The Rise and Fall of Ross McCormack

We hear cases of transfers going wrong all the time. The player didn’t settle in well, the manager who brought in said player was fired, a change of system, etc. But there’s something different to the Ross McCormack story for me, as a Fulham fan. McCormack was the arguably the best player in 2014 in the Championship to have never played in the Premier League and had just scored 28 goals for Leeds in 2013–14. Just two seasons later and McCormack has already been regarded as big money flop at one of the largest clubs in England and lambasted for his poor behaviour. How did it come to this for a striker who had averaged 22 goals a season in one of the most competitive leagues in the world?

Bought in for a massive figure of £11 million after a long saga in the summer of 2014, McCormack quickly became a fans favourite at Fulham. After a disastrous start under the dictatorial Felix Magath with no wins in their first eight games, McCormack and exciting young midfielder Lasse Vigen Christensen kept the Whites out of the relegation zone under Kit Symons. A 4–3 win against promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough in the penultimate game of the season cemented McCormack in Fulham fans favouritism, who scored a hat trick. Finishing 17th in a tepid season, improvements were promised.

Fulham sleepwalked through the following season. Combined with poor recruitment in the summer of 2015, Symons was fired in November and it took the Whites 7 weeks to appoint a new manager, coming in the form of Slavisa Jokanovic. A three game win streak in April against MK Dons, Preston and Cardiff ultimately kept the Whites up but only just. McCormack scored 21 goals for Fulham, alongside another 15 by the talented Moussa Dembele.

With the culmination of the season, the out of contract Dembele quickly fled for Celtic and reports instantly emerged that McCormack had a £12million release clause. Adored by Fulham fans, McCormack and the club had agreed upon several contracts seemingly every transfer window, with pay rises and extensions conspicuously the only thing keeping him at the club. It seemed the final negotiation had provided the price for the Scottish international to other clubs. Rumours had persisted throughout the season that Jokanovic and McCormack had had numerous disagreements throughout the season, despite the public statements of the Serbian that he wished to build the team around the then 29 year old. Upheaval was also occurring higher up inside Fulham, with Mike Rigg replaced as Director of Football Operations by owner Shahid Khan’s son, Tony Khan. Rigg had overseen arguably the worst transfer window in recent Fulham memory for the the Whites and was ultimately relieved of his duties in December 2016. With another squad overhaul on the horizon at Fulham, McCormack couldn’t take his chances with Fulham to reach the promised land of the Premier League.

A pre-season trip to Ireland with very little photos of the player seemed to forebode his eventual departure. Numerous clarifications from the Club’s twitter account of “Ross is here!” only seemed to make the situation even more apparent: McCormack would be leaving Fulham. Quickly, bids started to flood in, with recently relegated clubs Norwich and Aston Villa leading the pack. On the 3rd of August 2016, two days before their season kicked off against Newcastle United, Fulham stated that they had accepted a £12 million offer from Aston Villa. A day later, the deal was confirmed by the two clubs. A statement from McCormack emerged from Fulham, saying that it had been a very tough decision to leave and thanked the fans for their support. Within two days, Fulham had sold a player that had previously been deemed essentially to their success.

Fulham shocked Newcastle the following day in a 1–0 win, courtesy of a Matt Smith header.

McCormack linked up with new manager Roberto Di Matteo at Aston Villa, joining an impressive slew of signings by the Birmingham club. McCormack started up front alongside the towering figure of Rudy Gestede in their first game against Sheffield Wednesday. In his only real opportunity in the game against an excellent Wednesday defence, McCormack would be denied a 1 on 1 against Keiren Westwood after a superb tackle by Tom Lees. A defensive error by Villa gave Fernando Forestieri an easy goal in the 84th minute, confining Villa and Ross to a 1–0 defeat. Late opponent goals would become the theme for Di Matteo’s Villa. A dreadful ricochet by Pierluigi Gollini against the onrushing Michael Hefele confined Villa to a draw against high flying Huddersfield, despite McCormack’s first goal for his new club. It almost seemed too familiar to Fulham’s dreadful start in 2014 to Ross. The nightmare that Ross thought he had escaped had only seemed to follow him.

