By Ben Collins Last updated: 13th May 2008
Hahnemann: Devastated by the drop
Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann believes that some of his Reading team-mates were not fully committed to keeping the club in the Premier League.
The Royals were relegated back to the Championship on Sunday after two years in the top flight and Hahnemann feels some of the players were not fully focused on securing survival as they were already looking at leaving the Madejski Stadium this summer.
"I think some people might not be as devastated as I am," he told Radio Berkshire. "It might be because of personal situations with some guys leaving.
"But you have to play well to leave and I don't know if a lot of guys did themselves any favours."
The 35-year-old American keeper, who has now spent six years at Reading, also insisted Steve Coppell must remain as manager.
A 4-0 victory at Derby on the final day was not enough to avoid the drop as Fulham won 1-0 at Portsmouth, and Hahnemann felt the Royals let themselves down during the relegation run-in.
"We all want Steve to stay," he added. "We got into the Premier League and we had a great season in the Premier League with him, so of course we want him to stay.
"You don't need to look at the beginning of the year, you have to look at the last couple of months of the season when we just didn't perform well enough - we lost to Fulham at home, drew with Wigan and lost to Spurs.
"Yes, we beat Derby, but Fulham won four out of five so they deserve to stay up and we deserve to go down."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Monday 9th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Liverpool vs Birmingham |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Liverpool vs Man City |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Burnley vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Chelsea vs Wolverhampton |
| 15:00 | Hull vs West Ham |
| 15:00 | Sunderland vs Arsenal |
| 17:30 | Man Utd vs Everton |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Bolton vs Blackburn |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Wigan |
| 16:00 | Stoke vs Portsmouth |
| Wednesday 25th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Hull vs Everton |
| 20:00 | Fulham vs Blackburn |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Bolton |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Portsmouth vs Man Utd |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Sunderland |
| 17:30 | Aston Villa vs Tottenham |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Chelsea 1 - 0 Man Utd | |
| West Ham 1 - 2 Everton | |
| Wigan 1 - 1 Fulham | |
| Hull 2 - 1 Stoke | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wolverhampton 1 - 4 Arsenal | |
| Man City 3 - 3 Burnley | |
| Tottenham 2 - 0 Sunderland | |
| Blackburn 3 - 1 Portsmouth | |
| Aston Villa 5 - 1 Bolton | |
| Wednesday 4th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| West Ham 2 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Sunday 1st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 0 - 0 Man City | |
| Saturday 31st October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 2 - 0 Blackburn | |
| Sunderland 2 - 2 West Ham | |
| Portsmouth 4 - 0 Wigan | |
| Bolton 0 - 4 Chelsea | |
| Stoke 2 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Fulham 3 - 1 Liverpool | |
| Burnley 2 - 0 Hull | |
| Everton 1 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Arsenal 3 - 0 Tottenham | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 11 | 27 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 11 | 25 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 11 | 25 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 | 22 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 12 | 21 |
| 6 | Manchester City | 11 | 20 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 11 | 18 |
| 8 | Sunderland | 12 | 17 |
| 9 | Stoke City | 11 | 16 |
| 10 | Burnley | 12 | 16 |
| 11 | Fulham | 10 | 14 |
| 12 | Wigan Athletic | 11 | 13 |
| 13 | Blackburn Rovers | 11 | 13 |
| 14 | Everton | 10 | 12 |
| 15 | Birmingham City | 11 | 11 |
| 16 | Bolton Wanderers | 11 | 11 |
| 17 | West Ham United | 11 | 10 |
| 18 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 12 | 10 |
| 19 | Hull City | 11 | 8 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 12 | 7 |
Join skysports.com football editor Mark Buckingham to debate Chelsea's 1-0 win over Man Utd.
Sunderland fan Lucinda Gittins was strutting her stuff in the Soccer AM studios this week.
A John Terry header proved the difference as Chelsea beat Manchester United to move clear at the top of the Premier League.
Hull came from behind to beat Stoke 2-1 at the KC Stadium to ease the pressure on Phil Brown.
Patrice Evra has admitted that he wants to beat Chelsea more than any other team in the Premier League.
Fulham stayed strong and held firm at Wigan to keep the Latics at bay and come away with a hard-earned point.
Birmingham's Scott Dann believes Liverpool will be a tough nut to crack despite their dip in form.