A summer of upheaval awaits at the Madejski Stadium but Reading hope manager Steve Coppell will not join the impending exodus.
Full-back Nicky Shorey heads the queue of players expected to leave during the transfer window but the Royals are reluctant to let Coppell head for the exit door.
Coppell is assessing his future after staging talks with director of football Nicky Hammond on Monday.
He is reported to be considering ending his successful stewardship of the club in the wake of their heart-rending relegation from the Premier League.
But the 52-year-old has 12 months remaining on his contract and Reading are eager for him to mastermind an immediate return to the top flight.
"I had a very clear meeting with Steve," Hammond told the Reading Evening Post.
"Now we need to spend a bit of time to digest and reflect on what has happened.
"Steve and I will continue to talk and I will keep in contact with the chairman.
"Of course we are disappointed with what has happened, but there is nothing we can do about it now."
Coppell remains Reading's prized asset, despite his failure to prevent the club from slipping into the Championship after two seasons in the top flight.
Chairman John Madejski has given Coppell his full backing and made it clear they will be pulling out all the stops to persuade him to extend his four-and-a-half-year stint in Berkshire
"Everyone is culpable for relegation, including myself and the players," said Madejski.
"But we definitely want Steve to stay and we will be doing everything we can to keep him."
For all their determination to keep Coppell, Reading are powerless to prevent the predicted flurry of summer departures from the playing squad.
"There will probably be more change and reflection than in the past few years," said Hammond.
"Clubs go in cycles. Sometimes there needs to be change and sometimes there doesn't, but maybe we have got to that stage where we do need to make changes."
Shorey has a year left on his contract and West Ham are hoping to lure him to Upton Park with a cut-price £2.5million bid.
The Hammers offered £4million for the England left-back last August but this was immediately rejected by Coppell.
However, with only one year left on his current deal and Reading in the Championship, they may be forced to accept less for the club's second longest serving player.
Aston Villa and Newcastle are also reported to be monitoring the situation, while Sunderland are considering a renewed £3million approach for player-of-the-year Stephen Hunt.
Leroy Lita's days at the Madejski Stadium are numbered after he was sent on loan to Charlton and flop record signing Emerse Fae will also be allowed to leave.
Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann believes some of his team-mates were not as determined to avoid relegation as others.
Hahnemann claims some players were less motivated to avoid the drop as they were already intent on leaving the Madejski Stadium at the end of the season.
"I think some people might not be as devastated as I am - it might be because of personal situations with some guys leaving," he told BBC Radio Berkshire.
"But you have to play well to leave and I don't know if a lot of guys did themselves any favours."
Hahnemann insists Coppell must remain as manager and admits Reading deserved to go down.
"We all want Steve to stay. We got into the Premier League and we had a great season in the Premier League with him, so of course we want him to stay," he said.
"You don't need to look at the beginning of the year - you have to look at the last couple of months of the season when we just didn't perform well enough.
"We lost to Fulham at home, drew with Wigan and lost to Spurs, so yes, we beat Derby, but Fulham won four out of five and they deserve to stay up and we deserve to go down."
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