Opposition Lowdown: Charlie Adam’s Fleetwood Town

Reading’s FA Cup campaign kicks off this weekend with a first-round tie at home to Fleetwood Town. Join us as we take a closer look at the opposition.

Form

Fleetwood were relegated from League One last season, after finishing 22nd in the league, three points away from safety. Relegation ended their 10-year stay in the third tier, having gained promotion from League Two via the playoffs in 2014.

The Cod Army have had a relatively disappointing start to life back in the fourth tier, currently sitting in 15th place in the league after four wins, six draws and three losses. They are winless in their latest five league games, having drawn three and lost two. They come into this match off the back of a 2-2 draw at home to Salford City on Tuesday evening.

The two sides had never faced each other until last season, when Fleetwood claimed a 1-2 win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium last October, before the sides played out a 1-1 draw at Highbury in February this year.

The boss

Charlie Adam: Adam became Fleetwood’s third manager of last season when he was appointed last December, taking over from Lee Johnson, who had replaced Scott Brown earlier on in the season. This is Adam’s first managerial role, having retired from football in 2022.

He had an almost-20-year career as a player, starting out at Rangers before going on to represent Blackpool, Liverpool, Stoke City, Dundee, and of course Reading. Adam played for the Royals in the 2019/20 season, making 27 appearances, scoring two goals and logging four assists.

Adam was also a Scottish international, winning 26 caps for his country. He ended his playing career at his boyhood club Dundee at the age of 36.

He hadn’t had a coaching role post-retirement but did spend some time at Burnley as an assistant manager of their under-21 side and loans manager. The Scotsman has now presided over 40 games in charge of Fleetwood and has a win percentage of 33% so far.

Squad

Fleetwood prepared for life in League Two with the signing of 10 players this summer. They secured the free-transfer signings of goalkeeper Luke Hewitson, defenders MacKenzie Hunt and Zech Medley and midfielders Liam Shaw and Matty Virtue.

They also completed the signings of right-back James Bolton and midfielders Mark Helm and Elliot Bonds. Two players also joined on loan, with centre-back Rhys Bennett arriving from Manchester United and forward Kian Harratt signing from Huddersfield Town.

Forward Promise Omochere left the club to sign for Bristol Rovers for an undisclosed fee. Three other players also secured moves to League One clubs, with wingers Cian Hayes and Maleace Asamoah joining Peterborough United and Wigan Athletic respectively, while attacking midfielder Junior Quitirna signed for Crawley Town.

Fleetwood have a bit of an injury crisis in defence, where Rhys Bennett, James Bolton, Harrison Holgate and Zech Medley are all expected to miss out through injury, alongside midfielder Brendan Wiredu.

Predicted lineup

Harrington, Potter, Hughes, Helm, Hunt, Johnston, Virtue, Shaw, Mayor, Coughlan, Graydon

Key player

Ronan Coughlan: Forward Coughlan joined Fleetwood in January this year, signing from their sister club Waterford FC.

As a youngster he spent time in the Limerick youth setup before signing for the Huddersfield academy in 2014. He was released by the Terriers in 2017 and moved back to Ireland, joining Bray Wanderers and then Cork City on short-term contracts.

He went on to play for Sligo Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic before joining Waterford in February 2023. Coughlan spent a year at Waterford and scored 37 goals for the club, while also breaking the Irish First Division scoring record.

Since signing for Fleetwood, he has gone on to make 26 appearances, scoring eight goals, with six of those coming this season. The 28-year-old is a centre-forward who is a natural finisher with good hold-up play.

One to watch

Ryan Graydon: Foward Graydon joined Fleetwood in July 2023, signing from Irish side Derry City.

Graydon started his youth career at Bohemians and made his professional debut for the club in 2018. He went on to sign for Bray Wanderers and Longford Town, before joining Derry City in July 2020. During his time in Ireland, Graydon scored 16 goals and logged 23 assists.

Since signing for Fleetwood last year, he has made 45 appearances and has nine goals to his name. The 25-year-old has one youth cap to his name, having made his debut for the Ireland under-19 side in 2017.

Graydon is a centre-forward who is a good creative outlet, with five goals and four assists to his name so far this season.