Neil Warnock was furious. Not only had he seen Gary Madine and Junior Hoilett miss injury time penalties that could have rescued his side from defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday, but he also deemed Nuno Santo’s celebrations to be disrespectful and needlessly provocative. The Portuguese manager’s apologies fell on deaf ears.
There was a certain irony in Warnock’s complaints about a fellow manager’s lack of class, but worse than the failure to close the gap on Wolves, who now look certain to claim the Championship title, was that the result opened the door to Fulham. After a poor start, they have been relentless in recent weeks and now believe they can pip Cardiff City to second.
It took Fulham five attempts to register their first win of the season, and even then they were slow to get going. After 17 games they had just 20 points and were stuck in the bottom half of the table. Then something clicked. A helter-skelter 5-4 win over Sheffield United seemed to spark them off and they haven't looked back since.
Fulham have lost just twice in their last 24 league games and are unbeaten in 19, taking a remarkable 49 points from a possible 57. While others have flagged and faded, Slavisa Jokanovic's side are hitting their stride at just the right time. They are unquestionably the Championship's most exciting team, aided by a couple of clever additions in the January transfer window.
Matt Targett has freed the explosive wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon to play further up the pitch while Aleksandr Mitrovic has brought some focus and intensity to their attack, scoring nine goals in 12 appearances. At Newcastle United it was often felt that the spiky Serbian was capable of more than he showed. He’s now proving it, and was deservedly named Championship Player of the Month for March.
Momentum is a powerful force in football. Elusive and hard to explain, it can make a group of once fragile players begin to feel unbeatable. Fulham are on the sort of run where anything seems possible. They are a vibrant attacking threat with goals throughout the team and a clear target in their sights. With one point from their last two games, perhaps Cardiff are starting to feel the pressure.
Warnock has done well to drag them this far. Second from bottom when he took over last season, he’s turned them into promotion contenders with minimal investment and an old-fashioned emphasis on team building that has made them more than the sum of their parts. The finishing line looms on the horizon and Cardiff have a game in hand on their rivals.
Tonight they face a tough test at Villa Park, while Fulham will fancy their chances at home to Reading. Two points is the gap between them and Cardiff as it stands. If results go their way, Slavisa Jokanovic’s side could be occupying an automatic promotion spot for the first time all season once the final whistle blows at Craven Cottage.
Nobody saw this turnaround coming, and particular credit must go to Tom Cairney, the club’s captain and influential midfielder. It’s no surprise that their mid-season revival coincided with his return from injury, bringing more poise and purpose to their play. Ongoing rumours of a move to West Ham United don’t seem to have been any distraction and Cairney is shortlisted for the division’s Player of the Year award alongside his teammate Sessegnon and Wolves’ Ruben Neves.
There will undoubtedly be more twists and turns to come in a notoriously unpredictable division but Fulham are looking in the best shape they have since relegation from the Premier League four years ago. Having experienced the pain of play-off semi-final defeat last year, they’re hopeful of making their return to the top flight as runners-up on current form.
