Fulham has done some magnificent things in the 2000s, something owner Shahid Khan probably expected to continue when he took over in 2013.
Instead, Khan got one year of Premier League football, a season that involved three managers and a lot of tumult en route to relegation.
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Now after two seasons of failing to bounce back to the top flight, Khan is pledging to support manager into 2016-17 with the aims of returning to the Premier League.
In a message to season ticket holders on Fulham’s site, Khan said the following regarding the team under former Watford manager Slaviša Jokanović, who took over Fulham on Dec. 27:Slaviša will be given the green light to build a team capable of promotion, and that’s important, because it appears the Sky Bet Championship will be as difficult as ever.
The complete support and passion of our loyal fans will be crucial as we begin our first full season under Slaviša’s direction and take aim at promotion, and that’s why season ticket prices will not increase next season. We want and need you with us!
Fulham is in the Championship’s 21st place, nine points clear of the drop zone but 23 points off the promotion playoff pace. That’s 39 points away from the automatic promotion spots, so smart buys and plenty will be needed to improve the club for a run at the Premier League (especially with at least two sizable clubs joining the Championship next season in Aston Villa and Sunderland and/or Newcastle United).
The Cottagers, in the past sometimes described as “Fulhamerica”, have a pair of American players in Emerson Hyndman and Tim Ream, though the former is expected to move onto greener pastures in the summer. U-21 midfielder Luca de la Torre is another Yank at Craven Cottage.