Slavisa Jokanovich

[Andy S]

I live in Watford and followed Slavs career as manager of Watford so knowing how Watford let him go as though they weren't bothered which was a surprise I was delighted when we signed him as Head Coach but there was a lot on here that were unhappy at the time. So hands up and say how long before you were converted. Even earlier in the season there was some that wanted him out. Now is your chance to say sorry.

[Chesh]

I live in Watford and followed Slavs career as manager of Watford so knowing how Watford let him go as though they weren't bothered which was a surprise I was delighted when we signed him as Head Coach but there was a lot on here that were unhappy at the time. So hands up and say how long before you were converted. Even earlier in the season there was some that wanted him out. Now is your chance to say sorry.

I don't honestly recall anyone being disappointed with the appointment of Slav after the Symons debacle.... as for wanting him out earlier in the season... nope, not me. I remember being disappointed that some couldn't see the stumbles along the way as normal and surmount able - absolutely love the bloke

[SuffolkWhite]

You will get those that moan if things ain't quite going according to plan like the beginning of last season. But he kept us up and got us to the Play Off semi's, and then one better in May so actions speak louder than words. He will be moaned about again on here for his tactics and choice of first 11 as the expectation will be unfair from some.

Khan will get a bashing also for not spending a billion on players.

You can only please some of the people some of the time!

I like his style of football and it will suite us better in the top league, I hope we nail him down to a long contract.

[Fulham Tup North]

Cheer him when he does well. Boo him when doing not so well. When we go up, say you have ALWAYS loved having him here and if we ultimately struggle in the Prem and (God forbid) Khan decided to sack him, we can say we never really thought he was right for the club!
Welcome to the fickle world of the average footy fan 😀👍⚽
Watford got rid of him before kicking a ball in the top flight. He got them up, so the fans still remember him fondly. If Slav walked away this summer to join that blue side down the road, peoples attitude will be very different about how he is remembered.
It's a funny old game!
COYW

[bill taylors apprentice]

Don't ever remember seeing any coherent argument against the Head Coach.
The occasional bitching due to a few bad results but nothing of any relevance.

[bog]

I wanted him as soon as he left Watford.


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[Jamie88]

I don't remember a single post on that stated they weren't happy with the appointment? It was pretty unanimous that we had secured a good manager

[Sgt Fulham]

Was very happy when we signed him up and have been ever since. This has never faltered, great manager.

[filham]

It has been a bit of a bumpy ride and I have to admit to periods when I was sitting on the fence about Jocanovic. It took a good time after his arrival for him to get better results than Kit and he seemed to be forever making changes in players and tactics. Of course it came good last season with that magnificent run to the play offs, I was off the fence and right behind him by the end of the season


The first half of this season was not too brilliant and I was thinking of getting up on that fence again but since the signing of Mitrovic we have been magnificent and make no mistake Jocanovic is now right up there with the best of of our all time managers .

[Twig]

I was delighted when we signed him and never called for his head, although I did have one minor wobble towards the end of our poor run of results mid season.  I got particularly irritated by those who persistently moaned about his accent, use of English and post match press conferences. Seriously, give the guy a break and focus on things that really matter.

[Bill2]

I am and always have been a great admirer of SJ, I looked the way Watford player when he was there and he has brought that style to Fulham. However, if we do well next season he will be the manager of the moment and a lot of clubs will be keeping n eye on him and while I like to think he is a man of integrity like any player he will be wanting to play on a bigger stage. So big clubs will come knocking as well as some international teams, so it would be foolhardy to think he will stay at Fulham forever.

In the meantime I am looking forward to seeing the glorious Black and Whites playing in the Prem next season with a great manager.

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

I had no idea either way when he was appointed, and I certainly didn't expect the quality of football he has brought to the club, which is really something.

I had known about him at Watford, and knew a couple of Watford fans who were full of praise for him, but his leaving them was all a bit odd, so didn't know if he had longevity in him.

Hopefully he does, and Watford was just a blip.

I just really like his demeanour since the end of last season and throughout this. I can't think of another manager who has that 'intense' thing about him, rather than your Pardews / Big Sam club thing where it doesn't seem to really matter how ya did etc.

[filham]

My son in law and granddaughter are regular Watford fans and I saw Watford play once when Jocanovic was their manager, there was no indication then of the type of football we are now playing. Something has happened to him at Fulham.

[RaySmith]

He's said that the style he gets his teams to play depends on  the players at his disposal.

