It’s no haven at Craven Cottage at present; as if the ignominy of relegation from the Premier League after a thirteen-year sojourn wasn’t bad enough, West London club Fulham have started life in the second tier of English football in disastrous fashion, earning a solitary point from six league games, which sees them propping up the Championship table.
The same recurring issues are usually identified when examining a club going through a period of crisis; more often than not, this is any combination of financial instability, a universally despised or irresponsible owner, an unpopular, inept manager or a mutinous fanbase.
Fulham, however, seems to be an exceptional case insofar as none of the above appear to be the cause of the club’s current plight. The £11 million spent on Ross McCormack over the summer suggests that the club’s coffers aren’t exactly scarce, while the man who made such lavish purchases possible, club owner Shahid Khan, has so far been exempt from major criticism from a largely benign fanbase who are as likely to spark a mass protest as a North Korean at a mass rally in Pyongyang. Manager Felix Magath, meanwhile, is hardly clueless, having achieved great success as the coach of Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg in the past.
So what exactly is the problem at Craven Cottage? After Fulham’s most recent league defeat at the hands of Reading, even Magath seemed to suggest that the cause of the problem could not be explained. If the manager cannot pinpoint the source of the hardship then things do not bode well at all for the club.
The arrival of no fewer than 14 new players during the summer transfer window may be one explanation. This, coupled with the departure of experienced, long-serving players (in Fulham’s case Brede Hangeland, Damien Duff and Steve Sidwell) can often lead to a case of too much change coming too soon in football, and such rapid upheaval can have a destabilising effect on a football club (see Tottenham Hotspur circa summer 2013 for another example). Though Fulham do still possess a squad containing a good balance between experience (Scott Parker, Fernando Amorebieta, Bryan Ruiz) and youth (George Williams, Chris David, Cauley Woodrow), time is still needed for the squad to form a cohesive unit.
The continuing interference of former owner Mohamed Al-Fayed doesn’t help matters either. His feud with Magath, which started when the German blamed Al-Fayed for the club’s relegation last season, is bound to distract the manager from doing the work for which he is paid, while the businessman has also questioned Khan’s transfer dealings. With Al-Fayed being such a key factor in the club’s rapid ascent up the football league fifteen years ago, it is only natural that he retains an interest in the club’s fortunes, though such an interest may be unwelcome in the eyes of its current owner and manager.
A number of Fulham supporters have understandably called for the sacking of Magath, though for a Championship club to dispense with the services of a three-times Bundesliga winner would be unwise. Although the miserable state of affairs currently being experienced at Fulham is hard to fathom, it may simply boil down to a case of a squad still getting used to playing together. With forty games of the season still to go, there is ample time for the troubled waters of the Thameside club to be calmed.
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