Derby County 0 Reading 4:THEY WERE safe for a spell of 61 minutes on this final day, but when the music stopped Reading were one of three clubs without a Premier League chair for next season. Still, after their players returned to a disconsolate dressing room, the chairman, John Madejski, escorted the manager, Steve Coppell, over to the Reading fans and raised his arm like a boxing referee would a world champion.

There had been speculation that, should Reading be relegated, Coppell would resign as he did in 1993 when he oversaw Crystal Palace's exit from the top flight, and his ensuing waves to supporters certainly had the look of a goodbye.

Coppell claimed it was just a display of gratitude to the 3,000 fans who watched them record the easiest of victories, but he admitted he would consider his position and those of his players in the next few days.

"We are bitterly disappointed," said Coppell, who has a year left on his contract.

"The dressing room is a very sad place and it's difficult to know what to say to ease their pain. It's a numb feeling.

"We've brought some good stuff to the Premier League. Next week there will be a reassessment and a re-jig, as always happens. There were going to be changes anyway. It is a time for reflection and we will make conclusions and go from there."

Reading looked in a different league to Derby County but Danny Murphy's goal for Fulham at Portsmouth means that will not be the case next season. Coppell claimed Reading's results earlier in the year against relegation rivals were to blame.

"We've had our opportunities," he said. "Playing Derby on the last game of the season was a bit of a disadvantage. But Bolton took six points off of us and Fulham took six points off us and the golden rule is to beat teams around you and we didn't do that."

It was the eight consecutive league defeats just after Christmas and the run of 21 straight games without a clean sheet that precipitated Reading's downfall, and when the goals also dried up for the strikers Dave Kitson and Kevin Doyle, Coppell had nobody to turn to.

Indeed Reading had gone 511 minutes without scoring, although they soon ended that streak when James Harper curled a left-foot shot over the Derby goalkeeper, Roy Carroll.

Kitson doubled the lead on the hour when Carroll failed to push Nicky Shorey's 25-yard shot behind for a corner and Leroy Lita pulled the rebound back for Reading's top scorer to slide into the empty net.

Doyle was next in on the act, breaking through Darren Moore's challenge to slot his first goal of 2008.

In fact Reading had sufficient chances to close what at kick-off had been an advantage of six for Fulham on goal difference, but the only addition to the score came in stoppage time when Lita headed in Stephen Hunt's cross.

Lita celebrated breaking his duck in the league for Reading this season but nobody else did. The die had been cast and, having waited 135 years to reach the top flight, Reading were out of it after only two years.

Derby, of course, are also returning to the Championship after what was possibly their worst performance of a miserable campaign. Failure to score meant one final unwanted record: The worst goals-to-games ratio in English football history.

Unsurprisingly, Paul Jewell, who has overseen five draws and 19 losses in his 24 league games, had strong words.

"They don't care enough and they're not good enough," he fumed.

"They are all under scrutiny. No player could have any argument if he wasn't here next season. But I'm determined to get it right.

"Nothing would give me more satisfaction."

Jewell will be welcoming Reading here again next season, then.

Whether Coppell will be with them remains to be seen.