STAM & CO AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
BACK IN August reaching the Premier League was the dream for Reading. Now they are just one win away from making it a reality and doing in a year what they had set aside three to achieve. “Did I expect to be here so quickly? No,” admitted Royals sporting director Brian Tevreden. “This is why it was a three-year plan. I was positive we can do a good job here and worked hard to try and convince people, but it has surprised me.” No game is as cruel or as lucrative as the Championship play-off final, which Reading will contest against Huddersfield on Monday. Heartbreak is as close as the £170million jackpot for reaching the Promised Land. Tevreden is only entertaining one of those outcomes. “My thoughts are dominated by getting to the Premier League. If you get to the final you need to play for it,” said Tevreden, pulling the strings at Reading aged just 35. “At the start of the season everybody told us Reading are No.1 to get relegated so it is a massive achievement to be in the final. I am really confident.” Promotion would complete a stunning turnaround since the arrival of Jaap Stam (left) last summer. Last season Reading finished 17th on 52 points. A year on they came third with 85. The possessionbased philosophy Tevreden and fellow Dutchman Stam introduced – inspired by their old club Ajax – has been one key change. Stam’s punishing training sessions, which he often takes part in himself, have also lifted Reading to new levels. Tevreden added: “People are saying, ‘OK, Reading is a serious club now’. We‘ve put ourselves on the map again.”