Complete and utter shock as Claudio Ranieri replaces Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham
by Jack Kitson / 14 November 2018, 10:01TweetIt’s taken a while, 12 games and three months to be precise, but the first Premier League sacking of the season has finally taken place.
The identity of the maiden 2018/19 top-flight victim is perhaps not a surprise, Fulham’s Slavisa Jokanovic, however the manner in which the Serb was swiftly sacked-then-instantly-replaced by Claudio Ranieri came as a huge shock on Wednesday morning.
Jokanovic, who led Fulham to promotion last season, won only one of his opening 12 games as a Premier League manager, losing his final seven games in all competitions, with the Cottagers rock-bottom of the table.
His successor Ranieri returns to English soil for the first time since leaving Leicester, with whom he famously propelled to the 2015/16 title, at odds of 5,000/1, before losing his job in February of the following season.
The Italian, who managed Nantes last season, has signed a “multi-year” contract and undoubtedly has his work cut out to avoid the possibility of becoming the first Premier League title-winning manager to be relegated from the division - Manuel Pellegrini could also experience the same fate with West Ham.
Anyway, as you’d expect the football world has reacted in shock to the news, here are some of the best tweets.
- Jokanovic was Ranieri's first signing at Chelsea in 2000, incidentally [@Zonal_Marking]
- Ranieri's first away trip as Fulham boss will be to Stamford Bridge…[@liam_twomey]
- I reckon Slavisa Jokanovic only found out he was sacked when he came in and saw a smiling Claudio Ranieri sitting at his desk. [@paddypower]
- In utter shock that Ranieri has been sacked!!! [@CattInMyPants]
- Odd thing re Ranieri is that, despite perhaps the greatest managerial feat in the modern era at #LCFC, his record over past decade and more is not great when you look at the clubs he's managed. Should improve Fulham, but maybe not quite the "risk-free" appointment Khan suggests [@OliverKayTimes]
- Fulham have top-half talent but badly lack tactical cohesion. Ranieri should give them that. A better choice than the standard panic appointments #ffc [@liam_twomey]
And we can’t forget this classic from Tim Sherwood…
Tim Sherwood is a football genius, pass it on.
— The Sack Race (@thesackrace) November 14, 2018
(???? @btsportfootball) pic.twitter.com/jBJ4JHI2At
