Keane piles on agony - It's all down to Derby after Coppell's men sink into mire

Last night, Coppell viewed the landscape in search of hope. "We have to forget what's happened in the last 10 months," he urged. 'We have to focus on next week. If we win the game, which is all I can ask, we will see what happens elsewhere."

It is a rudimentary philosophy, but there is none other at his disposal. "We have lost the habit of winning football matches," Coppell added.

At another club, Coppell might be advised to get ready to empty his desk after Reading chairman John Madejski publicly acknowledged his brand of management yesterday. But the vote of confidence from Madejski did not reverberate to the hollow sounds that usually accompany a chairman's support of a manager staring relegation in the face; and the financial pain that induces in the boardroom.

"Steve Coppell can stay here as long as he wishes," said the Reading chairman, presently on crutches after having surgery on an ankle. The team he bankrolls are in worse condition, it must be noted.

Coppell's side, for the first 45 minutes, were played off the park by the neat football of Tottenham, orchestrated by the magnificent Robbie Keane, who found space wherever he roamed. Coppell reacted with pragmatism. "At half-time, I told the players that their effort had been incredible," he said. "Even if they had been made to look like people having to plait spaghetti."

At least his players reacted to the growing crisis with some urgency after the interval. And, in the last five minutes, Tottenham goalkeeper Radek Cerny was required to make outstanding saves from Dave Kitson and Liam Rosenior. Yet the unmistakable truth was that Tottenham should have been out of sight long before then, instead of being only one goal ahead through Keane's irrepressible eye for an opening in the 16th minute. Coppell is not a man hiding from blame. "If we fail it's my fault," he said last night. "The manager's always to blame, isn't he?"

He refrained from utilising Madejski's cheque book, preferring to remain loyal to those who had been responsible for two seasons of unchecked success. "The chairman has built a club who are selffinancing," said Coppell. 'But that might be our downfall.

"I took a calculated risk not to buy new players. Besides, I didn't want to reward two years of success by telling half the team, "Thanks very much, but you are finished now"."

It is a laudable sentiment, of course. But when did sentiment win prizes, or defer relegation, in this game? After a lifetime in football, Coppell comprehends that better than most men. Another pragmatic reason coloured his judgment, one that is easy to believe. "When foreign players are looking at clubs in the Premier League, Reading is going to be way down on their list," he said.

A conversation with Sam Allardyce, then still at Bolton, remains fresh in his mind. Coppell explained: "I asked Sam what was the secret of competing at his level in the Premier League. He replied: "Spend, spend, spend". I think he's right. Look at champions Manchester United — they spent £50 million last summer."

Yet not even investment alone is guaranteed to reap rewards, it seems. Last summer, Coppell spent a club-record £2.6m to sign Emerse Fae from Nantes. Yesterday, Fae, and Ibrahim Sonko, were under club suspension, having both refused to play for Reading's reserves last week. Madejski supported Coppell's hard-line discipline to the hilt.

"It's a ludicrous situation, and it couldn't have come at a worse time," he said. "I hope they both feel foolish about what they have done."

Keane's goal was flecked with star dust. The Irishman began the move from just inside his own half with a delightful flick to Darren Bent, just before he was upended by Michael Duberry. As Bent began a powerful, diagonal crossfield run, Keane bounced to his feet and scampered forward. Bent released the ball to Keane on the edge of the penalty area and the Irishman weaved to his left before opening his body to claim his 24th goal of the season with a deftly-struck rightfoot shot.

Now Coppell is left with only one rallying cry. "It's time for us to deliver next week," he said. What else is a man to say, stood on the abyss?