Published: Thursday, 9th October, 2008 14:00
Five up for Coppell
By Anthony Smith
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Happy anniversary: Steve Coppell has clocked up five years at the Mad Stad.
WITH Reading sitting a mere three points off the top of the Championship in a healthy third position and still boasting a hugely impressive 100% home record, Steve Coppell may be tempted to raise a glass or two, especially tonight of all nights.
It was exactly five years ago today (Thursday) that Coppell arrived at the Madejski Stadium to become the club’s new manager following the acrimonious departure of Alan Pardew.
Now, with Royals well and truly on track for a swift return to the Premier League, you would have thought that plans have been made for an anniversary celebration at Coppell Towers. That, though, is not the way of the club’s most successful manager ever: “I’ll be doing nothing, absolutely nothing,” he grumbled. “To be honest, I didn’t even know it was five years. I knew I joined at around about this time, but I didn’t know the date.”
Coppell has, of course, never been one to go overboard about personal achievements or landmarks. But when he looks back over his reign in Berkshire, he does so with obvious pride at the enormous strides taken under his leadership.
“I remember the day I arrived and the press conference we had,” he recalled. “ I was very anxious but also very excited about what lay ahead. But looking back it’s hard to think it was five years ago. It’s gone so fast.
“The club has come such a long way in that time. The first training session I held was on a field down at
Sonning.
“That used to be our training base. We shared it with Reading Cricket and Hockey Club and, if it clashed with the cricket season, we had to move over to Bradfield College which wasn’t ideal.
“Now, we have a beautiful new training facility at Hogwood, there has been heavy investment in the infrastructure and the Academy and we’ve spent two years in the Premier League. But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We must keep striving for success.”
That’s Coppell in a nutshell. Always looking forward, never dwelling on the past and he treats the club’s encouraging start to the Championship season no differently.
Last Saturday’s bruising 3-1 home win over Burnley made it five straight victories at the Madejski Stadium in which Reading, who are now the leading scorers in England, have plundered 19 goals and conceded just three.
And just last week they finally secured their first win on the road by defeating the then-leaders Wolves 3-0 at Molineux with a stellar performance than tempted chairman John Madejski to roar: “The good times are back.”
But while the feel good factor may have returned, Coppell knows they don’t hand out silverware in October.
“It’s been a good start but I will only be happy if we keep it going,” he stressed. “That’s the big test in this division, doing it over nine months.
“There is no point having a purple patch then immediately ducking out of it. We’re looking for a consistent points accumulation and we’ve got off to a decent start.
“But it’s a very tight division. Teams beat each other with fair regularity and there is going to be that test every week of the season.”
Reading enjoyed a stunning debut season in the top-flight when they finished eighth, just a point behind Bolton and possible UEFA Cup qualification. The following campaign did not go so well and Coppell’s side were relegated on the very last day.
Now Royals have rediscovered that winning feeling again and memories of that doomed season are fading fast. However, give then choice, Coppell knows where he would rather be.
“The Premier league is where we want to play, it’s as simple as that,” he declared. “ I suppose the question is whether we want to be winning games in the Championship or struggling in the division above.
“If people ask me, I will say still playing in the division above every time. That’s where it is at.
“We had those two historic years in the Premier League. But we have also gone backwards again following our relegation last season and our aim is to go back up again and we need to keep our momentum going.”
Royals are on a roll at the moment. Their last league defeat came at Ipswich Town a month ago and since then they have taken 13 points from a possible 15. Now this weekend’s international break threatens to halt their momentum.
“People talk about momentum and yes, we were going well,” argued Coppell. “But we’ve had a large number of games recently so in a way it’s nice to have a change of routine.
“It also gives everyone a chance to lick their wounds and recover from any injuries they have and, from that perspective, I’m sure every club will welcome it.”
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