Chris Coleman’s was a story you could not have made up. From the lowest of despairs to the highest heights and then back again. The burly Welsh centre back was captain of the Fulham side that charged up two divisions and, under Kevin Keegan, made a dramatic arrival into the Premier League.
In early 2001, though, disaster struck for him, an injury he sustained in a car crash ended his playing days forever. However, after Keegan had left, and the Jean Tigana experiment ended in tears, there was many a raised eyebrow when the 33 year-old was appointed manager with absolutely no management experience on his CV.
In addition, Coleman was greeted by the news that club chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed was no longer going to bankroll the club in terms of transfer fees, as he had done under Tigana, when sums like £11 million were outlaid on expensive flops like Steve Marlet. Oh, and he was also told that he was expected to keep the club in the Premiership.
Many in the media were sceptical, and predicted Fulham would sink like a stone with Coleman in charge. But in his first season, the “other club” in SW6 finished an amazing 9th. The following season saw them finish mid-table, in 13th, and that without their star turn for most of the season – Louis Saha leaving for Manchester United in the January transfer window. In 2005-2006, they were had one of the best home records in the Premiership, beating the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea on their way, though their away form was dreadful.
2006-2007 has been hard for The Whites, they have slid down the table quickly in recent months. But, with only a month to go, and after daring to criticise his board for giving him next to nothing in terms of a transfer kitty, Coleman was shown the door.
Although his replacement, Lawrie Sanchez, has shown that he can do the business with Northern Ireland, this is was short-sighted appointment. Sanchez, too, has no Premiership experience, and years of international football management at various levels will not have prepared him to organise a team in the latter stages of a bitter relegation dogfight.
Fulham’s remaining fixtures are Liverpool at home and Middlesbrough away, and though their opponents in both games will lack motivation, neither of these games are easy.
Liverpool have much bigger fish to fry, with the Champions League final coming up, but every player Rafael Benitez fields will be fighting to prove themselves worthy of a place on the team sheet for May 23rd. Boro, with the likes of Viduka and Downing, can also hurt Fulham, who have one of the worst recent away records in English football.
Financial analysts Deloitte have calculated that missing out on Premiership football could cost clubs up to £60 million, and with a small ground that does not always fill up, and no more blank cheques from Al-Fayed, if Fulham do drop down to the Championship, there may well be no way back for them.
Their record under Sanchez so far is 0 wins, 1 draw and 2 lost. There is no indication that things are on the up at Craven Cottage, and with West Ham and Charlton both putting up a fight at the bottom, Fulham’s position looks very uncertain.
Sacking Coleman, a manager who has done the club proud with almost no resources at his disposal, was a spiteful and ultimately self-destructive thing to do, especially with no real Plan B. A run of 15 games with only 1 win is poor by any standards, but allowing for the fact that their outstanding player of 2006, Louis Boa Morte, was released for a paltry £5 million, the board have not helped themselves one bit by their decision. Sanchez and Fulham may just have to pray for results elsewhere in London to go their way.
I cannot recall the last time I read a bigger load of rubbish.
Coleman was shown the door for criticising the board??? It obviously had nothing to do with his shocking record in 2007, our away form over the last 2 yrs (2 wins), or his inability to buy the right players. Ask WHU fans if they think LBM was worth a “paltry” 5m? Except for the fact that he frittered away the money, it was probably the best bit of transfer business he did. “Small ground that does not always fill up”? More like the best year on year attendance growth in the premiership.
Can I suggest you actually do some research before you put this shite in the public domain.
Mr White – you are clearly extremely nervy. You might want to see someone about that. Fulham do have a relatively small ground compared to the rest of the premiership (in fact, the 17th largest in the premiership, bigger only than Reading, Portsmouth and Watford, with Portsmouth having sell-outs most weeks, and the 37th largest stadium in the country), and matches are not always sell-outs. That was not the author taking a pop at the fans, he was merely noting that small attendances mean less money raised through the gates, which is a FACT. And the article equally does mention the terrible away record; I quote:
“Fulham, who have one of the worst recent away records in English football”.
So perhaps you ought to learn to read carefully before vituperating.
Finally, Zakuani cost a million (perhaps money wasted), Dempsey 1.5 million (I predict him to come good), Queuedrue came free, Davies was a low-cost purchase, and Runstrom, a player for the future, 700,000. Bullard cost 2.5 million, which would undoubtedly have been money well spent were it not for the injury suffered. The grand total of said purchases is only just over the 5 million received for Boa Morte, that Coleman apparently ‘frittered away’.
Obviously this is a site where failed journalists come to die. It was tempting not to even justify this garbage with a response, but the scale of inaccuracy warranted some correction. This level of digital narcissism belies belief.
Pandy – love that comment. TDA, don’t worry about it đ
What an absolute load of tosh this really is. Journalism (and I use that phrase lightly) at its worst. This peice really is so incorrect it is, quite frankly, laughable.
