Slavisa Jokanovic in Prime Position to Enhance Fulham’s Playing Options

Fulham’s manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, celebrates with the play-off trophy after his side saw off Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday. Photograph: Javier Garcia/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock
Fulham’s manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, celebrates with the play-off trophy after his side saw off Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday. Photograph: Javier Garcia/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock
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Slavisa Jokanovic in Prime Position to Enhance Fulham’s Playing Options

Fulham’s manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, celebrates with the play-off trophy after his side saw off Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday. Photograph: Javier Garcia/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock
Fulham’s manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, celebrates with the play-off trophy after his side saw off Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday. Photograph: Javier Garcia/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Slavisa Jokanovic opted for some sporting cross‑pollination when asked whether, after two and a half years of battles won and lost, Fulham’s promotion from the Championship felt especially sweet. “Like in tennis, we lost one match point,” he said. “But today we smashed the second match point. We are a Premier League team.”

They are, and Jokanovic could feel welcome to all the emphatic language he liked. A double-fault would have been crushing for Fulham, whose charge towards automatic promotion blew up against Birmingham on a hard, well‑grown pitch that perplexed their players and seemed to have laid bare a soft underbelly. Instead their manager can reflect on deserved victory over forces that had at one stage cast his tenure into doubt and could sense that, having so successfully got his own way once, he has enough credit built up to get it again.

“I prefer not so much to think about bad things, about problems,” Jokanovic, palpably in celebration mode as a beery, bubbly, bouncing Fulham dressing room cavorted a few meters away, said after it was suggested that victory at Wembley against Aston Villa may have brought a sense of vindication.

Relations within Fulham were strained while Jokanovic was under the leash of Craig Kline’s algorithm‑based transfer policy, a situation that ended with Kline’s departure in October. The Serb was duly allowed to sign Matt Targett and Aleksandar Mitrovic on loan during the January transfer window and it is doubtful, particularly given the latter’s 12-goal return, whether he would be disposed to quite such sanguine thinking now if those deals had not been completed.

Further internal power struggles would be a damaging distraction before a top-flight season in which, given calm waters, there is little reason to expect Fulham should struggle. Their owner, Shahid Khan, strode jauntily – it would be too easy to say “proprietorially” – out of the stadium he fancies buying but the serious business will soon start again and Jokanovic should start talks over transfer strategy from a commanding position.

“It depends what kind of ambition we are going to show, this is simple,” he said of Fulham’s prospects for 2018-19. “Next year we’re going to be in the Premier League, not competing in the Championship. We need to be brave, we need to make investment, we need to spend money to survive or to make a more important step. It’s not so complicated to understand.”

Khan will, presumably, hear that at closer quarters soon and Jokanovic’s cause may be strengthened given that his own capabilities have not gone unnoticed elsewhere. An earlier link with Chelsea may have been dismissed but the idea was not completely outrageous and it would be folly to risk things coming apart at the seams now.

“It’s probably the best football of my career,” Mitrovic said before leaving Wembley. “Of course I will be happy to stay at Fulham but we will see what happens and we will speak to my agent and other clubs.”

Jokanovic will expect to agree a permanent deal with Newcastle for his countryman for starters and will also hope Ryan Sessegnon – “I prefer to stay with him and what I know is that the kid wants to stay too,” he said – is induced to stay another year before his inevitable progression to a Champions League club.

For Villa these must seem first‑world problems now. Steve Bruce, ashen-faced afterwards and clearly ready for a break after a traumatic six months, will almost certainly have to rebuild in their third and final year of parachute payments. Jack Grealish, the best player on the pitch against Fulham despite seeing the artist‑artisan balance tilted firmly against his side, asked Villa’s press officer to shield him from the media as he walked through the mixed zone and it would be a leap of faith to predict him talking as their player again.

John Terry is out of contract and the outstanding loan goalkeeper Sam Johnstone will surely find a top‑tier club to sign him permanently from Manchester United while Alan Hutton, Mile Jedinak and James Chester are all creaking. From Championship big guns upon their relegation in 2016 they face a battle to avoid flailing among the many also-rans who have fading memories of glories past.

“You have to get together and go again next season,” their left-back Ahmed Elmohamady said. Exactly how many of them do remains to be seen; the same question may be asked of Fulham but, when his next test of wills comes around, Jokanovic should have a crashing overhead volley up his sleeve.

(The Guardian)



Marseille Coach De Zerbi Describes ‘Brawl’ Between Teammates Rabiot and Rowe

Marseille's Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi gestures during a press conference at the Robert-Louis-Dreyfus training center also known as "La Commanderie", in Marseille, southern France on August 22, 2025. (AFP)
Marseille's Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi gestures during a press conference at the Robert-Louis-Dreyfus training center also known as "La Commanderie", in Marseille, southern France on August 22, 2025. (AFP)
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Marseille Coach De Zerbi Describes ‘Brawl’ Between Teammates Rabiot and Rowe

Marseille's Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi gestures during a press conference at the Robert-Louis-Dreyfus training center also known as "La Commanderie", in Marseille, southern France on August 22, 2025. (AFP)
Marseille's Italian head coach Roberto De Zerbi gestures during a press conference at the Robert-Louis-Dreyfus training center also known as "La Commanderie", in Marseille, southern France on August 22, 2025. (AFP)

Marseille players Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe brawled as if in a pub fight, coach Roberto De Zerbi said Friday, detailing their locker room clash that sent the French club into turmoil.

