Saturday Fulham Stuff (10/11/18)...

[WhiteJC]

The Case for Keeping Slavisa Jokanovic
It's time for a debate


Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

So my country just went through quite an important election this week. Last Tuesday, any American who is registered and over 18 years of age had the ability to cast a vote and make a decision for who would be best to run their government and what are the best choices to many of the country's most important issues. Some will say it's an imperfect system. Some will say that, lately, democracy has divided America to so much civil discourse that it may not be able to recover from it for generations. But for now, being able to have the people make decisions and the have the people be able to voice opinions and spring debate is why democracy is considered the best way to govern.

Why am I bringing this up? Because even with Fulham Football club, there's always debate over what is best for what we love, especially with the club's biggest issue at the moment. Should Slavisa Jokanovic stay or go before the international break?

We all know why this has to be discussed. Fulham are sitting bottom of the Premier League table, are on pace to give up the most goals in a season in league history and have not even collected points, let alone recorded a win, since their draw with Watford on September 22nd. Oh, and Fulham's next fixture is against Premier League contenders Liverpool: a game that could probably see them get whipped off the park regardless of the managerial circumstances. So with 26 games to go once Sunday's fixture comes to a close, should Jokanovic stay? With the powers of voicing two sides of the argument, let's present one side where the man that brought us back from temporary football wilderness and back to England's top flight should stay.

Anybody remember what he's done for us before

It's very hard to look at an entire body of work for a manager when they are on the verge of getting sacked. But for Jokanovic, it does need reminding that this is a boss that has guided not one, but two clubs from the Championship to the Premier League. This is the first season in which Jokanovic has been able to test himself in England's elite since Watford essentially let him go before giving him the chance for 2015/16.

But if you were to look at his body of work, the former Serbian International has been successful most of the time than not. He even guided Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Group Stages of the 2015/16 Champions League; the first time the club has ever made it that far and was a Championship winning manager in Thailand with Muangthong United in 2012 and in Serbia with Partizan Belgrade in 2008 and 2009.

The point is, the man knows how to win and is not susceptible to that much failure while in charge.

Poor starts aren't new for him

The reason for that is, despite only claiming five points in 11 Premier League fixtures, it's not like Fulham haven't been in this position before. By about this time last season, the club were 17th in the Championship before their ridiculous 5-4 victory at Sheffield United kick started the rest of the campaign. The same also happened in the start of the 2016/17 season when Fulham were sitting 14th after a defeat to Aston Villa back in October 22nd. After a 5-0 drubbing to Huddersfield Town at Craven Cottage (hey, remember when we used to drub teams like Huddersfield Town?), Jokanovic was able to regroup his team towards a sixth place finish. There are plenty of reasons why Fulham seem to time and again start off so slow, but one of them looks to be outside his control.

Don't blame it on Slav, blame it on the board

That's right. I've poked the bear that Fulham supporters just love to argue about whenever they have the chance. Tony Kahn has been a fan favorite and a fan villain all at the same time during his tenure at Craven Cottage. The son of owner Shahid has been in charge of Fulham's recruitment strategy for quite some time and his been responsible for a data-driven approach to their transfer window strategy that has resulted in less power from the manager on this side of his responsibilities.

In the year, 2018, this is necessary for either a director of football or somebody else to oversee these matters instead of the manager due to the ever-changing world that is going around the sport. However, if the manager and the board don't see eye-to-eye, that's where chaos ensues. Surely enough, that is what happened with the sacking of Craig Kline this time last season during the lowest point of Fulham's season. In that summer before Kline's departure, 11 players came in as transfers or loan deals. Of those 11, only six of them played over 1,000 Championship minutes and only Aboubakar Kamara and Rui Fonte were able to do so while coming in permanently. Neither of those two players have played enough to be a part of Jokanovic's rotation in the Premier League this season.

This summer, 12 signings and loanees have come in but five of them came in during the transfer deadline date. As a result, Jokanovic was not able to have has entire senior team gel as much as he would've liked to and he has basically been behind schedule in terms of picking out his best system and his best starting XI.

