Leam Richardon’s Score Plummets In Second Approval Rating

All in all, it doesn’t make for a pretty picture. Here’s how Richardson’s May 2026 score compares to those of his predecessors – interestingly, Noel Hunt signed off with a much more positive score of 3.02/5.

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Where do we go from here?

I want to end on a more optimistic note as a) although a lot of the negativity is warranted, I’d rather be positive where possible, b) it looks pretty clear that Richardson’s going nowhere. And to be fair, there are reasons to be at least a little cheery.

Richardson referred to this summer as being a proper ‘building window’ for Reading when he spoke at STAR’s Q&A a few months ago (as opposed to January having a more immediate focus). Expect the Royals to bring in a number of younger players to set the squad up for the longer term, following on from the additions of Haydon Roberts and Benn Ward in January. This should give Richardson more individual quality and young talent to draw on.

It’ll also be a big few months in terms of sorting out the squad’s fitness, which was a big drag on our 2025/26. Richardson now has the opportunity to get energy levels up and keep them up, as well as acting to avoid injuries before they occur. That’s important when you consider just how much we were held back by lacking players such as Jack Marriott and Kamari Doyle in the second half of the season.

So, if we get this pre-season right, Richardson’s got a good chance of turning things around and kicking on with this side in 2026/27. That’s the theory, at least.

The obligatory pessimistic note is that, regardless of the above, Richardson still needs to develop this side tactically if Reading are to do well next season – something he hasn’t given much indication of being capable of, just yet. He’s also got a lot of work to do to win back a fanbase that’s at best largely tuned-out, at worst actively hostile.

Hopefully though we can see some really positive signs of growth over pre-season, including in summer friendlies, from team and manager alike.