Marco Silva to Chelsea: it couldn't happen... could it?

As reports claim Silva's on the Blue poo's shortlist, George ponders where he'd rank on the list of Fulham's biggest traitors.

Credit: IMAGO/Sportimage

After Chelsea sacked Liam Rosenior after just 106 days in charge, the BlueCo group are once again on the look out for a new manager.

Our former right-back has barely had time to pen his “five things tanking at Chelsea taught me about business” LinkedIn post this week, before a grim report in The Standard asserted that Marco Silva is in Chelsea’s three-man shortlist for the vacant role.

Alongside our long-serving boss on the list are homesick Spaniard Andoni Iraola, and Xabi Alonso - whose treatment by many of Real’s “Galacticos” mirrored the levels of disdain held by Chelsea’s players towards their “supply teacher”.

As the skeletons from the Abramovic era continue to tumble out of Stamford Bridge’s many closets, you’d wonder why any manager would want to sip from that particular novichok-laden chalice.

My instant reaction upon heading the links were “surely not”. After so many years and so much achieved, surely our manager has enough affection for the club not to stab us in the back like that? Plus, Marco himself recently snapped at a reporter who mentioned Chelsea’s shortlist during a press conference. But then it got me thinking… could it actually happen? The answer is yes, sadly. To quote the great Mick McCarthy… “It can.” Here’s why.

Make no mistake: if Marco defected it would be the biggest heel turn since Anakin Skywalker slaughtered those Younglings in the Jedi Council’s chambers. However, the sad possibility of it happening is very real. The bookies have him as third favourite for the Chelsea job, but Iraola looks destined for a return to Spain, and after his ill-fated spell at Real Madrid, Alonso will need to do some serious “aura farming” if his ego is to return to the size Chelsea require of their managers.

As we approach summer with Marco’s contract still unsigned, the man whom we owe so much could start to look increasingly like a man checking the structural integrity of the bridge he’s about to burn.

To those saying “Marco wouldn’t do that to us,” I remind you of the infamous Watford-to-Everton saga, when Everton were accused of tapping up Silva while he was flying high with Watford. Despite initially staying with the Hornets, Silva’s head had been turned and he continued to coquettishly peer over his shoulder at Farhad Moshiri for the remainder of his tenure, while their league form bombed.

While Watford and Everton aren’t direct rivals, and Silva is currently a free agent, what this incident proves is his willingness to jump ship once a bigger club starts fluttering their eyelashes. Marco has always believed he is a Champions League-quality manager, and I don’t disagree, but repeated “will he, won’t he” contract sagas has left the fanbase feeling he potentially sees Fulham Football Club as a stepping stone. Throw into the mix the geographical convenience of the move and all of a sudden I’m actually starting to get a little bit worried.

We’ve had our fair share of traitors over the years, but these rumours got me thinking: where would Marco rank in our all-time list of club Judases if he were to defect? Let’s have a look at the contenders…

Chris Martin

A gentle one to kick things off. I know this one is a bit of a stretch, seeing as technically he wasn’t even our player, but in 2017, while on loan from Derby, Martin decided he simply didn’t want to play for Fulham anymore because he wanted to go back to his parent club - like a homesick primary school kid on their first residential trip. Amazingly, he’s still only the second most annoying person with that name.

Leslie Mark Hughes

In 2011, Hughes resigned as Fulham manager after one season, infamously citing Fulham’s lack of ambition. He reportedly thought the Aston Villa job was his for the taking, before moving to our local rivals QPR in January 2012. This is my personal favourite. Who can forget beating Hughes’ QPR at Loftus Road on that crisp, sunny day, as the Fulham faithful belted out “fuck your ambition, we’re better than you!”. Pavel Pogrebnyak wrote himself into Fulham folklore that day, replacing our former striker Bobby Zamora, who himself defected for the Hoops that January. As for Leslie, he’s currently managing famously ambitious National League club Carlisle United. Expect great things from that man, one to watch for sure…

Bobby Zamora

Bit of a weird one, this… A stalwart of Roy Hodgson’s side whose goals helped write the greatest chapter of our club’s history. But the elephant in the room was that he never actually liked playing for us. Who can forget how he used to bizarrely call-out a section of the Hammersmith End every time he scored - allegedly because he heard them giving him abuse once - and therefore seemed to angrily celebrate each goal for the club during that season: “There you go, just scored the winner. Now shove it up your arse!”. He of course followed Lesie to QPR, which is why he’s on this list.

Clint Dempsey

It breaks my heart to include Deuce, as he probably remains to this day my favourite ever Fulham player despite this unfortunate saga. We loved him. He was our American hero. Then, in 2012, he decided he was too big for FFC and reportedly refused to play in order to force a move to Liverpool, before signing for Tottenham in a panic on deadline day. He eventually came back on loan and we’ve mostly forgiven him (because he’s Clint Dempsey), but that summer felt like a messy breakup where your girlfriend leaves you for a model, gets rejected, then ends up with your cousin.

Aleksandar Mitrović

This one still stings. After cementing club legend status, we had ordered the block of marble his statue was due to be carved from. However, we were smacked in the face with reality after our talisman reportedly declared he would “never play for Fulham again” to force a move to Al-Hilal (of all the clubs) in 2023. We got the money, but we lost our king. A bleak reminder that as Fulham fans, we can never have nice things.

Tosin Adarabioyo

Like Marco, Tosin spent months nodding along to contract talks, only to walk out the door for nothing, joining Chelsea on a free transfer in 2024. I think I speak for all Fulham fans when I say that this betrayal has been worth it for the sheer comedy moments it has provided. He’s settled like sleet at Chelsea. During their recent defeat at Craven Cottage, one Chelsea fan tweeted:

Supposedly a big reason for the move was because Tosin believes he should be playing for England, and a move would help put himself in the running for contention. Which reminds me, I would also like to publicly put myself in the running for a date with Margot Robbie please.

Let’s face it: if Silva left for Chelsea it would feel like a special kind of dagger to the heart. He’d become the architect who burned down the cathedral he built; the disciple who had his head turned by 30 silver coins. This would constitute a level of betrayal usually reserved for Greek tragedies or The Godfather films: “I knew it was you, Marco. You broke my heart”. Liverpool or United? We’d understand. Chelsea?! That’s unforgivable.

Of course, some will argue that Marco should think twice. After all, the wrath of the Fulham faithful is a heavy burden to carry. No doubt the prospect of riling up the notoriously aggressive Riverside stand has Marco quaking in his Chelsea boots.

Jokes aside, if the unthinkable did happen, he would undoubtedly become the biggest traitor in the club’s history.