It was almost a season of two halves for Reading as the first half of the season saw a disappointing slump in form under former manager, Paul Clement, after picking up just 4 wins from their first 20 matches of the campaign.
With The Royals perched precariously just above the relegation zone, Clement was shown the door and Portuguese manager, Jose Gomes, was swiftly appointed into the Madejski hot-seat.
Gomes slowly but steadily turned Reading’s fortunes around and made The Royals a much tougher opponent to beat as the Berkshire outfit lost just 8 of their subsequent 24 matches under Gomes’s watch.
Although the hosts ended up in 20th place on the Championship ladder, they avoided relegation by a comfortable 7-point cushion ahead of third from bottom club, Rotherham United, thanks to a much improved run-in which resulted in just 1 defeat from their last 6 matches of the season.
💬 "I've enjoyed being back in a group and training - the lads look ready to go, and I'm excited for the new season" Michael Morrison looks ahead at the new season ➡️#REAvSHW pic.twitter.com/XtN5ij8PHj— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) August 2, 2019
💬 "I've enjoyed being back in a group and training - the lads look ready to go, and I'm excited for the new season" Michael Morrison looks ahead at the new season ➡️#REAvSHW pic.twitter.com/XtN5ij8PHj
A vastly improved sequence of results on home turf at their Madejski Stadium saw The Royals suffer just 1 defeat out of their last 10 matches, which was a 3-0 loss to play-off bound Leeds United.
The hosts picked up 5 wins during this 10-match sequence with wins over Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic, Preston North End and Brentford.
Onto Sheffield Wednesday, and this new season was being greeted by cautious optimism and enthusiasm by The Owls’ fans - until the departure of manager Steve Bruce that is.
Sheffield Wednesday’s start to last season turned out to be disastrous under former Dutch manager, Jos Luhukay, but the interim management of Lee Bullen and Steve Agnew helped stop the bleeding, and after Bruce was appointed, The Owls set about climbing back up the Championship table.
Following his appointment at the beginning of February, The Owls lost just 3 of their subsequent 18 matches under Steve Bruce which resulted in Wednesday finishing in a creditable mid-table position.
However, their final 5 matches of the season saw Sheffield Wednesday pick up just 1 win which was a 2-0 home win against Bristol City, but defeats to Leeds United and QPR prevented a late surge for the play-offs.
Manager, Steve Bruce left for Newcastle United during the summer, leaving Sheffield Wednesday without a replacement while Reading have the stability of Jose Gomes still at the helm - this could be a narrow win for Reading here.