Fulham are planning to appoint a "high-calibre manager" to
succeed Roy Hodgson in the next fortnight with frontrunners Sven
Goran Eriksson and Mark Hughes joined by surprise outside US World
Cup coach Bob Bradley.
Following the success of Hodgson in taking Fulham to a Europa
League final, owner Mohamed Al Fayed wants a manager with an
established reputation in charge.
Next stop: Sven Goran Eriksson could be the next
Fulham manager
Former England manager Eriksson is the leading contender and has
a good personal relationship with Chief Executive Alistair
Mackintosh from their time together at Manchester City.
Eriksson has made it clear he wants to return to the Premier
League after a three-match stint as manager of Ivory Coast but he
would have to accept a lower wage than he had at Eastlands and
limited spending budget.
And although Hughes had last night still not been approached
about the job, he has not been ruled out either with Fulham
impressed by the way he guided Blackburn Rovers into Europe on a
limited budget before succeeding Eriksson at City.
The outsider, American manager Bradley, is keen to embark on a
club career in Europe and his advantage would be being able to
bring in several members of the American World Cup team including
his son Michael to line up alongside Clint Dempsey who is already
at Craven Cottage.
Fulham are not rushing into an appointment with Hodgson having
only departed on Thursday.
But they want a man in place before they arrive for a pre-season
training camp in Sweden on July 19.
Hughes' decision to turn down a lucrative offer from Dubai club
side Al Ahli last week means he is available for the Fulham job but
Eriksson fits the profile enjoyed by Fayed.
Ironically, Fulham's Chief Executive Alistair Mackintosh
resigned from the same job at Manchester City a week after Hughes
was appointed in 2008 to replace Eriksson, and he is believed to be
a fan of the Swede.
Although Eriksson would expect a larger transfer budget than
Hughes, his arrival is more likely to allow popular No2 Ray
Lewington to arrive at the club.
Another contender Alan Curbishley is believed to be pessimistic
about his chances because of a chequered history with two of his
former players Danny Murphy and Paul Konchesky who have an
influential voice in the Craven Cottage dressing-room.
Curbishley fell out with Murphy at Charlton and later sold
Konchesky to Fulham when he was manager at West Ham.
A senior source at Fulham confirmed last night: 'We plan to have
a high-calibre man in place by the time our pre-season friendlies
begin.'
