Quick Thoughts: 31/10
It’s hard to process tonight’s game. Bristol City looked much like Fulham last year: confident, ruthless in front of goal, slick passing and creative. Simply put, they looked like a team. Fulham looked like Fulham of 2–3 years ago: bored, blaming anyone but themselves and pathetic.
The buck starts with Slavisa Jokanovic, simply. There was no comeback to bail him out for the third time running. Jokanovic switched to a 3 at the back system but it hopelessly failed as City ran out to a two goal lead at half time courtesy of Korey Smith and Bobby Reid. The goals again came about from a set of Fulham defensive errors, courtesy of Ream and Kalas. At what point do you have to start questioning Jokanovic’s ability to build a mid-table defense, let alone a playoff-worthy one? Tim Ream took a big step forward last season but has regressed horribly. Tomas Kalas being subbed at half time says it all about the Czech. Ryan Sessegnon at left back has been disastrous this season and is consistently getting outmuscled by opponent wingers.
Furthermore, Jokanovic’s handling of the attack has been dreadful this season. Floyd Ayite consistently lost the ball tonight and has absolutely no awareness of his position on the pitch. His decision making when in possession of the ball is so bad that even Bill Murray in Zombieland would’ve been amazed at it. How Jokanovic continues to play the Togolese international is absolutely mind-blowing and raises serious questions on the clear favouritism that the Serbian manager has amongst players in the club.
The Tom Cairney injury is another issue. Clearly, something went wrong over the pre-season and Fulham have dearly paid for Jokanovic’s poor methods. Cairney is clearly not fit, looks sluggish and poorly mismanaged in terms of fitness. That only falls on one man’s shoulders: Jokanovic. How do you let your star performer and best player get injured in pre-season???? Stefan Johansen’s performances in midfield have also been extremely questionable and none more so than tonight. The Norwegian had numerous chances to start counter-attacks in the first half but failed time after time due to his lack of awareness, despite his fellow players and the crowd warning him repeatedly.
However, this does not mean that the club and recruiting shouldn’t be held to account. The failure to buy a starting central defender this season is proving disastrous. Tomas Kalas looks shellshocked and that he was replaced at the break over Denis Odoi, a natural full back, says it all. The Czech has for the sixth game running been able to handle an opposition striker and has to be dropped at this stage. Additionally, the recruiting up front looks to have been very poor. I was admittedly high on Rui Fonte but have seen few positives since he scored against Ipswich. His penalty miss against QPR still appears to be haunting him. Abou Kamara frankly looks, well, disastrous. His control of the ball is non-existent, he doesn’t appear to be a good finisher and now he has a red card to his name. One of these strikers needs to get going, otherwise Fulham will have wasted £14mil, a costly figure for a Championship club.
Fulham come up against a rampant Wolves side on Friday night. Quite frankly, it’s probably too much to expect a draw, given how both teams are playing. It very much could be a slaughterhouse on Friday night, with the way that Fulham are playing.
It’s tough to say this given how much Fulham went through under Jokanovic but he simply must be fired after the Wolves game, barring a miracle at Molineux. The team looks disorganised, uninterested outside of Kevin McDonald and David Button and a far cry from last season. I see very little hope that Fulham can fix this terrible defence under Jokanovic. The decision tonight to fire Craig Kline boggles the mind, given how the American took Fulham from a midfield consisting of the likes of Pringle and O’Hara to Kebano and McDonald. Yes, the recruitment this past summer hasn’t been of the standard that last year’s was but giving control of operations in the transfer market to a manager who has never operated in it is just plain stupidity. That Slav is enamoured with players of the likes of Cameron Jerome and Craig Cathcart and unhappy that we can’t bring in this type of deadwood is enough to know that he simply shouldn’t be given control in the transfer market. If he can’t figure out his best XI and tactics on the pitch, why is he so deserving of control in today’s volatile transfer market?
If Jokanovic wishes to remain in the job, he has to figure it out and quickly. I doubt he will be given the time and rightfully so. Fulham had harboured ambitions of a top two spot this year. At this moment, the playoffs look a distant mirage. Change will only come about on the pitch not from a Director of Football’s departure but the manager’s.
