Claudio Ranieri has officially returned to the Premier League after replacing the sacked Slaviša Jokanović as manager of Fulham as announce in a club statement earlier today.
⚫️⚪️#WelcomeClaudio pic.twitter.com/k7lpw8N5EG
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) November 14, 2018
Ranieri famously lead Leciester City to the Premier League title against all odds in 2016 before being sacked a year later and will now have a big task ahead as he takes over a struggling Fulham who find themselves bottom of the table with just five points from 12 games.
Speaking at the announcement, Ranieri had the following to say:
““It is an honour to accept Mr. Khan’s invitation and opportunity to lead Fulham, a fantastic club with tradition and history,” Ranieri said. “The objective at Fulham should never be to merely survive in the Premier League. We must at all times be a difficult opponent and should expect to succeed. This Fulham squad has exceptional talent that is contrary to its position in the table. I know this team is very capable of better performances, which we will work on straight away as we prepare for Southampton at the Cottage.”
Shahid Khan, Chairman of Fulham Football Club, welcomed the former League champion and expressed his excitement about the appointment despite the difficulty of the situation:
“Making a change without having the right answer or succession plan was not an option, so having someone of Claudio’s calibre ready to accept our challenge was comforting but, most of all, essential,” Khan said. “Claudio is risk-free and ready-made for the Premier League, and particularly so for what we need at this moment at Fulham. His recent body of work with Leicester City is literally legendary, and then you look at Claudio’s experience with Chelsea and big clubs throughout Europe, and it’s pretty evident we are welcoming an extraordinary football man to Fulham Football Club.”
Ranier’s first match in charge will be at home against Southampton after the international break on 24 November which gives the Italian just 10 days to get his team in order.
Despite a number of summer acquisitions, Fulham have only managed to score 11 goals while they have conceded a whopping 31. It is a big task for the former Leicester manager who has managed a total of 17 clubs before Fulham, but he will be very keen to get going and try and get Fulham’s season back on track as quickly as possible.
