Fulham have announced that Claudio Ranieri has replaced Slavisa Jokanovic as the teams head coach. The decision is not a shock one considering that the Cottagers are currently bottom of the Premier League table. The fact that Cottagers decided to announce Jokanovic’s exit and an immediate replacement was surprising. The struggling club has wasted little time in making a big change.
Fulham have failed to sign enough quality
Slavisa Jokanovic was considered a tactical mastermind after guiding the Cottagers to promotion from the Championship last season. The promotion came as a slight surprise, as the Cottagers were not one of the favourites to get to the Premier League.
Jokanovic no doubt did a sterling job to achieve promotion with the players at his disposal. However, the Cottagers needed to add major quality to their squad in the summer and that just did not happen.
The likes Aleksandar Mitrovic, Jean Michael-Seri and Andre Schurrle all looked to be good signings. However, they needed to add quality throughout the team after losing a number of key players from their promotion campaign in the summer.
A raft of new players did arrive, but it was quantity rather than quality and the number of new signings has not helped the team cohesion. The Cottagers did look ambitious with the signings of Mitrovic and Seri, but there are still question marks over whether they have a squad capable of surviving in the Premier League this season.
Jokanovic would not change his philosophy
During his time in English football, Slavisa Jokanovic has come across as a talented coach. He guided Watford to promotion to the Premier League before leaving after failing to agree on a new deal with the club.
Then, of course, he won promotion with Fulham last season. The Serbian boss seemed tactical astute and able to fashion a winning team. However, maybe the Premier League with this current group of players was a step too far for Jokanovic.
Jokanovic has a very clear football philosophy that he wants his teams to play a possession-based, passing game. The Serbian boss was very clear when his team won promotion that his philosophy was not going to change in the Premier League.
It is an admirable sentiment, but Fulham have stepped-up a league and struggled to produce results. Maybe the players he has at his disposal are not good enough to play the style of football he wants to play.
He is no doubt a talented coach and he will not be out of the game. However, maybe he was out of his depth with the current group of players in the English top-flight.
Ranieri is a solid replacement
Experienced Italian boss Claudio Ranieri is most famous for guiding Leicester to the Premier League title in 2016. It was the biggest shock in the history of the English top-flight in its current guise.
Prior to the victory, Ranieri had been the nearlyman of European football, always missing out on trophies by a small distance. However, wherever he has managed he has done a decent job and he is certainly capable of keeping the Cottagers in the top-flight.
It is no surprise that Fulham are one of the favourites for relegation at odds of 4/6. The Cottagers are currently bottom of the Premier League pile. However, they are just three points away from safety.
Ranieri certainly does not have mission impossible on his hands, even if it is mission quite difficult to keep Fulham in the top-flight. Time will tell if the Cottagers have made the right decision. However, with Fulham producing just one win from their first 12 Premier League games the decision to sack Slavisa Jokanovic was an understandable one, by today’s top-flight standards anyway
Can Claudio Ranieri save Fulham from relegation?
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