Bottom of the table Fulham have sacked Slavisa Jokanovic and replaced him with Premier League Winning Manager Claudio Ranieri.
Fulham Sack Slavisa Jokanovic and Hire Claudio Ranieri
The Threat of Relegation
With just one win and five points from 12 premier league matches, Fulham are in free fall this season. Their performances have been dismal and they have conceded 31 goals already this season, six more than the second leakiest defence. Even though the performance improved against Liverpool on Sunday, that wasn’t enough to save Jokanovic.
The penny has finally dropped, with the Fulham chairman, Shahid Khan, deciding to sack Jokanovic earlier today. “Making a change without having the right answer or succession plan was not an option,” said Khan.
“So having someone of Claudio’s calibre ready to accept our challenge was comforting but, most of all, essential.
“Claudio is risk-free and ready-made for the Premier League, and particularly so for what we need at this moment at Fulham.
“His recent body of work with Leicester City is literally legendary, and then you look at Claudio’s experience with Chelsea and big clubs throughout Europe, and it’s pretty evident we are welcoming an extraordinary football man to Fulham Football Club.”
The Tinkerman
Claudio Ranieri has huge experience of managing in the Premier League. He was in charge of Chelsea and took them to the semi-finals of the Champions League, beating the Arsenal invincibles side in 2003/04. But his most memorable moment came in the 2015/16 season when he guided Leicester City to an absolutely sensational Premier League title. It was nothing short of a modern day fairytale.
However, things turned sour very quickly and he was sacked the following season with the Foxes in danger of relegation. Nevertheless, the Italian is loved by all in Leicester and well respected around England. Overall, he has managed over a thousand games around Europe. So, he is bringing a wealth of experience to Fulham. He is known as the Tinkerman due to his habit of changing the side regularly. Jokanovic was doing it anyway, so not much will have changed in that sense.
Quotes of the New Manager
Ranieri said this in response to accepting the job at Fulham:
“It is an honour to accept Mr Khan’s invitation and opportunity to lead Fulham, a fantastic club with tradition and history.
“The objective at Fulham should never be to merely survive in the Premier League. We must at all times be a difficult opponent and should expect to succeed.
“This Fulham squad has exceptional talent that is contrary to its position in the table. I know this team is very capable of better performances, which we will work on straight away as we prepare for Southampton at the Cottage.”
The Last Word
Rainieri has a really difficult job this time as the current Fulham side need a change in fortunes very quickly if they are to save themselves from relegation. One has to wonder whether Ranieri’s style of football is pragmatic enough to bring solidity back to the Cottagers defence and help them survive the drop.
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