Tony Khan has urged Fulham fans not to ‘believe everything you hear’ regarding names linked to the Craven Cottage managerial vacancy amid rumours surrounding Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna.
It comes amid reports from TalkSPORT that the Cottagers are keen on the Northern Irishman, who is also interested in taking over in West London. Further claims have been made that they will pay the £8m release clause in his contract, while odds have been slashed to 1/5 for the bookies’ frontrunner.
However, director of football Khan highlighted that nobody knew about Fulham’s move to appoint Marco Silva in 2021, which shows that odds lists and reports in the press can be wide of the mark when it comes to bringing in a new boss.
“In that year, he wasn’t the person that the pundits or the odds-makers, or anybody really, had on our radar, but he was the one person I was always locked in on,” he told Fulham journalist Jack Kelly.
“That probably tells you how much it devalues when they report the rumours, saying ‘this person is close to the job, this person is close to the job’.
“There was nobody linking Marco to our job, and no odds-makers putting odds on Marco. He was the one person I always locked in on.
“Now, when you see all those people connected, take a grain of salt when you see someone is ‘connected’ this way or is ‘very close’.
“We’ve been having good conversations. It’s a huge change, a massive change.
“We’ve been having these conversations and meetings now, and in the past week. I’ve seen a lot of people linked that we have talked to and some that we have, and everything in between.
“I would say don’t believe everything you hear and don’t believe everything you see in these cases. We are having the meetings and talking about the future of the club to look for a new leader.”
Silva’s exit came at a time that Fulham didn’t really expect, despite his contract coming to an end. Khan revealed that a late change of heart saw him depart, set to join Benfica to replace Real Madrid-bound Jose Mourinho.
However, it has been confirmed that talks have been going on since his exit was confirmed, although there’s no timeframe on when an appointment will be made.
“I can’t say with certainty how long it’ll take, but we are working on it and we have been every day for the past week,” Khan explained.
“I’ve had a lot of meetings internally, also talking to candidates, and we’re going to continue with this process. It is frankly a wider net than five years ago.”
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