Premier League | Fulham have little reason to complain over fixture change: Jose Mourinho

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho says Fulham have no reason to be upset about being asked to play a Premier League game on short notice even though their manager Scott Parker termed the scheduling as ‘Scandalous’.

Spurs were actually supposed to take on Aston Villa but a coronavirus outbreak at Villa Park meant their fixture had to be postponed. The Premier League, however, were proactive in getting the Spurs a match with Fulham in the same slot with 48 hours to go.

Incidentally, the fixture between Tottenham and Fulham on December 30 had to be postponed with only two hours to go as well, as there was a coronavirus outbreak at Craven Cottage as well.

Fulham boss Parker, however, criticized this decision as the change in fixture has also put their match against Chelsea, which was supposed to be played on Friday, 24 hours back.

Mourinho has other ideas though, and he has no sympathy for Parker as he fears another rescheduling would have only piled up Tottenham’s fixtures, and they have too much on playe already.

The Portuguese gaffer was asked whether Fulham had the right to be upset, to which he replied, “Are you serious? They had 48 hours to prepare for this game. You think so? I had the news I was not going to play them two hours before the game started.”

“The biggest impact is to have matches postponed,” he added. “That is the biggest impact.

“The changing of the order of the matches, the impact is minimal because in the end you have to play 19 matches at home and away, you have to play two matches against every team.

“So if it’s to help the Premier League to go and to end properly, I think it is a solution we all have to accept as a positive solution.”

Parker, who has experience of playing under Mourinho when he was with Chelsea, wasn’t happy with the decision at all. According to him, the authorities have no idea what it takes to prepare the team for a particular opponent and he believes this could make things worse for his team, who are already placed third from bottom in the Premier League table.

“I am normally the last one to moan or whine,” he said. “To confirm a Premier League game at 09:30 on Monday morning is scandalous.”

“It’s not about the fixture,” he said. “I accept we have to play but it’s the notice. The people making these decisions don’t understand.”