Let’s start of with the really, and I emphasise really, obvious mistake shall we? “But in his first season, the ââŹĹother clubââŹÂ in SW6 finished an amazing 9th. The following season saw them finish mid-table, in 13th, and that without their star turn for most of the season – Louis Saha leaving for Manchester United in the January transfer window”
Wrong. Louis Saha left during the first full season under Coleman, the season we finished ninth. Such an obvious fact, yet somehow wrong?! Go to the back of the class!
“But, with only a month to go, and after daring to criticise his board for giving him next to nothing in terms of a transfer kitty, Coleman was shown the door.”
No, Coleman never critised the board. He was sacked because we were awful this season. 2 away wins in 2 years, no win in 15, unable to beat any of the bottom four, unable to have a shot on goal against free falling Wigan. I really could go on, but I want to leave you something to research for next time!
“Sacking Coleman, a manager who has done the club proud with almost no resources at his disposal, was a spiteful and ultimately self-destructive thing to do, especially with no real Plan B. A run of 15 games with only 1 win is poor by any standards, but allowing for the fact that their outstanding player of 2006, Louis Boa Morte, was released for a paltry ĂÂŁ5 million, the board have not helped themselves one bit by their decision.”
No resources?! Since when has 30 million pounds over just four years been no resources?
No plan B? The fact that Lawrie Sanchez was appointed within hours of Coleman being sacked, suggests to me that the club did infact have a plan B.
Boa Morte our outstanding player of 2006, this article is getting worse and worse!! Boa Morte had been a passenger for 2006, our worst player of the year. To get 5 million pounds for him was a masterstroke by Coleman.
“the board have not helped themselves one bit by their decision”
Again, Wrong. In Coleman’s last two games (Everton and Citeh) we conceeded an amazing 7 goals! Under Sanchez, in three games, against much better opposition in Reading, Blackburn and Arsenal we have conceeded 5.
I don’t like critising just for the sake of it, and whilst you make a very good point in another article regarding Newcastle’s fitness (a point that far too many ‘proper’ journalists ignore) this article is shamefully woeful and inaccurate.
Hugo,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I can certainly think of worse ways to spend a Friday afternoon at work than to poke holes in your arguments. As someone who watches FFC almost every week a more appropriate title would have been “Fulham could pay a heavy price for Coleman’s mistakes.”
Your right about the nervy bit, but not until 3pm on Saturday. What I have taken exception to over the past few weeks is a campaign by many in the media to slag off FFC about the Coleman situation without knowing/presenting all of the facts. With the likes of Skysports and 606 practising the same lazy journalism at least you can consider yourself in famous company?!?! Differing opinions is what football is all about, but lets at least get the facts right. Starting with…
Quedrue – 3m not free
Davies – 2.5m (hardly lowcost for a club like FFC)
I actually agree with you that I think Dempsey will come good, that Bullard could have been the buy of the season. I can’t even argue with the 3m spent on Quedrue, as we were desperate for a premieship LB.
The money we received for LBM went towards buying Smertin, Dempsey, Davies and signing Montella on loan in January. All of them are decent premiership players, but when combined with his summer purchases, we have been left with a very unbalanced squad. This is what I was referring to about Coleman’s inability to buy the “right” players. Every one in the premier league knew 3 things when preparing to play FFC…
1. FFC have needed a commanding centre back for 3 yrs
2. With the sales of LBM and Malbranque (instigated by Coleman) we were slow, narrow and devoid of ideas in MF
3. Playing McBride and Helguson as our 1st choice strike partnership, made us even slower and more predictable.
With this many holes in the squad, Coleman’s buys for the future and glut of central MF’s looks even more suspect. The final nail in the coffin was his assertion that “this is the best squad he has ever had at FFC.”
I have watched Boa play since he arrived at the club, and I am not alone in my feeling that his performances had dropped off badly since Coleman made him captain. He was a great servant to the club who will always be an FFC great, but you will struggle to find anyone who thinks he was our player of the year in 2006, or who didnt feel we got a great price for him. If you don’t believe me just ask Hammers fans.
If you or any of the guys at Soccerlens are thinking about writing any more articles about FFC in the future, I don’t care if they aren’t complimentary, but at least do all of us the favour and base your opinions on the facts.
WW
PS: If you ever need any help researching or canvassing opinions there will be plenty of people at http://www.t-f-i.com willing to help you.
First of all, I welcome any analytical view of football as the coverage of the sport in this country is often barren of even the faintest glimmer of intelligence. Furthermore, any measured analysis of Fulham in the media is welcomed amid a sea of banalities about the big four.
However, your sound style is badly compromised by a loose grip on the facts. Keegan left two years before promotion to the Premier League, crowds are increasing, the timing of the Saha transfer is all wrong etc.
I agree entirely that there is no indication of improvement under Sanchez, but I don’t envy any manager the situation he’s inherited. I wouldn’t wish the writer to have watched more than a smattering of Fulham’s matches this season; but if he had, he would most probably be in a minority of one to call the board “rash”, especially after two seasons of that away form.
