Tigana believes there is no substitute for hard work on the training ground, the place where he imparts his football credo to the Fulham players.

IN AN illustrious 25-year career, Jean Tigana has never, until now, played or managed outside the top level of French football. Tomorrow, when Crewe Alexandra visit Craven Cottage, he begins the task of leading Fulham's latest attempt to escape from Britain's most competitive division, the Nationwide League first division, and, according to the bookmakers, he is one of the favourites to achieve it.

Although Tigana's contract is, no doubt, highly remunerative, his answer to the question of what prompted him to end an 18-month absence from the game suggests that there was much more to it than money. There was the sense of a personal and professional challenge.

"I didn't want to manage any team anywhere," he said. "I wanted to stop, and live with my family, but when Fulham spoke to me, I thought it was a good opportunity, for many reasons; for my future - to help me speak English - and for my family.

"I visited three times, to see a game, the facilities and a game away. I saw the situation and had a meeting with Mr [Mohamed Al] Fayed. He wanted Fulham to be promoted. He didn't make any promise, and I didn't want one; just good facilities to work in and to sign good players. My life is the pitch and the training ground."

Working on that new training ground until late afternoon is a Tigana-inspired novelty that not all British professionals might appreciate, but the wholesale team changes and mass influx of French players feared by some have not materialised. "It is the same situation when I followed Arsène Wenger at Monaco," he said. "I changed the team a little bit, not very quickly. It is up to me to adapt, to change. I want to give my experience to the players, but not change them."

'I changed the team a little, not very quickly. It is up to me to adapt, to change'

Tigana has studied the statistics and videos of last season, when Fulham finished just outside the play-off places, and has identified the attack as a weakness. Any attempt to remodel the forward line, however, has been frustrated by a series of injuries to Louis Saha, Karlheinz Riedle and Barry Hayles, while Geoff Horsfield was not considered fast or mobile enough.

Defence and midfield are less of a problem. Chris Coleman, the captain and central defender, supposedly frustrated and asking for a transfer at the end of last season, has signed a new four-year contract. Like the bookmakers, he believes that Tigana will get Fulham promoted, so it is just as well that the new man claims to relish pressure. Help is at hand from John Collins, who played for him at AS Monaco, and has arrived from Everton to run the midfield and also help Tigana's English when necessary.

"I have John Collins when I'm looking for a word, but on the pitch it's not a problem," Tigana said. "I give a demonstration, and I think the players understand quickly. But John Collins is very important for me. He's a very good professional, on the pitch, and afterwards: his diet - he doesn't drink. He's a good example to young players.

"I like to put young players in my team, such as David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry at Monaco, and as an example, I need older players to give their experience."

Kevin Betsy and Sean Davis are two young players who have already appeared in his Fulham selections, but Tigana also appreciates the contribution of more mature talents such as Terry Phelan. "I played for 26 years, and John Collins 21 or 22. I see only the situation on the pitch. I don't know how old they are. I like a mix of old and young players."

Tigana's commitment to youth is part of his approach. He has no expectations of being asked by his squad about the days when he, Michel Platini and Alain Giresse inspired France to the 1984 European championship and to two World Cup semifinals. He also won three French championships as a Bordeaux player, two with Marseilles and another as manager of AS Monaco, whom he also took to Uefa Cup and European Cup semi-finals.

Football on that level, though, is worlds away from the game as played in the first division. Tigana watched the team play away to Tranmere Rovers last season, Dave Challinor's long throw-ins and all, but he is unworried by the prospect of facing some of the less subtle sides, making the point that the teams that went up last season were, by and large, good footballing ones.

"I don't know the situation exactly, but I have my philosophy. When you play, it is very important that the team plays. You see the situation in the World Cup, the European championship, the Champions' League - only the teams that play, win. People say to me that in this division it is difficult because some teams don't play, they kick and rush, but for me it's not a problem. When we have the ball, we are strong. That's my philosophy."

It remains to be seen whether, at places such as Prenton Park and Bramall Lane, there are more things to contend with than are dreamt of in that philosophy.