Cookie talks!

Coleman has told the press today about his envy of the amount Fulham have spent in the last 12-months and looks back on what he managed for us.

Despite keeping Fulham in the top flight during his reign whilst losing such players as big Ed, Saha and Finnan he was sacked before the end of last season.

Coleman admits seeing Fulham in its corrent position is hard for him to take.

'It will be a shame if Fulham are relegated and I hope it won't happen,' said Coleman, who has been in charge of Championship club Coventry City since February.

'But it doesn't look great. I was there from the very start under Al Fayed and helped get us to the Premier League and I know how much work it took to get there.

'My first job as manager from the chairman was to slash £5m off the wage bill.

'We lost Finnan and it was like a revolving door while trying to stay in the league.

'Every year we lost one of our best players and we didn't invest all the money back into that position. We had to spread it and it was a tough job.

'But last summer they spent £20m and of course as the ex-manager I have to be disappointed with that because I wish I had that.

'I was thinking 'if only I had had that money'.

'In four years as the manager I think I spent £26m but we sold as much, and since then they've spent over £30m - so they have spent more in a year than I did in four years.'

On our Championship future Coleman remarked,

'Teams do bounce back up but it is not easy because this is a tough, tough league it really is,' he added.

'Fulham are going to come down with a lot of money to spend in this league but it doesn't guarantee they are going to go back up, it really doesn't.

'The Premier League is different, there are three mini-leagues - but anyone can beat anyone in the Championship.

I am one of the first to admit the sacking of Cookie was the right choice and it was time for him and the club to part ways. However I think the club could of handed the whole thing a little better.