Fulham’s problems are born largely from Coleman’s inexperience as a manager – the lack of investment, the choice and retention of key backroom staff, the paucity of training, the loss of the key playing personnel – these are all problems that an experienced manager would have dealt with more effectively one way or another. The irony is that you call up Boa Morte’s transfer as a mistake when it was possibly Coleman’s finest hour in the transfer market. ĂÂŁ5m was an amazing deal for a player who had spent two seasons sulking; a clear indication of West Ham’s desperation rather than Fulham’s. Perhaps a more pertinent example would have been Coleman’s handling of Steed Malbranque, which left the team lacking its one genuine matchwinner and flair merchant.
Like most Fulham fans, I wish Chris Coleman nothing but the best for the future. He was perhaps the finest centrehalf I have seen play for the whites, and he has always impressed me in his media dealings. However, he reached the end of the road with Fulham. Time for him to reset his sights, think long and hard about the experience he has gained; I’m sure he’ll make a team a great manager in time. This job was too much for him in the end.
If we are pointing out the obvious errors, why not start at the beginning?
“The burly Welsh centre back was captain of the Fulham side that charged up two divisions and, UNDER KEVIN KEEGAN, MADE A DRAMATIC ARRIVAL IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE.
Um, no we didn’t arrive in the Prem under Keegan. We still had the borefest of Paul Bracewell’s season in the second tier to suffer before Jean Tigana took us up.
wow. fulham fans are irritating. I hope they get relegated. Can’t fill a small stadium. Not a big club at all. bye bye.
Well i dont rally know much about fulham or their history to be honest with you but i do agree with the title of the piece. The board was a bit rash in firing him, specially at such a horrible time. They has 5-6 odd games left in the season, the team was tired after a season of scrapping around and to bring in a new manager and to ask him to do save a sinking ship was harsh. They should have waited till the end of the season and then sacked coleman. I agree his record isnt exactly the best, and should have rightly stepped down in the close season, but was bringing in sanchez at such a time the best decision either ?
Ahh I had just written out a long reply to Woking White and it has been wiped from my screen. I shall summarise:
I don’t take issue with most of your points – though the transfer fees you quote are speculative at best, with the fees being undisclosed, and I might add (hoping to redeem myself) that I was deceived by the fact that queuedreu’s contract was soon to expire, hence my false recollection that he had come for free.
What I did take issue with was the aggressive nature of your riposte. By all means rebutt uniformed articles, but do so constructively – and, if you’d like to, write a counter-article! (we love new writers here at soccerlens, n’est-ce pas Ahmed?). That is the only reason for the similarly aggressive tone of my original comment. You might note, by the way, that I at no point mentioned Boa Morte, because I believe your later comments to be fair and the article to be grossly inaccurate on that particular subject.
It is my opinion that all football fans are overly critical of their own clubs and management teams – take a look at my articles on Spurs and Martin Jol. But I am not convinced that Coleman was going to take you down, and I was and am even less convinced that Sanchez is the man to save you.
Oh and it is my honest belief that the calibre of player Fulham were attracting towards the end of Coleman’s tenure (cf. Dempsey, Montella, even Queuedreu to a certain extent, though that was earlier on) was of a higher quality than ever before under the Welshman. Hence his comments on the matter.
Hope to see you again on here!
Hugo
Hugo, I agree to an extent about Coleman’s purchases improving towards the end of his tenure – i’d actually go as far as to say that a lot of his signings were good value for money, those that didn’t work unfortunate due to injuries (Jensen, Bullard, Pembridge as backup) or (a bit too often) fallings out with Coleman (Jensen, Collins John). However, they were bought because they were avaliable and cheap. Not because they played on either flank or left back or were a pacy striker. In 4 years he signed two wide midfielders (Davies and Routledge), one of whom’s on loan and two left backs (one, Niclas Jensen an abject failure) – yet even under Tigana these were our weak positions.
In january we signed two MORE central midfielders to compliment Brown, Diop, Jensen, Volz (who was fantastic there), Elliot, Pembridge and Bullard – admittedly the final three are out for the season – and also got Davies and Montella (yet fail to play montella for more than 10mins and Davies was a flop at everton – with any luck he’ll come good, he just hasnt yet). And our form collapsed when these new players were integrated into the team. Something wasn’t working there.
As to the board’s decision, i was surprised it came when it did. A week or two earlier and i’d have understood, but with five games left (particularly the difficult games we had) it seemed like closing the gate after the horse had bolted. The two easiest games of our run-in had been lost comprehensively leaving the new manager with little chance of getting anything – though i think he’s already got a point more than we’d have expected the way Colemans team had been playing.
Coleman had to go for a few key reasons:
1) That form gets any manager sacked.
2) A week before his sacking he was saying top ten was being targetted.
3) After his sacking Collins John states that the players didn’t think they were in relegation trouble.
4) Very few players have improved under the current regime (Collins John has gone from blistering first few games, to top scorer last season, to ONE goal and most his time on the bench this, whilst Diop is nowhere near the player big clubs were looking at a couple of seasons ago).
5) Less training than most other premiership clubs.
6) Falling out with our only creative players leaving us with a one-paced, narrow, battling midfield.