Fulham began planning for the post Kevin Keegan era tonight after their current coach confirmed press reports that he wanted to take the England job on a permanent basis.
Keegan, who had been in temporary charge of the national side following the departure of Glenn Hoddle, is expected to be formally offered the full-time position by the Football Association early next week. A Football Association sub-committee held a hastily convened meeting yesterday to discuss the terms of the four-year deal worth around £750,000-a-year that plan to offer their first choice for national boss.
Fulham managing director Neil Rodford acknowledged in a statement that the FA had approached Mohamed Al-Fayed ‘for the first time to formally indicate that they wished to secure the services of Kevin Keegan as full-time England manager’. The Fulham boss had already decided to sever his links with his club, where is still employed in the role chief operating officer position he was appointed to when Al-Fayed suddenly sacked Micky Adams in 1997, admitting: ‘You can’t do the two jobs. If you do, you jeopardise both parties.’
Keegan’s volte-face has disappointed Fulham after the former Liverpool hero had made a public show of pledging his loyalty to the Second Division leaders when he was publicly courted by the FA in the aftermath of Hoddle’s resignation following his controversial comments about disabled children. Keegan had insisted he would honour the final fifteen months of his Fulham contract after taking charge of the national side for four games. A terse club statement offered no thank you to their manager for guiding the Whites to the Division Title and referred to him as ‘Keegan’ whilst his coaching staff were named as ‘Mr. Bracewell’ and ‘Mr. Sibley’.
Rodford revealed Fulham would seek ‘fair compensation’ for the loss of Keegan. He declared: ‘The investment in the club over the past two seasons has been huge and will continue. The managerial skills required to make the best use of that investment and take the club forward will be found.’ The club confirmed that Bracewell and Sibley would run first-team affairs ‘while discussions take place regarding the future management’.
Al-Fayed appeared more magnanimous about Keegan’s change of heart, saying: ‘England is more important than Fulham or me. The glory of England is my glory and the glory of Fulham.’
