Top notch boss decides enough is enough!
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It appears that the Toffees were either outbid or failed to land a number of transfer targets this summer. Everton fans certainly don’t appear to be particularly happy with the lack of activity on deadline day, and it appears as though it will be an uphill struggle to finish in fifth place again this season. This midfielder could have certainly helped the team if they’d managed to land him. [Read the rest of this entry »]

It’s not much fun losing your best players. Nevertheless, it’s a fact of life for any football club, unless you’re a Manchester United, a Chelsea or a Barcelona. Reading manager Steve Coppell has seen the likes of Steven Sidwell, Dave Kitson and Nicky Shorey leave the club since he’s been at the helm, and it appears that the vultures are circling once again. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Reading are among the favourites to win next season’s Championship, although their hopes of making an immediate return to the Premier League have been seriously dented today. While Steve Coppell was hopeful of keeping hold of one of his star players, the lure of playing in the top flight has proved too much for this England international. [Read the rest of this entry »]

The last time Reading were in the Championship, they collected 106 points and stormed to the title. The Royals lost just two games on their way to automatic promotion and looked for all the world like a Premier League team. Sadly, after one brilliant season in the top flight, they are back in the division from whence they came, although fans will be delighted to see that Steve Coppell has decided to stick around as manager.

There had been speculation that the former Manchester City and Crystal Palace manager would step down at the end of the season, especially after falling through the relegation trapdoor. However, the Daily Mirror report that the scouser has decided to take a massive pay-cut and finish the job he has started at the Madejski Stadium.

He said: “The last thing I want to be remembered for at Reading is for a relegation. I wanted the chance to put it right. Now our motivation is to try to make next season memorable for all the right reasons.”

Are you betting on Reading to repeat their triumph of 2004/5, when they took the division by storm? It llargely depends on keeping hold of Dave Kitson, Kevin Doyle and James Harper but to name a few. You’d certainly expect the Berkshire club to be in and around the top six next term, although Sheffield United and Charlton proved last season that relegated clubs have no divine right to these placings.

Kevin Keegan came out after Newcastle’s 0-2 loss to Chelsea and said that he could not turn the Toon into a Big Four team again within the three years his contract lasts for. Such talk has landed him in hot water with owner Mike Ashley, who has called him down to London for “crisis talks” today.

Since his emotional outburst though, it turns out that Portsmouth Manager Harry Redknapp and Reading manager Steve Coppell both actually agree with him, with Harry quoted as saying:

“You would need £150million to spend to have any chance of breaking into that top four, Look at Liverpool last summer, they spent £28million on Fernando Torres and he is a fantastic player but who else can compete with that?
I agree with Kevin Keegan, I do not see any way that anyone else can break into the top four. Tottenham came closest for a few seasons but if you look at them now they have fallen back into mid-table. Nothing is guaranteed by spending money and it is getting harder and harder to get there.”

And Coppell today saying:

“I have been saying that for a long time. At the start of the season you know within four teams definitely, probably within three and most betting people would say within two teams who is going to win the league, I contradict myself by saying it is brilliant to watch these teams do well in Europe but they have too much of an advantage on a week-to-week basis for it to be a really competitive league.
There are sub-divisions within the league that are competitive but in terms of winning the division you know who is going to do that at the start of each year.”

Are they right? Is the Premier League boring or just predictable? Should the Top Four be booted into an Elite Euro League? Should the Champion’s League rules be changed? Surely something needs to change or the fans will vote with their feet.

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The heat is on at the bottom of the Premier League after a Bolton win meant it’s a three-horse race to the Championship that nobody wants to win. Although Reading put up a deent second-half performance away at Arsenal on Saturday, it wasn’t enough to stop them losing 2-0 and manager Steve Coppell appears to be feeling the pressure.

Sky Sports report that Coppell is unhappy that Alexander Hleb got away with slapping Graeme Murty during the match, when a red card should apparently have been brandished instead. His captain was knocked to the floor as a result, with the officials taking a leaf out of the Arsenal manager’s book and ‘not seeing anything’.

Coppell said: “Hleb slapped him across the neck and it is clearly visible on the video. It is there to see.

“I don’t know how the procedure is at the Football Association. It seems some mystery man phones in and says ‘have a look at the tape’.

