Fulham Focus ran an online survey on the 17th & 18th December 2017 asking the question that many Fulham fans were talking about following Saturday’s loss to Sunderland, Should we part ways with the Coach? 367 fans took part and the results are below.
Q1: Would you sack Jokanovic?
Yes: 25.7%
No: 74.3%
Q2: Are you a Season Ticket Holder, Member or Neither?
Season Ticket Holder: 57.6%
Members: 20.1%
Neither: 22.2%
Q3: What is your Age?
Under 20: 14.6%
21-30 24.3%
31-40 13.2%
41-50 16.7%
51-60 20.8%
60 plus: 10.4%
Q4: How long have you supported Fulham FC?
Less than 5 years 3.1%
6-10 Years 19.1%
11-20 Years 27.8%
21-30 Years 14.9%
31+ Years 35.1%
A clear majority still want to give Jokanovic their backing with a 74.3% total for him staying. The interesting part of the survey is when you dig deeper into the age ranges of the fans and there is a clear difference of opinion between older and younger fans.
On the main Question, those who are 41 or older have an even bigger feeling he should stay on:
Yes: 14.5%
No: 85.5%
For those 40 or under the gap narrows:
Yes: 36%
No: 64%
And at 20 or under there is a clear majority who would like a change:
Yes: 66.7%
No: 33.3%
There was not much difference in results when you breakdown Season tickets, members or fans who have neither of them. One comment would be that 31% of Season ticket holders wanted a change which is slightly above the overall result.
Depending on how long you have supported Fulham didn’t give too many difference with the majority in each group wanting no change in coach.
Conclusion
The majority of fans taking part want Jokaonvic to stay in position. This question and result don’t go beyond that. It didn’t ask about transfers or how long he should get, I think it says we need to stay calm and not panic.
A year ago Birmingham were 7th in the league and sacked their manager, look where they are now after sacking two more. Of course, our Coach will have points targets and he’s almost certainly below them, but let’s look at the bigger picture and the possible reasons why and maybe give him the benefit of the doubt….for the moment.
As for the differences in results between older and younger fans, what conclusions can we take from that?
Is it the modern way of wanting everything now?
Is it lack of ambition or realism from those who have seen it all before?
Is it the FIFA/FM generation who can buy and sell and change players at a whim online who think you can do the same in the real world?
Comments welcome of course (via @Fulham_Focus) and thank you for those who took part.