Paul Clement ready to put his 'burning ambition' to use in bid to rescue Reading

Reading are demanding he calls on both his survival and trophy-winning knowledge to save the side from the drop and then return them to the Premier League within three years

Paul Clement also said he'd call use his past experiences to save Reading (Getty)

Paul Clement is a relatively young man desperately drawn to succeed in football. He will be hooked for life if he lives up to his and Reading's expectations as their new manager.

Clement, 46, is the former Derby and Swansea head coach, once assistant to Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. He started at youth and academy levels so hardly lacks experience at all layers of the game.

And Reading are demanding he calls on both his survival and trophy-winning knowledge having sacked Jaap Stam to give Clement eight games to keep the club in the Championship and then three years to reach the Premier League.

For a side that sits three points above the relegation zone after one win in 18 matches, it will be a feat to possibly surpass his success in talking Swansea to safety from the bottom of the top flight last season.

“I think managers always have a point to prove," he conceded. "I have a burning ambition to be successful and I will be the judge if whether or not I am successful.

“I've had wonderful experiences at various levels as an assistant and manager and in challenging times you gain experience. I now realise how important experience is.

“The immediate aim is to secure the club in the championship with eight games to go. It will be difficult but we will do it as I think they are all winnable games.

“I will draw on what I learn at Swansea, which was my first ever relegation battle.

“On my first day at Swansea we had a game that night and won it. Swansea were bottom so this is a better situation and we will have four good training days with the players next week and will be well prepared for QPR next Friday night.

Clement said he intends to draw upon his experiences at Swansea to help try and turn around Reading's fortunes (Getty)

“Everyone here knows the club has underachieved this season but it is our job to come in, restore confidence and get the players back to playing to their potential.

“Beyond staying up there is a lot of ambition to take the club further forward having been penalty kicks away from promotion to the Premiership last season.

“That is where the owners want to be and that is the ambition I share, so I can coach at that level again.”

Apart from fastidiously tidying his house, cleaning his car and tending to the lawn, Clement has used his three-month post-Swansea hiatus to learn more from sporting experts, including a trip earlier this week to Los Angeles.

It was there he spent time with the LA Rams' Sean McVay, at 30 the youngest coach in NFL history.

“I have always been interested in American sport and culture, particularity NFL and their levels of intensity and organisation. It has given me ideas to taken into my own style here."

A call from Reading chief executive, a former Chelsea colleague, on behalf of the club's Chinese owners, brought him back to sign on the dotted line in England within 48 hours of initial contact.

For Clement does not lack self-confidence, as betrayed when talking about his eight-month debut full managerial role at Derby.

“I was treated well there, but I think if given longer I would have got them promoted,” he argued. “We were fifth and five points off the top with 16 games to go. I believe Derby would be in the Premiership now if I had stayed.”