“The whole process is unexplainable and arbitrary. Maybe someone in their front room somewhere will do something about it.”

It’s getting tight at the foot of the Premier League table, with just one point seperating Birmingham from Bolton and Reading. It appeared that the Royals had hauled themselves clear a few weeks ago, but last week’s defeat at home to Fulham means the prospect of returning to the Championship is a very real one.

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Reading decided to offload striker Leroy Lita to Charlton Athletic on loan for a month and for all those who might still be bemused as to why and how this move came to fruition, here is the reason from Reading manager Steve Coppell’s own mouth:

Leroy has been very, very frustrated.

He’s started a number of games this season and not scored many goals. He’s been frustrated recently when I’ve selected a front two who haven’t scored, carried on choosing them and he’s not got a sniff.

Just by chance, this week I was speaking to Alan Pardew and Leroy’s name was mentioned. It just seemed to me to be almost a logical thing.

There’s an element of risk, I know that. If we get an injury at the weekend, we’d be left a striker short and the risk I’ve taken would have been unnecessary.

But Leroy being here and frustrated isn’t helping him, or us. Now he’s got a chance to go there, fight for his place and hopefully play.

We have four strikers, he wouldn’t have started Saturday, so it seemed the right thing to do.

Last season, Lita was one of the best players for Reading but this season he has failed to capture his old form and is supposedly not wanted by Coppell anymore. Lita has started just 7 Premier League games this season and let’s hope that his stint at The Valley does him some good.

Reading accomplished a vital 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in the English Premier League on Saturdayand although the Royals remain third from bottom in the table, they have gathered some much needed morale and form with these 3 points.

Reading manager Steve Coppell, who was sounding pretty much downbeat ahead of the relegation 6-pointer, is now optimistic again after bagging all 3 points away from home. Coppell says:

When you’ve gone so long without winning, when you eventually do, the feeling is just a huge sigh of relief.

Middlesbrough played 120 minutes in midweek, and if that was going to be a factor in the game, it was going to be in the last 10-15 minutes, and that proved to be the case.

From my point of view, my players stuck in there all the time. It’d be easy after the run we’ve had to be soft-centred but we were hard today, we kept going, and we just got a break at the death.

Reading are third from bottom only on goal difference but their first away win in the league this season should certainly motivate them. Indeed some would even suggest that Reading are just too good to go down.

After suffering 8 successive defeats in the English Premier League, Reading are battling relegation and are one of the most likely sides to drop down into the Championship at the end of the season. Although they have a capable enough manager in Steve Coppell, the harsh naked truth is that the team is simply not performing as it did last season.

And this is a worrying factor for Coppell who has admitted that the Royals could lose their Premiership status at the end of the season should results not improve dramatically. He says:

I’m in sh***y waters! It is a lot smellier than muddy waters – and it is clingy.Something has got to change. The difference between our reserve team and our first team is not a lot. There is not a great deal of daylight between 20-odd players in this squad. I’ve been waiting for a victory so that the first-team players can distance themselves to give them some authority – but that has not come. I’m at liberty to change all 11 if I feel the need.There have been calls for Leroy Lita to be recalled to The Royals’ starting line-up, however, Coppell has stated the striker has had chances and not taken them. Leroy has had chances this year, but he hasn’t scored either.I’ve had a lot of conversations with players who believe they should be playing and this will be an opportunity for them. I erase personalities from situations like this. I look at past performances and use my gut feeling.

Last season Reading were the surprise package and much was expected this time around. Too bad that they have lost much of their momentum and weight since the summer. Can they avoid the drop to the second tier of English football this time? Let’s wait and watch.

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Reading have lost 7 Premiership games on the trot and besides equalling a dubious record from this perspecive, they are also tethering on the brink of relegation. The Royals play Aston Villa in the Premiership on Saturday and manager Steve Coppell has admitted that he did think of axing several of his first team players.

Coppell says:

It would be a knee-jerk reaction if I did that.

I am very analytical about the games and watch them a number of times, and in the cold light of day you see what actually happened rather than what your emotions were telling you.

Sometimes after a game, you go into the office and say to yourself, `I’m going to make six changes next week’.

But then you realise although it might make me and the fringe players feel better, it won’t help the team and to fulfil our potential we have got to have a really strong finish to this season.

