You may remember from the “Craven Cottage” thread how the Club ignominiously sacked their manager in 1935, while he was in hospital recovering from an appendix operation. The manager was Jimmy Hogan. Jimmy was coaching in Austria when the First World War broke out and although interned for the duration, he nonetheless stayed on until appointed manager by Fulham in 1934. It was a imaginative appointment by the Club. Jimmy wasn’t from the traditional manager mold of the time, he was first and foremost a coach who concerned himself with all aspects of the game; diet, mental attitudes of the players as well as fitness and tactics. He’s even organised social activities such as boat trips and a visit to Newmarket. Unheard of back then. In terms of tactics, Jimmy’s vision was the ’close passing game’ which, believe it or not, he had witnessed at the Cottage in his playing days. Regretably the players didn’t respond to his 'unconventional' methods and the Fulham Board were not convinced about the relevance of coaching mature players. So, with only one season under his belt he was sacked. This link is to a fascinating read about Jimmy’s successful career beyond Fulham and not least, development of that great Hungarian side: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25055156
