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Football

28th Feb 2019

Revealing stat underlines Fulham’s instability in the Premier League under Shahid Khan

Marc Mayo

The likes of Rene Meulensteen and Felix Magath have held the baton since Khan’s arrival in 2013

Claudio Ranieri has been sacked by Fulham and the Italian is just the latest in a long line of coaches to be hired and fired by club owner Shahid Khan.

When caretaker boss Scott Parker takes charge against Chelsea on Sunday, he will become the sixth manager in 67 Premier League games that Khan has overseen.

That is a new manager every 11 matches for a club who finished 19th in the American’s first season at the helm, clocking up just 32 points in 2013/14, and currently occupy the same position in the table.

Martin Jol was in the hotseat when Khan bought Fulham in July 2013 and he departed after losing nine of his opening 13 league games under his new boss. Subsequently, both Rene Meulensteen and Felix Magath failed to rescue the Cottagers from the drop.

When returning via the play-offs last summer, there was hope that Slavisa Jokanovic would develop a young, attacking team and provide long-term stability, but he lasted until only November before getting the sack after a summer which saw the club destabilise a side that had taken the Championship by storm with more than 10 new signings.

The Serb’s faults were put in perspective, however, by Ranieri winning just three times in 17 attempts.

That leads to Fulham and Khan giving Parker his first role in management, charged with pushing back against a dismal run of results to close the ten-point gap between themselves and safety with ten games remaining.