How much time will Scott Parker be given?

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Shahid Khan may well be feeling a sense of deja vu after watching Fulham’s opening two games of the Premier League season. The Cottagers have fallen to back-to-back defeats and conceded seven goals in 180 minutes. Worryingly, one of those defeats was against Leeds United, who Fulham may consider one of their direct rivals in the bid to stay up this season. 

There were some definite positives against Leeds but this does feel all too familiar once more.

As mentioned, Khan may well be having flashbacks to how Fulham started their 2018/2019 season in the Premier League given that they lost both of their opening games as well. Back then, it was against Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur. On that occasion, Slavisa Jokanovic’s side only conceded five goals, two less than this current Fulham team have. 

Still, the Serb would only make it to November before getting sacked, having seen the Cottagers drop to the bottom of the table after a run of nine games where his team went without a win. That may give you an indication of how patient the Fulham owner is when it comes to Scott Parker, who it must be said, is tasked with probably the hardest job in the league; keeping the Craven Cottage side up.

Craven Cottage Tipped to be Championship Ground Again
 

Indeed, most punters have Fulham as the favourite to go down, and given that football is one of the best sports to bet according to LegalBetting.com, the value in the outright relegation odds are so high, many have already actually bet on the southwest London side to drop down to the Championship, despite only a couple of games having been played.
 

That may seem a bit hasty as there are still leaves on the trees with the football season only just beginning to creep into the autumn. You can never make too many sweeping predictions when the season is closer to the summer than winter, but that doesn’t mean that Scott Parker is necessarily the man to keep them up.

The Cottagers’ survival will depend on how quickly they can shore up their defence but, given that Parker prefers a free-flowing brand of football that is heavily based on ball retention, it’s hard to see how other teams won’t keep steamrolling Fulham. It seems only a matter of time before the Fulham owner and board come to the conclusion that they may have to change tack tactically in order to preserve their Premier League status.

An Admirable Approach but Pragmatism is Needed


That’s obviously not to suggest that Parker’s football philosophy isn’t in any way admirable. On the contrary, it very much is. He wants the game played, if you will, in the ‘right way’ but that does invite all sorts of problems when you have a defence with very obvious limitations. Indeed, trying to go toe-to-toe with the Premier League’s finest will see any new boys from the Championship cut in half and soundly beaten, as has been the case so far this season.
 

The time may have come for the Cottagers to get eleven men behind the ball in order to begin to scrape together the 40 points required for survival. Now, Scott Parker is never going to adopt that type of game plan, which is why a change in management may be the best way to stay up.
 

At this moment in time, it’s an unenviable position for Fulham fans as they face an unwanted dilemma. Does the club keep faith with an attractive brand of football that sees them lose nearly every week or do they shut up shop and roll their sleeves up by doing it the hard and, ultimately, ugly way? 
 

There is a decision for Fulham owner Shahid Khan to make but you wouldn’t bet against the likes of Sam Allardyce or Alan Pardew being on the other end of the phone before the season’s out. Of course, being linked with the men who are famed for carrying out salvage jobs is never going to get the blood pumping but needs must, and Fulham is a club in need of points.