Fulham rule out costly Van Gaal

Louis Van Gaal has been officially ruled out of the running for the Fulham managerial vacancy because of his inflated wage demands.

The Dutch coach met Fulham officials a fortnight ago and was an early front-runner for the post until he was asked what wage he would want. Van Gaal's adviser then stunned Fulham by demanding around £2m a year, which was more than double what their initial talks had suggested.

The former Barcelona coach was contacted by the Fulham chief executive, Bruce Langham, yesterday to tell him he was not in the final shortlist of two. It is a blow for Van Gaal, who had been keen to come to the Premiership, and had apparently been prepared to work within Fulham's budget.

Other candidates, such as the German Klaus Toppmöller and George Burley, are still in contention. Toppmöller, a free agent after being sacked by Bayer Leverkusen, is due to speak to Fulham in the next few days. Burley is free to leave Derby after his final game tomorrow.

Fulham have held discussions with Crystal Palace over the possibility of sharing their Selhurst Park ground, the Eagles chairman, Simon Jordan, has revealed.

Fulham left Craven Cottage a year ago to groundshare with Queen's Park Rangers at Loftus Road this season, but significant improvements are necessary to stay beyond then.

Jordan said: "They [Fulham] said they must keep their obligation to QPR first, which is right. We have a rent clause which escalates when we lose a tenant, which we are doing with Wimbledon. Football clubs play one game a week at their ground and you have to be realistic and try to get more money for yourselves."