Thursday Fulham Stuff (15/11/18)...

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John Collins is not happy as Fulham replace Jokanovic with Ranieri

Premier League bottom club Fulham have taken the shock decision to sack Slavisa Jokanovic and bring Claudio Ranieri to Craven Cottage.

You can see the logic behind Fulham owner Shahid Khan's decision to sack Slavisa Jokanovic and hire Claudio Ranieri.

Throughout his storied managerial career, Ranieri has adopted a traditionally old-school, Italian style with his success at various clubs - including Chelsea, Roma and of course Leicester City - built on a solid back line.

And this bodes well for a Fulham side who have looked frankly absurd in defence in the opening 12 games of the current campaign. The Cottagers have been breached a remarkable 31 times already and they are bottom of the Premier League after seven defeats in a row.

Speaking to talkSPORT (14 November, 10.30am), former Fulham midfielder John Collins clearly thinks that Ranieri has a challenge on his hands, and believes Jokanovic has paid the price for the club's questionable recruitment.

"I'm bitterly disappointed. They were like the Man City of the Championship and I said at the time when they brought in all the new players 'this isn't going to work'," Collins said.

"I have no doubt that the team that won the Championship is better than the team at this current time. Recruitment has been the problem, you've got to get that right and Fulham haven't.

"But boards panic, they've taken a gamble because I think (Jokanovic) is a good manager."

Fulham famously spent over £100 million in a hectic transfer window but the vast majority of their big-money additions, in particular Jean-Michel Seri, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa and Maxime Le Marchand, have struggled to live up to their price-tags in their first Premier League season.

Collins adds that Ranieri could find it very difficult to replicate his success at Leicester with the current crop of Fulham players.

"His success at Leicester came from counter-attacking but that can't happen with Fulham because Aleksandar Mitrovic has got no pace," he added. "You can't play that style unless you've got pace."



https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/11/14/do-john-collins-isnt-happy-as-fulham-replace-jokanovic-with-rani/

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Claudio Ranieri's in-tray at Fulham after Slavisa Jokanovic sacking: Fix the worst Premier League defence, get Aleksandar Mitrovic firing and more

The Italian has time to assess the challenge he faces at Craven Cottage, but plenty of problems to solve on the pitch

Claudio Ranieri is back in the Premier League after Fulham owner Shahid Khan made the ruthless decision to announce his appointment on a "multi-year contract" at the same time as predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic's sacking.

November's international break offers Ranieri a chance to take stock of the situation at Craven Cottage ahead of a run of fixtures that includes a trip to Stamford Bridge to face former club Chelsea, as well as an emotional reunion with many of his Premier League title-winning players when Leicester City visit west London.

The Independent takes a closer look at the most pressing challenges facing Ranieri as he walks into the third Premier League job of his career:

Get some points on the board - and quickly
Fulham lie rock-bottom of the Premier League, having taken just five points and claimed one victory from their first 12 matches.

It need not have been this way, but Jokanovic paid the price for failing to convert promising performances into cold, hard points;  his team sacrificed a 2-0 lead to draw away at Brighton in September and led before falling 4-2 to Cardiff City last month.

The match that immediately follows the November international break, at home against fellow strugglers Southampton, already looks crucial. Win, and Ranieri can begin building some momentum and confidence for the even tougher tests that lie ahead.

Fix the Premier League's worst defence
Fulham have failed to keep a single clean sheet in their 12 matches and have conceded an eye-watering 31 goals – an average of 2.58 per game. Extend that out over a full Premier League season and it comes to 98 goals against. No team as leaky as that can hope to survive in the top flight.

Injuries played a part but Jokanovic did most to create the problem with his indecision. Fulham are yet to start the same defensive line in consecutive Premier League games, and have switched seemingly at random between a back three, a back four and a back five. Their defenders, while individually talented, have no collective chemistry, confidence or understanding.

Ranieri should not need a transfer window to solve this problem. He just needs to find a defence that works and stick to it. 

Settle on a No.1 goalkeeper
Three different goalkeepers have started between the sticks in Fulham's 12 games. Fabri has not been seen in the Premier League since shipping five goals in two matches against Crystal Palace and Tottenham to start the season, while fellow summer signing Sergio Rico was drafted in for Jokanovic's final three games after Marcus Bettinelli had failed to stem the tide.

As with Ranieri's defensive options, the talent is there. Rico was linked with Chelsea last summer and Bettinelli has a high-profile champion in Gareth Southgate, who has called him up to the last two England senior squads. Putting his faith in one or the other should help Fulham's new manager to inject some certainty into his ailing back line.

Get Mitrovic firing again
For all of Fulham's defensive woes, it was the sudden disintegration of their formidable attack that really sealed Jokanovic's fate. After scoring 11 goals in their first nine Premier League games they failed to find the net in their last three and, worse still, they rarely threatened to.

Aleksandar Mitrovic is emblematic of their fortunes. His first six Premier League appearances yielded five goals, but he has not found the net for his club since September and has been left increasingly isolated as the remaining confidence drained from Fulham's play. Ranieri's success or failure at Craven Cottage will depend in part on whether or not he can get the Serb firing again.

Live up to your reputation
Khan described Ranieri as a "risk-free and ready-made" replacement for Jokanovic as well as an "extraordinary football man" as he announced the Italian's appointment on Wednesday.

High praise, certainly, but the reality is that no matter how much credit or good will Ranieri earned for guiding Leicester City to a miraculous Premier League title triumph in the 2015-16 season, no managerial appointment can ever be regarded as "risk-free".

It is worth remembering that Nigel Pearson, not Ranieri, was the man who staved off relegation at Leicester and by the time he was sacked nine months after winning the title, the club were staring into the abyss again. Fulham have a manager very capable of steering them clear of the current danger they find themselves in, but he also has something to prove.



https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/claudio-ranieri-fulham-manager-slavisa-jokanovic-sacked-shahid-khan-aleksandar-mitrovic-premier-a8633546.html

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The big questions hanging over Claudio Ranieri's appointment at Fulham

We've taken a look at the key questions that are hanging over Claudi Ranieri's tenure at Craven Cottage

Claudio Ranieri has been tasked with keeping Fulham in the Premier League this season, but the 67-year-old is facing some big questions ahead of his tenure at the club.

