Claudio Ranieri has expressed his pleasure after Fulham registered a much-needed win against Southampton during his first match in charge of the club. The Italian tactician was appointed as the new Cottagers boss during the international break after his predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic had gone six league matches without picking up a single point.
Speaking after the 3-2 triumph over Southampton, Ranieri said: “I am very pleased. First match and first victory. It is a little step but an important step for everybody. It was important we made a good solution and good mistakes. We had to work hard. It could have been more for us or for them. When we went down I said I wanted to see how we created and that was very good. Amazing. It is OK. This is the spirit that I like.”
Claudio Ranieri has expressed his pleasure after Fulham registered a much-needed win against Southampton during his first match in charge of the club. The Italian tactician was appointed as the new Cottagers boss during the international break after his predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic had gone six league matches without picking up a single point.
Speaking after the 3-2 triumph over Southampton, Ranieri said: “I am very pleased. First match and first victory. It is a little step but an important step for everybody. It was important we made a good solution and good mistakes. We had to work hard. It could have been more for us or for them. When we went down I said I wanted to see how we created and that was very good. Amazing. It is OK. This is the spirit that I like.”
Stuart Armstrong put the pressure on Fulham early on by grabbing the opening goal but the Cottagers came back with Aleksandar Mitrovic and Andre Schurrle finding the scoresheet. In the second period, Armstrong once more levelled the scores at 2-2 but Mitrovic came with the match-winning strike after the hour mark to ensure the hosts came up with the maximum points.
“With the result, Fulham have jumped just one position into the 19th spot but they could be leapfrogged by Huddersfield Town“, should they register a point during their visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ranieri is understood to have already received the backing to improve the defence “during the winter period“ and reports indicate that Dedryck Boyata could emerge as the prime target.
The Belgium international was denied a move to Craven Cottage from Celtic last summer but the London outfit are expected to make a fresh approach at the turn of the year where the defender would only have six months remaining on his Hoops contract.
