IT’S FUL HOUSE!
Joka to shuffle pack
FULHAM boss Slavisa Jokanovic says he doesn’t care about keeping his £120m army of new recruits happy.
The promoted Cottagers made a massive statement this summer by making 12 new signings, including five on deadline day alone.
Jokanovic will not be able to play them all every week, and for every new player he picks he risks upsetting one who helped the club win promotion last term via the play-offs.
But the Fulham boss, whose new-look side face Crystal Palace today, said: “I am not Santa Claus – there are no presents. I do not need to make anybody happy.
“This is not a sentimental man. It’s about being professional. I try to make it hard and great competition between my players. This is the most competitive league in the world. Presents don’t exist.
“They must fight on the training ground and if I consider this is enough I will give them a chance. But I will put some players on the bench.
“It will be hard for all the players to have an opportunity to be a Premier League player. I need them to compete daily. It’s not a question of who is a new player. In football, memory does not exist. We must always look forward.
“They will not be thinking about the Championship play-off final we won against Villa. I am not sentimental.
“If I start to be sentimental we have more space for mistakes.”
Despite making such a big splash in the transfer market, Fulham have problems at the back for their opener with Denis Odoi suspended and both Tim Ream and Alfie Mawson injured.
New boys Calum Chambers and Maxime Le Marchand look set to start at centre-back in what could be a completely new-look back four.
Fulham’s line-up to face Palace could include just four of the players who started their Wembley win in May.
But Jokanovic, who cut a very different figure from the man who spent months complaining about the club’s transfer policy earlier in his career, insists he is not surprised by the sky high levels of spending.
He said: “For us it’s normal. We arrived last in the Premier League. We needed to adapt the team and in the end we made a great investment.
“All coaches need players. I need more players to have more options.
“I am excited. I am satisfied. But our first target has to be to stay up.”