Alvaro Arbeloa has ‘got another week’ at Fulham: ‘The dressing room isn’t happy…’
Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa has potentially only secured himself another week in the job after his team beat Hull City 1-0 at home last weekend.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who has no doubt that the Spaniard’s position remains hugely precarious.
Arbeloa’s side have won just one of their opening seven Premier League games, and remain inside the relegation zone despite their recent victory.
Wyness believes that the “dressing room” is already showing signs of turning against the 43-year-old, despite the team notching their first three points last time out.
The Cottagers haven’t been in the Championship since the 2021-22 campaign, but appear set to spend the season glancing nervously over their shoulders.
Hull, Ipswich and Coventry have all made bright starts after their promotions, while Manchester City’s expected punishment could potentially open up the relegation battle even more.
Alvaro Arbeloa has approached Fulham job incorrectly
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Arbeloa has not approached the Fulham job in the correct manner, and has already paid the price.
The Scottish businessman labelled it as a “strange appointment” in the first place, and feels that the “whole club” is currently unhappy with how things are going.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained why he still believes Arbeloa is effectively living on borrowed time in West London.
“One win may have bought him a week or two, but it's not buying him anything going forward because the dressing room isn't happy,” he said.
“The whole club's just not happy with the way he's going. He hasn't approached it the right way. A strange appointment right from the start. It’s been unlike Fulham to get that wrong.
“They're normally pretty patient with managers, but I think they can see the warning signs this season, with Ipswich, Coventry and Hull doing pretty well.
“So it's going to be a battle this year. It's going to be a fascinating move towards the end there. So I think that Fulham will make that move earlier rather than later.”
Arbeloa ‘set up to fail’ at Fulham
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown recently told Football Insider that Fulham have “bigger problems” than merely just sacking Arbeloa at the moment.
The ex-recruitment man believes that the departures of Marco Silva and Harry Wilson set the warning signs flashing at the end of last season.
Brown believes that Arbeloa has been “set up to fail” to some extent, as he does not believe that the squad is built well enough for Premier League football.
He feels that Fulham’s issues may not improve simply by changing manager, and expects it to be a long season for them, regardless of how they handle Arbeloa’s future.