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It all seems a bit ‘meh’ at the moment. I argued after the 2-2 draw against Exeter City that there is a bigger, perhaps more positive, picture than the last few results and performances had suggested.
However, even I left the unique AFC Wimbledon home ground feeling pretty flat, detached and apathetic, which wasn’t helped by my train back to Birmingham being delayed for over two and a half hours.
Here’s how the fans reacted to a game defined by uncharacteristic errors…
Sloppy errors
It was a lacklustre performance all round, but all three of Wimbledon’s goals stemmed from poor individual errors. Joel Pereira would’ve had a sleepless night from the first two goals, and Liam Fraser gave the ball away far too cheaply for the eventual winner.
The errors were perhaps symptomatic of the wider performance, but they still shouldn’t be happening, and it’s a kick in the teeth for all three to happen in one game.
There was despair, shock and anger from the fans…
Oh Pereira has had a nightmare there, what a clanger and what a gift. But once again we've started a half like we have no interest in getting on top
#readingfc
— Tom Maynard (@ttmaynard)
February 7, 2026
Pereira is having an absolute mare today. That's dreadful
#readingfc
— Dom (@domwindle)
February 7, 2026
That Pereira performance has been coming. His distribution has been, in the main, appalling this season and it was only a matter of time before an awful mistake happened.
I love him to bits, he’s a great keeper, but I’d love some consistency.
#readingfc
— Richard Langley (@simply_langers)
February 7, 2026
Howler from pereira
#readingfc
— Dan (@DanTheMan__98)
February 7, 2026
Good pass Fraser .Unbelievable goals we’ve given away today , shocking
#readingfc
— Ross Giacobbe (@rosariogiacobbe)
February 7, 2026
Fraser and O’Connor at fault there. What has Ward got to do to get in this team…
#readingfc
— TrickyDicky (@rpoole40)
February 7, 2026
i’m also going to put it out there to all those richardson haters, he can’t do anything about individuals being incompetent and making stupid mistakes, pereira at fault for two and fraser for one
#readingfc
— OJ
(@rfc_ollie)
February 7, 2026
Liam Fraser gave the ball away totally needlessly there. We got what we deserved. Incredibly poor
#ReadingFC
— Erik O (@Orrgarde)
February 7, 2026
The performance
As mentioned, although they certainly didn’t help, the errors were not what lost us the game – the performance over the entire 90 minutes did.
I’m more of an optimist than most, I think, but there needs to be so much more evidence of progress than we saw against the Dons. Jack Marriott’s equaliser aside, I can’t remember a genuine chance we created from open play, and although we managed to fight back twice, we also allowed Wimbledon to do the same.
Wimbledon seemed to find the extra few percent that we just couldn’t and that’s always a difficult pill for a fan to swallow…
I have no words for that. A truly awful performance.
#readingfc
— Richard Langley (@simply_langers)
February 7, 2026
My head will be on mars if Leam Richardson says it was a ‘good performance’. Awful from start to finish.
#readingfc
— . (@mac64151)
February 7, 2026
That’s the worst performance of the season so far. Dorsett and O’Connor aren’t good enough to play next to each other. Ritchie and Kelvin are useless should’ve cashed in on Savage. Ward and Young come straight into this team on Tuesday.
#readingfc
— Joel (@Jdh72Joel)
February 7, 2026
Desperate performance. Beaten by a team that simply wanted it more. Lewis Wing losing his head after a comment from the away end ain’t great either. Thought those days were long gone.
#Readingfc
— Matt (@RustyRoyal)
February 7, 2026
Another awful away performance against a side bang out of forms & goals, we turn up & they score 3 & get their first win since September, shocking, I’d love to know what they do all week on the training ground
#readingfc
— James Turner (@turkishrfc)
February 7, 2026
The problem is that we always let teams end their bad record or form.
It's ok to lose matches but when it is like that today, it is just frustrating. It wasn't good enough. We have depth but our subs were poor again. The style of play is frustrating fans as well.
#ReadingFC
— Reading FC (@bluewhitewall)
February 7, 2026
The quality/style of football we play is so so bad. League One in general is poor but we're even worse. Horrible watch
#readingfc
— Ben (@BenParsons89)
February 7, 2026
Fair to say that this is as bad as any Hunt performance.
#readingfc
— Richard (@InfernalBore)
February 7, 2026
A tale of apathy
It seems on Saturday evening the Reading FC hashtag turned into a bit of a melting point. Perhaps this loss is the one that has broken the camel’s back.
I think the consensus is that the club have lost something in recent times. The rebuild after Rob Couhig’s takeover hasn’t been what we all perhaps envisioned, and it’s a real struggle for fans to emotionally attach to this team at the moment.
Some fans reminisced on former managers and players after the game, while others are just a bit fed up…
Wow, do we miss this guy.
#readingfcpic.twitter.com/vs3HsLHMmd
— Nick Knight (@NJK20171)
February 7, 2026
We really do miss Knibbs and Mbengue, not just the footballing quality they brought to the squad but how they made the fans feel connected to the club.
The players now seem very distant from the fans, and the fans feel very disconnected from the club.
#readingfcpic.twitter.com/1cDZYKqIB9
— Oscark_rfc (@Oscar_rfc1871)
February 8, 2026
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We’re going to be in League One for a long, long time. So disillusioned with this club right now. No passion, no clue, no connection, no cohesion
#readingfc
— londonroyal89 (@stixflix06)
February 8, 2026
I hate to say it but this club isn’t the same anymore. Fans connection to the players, Fans connection to the manager. It’s all gone.
#readingfc
— RFC News (@TransfernewsRFC)
February 7, 2026
This team was put together, rather than built, over the summer and today it showed. No real cohesion in any area. Already looks like a big summer needed..
#readingfc
— Ian (@iframpton)
February 7, 2026
Miss how everyone was united last season, all wanting the same thing.
It’s got so toxic amongst the fans this season
#Readingfc
— Kathryn Sohachevsky (@sohachevsky)
February 7, 2026
Last season we had a group of players that had some fight in them – they wanted to win & fight against all the odds. This season we are back to seeing players not looking like they care, they don’t look happy & the connection between players and supporters has gone.
#readingfc
— Steph (@Stephan65595292)
February 7, 2026
Conclusion
I’m not really sure where to start in summing up this game, and in particular the last hour or so I’ve just spent scrolling through the reaction of the fans.
While none of us want to experience anything like the last two or three years again, it brought us all together as a club – fans, players and staff. We were a united front, it was us against them.
So while Couhig was inheriting a club quite frankly a mess off the pitch, he – or the owner group in general – just haven’t been able to build on the momentum and cohesion. The conclusion of a Fans Verdict isn’t the place to delve into the nuances of that, but it’s led to a pretty sorry state of affairs.
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