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After a bit of an absence our midweek Fulham webchat is back!

Since our last time, the transfer window has closed, players have come and gone and we can now finally focus on the stuff that matters, like the football and winning promotion to the Premier League.

There's been a ton of talking points to come out of Craven Cottage in the past few weeks, with the departure of Sone Aluko, the arrivals on deadline day and that victory against Ipswich, where the side finally seemed to click like they were last season.

Our webchat is due to start at 12pm but you can get your questions in now using the form below, all you need to do is click submit and it'll go straight to our reporter's inbox.

Thanks for joining me!

Thanks for joining us this lunchtime, I feel we touched a good variety of topics.

I’ll be back next week with another chat, in the meantime you can follow me on Twitter at @R_O_Donovan for all the latest Fulham news.

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Is the club's approach sustainable?

Paul has asked: Do you think the approach the club takes with identifying transfer targets is sustainable? The idea of a Head Coach or Manager having limited say on transfers feel illogical to me and on that requires the Manager or Coach to be a relatively subservient chap. Not many good ones with that characteristic about?

Hey Paul, thanks for joining us.

There’s a lot that goes around about the way that Fulham run their transfer department that fantasy gets confused with fact and vise versa.

Firstly, I personally think it is sustainable and that is the whole point of the process that Tony Khan has gone down.

Jokanovic doesn’t have that little say on transfers, yes he doesn’t find the targets or get involved in the dealings, but he is well aware of the targets that the recruitment department are after and is shown several videos on these targets before a move is made.

Jokanovic, Kline and Khan also all share an office at Motspur, so they regularly discuss transfers and incoming deals.

The Fulham boss knows how the club works and that he doesn’t have a say on who they target, but he is still involved in the whole thing and isn’t left in the dark as some would have you believe.

The way the club deal with it isn’t new either, Liverpool and Brentford both go down the same route, with Brentford using the approach to create a sustainable club by buying players on the cheap and selling them for massive profit.

I’m always quite interested in how clubs use stats to find players and develop their recruitment process, so the way Fulham run their department is of great interest.

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Were Fulham in for Jota?

FulhamStu has asked: Were Fulham ever in for Jota ? Suspect we may have enquired got Gayle and ran away when quoted the price !

They were indeed and had agreed a fee, but couldn’t agree personal terms and were blown out of the water by Birmingham’s wage offer.

They were in for Gayle too, but he didn’t want to leave Newcastle reportedly and they didn’t want to lose him without a striker lined up to replace him.

That’s the trouble with deadline day business - your time is limited.

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Any update on Cairney?

Adam has asked: Any update on the Cairney injury? I saw an Instagram post of his knee in some strapping and various others of him sat out of training. Will he be fully fit soon?

So I spoke to Cairney after Ipswich where he told me he was going to stay at Motspur instead of heading off on international duty with Scotland so he could get fully fit - the week before the Ipswich game was his first full week of training since pre-season and he played with an injection.

I think he’s still recovering and all of him sitting out training sessions was to do just that and to rest his knee.

He was hoping to be back to full fitness after the break but it’s something I’ll ask Jokanovic about on Friday.

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Final call for questions

Right, this is your final call for questions - if you’re lurking in the background and have something you want to ask but haven’t yet now is your chance

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Should Sessegnon be moved further forward?

Simon says: Hi Ryan, Will Sess move up to the wing when Soares is fit, or will persevere with him at LB? He seems like a more natural winger to me

Hi Simon!

I agree with you, I’d like to Sess moved further up instead of at left back, I think we saw some of his better performances last season when he was employed as part of the front three.

It’s a possibility that he’ll move up there when Soares is fit and ready to play, but it all depends on where Jokanovic sees Ryan’s best position.

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Should Fulham have sold Sessegnon?

Alex asks: What were/are your thoughts on the supposed £25m offer rumours for Ryan Sessegnon (one reportedly with a loan back included). Do you feel it would’ve been worth looking to seal a deal like that or keeping Ryan with us? Thanks.

Hey Alex,

I think a lot of that was just noise coming from the bigger clubs - there wasn’t any bids of £25m for Sessegnon and pretty much no contact after he signed his new deal.

