We have no fight or any togetherness in the team.. we’re not playing for ourselves or the team.. and it’s down to the players not just the manager
Wilson Brooks
SHAHID KHAN was full of optimism pre-match and declared, in his programme notes, “consider me a believer.”
That positivity would surely have been wiped away by what followed at Craven Cottage.
As owner Khan watched Fulham collapse again he was an image that spoke a thousand words. Arms folded, thoroughly unimpressed expression, slumped in his seat in the stands. That was just at 1-0.
At one point, after David Brooks made it 2-0, he couldn’t even watch. And the second from Callum Wilson (below), plus Kevin McDonald’s red card further exposed Fulham’s defensive frailties on the pitch.
The way they went down, in shambolic fashion and with a whimper, all but confirmed their issues off it too and defender Tim Ream’s claims “there’s no fight amongst the group right now.”
There were more scenes at full-time to concern Khan too.
Bournemouth were a picture of unity, all of their players and backroom staff celebrating as one with their fans.
Fractured Fulham were the opposite. Only Ream and Ryan Sessegnon stayed to acknowledge their suffering supporters. The rest had skulked off sheepishly long before.
Dejected boss Slavisa Jokanovic stood out like a sore thumb as he trudged off down the centre of the pitch, all alone thoughts for company.
How much longer he will have to turn things around was possibly on his mind.
In his message to fans Khan also gave Jokanovic a vote of confidence but the successful businessman will know the numbers don’t add up.
Fulham’s £100millionplus spend has produced just one win. They have also shipped 28 goals, equalling a Premier League record for goals conceded after 10 games and giving them the leakiest defence in Europe’s top five leagues.
Jokanovic has named different defences in each of Fulham’s 12 games and Sergio Rico is now the third keeper they have used in the Premier League. Defensively it feels like Jokanovic has tried everything, yet nothing has worked. Ream insisted the blame lies squarely with the players and: “I don’t think it has anything to do with the manager. We’re not playing for ourselves and Leicester West Ham Crystal Palace Burnley Southampton Cardiff Fulham Newcastle Huddersfield P W 10 4 10 2 10 2 10 2 10 1 10 1 10 1 10 0 10 0 D 1 2 2 2 4 2 2 3 3 L F A 5 16 16 6 9 15 6 7 13 6 10 21 5 6 14 7 9 23 7 11 28 7 6 14 7 4 21 Pts 13 8 8 8 7 5 5 3 3 for each other. There’s no togetherness, no fight amongst the group. It’s not acceptable to just cave in and roll over.
“We’re not a team, we’re a group of individuals who don’t look like they want to stay in this league.
“Until that changes and guys, myself included, step up even more, it’s going to stay this way.
“I don’t know that everyone grasps what the situation is. It’s not any one individual, it’s the group, it’s the collective.” Jokanovic will welcome all the backing but admitted: “It is natural the owner cannot be satisfied with our situation like I cannot be or my players or supporters.
“Our relationship is fantastic, but he brought me here to win games and this is my challenge and my work.”