READING FC chief executive Ron Gourlay has admitted some of the club's signings last season did not live up to expectation.

Royals splashed the cash on big-money signings like Sone Aluko, who joined Jaap Stam’s squad from Fulham for a club record fee of around £4.5m.

They also brought in Dave Edwards, Leandro Bacuna and Pelle Clement as former Manchester United defender Stam looked to build on Royals’ third-placed finish in the Championship in his debut season.

But several newcomers failed to make an impact during Royals’ disappointing campaign which saw Paul Clement replace Stam in March after a run of one win in 19 games.

Reading ended up avoiding relegation on the last day of the season with a 0-0 draw at promoted Cardiff Cardiff City, with Clement picking up eight point during his eight games at the helm.

And while Gourlay refused to point the finger at individual players, he admitted some new signings were more successful than others.

"They (the new signings) were mixed," he declared.

“Not helped by some injuries, there is always a settling in to the team and style of play.

“I said that we didn’t reach the level of quality on performance across the season. It’s not about one or two players, it’s about a team.

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Leandro Bacuna joined Reading from now promotion-chasing Aston Villa.

“Against the competition, you have to be united and play as a team, you have to perform to the highest of your ability week in week out or you won’t win football games.

“For a number of different reasons we didn’t do that.”

Another player who failed to reach his previous best was striker Yann Kermorgant as the Frenchman's progress was stunted by a serious hip injury sustained in pre-season.

In a surprising twist, Royals handed the veteran striker a new deal with his previous contract due to expire this summer.

The 36-year-old endured a frustrating season under both Stam and Clement, scoring just twice in 27 league outings for the Royals.

His performance was a stark contrast from the season before, where Kermorgant’s career best 19 league goals helped fire Stam’s side to Wembley where they lost the Championship play-off final to Huddersfield Town on penalties.

And Gourlay confessed the club had hoped for more of the same last term.

He asserted: “Yann was a key player, we as a management team felt he could be a key player again.

“He had different talents, he was very strong in the dressing room. He was motivational and we felt that would be useful.

“We also felt that he would be back earlier than what he was because he had that set-back. He had a lot more to offer the club and he performed well the year before.”