Hornets hotseat for Silva
Reading gaffer is ready to give his players a right Royal clump if they don’t perform Ally pally with Cats
READING stars know they will get a blast of the hairdryer that Jaap Stam inherited from Sir Alex Ferguson if they don’t turn it on at Wembley.
The Royals take on Huddersfield in the Championship play-off final tomorrow with £170million and a place in the Premier League at stake. And woe betide any of their players who don’t put a shift in against David Wagner’s men.
Stam said: “Sometimes you need to get the players sharp because you may think they are not bringing what they should to the team.
“To wake them up, to be very much in their face and aggressive at times can work. I do use it, yes, but not as much as Fergie did.”
Stam, 44, is building a reputation as one of the game’s bright young managers after leading Reading to third in his first season there. Alex, Guus Hiddink, Theo De Jong and Dick Advocaat. I also had managers – even over here – who people think are great managers, but are very bad managers.
“You can learn from bad managers as well, in how they approach the team and think about things you did not like.”
As a player, Stam also won the Champions League and FA Cup with United, the Dutch Eredivisie with PSV, the Coppa Italia with Lazio and was Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1997.
Hard
So, working with players who don’t possess the same natural talent can occasionally be challenging.
Stam added: “Sometimes, when things aren’t working out how you want them to be, it can be hard.
“There have been times when I couldn’t believe they were not seeing how to play and you give them a b******ing every time. But you can’t expect young players to see straight away what you see.
“With the group, I am quite calm, in the sense that I tell them what they need to do, how can they make it easier for themselves in their way of playing.
“We are tough at times as well, if we think it’s necessary.
“From years and years back, you always had managers who gave players a rollicking if it wasn’t working out.
“Sometimes you need to do that – if the player keeps on making the same mistakes, you need to be hard on him.
“But it’s better if you tell the players what they need to do because it’s easier for everybody to say, ‘OK, how? What did I do wrong? What can I do to make it better, to improve?’
“If you give that advice it makes it easier for a player to do it better next time.” MARCO SILVA has agreed a two-year deal to become Watford’s new manager.
The 39-year-old, who quit as Hull boss last week, will officially take charge from July 1, but the work on reshaping his Hornets squad will begin immediately.
Watford held lengthy talks with Silva on Friday when an agreement was reached in principal and a deal was struck yesterday morning.
Watford chairman Scott Duxbury saw off competition from his Crystal Palace counterpart Steve Parish, who was also keen on the Portuguese after Sam Allardyce quit his club last week. Duxbury said: “Marco was one of the most soughtafter head coaches in the Premier League.
“His pedigree and promise speaks for itself with his achievements in top divisions elsewhere across Europe, as well as his work at Hull City last season.
“We are delighted to have secured his services and to be welcoming a head coach of his profile and potential.” ALLY McCOIST is interested in the Sunderland job and the chance to work with Black Cats chief executive Martin Bain.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes and Burton boss Nigel Clough are the bookies’ favourites to succeed David Moyes, who quit last Monday.
But former Sunderland striker McCoist is an outside bet and would welcome a return to management after standing down as Rangers boss in 2014.
The ex-Scotland star was assistant to Walter Smith when Bain was at Ibrox and remains a big admirer of the Black Cats chief.
McCoist said: “He’s the best, believe me. He’s absolutely excellent.
“One, if not the biggest, of my regrets when I was manager at Rangers was the fact that Martin wasn’t able to stay on and I couldn’t work beside him.”