Fulham have overseen a fairly significant change-a-roo after sacking their manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, and instantaneously hiring a Premier League-winning coach as his replacement.
The Cottagers confirmed that Claudio Ranieri, former Leicester-based miracle worker, will take charge with immediate effect after ties with Jokanovic were severed on Wednesday morning with the club rock-bottom of the league having garnered just five points from their opening 12 matches.
Ranieri has agreed a “multi-year” contract and also had the pleasure of being described as “risk-free and ready-made” by owner Shahid Khan.
Shahid Khan today announced that he has appointed Claudio Ranieri as Manager of Fulham Football Club, replacing Slaviša Jokanović.
👉 https://t.co/BUE1vNnvaO pic.twitter.com/pfxS97ONPG
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) 14 November 2018
Obviously it would’ve been nice for Jokanovic to have been granted a longer grace period for hauling Fulham up and out of the Championship but that’s just not the way it works these days.
Results were poor, performances were slipping, points were not forthcoming and therefore a change has been made to give the team the best possible chance of preserving their top-flight status/revenue streams.
Jokanovic looked like a man sinking beneath the weight of it all.
In Ranieri, the Cottagers have a coach with a proven record of phenomenal feats – though getting that Fulham defence to resemble something like a cohesive unit may well be his most daunting task to date.