Marlet proving music to Fulham cheers

French striker achieving his goals after slow start to life in the capital

It is not often that missing out on the biggest football gathering in four years proves to be an advantage, but Steve Marlet is quietly pleased that he spent his summer in Europe. In fact, every Frenchman in the Fulham squad has benefited from their World Cup exclusion. Fulham's poor form last season meant that the players were overlooked. But, following Les Bleus' swift and embarrassing exit from the tournament, the subsequent change in management, and Fulham's good start to the new campaign, Marlet and his Gallic friends have become flavour of the month.

Steed Malbranque, the creative dynamo in midfield, and Alain Goma, the rock at the heart of the defence, have recently been singled out for praise by the new French manager, Jacques Santini, but it is Marlet who is grabbing most of the limelight. Not only did he play in France's recent qualification double-header against Slovenia and Malta, scoring two goals in the process, but he has also been leading the Fulham attack with great aplomb. Stronger, fitter, and more determined than last year, Marlet seems to be a new man.

He even has a new name. They call him "Bob" in west London. The nickname is not a reference to Bob the Builder – although the Frenchman has been rebuilding his career of late – but Bob Marley. Such a link is music to the ears of the music enthusiast, although the Fulham Marlet insists he can entertain only with his feet.

"I struggled a bit last season," he says ahead of today's visit to Southampton in the League, "but I always knew that the English game was made for me. I jump, I run in every direction, I'm always involved... games are very direct, and I like that. Teams look to go forward at every opportunity, which really suits fast players like me."

Comparisons have been made with another speedy Frenchman, Thierry Henry. Like him, Marlet was a winger who has been turned into a main striker. And, like his international partner, it took Marlet a while to adjust to the new role. "It was a double shock in a sense," says Marlet, who joined Jean Tigana's revolution early last season, "because I had to get used to a new playing style and a new city. London is such a big place. Huge. It reminds me of my time in Paris, when I used to play for Red Star [a small club in the French capital]. I've never known anywhere so vast."

At first, Marlet was equally lost in the labyrinth that is the Premiership. Goals, in particular, were hard to come by, a failure that led to his missing out on the World Cup. The young Auxerre striker, Djibril Cissé, took his place, which is something of a quirk of fate as Cissé used to clean his boots when they were both at Guy Roux's club.

"The thing is," says Fulham's record £11.5m signing, "that I had never been the leading front man before, and scoring was never really my speciality. It took a while to get used to, but I'm enjoying the challenge. The coach has seen something in me and I've trusted his instinct. It's paying off now, but it was tough at first."

In many ways, Marlet's early malaise was a microcosm of the failures at Fulham. Both struggled in their first year of Premiership football. Equally, though, both have absorbed the lessons, gone away for the summer holidays, and then returned refreshed and reinvigorated.

"I think the Premiership was a bit of a culture shock for everyone at the club," Marlet says. "We had just won the First Division title at a canter and suddenly found ourselves expected to be fighting for honours. But it doesn't happen like that. At any club, you need time to settle and bed in your ideas."

The results so far this season support Marlet's views. An early return to training, in order to prepare for the Inter-toto Cup, has meant that the players have been one step ahead of many of their opponents. The home form, in particular, has been excellent, which is ironic because Fulham are not playing at their own stadium. The Cottagers have been ground-sharing with Queen's Park Rangers while the ongoing legal wrangles continue over the proposed redevelopment of Craven Cottage. Not even Wednesday's 1-0 defeat by West Ham, to a late penalty by Paolo Di Canio, can dampen the enthusiasm for Loftus Road, although moves are apparently afoot to look for a new temporary home in two years' time. The fans' loyalties are certainly being tested by Mohamed al Fayed.

At least there is stability on the playing side. Marlet, for one, is a changed man. So far this campaign, he has already scored eight goals for club and country, compared with six for the whole of last term.

"Things didn't work out last year," the 28-year-old says, "and I ended up missing the World Cup. That was a great disappointment, but I have no more bitterness. I've forgotten about that and am now concentrating on the future.

"I've worked really hard, as have the rest of the players, at closing the opposition down quicker and being tougher on the pitch.

"I want to be at the European Championship in Portugal in 2004 with France, but for that to happen I need to be firing on all cylinders with Fulham. That's why Fulham is the priority."