Boss: "We're bitterly disappointed"
Posted on: Mon 12 May 2008
Reading manager Steve Coppell couldn't find the words to console distraught players, who despite storming to a 4-0 victory, couldn't cling onto their Premier League status.
"We're obviously bitterly disappointed. That's a huge understatement.
"The dressing room is a very sad place at the moment.
"It's difficult to know what to say to ease their pain. I'm at a loss for words for that.
"There's no comfort in words at the moment. It's just a numb feeling.
"I think we've brought some good stuff to the Premiership. It's just a shame it has ended this way."
Coppell admitted that he thought three points this afternoon would suffice. But it wasn't to be.
"I must admit, I felt all along that if we could get three points here, it would be enough.
"But at the end of it all you have to give huge respect to Roy [Hodgson] and Fulham.
"I know that we wouldn't have been looking forward to going to Portsmouth today.
"The run they've had has been terrific. I don't know how they played, but they had to go there and get a result. They did and that's to their credit.
"I've been in these situations before, so I just sensed what was happening. I heard the Derby fans singing so it was fairly obvious what was going on.
"Somebody had told me it was two nil at one point, and that was obviously a real dampener.
"But, like I said all week, all we can do is win our game and trust in the integrity of the league.
"That's what we had to do. The number one priority was the only thing we could control and that was winning the game.
"I thought we did our bit. The players showed what it meant to them."
Without wanting to make excuses, Coppell pinpointed little things that may have made a big difference in making Reading's second season much more difficult than it should have been.
"Playing Derby on the last day of the season, did put us at a little bit of a disadvantage.
"And also, harking back to the international breaks this year, we've had hellishly long journeys after five of those six international interludes.
"We were sent to Sunderland, Bolton, Blackburn...no other team had so many long distance away games and I think that was a disadvantage as well.
"They were little things - but we're talking about fine margins.
"And we had our opportunities. Both Bolton and Fulham took six points off us this season.
"The golden rule at the bottom is you've got to beat the teams around you and we didn't do that enough."
"We're obviously bitterly disappointed. That's a huge understatement.
"The dressing room is a very sad place at the moment.
"It's difficult to know what to say to ease their pain. I'm at a loss for words for that.
"There's no comfort in words at the moment. It's just a numb feeling.
"I think we've brought some good stuff to the Premiership. It's just a shame it has ended this way."
Coppell admitted that he thought three points this afternoon would suffice. But it wasn't to be.
"I must admit, I felt all along that if we could get three points here, it would be enough.
"But at the end of it all you have to give huge respect to Roy [Hodgson] and Fulham.
"I know that we wouldn't have been looking forward to going to Portsmouth today.
"The run they've had has been terrific. I don't know how they played, but they had to go there and get a result. They did and that's to their credit.
"I've been in these situations before, so I just sensed what was happening. I heard the Derby fans singing so it was fairly obvious what was going on.
"Somebody had told me it was two nil at one point, and that was obviously a real dampener.
"But, like I said all week, all we can do is win our game and trust in the integrity of the league.
"That's what we had to do. The number one priority was the only thing we could control and that was winning the game.
"I thought we did our bit. The players showed what it meant to them."
Without wanting to make excuses, Coppell pinpointed little things that may have made a big difference in making Reading's second season much more difficult than it should have been.
"Playing Derby on the last day of the season, did put us at a little bit of a disadvantage.
"And also, harking back to the international breaks this year, we've had hellishly long journeys after five of those six international interludes.
"We were sent to Sunderland, Bolton, Blackburn...no other team had so many long distance away games and I think that was a disadvantage as well.
"They were little things - but we're talking about fine margins.
"And we had our opportunities. Both Bolton and Fulham took six points off us this season.
"The golden rule at the bottom is you've got to beat the teams around you and we didn't do that enough."
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