ACCORDING to some bookmakers, Fulham are already guaranteed promotion to the FA Carling Premiership, so while the players have only to tie up the loose ends of their 16 remaining Nationwide League first division matches, the club can now turn its attentions to pressing matters off the field — as well as the field itself.

The Craven Cottage pitch badly needs attention. Drainage is a problem, with a thick layer of compacted matter sitting a few inches below grassroots level, and both players and management complained after the match against Sheffield United on Sunday about the difficulties of playing their style of rapid-passing football on a “boggy” surface. “We cannot play as fast as we would normally and that makes it harder for us to surprise the opposition,” Christian Damiano, the assistant manager, said.

It was a complaint that echoed his programme notes about the previous home match, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City, and one wonders, with three months of the season to go — and Chris Coleman, the club captain, who was badly injured in a car accident in January, ruled out — whether the bookmakers are right.

Significantly, of the eight points that Fulham have dropped at home this season, five have been lost in the past two matches. Jean Tigana, the manager, was seen after the recent win away to Queens Park Rangers pointing out to the Fulham directors the merits of the Loftus Road pitch, which has synthetic roots and has withstood the pressure of football and Wasps rugby.

A new pitch, though, would probably be only a temporary investment, with the possibility of redevelopment getting under way at Craven Cottage soon. On February 27, the planning committee of Hammersmith and Fulham Council meets to decide on the club’s planning application for what amounts to a complete rebuilding of the club’s home of 105 years.

The existing ground is some way below Premiership standards and only the fact that Fulham’s elevation from the lower divisions has been so recent allows them to keep three standing areas open. Fulham’s plans will require groundsharing for one season, although that would not necessarily be 2001-02. The club has one more season’s grace before all terracing must be replaced, so Premiership football could be staged in front of standing supporters once again, subject to approval from the Football Association and the local authority.

While temporary lodgings will be required at some stage, the club has denied suggestions that an arrangement has been made with Millwall, who have a 20,000-capacity all-seat stadium. Trips to south Bermondsey would be something of a culture shock to supporters used to a stroll alongside the Thames through leafy Bishop’s Park.

“Until the planning issue is resolved, we won’t be talking to anyone about ground-sharing,” a club spokesman said. “We are not even in the preliminary stages. It would be presumptuous of us in terms of the planning application, which is our priority.”

However, there is a finite number of all-seat grounds in the area that do not have lodgers already. The nearest option is Stamford Bridge — Chelsea actually prepared a third dressing-room for Fulham’s use in 1991 in anticipation of a ground-share — but the image of Ken Bates welcoming Mohamed Al Fayed into his personal fiefdom brings to mind only one expression: “This ground ain’t big enough for the both of us.”

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