Bees must make Coppell decision

Leo Spall13 April 2012
Brentford 0 Stoke 2

Brentford were holding a board meeting today to decide whether they can afford to match the ambitions of manager Steve Coppell.

The former Manchester United and England winger is expected to leave the club after his side failed to win promotion to Division One in Saturday's play-off final in Cardiff.

Defeat to Stoke saw them miss out on an extra £1million in income. Now Paul Evans, Lloyd Owusu and Ivar Ingimarsson, who played in the match and are out-of-contract next month, are set to leave the club.

Coppell, who has spent nothing on transfer fees during his year in charge at Griffin Park, is frustrated by the lack of resources. He is not under contract at Brentford, where further cuts are likely, and has been linked with managerial vacancies at Brighton and Wimbledon.

But managing director Gary Hargraves said: "There has been a lot of speculation but as far as I am concerned Coppell is still at Brentford. Nobody at the club was going to be offered any new deals before we knew what division we were going to be in. If we had made it on Saturday there was a glimmer of hope of keeping some of the players we want to stay but now the probability is they will find other clubs when their contracts run out.

"If Steve does leave Brentford it will be for similar reasons to those of Peter Taylor who left Brighton two weeks ago: continuing delays in getting a new stadium creating a lack of resources to strengthen the squad."

Brentford have been trying for several years to find a new home more suited to generating income than their outdated Griffin Park. However, they cannot afford one until they can sell Griffin Park with planning permission to build houses on the site. That permission from Hounslow Council would increase the value of the plot to more than £10m.

Before that happens chairman Ron Noades and his board have to decide how they can balance the books next season.

Coppell said: "Noades decides the future of the club. He knows what the level of investment will be."

Meanwhile, Birmingham are today celebrating reaching the Premiership after their shoot-out win against Norwich in the First Division final. Steve Bruce's team won 4-2 on penalties after the game finished 1-1 in extra time.

Blues book Premiership place

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