After 176 games in charge, Chris Coleman was, surprisingly, removed from his position as manager of Fulham Football Club last night.
After the club had gone seven games without a win and slipped perilously close to the relegation zone with some tricky fixtures ahead, the decision was made to relieve Coleman of his duties.
Overall a record of 176 games in charge with sixty-one wins recorded against seventy-one defeats with forty-four draws probably wasn`t the sole reason for his ousting. Indeed, it would appear on the surface that those in charge have had their usual panic attack.
I say usual because it would appear that it is fast becoming a practise of our club to remove, from office, a manger experiencing problems, at this time of year. Unfortunately, with five games to go, the new incumbent doesn`t have much time to size matters up.
Lawrie Sanchez, who is currently managing the Northern Ireland team, has been given the duty of preserving our Premiership status. It is anticipated that he will also bring his assistant, Terry Gibson, with him to Craven Cottage.
Of the previous managerial regime, only Dave Beasant remains thereby giving the new regime a distinct Wimbledon feel about it. Quite whether a touch of the crazy gang spirit will be enough to keep us up remains to be seen.
Coleman, who recently seemed to have lost the support of the fans, can look back on his first managerial post and wonder where he went wrong, if indeed he did.
Looking at matters, it would be harsh to put 100% of the blame at his feet. In recent times he`s lost his best players, Van der Sar and Saha to Manchester United and Boa Morte to West Ham whilst also losing key players to injury, most notably the close season capture, Jimmy Bullard.
It should also be pointed out that the initial influx of money has slowly fizzled out as Al Fayed apparently seeks a buyer. Therefore, it remains to be seen if Lawrie Sanchez has the time, the resources or is indeed provided with the funds to turn around a club that appears to be in decline.
As regards to the announcement, this is the official statement released by Fulham last night,
‘It is disappointing that the club has no alternative but to part company”
‘Chris has provided a fantastic service during his 10 years at the club, but as a team and organisation Fulham Football Club has goals to attain and success to achieve – and by no means can this be compromised.”
‘After consultation with the Irish FA president Jim Boyce, it is agreed that Lawrie Sanchez will join as caretaker manager for the remaining five Premiership games of the season.’
Your thoughts please!
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