Or maybe, blame it on the players

Even if you were to not blame the board on this issue, it's not like health has been kind to Jokanovic's squad either. Both Tim Ream and Alfie Mawson started the season off injured, which put an end to any of Fulham's chances for finding out who their best back line was before the season ever started. It's been all chop-and-change since and Tom Cairney's absence completely plummeted the production of the midfield since his ankle injury in the Burnley fixture while Joe Bryan has been sorely missed due to his hamstring injury to Everton. Oh, and let's not forget the persistent injuries Floyd Ayite and Neeskens Kebano get as well, limiting Fulham's options in attack surrounding Aleksander Mitrovic.

Even if you don't want to blame injuries to the club's performances, Tim Ream couldn't have just called out his teammates on Sky Sports for no reason whatsoever. There's no denying that there is plenty of change in the Fulham dressing room, which leads to completely different personalities infiltrating the club and a completely new dynamic that we're used to seeing than last season. That's not to say that what Ream did was right either. We only need to look at his performance at Cardiff for him to get his complete comeuppance after he decided to take the internal locker room strife and put it out in the public like that.

But somewhere along the line, the experiences of these players, whether it is playing in a Europa League final at Marseille or in a World Cup Final for Germany, have to come through and instill confidence in a club that is begging for mercy for it. Last time I checked, senior players compile of almost always grown adults. So if you can't get motivated beyond a 50-year old getting on your case to play better in a sport you've had a passion for for most of your adult life, I don't know what to tell you anymore.

We've all been in this road before

So beyond just looking at the current state of the club for why Jokanovic has to stay, we only need to remember the worst of times when Fulham seemed like a club in crisis. There's no denying that Fulham's best years in the Premier League era happened when there was stability in the dugout. Between 2000 and 2010, Jean Tigana, Chris Coleman and Roy Hodgson held the managerial role for more than nine of them.

Lawrie Sanchez rounded out that tenure, but that was when Fulham seriously looked like they were to be relegated before Hodgson saved the day with the great escape. Afterwards, Fulham have dealt with Mark Hughes, Martin Jol, Rene Mulensteen, the Felix Magath experience, Kyt Symons, Stuart Gray before rounding it all out with the man we know and love today. Between 2013/14 to 2015/16, there were five official managers in charge of Fulham during that time. That's right, five men with five differing ideas of man management, training regiments and tactics in three years.

Plenty of other circumstances were in play as to why that took place, but you walk around the River Thames and wonder why there's so much loyalty to Slav, that's why. The memories of this past decade are still all too fresh in the minds of many and the last thing they want to see is any instability after finally seeing it for the first time in years.

Are we sure there are better options out there?

Lastly, are you kidding me with these odds?!?!? Haven't we all seen how much Everton couldn't stand Sam Allardyce? How about Sunderland and West Ham under David Moyes? We all know England's favorite punch line on social media. You know you're not a bottom half of the table Premier League club if you haven't been managed under Allardyce, Moyes, Mark Hughes, Alan Pardew, Steve Bruce or Tony Pulis. They're the by-default cream of the crop when it comes to English managerial talent that is always available and always do a job of keeping your club from being relegated...most of the time.

Even when your club does stay up, their style of football is always generic, boring and miserable. In the year 2018, that's unacceptable for any football fan. Nowadays, its a requirement for a manager to come in and not only bring results, but bring in an identity. Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and even peak Mauricio Pochettino have done that with Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, respectively, with their breakneck pressing and possession style football. We all know Eddie Howe brings the town passion and a sense of belonging at Bournemouth with his style of play. Even Brighton, Wolves and Cardiff (very loud sigh) have an identity.

If you remove Slav, you remove what Fulham stand for. That only gets to be recreated if a Leonardo Jardim, Roger Schmidt or even a Ralph Husenhüttl. But why would any of that trio want to go from reaching the heights of European football to come to a Southwest London club that isn't the only club in town and not guaranteed Premier League survival? The pickings are downright slim and not in any of Fulham's favor. That's why Jokanovic has to stay.



https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2018/11/9/18075196/the-case-for-keeping-slavisa-jokanovic

[WhiteJC]

 
How Liverpool trip could get "ugly" and why Fulham won't see the best of Ryan Sessegnon

Liverpool welcome Fulham to Merseyside this weekend, but the struggling west Londoners' supporters are not expecting to get anything at Anfield.

Pressure is on the Reds to produce a big performance, following Tuesday's insipid 2-0 defeat away to Red Star Belgrade.

They come up against a Fulham team propping up the rest of the Premier League table, with just one win to their name in 11 matches.