France midfielder Rabiot and England Under-21 forward Rowe were put on the transfer list this week and told by the club to leave this week in the fallout of their fight after a season-opening loss at Rennes in the French league last Friday.

De Zerbi said the players had initially been temporarily removed from the squad on Monday but the situation had then degenerated.

“Not because of Marseille, but because of the entourage,” the coach said in an apparent reference to Rabiot’s mother and agent, Véronique Rabiot, who criticized senior Marseille officials.

The furor has affected Marseille's plans for the season with just 10 days left in the transfer window and one month before the 1993 European Cup winner returns to the Champions League.

De Zerbi said he was annoyed that Rabiot’s mother had forgotten how much he supported her son, including making him captain in his debut season in Marseille.

“No one can walk all over me, or the club,” said the Italian coach, adding he felt like a father to his players.

De Zerbi said he came from the streets and had seen similar fights but never such a clash in soccer as that between Rabiot and Rowe.

“It was a fight, a brawl, the likes of which I’d never seen in all the years of my career,” said the 46-year-old De Zerbi, whose playing and coaching career took him to almost 20 different clubs in Italy, England, Romania and Ukraine.

De Zerbi said Rabiot and Rowe had to be separated by team bodyguards in a chaotic scene at Rennes during which another player, 17-year-old Darryl Bakola, fell to the ground after fainting.

Rabiot was sorry for what happened, the coach said, while Rowe is reportedly in talks over a move to Italy with Bologna.

Marseille hosts newly promoted Paris FC on Saturday.


City Defender Dias Signs Contract Extension Until 2029

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - August 16, 2025 Manchester City's Ruben Dias reacts REUTERS/Chris Radburn
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - August 16, 2025 Manchester City's Ruben Dias reacts REUTERS/Chris Radburn
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City Defender Dias Signs Contract Extension Until 2029

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - August 16, 2025 Manchester City's Ruben Dias reacts REUTERS/Chris Radburn
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - August 16, 2025 Manchester City's Ruben Dias reacts REUTERS/Chris Radburn

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias has signed a contract extension that will keep him with the club until 2029, City announced on Friday.

The 28-year-old center back has lifted 10 trophies, including a historic treble in 2023, since he arrived from Benfica in 2020.

The Portugal international was named 2020/21 Premier League Player of the Season and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, and was a key part of City's historic feat of becoming the first team to win four consecutive top-flight titles in 2024.

"I'm so proud to represent this great Club. City are where I want to be – at the top of the sport, competing for trophies," said Dias, who has made 223 appearances for City. "The Club's ambition aligns perfectly with mine and as a footballer there is nothing better than that.

"My job now is to be the best I can be for the duration of this contract, so that I can play my part in helping us challenge for more silverware."

According to Reuters, City's Director of Football Hugo Viana praised Dias for his hard work and professionalism.

"He is a leader in the dressing room and on the pitch. He is one of our captains, the players listen to him and Pep and the coaching staff love working with him. He is the ultimate professional," Viana said. "Every time Ruben pulls on a City shirt, he gives his all for the badge."


Alexander Isak Won’t Play Against Liverpool but Still Has Newcastle Future, Howe Says 

05 February 2025, United Kingdom, Newcastle Upon Tyne: Newcastle United's Alexander Isak arrives ahead of the England Carabao Cup Semi-Final second leg soccer match at St. James' Park. (dpa)
05 February 2025, United Kingdom, Newcastle Upon Tyne: Newcastle United's Alexander Isak arrives ahead of the England Carabao Cup Semi-Final second leg soccer match at St. James' Park. (dpa)
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Alexander Isak Won’t Play Against Liverpool but Still Has Newcastle Future, Howe Says 

05 February 2025, United Kingdom, Newcastle Upon Tyne: Newcastle United's Alexander Isak arrives ahead of the England Carabao Cup Semi-Final second leg soccer match at St. James' Park. (dpa)
05 February 2025, United Kingdom, Newcastle Upon Tyne: Newcastle United's Alexander Isak arrives ahead of the England Carabao Cup Semi-Final second leg soccer match at St. James' Park. (dpa)

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe remains hopeful Alexander Isak can be reintegrated into the squad, despite the disgruntled striker saying his relationship with the club cannot continue in an explosive midweek post on social media.

Isak broke his silence on his discontent at Newcastle by posting a statement on Instagram, saying the club has broken promises about an agreement that would allow him to leave amid interest from Liverpool and reiterating his desire to move.

Newcastle responded to Isak's outburst by saying no club official had made a commitment to let the striker leave and that it had not received a good enough offer from another team for the Sweden international. The transfer window closes on Sept. 1.

In a twist to the saga, Liverpool is the visitor to St. James' Park on Monday and Howe said Isak would not be involved, missing a second straight game after the 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the league.

Howe still believes, however, that the club can resolve its differences with Isak.

“He is contracted to us, he is our player,” Howe said at a news conference on Friday that was dominated by questions about Isak. “My wish is that he'd be playing on Monday night with us, but he won't be and that’s regrettable at this moment.

“But 100% I want to see him back in a Newcastle shirt.”

Howe said Newcastle “justifiably” responded to Isak's social-media post in midweek even though ideally he'd want to keep such matters behind closed doors

The manager added that Isak continues to train away from the main squad and they haven't met this week.

“There’s no issues between us,” Howe said. “Of course, it's a difficult situation from both sides and it's far from ideal for both parties.”

With 23 goals, Isak was second in the Premier League scoring chart behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah last season.