The club are rock bottom of the Premier League with just five points, with former boss Slavisa Jokanovic finding it difficult to build a stable team after a summer recruitment drive that saw the club sign 12 new players.

The Italian faces a big task to keep the club in the top flight and has a number of issues he'll have to sort out quickly to give Fulham the best chance possible of staying in the division.

We've taken a look at the big questions that are hanging over Ranieri's appointment ahead of that crucial game with Southampton after the international break.

He's not a relegation specialist

Fulham are very much in a relegation battle but unlike some of the other names linked with the job at the Cottage, Ranieri is by no means a specialist in getting clubs out of trouble.

He has a massive job on his hands at Fulham - at the moment it seems like there's no team, rather a bunch of individuals, and the first thing he's going to have to do is turn them into a solid unit.

While at Leicester he drew praise for how he organised his side and changed them from a side that was meant to battle relegation to one that won the league, his task at Fulham is even harder than the one he faced the last time he was in England.

He has 26 games and no pre-season to turn the fortunes of Fulham around and keep them in the Premier League - if he achieves it, it will be another achievement for Ranieri to add to his list.

Leaving it to the players at Leicester

When he took over at Leicester he let the players get on with it at first, recognising their relationship with Craig Shakespeare and not wanting to infringe on that.

At Fulham, however, he can't afford to do that and will have to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in immediately.

The players lack leadership at the moment and Ranieri will have to take on that position in order to get the players organised and instill some tactical discipline into them.

He will have to be a head coach - he's got very little time to get the players on board with what he wants them to do but he must act quickly with the games coming thick and fast.

This is a hands-on job and Ranirie must take that approach immediately.

The recruitment model

Fulham's recruitment model and Jokanovic clashed over his three years at the club, everyone knows that, but one big question is how Ranieri will fit into that model.

Shahid Khan's statement stated that the recruitment and contract renewals would still be overseen by Tony Khan and his team, working closely with Ranieri.

It raises questions over how Ranieri will fit into that model - I assume that part of the discussions would have been based on him working within this model, so it will be interesting to see what part he plays on it when January comes along.

Ranieri has worked with sporting director models in the past, so with a fresh canvas to work from for both the recruitment team and the manager it's a chance for better communication from both parties.

The overall recruitment over the past three years has been hit and miss, so seeing what kind of say Ranieri has on players incoming will be very interesting indeed.

Getting the best from Mitrovic

Jokanovic was a big reason why Aleksandar Mitrovic came to Fulham, and now with the head coach gone it leaves a massive question over the striker.

The former head coach played to Mitrovic's strengths, using him as a focal point to the attractive build-up play we saw from the side and that allowed him to flourish, scoring 12 goals last season.

He started off this season the same but recent weeks has seen Fulham go more defensive, with Mitrovic's supply lines cut off.

How Ranieri utilises Mitrovic will be vitally important to how the club does under his reign.

At Leicester City, he implemented a counter attacking style of football that suited the players, but in the past his favoured style has been a 4-2-3-1 and that's something we saw work fairly well for Jokanovic at Liverpool last week.

Whatever he chooses to do, he has to play to Mitrovic's strengths to ensure the club score goals, while also ensuring there is balance at the back to make them tough to beat and to cut out the easy goals.

Making a team out of the players

Bringing in 12 new faces over the summer in such a short space of time was always going to cause problems when it came to gelling the side.

Jokanovic took the brunt of it failing, but now Ranieri is in the club have no fall guy for their summer spending - he must keep the club up with the £100m worth of players Jokanovic was given, and to do that he needs to mould them into a team.

We haven't seen that yet - Jokanovic was still cutting and changing his side as he looked for what he thought his best team was and was getting to the stage where he knew it, but Ranieri is going to have to start from scratch with a vital game against Southampton looming over him.

He's going to have to find a formation to suits the players at his disposal, get them drilled to be able to play that formation while ensuring the leaks in defence are plugged.

It is a tough job facing Ranieri and he will have to work quickly to turn this group of footballers into a team.



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/big-questions-hanging-over-claudio-15415102

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Fulham survival as tough for Claudio Ranieri as winning title with Leicester City, says Dimitar Berbatov

Dimitar Berbatov has joked that Claudio Ranieri faces as tough a task keeping Fulham in the Premier League as he did when guiding Leicester City to a shock title.

Fulham sacked Slavisa Jokanovic and announced Ranieri as his replacement on Wednesday morning, bringing the latter back to English football since his sacking by the Foxes.

Ranieri famously guided Leicester to the Premier League title, one year after the club narrowly avoided relegation under Nigel Pearson, with pre-season odds of 5,000/1.

Berbatov, a former Fulham striker who worked under Ranieri at Monaco, feels his ex-manager faces a similarly tall order to keep his new team in the division.

"As I said, it's going to be a challenge but it's not impossible to get them out of the relegation zone," he told Betfair.

"He'll come with a strategy to keep them up. It helps that he has a good reputation; everybody loved him at Monaco, at Leicester and I'm sure Fulham will be the same but they need to start winning games now.

"The market for Leicester winning the Premier League was 5000/1, and now the odds on Fulham staying up are probably as high as that!

"It's like the same situation in reverse; the odds are against them, it's a challenging situation, but there's a lot of games left to change it.

"He's done it with Leicester to win the title and now he can save Fulham from relegation which is probably a more difficult task to achieve.

"Fulham deserve to be in the Premier League, they're a great club with great traditions and I think Ranieri can do it, all they need is one win."



