Fulham’s dismal start to the season has cost Slavisa Jokanovic his job, with Claudio Ranieri taking over as manager.
It comes after Jokanovic led the Whites to promotion from the Championship via the play-offs. His team won praise for their brand of football – but that open style proved disastrous in the top flight despite early optimism and a summer of heavy spending.
• Fulham have already lost more league games this season than last. They have nine defeats in 12 games since returning to the top flight, compared to eight in 46 in the Championship (though they also lost their play-off semi-final first leg 1-0 to Derby).
• They have yet to keep a clean sheet this season, conceding more than two and a half goals per game on average (31 in 12 games). Last season they conceded an average of one goal per game, the joint-sixth best record in the Championship, with 15 clean sheets and two more in the play-offs.
• Even at the other end of the field, Fulham have struggled with just 11 goals scored – less than one per game, down from an average of 1.72 last season (79 in 46 games).
• Last season’s promotion push was built on a 23-match unbeaten run – 18 wins and five draws – between December 23 and their penultimate game on April 27 against Sunderland. A closing defeat at Birmingham dropped them into the play-offs.
• This season, they have only once put together back-to-back games without defeat – beating Burnley and then drawing with Brighton in their third and fourth games. Jokanovic’s sacking comes on the back of six straight defeats.
• Jokanovic has twice left clubs after gaining promotion to the Premier League. He took Watford up in 2015 but was replaced after failing to agree a new contract.
This post was last modified on 15/11/2018