Fulham's manager-in-waiting Jean Tigana has targeted John Collins
to have a leading role at his new club.
The Frenchman - who doesn't officially take control at Craven
Cottage until next month - is desperate to make the Everton midfielder
his first signing, with a view to grooming Collins as his potential
successor in the dug-out at the London club.
Soccernet can reveal that the Premiership pretenders have already
made two enquiries about buying the 32-year-old and have not been
dissuaded from pursuing the matter further by Everton's reluctance
to sell. Indeed, Collins is understood to be keen on teaming up
with his former AS Monaco mentor and the opportunity to explore
a coaching role under Tigana would be very attractive.
Fulham managing director, Michael Fiddie, confirmed the ambitious
First Division club's interest in the former Scotland international
and their enthusiasm to recruit him. 'John Collins is a player
we would like to see at Fulham and the fact that he has worked
well with Jean before is a very big influence in that,'
Fiddie told Soccernet. 'We have made two approaches to Everton
and so far we have not had much luck - but if the opportunity
to buy him presented itself we would certainly be very keen to
take it.'
Though he still has two years of his contract left to run at Everton,
Tigana believes that Collins is the type of player to boost Fulham's
bid to make the top flight in his first year in charge. With the
sizeable financial backing of Mohamed Fayed, the Frenchman is
looking to surround himself with the calibre of people needed
to realise that dream and Collins is his primary target. Everton
could still command a transfer fee in excess of £1million for
their player but the greatest temptation for Walter Smith may
be the chance to offload the club's biggest earner.
Smith is in the middle of restructuring his side for the challenge
of the new season. And although Collins showed great form towards
the end of last term, cashing in on the player's market value,
while he can, might make most sense to Smith. Though Fulham are
keen to act, the situation has been complicated by the holiday
season. Smith is in America, while Collins and his agent, Raymond
Sparkes, are on holiday and Fulham have not been able to contact
them.
| John
Angus Paul Collins |
| Club: |
Everton |
| Date of Birth: |
31 January 1968 |
| Birthplace: |
Galashiels |
| Height: |
5'7" |
| Weight: |
10.10 |
| Club Honours: |
Scottish Cup '95 |
| International Honours: |
Scotland: 53; Under 21-8; Youth
|
| Transfers: |
Hibernian (From Hutchison Vale
BC on 9/8/84) SL 155+8/16 Scottish League Cup 7+3/1 Scottish
Cup 17/3 Others 4/1
Glasgow Celtic (Signed on 13/7/90) SL 211+6/47 Scottish
League Cup 22/3 Scottish Cup 21/3 Others 13/1 (Free to AS
Monaco on 2/7/96)
Everton (£2,500,000 on 7/8/98) Premier League 19+1/1
League Cup 2+2/1
|
Signed from AS Monaco during the 1998 close season, the experienced
Scottish international midfielder recovered from the shock of seeing
a penalty kick saved on his Everton home debut to enjoy a solid
start to his Premiership career. Ironically, Aston Villa's Mark
Bosnich saved the effort, after watching the Scot score an identically
struck effort against Brazil during the World Cup finals!
A hard-working, left-sided midfielder with a venomous shot, he opened
his goals account in England with two excellent strikes against
Middlesbrough and Sunderland in the Worthington Cup, before a niggling
injury hindered him more and more as the season progressed and eventually
forced him to undergo surgery. That ended his campaign on 28 December.
Unfortunately, for a player who prides himself on his physical condition,
it was the first serious injury of his career.