That is the only thing I am interested in. I don’t deal in personalities, I do what I think is best for the team.

Last season Reading came within a whisker of European qualification but this time around they are struggling for survival? Can they maintain their prized place in the Premiership?

Reading manager Steve Coppell is appearing to be in a state of confidence with an aura of optimism enveloping him. Reading host high-flying and UEFA Cup hopefuls Aston Villa in the Premiership this weekend and the Royals boss is welcoming the return of several key players for the match.

Coppell says:

After the Cup Of Nations we have a healthy squad, I think 27 people are training at the moment. That’s a reflection of us not having injuries, there’s only Glen (Little) and Bryn (Brynjar Gunnarsson) right now. I can’t ask more in that respect.

But the fact that everyone is fit doesn’t help me pick the team. The team doesn’t jump out at you.

I don’t think there have been many claims from a performance point of view, be it first team or reserves.

The reserves had a great result last week, but prior to that there haven’t been performances on a daily basis which demanded that people be playing.

It’s a hard team to pick. There will be a few disappointed but I hope that translates to determination to get in the side.

After the number of defeats we’ve had, I could fully justifiably pick any team.

An embarrassment of riches for Coppell, it seems. Yet given that Reading are actually 18th in the table and have lost their last 6 matches, you would sympathise with Coppell’s upbeat mood.

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Reading are in serious, serious danger of dropping down through the yawning trapdoor into the Championship at the end of the season and there must be a few who would put their money on the Royals getting rid of manager Steve Coppell. But they might as well alter their mindset after reading these words of the Reading chairman John Madejski:

Steve’s position is rock solid. I’m confident we will not go down because of the spirit we have here.

So Coppell will be in charge of Reading come what may. And he derserves it since without him, the Royals wouldn’t have been playing in the Premiership ay all.

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Reading are in the relegation zone and Marcus Hahnemann has issued a rallying cry of sorts to his team-mates. It’s been a horrible 2008 for the Royals, who have lost their last seven league matches and the Reading Post report that their keeper wants the squad to show they have the stomach (and another part of their anatomy) for a fight.

Hahnemann said: “It (being in the bottom three) shouldn’t change anything. We haven’t had good results, but the performance was good. They scored the goal, though, and we were a bit unlucky.

“If we played every game like this we wouldn’t be in 18th position. That’s the bottom line. We haven’t played like we did today all season.

“There is extra pressure on us, so now we’ll find out who has got the balls to handle it. It’s as simple as that.

“If we don’t put in performances like that and people are too scared to play and people do the wrong things at times then we’re going to be relegated.”

Reading surprised everyone last season when they finished eighth and, although it’s lazy to cite second-season syndrome as a reason for their lowly position this term, they need to somehow grab a win very quickly to avoid being cut adrift with the Derby’s and the Fulham’s of this world.

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According to reports, Reading Chairman John Madejski believes that his team can stave off relegation and continue to mix it with the ‘big boys’ in the Premier League. Whilst it is hard to gauge manager Steve Coppell’s feelings with his Sphinx-like visage, chairman Madejski wears his heart on his sleeve (let’s just hope he doesn’t use that same sleeve to wipe away the snot and tears caused by relegation.) Madejski said:

‘Sometimes things conspire against you for a wee while – but there is spirit in the camp and the kind of football we are playing is good – Sir Alex Ferguson is backing us to stay up.

‘We have great talent and determination and we will get out of this situation.’

Oh, why didn’t you tell us this in the first place?!? The Lord of the Ferg is backing Reading to stay up? Surely they’ll beat the drop now!

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Reading might have been a revelation in the English Premier League last season but this time around the harsh reality that survival in top flight English football is the only priority is swiftly sinking in. The Royals were beaten by fellow relegation candidates Bolton Wanderers in the Premiership on Saturday and the result has inspired Bolton to 13th in the table while Reading slip to just one from third and more agonizingly just 1 place and 1 point above safety.

The ever pragmatic and intelligent Reading manager Steve Coppell admits to The Independent that relegation to the Championship is a serious threat now. Coppell says:

We can’t beat about the bush. Avoiding relegation is our only target. With 14 games still to go we have a real struggle on our hands. I haven’t had that at Reading but what a great challenge and we have got to rise to it. I have felt for a long time that any three from eight or nine could go down. Now we are significantly one of the three.

