When a salvo of accusations were being released by the Portuguese in a TV interview, his counterpart stood and watched a monitor. Then he quietly defended his players, Steve Hunt and Ibrahima Sonko, whose challenges were the subject of such scrutiny after Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini required hospital treatment, but invited the Football Association to examine the circumstances more closely.

One could just imagine the response of certain Premiership managers at the spectacle of their players being castigated by the Chelsea manager.

Alan Hansen offered one of the more pertinent observations on Monday morning.

"I have great admiration for Coppell, not just because of his abilities as a manager but because of the honesty and integrity he brings to the game, " the Match of the Day pundit wrote in his newspaper column. "If Steve says there was no malicious intent on Hunt's part, it is good enough for me."

Six days on at Reading's Hogwood Park training ground, Coppell is still quietly defusing charges laid by last Saturday's opponents, and also by those who really should know better.

The manager of today's opponents, Arsene Wenger, is broaching the subject at his own press conference, claiming that Sonko's challenge on Cudicini was unnecessary.

The more cynical will insist that it is the Arsenal man's opening gambit, a touch of gamesmanship, designed to ensure that his goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, is untroubled today by the presence of an opponent in his proximity.

Who knows?

The only certainty is that Coppell won't respond. It is not in the nature of a character who has been on the managerial circuit long enough to know that indulging in verbal fisticuffs generally only profits your opponents.

On Friday he was offered several opportunities to retaliate and to issue a rebuttal to Mourinho's wilder accusations, but essentially Coppell's message - the FA having already decided to take no action against his players - is this: "We'll abide with what the governing body says."

There is a pause before he adds: "But you're not going to change the way Jose thinks."

Someone mentions Mourinho's hug for him at the conclusion of a match in which temperatures had been inevitably raised. "Yeah, I seem to remember Jose patting me on the head, " the diminutive former Manchester United and England winger recalls with a wry smile. "He was probably frightened of me; knew what a physical monster I am."

That's Coppell humour. Dry as Death Valley. Yet it reveals much about the respect in which he is held within the managerial brethren that Mourinho, even at boiling point, responded in such a manner.

Coppell prepares for today's meeting with Arsenal, believing that his players will suffer no distraction from the week's headlines. However, he concedes: "Inevitably now, if Hunty goes anywhere near a goalkeeper there's going to be something in the back of his mind. It's human nature that he'll avoid it. But I can't see any problem with the rest of the team. You just play; you don't have any background noise affecting your thinking."

What will disturb September's Premiership manager of the month is the perception of his team. A month ago, Reading were a side in Coppell's image, quietly making progress without a fuss; it was one which had conceded just a mere six fouls against Manchester United. Coppell hopes that reputation for fair play won't be diminished by recent events.

"Last season, our record was great, " he says. "This season, we were top of the disciplinary table before the Chelsea game (Reading are still second, behind Arsenal).

All the indicators are that we don't get involved in that kind of stuff.

"We just want to play."