Fulham have agreed terms provisionally with Portuguese coach Marco Silva to replace Scott Parker in the dugout at Craven Cottage, per The Athletic.

There have been a stream of managers that have been linked with the Cottagers since it became apparent that Parker was moving on from Craven Cottage, and that was confirmed on Monday when the 40-year-old swapped London for the south coast at Bournemouth.

Steve Cooper looked to be the man being targeted at one point, and then it was claimed by talkSPORT that former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was 'in talks' with the club to take charge.

But a new twist has emerged, with The Athletic's Peter Rutzler reporting that former Everton, Hull and Watford coach Silva has agreed a deal to become the new head coach, with Duncan Castles revealing earlier that there had been extensive talks between the club and Silva.

Silva has been out of work since losing his job at Everton in 2019, and he has never managed in the Championship before despite being the manager of Hull when they were relegated to the second tier in 2017.

 

 

 

 

And he looks to be the man that the west London side will turn to to replace Parker in the dugout as the Cottagers look set to mount a promotion push next season.

The Verdict

It's a surprise that Silva hasn't been in work for over 18 months as you would have expected him to be courted by many clubs across Europe, but for whatever reason that hasn't happened.

Fulham clearly have a high standard of candidate that they're looking at with the names being banded about - Wilder had a great first Premier League season with Sheffield United but you get the feeling that it may have been just a great fit between the Blades and the boyhood fan that was Wilder.

Silva though gained admiring glances especially when he was at Watford - of course it didn't work out for him in the end at Everton but there's still a good coach in there and he will be looking to prove a point that he's good enough to mix it in the Premier League if he gets Fulham back there.