Slavisa Jokanovic told his first press conference as Fulham’s new head coach this afternoon that he ‘believes in myself, the club and the people’ and called on his players to ‘push ourselves’ forward during his time in charge.
The Serbian coach was speaking after Tuesday night’s win over Rotherham that gave Fulham a six-point cushion of safety away from the Championship drop zone and said he was delighted to be in charge at Craven Cottage.
I believe in myself. I believe in this club. I believe the people. Now we must push ourselves. I am here and ready for the challenge. need to thank the owner [Shahid Khan] and those who fought hard to bring me here.
Jokanovic, whose appointment as Kit Symons’ successor was confirmed on Sunday when he left Maccabi Tel Aviv, said he would be looking at getting loan players in during the January transfer window as Fulham are banned from making permanent signings due to breaching the Financial Fair Play regulations. The former Watford boss, who took the Hornets to the Premier League last season, resolutely refused to set targets for the remainder of the season.
The target is simple – the next game: Sheffield Wednesday. Bigger targets will become clear in the next few months. Our obligation is to improve ourselves. We’ll make steps in the transfer window. I’ve been here 20 hours. I’ll speak to people. We’re going to try and find some loan players as we can’t sign a new player.
The new head coach said he has held productive discussions already with Stuart Gray, who was in caretaker charge before his arrival, and hopes to work with the former Sheffield Wednesday manager as part of his coaching staff.
Stuart is a great man and a great manager. I need help from him and all the people around me. We’ve spoken a lot in the last day. We’re both here in the interests of Fulham. I expect we’ll cooperate better as time goes on.
