STEVE Coppell was hailed as the man to take Bristol City to the Premier League when he was unveiled as manager at an Ashton Gate press conference on April 26.

Addressing a packed media conference in the Premier Suite prior to the commencement of his contract 15 days later, the former England and Manchester United star spoke of his burning ambition to manage at the top level once more.

And his appointment as successor to Gary Johnson was universally welcomed by fans, who believed fervently that the 55-year-old Liverpudlian could do for City what he had done for Reading and Crystal Palace.

Understandably, the red half of Bristol's football divide gave way to a wave of optimism that their club could return to English football's top table for the first time since 1980.

But football, as the saying goes, is a funny old game and those same supporters are now scratching their heads and speculating on how things could have gone quite so spectacularly wrong in such a short space of time following Coppell's shock resignation just 44 days after arriving in Bristol to formally start work.

Just as he did earlier in his career when walking out on Manchester City after 33 days at the Maine Road helm, Coppell has left his employers high and dry without giving an adequate explanation as to why he resigned.

In short, his premature exit raises more questions than answers.

If Coppell was having second thoughts after agreeing a one-year rolling contract to return to football management for the first time since quitting Reading in May 2009, he gave no indication in his dealings with the media during the close season.

In fact, when he spoke to journalists on July 1, the day City's players reported back for pre-season training, he cut a relaxed figure, a man happy to be back in his natural environment.

He discussed his plans to strengthen the playing squad and build a team capable of challenging for promotion from the Championship, if not this season, then in the very near future.

His mood remained upbeat when City's first team squad travelled to Sweden for a pre-season tour, the team opening their account with a 1-1 draw against Gothenberg. Coppell had already made his first two signings, bringing in exciting young winger Albert Adomah from League Two Barnet and renewing acquaintance with Kalifa Cisse, the French-born midfielder who had been with him at Reading.

Perhaps the first sign that all was not well came a few days later, a depleted City side losing 4-0 to Swedish First Division leaders Helsingborgs in their second friendly fixture of the pre-season campaign.

The players responded by thrashing Fourth Division outfit Vallens 11-1 to complete their Scandinavian adventure on a high note and Coppell voiced his determination to further bolster his squad upon his return to England.

But the injuries that ruled several senior professionals out of the pre-season programme were already beginning to take a toll on a squad which was further depleted by the departure of long-serving right-back Bradley Orr, centre-half Jamie McCombe and Scottish international midfielder Paul Hartley.

Without strikers Danny Haynes and Nicky Maynard and defenders Louis Carey and Christian Ribeiro, Coppell was forced to overload the rest of his players as the friendly fixtures came thick and fast.

When City lost 2-1 at Torquay in mid-July, commentators attributed the defeat to ring rustiness. When City lost subsequent games at Aldershot and Exeter, the manager expressed his deep-seated concerns for the first time.

By then, Cisse had been added to the casualty list and City's squad was down to the bare bones when Yeovil Town were beaten 3-1 at Huish Park in the club's penultimate pre-season outing.

Relief came in the form of a triple signing a few days later, City welcoming defenders Nicky Hunt and Damion Stewart on board and pulling off the transfer coup of the summer by persuading England goalkeeper David James to turn his back on the Premier League and commit to the Championship for a minimum 12 months.

Hunt and Stewart made their debuts in the final dress rehearsal against Premiership newcomers Blackpool and optimism among the fan-base knew no bounds when the Seasiders were beaten 2-0 with goals from David Clarkson and Ivan Sproule.

Although Coppell's attempt to sign much-travelled striker John Stead from Ipswich foundered upon the player's wage demands, he finally bolstered his attack when landing Welsh international forward Sam Vokes on loan from Wolves on the eve of the new season.

Not surprisingly, City fans embraced the new season with renewed optimism and a near-full-house crowd of 18,000 attended the opening game against Millwall at Ashton Gate last weekend.

But the first signs of tension behind the scenes had already surfaced a few days earlier. Due to meet the media at the club's annual press day on August 3, Coppell posed for the traditional team photograph before leaving waiting journalists in the lurch and departing on a scouting mission to watch Carling Cup opponents Southend United in action in a friendly fixture.

Outwardly confident and amenable in his dealings with the press up to that point, he became increasingly taciturn thereafter. Although he refused to elaborate, it was clear that the worsening injury crisis and the difficulty in bringing in players to bolster a squad that was painfully thin on numbers and Championship pedigree was beginning to get to the manager.

Sources close to the club suggested Coppell's discontent deepened following the arrival of James, a signing that took up a significant percentage of the Ashton Gate wage bill and restricted Coppell's options in the transfer market. Signing a goalkeeper was hardly a priority at a time when the manager had so many gaps to fill in a team ravaged by injury.

His mood was hardly improved by events on the opening day of the season. A patched up City team lost 3-0 to Championship newcomers Millwall and an already black day was further marred by crowd trouble in the immediate aftermath of the game.

If Coppell was unsure what state of readiness his team was in, he was under no illusions in the wake of such a chastening defeat. Typically, he refused to use injuries and the vagaries of the transfer market as an excuse, insisting the players who started the game should have done better.

With the exception of James, whose place was taken by Dean Gerken, those same players again came up short against Southend at Roots Hall three days later, the League Two minnows twice coming from behind to carve out a shock 3-2 success in extra-time.

A brooding presence at the post- match press conference, Coppell admitted his squad "needed help" urgently and alluded to the "difficulty" of attracting prospective new signings.

Reading between the lines, it was apparent to everyone present that he was far from happy and, given his past history, his sudden decision to resign will come as little surprise to those in the know.