all 3 of the most recent signings get some game time tomorrow evening. If not then what's the point. We already have 4 or 5 injured players who don't look like starting the season......but we keep on signing players that arent fit.

I say every season (and get laughed at). Got to get players in for pre-season & certainly here for the intensive week away.

You get laughed at because you make it sound as though you're the only one who's thought of it, and that it should be a given that it happens.
It's obvious that getting all players in before the pre-season camp is the ideal scenario.
The reality, though, is that the transfer market rarely works like that. Every club would love to have their business done early, but negotiations, player decisions, and selling clubs' demands often make it impossible.

Grant and McNamara were free agents......and probably were from about the 2nd week of May. If we wanted them I'm sure they could have been had much earlier than last week. Which convinces me that both weren't on our "wishlist".

The trouble is you live in football fantasy land, where you think Charlton ring a player up and he pops down and signs for us with little delay.
Many fans (though not enough) understand the complexities, the negotiations, the personal and family issues and the fact that many players will wait towards the end of the window before making up their mind.

Yeah, like Ben Reeves did. I will never forget that saga and his (non) performances that season showed.

My negotiations to a player would be.....

Sign by the date pre-season starts = £x pa
Sign by the time players get back from training camp = £×-10% pa
Sign 2 weeks after this = £x-20%pa

Priceless, we'd have no players, I can't believe how utterly utterly clueless you are. Sorry.

ButtleJR · July 30

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2026 Pre-Season Thread - fixture list (1st post) - Reading MATCH THREAD Sat 2:15pm (p56)

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