Nine new managers came in over the summer and six games have already sorted the early winners from the ones under pressure. Fulham are bottom of the Premier League, with Alvaro Arbeloa's side on 2 points from 6 matches and no wins at all. Arbeloa has also got a thin managerial CV for this level, with a year in Madrid's B team and a few months with the first team before this job.
Fulham's early alarm bell
The table is unforgiving. Fulham are 20th, they have 0 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses, and the mood around the club will not be helped by Arbeloa's own line to football365.com: "I have coached the best team in the world." That background and that quote sit awkwardly against a start this poor, and it is already hard to argue this has been anything other than a rough opening.
Marco Rose's Bournemouth are also in trouble, down in 18th with 3 points. Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest are 15th with 5 points, which is far less alarming than Fulham's start even if they are still not getting much reward for their games.
The early front-runners
Chelsea are the clearest bright spot among the summer appointments so far. Xabi Alonso has taken Chelsea to sixth with 10 points from 6 games, a start that puts them comfortably ahead of the pack at this stage. Newcastle's Matthias Jaissle have not collapsed either, sitting 11th after a steady enough opening.
That split is what stands out here. The first month and a half has not been kind to every new boss, and Fulham's return is the starkest example. Arbeloa can still talk up where he has coached before, but the only thing that really counts now is the table, and Fulham are at the wrong end of it.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