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-survival-as-tough-for-claudio-ranieri-as-winning-title-with-leicester-city-says-dimitar-a3990191.html

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Slavisa Jokanovic sacking and Claudio Ranieri gamble will decide Shahid Khan's legacy

SLAVISA JOKANOVIC was battling the odds from the moment Fulham's return to the Premier League was confirmed on May 26.

The Championship Play-Off winners are dealt a more difficult hand than the two other promoted sides by virtue of having three fewer weeks to prepare for life back in England's top flight.

A sharp plan is needed to ensure that lost time is made up for, yet rolling the dice at the death has cost Fulham dear.

The final days of May ticked by without a signing in sight. June came and went with no new arrivals.

Jokanovic then returned to pre-season training without enough players to fill his match-day squad due to the canny use of the loan market bolstering the promotion-winning roster.



It was not until July 12 - less than a month before the first game of the Premier League season - that the first signing was announced.

The arrivals suddenly came thick and fast before the deadline day flurry took the summer spend past £100m and the total number of signings to 12.

At the time it was easy to get caught up in the hysteria but, in hindsight, the chaotic spree has done more harm than good.

Wolves and Cardiff will point to their positive starts to Premier League life as a reward for largely keeping faith with the group that took them up.



But Jokanovic cannot be held responsible for the bull-in-a-china-shop approach to the transfer window because he did not oversee the club's activity - that is controlled by director of football operations, Tony Khan, and his assistant directors, James Lovell and Brian Talbot.

One of the few signings Jokanovic had a major say in since his arrival was Aleksandar Mitrovic, arguably the most successful deal in recent seasons.

Meanwhile, the much-lauded Jean Michael Seri impressed in the first four games but has since gone AWOL in midfield.

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa - the club-record signing - looks more lost on the pitch than a Russian tourist in Salisbury.

Manchester United loanee Timothy Fosu-Mensah have shown nothing to suggest he will ever get close to making the grade at Old Trafford.

While Andre Schurrle's shoot-on-sight policy did not mesh well with Jokanovic's attacking tactics.

One of the contributing factors for last season's promotion to the Premier League was the team spirit and bond forged between the players, which the sheer number of new arrivals could have disrupted.



https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/742479/Fulham-Slavisa-Jokanovic-Claudio-Ranieri-Gamble-Shahid-Khan-Legacy-News-Rumours-Gossip?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-star-football+%28Daily+Star+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29

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A cuddly Italian dilly-dinging and dilly-donging outside Craven Cottage

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JOK'S OVER

You have to admire the chutzpah of Shahid Khan. Lest we forget, it is less than a month since Fulham's owner responded to reports that Slavisa Jokanovic was about to be led towards the door marked Do One by using the club's programme to criticise "sensational and fictional headlines", telling supporters not to "believe everything you read" and declaring that he was "equal parts amused, astonished and disappointed". The biased MSM, it seemed, had been put in its place. Hooray! You tell 'em, Shahid! There was no way that Fulham were going to sack the man who had led them back into the Premier League! Who was going to believe that rubbish? Eh? Eh? Anyone? Well? Oh. Oh, Shahid! How could you?

It did, of course, always seem that Khan was laying it on a bit thick, so it might not have come as a huge surprise to Jokanovic when he heard a cuddly Italian gentleman dilly-dinging and dilly-donging outside his office at Craven Cottage earlier on Wednesday. The Serb must have known that the writing was on the wall for a while and the kill was swift and merciless when it came, with Jokanovic out and Claudio Ranieri immediately given the task of saving Fulham from relegation. "Claudio is risk-free and ready-made for the Premier League," Khan grinned. "His recent body of work with Leicester City is literally legendary."

As legendary, perhaps, as a vote of confidence from Khan. But while it turns out you really can't believe everything you read, especially if it appears in Fulham's programme, the harsh truth is that Jokanovic can't have too many complaints about losing his job. Fulham have picked up five points from their first 12 games, conceding 31 goals in the process, and appear to have spent the past few months watching clips of the great Derby County side of 2007-08. Their defending has been abysmal and they haven't won a league game since August, leaving them at the foot of the table after spending £100m on 973 new players in the summer. The rot had well and truly set in.

Whether Ranieri, who has had it written into his contract that he must be referred to as "one of the game's great characters" at every opportunity, can rescue them remains to be seen. Naturally Fulham will be hoping that he can bring the magic touch that saw him turn Wes Morgan and Danny Drinkwater into league champions in 2016 and haul them off the foot of the table. The west Londoners have acted decisively and are only three points off 17th-placed Southampton, who visit the Cottage on 24 November. Ranieri, who left Nantes at the end of last season, has a history of improving teams and will have a point to prove after how it ended at Leicester. You never know, maybe Fulham are on to something; after all, it's not like they've placed their faith in Felix Magath and a block of cheese – and if it doesn't work out, at least we can look forward to José Mourinho wearing his special CR tracksuit again.



https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/nov/14/a-cuddly-italian-dilly-dinging-and-dilly-donging-outside-craven-cottage

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Mascot Contest

Donated by FFC: Win a matchday mascot place for your child at Fulham vs. Southampton on Saturday 24th November.

One lucky child will enjoy the rare opportunity to lead the Whites onto the pitch at Craven Cottage.

How to take part:

Step 1

Contribute £10 to Fulham FC Foundation via JustGiving by following this link: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/ffc-mascot-contest

Contestants must be 18 years of age or older. Mascots must be between the ages of 5-12.

Step 2

Answer the following question by typing your answer in the 'message box':

Who was Fulham's Man of the Match vs. Liverpool on Sunday 11th November?

Step 3

Tick 'No, do not add Gift Aid'. Entry is invalid if Gift Aid is selected.

Step 4

Tick the box that says 'I'm happy to be contacted by Fulham FC Foundation'.

