"I am not Santa Claus" says boss who won't let sentiment or price-tags sway him on Cottagers' Premier League return
Paul Brown
22:30, 10 Aug 2018
Slavisa Jokanovic is ready to annoy Fulham's £120million posse of new signings just as much as their surviving promotion winners to make sure the club stay in the Premier League.
The Cottagers came up via the play-offs to end four years in the Championship, then began a massive process of squad strengthening by adding a dozen players — five of them on deadline day alone.
They obviously can't all be in the first XI every week, and every one boss Jokanovic does select could result in a player who got Fulham up in the first place getting the hump.
But before they begin life back in the top-flight with Saturday's home London derby against Crystal Palace, he said: “I am not Santa Claus – there are no presents.
So we're all clear — this is NOT Santa Claus(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
“I do not need to make anybody happy. This is not a sentimental man. It’s about being professional. I have to make it a great competition for my players to play.
“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 afterwards if I consider this is enough I will give them a chance to compete in the Premier League. 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 and be ready for a still harder competition at the end of the week.
“It’s not a question of who is a new player. In football, memory does not exist. We must always look forward.
Jokanovic says nobody can rest on last season's success — it's now survival that matters(Image: Getty)
“After the game, people will tell us whether we played well or not against Palace. They will not be thinking about the Championship play-off final we won against Aston Villa. I am not sentimental. If I start to be sentimental we will have more space for making mistakes.”
Despite making such a big splash in the transfer market, Fulham have problems at the back for their opener with Dennis Odoi suspended and both Tim Ream and summer buy Alfie Mawson injured. New arrivals Calum Chambers and Maxime Le Marchand look set to start at centre-back in what could be a completely new-look back four.
The line-up could actually include just four of the players who started that Wembley win over Aston Villa in May. But Jokanovic, who cut a very different figure from the man who spent months complaining about the west London club’s transfer policy earlier in his career, insists he is NOT surprised by the sky high levels of spending.
Jean-Michael Seri was linked with Champions League clubs but chose promoted Fulham(Image: Getty)
He said: “For us. it’s normal. We arrived last in the Premier League. We needed to adapt the team and make investment. In the end we made a great investment.
“I expect this is going to make us more competitive. It’s not a question of whether I am surprised or not surprised. I always want more and more and more. This is my position. It’s normal.
“All coaches need players. I need more players to have more options for the club. The club identified this question and tried to adapt the team to Premier League level. I hope we are going to see the benefit of spending this amount of money.
“I am excited. I am satisfied. But our first target has to be to stay up.”
Where will Fulham finish this season?
Where will Fulham finish this season?
European places
Top half, not in Europe
Bottom half but safe
Straight back down