Coppell survival plan for Reading is crystal clear

13 April 2012

It may have been 15 years ago but the lessons drawn by Steve Coppell from the bitter experience of relegation remain fresh.

For one thing, Coppell will not be scouring through the remaining fixtures of his rival teams, calculating where points can be won or lost and how many will be needed to beat the drop.

In with a shout: Steve Coppell says he will go on the attack

"I did that once many years ago and it's a total waste of time," said the Reading boss.

In May 1993, Coppell was in his first spell at Crystal Palace and a 3-1 win against Ipswich sparked an impromptu survival party at Selhurst Park. They had moved nine points clear of Oldham.

But somehow Oldham beat Aston Villa and Liverpool, then Southampton on the final day as Coppell's team lost 3-0 at Arsenal. Palace had 49 points but were relegated by two goals.

"You just don't know what other people are going to do," said Coppell as he prepared for Reading's last three games, starting at Wigan on Saturday.

"Any team are capable of winning three games be they good, bad or indifferent. It might be coincidence, it might be Lady Luck or it might be poor refereeing."

Nobody expected Fulham to end their barren away run with a win at the Madejski Stadium earlier this month, but they did. The defeat dragged Reading back into the mire. They are one point from safety.

Coppell said: "Everyone was saying: 'Win this one and you'll be all right'. But sometimes the more you need to do something, the less creative you are. When you're winning games, you become more expressive. The more you want something and need something, the less creative power you have."

In the blame culture which has taken hold in modern football, Coppell's own contribution has been scrutinised, even though his chairman, John Madejski, claims the manager who led the club into the top flight for the first time in their history and then finished eighth is 'bullet-proof'.

There are those who think Coppell is stifling creativity, encouraging his team to play more direct football in search of the points. Last weekend, he dropped established first-teamers Nicky Shorey, Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle and changed the tactical shape of the side at Arsenal.

At the training ground on Thursday, the manager insisted morale was high and that players understood his plans to carry on fiddling with formations against Wigan, Tottenham and Derby, a fixture which stands out as a useful last card up the sleeve against the season's whipping boys.

"It's important we really attack these games rather than whimper into them," said Coppell. "What's the point of looking down at the ground, woe is me!

"We're capable of getting points from all the games but it's no good talking. Sooner or later we've got to deliver. The closer it gets to the end the more it becomes a do-or-die scenario.

"I've a squad of 20-odd, all with fairly legitimate claims to play. My thought process has been to look at the opposition, look at our recent performances and training, then select a game-plan and a team to implement it.

"I'd love to say: 'Here's one team who've done well and we'll stick with it' but I think I'm going to tinker all the way through."

Coppell quit after Palace were relegated in 1993 — still the only real blemish on his c.v. — and his comments this season have occasionally hinted at a man disillusioned with his job and seeking a new challenge. That, he insists, is definitely not the case.

"We'd just been beaten at Fulham and somebody asked me a flipping question asking if I was enjoying it," said Coppell. "Am I enjoying it? We'd just been beaten. So I went completely the other way.

"The actual bones of the job, I really, really enjoy. I get excited by preparing teams to try to win games. And when it happens it's a real buzz, it's a drug. When it doesn't happen, you go searching for the solution. That's what we're doing now.

"Football management is easy when you're winning. When you're losing, that's when you get old and you work harder. Ask Fergie."

At 52 and almost 24 years since his first managerial job, Coppell is well equipped to deal with whatever twists the last three games hold, both at a personal and professional level. Surely it cannot be worse than 1993.

"That experience has probably helped me to be more stable," he said. "Nobody means to make mistakes at this stage but, as you get near the end of the season, you almost take them personally.

"There are sleepless nights sometimes when you have a particular problem. But I sleep quite well . . . considering."

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