This is the last stage of the donation process before 'Donate now'. Without this, we won't be able to contact you if you win the contest.
Contest closes Tuesday 20th November at 11.59pm. One lucky contest winner will be contacted on Wednesday 21st November, 2018.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/november/14/mascot-contest

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Claudio Ranieri fastens in for Premier League homecoming at Fulham
The new manager cannot expect to repeat the success of his Leicester days but will hope his experience helps elicit a quick reaction from the struggling west London side

Hi Claudio. Welcome back to a place you loved, and where you were loved. The Ranieri of the Premier League, regarded in different moments as a gentleman, a tinkerman, a caricature joker, a miracle worker, an expert at somehow maintaining composure when form has faltered and the axe has lurked, returns with the words "risk free" ringing around him. Ranieri has seen enough in 32 years of management across five countries to smile wryly at such notions before he gets to work.

Preconceptions have followed Ranieri around for long enough – way longer than the infamous reaction to his supposedly left-field appointment at Leicester City (and we all know how that turned out). A certain amount of optimism from the Fulham hierarchy, who chose Ranieri to follow Slavisa Jokanovic, is understandable. But there is no sense jumping to the question of whether Ranieri can recreate something resembling the phenomenon he oversaw at Leicester in his new role at Craven Cottage.

Almost 18 months ago Ranieri joined Nantes in France among considerable fanfare. The president, the Poland-born tycoon Waldemar Kita, championed the idea that he masterminded a coup by recruiting a head coach associated with magic dust. Nantes had impressed under their previous coach, Sérgio Conceição, and when he left to join Porto Kita craved a big name. Ranieri more than ticked that box, so soon after Leicester's Premier League heroics made them a touchstone for any modest club with giant dreams.

Everyone in Nantes was excited. Everything started awash with promise. Ranieri was instantly popular with the public and inspired the team to climb as high as third in the table. They were settled in the top five for a while after the winter break. But by February the honeymoon picture began to crack. Neither party seemed in it for the long haul. Ranieri was linked with the Italian national team. Results started to slip. Over the course of the season Nantes scored only 36 goals from 38 Ligue 1 games and the initial spark of excitement fizzled out as bland football took hold.

Freedom to work under an involved president became an issue. Kita is an extrovert face in French football, the type of owner who is full of grand statements, likes to befriend the players, doesn't hide the fact he has favourites and relishes the kind of interest in team affairs that can border on interference. Ranieri never complained in public but it was obvious these were not his ideal conditions to coach. Three wins in the second half of the season meant that Ranieri's departure after one season at Nantes was not unexpected. He remained elegant and liked but left without sensational memories. "The first part of the season was fantastic," he said. "Then we were inevitably disappointed: me, president, players, supporters."

Expectations that he could do a Leicester with Nantes were always on the fanciful side. Partly because the law of averages that has a team succeed at odds of 5,000-1 suggests it is not likely to happen again in a hurry. And partly because Ligue 1 is not easy for those outside the establishment to crash through. Outside the usual suspects (the superpower Paris Saint-Germain, with Monaco and Lyon normally leading the sub-elite) the top three has seldom been gatecrashed in the past five years. Nice pushed their way to third in 2017 and Lille did the same in 2014.

And so to Fulham. Even during that unforgettable adventure with Leicester, when his team were top a third of the way into that extraordinary season, he was fixated with reaching 40 points before he would even consider thinking about anything else. "Our goal right now is to maintain the Premier League. Be solid with two feet firmly on the floor," he said then.

Those sentiments echo along the banks of Thames as he begins his 18th job in management with his team in a parlous state. Rock bottom, haemorrhaging goals, having almost forgotten how to win, this is a job that requires that Ranieri characteristic of shaking things up quickly. He is a specialist at bringing a new manager bounce – that spurt of improvement – by sharply analysing his resources and making adjustments while trying to motivate. "I like a project," he says. Just as well.

Fulham represents a homecoming of sorts. Not only does it bring him professionally back to the Premier League, personally it also takes him back to a part of the world he enjoyed. He was very happy living in west London during his spell with Chelsea in the period that just preceded the arrival of Roman Abramovich.

The variety of experience he has packed into his managerial career, having to cope with the twin imposters of triumph and disaster along the way, means he is under no illusions. "We have to play like we are desperate – not every match, every second," Ranieri once said of his philosophy. "The day my players relax I get crazy. They know that. I think I am a nice man but also I am demanding." Fulham's chances of recovery this season depend on the extent to which his players will be able to respond to that.



https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/nov/14/claudio-ranieri-premier-league-fulham

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Cottage Talk Podcast: Breaking News - Claudio Ranieri Becomes New Fulham Manager
Take a listen to a podcast that focuses on Fulham Football Club.

This is a special episode as Fulham Football Club sacked Slavisa Jokanovic, and replaced him with Claudio Ranieri. Co-hosts Max Cohen and Yannis Tjanetis share their views on both Jokanovic, and Ranieri during this show. We also talked about the polls that are on the Cottage Talk Facebook and Twitter pages.


You can also listen to the show here...
https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2018/11/14/18095138/cottage-talk-podcast-breaking-news-claudio-ranieri-becomes-new-fulham-manager

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Can Leicester's miracle man defy the odds again at Fulham?

After he masterminded Leicester's shock title triumph, Fulham will hope Claudio Ranieri can once again beat the odds and keep them in the Premier League.

The Italian was appointed head coach at the King Power Stadium in July 2015, and swiftly was nominated as the favourite to be sacked that season.

But in less than a year he won the critics round and turned the Premier League on its head – something Ranieri will have to repeat given the Cottagers' current perilous position at the foot of the table.

Whatever transpires over his "multi-year contract", Ranieri will approach it all with a smile.

During his time at Leicester, the Italian shook hands with everyone at press conferences, took criticism with good grace and was enjoyable company.

He knows the game, knows how to work the media – although his dismissal from Leicester became inevitable as the Foxes slipped further into relegation trouble, and he was sacked just 297 days after winning the Premier League with the 5,000-1 shots.

That title win was the pinnacle of a managerial career which had always threatened to fall at the final hurdle.

Ranieri's playing career never amounted to much. He failed to make the grade as a defender at hometown club Roma before spending six years at Catanzaro and a couple of seasons with Sicilian clubs Catania and Palermo.

