The job that nobody wants: who next for desperate Fulham?

Ray Lewington's application may now be in Mr Al Fayed's waste paper basket, but another manager has distanced himself from the Fulham manager job.   After Slaven Bilic declined last week, Martin Jol has now made noises about the squad not being good enough.   Which leaves us with unproven John Collins and a number of proven managers with somewhat mixed backgrounds.

The Betfair odds now have Terry Venables, of all people, as second favourite behind Collins.  Roy Hodgson - who would be a good choice, I think - is next, then come the names that make us shudder:  Hoddle, McLaren, O'Leary.  Yikes.   Then we have the aforementioned Jol, Lewington and Bilic, then it gets even weirder, with Souness, Klinsmann, and Billy Davies.   If Graham Souness gets this job there'll be outrage on the terraces.    Paul Ince and Gerard Houllier are intriguing longshots, as are George Burley and Jacques Santini.

Somewhere in this list of names is our next manager.  John Collins' lack of experience is said to concern the board, and rightly so.  While he would presumably bring back a reversion to Tigana-esque passing patterns, could he win with this squad?   It would be quite a gamble at a time where the board needs certainty, or as close to certainty as they can get.   Which is why Venables starts to make sense.   Whatever we might think of the man, he does understand football, how things need to be done, how to make the best of available resources. I'm no Venables fan, but for Fulham's purposes he seems a sensible choice.

Roy Hodgson is another with a 'tactician' reputation, but he may find that our motley collection are not as malleable as he'd need them to be.   Oh, there's talent in the squad, but they have no confidence and are used to playing a certain way (directly, badly).   Is he a strong enough personality to come in, reinvigourate these players, and turn things around?   We cannot know, of course, but Venables has previous in this area, having rescued Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough under similar circumstances in 2000.   He hasn't managed a club property in years, but desperate times call for desperate measures. 

My prediction:  Collins AND Venables.

Comments

[Arthur Weekly]

Terry Venables has passed "GO" and collected a million quid so many times he's aiming for the Guinness Book of records as the most over rated, over paid person to dupe the most people into believing he had any clue about how to coach a squad of footballers. TV to a team in trouble is what Gordon Sumner is to the "charidy" rock concert: both irrepressible bad pennies who turn up like hyenas at a kill, licking their chops for a lot of free publicity and a brown paper bag full of dosh. The venality is enervating to the point of incredulity. And the punters fall for these pretentious gasbags every time.

[Nobby stiles]

Forget Venables, the only man for the job is Willy Wonka, only bloke who'll get the best out of a bunch of overpaid underachievers with their choice of all the sweets in the chocolate factory!

[Peter Koeb]

Good golly. I'd be distraught at the idea of being a Fulham fan and candidates like Hod, McChump and O'Wogan being suggested for the job. Not sure about Hodgson's credentials as a club manager, but he might be a good choice for Scotland. (Even as a "foreigner".)

The challenge might well appeal to "El Tel", even in the twilight of his career, given that he could negotiate a juicy staying-up bonus. Plus, he's still got a lot to give to the game.

How about a few more candidates, from out-of-left-field? Kevin Keegan had a successful spell in charge, with all that MAF dosh. Howard Kendall....Carlton Palmer....Brian Talbot? Or what about an audacious offer to Signor Marcello Lippi. He said no to Birmingham, but London's nightlife might be an irresistible magnet.