[Lighthouse]

We lost to Sunderland and Burton and Birmingham and frankly we were always vulnerable to the direct type of workmanlike football. Crosses were always dangerous and there was a period where we dominated possession without having a shot on target.
Fans that made any criticism were proved right. Despite some fans believing we have always played like we have done. The truth is we cried out for a target type of striker, cried out for a decent central defender. Joka did change the style of football to suit the players he had.

No fan should apologise for being right. Joka brought in a striker at the last moment of the transfer window and it worked well. Somehow the smallest player on the pitch was made into an iffy central defender and we went on a record breaking run. The coach and players are rightly lauded when things go well. But some fans have selective memories.  We haven't always played brilliantly and when we haven't the fans have every right to make criticism. Let us enjoy this wonderful season. But apologise for criticising poor selection or subs when they happen? Sorry as football fans and not followers of a weird sect we will always have our say.

[colinwhite]

Fair enough Lighthouse but you Still havent said that you think he is a good manager,or done the sort of job with the way we play that few others could have . Jokanovicwas clearly always of the view that we needed a  strong player like Mitro.
Most people slagging off Slavisa were not right ,they were wrong. As our amazing run and victory at wembley clearly shows.

[Lighthouse]

Fair enough Lighthouse but you Still havent said that you think he is a good manager,or done the sort of job with the way we play that few others could have . Jokanovicwas clearly always of the view that we needed a  strong player like Mitro.
Most people slagging off Slavisa were not right ,they were wrong. As our amazing run and victory at wembley clearly shows.

First of all I have on many occasions waxed lyrical on our coach. I think he has done an amazing job. Even in this post I point out that he has had to change the way we played a little to match the players he had. Not really my fault you don't read them.  I was never one of the fans that said we should see the back of him when things were not so great. But I am also realistic. I did criticise him when he decided to bring on a defender to hang on to a draw. The Brentford home game springs to mind when he took off Kabano who was a sub himself and we let in a last minute goal. Not sure I have ever slagged him off. I have criticised mistakes that I saw as tactical. I don't forget about them and then say he is perfect and I was wrong to criticise him.

Nobody cares that I sang and danced around the room last week or punched the air in delight. Or would give anything to be able to afford a season ticket and travel and be as involved as I once was. Nobody cares that I think Joka has done a great job. They only seem to care that some fans dare to have criticised him in the past for mistakes. I don't apologise for that. I don't slag players or fans off. But I do enter debates and arguments. Is Joka God? No. but he has won promotion with a far from perfect team playing an attractive and exciting style of football. We have added grit to the powder puff we once were. But for any fans who criticise or slag him off in the future or have done so in the past. Please continue to voice an opinion. Yes he has done a wonderful job under trying circumstances. It doesn't mean criticism was ever wrong in the past.

[colinwhite]

Ok Lighthouse .good post . Come on you whites !

[toshes mate]

For what it is worth Jokanovic has, in his time, overcome much more than the transformations to style and quality we see on the pitch.  His initial arrival was hardly encouraging but, given what he had agreed to take over, it wasn't surprising results took a while to appear.   We also now know how stifling much of the Club's regime was, and had been, for Symons and all who went before, under the Khans.  It takes a while for any coach to impact his squad with fresh beliefs, fresh desires, and fresh objectives.   Whatever Jokanovic did do in those deep winter weeks worked and we survived - the rot had been cut back if not completely solved.   

It was in pre-season I noticed differences in the approach to how players were linking together and how 'moves' were being worked out.  Passing was slicker, movement was more thoughtful, the game was taking on the coaching style.  But Jokanovic had taken a very tricky long term approach which demanded that players take responsibility for their own game, their own contributions to the team, their own roles in the squad, and like every responsibility, confidence to carry it out only comes through hard work and practice.  His first attempt at encouraging success on players unused to such things was to fail rather disappointingly simply because we were not good enough to overcome a poor first leg followed by a poor refereeing decision.   That, and a poor pre-season, injuries, and some unforced changes, took a toll on the self confidence and once again hard work was needed to overcome the squad short falls.   Jokanovic never stops still, and neither do his assistants, and it was no surprise to me when transformations began to happen.   I didn't get discouraged by Brentford away, or Sunderland away, because the hard work was showing a different mental attitude that was to harden as results began to click.

Jokanovic and his staff have turned many things around on the pitch, in the dressing room, on the training ground, and in the Club's methodology, and his project is still a work in progress.  Who knows how far he can take us?  I hope he gives us the opportunity to see just how far it is because I have enjoyed every step of his journey. 
           

[filham]

As I said , right now Jocanovic is right up there with the best of our managers but the big question is what happens next

Will he bring in the right players to allow him to play the current tactics at a higher level or will our game have to undergo drastic changes to achieve Premiership survival . What will we all be thinking of Jocanovic at the end of the coming season.