Published: Thursday, 15th May, 2008 9:00am

Dillon confident Coppell will stay

by Anthony Smith

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Staying put: Reading coach Kevin Dillon is confident Steve Coppell will stay following speculation over the manager's future.

ROYALS coach Kevin Dillon firmly believes manager Steve Coppell will be back in the hotseat next season to mastermind another promotion challenge in the Championship.

Coppell is due to meet the club's board tomorrow (Friday) after spending the week mulling over his future.

While most managers get the chop after leading a club to relegation, Coppell has the widespread backing of everyone from chairman John Madejski down.

Dillon revealed: "I have spoken to Steve about his plans but that will remain private. No matter what people say, Steve is the only one who can give an answer, and I'm sure there will be one before the end of the week.

"It is his decision and the only thing I would say is that he signed a two-year contract and has one year left.

"I've never known him to go against something like that. Personally, I hope he sees out his contract - and then signs another one.

"I will respect whatever decision he makes. All Steve Coppell asks is that you do your job to the best of your ability, he doesn't owe anybody anything.

"He's done an unbelievable job at this club. He's as good a manager as we've ever had."

Royals fans are desperate to sway Coppell's decision and 300 of them descended on the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday in an emotional show of support.

They waved banners and left heartening messages, while an SOS ­- Save Our Steve - campaign has also been launched on Facebook.

"That gathering outside the ground was unbelievable," added Dillon. "Never in my whole life have I heard of something like that happening when a club is relegated.

"It shows what people think of Steve and how highly they regard him. They realise he is a genuine, dignified person and he is very honest.

"A lot of our players have said they want him to stay and you will not find a single person in football with a bad word to say about him.

"He's old school and he's been well brought up. He's very family orientated and he is still very close to his mam and his sister and he always sees them when we play up north."

Coppell has led Reading to unprecedented success over the last four-and-a-half years.

The Royals clinched the Championship title under him with a record 106 points two years ago and the team finished eighth in its first Premier League season, narrowly missing out on European qualification.

However, the concern now is that Coppell will walk away following this season's relegation, possibly believing he has taken the team as far as he can.

Dillon, though, disagreed: "He's the best manager to get us back to the Premier League, I have no doubt about that.

"He has a very supportive chairman and all this talk about Steve not being given money is rubbish.

"The money was there this season but we couldn't find the players to fit our criteria and we thought the ones we already had here were good enough."