大象传媒

The day after Reading FC's relegation to the Championship, chairman John Madejski speaks of his disappointment but also his appreciation of the fans' support.

Listen to the full interview with 大象传媒 Radio Berkshire's Andrew Peach here or read a transcript below.

As always, you can comment on what's been said in the Have Your Say box at the bottom of this page.

"At least we can say that we did our best on the last day and we got that tremendous result up at Derby.

"Obviously we're going to have to regroup and reform and cut our coat according to the cloth and move on and try and bounce back into the Premiership the following season."

Happier times: winning the Championship title

Andrew Peach: It was your dream to take Reading to the Premier league two years ago, you've achieved it, how does it feel this morning?

"Obviously I'm exceedingly disappointed but I've always have to remain positive and hopefully we'll get back this forthcoming season."

You'll probably be aware that a lot of the newspapers are saying Steve Coppell is going to resign today, have you had any contact with Steve since the final whistle?

"Not as yet, it doesn't mean to say there won't be but not as yet.

"I'd like to reiterate - quite frankly you yesterday we couldn't have got more from the fans. Kitson put the ball in the net but as far as I'm concerned the fans scored the second goal.

"It shows the heart of the club, we are a community club and things confounded against us sadly - but there we are."

Is Steve Coppell the man to lead us through to the Championship Season?

"He's done it before and I'm sure he'll do it again. He's got a year left on his contract so I hope he does stay. More than that I cannot add."

So you'll do anything to persuade him to stay?

"Absolutely right."

"At the end of the day Steve is his own man. He'll do whatever he thinks what is right for himself and the club. Obviously I'd like to stay but at the end of the day we'll have to wait and see."

Together for the foreseeable future?

How much responsibility do you feel personally for Reading being relegated? You'll know fans have said you didn't invest enough. Do you think those fans were right?

"Everybody's going to have their say about what could have been and what couldn't have been. The manager has already said that funds were available but he felt he wanted to stay with what he had and that's fair enough.

"People think it's just about money but it isn't. It's about finding the right players to fit into the squad and there's not that many right people around. Certainly not enough of the right people around that would sign for Reading."

How are we going to make Reading one of the big clubs?

"The only way is by increasing the brand and the awareness of the brand. Two years in the Premiership will have helped enormously because before that Reading was unknown and now it's known globally.

"The more we build brand the better our reputation and the more people would be attracted to come and play, but this takes time."

But to the people who say Reading are in the Championship because you didn't spend enough, you refute that?

"You can spend as much money as you want to, it doesn't necessarily buy you success.

"Birmingham invested very heavily and they're now in the Championship. So it's not all about money, money was available as I've already expressed.

"I think we've got appreciate that things conspired against us and that's all there is to it."

Is Reading FC still for sale?

"The point is that I've made no secret that if someone came along with deep pockets that I'll be willing to talk to them. Now they're in the Championship it's less likely someone will come through the door but you never know.

So it's still for sale?

"If the right person comes along but I have to make sure that the person who buys it will take the club forward and look after it. We don't want someone who's just going to come in and asset-strip and leave the place bereft."

If Reading had survived the Premier League there might have been a buyer, is that right?

"There would have been more chance of finding a buyer. I think now we're in the Championship the opportunity has all but disappeared."

You spoke last week about cutting according to the cloth because the club lost 拢50 million by going down. People at the Mad Stad will lose their jobs right?

"We have to look at things very carefully and there will be changes made definitely. You'll be getting some news in the next few days."

Birmingham City said they're not going make changes or reduce expenditure. Why is it different for you?

"Birmingham is a much larger club for a start, more seats, more capacity. We're a smaller outfit."

Will season tickets will be cheaper?

"Absolutely."