Al Fayed In No Rush To Find Manager

The Cottagers' attempts to replace Hodgson with Ajax's Martin Jol ended in failure last week when the Dutch club refused to allow their manager to join the Barclays Premier League side.

A spokesman for the club insisted they will not be rushed into appointing a new manager despite the game with the Trotters now being less than three weeks away."The chairman is obviously confident that we will have someone in place but we won't be rushed into making a decision," he said.

Sven-Goran Eriksson is now thought to be on the club's wishlist, although the Swede's agent Athole Still said last week that Fulham were yet to get in touch with the former England boss about taking over at Craven Cottage.

Temporary manager Ray Lewington is currently in charge of the team on their pre-season tour of Sweden, which ends with a friendly against Malmo on Tuesday.

The club will then return to the UK to play Portsmouth and Werder Bremen before Bolton in their first Barclays Premier League fixture of the season on August 14.

A spokesman for the club insisted they will not be rushed into appointing a new manager despite the game with the Trotters now being less than three weeks away. "The chairman is obviously confident that we will have someone in place but we won't be rushed into making a decision," he said.

"There is no deadline. The chairman wants to make sure that he has the right man for the job and will make that decision as and when he sees necessary.

"We have our second friendly of the pre-season tour of Sweden tomorrow and the chairman is very happy with the way that preparations are going under Ray Lewington so we are not panicking here.

"It's business as usual. Ray Lewington is doing a great job with the pre-season campaign and the managerial situation will be resolved as and when we have the right man for the job."

Source: PA

Source: PA