Will Reading be able to escape the drop his season? They haven’t really been crap this season; so are they too good to go down?

Good news for Reading fans. The BBC reports that striker Stephen Hunt has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with the English Premier League club that will sustain him at the Madejski Stadium until 2011 summer.

The Republic of Ireland is one of the key players in Steve Coppell’s exciting team and everyone at the club is happy that Hunt has decided to commit himself long-term to the Royals. Hunt himself is buoyed by the fact that the love affair between him and the club will last long.

Hunt says:

I am very pleased to sign this new deal and show my commitment to Reading. This club can keep going forward and I want to play my part in that process.

Reading’s performance in the last one and a half season certainly augurs optimism in the long term. But exactly how far can the Royals go?

Four seasons ago, Dave Kitson was playing for Cambridge United in League Two, yet he’s proven himself as Premier League class this term with eight goals scored to date. The Guardian now report that his Reading manager has backed the flame-haired striker for an England call-up, something that would surely constitute a shock, even taking into account the single-mindedness of new England manager Fabio Capello.

“Kits would give any team something that other combinations wouldn’t. He is good in the air, can use his left and right foot and has decent pace and knowledge of the game,” he said.

“He has got a spark – he is different. He is a target man yet he is subtle. The bigger men now have skills on the floor, it is not just about being a head on a stick. From a skill point of view he could play at any level, no problem.”

The striker does appear to have a flip side however. He was sent off within minutes of coming on as a substitute in the Royals opening day game at Old Trafford, has spoken out negatively regarding the FA Cup and recently received a driving ban. Will Kits really be given a chance to play at the highest level?

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It’s not always easy for a club manager to praise one of his former players, especially when that player is about to face his team. Yet Reading’s Steve Coppell turns out to be different.

Goal.com quotes the Royals manager as saying that although Steve Sidwell didn’t manage to carve out a first-team place for him at Chelsea, he is now coming to the fore. Coppell praises the one-time Arsenal youngster in lofty terms, saying:

”His time at Chelsea has been more or less what he predicted. He knew it would be a struggle to get into the team but during the African Nations Cup he would have more of a chance and that’s the way it has transpired. I went to watch the game at Wigan and thought he was terrific. He is feeling more comfortable on the stage and will show more and more what he is capable of. It was a move (the move from Reading to Chelsea in the summer) he couldn’t turn down. You can look back in years to come and say ‘I should have done this, that and the other’ but if any of the elite four come in for one of your players then you are in trouble because it is irresistible for a player.

”It was the same with Siddy, who was honourable in all his dealings with us. He told me more than a year in advance what he was going to do and stuck to his guns. It would have been easy for him to bail out and not risk his future by going into tackles but he didn’t and every Reading fan appreciated his contribution. He worked hard and was 100% committed.”

Reading travel to Chelsea on Wednesday in a Premier League match. This season Reading are not flying high in the league as they did last time around but they are still holding on. However, Coppell’s modest side haven’t won an away game this season and beating the Blues at Stamford Bridge would be miles away from being easy since Avram Grant’s team haven’t lost at home in 74 matches. Sidwell is likely to feature in the match – and on form, he should be on the winning side.

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Will Leroy Lita find another Premier League club? After all, it appears his days at Reading are numbered after the striker spoke out about his lack of first-team action on the BBC website. The England Under-21 international has managed just one goal for the Royals this season, after being used sparingly by manager Steve Coppell.

“I’ve already missed half of the season and I don’t want that to continue,” said Lita. “If I’m not going to get the opportunity here then I have to leave.”

Lita added: “The gaffer doesn’t think I’m good enough but I believe I can play in this team.

“I just haven’t had the chance to show what I can do and I’ve not been given the opportunity.”

However, when given the opportunity last week at Tottenham, Lita passed it up.

“The gaffer said I didn’t want to play but that wasn’t accurate.

“I said to him if I’m going to move on I’d like to not be cup-tied, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to play.”

Yes it was Leroy. Do you think a Manchester United or a Chelsea are going to come in for you? After all, these are the sort of teams that go on a Cup run, not the clubs that you’re good enough to play for. By playing, the forward could at least have put himself in the shop window.

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