It is crunch time for Marco Silva
Whatever side of the fence you are on, you can't deny that the next six games decide everything.
25 years ago today, goals from Louis Saha and Luis Boa Morte at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield secured our promotion to the Premier League for the first time.
There have been plenty of ups and downs in the quarter of a century since, with many moments we look back on and say “that was a significant moment even if we didn’t realise it at the time”. Think Swansea away under Martin Jol on the final day of the 2012/13 season.
Brentford at the weekend feels like one of those moments. I think it decides the course of next season - and potentially many after that.
It’s crunch time for Marco Silva. The back-and-forth over his future this season has certainly impacted our emotions as fans - and it is hard to argue against the fact that it has impacted us on the pitch.
To all intents and purposes, we have regressed from last season. Almost every single column in the Premier League table shows that. It will take more than our record points total of 54 to secure European football, which means we need more than 10 points from 18 to have a chance.
It’s tough, but not impossible. The problem is, we’re not showing much to convince anyone that we’re up for the challenge. We certainly didn’t against Liverpool.
I love Marco Silva. I have even dubbed him our second-greatest manager ever. But he has played this season wrong.
All this cloak-and-dagger nonsense about a potential new deal has been selfish. And, sure, that’s his prerogative; it is his career. But this is our football club, and we deserve to know if there is a plan in place to succeed next season before it actually arrives.
We know it is a good deal. If David Ornstein is to be believed (and I’d suggest he should be), Fulham have offered Silva financial terms on par with the top six. That in and of itself is a huge statement of intent. Our cards are firmly on the table. And I have heard from a good source that Marco has no desire to leave Fulham, or at least London. So, why the hold up?
Silva’s non-answers in his pre-match press conferences have long started to grate. I said this week on X that he has gone to the Tony Khan school of dealing with the press: give 200-word answers that say absolutely nothing. It is time to have a shit or get off the toilet.
From all of his waffle, one line has raised alarm bells.
“We are preparing everything for the next season. Since last year, really, from September, November, meetings, preparation. All pre-season is already prepared and everything that we can prepare. The future of the club is completely in a normal way,” he told Sky Sports.
If no deal is signed, this could be completely wasted time. I hope beyond hope that the club has a contingency plan. But there has to come a time when they decide to make this decision themselves. Marco Silva deciding he wants to leave Fulham FC on 30 June helps no one but Marco Silva.
Which leads us to Brentford. A loss in the West London derby effectively ends our hunt for Europe - and leaves Marco with no cards left to play.
So, does the balance of power then shift back to the club? Do they look at things and decide that, actually, it’s time for a change?
It feels like we have been chasing our Portuguese gaffer all season like a love-sick puppy, because we believe he can deliver us something era-defining - be that a major trophy or a return to midweek continental football.
But once the chance of any of that is gone, maybe the allure dissipates. Maybe the lights in the club turn on and this once-passionate tryst turns into regret and the urge to exit stage left?
A win on the weekend doesn’t guarantee anything, of course. But it sets us up for a scrap. it shows we’re up for the fight.
But if we lose and we continue to meander to the end of the campaign with no decisive action taken, I feel like it shows that we’re just content maintaining the status quo. And last time we did that, after that sunny final-day win in South Wales, well - we all know what followed.
25 years ago today was the most euphoric many of us have ever felt following this great football club. And we all want to feel that again. But for that to happen, we need everyone pulling in the same direction - and right now someone isn’t rowing with full gusto.
I’m not sure it’s impacted my emotions, for me what has been a worry this season has been the inconsistency from the fullbacks and centre half. As for the Liverpool game, if Fulham had been more ambitious in the first half I think they might have come away with more points
I don’t really buy the idea that Silva’s been selfish here.
He’s said consistently that he wants to stay, so it’s not like he’s angling for a move or playing games publicly. If anything, this feels more like a situation the club haven’t put to bed rather than him dragging it out for his own benefit.
And we’ve seen this pattern before - whether it’s contracts or transfers, things just seem to take ages. We’re linked with players for weeks or months and then either move too late or not at all. It doesn’t feel that different with this situation.
Take Wilson as another example. If the club really wanted to keep him, it would’ve been sorted by now. Other clubs are far more decisive - either you back the player and get the deal done early, or you make it clear you’re moving on. We seem to sit in this vague middle ground where nothing actually gets resolved.
You can already see how it plays out: it drifts, there’s no clear communication, and then he leaves for slightly more money somewhere like Leeds or Coventry, and we’re left wondering why we didn’t just act sooner.
That’s why I’m not convinced this is on Silva. It feels more like a broader issue with how the club handles decisions and negotiations than anything specific he’s doing.