Steve Coppell's agent has revealed that the boss was likely to leave Madejski Stadium at the end of the season, but a groundswell of support saw him change his mind and stay.

Athole Still spoke exclusively to our online TV station Reading World on the day it was announced Coppell is staying, and said our horrendous eight-game losing run almost convinced Steve he should go.

Athole said, "As the season went on, particularly during that terrible eight game run of defeats, he felt he'd let down everybody at the club, the Chairman, the fans and himself.

"At that point he was moving pretty certainly towards going at the end of the season.

"It looked as if there might be relegation, but it wouldn't have just been about that.

"Amazingly, he felt he might have gone even if they'd stayed up because the team had not performed as he wanted. It's a measure of his pride and integrity that he felt that way.

"But it's pride and integrity that will help keep him here, and there are a composite of reasons why he's staying.

"First of all is John Madejski, he's a fantastic Chairman, absolutely the best. He had a chat with Steve.

"Then the fans demonstrated, the board wanted him to stay, the players wanted him to stay.

"Maybe he thought he would be selfish if he walked away when everyone wanted him here.

"He's faced with something he loves now - a challenge, and that's to get Reading back up.

"I had a discussion with him, and all of those things made him think maybe he should stay."

The complete interview is live on World now - see our free preview clip.

There is much, much more on World, including a full chat with Steve, the press conference, a John Madejski exclusive, a Nick Hammond interview and footage of the fans' demonstration to keep Coppell.