Coleman furious as stars fail to sparkle

Chris Coleman admits he is angry that Fulham are struggling in the Premiership despite having a stronger squad than last season.

Fulham go into tomorrow's match at Southampton fifth from bottom and the manager said: "We're a better team than we're showing now and that's why I get angry. We should be higher but no excuses - we're not higher because we don't deserve to be.

"But I still think with the players we do have available we should have done better than we have done. I'm very conscious of not making any excuses for the players and they're aware of that.

"If we play like we did against Crystal Palace more often we wouldn't be in this position."

Fulham beat Palace 3-1 on New Year's Day with two Andy Cole goals following three straight defeats and Coleman said the support provided by the club has helped him through the most miserable Christmas of his life.

"My Christmas was the worst I've ever had. I didn't enjoy it. But there are a lot of good people at this club," Coleman said.

"They are fully behind me and I don't forget about them. It's all right when you're riding high and winning - I've got 1,000 mates then. But when you're in the bottom six I don't see a lot of them. However, the staff and other people at the training ground have been fantastic.

"When you're doing badly you need their support and the support of the fans."

Coleman hopes to dip into the transfer market this month as Fulham set about the task of pulling further away from the relegation zone.