McKenna hasn't proven to me he's not Scott Parker - a good second tier manager but nothing more. Ipswich won just 4 games in the Premier League two seasons ago. I can't say I have a better suggestion, I just know that one makes me nervous.
Fulham should have been well prepared for this given Silva's lack of commitment the last few months. If a decision drags on it will look pretty bad on the ownership.
Knutsen could be interesting. Has achieved miracles with Bodo/Glimt. But of course hasn’t played 30+ matches at Prem level.
No Slot! No Bordales! Hopefully that’s just online betting fodder.
While eating dinner tonight Marco Silva popped up on the restaurant's TV screen so I grabbed the attached picture. Clearly this is not US news coverage! I think the headline says "Manager to be introduced [for Benfica] next week"
Harry Wilson has been offered a new contract, but Raul Jimenez has not. This means it is likely Raul will not return to Craven Cottage. It is also unlikely Wilson will accept the new offer, so Fulham is probably not going to have any of the first team players with expiring contracts back after the World Cup.
https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2026/june/08/player-contract-updates/
Rumors abound of Marco inviting others to join his Lisbon renaissance...Cuenca and Wilson to begin.
Jack Kelly did a hour long interview with Tony Khan. Take a watch if you can. I'll comment on it below because I'd rather you develop your own opinion before hearing mine.
Okay, that was a lot. Here are my main takeaways...
I don't think I believed most of what Tony said. I wish I didn't feel that way, and I have to note that I have no actual knowledge of what business happens at Fulham. I'm just a guy with an opinion and nothing more, and there are plenty of people like me staying stupid uniformed things about Fulham. I'm not even upset with Silva leaving, but a lot of this didn't pass the smell test for me...
- I don't buy that Silva was about to renew for Fulham. I mean, I guess he has a track record from previous clubs of changing his mind, but for me this didn't seem a likely story. It felt like Silva had one foot out the door for a while.
- I also don't buy that Fulham's transfer policies had nothing to do with Silva's decision. He's doing it to spend more time with his family?! How much time does a top-tier professional coach have to spend with his family during the season, especially when Benfica will be playing in the Europa league?! If anything, more weeks with multiple matches and trips around the content means he'll have less time with his family at Benfica. It seems more likely Silva felt like his career has plateaued at Fulham, which is probably true, and Benfica was his best available option after other Premier League spots became unavailable.
- Silva agreed with every transfer made in the 5 years he was at Fulham? How do we explain Kusi-Asare getting almost zero playing time despite an injury crisis at the striker position? Silva never showed an interest in playing him.
- He wouldn't sign Ricardo Pepi even now? The guy scored 6 goals in the 11 games before his injury, then returned and scored 8 goals in the 11 games after. His form got even better than when Fulham nearly had an agreement! He was the Eredivisie's #3 scorer with 16 goals despite playing fewer games than anyone scoring more than 10! The only thing that I can imagine is that in the medical they found out he was on performance enhancing drugs - not out of the question I suppose, but far less likely than Fulham blew it after not understanding what they had agreed to in case of injury.
- Not sure why Raul's message wasn't posted? Here's what it seems like to me, Raul decided he was done with Fulham and would rather play with Wolverhampton after Silva left. This caught Fulham off-guard. That would explain why a glowing preview of Mexico's world cup prospects appeared just days before he left the squad and why a "Thank you" video popped up on YouTube just a few hours ago, well after the news had broken.
Tony did this interview to try and speak to the fan base and make us confident in their ability to lead the club. If anything, I feel less confident now. Which is sad because I don't think ownership's decisions have been all bad! Getting Silva was a major coup for Fulham. They have landed some great players in recent years. Yes, there have been misses and their timing on deal making needs some improvement, but there have been more successes than failures. Unfortunately this interview only left me with a sense of dread. What we really need at this point more than anything is the announcement of a new manager.
Tony Khan comes across as someone I would go out of my way to avoid hanging out with. Not that that's an option.
Just hoping we avoid getting someone Magathy as the next manager. I also hope the next manager negotiates retaining control of personnel moves. One person who will not be the next Fulham boss is McKenna--he just quit Ipswich to take a break from football.
One person who will not be the next Fulham boss is McKenna--he just quit Ipswich to take a break from football.
Don't you see?!?! This is Tony playing 3D chess! How do you get around Ipswich's £8 million released clause?? Have him "retire" first! Then he comes out of retirement claiming that after a month with his family he realized there could be such a thing as too much family time. Fulham get their man and get more monies to throw at a striker! Tony Khan - real man of genius. You heard it here first!
Apparently Alvaro Arbeloa is rumored to complete the three-way manager rotation between Real Madrid, Benfica and Fulham. This could be exciting. Or it could be more fuel for why Arbeloa only lasted half a season in Madrid.
While I’m barely keeping one eye on Fulham during the World Cup, I really hope their brass is working hard and come to a decision soon. The manager has to come before any players.