Fulham Name Slavisa Jokanovic As New Head Coach

Fulham have confirmed that former Watford manager Slavisa Jokanovic is their new head coach just 49 days after sacking previous boss Kit Symons.

The Serbian leaves his post as boss of Maccabi Tel Aviv, who currently top the Israeli Premier League and lost all six of their Champions League Group G games this season. Jokanovic joined the Israeli champions after leading Watford to promotion from the Championship last term. He had joined the Hornets on a short-term deal and was unable to agree a longer contract in the summer.
 
Fulham chairman Shahid Khan said “I am extremely proud to announce that Slavisa will be joining as our first team head coach. We considered many quality candidates for what we considered to be one of the best positions in football, and I personally interviewed most of them. While the search was time-consuming and painstaking at times, I knew that when the process was complete that Fulham would have the best man possible for this opportunity and challenge. Slavisa's credentials and passion for the job rose to the top through every stage of this process, and we cannot wait to welcome him to Motspur Park and Craven Cottage to get things going in the right direction for the second half of the season”.
 
Fulham have indeed endured a "painstaking" search for a new head coach that has seen them fail in their efforts to hire at least four different candidates. After sacking Symons on November 8, the club said they initially hoped to have a new man in charge over subsequent international break but instead saw moves for Nigel Pearson, Steve Clarke, Paul Lambert and Gary Rowett all go wrong. Fulham's U21s boss Peter Grant took the first team for three matches before the Whites brought in former Sheffield Wednesday boss Stuart Gray into an interim role. Gray who has overseen two draws and two defeats will continue as a senior first-team coach under the new man.