As a manager Ranieri made his name with Cagliari, taking over in 1988 and winning back-to-back promotions to reach Serie A, with that achievement seeing him named Napoli boss in 1991.

Although he was without Diego Maradona – serving a drugs ban – he introduced Gianfranco Zola, who he later managed at Chelsea.

There were no trophies at the Stadio San Paolo, but he headed to Fiorentina and, powered by the goals of Gabriel Batistuta, won promotion back to the Italian top flight at the first attempt.

His first two major trophies arrived in Florence, the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italia in 1996, and a year later, he moved to Spain with Valencia.

Ranieri won the Copa del Rey in 1999, and then got the Atletico Madrid job soon after.

The Italian resigned in 2000 before Atletico were relegated having gone into administration, but Chelsea still appointed him in September of that year.

He spoke little English and earned his 'Tinkerman' nickname given his rotation policy – something he has rightly pointed out since is now the norm in English football. It was not until his third season that the Blues qualified for the Champions League.

Ranieri had already signed Frank Lampard in 2001 and lost the 2002 FA Cup final to Arsenal, but laid the foundations for the Blues' title-winning success under Jose Mourinho when Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.

Arsenal's Invincibles beat them to the 2004 Premier League title as Chelsea finished second with Ranieri's future an open secret – he was going to be replaced by Mourinho. But he earned praise for his grace and poise prior to the confirmation of the Portuguese in the dugout.

Ranieri then returned to Valencia where he won the Super Cup, but he lasted less than a year at the Mestalla before moving to Parma in 2007, saving them from relegation.

That convinced Juventus to move for him after they had returned to Serie A, but he still failed to win a top-flight title as Mourinho's Inter Milan dominated.

Roma and Inter were next on the list, but there was no silverware until he clinched a Ligue 2 title with Monaco in 2013 – they then finished as runners-up to Paris St Germain in the top flight.

An ill-fated four months with Greece followed when Monaco opted not to renew his contract, before he was Nigel Pearson's shock replacement at Leicester in 2015.

Favourite to be sacked with one of the favourites to be relegated, he won a stunning title by 10 points. The Foxes lost just three league games all season.

Ever-quotable, he cried after April's win at Sunderland put them on the brink of the impossible, a sausage was named after him by a Leicester butcher and when the title was confirmed he was with his mother Renata in Italy.

The following season, though, it all fell apart.

Poor recruitment, baffling tactical decisions and an unsettled dressing room made his departure almost inevitable, with Leicester a point above the relegation zone, and there was no room for sentiment when the axe fell.

Ranieri, though, had won a place in the hearts of all Leicester fans – something which was made clear by the vocal reception when he returned to pay his respects following the death of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

After an unremarkable spell at Nantes, Ranieri will be hoping to prove he still has what it takes – a sentiment shared by all Fulham fans.



https://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/can-leicesters-miracle-man-defy-the-odds-again-at-fulham

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The Newcastle problems Aleksandar Mitrovic must put behind him to succeed under Claudio Ranieri

Mitrovic struggled under Rafa Benitez' counter-attacking football but he must put that behind him to succeed under his new boss

How Claudio Ranieri will get the best out of Aleksandar Mitrovic is a question that a lot are asking after his appointment at Fulham manager.

Mitrovic arrived at Craven Cottage in January and bagged 12 goals in 16 games to help the side achieve promotion and was resigned by Tony Khan in the summer on a permanent basis, picking up where he left off netting five goals.

But they've dried up in recent weeks, as has the service Mitrovic has received from his midfielders, which has seen Mitrovic not score since the Watford draw back in September.

One key question is how Ranieri will get the best out of his striker - playing him in a side that plays counter-attacking football like his Leicester City side won't work because Mitrovic doesn't have the speed or mobility to play that way.

That means he'll have to look at different options that will see his defence stay solid but at the same time get the best out of Mitrovic.

We saw Jokanovic was able to do that where Mitrovic's previous manager, Rafa Benitez, was not.

Benitez player a similar system to what Ranieri likes to play, but Mitrovic wasn't able to adapt his style to what the Spaniard wanted from.

Looking back at that, we spoke to Chris Waugh from the Newcastle Chronicle on Mitrovic's relationship with Benitez, and why it didn't work at Newcastle when it did so well under Jokanovic at Fulham.

"Aleksandar Mitrovic and Rafa Benitez's relationship at Newcastle United was a bizarre one.

"On a personal level, the pair got along well and have only positive things to say about one another. But, professionally, they were simply incompatible.

"What Benitez demands from his players, and especially the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, is workrate and a strict adherence to the overall gameplan.

"While Benitez identified that Mitrovic could score goals if a team was built around the striker, he was unwilling to change his over-arching philosophy in order to accommodate the Serbian.

"Instead, time and time again Benitez and his coaching staff relayed to Mitrovic exactly what it was they wanted to see from the forward if he was going to get regular gametime - yet, repeatedly, the United manager concluded that the striker had failed to follow instructions.

"Trust was always an issue; Benitez never quite felt that he could rely on Mitrovic, either from a disciplinary point of view, or in terms of carrying out specific instructions which were critical to a gameplan.

"Newcastle, due to their lack of quality going forward, are best suited to counter-attacking. Mitrovic's lack of pace was part of the issue, because he is unable to start attacks quickly, but so too was his apparent inability to get himself into the positions Benitez wanted so that he could bring his team-mates into play.

"On the training ground, Benitez cites data his coaching staff collected as proving that Mitrovic simply did not work hard enough - something which he argues was reflected in the striker's performances out on the pitch, too. For a counter-attacking team who cede possession for the majority of the game before blitzing forward at pace, you simply cannot afford to have a striker who will not do his defensive work, too.

"The challenge for Ranieri will be finding the balance with Mitrovic; undoubtedly the Serbian is a goal-scorer when chances are created for him, but can he be as effective in a side who aren't necessarily built to suit him?

