Fulham's relegation offers object lesson in how not to stay in the Premier League

The Cottagers were relegated after defeat at Watford with the three goals they conceded in 12 second half minutes entirely typical of their abject season

There was nothing surprising about Fulham’s surrender on Tuesday night, even though they had their Premier League future at stake. The three goals they conceded in 12 second half minutes at Vicarage Road was in fact entirely typical of their abject season, with the team never able to do the simplest and most important job of any promoted team: to be difficult to beat.

Scott Parker knew how characteristic it all was. “In a snapshot, that sums it up,” he said, pointing to that fatal spell. “We just cannot weather a storm.”

How many times this season has that happened? Remember back to October and Fulham’s 5-1 home defeat to Arsenal, when a strong start gave way to a second half collapse. That day Slavisa Jokanovic bemoaned the fact that his team had “surrendered”, that they had “opened all the doors” for Arsenal, that they needed “more solid[ity], more spirit, more effort”. Six months on and two managers later, they are still looking.

Jokanovic was replaced by the “risk-free” Claudio Ranieri, and Ranieri by Scott Parker, but the fundamentals have remained the same: a squad that was hastily thrown together, a team that willingly opens all doors for opponents, players who look lost on the pitch and a club which has simply not known what to do with its return to Premier League football. And has wasted an opportunity it worked for years to earn.

So much of what went wrong this season can be traced back to last summer. Fulham pursued an over-ambitious transfer policy, signing £100million of talented players from all over Europe. It looked good, persuading plenty of people - including this reporter - that they had the quality for a top-half finish this season. But we know now that it was too much too soon, a sign of a club trying to run before it could walk.

Fulham were promoted last year with a youthful team, built around Tom Cairney and Ryan Sessegnon. They just needed some Premier League experience to help their youngsters adapt to the league. What they got was far too many players in too many positions, hardly any of them bringing what Fulham needed. The closest thing you can compare it to was the spree local rivals Queens Park Rangers went on in 2012 - Esteban Granero, Julio Cesar, Jose Bosingwa and the rest - which of course ended in relegation too.

It did not take long to realise Fulham had not spent their money well. Some of the players - Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Jean Michael Seri - would need most of the season to get up to speed. Some of the players - Alfie Mawson and Joe Bryan - were clearly not fancied by Jokanovic. Some of them - Maxime Le Marchand - were simply not good enough for the league. The only one who worked, Aleksandar Mitrovic, had been on loan for the second half of the previous season.

With little relevant experience on the pitch, Fulham had even less in the dug-out. Jokanovic had never managed in the Premier League before: Watford allowed him to leave after he took them up in 2014, going for Quique Sanchez Flores instead. The one man on his staff who knew the league was Stuart Gray, the former Southampton manager, who helped with defensive organisation last season. Eyebrows were raised when Jokanovic allowed Gray to leave last summer, depriving the club of the expertise they needed. And it was little surprise that, when Parker took over from Ranieri, Gray came back on board. But by that point the damage was done.

Jokanovic’s football is always risky but this season in the Premier League it was a risk too far. With so many new players coming in, he could not settle on a team, especially not a defence. Defeats led to changes which led to more defeats. All the while confidence drained out of the players. Most worrying at all was the fact that Fulham were consistently out-run and out-fought by their opponents, pointing to the lack of preparation throughout the club for the physical demands of the top flight. As if no-one had realised that the one thing promoted teams have to start with is hunger, energy and a refusal to lose. But Fulham thought that they could skip the basics.

Fulham have dropped out of the Premier League after just one season back (Getty Images) (Getty)

Results were so bad that Jokanovic had to go and he was replaced by Ranieri, tasked with organising the defence in time to save their season. But he could not do it, and instantly made himself unpopular as he replaced Jokanovic’s style with his own. The sidelining of Cairney and Sessegnon frayed relations between the club and the fans, which were already deteriorating because of the club’s ticket policy. During Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City there was a protest against the sky-rocketing matchday ticket prices, demanding that the club ‘Stop the Greed’. In less that one year, so much of the goodwill earned by the promotion season has gone.

Shahid Khan has now apologised to Fulham fans. “I am sorry that we let you down,” he wrote. “We hold ourselves accountable. We will reflect, plan thoroughly, and respond accordingly.”

So what lessons does this season provide to the next team who comes up and decides that they do not just want to finish 17th? You might argue that this proves the case of a Tony Pulis or Sam Allardyce style approach, that clean sheets and set pieces are the only way to stay up. But this way can be done: look at Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea City, or Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth or Nuno’s Wolves.

What you need as a promoted side who plays football is total unity of vision throughout the club, a clear idea of how to play, signings that fit perfectly with that, the meticulousness to get every detail right, and some luck too. Fulham in the end did not have any of that. They will need more if they get back here again.