Another goal against Nottingham Forest a month late did little to hide the murmurs that McCormack’s performances weren’t even close to that of his at Fulham. Even with Jonathan Kodjia alongside him (a talent on par to that of Moussa Dembele’s at Fulham) and arguably a lot higher quality creators than that of at his previous season at Fulham, McCormack had only provided Villa a return of two goals. Ross was quickly relegated to the bench after being subbed off at half time against Brentford and ultimately confined Di Matteo to the sack when he a missed a penalty against Preston. With penalties almost a certainty for McCormack to score at Fulham, Chris Maxwell comfortably saved against the 30 year old. Villa had only won game since McCormack’s arrival, with similarities quickly arising between Villa’s first season in the Championship.

Steve Bruce was quickly appointed as Di Matteo’s successor and with that, McCormack to the bench or a limited starting role. McCormack would not feature in a full 90 minutes under Bruce after his initial game against Wolves until Burton on Boxing Day. Despite scoring a late winner, only his third goal for Villa, he was again relegated back to the bench for the following match against Leeds. After a defeat to Wolves two weeks later, Bruce and McCormack quickly fell out, with media favourite Bruce stating that McCormack had repeatedly not turned up for training and provided petty excuses for his absence such as his electronic gates not working. Despite McCormack publicly stating that it was personal issues that were behind his truanting, the media tide was already against Ross for “Gate-gate”. It had been quite the turnaround for a player that was so universally liked by Fulham fans to being publicly criticised by a high-profile manager and reviled by the Aston Villa support. Sent to train with U-23’s, it seemed an early divorce was on it’s way for McCormack and Villa. Rumours quickly abounded that return to Fulham was all but nailed on occur before being quickly squashed down when a report emerged that the Fulham players had told Slavisa Jokanovic they did not want Ross back, with Fulham fans suddenly hesitant to receive the striker back that had been branded as a disruptor in the changing room. Quite the change for a striker looked so fondly upon at the club just six months ago.

Alongside fellow summer flop, Aaron Tshibola, McCormack agreed to a loan at Nottingham Forest. Despite a 5–1 thrashing at the hands of Norwich City in his first game for the Reds, McCormack came on as a substitute and scored a delicate chip over John Ruddy that would not have looked out of place in a Fulham shirt a year ago. It all seemed nicely poised for Forest’s next game at Craven Cottage, with McCormack ready to return to form under caretaker manager Gary Brazil.

McCormack had ultimately returned to the Cottage earlier than he had envisioned in his letter to the Fulham fans. There was a muted reaction when his name was read out over the tannoy as an opposition player, with many fully expecting him to pop up with a goal as he so usually had done before at Craven Cottage. Instead, McCormack was confined to watching an almost unrecognisable Fulham team, galvanised by excellent signings arising from his sale, pass it around Forest with ease. McCormack barely featured in the game, with his striking partner, teenage sensation Ben Bereton, taking the majority of the applause for an excellent header for Forest’s second. When a free kick arose in the 66th minute, it all seemed perfectly set it for it to rocket straight into the top corner, as had happened numerous times before at the Cottage. It sailed comfortably over David Button’s goal instead. While the usual “wheys” rang around the ground, a sombre mood fell around the ground for a player that had come crashing down to Earth after carrying the club to safety two times in a row.

The game finished 3–2 to Fulham, thanks to a Jack Hobbs own goal from a Neeskens Kebano “shot”. McCormack had been totally anonymous, a sad transformation for a player once so integral to the way Fulham played. Another missed penalty in the following match against Sheffield Wednesday confined McCormack to the bench again before Brazil was finally replaced by Mark Warburton, formerly of Brentford. It remains to be seen how much time Warburton will give McCormack, given the large amount of strikers at the club. Ben Bereton looks to be one for the Premier League in the future, while Britt Assombalonga and Apostolos Vellios are two other big names in the mix for the striker position.

From Fulham’s perspective, McCormack’s sale was a necessary pain. The club wouldn’t be in the position they are in without him and he will always be regarded fondly upon at the club. The funds generated from his sale (more for FFP purposes than an actual cash requirement) allowed the club to bring in some hugely important players such as Stefan Johansen and Neeskens Kebano. Fulham sold high on McCormack and improved as a result.

Ultimately, McCormack ended up where he began this process: in a relegation battle. This time however, its unlikely he will be able to control his fate in terms of playing time. Even in the long term, it is unlikely that McCormack will stay at Bruce’s Villa. Turning 31 this August, it’s very likely that he will be available for probably less than half of the £12 million that Villa bought him for and who knows if he is the same player that he was at Fulham. It is a rapid switch of fortunes for his former club and him, with the Whites looking so positive and dominant in games, while McCormack faces an increasingly murky future in the lower half of the Championship, the SPL or possibly even League 1.