“WHAT the f***ing hell was that”.
Three games in and a large section of Fulham fans have turned on Alvareo Arbeloa.
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That was the chant at full-time from the Hammersmith End after a 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace, the third Premier League defeat in a row.
Only Coventry are also yet to win a game, and with Liverpool away and Manchester United at home before the extended international break, it won’t be a shock if Fulham are on zero points until the middle of October when they play again.
Perhaps more worryingly for Fulham, there are rumblings that the players are turning on Arbeloa too.
Club record-signing Kevin, an unused substitute at the weekend, tweeted a cryptic image on Instagram of “no hear, no speak, no see”.
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WHEL I NEVER
Premier League icon sacked after just FIVE league games in dismal reign
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Emile Smith-Rowe and Alex Iwobi have removed all photos of themselves related to Fulham from their Instagram.
Kenny Tete, currently being overlooked at right-back with Timothy Castagne preferred, is alleged to have replied to a fan who asked what was going on after Saturday’s match: “Talk to the f***ing manager”.
So are Fulham in meltdown? And how have things turned so toxic so quick?
Fears for the Cottagers started the moment Marco Silva surprised the owners by deciding to walk away to become Benfica manager.
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Silva represented stability, experience and was much loved by Fulham fans – a hard act to follow.
So the appointment of Arbeloa, 43, who’s only managerial experience was a mediocre caretaker spell at Real Madrid, always felt like a risk.
The sense of gambling by the River Thames only increased as experienced players Raul Jimenez, Harry Wilson (both out of contract), Issa Diop and Sasa Lukic departed the club – taking their combined 658 Premier League games experience with them.
In their place came Gonzalo Garcia, Shea Charles, David Affenbruger, Cesar Palacios, Jonah Kusi-Asare, Manuel Angel and Hugo Larsson – players with a combined total of EIGHT Prem games under their belts before the season started and an average age of 21 years and 10 months.
Worryingly, the lack of experience has shown. Fulham have looked defensively naive, shipping a goal inside 35 seconds in their opening game to Chelsea and being carved open by Crystal Palace’s LEFT-BACKS on Saturday.
Fulham’s transfer dealings and start to the season have only intensified the fears of fans that Arbeloa is inexperienced and doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Despite a sense of doom at the Cottage, there are positives to take from the start of the season.
Fulham have lost all of their games by one goal. They could have quite easily won or drawn all of them with some better finishing and less stupidity at the back. That they are in games rather than getting hammered is a much better place from where to begin turning things around.
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Gonzalo, a striker who made 30 appearances for Real Madrid last term, has at times looked a steal at £34m. His goal against AFC Wimbledon in the League Cup a thing of beauty.
Academy product Josh King looks to have gone up a level, with two goals already this season and a clear standout in the team. His call-up to the England squad before the World Cup, to help the team prepare for the tournament, looks to have given him an extra shot of confidence.
The club brought in three players on deadline day, among them centre-back Affenbruger who Fulham fans will hope offers more pace than the slow and increasingly ponderous Joachim Anderson.
We are just three games into the season, a new manager with a ton of new players can be excused for needing a little time to get his ideas and plan into gear. But many fans seem in no mood to allow that.
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Saturday 12 September
Liverpool
15:00
EPL
Fulham
Tuesday 15 September
West Ham
19:45
LEC
Fulham
Sunday 20 September
Fulham
16:30
EPL
Man Utd
Saturday 10 October
Ipswich
15:00
EPL
Fulham
Saturday 5 September
Fulham
2 – 3
EPL
Palace
Sunday 30 August
Sunderland
1 – 0
EPL
Fulham
Thursday 27 August
Fulham
3 – 0
LEC
Wimbledon
Monday 24 August
Fulham
2 – 3
EPL
Chelsea
English Premier League
Pld
Pts
GD
W
D
L
Form
13
3
3
-4
1
0
2
14
3
3
-4
1
0
2
15
3
2
-1
0
2
1
16
3
2
-1
0
2
1
17
3
1
-5
0
1
2
18
3
1
-5
0
1
2
19
3
0
-3
0
0
3
20
3
0
-5
0
0
3
What matters to Arbeloa is whether the owners do.
It was American billionaire Shahid Khan who ultimately made the decision to appoint the ex-Liverpool player, with input from his wrestling-loving son Tony, who is Fulham’s Director of Football Operations. Surely they won’t want to admit they got it wrong so quickly.
But on the flip-side they’ve invested millions in the club, most notably upgrading the Riverside Stand into the most plush hospitality experience in the country. They will be only too aware that flogging a £900 ticket to a Championship match vs Lincoln will be a tough sell, however good the Michelin star food is.
There is only so much patience they can afford to show and why Arbeloa has seen his odds of being the next Prem manager to be given the boot cut from 3/1 to 9/4.
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Fulham always looked in for a tough start to the season, playing three of the “big six” and going away to Sunderland among their first five games. That was the why the defeat to Palace cut deep for Fulham fans – it looked the one clearly “winnable” game.
It looks more likely the run of games after the international break will decide whether Arbeloa has a future at Fulham or not. The Cottagers play Ipswich, Hull and Coventry. Fail to take the majority of points from the three promoted teams, and Fulham fans will be looking back at Arbeloa’s reign, justifiably asking, “what the f***ing hell was that.”