Dave Beasant appears to have been given a stay of execution at Craven Cottage – having been fired and then rehired within half an hour on a crazy Easter Monday evening.

Fulham’s first official statement announcing the departure of manager Chris Coleman and his replacement at the helm by the Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez stated that both assistant manager Steve Kean and goalkeeping coach Beasant would be leaving the club. But Fulham quickly reversed course when Sanchez made it clear that he wanted Beasant, who was his goalkeeping coach with Northern Ireland, as part of his team in west London.

Some tabloid reports have suggested that Beasant, brought to the club by Coleman as goalkeeping cover and then part of his coaching team, might have played a part in Fulham’s move for Sanchez – but this has been strongly denied by the Fulham hierarchy.