Only a win will do for Jurgen Klopp's side, with the German's opponent Slavisa Jokanovic finding his job under real threat.

With the match looming, we spoke to Fulham fan Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) to get his views on both sides and how Sunday's meeting will play out.

Fulham sit bottom of the Premier League – what do you make of their start after so much summer optimism?
This season has been nothing short of a disaster to this point.

There is a serious divide about the managerial situation, with some fans sticking by the man who brought them up and others asking lots of questions.

It was clear when the team was promoted that the squad was not Premier League quality, and somehow, after a massive investment, that remains the case.

Coupled with questionable decision-making at the helm, it's shocking how the team has struggled.

It's not like Fulham have been the recipient of a lion's share of bad luck—they are being thoroughly thwacked in every fixture.


What has been the key reason for your struggles?
There's a multitude of reasons and if you ask 10 different people they may give you 10 different answers.

The obvious answer is our defending—this team cannot defend. Got a 649-minute home goalless streak? No worries, Huddersfield: Fulham have you covered.

It's tragic at times and the mistakes are pathetic, and while Jokanovic has taken plenty of heat—and deservedly so—the heavy defensive reinforcements brought in this summer were just plain bad.

Tony Khan has got far more right than wrong in his time as vice chairman and director of football operations, but he could have done much better in the summer in that department.


Which three players have stood out most for Fulham, and why?
It's going to be nearly impossible to find you three players I've been impressed with this season so far, so I'll give you one: Ryan Sessegnon.

While many players mope about the pitch and bring a bad attitude to the matches, Sessegnon has been singled out by Jokanovic for his hard-nosed attitude and his development.

Jokanovic has often been forced to play Sessegnon at left-back for squad weakness and injury reasons, but he has developed into a true two-way player.

His defensive abilities have come a long way and he is one of the only bright spots so far this season.

Many asked if he could cut it in the top flight after obliterating the Championship last season and it's a resounding yes.

He has often been the main focus of opposition teams because Fulham have so few other weapons, so that coupled with his defensive responsibilities have kept him quiet in front of goal.

The lowered goalscoring numbers should not fool fans into thinking he has regressed, though.


What have you made of the Reds' start to 2018/19? Genuine title challengers now?
Liverpool are not just title contenders, they are clearly one of the best teams in Europe, and the world. They are an impressive side with an impressive manager.

The Reds can contend with Man City far better than anyone else in England—that's a testament to the long-term approach taken by Klopp.

I'm highly impressed with how Liverpool have looked this calendar year.


Anyone you fear for Liverpool on Sunday, in particular?
Obviously that attack is a huge threat, especially with Fulham's defence looking like Swiss cheese, but I'm going a different route here.

With Sessegnon somewhat pinned back at the moment in Joe Bryan's absence, Fulham's only true goalscoring threat is Aleksandar Mitrovic.

I do, therefore, fear Virgil van Dijk, who will be a formidable match for Mitrovic in the air. I fear Fulham being kept off the scoresheet for that reason.


Looking ahead to the game, where do you see the key battles taking place?
Aside from the one I just mentioned, I am very excited to see how Sessegnon handles Mohamed Salah and I think he will be up to the challenge.

If Fulham can use Sessegnon properly to try and pin Salah back a bit, that could be effective, but that would require the midfield holding up against the Liverpool machine.

That's a tall order, given they struggled to keep the ball against the Huddersfield midfield.


Finally, hit us with a prediction...
It's going to be ugly.

I think Liverpool go 3-0 up before shutting things down, as Klopp is known for doing.



https://www.thisisanfield.com/2018/11/how-liverpool-trip-could-get-ugly-and-why-fulham-wont-see-the-best-of-ryan-sessegnon/

[WhiteJC]

 
Relegation Candidates – How do we compare?

I think it's time for me to come to terms with the fact that we are in one hell of a relegation battle this year. While the first few games of the season were encouraging, the last five or so games have been diabolical. I thought that losing 4-2 at Cardiff was going to be our rock bottom this season, but Monday night's horrendous display away to Huddersfield was possibly the most gutless performance I have witnessed of the Slavisa Jokanovic era. It was worse than Sunderland last year and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt winded by it. I've said this to a lot of people, that it wasn't the defeat but the manner of the defeat. Apart from a few bright sparks, the majority of that team can't possibly have walked off that pitch satisfied with their performance. We need things to turn fast, something that will be very difficult given our games between now and Christmas include Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United away. Those games should be ones that we cherish, but right now I am just in fear of what the combined scoreline will be.

