Claudio Ranieri has been sacked by Fulham after the club’s directors and supporters lost confidence in him. The final straw for the manager came in the relegation battle at Southampton on Wednesday, when the team lost 2-0 and the travelling fans chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” at him. It was a seventh defeat in eight Premier League games. Scott Parker, the first-team coach, has been placed in caretaker charge.
The vice-chairman, Tony Khan, was at St Mary’s for a result that took Ranieri’s league record with the club to P16 W3 D3 L10 since he replaced Slavisa Jokanovic in mid-November. Fulham are 10 points off safety with 10 matches to play.
Shahid Khan, the club’s chairman and Tony’s father, is in the US but he took the lead in the discussions over Ranieri’s future on Thursday, which also involved the chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and the non-executive director Mark Lamping.
The key decision-makers concluded that Ranieri had been damned by the evidence on the pitch and in the stands, and Shahid Khan released a statement shortly before 5pm to confirm the Italian’s departure, along with the temporary appointment of Parker.
“Claudio Ranieri agreed to my decision that a change was in the best interest of everyone,” he said. “No surprise to me, Claudio was a perfect gentleman, as always. Be assured he is not solely to blame for the position we are in today.
“Claudio walked into a difficult situation, inheriting a side that gained only one point in its prior eight matches, and he provided an immediate boost by leading our club to nine points in his first eight matches. Though we were unable to maintain that pace thereafter, I am grateful for his effort.”
Bad start
Having spent over £100m on new players, Fulham begin the season with a 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace
Bournemouth boos
Jeers greet the final whistle as Fulham suffer a fourth heavy defeat in succession, against Bournemouth at Craven Cottage
Jokanovic feels the heat
‘I am a fantastic coach’ says Slavisa Jokanovic as he comes out fighting for his job following a 1-0 loss away to Huddersfield
Jokanovic is no more
Jokanovic is sacked soon after a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool. Claudio Ranieri is immediately confirmed as the Serb’s successor
New manager bounce
Ranieri gets off to the perfect start: a 3-2 home victory against fellow relegation candidates Southampton
Kamara conflict
Ranieri rages at Aboubakar Kamara after he snatches – and misses – a penalty from Aleksandar Mitrovic at home to Huddersfield
Kamara kicked out
Kamara is banned by Fulham and eventually leaves the club in a loan deal following an incident at the training ground
Embarrassing exit
Fulham suffer the embarrassment of a home loss to League Two Oldham Athletic in the third-round of the FA Cup
Claudio is cut loose
The losses keep on coming for Fulham and after a seventh in eight league games – at Southampton – Ranieri is sacked
Ranieri said: “I am obviously disappointed with the recent results and that we could not build on the good start we made following my appointment. I would like to thank the club, the players and the fans for the support they have given me.”
Shahid Khan sounded resigned to an immediate return to the Championship – Fulham were promoted via the play-offs – and it has certainly been a disastrous season on many levels.
The club spent £110.5m last summer on signings needed to bolster a squad who had been depleted by the loss of many loanees. The conditions were difficult because of the late finish to last season owing to the play-off final and the earlier-than-usual closure of the window on 9 August, plus the fact the World Cup took place.
That said, the majority of the new players have struggled, some because of injury, such as Alfie Mawson, and others because they have failed to find their feet. The most glaring example of that has been André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who joined for £30m from Marseille. Only Aleksandar Mitrovic, Jean Michaël Seri and possibly Calum Chambers, who is on loan from Arsenal, have shown anything like the required levels.
Ranieri saw his team exit the FA Cup at home to League Two Oldham and his reluctance to trust the 18-year-old wide player Ryan Sessegnon was deeply unpopular with supporters.
There was also the damaging Aboubakar Kamara saga, which came in three parts. First, the striker grabbed a penalty from Mitrovic against Huddersfield, which he missed; second, he fought with him during a squad yoga session; and then, having been banished to train with the under-23s, he was arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm when he visited the training ground seeking to discuss his future with Mackintosh.
What has most upset Fulham fans this season has been the loss of their reputation for entertaining football, which they earned last season. They have routinely been awful to watch.
Shahid Khan said: “Scott Parker’s immediate assignment is merely to help us stabilise, grow and rediscover ourselves as a football club. If Scott can answer that challenge and our players respond to the opportunity, perhaps victories will follow in the months ahead.
“What’s most important, however, is to regroup in a smart and deliberate manner that will serve our long-term vision for sustainable success. If we’re able to do that and win some matches to make a stand late in the season, all the better.”