The club know what an asset Ryan is, and he’s now got a three-year deal at the club.

If he’s worth a supposed £25m now after one season in the second division, what will he be worth next year?

We all know Sessegnon will go onto the big time, but he knows he’s in the best place possible at the moment, playing week in week out and a very high level for a 17-year-old.

The set-up that the club have with Sessegnon now is best for both parties.

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Good chat so far

This has been enjoyable so far - there’s a lot of you having a read so why not ask us a question?

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What impact does Ojo being named in Liverpool's CB squad have?

Not a big one in all honesty, they’ve named Ryan Kent in the squad too and he’s out on loan.

I think it’s just Liverpool covering their backs if the worst of the worst happens and most of their midfield players get injured, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

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Will Fulham rue not signing another centre back and striker?

Colin has asked: Do you think we will come up trumps for failing to gain another CB and Striker which is what is clearly needed .

Hello Colin.

I firmly believe that Fulham should’ve signed another centre back before the window closed and that’s the one I hold the most concern over.

Two strikers were brought in in the shape of Fonte and Kamara, with one hitting the ground running while the other looks like he’s going to take some time to settle.

I think the club could’ve done with another in all honesty, but with only playing one up top if one of them stars scoring regularly no one will be that bothered that they didn’t sign another.

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Seems I've been missed

Eric says: Where have you been? I’ve missed you

I’ve missed you too Eric.

I was quite ill for a b it but I’m back now so don’t worry.

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How is Jokanovic feeling about Aluko?

Will asks: How do you think Joka is feeling about losing Aluko and missing out on Jota - what happened with that?

I’d say he’s pretty annoyed about losing Aluko, he made sure everyone knew what he thought of Aluko and that he wanted to keep him.

However, Slav is a clever man and he’ll know what a good deal the club got by selling him for the price they got - anyone can see that.

In terms of Jota, I don’t think he’ll be too annoyed on missing out becauase he doesn’t have a say on transfers anyways, so Jota wasn’t his target to start with.

What happened with it? I’ve been told the two parties couldn’t agree personal terms before Birmingham blew them out of the water with the wages they were offering.

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Go on, don't be shy

Any questions about transfers that didn’t happen or any other stuff?

Use the form above and I’ll answer!

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Do Fulham need automatic promotion?

Tony has asked: Can we carve out a victory when playing badly like Brighton last year. I fear not. To often, last year we were outwitted by a shrewd opposition coach of an inferior team. For this reason, we need automatic promotion. We play steady possession football that can be tactically derailed in a one off game like in the play offs. Is this a valid point?

Hi Tony, thanks for the question.

It’s a valid point - teams found out Fulham last season at points and they struggled with a plan B, which would be to win ugly.

I think the problem with the Play-offs last term was that Jaap Stam just got his tactics spot on and got the better of Jokanovic, I wouldn’t say Reading were an ‘inferior team’ as such because that would be unfair considering their success, but yes I agree Fulham lacked a Plan B.

I’m not sure if that’s been addressed yet this season, Ipswich would’ve been one of those sides to try and stop Fulham playing football and they got wiped off the pitch at Portman Road - I think we’ll need to wait until Burton away and see how the side deal with that before we start making conclusions.

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Should Fulham have kept hold of Adeniran?

Francis asks: Everton signed Dennis Adeniran for a fee that could rise to £4m, by all accounts. A large sum for an 18-year-old, but should Fulham have held on to Dennis?

Hello Francis, thanks for tuning in.

It’s a tough one, Fulham don’t want to lose their best youth players but at the same time, when a big club like Everton comes in denying their young players the chance to go somewhere like that wouldn’t look good on them.

That fee for an unproven 18-year-old is a good fee, and to be honest I think you can’t judge it until he’s a lot older and is knocking on the first team door at Everton.

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My strongest front three?

I’m not getting away from this one am I?

Right, let’s stick my neck out here then... at the moment I would say the strongest front three would be Ayite - Fonte - Ojo for one reason, I haven’t seen the other players start and these three have played with the rest of the side before.

However, I’m sure my mind will change in a month’s time when I’ve seen Graham and Mollo get on the pitch.

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Was selling Aluko the correct decision?

