Reading legend Kevin Doyle has called on the EFL to 'take some accountability' for the off-field mess at the club.

The Royals have had 18 points deducted in the last four years for ownership-related issues, while Dai Yongge has also sold club assets and dragged his heels over takeover attempts as the club face a shortfall for March and are staring at yet more points deductions in League One.

The Chinese billionaire has closed down two other professional football clubs, and the league have faced backlash for their inability to change the downward trajectory of the Royals.

Doyle, who spent four years at the club and fired them into the Premier League in 2006, believes they should be taking more accountability for the mess.

“It’s funny, Reading seems to get deducted points at the drop of a hat," he told BoyleSport. "Then you see other teams who are big clubs, and I won’t name names, getting charged with over 100 different financial breaches getting deducted no points at all.

“It’s easy to penalise the little club isn’t it. He passed an ownership test and it’s the fans and players who get punished for the EFL giving him a licence to buy the club - there’s no comeback on the league.

“Reading get punished, but they’re the ones who granted the owner the licence and said he passed all tests required. I don’t know how he passed all the tests, if this is what’s happened, based on his ownership of previous clubs as well.

“It’s not the owner who gets punished, it’s the players and the fans of the club itself. When I saw the takeover, you could tell it wasn’t going to be great long-term.

“He got past the not-so-rigorous tests of the EFL, and they should have some accountability instead of it all being pushed onto the club.

“Going back, John Madejski got a lot of stick for not spending enough money. But I tell you what, he cared so much about that club. 

“He didn’t particularly love football, he just loved Reading and he would be in before every single home game wishing us the best. Every away game, he would be on the bus walking around and shaking hands with every player.

“That’s a proper owner - he didn’t have to do any of that, but he did. It’s the way it should be done, and to see the state of Reading now being treated with such neglect, it’s sad to see because it’s a fabulous club.”