Fulham have confirmed the sacking of Slavisa Jokanovic, replacing him with former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.
Jokanovic's Fulham sit bottom of the table going into the international break, having spent around £100m in the summer following their promotion from the Championship, and have conceded more goals than any other top flight team this season.
Shahid Khan today announced that he has appointed Claudio Ranieri as Manager of Fulham Football Club, replacing Slaviša Jokanović.
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) November 14, 2018
👉 https://t.co/BUE1vNnvaO pic.twitter.com/pfxS97ONPG
In a club statement, Ranieri said: “It is an honour to accept Mr. Khan’s invitation and opportunity to lead Fulham, a fantastic club with tradition and history. The objective at Fulham should never be to merely survive in the Premier League.
"We must at all times be a difficult opponent and should expect to succeed. This Fulham squad has exceptional talent that is contrary to its position in the table. I know this team is very capable of better performances, which we will work on straight away as we prepare for Southampton at the Cottage.”
Owner Shahid Khan said: “I wasn’t anticipating having to make this announcement related to Slaviša and wish the circumstances were such that I didn’t have to, but our path this season has led me to make what I know is the correct decision, at the right time, for our players, the Club and our supporters.
Fulham admit in statement appointment that they "spoke with a number of potential candidates within the past week" before appointing Ranieri. I know people get angry about this kind of thing, behind manager's back etc, but it really is the most sensible way to go about it
— Oliver Kay (@OliverKayTimes) November 14, 2018
“Slaviša will always have my appreciation and respect for everything he did to return Fulham to top-flight football. I am hoping everyone in the Fulham Family shares my heartfelt sentiments for Slaviša and joins me in wishing him success and good fortune, wherever his next stop may be.”
He added: “Making a change without having the right answer or succession plan was not an option, so having someone of Claudio’s calibre ready to accept our challenge was comforting but, most of all, essential.
Holy s... pic.twitter.com/mSPf92Ozjy
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) November 14, 2018
"Claudio is risk-free and ready-made for the Premier League, and particularly so for what we need at this moment at Fulham. His recent body of work with Leicester City is literally legendary, and then you look at Claudio’s experience with Chelsea and big clubs throughout Europe, and it’s pretty evident we are welcoming an extraordinary football man to Fulham Football Club.”
Source : 90min