Fulham’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on Tuesday night after a heavy defeat at Watford.
Scott Parker’s side produced a spirited first-half display at Vicarage Road but eventually succumbed to a 4-1 defeat as Will Hughes, Troy Deeney and Kiko Femenia scored during a blistering 12-minute spell.
Watford took the lead in first half through Abdoulaye Doucoure before Ryan Babel equalised for Fulham, but the host turned the heat on Fulham in the second half scoring thrice to stretch the lead to 4-1.
The Cottagers were the third biggest Premier League spenders last summer as £105.3m was spent on 12 new players following promotion from the Championship.
But Slavisa Jokanovic was sacked in November and immediately replaced by Claudio Ranieri after a run of one win from the opening 12 league games left Fulham bottom of the table.
The Italian was also sacked after less than four months in charge at Craven Cottage having managed just three wins in 17 matches in all competitions.
Scott Parker was placed in caretaker charge – but with the side already 10 points from safety following four successive Premier League defeats, the former midfielder was always facing an uphill task prolonging the club’s return to the top flight beyond one season.
Subsequent defeats to Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester City placed Fulham on the brink of the drop – and that has been confirmed in Hertfordshire.
Fulham will be joined in the Championship next season by Huddersfield, whose two-year stay in the Premier League was ended last weekend.
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