Costly move for Marlet was beginning of end for Tigana

The negotiations – if that is what they can be called – were brief and direct. Yes, Mohamed Al Fayed said as he sat in his office high above the Harrods department store last week, he would consider offering Jean Tigana a new two-year contract to remain as manager of Fulham Football Club. But the Frenchman would have to accept a "substantial" cut – as much as £800,000 – in his £2m salary.

Fayed, who had invited Tigana over "for a beer" before the game against Manchester United, already knew the answer. His manager – a man of "honour" who has a clear idea of what he feels he is worth – had said he wanted to stay. But he was always going to say no to this deal. It was the answer Fayed wanted, too. "He had made up his mind but he thought – 'let's see what his [Tigana's] attitude is'. If he is so committed then the chairman may have thought again," one senior source at the club said yesterday.

In truth, Fayed had lost patience several months ago with someone he regards as having wasted a large part of the £43m ploughed into the club to fund transfers since the heady rise into the Premier League. Thirteenth place last season and "loitering there or thereabouts", as the source put it, this season is simply not good enough for Fayed, a man not renowned for his patience in the first place. Just six years ago, of course, Fulham were 23rd in the Third Division. Still, Fayed had promised to create "the Manchester United of the south" and a sense of perspective is another attribute he sorely lacks.

One deal above all others has irked Fayed – the signing for £11.5m of the French international striker Steve Marlet from Lyon. It has irked the Fulham chairman so much that he insisted on checking Tigana's own bank details, employed a private investigator and launched an internal inquiry into other deals. He has also withheld the final £3.27m payment to the French club and the issue is now set for a Fifa tribunal.

One small vignette illuminates Fayed's mood. Last season, while injured, again, Marlet splashed out on a colourful, attention-grabbing Ferrari (after all, he is earning £40,000 a week under his five-year deal). Fayed was said to be incandescent when he saw it at the Motspur Park training ground – it was as if he was asking himself: why am I spending so much money and getting so little in return?

The seed was sown and with each disappointment, each defeat, each place dropped, the question was revolving in Fayed's mind. The fee was probably twice as much as should have been paid – but French clubs had cottoned on to the riches then swirling around the Premiership and, unfortunately, it was in France that Tigana chose to shop – purchasing players such as Steed Malbranque for £4.5m and Louis Saha for £2.1m. Fayed felt exploited.

"It is a squad which has underachieved hugely," said a source. "And it is natural for the chairman to question whether his money has been well spent." He added: "There were two or three other things which did not help, but the Marlet deal was a problem."

Also a problem was the lack of personal chemistry between the two men. "Jean is introverted, shy, enigmatic and the chairman is more outgoing. Although they both speak French, they are very different characters," the source said. Tellingly, he added: "Things were OK for the first couple of years."

Indeed they were. Tigana, one of the greatest players of his generation, having won 52 caps for his country during a glittering career which took in both the World Cup and European Championship success, brought instant rewards. In his first season in charge, Fulham won 11 games in a row and claimed the First Division title with a record 101 points. They played attractive, intricate football and thrived on Tigana's progressive coaching methods.

Life in the big league was tough. An FA Cup semi-final last year failed to mask the disappointment. This season's European exploits, first in the Intertoto Cup and then the Uefa competition, ended in a toothless exit while Fulham were also embarrassingly beaten in both domestic cups. In the league they have flirted with relegation. It was too much for Fayed. He craves glory, not mediocrity.

Matters were not helped by the chill financial wind blowing through football and, more crucially, Fulham's failure to secure a new stadium. Costs spiralled and Fayed, fearful he was losing too much money, decided to cut his losses. He already has sold an option on developing the Thames site. The most likely scenario now for the club is a cut-price return to Craven Cottage, with a make-do-and-mend stadium bolted on to the existing stands.

It all smacks of Fayed reining back, with some observers fearing that Fulham, if they remain homeless too long, could develop into the next Wimbledon. "I would worry about the future," said one City analyst. "The evidence you get is that it does not look too good. Fayed appears to have been propping them up with cash from his other businesses and that always sets off alarm bells." He added: "You only have to look at the expenses they must be incurring."

As part of the current retrenchment, of course, is a cheaper, management team and, in all probability, a limited clear-out of some of the highest-earning and most expensive foreign players. It is a question of what can be recouped. The writing was on the wall for Tigana who, in truth, has done little wrong, with the ill-fated hiring by Fayed of Franco Baresi last year as technical director. Tigana was compromised then but the appointment was ill-conceived and after an 81-day power struggle the Italian, nominally in charge of transfers, was ousted.

Now, it seems, Fayed has exhausted his interest in employing a foreign manager. Ruud Gullit, apparently, had tentatively suggested an interest and Fayed has dallied with Eric Cantona but now he will buy British: a far cheaper option. Micky Adams, perhaps? Oh – but he was the man Fayed sacked in the first place.

JEAN TIGANA THE LIFE AND TIMES

1956: Born Bamako, Mali, 23 June.

1982: Member of France team which reaches World Cup semi-finals in Spain.

1984: Helps France win European Championship on home soil.

1986: Reaches World Cup semi-finals with France in Mexico.

1993: Ends playing career, including 60 France caps, to become Lyon coach.

1995: Joins Monaco as coach.

1997: Monaco win French title.

2000: July: Takes over as Fulham manager, succeeding Karlheinz Riedle and Roy Evans. Fulham win first 11games of season.

2001: April: Fulham promoted to Premiership as runaway First Division champions. August: Tigana signs Edwin Van der Sar, Steed Malbranque and Steve Marlet in preparation for life in the top flight.

2002: Fulham reach FA Cup semi-finals and finish 13th in Premiership.

2003: Dispute over whether Fulham should relocate to new stadium or rebuild Craven Cottage is not resolved. Fulham begin ground-sharing arrangement with Queen's Park Rangers at Loftus Road. Despite good start to season, which includes Uefa Cup run after qualifying via Intertoto Cup, Fulham's season peters out after shock Cup defeats by Wigan and Burnley.

26 March: The Fulham chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, says Tigana's contract will not be renewed at the end of the season.