Reading Football Club

• Nickname:Royals
• Founded:1871
• Manager:Brian McDermott

• Ground:Madejski Stadium
• Capacity:24200

Coppell hails master Jose

13 Oct 2006 - 11:54:25

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Reading boss Steve Coppell has hailed his Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho's man-management skills ahead of the meeting of the two sides on Saturday.

Coppell is full of admiration for the way the Portuguese coach has managed to keep his large squad of players happy during his time at Stamford Bridge.

"He has obviously got more or less an open chequebook, but he still has to hire, motivate and make players perform and he has certainly done that," said Coppell.

"It's different for me as I have a team of players who haven't played at this level before and are desperate to judge themselves against the best.

"When you have a squad of established players then the problems are totally different and that's why you have to respect what Mourinho has done.

"Whether it has been through rotation or whatever, he has managed to keep a squad of players happy.

"You hear of a little bit of unrest occasionally, but by and large they are all committed to the cause."