大象传媒

On Tuesday 21 May Reading FC chairman John Madejski announced the news that all Royals fans had been waiting to hear.

Amid rumours of resignation following the team's relegation to the Championship, the confirmation by Mr Madesjki that their trusty manager Steve Coppell has decided to stay was music to their ears.

After the press conference, held at the Madejski Stadium, Mr Madejski spoke to 大象传媒 South Today reporter Ben Moore about his delight with the news and what the future holds for Reading FC.

Watch the video here or read extracts below:

You must be delighted that Steve is staying...

"Absolutely, especially that he is enthusiastic to stay which is the main thing.

"I think the fans were so determined to try and persuade him to stay, as I was, and other people.

"It's strange when you consider the outcome of last season that there is this groundswell of support.

"He is a delight in terms of his honesty and his integrity, which is very rare and very much appreciated."

No one could be found that could speak a bad word against Steve...

"He loves Reading football club, he likes the place, he likes the fans. It's a very good family club, it's part of the community. He's very enthusiastic about putting things right and I just hope that he does."

Was it a difficult negotiation to get him to stay?

"It wasn't too difficult because he'd already made his mind up, but obviously we had to dot the i's and cross the t's. I had a long chat with Steve last week and he very much left the negotiations to his agent."

Considering the future of the club, there is the trimming of the team to be considered...

"Steve says the squad is far too large. He'll come to us with what he has in mind."

Relegation must have left a financial hole...

"It has left a big hole. I suppose I have to be quite relieved that he does want to trim the squad. We have to a do a lot of trimming in order to balance the books. It's going to be very testing and very trying but that is what we have to do."