Marco Silva’s future has been under question at Fulham, but he has reportedly been offered a new three-year deal. Are fans hopeful that he’ll stay?
It’s not been a great start to the season and things are
a bit stale but I’d say the vast majority of Fulham fans are hoping Silva will stay, and rightfully so.
He’s transformed us from the “yo-yo” title to a solid Premier League side who has flirted with European football all while on a shoestring budget. There’s a large concern if Silva goes, that the dominoes will quickly fall.
Fulham endured an incredibly quiet transfer window, making just two permanent signings. Are fans concerned that you’re standing still?
Absolutely, Fulham’s lack of transfer business isn’t an unfamiliar sight.
Kevin was our first signing that we spent money on since August 2024, we’ve signed Willian on three separate occasions in recent years, still not fully replaced Aleksandar Mitrovic and Silva is the latest in a long-line of managers to criticise the Khans for a lack of ambition.
Fulham broke their points record last season and could’ve kicked on – we seem to have regressed.
Fulham have an excellent home record, losing just one of seven matches at Craven Cottage this year. What makes you so solid at home?
We’ve notoriously always had quite a good home record in the Premier League and I think that people view Craven Cottage as a tough place to go.
Not necessarily because of any kind of atmosphere, but just the way that Fulham usually set up means teams will struggle to get the ball and get any real rhythm in a game.
On the flip side, you’ve picked up just one point on the road and do find yourselves sat nervously in 15th – are fans quite relaxed or a little concerned about any relegation troubles?
Fans are absolutely concerned about relegation troubles — the three promoted sides are actually giving it a go this season, we haven’t improved the squad anywhere near enough and have had some key players out with injury. I’m not saying we will go down, but it’s worrying times for Fulham.
Moving into the players, 18-year-old Josh King is having a real breakthrough season. What makes him so good at such a young age?
King has seemed to be the bright spark in a somewhat dim season so far. His ability to turn with the ball and glide past players is something beyond his years.
He’s been a little unlucky not to have more contributions with a wrongly disallowed goal at Chelsea, but King has all the tools to be the next thing for Fulham. I just hope we don’t put too much weight on his shoulders.
Fulham broke their transfer record to sign Brazilian winger Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk – what has he brought to the table?
It’s been a difficult start for Kevin but I think that’s to be expected.
A young Brazilian winger adjusting to the Premier League in a side that have lost five of their last six is never going to be a match made in heaven.
He’s shown glimpses of why we spent that we spent wirh dazzling feet and an ability to change a game, he just needs to adapt to the Premier League.
Aside from the above-mentioned players, who do you think will cause Sunderland problems?
Without being too pessimistic it’s quite hard to actually see where we’re going to cause problems because we aren’t causing any!
Ryan Sessegnon is probably our player of the season so far, and with Antonee Robinson still out, you’d imagine he’ll start again.
Sunderland are performing well above expectations at present – what have you made of our start to the season?
It’s been really impressive for Sunderland who were able to flip Jobe Bellingham for a good fee and use that to invest properly in the squad.
The Stadium of Light was always going to be a tough place to go and that’s certainly been the case, I’d be a bit worried about how things may unravel slightly during AFCON, but overall they’ve had a dream start and I think they’ll be more than fine.
How can we expect Marco Silva to set up tactically for the match?
One thing about Silva (to his downfall at times) is he is quite rigid when it comes to his tactics.
It’ll be a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 of sorts with a lot of impetus on our full-backs to help provide width.
Are any players missing and who will start?
Antonee Robinson has yet to kick a ball for us and we’re still not sure when he’ll be back.
The latest news is that Rodrigo Muniz will be out until 2026 and with Raul Jimenez still not fully fit, we’re left really without a first team striker. It’s not looking particularly great.
The two sides drew on our last visit to Craven Cottage back in 2022 – what is your score prediction for this time around?
While Sunderland have been great, Fulham simply have to win here or things will turn really sour really fast. I’m not sure thats going to be the case though. 2-2.