If you have read my work before you will know that I love a stat, and often can find something to be positive about amongst the overwhelming negatives right now, so here is a comparison of some key statistics between Fulham and some of our fellow relegation candidates. Should be fun, eh?

Goals conceded

I'll start with the worst to get it out of the way. We top this one, and not just in the Premier League but in England. Not helped by constant defensive changes and injuries, our record at the back is the single biggest worry many Fulham fans have. The picture isn't particularly pretty for Burnley or Cardiff either though.

Tackle Success

Remarkably we have a defensive area where Fulham aren't the worst! We do have players who can stick the boot in and win the ball back, but my worry is that when we win the ball back we tend to give it straight back again. It's another alarming stat for Burnley defensively, while Southampton fans also won't find this easy reading.

Goals scored

This makes better viewing for Fulham fans. While at the back things are bad, we do have more goals in our team than most of our rivals. While we haven't scored in three games running in the league, we do have players who should be capable of sticking the ball in the net so we have to hope that this will be enough to keep us up.

Big chances created

Goals win you games, so the more chances you create, the more you will score. We are quite a bit better than others in our precarious position for 'big chances created', so again we can take a bit of confidence in this.

Pass Accuracy

What's impressive about Fulham's high pass accuracy is that we also have about 900 attempted passes more than the next best on the list. To have an 81% pass success rate when we have attempted 5,534 is very positive and shows that if we could get our style to click then good things could come for this team. Not only do Cardiff have the lowest successful pass percentage, they have also only attempted 2,900. Not great.

What does this teach us?

While the most important stat is the amount of points accumulated at the end of the season, we can take from these stats that we have strengths in our game where others don't. I'd like to think that as games go on, we will pick up points because of our attacking game. We need to tighten up defensively, but over time our strengths should show.

The average position (based on best to worst, so for goals conceded we are 7th, not 1st as it has in the table) for each of the teams paints another interesting picture. I've tried to include stats that cover all areas of the pitch so our weaknesses are covered as well as our strengths so hopefully it gives a balanced view.

A friend of mine said at the start of the season that Cardiff, Huddersfield and Burnley were his teams to go down. Maybe he'll be right. Hopefully over time Fulham's strengths will show and points will be gained.

#COYW



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2018/11/relegation-candidates-how-do-we-compare/

[WhiteJC]

The Case For Sacking Slavisa Jokanovic
You didn't think I'm completely happy with Slav, did you?

All season, let alone today over here at Cottagers Confidential, there has been constant debate as to whether Slavisa Jokanovic should stay as manager and see this season through. Or should he get sacked in hopes that a change in manager can stem the tide of horrible defending and poor results. In this piece, we discuss the reasons for the latter of those two arguments.

Lack of a cohesive system

If you were to look at any of my game previews, I have stated that what is out on the pitch simply isn't working anymore. The defense has been run ragged every weekend with the fullbacks constantly told to be pushed too far up. The attackers surrounding Mitrovic are just not gelling properly to provide a constant threat at goal and the midfield is out of sorts with the absence of Tom Cairney and the ineffectiveness of everyone else. In short, you know you're failing as a manager when you can't turn a Championship playoff winning squad, plus over £100 million of new recruits into something substantial in the Premier League.

I've suggested before that a 3-5-2 could be Fulham's best formation. Jokanovic has only used that once and it led to a 5-1 drubbing to Arsenal and Cyrus Christie being ordered to mark his opposite FULLBACK. Even then, Fulham's ball progression and cohesive attack just looks so predictable right now with little threat going forward. If you were to take Andre Schurrle's four goals (in spite of 1.95 expected goals) and Mitrovic's five goals, only Jean-Michael Seri and Ryan Sessegnon have scored in the Premier League for this club. That's not efficient at all and it completely goes against what Jokanovic was instilling into his team over the past two seasons. Besides Joe Bryan, everyone in the first team are healthy and ready to go, but the results are staying the same.

Turnover in the Coaching Staff

One of the more underrated issues surrounding the club is that the same coaching staff that won the Championship playoff last season haven't been completely a part of this current iteration of Fulham football club this season. Stuart Gray was a real mainstay during the club's dark years as head coach and he even took over as caretaker boss between the departure of Kyt Symons in 2016 to the hiring of Jokanovic.

