Chris Coleman has revealed an ambition not only to coach Wales, but also to manage on the Continent – once he has achieved all that he wants to at Fulham.
It is now four years since Coleman, still only 36, took charge of the Premiership side after the dismissal of Jean Tigana and he is keen to ‘broaden his horizons’ at some stage.
‘I would love to have a go at managing abroad,’ he said.
‘I would love to sample it and see what it is like. To see if I could broaden my horizons and learn a bit more.
‘It is hard to get a job abroad, but a lot of foreign coaches come to the Premier League, don’t they? Are they any better than the guys we’ve got?
‘I think there is stuff we can learn from them, but why don’t we see more British coaches going abroad to work and finding out what it is all about over there?
‘I’d love to have the chance to go to Portugal, Italy, Spain or wherever and have a look. And I’d love to one day get a chance of managing Wales – but that is somewhere in the distance God knows where.
‘When I took the job (at Fulham) I was looking at a five-year plan of where we needed to be and I am proud to say we are on course for that,’ he said ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Wigan, where victory should end any fears about being sucked into the relegation battle.
‘We needed more stability – we had to cut the budget, stay in the Premier League and get back to Craven Cottage. We were still at Loftus Road back then.
‘We have done all three things. We have progressed the training ground, our fan base has grown and we’ve had four years now, touch wood, where we stay in the league again.
‘If we can get higher in the league next year I can say that is what I set out to do. But that’s not to say I am off.
‘I said if I am lucky enough to be still here after five years let’s see what we do from there.
‘We are another year away and I have not really looked beyond that if I am honest. I have not even thought about where I will be in five years.’
