Stam: Even Top Ten Difficult For Reading FC

Reading manager Jaap Stam has urged for the club to be realistic about their expectations for the upcoming season.

Speaking to The Guardian, he says:

“We have to be honest with ourselves. Nobody can expect Reading for next season to get promotion or get into the play-offs.

“Aston Villa are back and Newcastle, Norwich and many other big teams are in this league. It would be nice to get into the top 10 but even that is going to be a hard job.”

He also spoke about the recent renaming of the North Stand to the Eamonn Dolan Stand, and the importance of The Royals’ academy.

“I think it’s very good to do something special for him. The youth academy, for a club like Reading, is very important because we do not have the finances at the moment like big clubs like the Newcastles to buy big players to try to win the league.

“We want to be bringing players from the academy and bring them through to the first team. Hopefully we can keep it up like how it has been going and hopefully get a lot of talented players into the first-team squad. I hope we can enjoy to see them play – and you never know what will happen after that.”

Media coverage of Reading Football Club has noticeably increased since the arrival of Stam, with another interview given to The Times behind a paywall.

Stam will make his debut as a first team manager when Reading come up against Preston North End in the opening round of fixtures in the English Football League Championship this weekend.

Read the full interview in The Guardian here.