Naturally, Steve Coppell was asked about his future at the football club, but the Royals boss didn't think the aftermath of such a sickening final day was the right time to make too much comment about himself.

"Now's not the right occasion for that. Every season we have a post mortem about what's happened and what direction we want to take," he said.

"It's not a time to reflect on anybody's situation. You need the distance of a few days to let the pain settle and then you can reset your goals and ambitions.

"I've got to look at things. It's too close now. I've got huge affection for this club and I want to do what's right for Reading.

"Inevitably now there'll be a reassessment and a rejig. I think there were always going to be changes anyway.

"Now is a time for reflection, and we'll make conclusions and go from there.

"The Chairman is very resilient. He came into the dressing room and out onto the pitch.

"The Chairman is a buoyant character and he'll have a smile on his face again, but he's put so much into the Club.

"And I personally feel that I've let him and the Club down, because to a certain extent, I don't feel we should be in this position.

"On reflection, I've maybe been too loyal to some of these players.

"And maybe a fresh pair of eyes would be able to make more objective decisions than I can."

Asked if his final whistle waves to the away fans were a fond farewell, Coppell told the press that it was simply a thank you.

"It was just a thank you gesture. They were terrific all afternoon.

"The away fans in particular have been really supportive all season and I asked the security whether I could just go over and give them a gesture of thanks more than anything.

"We couldn't do that at the home game last week, because of the poor performance and the atmosphere I suppose.

"A couple of Reading fans said, in the week, that they felt a little bit down because there was no recognition of their role in the season. I just wanted to thank them."