"Benitez could never do it, or at the very least did not have the desire to. So it is up to Mitrovic to prove his former manager wrong and excel in a counter-attacking system under Ranieri, if indeed that's hope the Italian adapts Fulham to play."



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/newcastle-problems-aleksandar-mitrovic-must-15416529

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jo go Claudio Ranieri 'wants Liverpool defender Joel Matip' to be his first signing as Fulham boss

The Whites are rock-bottom of the Premier League and desperately need to tighten up at the back

Liverpool defender Joel Matip has emerged as a January transfer target for Claudio Ranieri and new club Fulham.

The Germany-born Cameroon international has fallen well down the pecking order at Anfield and has started just one Premier League game so far this season.

Matip is still under contract for another two years but is has been suggested that he may seek a departure as he goes in search of regular first-team action.

And now, according to reports in Turkey, Liverpool's former director of football Damien Comolli is interested in luring Matip to his new club Fenerbahce.

Turkish publication A Spor has revealed that the Super Lig side have already got the ball rolling on a potential January switch but their transfer plans could be scuppered by Fulham.

It has been suggested that the west London club, who sacked Slavisa Jokanovic and replaced him with Ranieri on Wednesday, also want Matip once the transfer window opens.

Fulham sit bottom of the table after claiming just five points from their opening 12 fixtures of the campaign and hope the appointment of 'the Tinkerman' can turn around their fortunes as he looks to make the side more defence-minded.



https://talksport.com/football/446044/claudio-ranieri-liverpool-joel-matip-fulham/

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'Always, I look forward and want more': Claudio Ranieri plans to push Fulham up the table following his appointment

    Claudio Ranieri says his hunger is still there after taking on difficult Fulham job
    Ranieri reveals defensive solidity will be a big part of his plans at Craven Cottage
    Fulham have by far the worst defence in the Premier League, conceding 31 goals

Claudio Ranieri has revealed improving Fulham's defence will be his first order of business after taking over from the sacked Slavisa Jokanovic on Wednesday.

The former Leicester City boss arrives at Craven Cottage with Fulham rock-bottom of the Premier League table and by far the worst defensive record in the division.

Fulham have conceded an impressively bad 31 goals in just 12 games - six more than any other team - at an average of just over 2.5 goals per match. It is an area Ranieri believes requires immediate attention.


Ranieri said the defence would be his first port of call as he looks to turn fortunes around

He told Fulhamfctv: 'You know as an Italian manager, for us that the defensive way is the best element for the team. It is important to have a strong vision of the defensive way.

'But it is not only the full back or the goalkeeper, it is all the team. When you attack, you attack in an 11; when you defend, you have to defend in an 11.

'Always I look forward and want more. I hope to make a very good job here.'

Ranieri, who won the title with Leicester in 2016 before being sacked the very next season, was confirmed as successor to Jokanovic on Wednesday.

Jokanovic was informed he would be sacked in a phone call with Fulham owner Shahid Khan at 8am on Wednesday morning.

The call came after Fulham had sounded out a number of potential candidates before agreeing terms with the charismatic Italian, the man who had signed Jokanovic as a player while Chelsea boss.

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was, reportedly, among those contacted about the position.

Jokanovic lead Fulham back to the Premier League via the play-offs last season, but has been unable to put £100million worth of summer signings to good use this term.

The Cottagers have just five points to show from their first 12 league games and have not tasted victory since beating Burnley 4-2 in August.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6389975/Claudio-Ranieri-plans-push-Fulham-table-following-appointment.html

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Fulham's gamble to replace Slavisa Jokanovic with Claudio Ranieri is anything but 'risk free'

Fulham owner Shahid Khan praised Claudio Ranieri as a 'risk-free' appointment, but he is the opposite of what outgoing manager Slavisa Jokanovic was committed to

Slavisa Jokanovic prides himself on being a footballing fundamentalist. He is a coach who doesn't just prefer to play passing, attacking football but insists on it.

Ultimately it was to be one of his undoings as newly-promoted Fulham failed to adapt to the harsh realities of being back in the Premier League. They couldn't score enough goals to cover up an expensively-assembled but porous defence.

Having swaggered to promotion they were staggering to relegation with Jokanovic in charge, and though he is not the only man to blame, he is the only one to pay the price for now.

Club owner Shahid Khan and his son, Tony, whose role is so muddled that he describes himself as the "Owner/Director of Football/GM/Sporting Director" on his Twitter profile, took great umbrage with reports a few weeks ago that Jokanovic would be fired if Fulham lost to Bournemouth and Huddersfield, calling them 'fiction'.

They were true though, and Fulham did lose those two games and Jokanovic was fired. After that limp defeat to David Wagner's men where the Cottagers looked utterly lost, the final decision was taken that had been spoken about weeks before. The club met with Claudio Ranieri between the defeat to Huddersfield and the defeat at Liverpool, and while it might be no surprise that they decided the Italian was the man for the job, there are ulterior motives at play here.

Recruitment has been a testy issue for Fulham over the past couple of seasons, prompting major fallouts internally and nearly leading to Jokanovic's exit many months before his dismissal on Wednesday morning.

The Cottagers received praise for their work in the summer after spending nearly £150m but those arrivals have not played well and, worse than that, they've disturbed a team that was.

Tim Ream spoke recently about the lack of camaraderie in the squad, something that was not an issue last year and refocuses the issues of trying to inject too many players into a new squad. The old one was functioning, if short of quality. The current one is listless and the quality they have bought has done nothing to drag Fulham away from trouble. The money has been spent but there has been no benefit received.

Ranieri's job is to save Fulham, obviously, but his arrival is well-timed because if the lovable Italian brings the immediate impact he so often does in new jobs, then it will prevent more questions being asked about the Cottagers' summer spree ahead of the January window. Should they head into the New Year still looking doomed, there will be a pressure to go on another unwieldy splurge.

