If Chris Coleman is jealous of all the money being splashed out down the road at Chelsea he is doing a good job of hiding it. The new Fulham manager would have every reason to peer across at his club’s neighbours with a little envy creeping into his vision.
Chelsea’s new Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is turning them from pretenders to contenders in the Premiership race with a liberal sprinkling of seven figure fees for top-class players.
His ambition seems to have no bounds and the arrival of Glen Johnson, Geremi and probably Damien Duff once he accepts the Stamford Bridge rouble, are just the start.
At Fulham the opposite is happening and fans just getting used to the club’s belt-tightening after years of chairman Mohamed Al Fayed’s extravagance are unlikely to see the upside of becoming engulfed in the shadow of their most hated local rivals.
But Coleman doesn’t have the mental scars that come with years following the side cast as south west London’s junior partner and thinks Chelsea’s transformation may do him a favour in his first year in management.
As the Premiership’s youngest manager, at the age of 33, he would benefit from a couple of years establishing himself without the spotlight that comes with big spending.
He has also seen first-hand what happens to those who spend Fayed’s money unwisely after his predecessor, Jean Tigana, paid the price for agreeing an £11.5million deal with Lyon for Steve Marlet, a striker who is still unproven as a goalscorer two years later.
Coleman said: “Chelsea may take the pressure off me a bit I suppose. They have blown the transfer market wide open. They look like they are going to spend a lot of money and there will be a lot of pressure on them to succeed.
“We have done most of our spending in the past and now have to be more careful and realistic about the way we work.
“We have to make sure we are in the Premiership the season after next and we have to concentrate on our academy. Even though I am hoping to bring in a couple of new players before our first league game the academy will be the main route for us.”
Fulham are likely to be net sellers before the start of the season, providing they can find a buyer for Marlet and one goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar or Maik Taylor.
Full-back Steve Finnan has already left for Liverpool and defender Abdes Ouaddou is set to go on loan to Rennes while there are no additions to last term’s squad yet.
The position of young midfielder Sean Davis is also uncertain after Everton had a £3.5m bid rejected, but Coleman is optimistic about Fulham’s prospects.
“I am a new manager who is young and inexperienced and people outside the club are probably not expecting too much,” he said. “But I am looking to finish in the top 10 and a good cup run, that would be nice. I think that’s realistic with the squad I’ve got.
“I am extremely hopeful Davis will be part of that next season because he’s a top player and if anybody was interested in him they would have to find an awful lot of money.
“He is ambitious. He wants to win things and break into the England squad but we are desperate to hold on to him.
“I have told him that unless he makes it clear that he does not want to stay – which he has not – then he will not be leaving.”
Coleman knows that even though Fulham are no longer aiming to become the Manchester United of the South and still have to sort out a permanent home ground, he has been given a great opportunity.
Starting his management career in the Premier League after less than a season coaching goes some way to making up for the years of playing he was deprived of by a horrific car crash in January 2001.
The effects of that accident are still clear to see as Coleman had to have another operation six weeks ago and is walking around on crutches with the prospect of another two or three months rehabilitation.
Assistant manager Steve Kean is proving an able deputy on the training field with the former Wales international restricted to shouting instructions from the sidelines.
Although he did not admit it when he was first made Fulham’s caretaker manager five games from the end of last season, he was desperate for the job and now he knows why.
“It is totally different now I have got the job and I am loving every minute of it,” Coleman said. “It’s hard work and you never switch off but I get a good feeling from it because I am in the thick of things again.
“It is as close as you can get to playing and I know I am lucky to have this opportunity. It doesn’t make up for the five years of playing I probably missed but it is funny the way things have of working themselves out.”
