STEVE Clarke hopes his decision to speak to Fulham this week will not harm his relationship with Reading FC fans, writes Anthony Smith.

The majority of Royals supporters were left incensed when Clarke opened talks with the Cottagers on Wednesday with a view to succeeding Kit Symons as their manager.

And though the 52-year-old Scot turned down the chance to join Reading's Championship rivals, Royals fans have accused him of showing disloyalty.

However, Clarke hopes the incident will not harm his popularity.

“Obviously you want to be liked,” he said at this morning's delayed press conference at Hogwood Park.

“The supporters are the most loyal people at any football club because they watch week-in-week-out.

“They probably looked at it and thought 'why is he talking to Fulham?' It was a professional decision.

“I've had a lot of good support and the fans have been saying they want me to stay.

“Since I made the decision to stay, they are happy.”

 

 

 

He added: “I can understand the ones who were really angry. They were angry because I was going to leave.

“Now hopefully among that anger they can realise I have made the decision to stay, work with the club and try and get us into the Premier League which is what everybody wants.

“The supporters want that, the players want that and I want that.

“We all have to stick together, go forward and win some football matches.”

Clarke could still face a backlash from disgruntled supporters during Reading's home fixture against Bolton Wanderers at Madejski Stadium tomorrow.

“There will be no more pressure on the players but there might be more pressure on me,” he stressed.

“That's a situation I will have to deal with.”

 

Clarke met with Fulham's representatives on Wednesday, but he says he was never close to agreeing a deal.

“It wasn't close,” he explained. “I got permission from Reading to speak to Fulham. We had a chat, I came back to Reading the next day and was out there on the training pitch working towards this weekend.
“In my mind, I was always closer to Reading than Fulham.”

Clarke also insisted his decision to stay at Madejski Stadium was based purely on football reasons, and he denied the move broke down because Fulham would not meet Reading's compensation demands.

“I had a chat to them but I can't control the fact it spiralled out of control and everybody assumed  I had gone to Fulham,” he said.

“There was nothing I could do about that. The reason is simply that I chose to stay here."

He continued: “You have to go and find out what Fulham's plans are, what they are thinking for the future and whether they can give me something more tempting.

“The answer is 'no'. What I have here at Reading is better. I feel comfortable here and I know I have good support from above which is very important.

“I also have a good group of players, fantastic staff and we all want success for Reading.”

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