Former Reading FC Boss Brian McDermott: Jaap Stam Has Done A Fantastic Job

Reading have had a horrible start to the season under the cloud of a Play-Off Final hangover - we’ve seen this before, right? We absolutely have.

Even those of us with the shortest of memories will recall the horror show that was the opening months of Reading’s 2011/12 campaign. After guiding the club to Wembley the previous May, Brian McDermott was facing calls from the fanbase to be sacked.

The similarities between then and now aren’t lost on many, certainly not the man himself: Brian McDermott. The former Slough boss, who managed Reading between 2009 and 2013, and later in the 2015/16 season, said as much to BBC Berkshire:

"After six games, I think we also had one win, one draw and four defeats and in this day and age, that can be enough to get you the sack. But, we went on to win the league that year.”

He Who Used To Manage Slough is thoroughly in the ‘Stam In’ camp, and believes that the current gaffer can turn things around, McDermott style.

"There's a long way to go and still so many points to play for and anything can happen in the Championship.

"I look from afar and I have to say, the manager's done a fantastic job there.

"The summer he came in, I know he had a huge rebuilding job to do. He brought the club within a penalty kick of the Premier League in his first season, which is an unbelievable job."

Reading are, like they were six years ago (wow, times flies), in a bit of a mess on the field. Morale is still low after the Wembley defeat, key players Ali Al-Habsi and Danny Williams were big losses and the summer signings haven’t quite gelled yet.

That said, if those problems are remedied, I can’t help but feel there’s still plenty of potential in this side. Is there enough potential in it to win the league? Probably not, but we thought something similar in 2011.

PS/ Make sure to check out the full audio of McDermott’s interview with BBC Berkshire, which you can find here.