However, in stepped in Scott Parker as a new member of the coaching staff and supposedly took over as head coach. Without hesitation, Gray resigned before the season even started and it has been all chaos ever since.

Along with that, there seemed to be a difference in opinion with how Fulham's goalkeeping was going to turn out. When Fabri arrived this Summer, it was believed that this was under the advise of coach Jose Sambade Correira, who was a part of the Spaniard's development while at Deportivo La Coruna and Besiktas. But once Marcus Bettinelli reclaimed being Fulham's number one, Correira left without notice and in came Luca Squinzani without even a press release from the club! The Italian arrives with experience coaching Juventus' youth team and, eventually, first team goalkeepers, but I don't think it was that difficult coaching Gianluigi Buffon. That is my expert opinion. His latest position was over at Al Sadd in Qatar. With all due respect to Al Sadd, that's not really a place to get enough experience as a top flight goalkeeping coach within such a quick turnaround.

Usually, when you have so much instability in your backroom staff, it's almost a guarantee that the performances worsen as well. Add in the fact that two key figures are coming to Fulham with not enough experience under their belt and you wonder why Jokanovic is craving for something much better around him.

Their strength has somehow become their weakness

And because of that, Fulham are just not implementing Jokanovic's system the way it properly should. In the previous two seasons, Craven Cottage was constantly entertained by a mobile back four, especially out wide, with a midfield that is guaranteed to dictate the tempo of any match. Along with that, their attack was full of committed dribblers out wide with a target man bossing everything around him up front.

If anything, only that final piece to Jokanovic's puzzle has been a consistent success. Otherwise, that midfield of Tom Cairney, Stefan Johansen and Kevin McDonald has no longer been such a back bone to the club as it was during their Championship success. This was a bit predictable as Johansen was viewed as someone that just couldn't compete defensively at Premier League level and McDonald was no longer young enough to stop teams in his tracks like he does a tier below. That lead to the signings of Jean-Michael Seri and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa to hopefully stem the tide of this potential issue.

Instead, Seri has no where near been effective enough with him mainly playing as a part of a double pivot instead of as a box-to-box number eight that was deemed the next Xavi. As for Anquissa, the former Marseille man just hasn't gotten enough game time to prove his worth. And when he has, he's seen as a bit too clumsy with the ball at his feet (despite leading the club in xG Buildup per 90 minutes) and not one to have the same nous as a more experienced player to handle a holding midfield role at Premier League level (despite what his past radar tells you). And did I mention already that Tom Cairney missed significant time to injury again?

Yeah, that's not great at all over here at Craven Cottage.

Stubbornness in working with what is in front of him

It's been the theme all tenure for Jokanovic. When things go against him, the man in charge digs his feet in the ground even harder and demands that things will work out. It looked like things weren't working out in 2017/18 before a turnaround started around this time last season after the sacking of Craig Kline. But that wasn't until Jokanovic looked like he did whatever he could to sabotage the club with some of the dumbest lineup decisions we've seen in a while. Johansen up top? Rui Fonte out wide? Five-foot-nothing Denis Odoi at center back? The latter worked out somehow, but that's beside the point.

Fulham just aren't built to make a 4-3-3 work at the moment and there are a multitude of games to prove it. But instead of reverting to a different system that works for everyone, Slav decides to dig his heels even harder and maintain that his footballing philosophy works. Good on him to have standards and morals, but it's been said countless times that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again.

And this comes from even his relationship with the board. Even with the sacking of head data man Kline, it's beyond obvious that everything short of complete control of recruitment is Jokanovic's only way of doing business. Instead, Fulham's board haven't backed down and the results have worked out when you pay attention to the summer of 2016 and the January 2018 transfer windows.

However, there were examples of Fulham just playing a bit of pin the tail on the donkey in hopes that one of them would land on the bullseye. In other words, the statistical radars of Calum Chambers, Luciano Vietto and Andre Schurrle didn't bring "instant success" to mind. Along with that, what on Earth is going on in goal?! It just seems like Jokanovic time and again wants to put an end to Marcus Bettinelli's career with the introduction of David Button, Fabri and now Sergio Rico. Whether that is as a result of the board or Jokanovic demanding to pick out their iteration of their number one for the club is up in the air, but now Fulham are stuck with three goalkeepers with senior level experience and with no desire sitting on the bench.

