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Page last updated at 13:15 GMT, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 14:15 UK

Rodgers' European goal for Royals

Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers met the Reading players for the first time on Monday

Reading boss Brendan Rodgers has not only set his sights on promotion to the Premier League but bringing European football to the Madejski stadium club.

"This is a club that showed with a bit of luck, perseverance and hard work that you can get into the Premier League do well," he told BBC Berkshire.

"That's my main objective, to make the club a sustainable club.

But if I can be a coach that takes it into European football then that will be a wonderful achievement."

Rodgers was an academy director at Reading before a spell on Chelsea's coaching staff.

He then took over as Watford manager and has now returned to the Madejski stadium after the exit of of former boss Steve Coppell.

He said he knows the club well and believes the quality is there to achieve promotion.

"Even with the likes of Kevin Doyle going and the likelihood of Stephen Hunt going, there is already a very good squad.

"Every manager wants to bring in three to four players that he knows and obviously we are trying to do some business at the moment."

Rodgers also paid tribute to his predecessor, who in 2006 took Reading into the top-flight of English football for the first time in their 138-year-history.

"The team have come to the end of a great cycle under a great manager in Steve Coppell, who until this point will go down as the greatest manager in the history of the club, so there's a big respect for that.

"But I also think there is an excitement for the new era. I'm really looking forward to it because I'm a different tactician. I've got different ideas and I think the players are really looking forward to that."



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see also
Rodgers confirmed as Reading boss
05 Jun 09 |  Reading
Murty completes Southampton move
05 Aug 09 |  Southampton
New Reading deal for Gunnarsson
01 Jul 09 |  Reading
Wolves make Doyle record signing
30 Jun 09 |  Wolves


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