THE INDIE
Given the extent of his own achievements recently in nothing less than the near total refurbishment of Manchester United as a team of high quality - and the highest ambition - it was generous of Sir Alex Ferguson to agree that Steve Coppell is the outstanding candidate for the title of manager of the year.
Far more uplifting indeed, than his unholy alliance with Arsène Wenger in arguing for the lopping off of the FA Cup replay, an amputation which would compound the damage that both, in their different ways, have done down the years to our most romantic competition. What is the basis of the Ferguson-Wenger compact? Unvarnished self-interest, a belief that in the football of the 21st century there can only be one true priority: the convenience and the enrichment of the strong at the expense of the weak.
Thank heavens, then, for the wit and the sheer intelligence of a man like Coppell, who in the last few months has shown that if the journey of a club like Reading is always going to be uphill, it need not be without moments of both glory and solid achievement.
It is a tribute to the character of Coppell, who preferred to have a pint in the Old Trafford guest room than milk one of his moments of great success in an already memorable season, that he will probably appreciate the tribute of the man he sent in his place, the Icelandic goalscorer Brynjar Gunnarsson, as much as the accolade from the Premiership's most successful football man.
In the week when the national team's head coach was sending out DVDs and statistical files to his shockingly underachieving, and plainly confused, players, Gunnarsson painted a rather different picture of the modus operandi of his own boss, who, in all the circumstances, you couldn't help recalling played 42 times for England over a six-year period.
Said Gunnarsson: "He's very calm, gets his point across and then lets his players get on with it. Some managers want to control the game from the sidelines but he trusts his players. It is very important for players to feel that the manager trusts them and wants them to do what they are good at.
"He is not asking them to do things they don't want to do. He comes down to the technical area after half-time and we can hear him. He is obviously passionate about the game and you can hear him shout little messages. He has not lost his cool in the dressing room since I have been here."
The result here was that while Coppell's preoccupation with the team's Premiership standing, and chances of appearing in Europe next season, resulted in him playing a side with barely a quorum of regular first-teamers, he was still able to produce a strong and coherent performance.
It was another body of work that an alert Football Association would be filing away for the benefit of its next selection committee burdened with the job of picking out a home-grown head coach who might just make a serious run at the job.
None of this is compromised by the fact that Ferguson held back most of his own top troops - and had to suffer his hugely talented favoured son Cristiano Ronaldo at his most exasperating. Though later the BBC Match of the Day panel again lionised the Portuguese virtuoso, to the extent of telling youngsters they should follow him along the path of even futile trickery for its own sake rather than a telling pass to a colleague running free, this was a performance that mocked claims that greatness has already been achieved. Startling ability, no doubt, but greatness? Everyone, and not least Ronaldo, would benefit from a break with this madness.
THE GUARDIAN
In a season when Goliath has generally kicked David's butt, Reading's feat in extending Manchester United to a replay is worthy of much admiration and feels like some consolation for this season's shortage of giantkilling feats. Except Reading deserve more than to be patronised as just another small club who got lucky. This is a team whose artillery is far more advanced than a sling and a stone.
The beauty of it is that they seem completely unfazed by all the attention that is coming their way. The message emanating from the dressing room on Saturday evening was quiet and understated: good result but nothing to get too excited about. As for the rest of us, we can only stand back in admiration. Reading are rapidly becoming everyone's "second club" and their results provoke a very obvious question: how do they do it?
There is no straightforward answer but the club's sudden ability to cut it with the elite is no fluke. These are honest men, doing their honest best, but there is more than just sweat and endeavour - how depressing that Steve McClaren has not found time in his schedule to visit the Madejski Stadium in his seven months as England manager.
If McClaren ever dares to think about picking a player from unfashionable Reading there is plain evidence that, with Ashley Cole injured, Nicky Shorey is a country mile ahead of Phil Neville, Gareth Barry and all the rest as the most accomplished left-back in the country. Equally, Steve Sidwell's admirers are entitled to wonder how he can be overlooked when Joey Barton is now considered England class.
These are not complaints that a club of Reading's dignity would make in any other way than in private, however. It is not their way to stamp feet, and that is part of their charm. Sir Alex Ferguson, for all his qualities, should take note because there was something distasteful about the manner in which he vigorously complained how the BBC had been "hardly fair" arranging the game for a 5.15pm kick-off when United have a Champions League game at Lille tomorrow. A club of United's bloated resources did not have to accept the TV fee if they felt so strongly about the difference a couple of hours could make.
No matter. Ferguson's gripes were largely lost in the afterglow of a pulsating Cup tie in which Reading contributed so richly that it seemed impertinent to dwell on what might have been achievable if Coppell had not fielded half a dozen reserves. The conclusion drawn by many was that the Berkshire side may have done a proper job of bloodying United's nose. That, however, is a hypothetical argument, and one that ignores the significant contribution made by understudies, if that is the right term, such as Bobby Convey and Dave Kitson.
THE TELEGRAPH
If, as Hernan Crespo once suggested, scoring at Old Trafford is better than sex, then Brynjar Gunnarsson might be in need of Viagra.
Scandinavians are known for a level-headedness that occasionally translates into dullness. There are two Swedish journalists based in Manchester with the task of writing several pages a day on Henrik Larsson, who as newspaper material makes Steve McClaren appear like Che Guevara.
Gunnarsson was relieved, happy and proud on Saturday night. He had just scored, if not the most important goal of his career, then the most high-profile one, which had been screened in his home city of Reykjavik. His reaction was completely matter-of-fact, downbeat almost. For the first time since a header from Ricardo Carvalho salvaged a point for Chelsea in November, Manchester United had failed to win at Old Trafford but there were no rash statements.
That is not the Reading way. Asked if he had ever seen manager Steve Coppell lose control of his emotions, Gunnarsson smiled and shook his head. There was more chance of Coppell teaching himself Icelandic on the journey back to Berkshire, and Gunnarsson thought this refusal to become carried away was a principal reason behind Reading's success.
"He is very calm, gets his point across and then lets his players get on with it," he said of Coppell. "Some managers want to control the game from the sidelines but he trusts the players. He comes down to the technical area after half-time.
He is obviously passionate about the game and you can hear him shout out little messages but he has not lost his cool since I have been here."
With the two sides having made 13 changes, it was tempting to say this was the largest crowd ever to have watched a reserve fixture; and with the replay coming just before United's potentially decisive journey to Anfield, the return at the Madejski is likely to feature the same cast. Coppell would recognise that in the fourth round, Bolton had forced a replay at Arsenal, which they lost at the Reebok. Nothing is decided yet.