Again, this might be an issue with the board more so with the manager himself, but surely Jokanovic has to be looking at what is going on throughout the rest of European football and realizing that others have to take over in the role of recruitment and other facets of the club. It's why the rebuild of Arsenal has taken so long since the turn of this decade and why Chelsea (I know, I know) have been so successful despite so much turnover in the dugout. I mean, just look at how things have worked out at our next opponents, Liverpool, now that a board and manager are working in the same concert.

This is what Fulham have been demanding to have since the sacking of Mike Rigg. It should be working under Jokanovic without any fuss whatsoever, but for some reason, it's just been wave after wave of turmoil.

Self Confidence is out the window

As a result of egos getting in the way, five transfers and loanees have come in on deadline day and all of them have needed time to understand their roles within the club. Last time I checked, it's November 9th and that understanding hasn't come to fruition at all. As a result, you are seeing divisions in the club between players from the previous campaigns and the players still trying to figure things out. Along with that, Jokanovic has constantly changed his 18-man squad without a sign of consistency in sight. For the exception of a couple of players, no one knows if they'll be coming into a match as a starter with Jokanovic's belief that he can play well or with a sense of stress knowing that he might get benched as soon as one bad pass or missed tackle takes place. Nineteen players have gone on to play over 200 Premier League minutes and that number doesn't seem to decrease anytime soon.

The dreaded vote of confidence

We've all seen Shahid Kahn's post over at the club website and in the program before the previous home fixture against Bournemouth. This comes from a man begging for stability and a fake smile that all is well. But once the camera's point to him to see his beloved football club ship in another three goals, the expression said it all. These are dark times for Fulham and you should almost never have anyone above you shout that you're not going to get sacked anytime soon. Because when that usually happens, things get worse pretty fast. Three defeats, no goals scored and six goals conceded later with possibly more to come, only Kahn knows what comes next.



https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2018/11/9/18079440/the-case-for-sacking-slavisa-jokanovic

[WhiteJC]

 
Under-pressure Slavisa Jokanovic labels himself a 'fantastic coach' and blasts Fulham players for not showing 'fight'

Slavisa Jokanovic, the under-pressure Fulham head coach, has accused his players of failing to show enough effort and playing "like kids" in a run of five consecutive defeats that has left them at the foot of the Premier League table.

In a scathing attack on his squad, Jokanovic revealed he had this week told his players that he is a "fantastic coach" whose pre-match instructions are being ignored on the pitch.

Jokanovic also warned Fulham's summer signings that they must no longer allow their performances to be affected by their "adaptation" to their new club, adding that he will not be afraid to "clean" the dressing room of those who will not fight for the shirt.

Fulham travel to Liverpool this weekend attempting to improve on Monday's lifeless defeat by Huddersfield Town, when they equalled a Premier League record by conceding 29 goals in their opening 11 games.

"To be honest, after the Huddersfield game, I told them: 'Listen, I am a fantastic coach,'" said Jokanovic. "I did a fantastic job with my staff and the analysts because everything we expected, we found it during the game."

Asked how he can change his squad's doleful body language, the Fulham head coach said: "They need to change the body language. They are professional. I do not defend a corner. I do not press any players. I do not run into the space. I am working for them so they can do this."

Jokanovic added: "We did not make enough effort [against Huddersfield]. We need to be more motivated and be ready for a fight, be ready for battle. My people will be available for the fight and make our supporters proud. If we are confused, scared and play like kids, it is not easy for any team."

Fulham spent around £100m on 12 signings this summer but many of the new faces have struggled to impress. Arrivals such as Jean Michael Seri and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, two midfield players who were signed for a combined fee in excess of £50m, are among those who have been unable to find any consistency in their performances.

Jokanovic has overseen multiple overhauls of the playing squad in his three years at Fulham, with more than 35 players leaving the club during his spell as head coach.

"So many times I clean the dressing room and find the players who have the ambition to work, who have the ambition to compete," Jokanovic said. "I give the people time for adaptation and for making step forward, now it is time for them to understand that we do not have time for waiting for some miracle.

"I never played for any coach. I always played for myself, my family, my team-mates, the fans. This is what they must understand and they must start working in this direction. I do not need anyone to fight for me. If they are adult people they need to fight for themselves and for their family, for the club and push strong and hard for a solution."

