Fulham boss Silva reacts to ‘brilliant’ season after securing top-10 finish on Premier League return

Marco Silva says it has been a ‘brilliant season’ for Fulham after the west Londoners finished 10th in the Premier League table.

The Cottagers missed the chance of beating their record points tally in the top flight, 53, after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on the final day of the season.

Fulham picked up 52 points this season and proved many wrong after they were one of the favourites to go down following their promotion from the Championship last season.

“It’s been brilliant,” said the 45-year-old of the campaign, with Fulham finishing nine points off the European spots.

“No doubt about it, the season has been fantastic for this football club when everyone expected us to be the first ones to go down.

“We heard a lot of things at the beginning of the season that there was no chance for Fulham and that we were the favourites to go down.

“The reality is that we did really well. We finished top half of the table, and in some months of the season, we even expected to fight for something more, but probably for the first season in the Premier League, it was too difficult.

“We have to keep taking the right steps in the right time but, of course, it is a brilliant season. And more important than the position we finished in the table, was the way we did it.

“This is much more important for me, because we kept our identity, kept our philosophy, played the same type of football. That, for me, is important to see my team play, and this is much more important than just finishing 10th or ninth or 11th. We did it in our style, in our way, and it made me proud.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD