IT is always sad to see a manager depart a football club, especially a man with such pedigree like Jaap Stam.

The Dutchman was heavily criticised by a fair share of fans and many were relieved to see him exit Reading FC.

However, I can’t help but feel that the Royals have gone back to square one.

Is the plan still to get back into the Premier League by the end of next season? Is there a new plan now?

We don’t know, and we’re unlikely to know, because we rarely get to speak to anyone at the club.

In his first season, Jaap massively exceeded everyone’s expectations - including his own, I believe - and Reading were cruelly beaten in the Championship play-off final.

This season has obviously been a different story, the play-off hangover shattered the start of the campaign and things just haven’t picked up.

I have no doubt that Jaap will go on to find another club and become a successful manager, I hope he learns from this experience and I’m sure he will.

But let’s not remember Jaap for this season, let’s focus on the good moments that include Yann Kermorgant’s prolific goal scoring, the play-off semi-final win over Fulham and the host of Academy players he introduced to the first-team squad.