According to several reports RL has been offered a permanent post with Roy in the England set up. Congratulations Ray you have served Fulham well over many seasons and at last you may get some of the recognition you so rightly deserve. Danny,a ready made replacement.
According to the Sun 'newspaper', the club are asking England for compensation to make his appointment. Fair enough, but the reported £1m ?? Assuming we sign a new coach, would we really be offering a 4 year contract at £250kpa ? Very much doubt if Ray was on those terms but maybe it would suit a young Danny Murphy.
I can see a place for Danny Murphy in our coaching set up, but he isn't a ready-made replacement for Ray Lew. As 'Head of coaching', Ray's role reflected his seniority and enables him to share his vast experience with the younger coaches; Danny has vast playing experience at a higher level than Ray, but as a coach he's a novice who needs to learn at the feet of someone like Ray Lew. I think Danny will make a great coach and manager, but he would fill a very different role to the one that Ray Lew leaves behind. For what it's worth, I'd rather have one more season of Danny playing without the distraction of coaching as well, but I'd love to see him back at the Cottage in another capacity once he hangs up his boots.
I agree that Murphy's not the man for Ray Lewington's job if he goes to England. I don't quite know how these things work, but from the outside looking in there seems to be a role for Murphy in the coaching set up as cover for Kit Symons and Billy McKinley when they're both away on international duty. Presumably there's not too much match preparation going on during those periods so it wouldn't prove too much of a distraction from playing. We still need him to sign a new contract, though!
