Jaap Stam Nominated For Manager Of The Month

Jaap Stam has been rewarded for rattling off three wins in a row to end January by earning a third nomination for the SkyBet Championship Manager of the Month Award.

The Reading boss was also up for the honour in September and November but lost out to Alex Neil and Steve McClaren respectively. This time around he's up against Neil, Wolves boss Paul Lambert and Cardiff's Neil Warnock.

January was a month of mixed fortunes for Stam, who oversaw a dramatic comeback at Bristol City to kick-off 2017 before an FA Cup exit and back-to-back defeats to QPR and Derby. Fortunately the club have rallied, ending January with wins over Fulham, Cardiff and Birmingham.

We'll find out whether Stam has picked up the award on Friday morning. If he does win, he'll be the first Reading boss to win the honour since Brian McDermott's back-to-back wins in February and March of 2012.

It would be fantastic to see Jaap pick up some recognition but at the same time, do we want to be struck by the 'curse' that seems to haunt the winner, who seems to wind up losing their next game...