Fulham boss Jean Tigana fears his imminent exit could lead to a mass exodus of players over the summer.
The Frenchman will leave the club at the end of the season after Fulham decllinedto extend his stay with the club.
‘The players have a big question about their futures and I don’t have the answer,’ Tigana said.
‘They didn’t say much to me in the meeting when I told them I was leaving.
‘We just talked for five or 10 minutes but I’ve told them they must serve the club.’
Of particular concern is the fate of Fulham’s sizeable contingent of French players, many of whom were enticed to the Premier League by the prospect of working with Tigana.
Steed Malbranque, one of Tigana’s signings, recently admitted: ‘We all believed the manager would stay and I must certainly have the possibility to leave at the end of the season.’
Among those thought likely to quit in the wake of Tigana’s departure are: Malbranque, Steve Marlet, Sylvain Legwinski, Louis Saha and Alain Goma.
Moreover, several players – Andy Melville, Maik Taylor, Bjarne Goldbaek, Lee Clark, John Collins and loan trio Martin Djetou, Junichi Inamoto and Pierre Wome – are out of contract at the end of the season.