While Khan praised Ranieri as a "risk-free" appointment, he is anything but. There remains the huge risk of relegation and the financial hit that comes with it because, despite Ranieri's achievements with Leicester, the playing style with which the Foxes won the league – forgoing possession, pressing high, playing on the counter – is virtually the opposite of what Jokanovic was so fundamentally committed to.

Fulham have some good players who will be able to adapt and others who might have been more suited to Ranieri's plans anyway, but while the slick immediacy of this managerial change removes that horrible feeling of limbo when relegation-threatened teams look for a manager, the adaptation might take a little time.

By sacking Jokanovic now, Fulham are gambling that they have enough of it to turn the ship around – but don't let anyone tell you this is a "risk-free" move. Not with this much at stake.



https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/fulham-fc-news-manager-claudio-ranieri-slavisa-jokanovic-sacked-a8634031.html

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Fulham sacked Slavisa Jokanovic around 36 hours after telling fans he was safe

Monday night: Fulham's chief executive backs Jokanovic to supporters. Wednesday morning: Manager is fired

Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh told a fans' meeting on Monday night they were committed to Slavisa Jokanovic and believed he would guide them through the crisis.

That matched the behind-the-scenes reassurances for Jokanovic, who was just given an hour's warning before the club announced on Wednesday morning that they were replacing him with Claudio Ranieri.

The Premier League's bottom club had also told Jokanovic they would be sticking with him no matter the result at Huddersfield last Monday. And stayed true to their word — for one more game.

Even an improved performance at Liverpool on Sunday, albeit in another defeat, was not enough to save him.

Fulham had also been pushing to extend Jokanovic's contract even this season, to reward him for guiding them into the Premier League.

However, their transfer business last summer, when they spent in excess of £100m on new signings, happened without Jokanovic having final say on almost all of the new signings.

He wanted a ball-playing centre half and a holding midfielder.

Few of their many signings have worked and Fulham have managed just one win in the Premier League so far this season.

The chopping and changing of the starting line-up highlights that Jokanovic was still searching for the right formula even though he has stressed publicly this season that he had no problem with the transfer policy.

Jokanovic had a face-to-face meeting with owner Shahid Khan last week and the relationship remains friendly and cordial. But clearly the club had looked at the international break as an opportunity to make a change and had sounded out several managerial candidates.

Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger was sounded out. Former Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores and ex-Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea boss Carlos Carvahal has also been linked.

But they have ended up going for Ranieri, and are now looking for him to achieve another miracle.



https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fulham-sacked-slavisa-jokanovic-around-13590862

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Claudio Ranieri: Fulham will never give up, says new manager

Fulham will "never give up" in their fight against relegation from the Premier League this season, says new manager Claudio Ranieri.

The Cottagers sacked Slavisa Jokanovic on Wednesday and immediately appointed Italian Ranieri, who guided Leicester to the title in 2016.

Fulham are bottom of the table having taken just five points from 12 games.

"I hope this season to be safe and then to follow the way of the chairman, to grow upwards," said Ranieri.

Jokanovic, who was appointed in December 2015, led Fulham to promotion via the play-offs last season.

But the Londoners have lost their past six league games and have conceded a league-high 31 goals so far this season.

Ranieri's first game in charge will see Fulham host fellow strugglers Southampton at Craven Cottage on Saturday, 24 November, followed by games against his former clubs Chelsea and Leicester.

The 67-year-old Italian told Fulham's website: "I think Jokanovic was a great player but also as a manager he made a very good start to this career. This season I cannot believe what happened. It is a very good quality team.

"As an Italian manager, for us the defensive way is the best for the team. It is important to have a strong vision of the defence. Not just the full-backs or goalkeeper, all the team.

"For me, the team spirit is important but I know there is a good group. The fighting spirit is very important. We play Southampton and they are a good team with spirit. It is important to be prepared.

"I hope our fans push us and we need their strength. We need their support always. We will never give up."

'What I achieved is the past'
Ranieri's Leicester started the 2015-16 season as 5,000-1 outsiders to win the Premier League and were among the favourites for relegation.

The Foxes delivered one the greatest sporting shocks of all time as they clinched the club's first top-flight title, described by many as a "miracle".

But Ranieri was sacked nine months later and spent last season as Nantes manager.

In his first spell in England, he guided Chelsea to second in the Premier League as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Fulham chairman Shahid Khan said he and his son Tony, the club's vice-chairman and director of football operations, spoke to a number of potential candidates over the past week.

"What I achieved is the past, I always look forward and I want more," said Ranieri. "I hope to make very good job here.

"I felt like coming back to England. Last season I went away abroad to finish my story but my feeling with English football is so high and I wanted to come back. Mr Khan is an ambitious man and I hope to give him what he desires."



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46215037

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Despite his sacking, Slavisa Jokanovic will always be a Fulham legend

On Wednesday morning, shocking news pierced the football community: Slavisa Jokanovic had been fired by Fulham and replaced by Claudio Ranieri.

Although the Whites were dead last in the Premier League and boasted the worst goal differential, many expected Jokanovic to remain in the job, as Fulham did not act after the 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield a week earlier.

Despite his sacking, Slavisa Jokanovic will always be known as a Fulham legend.

The Serbian manager was appointed to the position in December 2015, perhaps Fulham's lowest point in recent memory. The club were languishing in the lower reaches of the Championship, flirting with relegation to League One. Kit Symons had been sacked in early November, with the club undergoing a period of almost two months without a full-time boss.

The situation Jokanovic inherited was directionless.

But the manager worked absolute wonders at SW6, saving the club from relegation in his first half-season, building a free-flowing team that finished sixth the following year, and finally granting Fulham fans their sweetest-ever moment with a Wembley victory in the play-off final in May.

Along the way, Jokanovic gave Ryan Sessegnon a debut as a 16-year-old and oversaw his progression to one of the brightest talents in world football. He handed Tom Cairney the captain's armband and brought the best out of the midfielder. And perhaps most important of all, he instilled a strong, possession-based, attacking ethos in SW6 that captivated the footballing world.