Telegraph Sport revealed earlier this week that Scott Parker, who is currently one of Jokanovic's first-team coaches, could be given the chance to save Fulham's season if the Serbian is sacked.

"I hear names, when we are here at the bottom of the Premier League I hear many names," Jokanovic said. "It is a normal situation for all coaches in this situation. It is not a distraction for me, it is part of this business. If I am thinking all the time about gossip then I will lose the focus about my work."



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/11/09/under-pressure-slavisa-jokanovic-labels-fantastic-coach-blasts/

[WhiteJC]

 
Jokanović: All About Effort

Slaviša Jokanović knows that Fulham's energy levels need to be upped when they take on title challengers Liverpool.

The Whites' defeat at Huddersfield Town on Monday was a difficult one to stomach, and Jokanović wants to see more hunger from his team at the weekend.

"In the last game, we chose a really ugly way to lose the game," he said. "In the end, we must be competitive, fight until the last moment and make an extra effort.

"Right now, we haven't shown this effort and must wake up. We cannot sell our skin for cheap. We must be available for the battle and must show it on the field.

"I've said it a few times before games that we're ready, but we haven't shown enough effort and ambition, and we must immediately change this.

"In the end, it's all about effort - we need to sprint to attack the space, sprint to regain the ball, we must be strong to win the challenge, sprint to recover for teammates.

"If we are jogging on the field and believe people will give us a present, it's a completely wrong way. We must show more effort, definitely.

"We need more. We need to be more available for the fight. If I think about the Huddersfield game, we weren't available for the second phase. We weren't strong enough to recover each other.

"This kind of defeat hurts, because we can do more things and we didn't do enough."

Despite our current position at the bottom of the table, Jokanović remains optimistic about Fulham's chances this season, saying too much hard work has been done to throw in the towel.

"Behind of us is a really long two-and-a-half years in the Championship, so we cannot give up after a few months," he stated. "The battle will be tough. At the start of the battle, we haven't shown enough power and our weapons.

"There's space for improvement and we must make the people around us proud. Sometimes when you lose a game, people can still be satisfied, but we haven't offered this kind of performance.

"I am always confident in myself. I believe in my players, staff and the people around us. We are where we are. We're in the Premier League, a tough competition.

"All of us must make steps forward and we can't be satisfied with our start to the season, but the gap between the bottom teams isn't so big and we must show confidence, keep going forward, work hard, and look for a solution.

"My mentality is always the same. I always push my team to win the game. I want to find brave people around me.

"We must know where we are and must accept this situation and go completely outside of our comfort zones because this situation hasn't brought us good results.

"We must shake our heads and push harder. I don't believe it's impossible."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/november/10/slavisa-jokanovic-all-about-effort

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Fulham's reported Tiemoue Bakayoko interest shows they have learned nothing

Premier League bottom club Fulham have reportedly attempted to sign Tiemoue Bakayoko on loan from Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Have Fulham learned nothing from their heavily flawed summer splurge?

The Cottagers invested over £100 million on new talent during the summer transfer window, but a club that was expected to take the Premier League by storm after promotion has tanked in spectacular fashion.

A 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town on Monday leaves Fulham bottom of the table after 11 games. Suddenly, the decision to pay massive fees on unproven players like Jean-Michel Seri, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa and Maxime le Marchand looks like a big, and expensive, mistake.

So reports from Calciomercato that they have enquired about signing the £36 million Chelsea flop Tiemoue Bakayoko on loan in the January transfer window are nothing short of baffling.

After all, Bakayoko struggled badly in England after joining Chelsea from Monaco and was quickly farmed out to AC Milan in the summer, with Maurizio Sarri wasting no time in omitting the clumsy Frenchman from his plans.

And Bakayoko's struggles show no signs of ending. The 24-year-old has started just two Serie A games for Milan, and rumours emerged suggesting that Gennaro Gattuso's side could even look to send him back to Stamford Bridge.

From a Fulham perspective, Bakayoko feels like another overpriced big name completely unsuitable for a club in a relegation battle. The 2017 Ligue 1 winner looked out of his depth at Chelsea and there is little reason to suggest he would thrive a few miles from Stamford Bridge.



https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/11/10/do-weekend-fulhams-reported-tiemoue-bakayoko-interest-shows-they/