Earlyface

Fulham have sacked manager Martin Jol with
Rene Meulensteen assuming responsibility for
the first team with immediate effect.
The Dutchman has been under increasing
pressure following the Cottagers' miserable
start to the season and Saturday's 3-0 defeat
at West Ham proved to be the final straw for
chairman Shahid Khan.
"Today I spoke with Martin to thank him for
his efforts on behalf of Fulham Football Club
over the past three seasons and, in particular,
since my becoming chairman earlier this
year," Khan said in a statement on the club's
official website.
"Martin was very gracious and I appreciate
his understanding of the situation. There is
no question Martin is an excellent football
man and he has my utmost respect for the
commitment he made to our club.
"However, our poor form and results this
season are undeniable, and Fulham
supporters deserve better. With more than
half the season still ahead, an immediate
change was necessary."
Former Spurs boss Jol, 57, took charge at
Craven Cottage in June 2011 but Fulham have
managed to win only three of their 13
Premier League games this season and the
loss at West Ham was their sixth successive
defeat in all competitions.
"It was a privilege to manage Fulham, one of
the great clubs in the Premier League or
anywhere in the world," Jol said.
"I am disappointed in this season but know
there are better days ahead for Fulham and
its supporters. I will always treasure my
experience here and want to thank Mr Khan
and everyone at Fulham for the opportunity."
Dutchman Meulensteen, 49, was appointed as
Fulham's head coach on November 13 after
working at Manchester United alongside Sir
Alex Ferguson between 2007 and last
summer.
"Rene Meulensteen was brought to Fulham to
assist Martin and today was offered the
challenge and opportunity to step in for
Martin," Khan said.
"I thank Rene for accepting and now we
move forward. I have great confidence in
Rene and high expectations for our squad to
respond."
Meulensteen, who takes over a team 18th in
the Premier League ahead of Wednesday's
home game against Tottenham, said: "I
appreciate the faith Mr. Khan has put in me
and will do my very best to honour his trust.
"We aim to get Fulham back on track, starting
Wednesday night."
Meulensteen is adamant that he did not
expect this chain of events.
"I totally disagree with that because it has
been a quite long process of me bringing
myself into Fulham and I spoke numerous
times with people at Fulham," Meulensteen
told Sky Sports News.
"I have known Martin for many, many years
and my departure from Manchester United
took some time but eventually I felt it was the
right thing to do to come to Fulham and to
help Martin at Fulham Football Club.
"It was definitely not something that I was
anticipating. We wanted to turn this corner
together.
Meulensteen, who has already spoken to Jol
following his departure, is to hold talks with
Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh on
Sunday evening and he believes he can turn
around the struggling Premier League club's
fortunes.
He said: "We know what position we are in.
It's a position that Fulham don't want to be
in, the staff don't want to be in and the
players don't want to be in.
"But this is where we are at and if I am given
a responsibility of making sure that I carry
out the manager's job for the foreseeable
future then we have to do our utmost to get
Fulham back up the table.
"The most important thing is that we close
our ranks, we know where we are in the
league and it is not the place Fulham wants to
be.
"It's a massive challenge but at the end of the
day when you are faced with a challenge like
this it comes down to making sure that you
get the basic things right."