Jaap Stam says his reputation would have been tarnished had he struggled in his first season at Reading but insists being appointed the club’s manager last summer was a risk for both parties. Stam has steered Reading to Monday’s Championship play-off final against Huddersfield, beyond all expectations, and believes his team have benefited from his decision to play the Dutch way.
Stam signed a three-year contract with a long-term objective of reaching the Premier League, but the Dutchman has led the club – who finished 17th and 19th in the past two seasons – to within touching distance of the top flight at express speed. His only previous management experience came as an assistant at PEC Zwolle and Jong Ajax, the under-21 side of Ajax.
“It’s always up to the clubs over whether they take that risk to employ someone from abroad, a young manager as well, you just need to get that chance,” Stam said. “Everyone needs that and I needed to make a decision whether I wanted that. It is not only other people [who had to make a decision] but myself as well. Do I want that? Is it good for myself?
“I have a reputation and name myself, everyone knows that. But I believe in myself as well. Even the other managers are at risk if you go somewhere and think what will happen if it doesn’t work out. What then? Will it ruin my name? You need to go in, work hard and believe in yourself, that’s what’s happened this season.”
Regardless of whether Reading clinch promotion or not, he is determined to manage at the same level he played at. “I want to go to the top – I’ve played at the top – and as a manager I want to go to the top, hopefully with Reading,” Stam said. “It is important for me to believe in a team that has ambition. I want to go up and work towards something. I don’t want to work in the grey areas and say it is nice to end up 10th or 11th and keep on doing that every year. I want to reach something with a team and go to the highest level.”
The 44-year-old has had to contend with a now-completed Chinese takeover hanging over the club for the majority of the season but believes his biggest challenge since returning to England was implementing his Dutch philosophy.
“How they have been playing in the last two season was different to how we wanted: playing possession, going forward, controlling games and creating chances and scoring goals. The Dutch way, attacking football. In the UK the thoughts of playing a certain way were maybe dangerous. That’s how we wanted to do it.”