Vote For Your TTE 2024/25 Reading Player Of The Season
We’ve narrowed it down to a six-man shortlist for this season’s award.
This season really was an excellent one on the pitch for Reading. The Royals far surpassed expectations, defying off-field chaos to finish seventh in League One, taking an unlikely playoff push to the final day.
And there were some cracking individual showings over the course of 2024/25 too. It’s telling that, in the months going up to the end of the season, you’d see a wide variety of calls from fans on who should be included in any shortlist for a player of the season vote.
Which brings us, of course, to our POTS award. While the club’s one has already gone out to Tyler Bindon, it’s not a given that our winner will be the same; the first four TTE POTS winners were different to the club’s.
We’ve again got a selection of writers to each make the case for their candidate. While these players aren’t necessarily the writer’s actual choice for POTS, they’ve put that to one side to fight their man’s corner.
So who’ll get the highly sought-after TTE 2024/25 award? Below you can find all six candidates - including their average score from our player ratings, and their total man of the match and player of the month awards - with the poll at the very bottom of the article.
Tyler Bindon
Minutes played (all comps): 4,182
Average rating: 6.4/10
MOTM awards: 9
POTM awards: 2
Consistency, dependability, class. You get all three in abundance with Tyler Bindon, an outstanding young centre-back who’s more than earned his big move to Nottingham Forest and will be hugely difficult to replace over the summer.
It’s hard to remember him putting a foot wrong. Bindon oozes composure in possession and out of it, making him every inch the ideal modern defender. He’s a vital component for this Reading side, whether it’s shutting the opposition out or playing out from the back.
He exudes authority too. Bindon has had to play with a rotating cast of defensive parters this season - Amadou Mbengue, Harlee Dean, Louie Holzman and Michael Stickland among them - but never looks unsettled, never looks fazed.
Bindon would be a more than worthy winner of our player of the season award.
By Simeon Pickup
Harvey Knibbs
Minutes played (all comps): 3,946
Average rating: 5.9/10
MOTM awards: 4
POTM awards: 1
In terms of direct match-winning contributions under Noel Hunt, it’s hard to look past Harvey Knibbs. With the pressure on and Reading being awarded crucial penalties against Bolton Wanderers, Wycombe Wanderers, Rotherham United and Wrexham, Knibbs stepped up each time to slot home and help guide us to vital points.
A team-leading 14 league goals and a combined 20 goal contributions is impressive enough, but his durability was also key, with Knibbs clocking up 3,716 minutes on the pitch: a tally only bettered by Lewis Wing and Tyler Bindon.
It’s easy to see why Knibbs has been linked with moves to the Championship but here’s hoping he stays to cement a lasting legacy in Berkshire.
By Daniel Wimbush
Amadou Mbengue
Minutes played (all comps): 3,036
Average rating: 6.1/10
MOTM awards: 4
POTM awards: 1
Cult hero? Definitely. Cheeseburger? Yep, probably still that. Our best centre-back now? Without a doubt. Our player of the season? He makes a strong case.
Amadou Mbengue simply makes us better when he plays. His athletic ability and reading of the game allow him to progress the ball up the field with his runs from the backline, while offering protection to an often-rotating cast of defenders around him. He’s even added long throws to his party tricks, to give us another weapon in our attack arsenal. The stats say it all: points per game with him in the team? 1.76. Without him? 1.25.
Look past what he does off the pitch, too. He is the first player that takes the time to connect with the fans - recently seen by his attendance in Club 1871 during his injury layoff against Stevenage. And of course, when on the pitch, he is always the one who leads the end-of-game celebrations with fans.
Our player of the season is more than what he does on the pitch - he is symbolic of the club. Rescued from the depths of nowhere, he has risen to the pinnacle of his game and taken others (notably Tyler Bindon) along with him. Sound familiar? We all love him, and it’s time to give him his flowers.
By Alex Lovell
Joel Pereira
Minutes played (all comps): 3,600
Average rating: 6.5/10
MOTM awards: 11
POTM awards: 1
After three years in the goalkeeping wilderness, Reading have had nothing to worry about between the sticks throughout 2024/25. Joel Pereira, the man who confirmed he’d be staying in RG2 for 2024/25 at the Purple Turtle, has become a fan-favourite and crucial member of the Reading team.
That Reading finished seventh was impressive. That they did it with the seventh-worst xG differential in the league was entirely down to Pereira.
Pereira saw 55 xGOT in 2024/25 and conceded just 46 goals: an incredible nine actual goals better than an average ‘keeper. How much further down the league would Reading have finished if they conceded those nine goals?
For that reason (an admittedly very Moneyball-esque WAR referencing reason), it is impossible to look beyond the Iberian shot-stopper for player of the season.
By Ross Webber
Charlie Savage
Minutes played (all comps): 3,969
Average rating: 5.9/10
MOTM awards: 7
POTM awards: 1
I don’t need an excuse to nominate Charlie Savage as player of the season, not by a long shot. The only thing that could be contested is whether he’s the “most improved” player this season. That’s a difficult thing to measure based on a variety of metrics, opinions and field positions.
The raw stats for Charlie are as follows:
- 51 appearances across all competitions
- Seven goals
- 13 assists, nine of them in League One
With the assists alone, this makes him the joint-second-highest in the entire league campaign. Granted, he’s part of a very strong midfield three, but the energy, commitment and passion that he brings to the team are unparalleled. Do you ever see Savage walking? No. Do you ever see him not trying? No. Do you see him score boring goals? No.
Let’s not forget that the previous manager (and plenty among the fanbase for that matter) didn’t really rate him in the early stages of his first season. He’s had to work hard to pin down a place in the team but also win over some of those loud voices who doubted it.
There is no doubt that he could walk into any other starting 11 of any club in our league, and probably Championship sides for that matter. He’s been hindered by a lack of a regular dance partner down the left side but boosted by a manager that trusts him, respects him, and will play him come hell or high water.
Charlie Savage: the chap of the season.
By Ben Thomas
Lewis Wing
Minutes played (all comps): 4,493
Average rating: 5.9/10
MOTM awards: 4
POTM awards: 0
He didn’t steal as many headlines this campaign, but that doesn’t mean Lewis Wing has been any less influential. Teams have clocked on that he’s our best player and, on numerous occasions, tried to man-mark him out of the game - but he’s showed time and time again it’s not always that easy to shut down a player of his quality.
Wing played every minute of every game in the league, created seven goals from a deeper position and still managed to chip in with a more than healthy dose of Wingy Specials. He’s gone a bit more under the radar than last season, but he’s still undoubtably the best footballer in our squad.
By Harry Chafer
Vote
As with last year, we’re asking you not to pick just one player, but to rank all the candidates from 1-6. The poll should display on your device, but if it doesn’t, you can use this link right here.