Claudio Ranieri sacked at Fulham over 'strange' selection policy, says Tony Gale
Thursday 28 February 2019 17:46, UK
Claudio Ranieri’s selection policy and tactics led to him being sacked as Fulham manager, according to former Fulham defender Tony Gale.
Ranieri was dismissed on Thursday afternoon after less than four months in charge at Craven Cottage having managed just three wins in 17 matches in all competitions.
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The Italian was sacked after Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at Southampton that saw Fulham's away fans chant 'you don't know what you're doing' following his second-half substitutions and Gale believes it was such tactical decisions that cost the 67-year-old his job.
"I'm not surprised really [about his sacking]," said Gale, who played for Fulham for seven years from 1977.
"I was at Southampton on Wednesday night and we saw a crazy system that was set up that saw some of his better players played out of position.
"I've found that really strange over the past four or five weeks so I am not surprised at all.
"He wasn't playing his best players - the likes of Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney simply have to start in your team.
"They were the success of the previous season and whilst you have to be good defensively, you have to set up a pattern of play which caters for your better players in the team to create and take chances.
"But it never happened, and he seemed to be fighting his better players, and when you're doing that it's always going to end in tears because they haven't looked like being able to win games."
Scott Parker has been placed in charge as Fulham caretaker manager until the end of the season with the club second bottom of the Premier League, 10 points from safety.
