Former Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic has revealed that he believed he knew Scott Parker would become the manager after him.

Parker is the current boss at Craven Cottage after taking over the reins from Jokanovic on an initial caretake basis towards the back end of last season.

But Jokanovic has revealed to the Sun that he always knew Parker would be the one to replace, admitting he was the one who made the call to bring Parker in as coach initially, with the long-term view for Parker firmly in his mind.

He said: “Scott was my choice to come in as a coach. I had a conversation with him and said, ‘Come with me and you will be the manager after me".

“He is at the beginning of his coaching career but he is a very good coach and a very good lad. I believe he is following some of the work we did and I expect him to be successful".

Jokanovic led the Cottagers to promotion during the 2017/18 season, when his team saw off Aston Villa in the play-off final at Wembley to secure their place back in the Premier League.

However, following a summer of heavy spending which saw many of the squad from that promotion-winning team cast to one side, Fulham struggled to put the results together in the top-flight, ultimately, costing Jokanovic his job and the club their place in the Premier League.

The Serbian has backed Parker to get the club back up though, adding:

“He has enough quality to bring Fulham back to the Premier League. They have brought in some interesting players and they will be one of the favourites to come back up. I hope they will be successful this season and they go back to the Premier League. I wish them all the best.”

The Verdict

Nice touch from Jokanovic this and nice to see he gave Parker his backing and blessing.

Parker should go on to do well for Fulham and with the squad he has, he should be getting them at least in the top six this year.

It's a long season, however, where anything can happen.