This article originally appeared in the Royals matchday programme on 27th February 2007.

I have to be honest and admit that, like a lot of media pundits, I have been surprised by how well Reading have done this season.

I was a regular here last season and saw a lot of the team. I thought they were young, had lots of energy mixed in with a bit of experience. But I wondered whether they could live with the pace of the Premiership and control a game. Now I feel there are a lot of players in the Reading squad who have now earned the right to say they are Premiership players who can compete at that level.

What has happened here this year seems very consistent with the promotion season. The back five has remained almost the same and it's down to that consistency and team bonding that the team have done so well this season.

I think Reading can be likened to clubs such as Charlton in their size and stature. But the challenge in that means they can't afford an off-season. If they have one, they will go down, and the warning is there to see by how Charlton are struggling this year. You have to be at your best every season.

The draw Reading earned at Old Trafford in the FA Cup was fantastic. I saw Steve Coppell after the game and he said it was an insult that some people criticised him for using players who were reserves. He told me that they were internationals and he felt that some of the media insulted his football club with their criticisms.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to many that I view Steve Coppell as the best manager I ever played for. I say that without any disrespect to any of the others I worked with, but Steve was the best for me. I was in Leicester's reserves when he took me to Crystal Palace, and while he didn't give me any more ability, he built my confidence and the combination with Ian Wright.

It's particularly interesting to talk about Steve ahead of tonight's tie, because it allows me recall Crystal Palace's defeat to Manchester United in the 1990 FA Cup Final.

The 1990 season was special to every single player from that Crystal Palace side. Steve was learning his trade as a manager, and we were learning ours as players. We were young, trying to make a name for ourselves and establish ourselves as footballers in the top flight.

Everyone thought we'd be relegation fodder, and we struggled that first year. We were in the bottom three for a long time, but we never lost heart and had a fantastic team spirit. And we so nearly won the FA Cup.

Steve used to say some great things before games, and I remember him before the semi-final with Liverpool. He told us that everyone was tuning in expecting to watch Liverpool hammer us. He said there were only a hardcore of Palace fans who truly believed we could do it and the rest hoped we might.

He finished by saying that everyone in the changing room had to believe we could beat Liverpool and not to let any negative thoughts in our heads, be positive the whole time.

It was a very emotional game for Steve, being a Scouser and because Liverpool were his team. It was a brilliant match and we beat the best team in the competition, 4-3 after extra time, stopping Liverpool from doing the double.

That year was the last time they won the league and we had knocked the champions out of the cup...what an occasion. But Steve walked straight off the pitch to let the players enjoy the moment - that said it all about him. And he is still just the same, he does his job and does it efficiently.

The final was the biggest occasion I've ever had in my career and one I always look back on and appreciate. For Steve it was massive because of his association with Manchester United. He is one of the few people that goes back there and gets a standing ovation, which you know is heartfelt from the United fans. We wanted to do well for him - to leave Wembley Stadium having made Steve proud that his team had played well.

Wrighty had broken his leg twice that year, but Steve promised him he would play a part in the final. He came on, scored two and we were within seven minutes of winning it. Even to this day it still hurts that Mark Hughes poked one in and we went to extra time and the replay. In the replay we were awful and didn't deserve to win, but we took the biggest club in the world to two games in that final and will never forget it.

After the replay, Steve came in and just told us there was no shame. That we'd taken United to a replay with a team that cost about £100,000. I remember his words so clearly, while everyone was crying...grown men were broken. We opened our leather box and picked up gold medals that said 'runners-up' on the back. It was a horrible feeling because they were so close to saying 'winners' on them.

I see a lot of parallels between Reading and the Palace team of that era. Steve has stamped his mark on both clubs in the same manner. Mark McGhee and Alan Pardew both had a go, and I think a lot of people in the game felt that if Reading ever got up there they would pack the ground out. There is a special atmosphere in the stadium from whenever I've been there this season.

Going back to Steve, I was asked recently whether I thought he could do a good job in managing England, and in mind there is no doubt that he could. He treats players in the right way. He demands a lot, but he helps you as a person and in your life.

I remember quite clearly a conversation he once had with Ian Wright and me. It was at the end of the season and he asked Ian how many goals he'd scored. Ian said "21". Then he asked how many Ian had scored away from home, Wrighty didn't know and guessed at 10, and Steve told him - two.

Steve asked me how many I'd scored and I said 19, then he asked how many away and I didn't know, Steve said "10," and just walked off. Wrighty asked whether the gaffer was saying he didn't try away from home, but Steve just replied, "The stats don't lie Wrighty" and walked off.

Ian said to me, "Know what Brighty, he won't say that to me again." Wrighty upped his tempo after that and made sure he scored home and away. It was an example of the small psychological things that Steve used to do.

Somebody told me the other day that they had gone to meet Steve Coppell. They told me that they were absolutely fascinated by him and that he's funnier than people think. That didn't surprise me, because Steve doesn't like the cameras, but he is a totally different person away from the media spotlight. He's a funny person with a dry sense of humour which doesn't always across on the camera.

Without being over friendly with anybody, he forms a bond with players, and it comes from out and out respect. He was fantastic for me and I know a lot of the boys from that Palace team stay in touch with him.