Published: Thursday, 11th June, 2009 12:20pm

Rodgers hails new backroom staff

by Anthony Smith

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Staying: Goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo has been offered a new deal by Reading.

BRENDAN Rodgers believes he has the perfect blend of backroom staff to guide Reading to promotion.

Royals are set to unveil their new-look set-up of Frank Lampard snr, Dean Austin and Karl Halabi before the end of the week.

Lampard will come in as a coach and football consultant, Austin as assistant manager and Halabi as a sport scientist and psychologist.

The trio replace Wally Downes, Kevin Dillon and Kunle Odetoyinbo who were part of Steve Coppell"s old regime.

Rodgers said: 'It"s so important to get the group dynamics right at a club. We had that at Watford and for me a winning team is 100% all about the culture.

'It needs to be spot on and I believe we have got a good mix of experience, energy and ambition which are very important qualities. It will be great to have them on board and I"m sure Reading fans will quickly appreciate the work they put in.'

The new trio assisted Rodgers at Watford and helped turn them from relegation candidates into a solid, mid-table side.

Lampard, 60, brings a wealth of experience with him. He played more than 500 games for West Ham then became assistant manager to Harry Redknapp when the likes of Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe were rising through the ranks.

Austin, 39, had a brief coaching spell at Southend United before the ex-Totteham defender joined Rodgers at Vicarage Road in November last year.

Halabi, 37, also followed Rodgers to Watford from Chelsea at the same time and is now set to move back to Reading.

Halabi knows Royals well having been a schoolboy on the club"s books in the early 1990s. He also worked with the Academy when Rodgers was in charge.

'I"m very happy with the set-up,' explained Rodgers. 'Frank is a good man with big experience. His son is one of the best midfielders in the world, his commitment is unswerving and he will give his all for Reading.

'The same can be said for Dean Austin who is a lovely guy. He played at a very high level and he has an excellent relationship with players and knows how to get the best out of them.

'Karl will also bring a lot of skills. He was a youth team player at Reading and his sports science work fits in well with how I want us to work, which will be football-based.'

Two coaches to survive the cull - reserve team coach Nigel Gibbs and goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo - have now been offered new contracts.

There were rumours that Gibbs was a serious contender to replace Rodgers at Watford having made more than 400 appearances for them as a player.

But the 43-year-old is set to stay and Rodgers added: 'Nigel Gibbs has worked closely with the team and knows a lot of the players inside out. We"re delighted to keep him on board.

'Sal has also done a superb job here. When I was at Chelsea the general thought was that Reading"s goalkeepers were developing as good as any in the country and obviously Sal was heavily involved in all that.

'I now believe I have all the support around me I need for the task ahead.'