Reading manager Steve Coppell signed a new two-year contract on Monday that will keep him at the Premier League club until 2009. Coppell has won much admiration for building a team who are challenging for a UEFA Cup spot in their first season in the top-flight, and has been tipped by the media as a possible successor to out-of-favour England manager Steve McClaren. His previous contract had been due to expire at the end of this season and Coppell has usually been unwilling to sign anything more than a one-year contract. "I have always maintained that contracts are not really a big issue for me, but I have to admit that for the club to have such faith in me is very pleasing, and now I want to repay that faith by continuing to do my job to the best of my ability," Coppell told the club's Web site www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk. Coppell, a former Manchester United and England winger, took over at Reading in 2003.
