Liam Moore issues stinging reply as Reading strip him of captaincy in brutal statement

Liam Moore issues a stinging reply as Reading strip him of captaincy in a brutal club statement issued late on Saturday night.

The 28-year-old defender has said he is “incredibly shocked” by what the Royals had to say, relieving him of the club captaincy.

Reading confirm via their website that Moore had been axed from being captain, after the Championship outfit said that he had stated his desire to leave the club.

Reading expressing their disappointment that Moore had, according to the club, stated his desire to leave and pursue his career elsewhere.

The statement read: “Over the course of the last few months, centre-back Liam Moore has spoken with manager Veljko Paunovic and directors of the club to state his clear desire to leave Reading Football Club and pursue his career elsewhere.

“Obviously we are disappointed that Liam, a player awarded one of the club’s most significant contracts, has now stated his intention to move on. Whilst we have patiently waited for his representatives to provide us with options for us to consider in helping him fulfil that request, no offer or opportunity has been presented to the club to date.

“Our club, together with its manager, is intent on selecting players in the first team squad who are dedicated to giving their absolute all to Reading Football Club. That starts with our captain. As a result, Moore will no longer be given the honour of our club captaincy.

“Our owner, Mr Dai, has made significant financial commitment to Reading Football Club and continues to invest wholeheartedly in a project which remains very close to his heart. When football was forced behind closed doors during the pandemic, Mr Dai continued to support the club and his investment has been the catalyst in developing a state-of-the-art training facility, capable of attracting the best young talent to our club now and in the future.

“Although we have undeniably experienced a very difficult first half to our season, due in part to an unimaginable injury crisis which has most recently left us devoid of almost all our fit or available defensive options, we still demand loyalty, focus and committed performances from every individual who pulls on a Reading shirt in front of our fans. And we expect our players, particularly our new captain, to wear the crest with pride and dedicate their total focus to the club on behalf of its loyal fanbase.

“Mr Dai is fully supportive of the manager and his decisions and understanding of the hard few months we have endured both on and off the pitch. Together we are stronger and will prevail.

“Our owner and everyone involved with Reading Football Club would like to sincerely thank our fans for their incredible support and will endeavour to work even harder to help us achieve our collective goals.”

But Moore has now seen it and taken to social media to deliver a surprising response to it, writing an Instagram story.

The 28-year-old has made 17 appearance for the Royals this season, however hasn’t made one since a 1-0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion on the 11th of December.

He has had injury problems and wasn’t involved as Reading lost 2-1 against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

And now, it would seem he’s played his last game with the club now that he is no longer captain and taking into account the fallout.

Fan site ‘The Tilehurst End‘ gave their views via their blog, saying: “On Saturday evening, a few hours after Reading lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough, the club announced that Liam Moore was being stripped of the candidacy. The statement was as surprising as it was blunt – suddenly coming out of nowhere but taking no half measures in making clear what the club thinks of Moore.

“After all, going by the statement, Moore has shown complete disloyalty to Reading Football Club. He wasn’t a particularly popular player among supporters anyway, but outright dislike of him had previously been fairly limited. This statement though had a similar effect to the defeat to Kidderminster Harriers a week ago: it blew the lid on long-simmering frustrations. The sudden eruption of anger and disappointment was palpable.

“My own immediate reaction to the statement put me pretty much in line with that majority view: Reading have been wronged by Liam Moore. He’s clearly not committed to the club anymore. Get rid of him.

“My feelings as regards to Moore haven’t really changed as of the following day. Moving him on made sense anyway regardless of the claimed lack of commitment – it would be a big boost financially and we can do better for a first-team centre half. But the more I’ve considered the statement itself, especially having cleared my head after the Middlesbrough game, the more I realise I really don’t know what to think about it.

“Simply a professional and respectful announcement of a major development. The tone and focus of the Liam Moore statement however are completely different. For one thing, this time the club shares information that you probably wouldn’t normally expect it to acknowledge publicly:

• Moore has a “clear desire” to leave,
• He has “one of the club’s most significant contracts”.
• Reading have waited for suggestions from Moore’s representatives that would help make an exit possible but not got any.
• And most damning of all, it indirectly but unsubtly states that the club thinks Moore is not “dedicated to giving [his] absolute all to Reading Football Club”.

“I can’t speak to the reliability of the content itself. While I’ve no reason to believe any of it is factually incorrect, you certainly get the feeling that Moore would give a different view of events. At the moment we only know via a post on his Instagram story that he was “incredibly shocked by the statement released tonight!!!”. You know someone feels strongly when they include three exclamation marks and 18 face-palm emojis.” You can read more on what they had to say HERE.

Twitter users reacted as Liam Moore issues a stinging reply as Reading strip him of captaincy in a brutal statement…

@Chris_LCFC1884: Strange statement by @ReadingFC on #LiamMoore Not often a club will throw a player under the bus like that. He certainly doesn’t come across as the sort of person they’re saying he is. Either way, it’s extremely unprofessional and can’t help but feel they’ve handled this wrong.

@Houlton11: Liam Moore is a mercenary, he’s a scum bag and he’s a bottle job. Club Captain, the highest paid player on sickening wages. The biggest snake to ever play for us #readingfc

@F8RDR: Thanks Liam. Just when we need players to dig us out of our current hole, you run a mile. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

@CalRam2: A very good start to turning our clubs situation around

@cjlsmith87: He’s been trying to get gone more or less since he signed for the club. From what he’s shown on the pitch for last 2 years be happy to get him & his grossly overinflated wages out the door.

@paulmortimer59: Well we knew he wanted to pursue his career elsewhere a long time ago!!!! Urzzzzzzzz

@Dubstep1988: The club remains a joke, but this paragraph is sublime. Elite-level shade. “Whilst we have patiently waited for his representatives to provide us with options for us to consider in helping him fulfil that request, no offer or opportunity has been presented to the club to date.”

@randidil: Part of me hopes Pauno has something to do with this, in a positive way. Seeking support from his players or showing them the door…

@maxiebadger: 35k a week off the books. Rip his contract up.

@SimonPovey95: When the going gets tough….. 35 grand a week Liam Moore pisses off….

@MarkRobins89: Get him as far away from the first team squad as possible

@jess_clarksonn: Been waiting for this moment since 2018, he never seemed to have any passion for his teammates or the club, good riddance x

@lankylibero14: Didn’t realise we had a backbone. Good riddance if he doesn’t want to be here. Negative effect on team morale etc. Evident with some of his performances this season, despite being one of the more senior, experienced players in the squad going into a massive four months ahead.

@rylie79: Sums up everything that is wrong with the modern day footballer. Liam Moore captain, sets example & young fans to look up to. What a complete joke. We could had got a result if he was playing today. Really not impressed. Reading should be able to stop his wages asap if he won’t play

@mjtoal: And therein is the problem, he really shouldn’t have been shocked.

@deanocx: Hahahaha because he’s been caught out and it’s gone public

@Laurent28SZN: Shocked they decided to tell us the truth?