CHRIS COLEMAN has admitted his job as Fulham manager has put a strain on his personal life. Coleman last night broke his silence about the revelations wife Belinda bugged his car as she suspected an affair. The Craven Cottage chief warned the couple’s son and three daughters to expect ugly headlines about him when he took his job four years ago. But he expected them to be professional rather than personal.Fans taunted him with chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ during last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Ports-mouth. But Coleman, 36, insists he is strong enough to cope with the intense interest sparked by the story about his marriage.
He said: “My wife doesn’t see a lot of me because of my job but whatever is going on with my private life, no one wants to read about themselves like that. “It’s not easy. We’ve got four children and I’m away a lot. “You wouldn’t go into this job if you never thought you were going to get some bad headlines. I had some bad ones — football-related ones — last year but nothing on this scale.
“Luckily, I primed my children when I took the job four years ago that ‘This is daddy’s new job and sooner or later something will happen and we won’t like what we are reading’. “The kids will be all right. My youngest daughter is seven, my other daughters are nine and 12 and my boy is 14. "He is away skiing this week and the girls are off school. But this is what I do for a living and you always run the risk of your private life becoming public.
“I was surprised when I heard the allegation of the intrusion. But when you are in a high-profile job, there are lots of good things that come with that and there’s also going to be some interest into your private life. “But you have to take the rough with the smooth. It’s as simple as that. “Sometimes, it doesn’t make for good reading. But I have to get on with it. It’s my turn, “We’ve got to get through it as a family and hope it goes away because it doesn’t last forever. “It might last a few days or a week and there may be uglier stories coming out. But we’ve just got to accept it’s the nature of the game.
“I’m surprised people think my private life is more important to the public than football games but I can’t do a lot to stop that. “It surprises me people could be interested in my marriage. I never thought I’m invincible or untouchable, that nothing is ever going to happen to me.”
Coleman admits he was the subject of training-ground banter from his players when the story emerged his wife had a listening device and electronic tracker fitted to his car. He said: “My staff are absolutely magnificent but when I stepped on to the training ground, some of the players ripped me to pieces. “It’s the worst place to be, with professional footballers when there’s a bit of p***- taking to be done.
As for pressure from fans, Coleman admits he has a ‘sick’ streak which makes him thrive on proving others wrong. He added: “I do still enjoy it, sick isn’t it? Last week, I took off Brian McBride and the fans sang ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’. “But there’s a streak in me that says ‘I do know exactly what I am doing’. You have to be brave and a bit arrogant and make decisions that either come off or don’t. I love it.
"Last year there was a picture in one paper of me and my coaches Steve Kean and Dave Beasant with big axes above our heads. “We had lost four in a row — but then we beat Chelsea.”
“I’ve maybe kicked myself in the b***s saying we are going to be in the top 10 and built it up more than I should have. “It would take a lot of money to establish ourselves in the top 10, probably about £20million. “The chairman will chew my ears off or give me praise but he’s never told me ‘You’ve got to get a result or else’. “And I’ve never gone to him and said I want £15m or I’m off, I’ve never spat my dummy out — and I wouldn’t.”