Jaap Stam won the treble during his first season as a player in England, and although the former Manchester United defender’s first campaign as a manager in the country cannot end in similar glory, there was plenty in this debut here to encourage fans of the Dutchman’s new club. Reading, 17th in the Championship last season, played with style and purpose and deservedly beat Preston thanks to a cunningly worked goal by another impressive new signing, John Swift.
“It was very good to watch, that’s what we’re aiming for,” said Stam. “We’ve only been working for six weeks and you can’t achieve miracles in six weeks but we’re very happy with how we played.”
The beginning of the Stam era coincided with a more poignant milestone, as this was the day on which Reading renamed their stadium’s north stand in honour of Eamonn Dolan, the influential academy manager who died from cancer in June at the age of 48. Fittingly, Reading’s lineup included a beneficiary of Dolan’s tuition, with Jordan Obita stationed at left-back in a side that also featured three players signed since the appointment of Stam. Two Dutch recruits – the centre-back Joey van den Berg and winger Roy Beerens – impressed but Swift outshone them.
The 21-year-old Englishman joined Reading after rejecting an offer to remain at Chelsea, where he made only one senior appearance in two years. His performance here suggests he could blossom at the Madejski as he bestrode central midfield with elegance and menace. Stam did likewise on the sideline, where the burly figure in the sharp shirt and tie was only a pair of shades away from resembling a US secret serviceman, albeit one who spent 90 minutes gesticulating and hollering at his charges. “I wasn’t shouting just for the fun of it,” said the 44-year-old. “If you see things during the game you try to help the players out. I know that sometimes it’s useless because they can’t hear but that’s my nature. That’s how I was as a player and that’s how I am as a manager.”
His team look to be responding well to his pointers so far. They were particularly impressive in the first half, when they played with intensity, precision and classical Dutch width. “We knew how they were going to play but we didn’t press quickly enough and allowed good players to get a rhythm, that was disappointing,” said the visiting manager, Simon Grayson. For a while it seemed Preston would be reprieved by sloppy finishing as Reading spurned several early chances, Swift and Deniss Rakels among the culprits. But after 35 minutes Swift made the breakthrough from a rehearsed corner routine, walloping the ball into the net from 10 yards after Garath McCleary’s low pull-back.
Preston improved in the second half but Daniel Johnson missed their best chance, shooting straight at Ali Al-Habsi in the 54th minute. Then Swift, with an exquisite reverse pass, and McCleary, with a pinpoint cross, created a wonderful chance for Rakels to double Reading’s lead but the striker shot feebly from five yards. There were some dicey moments in the home box late on as the visitors pressed for an equaliser but Reading held out for three points from a performance that augurs well.
