TTE Reading Player Of The Season: 2023/24

We’ve got a four-man shortlist for you to choose your TTE POTS from.

In a refreshing change, this season there’s a strong shortlist for who should be named Reading’s Player of the Season. Although the official award has already gone to Lewis Wing (with Tyler Bindon and Harvey Knibbs second and third respectively), we’ve got our own one to dish out.

To do that, four of our writers have each made the case for why their man should be the winner. We’ve also included some key stats to give you a little more context on how these players did in 2023/24.

It’s not a given that the TTE winner will be the same as the club’s winner. In the eight seasons we’ve run a vote, five times our electorate has opted for someone else.

So who’ll get the highly sought-after TTE 2023/24 award? Read on for your candidates and cast your vote in the poll at the bottom. To add a bit of depth to the process, we’ve let you rank the options from first to fourth rather than just picking one.

---

Tyler Bindon

44 appearances, 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 POTM, 5 MOTM, TTE average of 6.1

By Ross Webber

It’ll shock nobody to hear my POTS is Tyler Bindon.

Bindon has progressed in the past 12 months from a relatively unknown academy footballer for LAFC to a full international and guaranteed starter. It’s a remarkable display of growth and maturity from a player born in 2005 who most Reading fans had never heard of.

From the start of the season, Bindon had an impressive range of passing and a knack for stepping forward out of the defensive line with a well timed challenge. Those were his immediate strengths, but his work on his weaknesses was all the more impressive.

A poor performance against Jordan Rhodes in a 4-0 loss to Blackpool was identified as a huge growth moment for Bindon, and as the season progressed, he became more and more of a presence in the air, and less capable of being bullied by any striker.

Finally, Bindon featured in both of Reading’s most impressive centre-back pairings this season, and more impressively still did it on different sides of the defence. Bindon spent the first half of the season with Nelson Abbey - and on the right, a useful spot for him on his preferred foot. Alongside Amadou Mbengue though, Bindon has continued to show good passing range on the left side of defence, and formed a potent combination of aggression and discipline.

Other players may have contributed more to overall results of Reading this season, but if we’re looking for the man who has had the most remarkable 12 months, look no further than Tyler Bindon.

Photo by Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images

Harvey Knibbs

53 appearances, 16 goals, 6 assists, 1 POTM, 5 MOTM, TTE average of 6.1

By Simeon Pickup

Harvey Knibbs isn’t the flashiest player on this shortlist. He doesn’t quite have the same level of goal threat as Smith, creativity as Wing or technical ability as Bindon. He also generally doesn’t win the plaudits quite as often as others in this team. But he’s quietly proven himself to be absolutely invaluable to this side and an epitome of what it is at its very best.

He’s an absolute machine. 53 out of 55 games played in all competitions, barely ever even being substituted, is one hell of a return. And all the time he’s grafting for this side, running himself into the ground. He tops the division-wide charts for tackles made (130) - an outstanding figure for anyone, let alone a forward.

And for someone who’s yet to play as an out-and-out striker for Reading, 16 goals - level with Smith - is impressive output. He’s a clever poacher, able to sniff out opportunities in the area and then finish them with his feet or head.

Let’s not forget about his character either. Knibbs only arrived last summer, with no prior affinity to Reading, but is already a senior figure in the dressing room and a true fan favourite. As likely as you are to see him crunching into a tackle, you’ll also spot him guiding younger teammates through games and getting the crowd involved too.

This side doesn’t work without Harvey Knibbs. He’s the glue that holds the team together, and then so much more than that on top. He’d be a more than deserving POTS winner.

Sam Smith

37 appearances, 16 goals, 1 assist, 0 POTM, 4 MOTM, TTE average of 6.0

By Harry Chafer

Sam Smith came back to the club off the back of two really impressive seasons at Cambridge United , scoring 28 league goals for the Us. So there was expectation that Smith was to become the goalscoring forward we so desperately needed.

However, a hamstring injury meant it wasn’t until the 4-0 drubbing at Charlton Athletic in October when we actually got to see him in a Reading shirt. Since then though he’s pretty much been an ever-present in the team, missing just one game away at Fleetwood Town and playing 90 minutes in the vast majority of the others.

He quickly became an extremely vital cog in an ever-developing machine. His work rate, link-up play, movement off the ball and selflessness have been really impressive, and I was gobsmacked when I saw he’d only got one assist this season. The things that Smith does so well have enabled the likes of Knibbs, Wing and Femi Azeez to show what they can do.

But most importantly, he’s done what we pay him to do: score goals. 15 goals in 34 league games is a really strong return - at that rate, if he’d played every match, he’d have got more than 20.

In my opinion, if he’d been fit from the start of the season, he would’ve been in the top three players of the season for sure - but even so, he deserves to be in the conversation. He’s been superb, and will hopefully be around for a long time to come.

Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images

Lewis Wing

49 appearances, 11 goals, 11 assists, 1 POTM, 8 MOTM, TTE average of 6.1

By Ben Thomas

Lewis Wing. The Wingster. Wingman Extraordinaire. That last one was rubbish, but you get the gist. Tricky one this, because unless you’ve been living in a sewer like one of those mutant turtles, you’ll know he’s just won the club’s POTS award. So let me take this brief moment (I’ve got, like, 250 words tops to do it in, apparently) to tell you exactly why you were correct if you voted for him.

Up to and including October, it was working out. Out injured for just over a month, he came back into the fold in the second half against Blackpool and took another month to really get going. No goals, no real contributions and generally lacklustre displays were long forgotten once that first goal against Portsmouth went in.

From that point on, we were dealing with a behemoth of a player. 49 appearances, 11 goals, 11 assists and nearly 4,000 minutes played across all competitions is quite a return for a man who was asked to play at a basket case of football club.

Away from these stats, Wing proved himself to be a calming influence in a topsy-turvy midfield, with various partners filling in next to him. A constant in the middle of the park and with the attacking prowess of an American alligator in the Everglades of Florida, he proved himself to be one of the first on the team sheet.

Effectively an all-round baller, there can be no claim to his throne as the number one chap in our team, not in terms of overall impact, flair and consistency anyway.

Lewis Wing: a man for all seasons and our player of the season.

---

Vote

To vote for your TTE Player of the Season, please rank the four candidates in our poll below. The poll should display on your device, but if it doesn’t, you can use this link right here.