MISTAKES AT THE TOP END FULHAM'S 13-YEAR LONG PREMIER LEAGUE STAY

Craven cottage was becoming a familiar name to all the English supporters after Fulham had been enjoying its journey in the top flight for 13 long years.  Football at this level does not know the easy way and just one mistake at the top level made Fulham pay the heaviest of prices. Less than 12 months after taking over, owner Shahid Khan is planning for life outside the Premier League.

The entire blame for the collapse of the cottagers this season goes to the crazy decision making at the top. This includes the selection of managers and the players bought during the transfer windows. The club’s owner, Shahid Khan, has chopped and changed managers – Felix Magath is the third of the campaign – the managers have gone through a huge number of players in a variety of formations, desperately seeking solutions. Fulham have fielded 38 players so far this term, more than any other team in a Premier League season, but have rarely found 11 to form a unit that looks complete.

Kostas Mitroglou, a club-record £12million January signing who has featured only twice since moving to Craven Cottage, was brought on in January; a desperate attempt to save their season but the writing was already on the wall.
Felix has a great CV behind him but it was a poor decision from the board to hire him in the first place. This is because Felix himself admitted he had never watched Fulham play before. This indicates that he didn’t know what he was going to be working with again, which explains all the experiments with none of them being successful.

There have been moments, especially under Magath, when it has looked as if a successful formula might be close but those moments have seldom lasted 90 minutes. The knowledge that the good times probably will not last seem to precipitate the bad times by making the players panic. The match against Hull encapsulated the pattern of the whole campaign, as they were ineffective for 45 minutes, brilliant for 25 and frazzled for the rest.

Felix Magath said he is desperate for the chance to lead his side back to the Premier League after suffering one of the worst days of his managerial career. He said "It is one of the worst days I ever had. I will speak to the owner and we can start to come back. I want that chance. You can imagine this is one of the worst days I have ever had. I was very confident that we could avoid relegation, until today. I was convinced that we would have a great chance to avoid it."

It is almost certain that Felix will be provided the chance to undo his mistakes and lead Fulham back to the Premier League. It’s time for Felix to show the world what he can with his great CV. This is the chance for the fans to get behind the club and prove their loyalty. Fulham will be trying to do what Southampton recently did after their relegation, they re-built a youthful side which developed future stars and are now a club which many look up to.