Fulham manager Scott Parker: We’ve changed the perception of us

BY DANIEL MARSH

Fulham boss Scott Parker feels that his side have changed the narrative surrounding them – after they were deemed a ‘laughing stock’ earlier in the season.

The Whites have performed admirably in recent fixtures against teams at the top end of the Premier League table, including the recent 1-1 draw at Tottenham in a game which was rescheduled at short notice.

Recent displays have been a total contrast to some of those earlier in the season, which saw Fulham written off publicly by many people after a dire start to the campaign.

But Parker feels that his side have now turned a corner, and that some of those people writing them off may have been influenced by the Whites last spell in the top flight which ended in relegation.

Parker said: “We’ve done remarkably well considering where we were at the start of this season. We were probably the laughing stock because of how people were portraying us. Never was that the case in-house. Never was that the case with myself or the players. We’ve done remarkably well to be fighting and punching our way like we are. Not just fighting away through determination and grit, but we’ve a real style about us. I think it’s clear people can see a real drastic improvement in our overall game. Some of these results now, we’ve got a lot of draws on the board, can we turn them into wins? Because that’s what we’re going to need to be successful this year and stay in this division.

“There was a narrative around us at the start of the season, which was probably helped by the last time we were in this division. We lost one or two games by more than two goals and that narrative was instantly in peoples heads. Oh look, it’s the same Fulham and that’s what’s going to happen this time around. People were blurred by the last time we were here and I can understand why. It was certainly an area we need to address to give ourselves the chance of doing well.”