It’s only natural that many of us have become adopted Fulham fans-or interested in the team at least-now that three of our Americans play an important role at the English Premier League club. Unlike some Brits, who refuse to accept that Americans can play, Fulham manager Chris Coleman has demonstrated his belief that MLS players are an under-exploited opportunity.
Fulham’s Web site today has an interview with the young coach, who talks about the trial by fire the injured Fulham player endured when he took the team over in a crisis in April 2003. Indeed, Coleman inherited a team desperately fighting for survival with less than a month of the season to go. “I’d just come out of the dressing room, the players were still my teammates so I had to disappoint a few people who were quite close to me,” he recalls of his first match in charge. “But if you’re going to do it, you have to do it your way.” Do it he did; the team came from behind to secure a famous 2-1 victory against Newcastle. A few wins after that, Coleman-and Fulham-earned their keep in the EPL.
Now, six seasons later, the club’s goals have changed. “We’re looking more and more like a Premiership club and not a club who are always being talked about as relegation candidates,” he says. Now 12 points out of the relegation zone, Fulham’s sites are set on Europe, not relegation.