All of these tremendous accomplishments will never be forgotten by Fulham fans. Three poor months in the Premier League can never erase those two glorious Championship seasons.

The sad reality is that Slavisa Jokanovic is not a Premier League manager. But he is a Fulham legend.



https://tbrfootball.com/despite-his-sacking-slavisa-jokanovic-will-always-be-a-fulham-legend/

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Fulham have pulled off a masterstroke by sacking Slavisa Jokanovic and appointing this Premier League veteran their new manager

Fulham have done well by appointing Claudio Ranieri their new manager

This might come as a shock to numerous people but Fulham have officially sacked Slavisa Jokanovic as their manager (h/t The Telegraph). In a swift move, the Cottagers then appointed Claudio Ranieri as their new boss.

Ranieri, well-known for creating Premier League history by winning the title with Leicester City in the 2015/16 season, is a seasoned manager. He is more than capable of stabilizing the fortunes of distressed clubs and this certainly is a power move from club owner Shahid Khan.

Despite securing promotion to the top-flight in an emphatic manner under Jokanovic the last term, Fulham have struggled miserably this season. They spent big in the summer and brought in some impress players by landing deals for Andre Schurrle, Jean Michael Seri and Aleksandar Mitrovic (loan move made permanent). Furthermore, they also have some brilliant players in Tom Cairney and Ryan Sessegnon.

However, the team just failed to gel well together and seemed to be in real danger of getting relegated back to the Championship. But Khan certainly pulled off a much-needed move at the right time by sacking Jovanovic.

Now, Ranieri has quite a task at hand. He must unite and extract the best out of a team filled with some big-name stars while also ensuring they avoid the drop at the end of the season.

Currently gracing the bottom of the table, Fulham have managed to win merely 1 out of the first 12 games. Having scored just 11 goals so far, it is astounding to note that the Londoners have conceded a whopping 31. The situation certainly does not look good for the club and if Ranieri can help them stay afloat in the Premier League, that itself would be quite an achievement.

But knowing Ranieri, he can do a lot better than that. He is adept at repairing leaky defences and setting a strong foundation at the back and that is exactly what Fulham need right now.

It won't be easy for Ranieri but if anyone can bring the Cottagers out of their misery, it has to be the brilliant Frenchman. It remains to be seen how he sets up his new team when they face Southampton on 24th November but suffice to say, Fulham have pulled off a masterstroke by making him their new manager.



https://www.mediareferee.com/2018/11/15/fulham-have-pulled-off-a-masterstroke-by-sacking-slavisa-jokanovic-and-appointing-this-premier-league-veteran-their-new-manager/

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Claudio Ranieri Replaces Slavisa Jokanovic as Manager
The Tinkerman is here at Craven Cottage!

After a run that saw Fulham lose seven league and cup games in a row, not score in those last four games, not see a win since September 25th, and give up a historically bad 31 goals in 12 Premier League fixtures, owner Shahid Khan had no choice but to sack Slavisa Jokanovic today. However, that wasn't the only bit of news. Along with Jokanovic leaving, Claudio Ranieri has come in to become the permanent successor and has signed a "multi-year contract". Some will say that Khan went against his word after he backed Jokanovic on the matchday program in the former boss's last home fixture against Bournemouth. But as the club were amid a 3-0 defeat, the body language from the club's owner in the stands and the foreign and negative tactics Jokanovic was deploying that were so against the grain from what he did his previous two seasons were just not good enough anymore. Add in a shocking defeat to Huddersfield Town, followed by another one to Liverpool and it makes sense for the club to make a change now anymore damage can be done.

Lots of negatives will be surrounding Jokanovic from this fateful day, but it must not be forgotten how he drove Fulham back towards the Premier League with a brand of football the supporters will forever adore. It's quite clear, however, that the Premier League is as cut throat as it gets. Every club has some form of an attack and some form of defense. If you have neither of one or the other or both, relegation is expected. That's where Fulham sit now languishing in the bottom of the table. Southampton is next on the club's fixture list and anything short of a draw is considered unacceptable. After what this club has delivered over the past two years, supporters are begging for, at minimum, to have this team's identity back.

As mentioned before, Jokanovic has went from trying what worked with 100 million in new transfers earlier this season to implementing a counter-attacking system that just didn't suit most of the team. Listless performances against Bournemouth and Huddersfield sealed his fate with the Arsenal, Everton and Manchester City results as ominous signs for things to come.

In Claudio Ranieri, Kahn hopes that the magic he delivered as Leicester's manager in 2016 can translate at Craven Cottage. No one will ever top Ranieri and his side's performance going from 5,000-1 odds of winning the league to achieving the impossible. With his leadership, Jamie Vardy, Ngolo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Kasper Schmeichel became household names with captain Wes Morgan being a cult hero at the King Power Stadium. And while he was known as the tinker man that was rigid in his 4-2-3-1 system, Ranieri stuck to the same XI in that fateful season and played a 4-4-2 counter-attacking style that fit the speed and guile of his attacking players. Having a hidden gem and future world class midfield destroyer in Kante, who would go on to become a World Cup winner with France, certainly didn't hurt things either.

But if anything, Ranieri might not be the most successful foreign manager available, but he is a player's manager that will bring his kind humor and charm to do his best to deliver a team-wide spirit that will be infectious throughout. Fulham had that under Jokanovic's first two seasons and it seemed like it was broken as soon as the new transfers came in. Even seasons after his sacking in 2017, you could tell Leicester's bonds are still there. That bonding was brought to full view with their togetherness since the tragic passing of owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha that shook the English football world.

Ranieri may not be a guaranteed success at Fulham, and the club could still get relegated for reasons beyond him and even Jokanovic's control. But if anything, this is a major turning of the page for an era that brought so much joy. Now Fulham have to look into the future in hopes to retain their respectability that they worked so hard to rebuild.



https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2018/11/14/18095767/claudio-ranieri-replaces-slavisa-jokanovic-as-manager