"There are no contract discussions at all. They are happy with the year I have left.
"I think I've known this was coming for the past two or three weeks which is why I've been a bit miserable.
"They don't want to give me anything which is great after playing 250 games. I knew they would use whatever excuse they could not to offer me a new deal."
But Reading's Director of Football Nicky Hammond explained
"Marcus and I agreed a new deal less than a year ago which covers last season and the whole of the current campaign.
"That contract also included an automatic one year extension up to the summer of 2009 if Marcus continues to perform regularly in the Premier League, and this is a target he is well towards.
"I believe this is an extremely fair commitment from the club to someone who will be 37 at the end of that contract.
"So I am a little mystified by his recent comments, but if he is unhappy I will speak to him.
"However, any further conversations will remain between Marcus and myself."
Boss Steve Coppell wants to get on with securing Premiership survival before worrying about contract issues. On Marcus he said,
"You need to know his personality - he needed to get it off his chest and thump his chest a little bit. He has done that now but it doesn't affect what we are going to do. We will continue to do things the way we always have. We won't bow to any kind of pressure like that.
"If he was in his mid-twenties then the chances are he would be on a long-term contract but he is not, he is in his mid-thirties. So we are not going to commit without knowing exactly where we are going to be. Nothing will be done until that situation is resolved. Our thoughts are concentrated on maintaining our status and until that is done we can't make long-term decisions."