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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Declan Warrington

Fulham are relegated... but Scott Parker knows what needs to change next season

Scott Parker intends to tell the Fulham hierarchy the reasons for their relegation after their fate was sealed with Tuesday's 4-1 thrashing at Watford.

They were condemned to an instant return to the Championship, stranded 19th in the Premier League table with only 17 points from 33 games, 16 short of safety with just 15 to play for.

The caretaker manager has overseen five defeats from his five fixtures since succeeding the sacked Claudio Ranieri on a temporary basis, after the Italian had also failed to improve results following Slavisa Jokanovic's earlier dismissal.

Fulham's relegation also comes after their net spend of £106million over the past two transfer windows represented the third highest in the Premier League.

Parker, 38, said: "I was put in this position and I realise where the mistakes are, what needs to change. Ultimately I'll put my points across.

"I've not honestly thought about myself (remaining as manager).

"I'm obviously gutted. I realised how big the task was and we all understood how big the task was to try to stay in this division. The most disappointing thing was how we lost.

"In a snapshot, if you haven't watched us play this year and you just watched those 10 minutes where (goals) two, three, four go in, that sums it up.

"We just can't weather a storm. That's exactly it. In the Championship, you get away with it. In this division, you ain't getting away with it.

"I'm sure there's a mental issue. When you're bottom of the league, everything becomes a bit harder. There's some naivety.

"The dressing room is obviously disappointed. Gutted.

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(Action Images via Reuters)

"There have been some initial discussions, but not real, 'Okay, where have the mistakes been made?'

"There needs to be a sit-down, work out where the mistakes were made this year, work on that as quick as we can and go from there."

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