BLUES SET T0 LOSE CAHILL
the first game of this season. Two new goalkeepers, Fabri and Sergio Rico, were brought in as part of that summer spending spree. Bettinelli was third choice.
Yet, fast-forward to Fulham’s third game of the season against Burnley and he was back in the side.
Not only that, Bettinelli was awarded a new contract after being called up for England a few weeks later – only to find himself dropped again, two days after that new deal, for the defeat to Bournemouth.
In fact, not once did Jokanovic pick the same back five in consecutive games.
So, while Khan claimed to be “amused, astonished and disappointed”, he had already been considering his options.
Tellingly, Jokanovic made it simple for the Fulham chief by stalling on talks over a new deal in the summer.
It left him with just seven months to go on his contract – and all too easy to throw overboard. TEAMS managed by Ranieri – Fulham are his 16th club, in four different countries and with two spells at Valencia, while he also briefly managed the Greece national team.
PREMIER LEAGUE matches as a manager for Ranieri in six seasons with Chelsea and Leicester, winning almost half of them (104). He has over 1,000 games as a manager across his career.
LEICESTER’S title odds in 2015-16 when Ranieri led them to glory. Fulham are currently available at the same odds with th several bookmakers to claim the crown this season.
THEIR winning margin in points as they lost only three ee games all season - home and away to runners-up Arsenal, and against Liverpool at Anfield.
RANIERI is one of only 10 managers to win the Premier League. Only Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have won the title more than once.
DAYS between Leicester winning the league and Ranieri being sacked following a terrible start to the 2016-17 season.
HIS reign with Greece lasted just four matches, before e a defeat to the Faroe Islands saw him sacked.
ALL of Jokanovic’s Premier League appearances came under Ranieri’s management at Chelsea, having been the Italian’s first signing for the club. FULHAM chief executive Alistair Mackintosh told a supporters’ meeting on Monday night Slavisa Jokanovic remained the man to lead them out of a crisis – and sacked him less than 48 hours later.
Jokanovic had also been told he had the backing of the club hierarchy, only to be given just 60 minutes’ warning before yesterday morning’s announcement that Claudio Ranieri was replacing him.
He was assured before last week’s loss at to Huddersfield they would stick with him no matter what the result. They stayed true to their word, but only for one more game.
Even an improved performance at Liverpool – albeit another defeat – was not enough to save him.
Fulham had been pushing to extend Jokanovic’s contract as a reward for guiding them into the Premier League.
However, he had almost no say on the £100million-plus of summer recruits. He wanted a ball-playing centre-half and also a holding midfielder but few of the new arrivals have worked, and Fulham have just one Premier League win this season.
Tinkering with the starting line-up showed how Jokanovic was searching for the right formula, although he stressed he had no problem with the transfer policy.
He met Fulham owner Shahid Khan last week and the relationship remains friendly. But clearly the club looked at the international break as an opportunity for change and had sounded out several candidates, among them Arsene Wenger.
But they went for Ranieri and are now looking for him to achieve another miracle. CHELSEA are ready to let Gary Cahill leave on loan in January ahead of a free transfer when his contract finally expires in June.
Boss Maurizio Sarri (above right) cannot offer the 32-year-old defender enough game time to keep him happy.
West Ham, Southampton, Watford and Aston Villa were all keen on Cahill (above left) in the summer and are expected to reignite their interest now.
Manchester United, managed by Cahill’s former Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho, are also desperate for defensive reinforcements.
Whether Chelsea would be willing to help rivals United solve a problem position in mid-season is unlikely however. LEEDS boss Marcelo Bielsa is planning a £2.5million January swoop for Swansea’s Daniel James. The exciting young winger (left) is out of contract in June, but Bielsa wants to see off Premier League interest by moving early.