Stam’s threat to quit Royals
JAAP STAM has threatened to resign his position as Reading manager because of uncertainty over the club’s ownership.
Reading’s Thai owners have been in talks with a Chinese consortium for the past three months but the takeover looks to have fallen through.
And that has left Stam in a state of flux over his future.
The former Manchester United defender said: “I don’t know what’s happening, I haven’t spoken about it for weeks.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, which I think is very important for myself and for the club.
“If you want to do something, you need to have a plan for what you eventually want to achieve. You need to know what you’re going to do with the team, the staff and the structure of the club.
“If it’s not clear where we are going towards the end of the season then people need to make up their minds for what they want to do.”
Stam’s contract comes to an end at the end of this season and, so far, Reading are stalling on offering him a new deal.
But the Dutchman claimed that specific issue was not something that is fazing him right at the moment, instead focusing on whether the owners have a plan in place should they fail to reach the Premier League.
He said: “My contract is not on my mind at the minute. I’m not thinking about contracts yet, but I’m thinking about the future – it’s very important for myself.
“My ambition is clear: making steps within a couple of seasons to go to the Premier League. There needs to be a plan in getting there.
“But is there a plan if we don’t go up, can we make changes over players or certain things and what happens then?
“I need to think about it and if that’s what I want.” JOSE MOURINHO has defended world-record signing Paul Pogba in the face of mounting criticism over his Manchester United form, especially from former players.
The United manager, preparing for tonight’s Europa League clash with Russian side Rostov at Old Trafford, says the midfielder does not care about the flak coming his way.
But Mourinho launched an impassioned plea for perspective when it comes to the treatment of the France international signed for £89million from Juventus in the summer.
Mourinho accepts such harsh analysis is to be expected in the modern age of social media, but reserved his most damning critique for former players who now make their living as pundits.
Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher and even former United favourite Phil Neville have all weighed into Pogba in recent weeks, especially
It is not his fault he gets so much more than they did
in the wake of Monday’s FA Cup exit at Chelsea.
Mourinho did not name anyone in particular, but it was clear he has contempt for those critics he feels are driven by little more than jealousy.
“It is not Paul’s fault that he gets 10 times the money some players did in the past,” said Mourinho. “It is not his fault that some pundits are in real trouble with their lives and need every coin to survive and Paul is a multi-millionaire. It is not his fault.
“So I am really, really worried with the previous generations that things are going in such a direction that envy is everywhere.
“I am very happy with Paul and the club is very happy with Paul. And because of his personality he doesn’t care about what people say.”
Mourinho has come out in support of under-fire players before, but the scale of his defence of Pogba is unprecedented. “I ❑ JOSE MOURINHO’S complaints about the playing surface at Rostov’s Olimp-2 stadium, right, may have fallen on deaf ears at UEFA but not the Russian Premier League, who have banned matches on it until it is brought up to scratch..“The identified shortcomings must be eliminated and the field brought into line with established requirements,” said the league. Mourinho described the pitch as “unplayable” before last week’s first leg. (4-2-3-1) DE GEA; VALENCIA, SMALLING, JONES, ROJO; HERRERA, FELLAINI; MATA, POGBA, MKHITARYAN; IBRAHIMOVIC. (4-4-2) MEDVEDEV; TERENTYEV, MEVLJA, CESAR NAVAS, KUDRYASHOV; KIREYEV, NOBOA, PREPELITA, YEROKHIN; POLOZ, BUKHAROV. REF: G Mazeika (LTU) TV: BT Sport 2 KICK-OFF: 8.05pm