Fulham manager Marco Silva has welcomed the latest step towards an independent regulator in English football.
A government white paper published on Thursday morning sets out monumental upcoming changes in the administration and power structures within the game. The white paper detailed, among other things, that clubs will be banned from joining future breakaway divisions such as the infamous and so-far failed European Super League.
The white paper came as a response to the Fan-Led Review of Football Governance which detailed ten recommendations and was chaired by the former sports minister Tracey Crouch MP in 2021.
“It is always important to protect everything within the culture of football,” Silva said. “But at the same time, it’s important to have the right people taking the right decisions. People who know football taking the decisions in football. That’s important.”
Meanwhile, Fulham — who host Wolves in the Premier League on Friday night — struggled for clean sheets before the World Cup but since returning to action have been defensively astute. They haven’t conceded in any of their last three league games.
“I think it’s been one of the biggest improvements from ourselves after the World Cup break,” the manager added. “We analysed that we had to improve. We were sloppy in some moments.”
Top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic remains an injury doubt having missed the 1-0 win over Brighton last weekend due to a hamstring injury. He may feature tomorrow, but Silva admitted there is a high chance the visit of Wolves will come too early for the Serb.
“It will be difficult for him to be ready but he will have some more [training] time tomorrow,” said Silva. “He was on the pitch today. Let’s see the reaction from today. Tom Cairney is still out, as is Neeskens Kebano.”
Fulham are flying high in sixth place in the table and Silva is riding the crest of the wave.
“As you would expect the mood is really good,” he said. “We have a group of players that care and are really focused.
“I am not the guy who dreams too much,” Silva said, when asked about Fulham’s chance of finishing the season in a European place. “To be ambitious, of course I am. We are in a very good position in the table. To dream is for our fans.”
