Chris Coleman feels both he and Fulham don’t get the respect they deserve – but that suits him down to the ground.
The Welshman told the Daily Mail in a wide-ranging interview that he likes his work at Craven Cottage to go under the radar.
“If we go unnoticed at Fulham, it suits me down to the ground,” he explains. “We are often the last team on Match of the Day, we get the least amount of publicity and I use that with the players. Nobody likes us, nobody respects us. It suits me, I’m in my first job, I like to avoid the fuss.”
Coleman, who uses the minimum of sports science and prefers to build personal connections with his players, believes he is the right place at the right time and feels his chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed will support his plan to take Fulham forward.
“If we are going to take it to the next level, then we need investment and recruitment; the chairman, the board, we are all singing from the same hymn sheet. I have a good relationship with the chairman, Mr Fayed. It can be fiery. He’s been accused of losing interest but, in the four years I’ve been in it, I’ve never once had to search for him. He calls me.
“If it’s not going well, he’ll ask me to go and explain why. He’s passionate, he cares. He’s 100 per cent involved. And he’s not been here for a few years, he’s been here for 10 years and spent more than £150million of his own money. The worry with some foreign owners is, how long will they be here for? You can’t ask that of our guy. Fulham would not be where they are without him. Everybody should know that.”
Just like everyone should know that Chris Coleman is an outstanding young manager — even if he wants to keep that to himself.