David asks the million pound question: Was selling Aluko the right decision?

Hello David, I knew this question was coming from somewhere this afternoon!

Yes, I do think it was the right decision in both a business sense and a football sense.

Firstly, £7.5m for a 28-year-old who was signed for free a season before is a no-brainer, that’s 7.5m% profit (!!!).

Secondly, while he was a good player and one who possessed the skill set to be a top Championship player, his finishing let him down and the replacements Fulham have bought in are better players in my eyes.

People say Fulham haven’t replaced him, but that’s nonsense - Graham, Mollo and Ojo were all brought it, while Sessegnon can also play in the wide positions - people are saying there’s an overload of wingers yet the club didn’t replace Aluko, you can’t have it both ways.

Fulham were always going to sell for £7.5m for an over-28 player, so yes, it was the right decision.

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Which wingers would I go with?

David has been in touch on Twitter:

That’s a very good question and a nice headache for Jokanovic!

I’m a fan of Ayite and I’m looking forward to seeing him back in the Fulham fold, while Kebano was immense against Ipswich Town in the 2-0 victory.

However, Jordan Graham is a quality signing and his ability to put a ball on a plate for a striker is something that will work in his favour, especially with Fonte’s movement.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Mollo fits into things, I think that was a shrewd signing to be able to bag him on a free - he can play either side too so adds depth.

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A question from Twitter

Right, well Piazon is a long term injury so there’s very little update on his condition, he’s still unable to walk so we won’t hear more about him for a while as he recovers.

I believe Jokanovic was hoping for Ayite to be fit for the Cardiff game, so it all depends on how his recovery has gone over the international break - I’m speaking to the boss on Friday so I’ll ask for a concrete update then.

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Get your questions in

Cheers for joining us - don’t be scared, get your questions in and I’ll do my best to answer them.

There’s no such thing as a stupid question so don’t worry about that.

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Is the team too exposed with loanees?

Chester has asked: Is the team now too exposed in the long term with the number of loanees this window?

Hey Chester, how are you?

In all honesty, I don’t think so and I think it was some clever business.

I put out a longer read yesterday about the transfer window and how Fulham did, and I spoke about the loans and how I thought it was clever business from Fulham - they were paying next to nothing for some top quality Championship players that may not have been available or would’ve cost a lot of money.

The club want to get promoted, and if bringing these players in for relatively little gets them to the Premier League then they can use that money in the summer to bring in Premier League quality.

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Why is Kebano flying back to the UK?

Tom asks: Why is Kebano flying back to the UK instead of playing with the DR Congo National team?

This is an interesting one - he didn’t feature at all in their 2-1 loss to Tunisia, he wasn’t even on the bench and now he’s flying back despite a must win game against the north African country coming up.

Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly why he’s heading home, hopefully he hasn’t got an injury in training but that’s the only reason I can think of for him to be sent home.

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Will Slav use an A and B team?

Cameron has asked: With the transfer window now closed and with all the new recruitment that Slav and the team have brought in do you think the gaffer will now use a roll on roll off with the players like an A team and B team to show how other players can play or do you think he will use a one strong in-depth team?

Hello Cameron.

I think Jokanovic has a pretty good idea of what his strongest XI is, even with the new arrivals - the only places that don’t pick themselves are the wide spots.

I don’t think he’ll use a roll-off, roll-on like you say because I think that’d be detrimental to the rhythm of the side, and he’ll get a good enough look in training to see which players should start and which shouldn’t.

Consistency wins Championships and I think that’s what Jokanovic will go for.

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Info on Soares' fitness?

Michael has asked: Any information when Soares will be fit?

Good afternoon Michael!

Jokanovic was expecting him to be training at some time in September, and I’d expect it to be the middle in all honesty.

After that, he’ll need to get to grips with the team and the training sessions while Jokanovic gets a good look at the full back before he gets into the side.

I think we’ll see him in a few U23 games towards the end of the month before he gets to the first XI.

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Will Fulham sign Dwight Gayle?

Matilda has asked: Do you think Fulham will try to sign Dwight Gayle - or indeed another striker - in January?

I’ve seen the reports about Gayle but I haven’t heard anything myself after the window.

Whether Fulham will be back in for a striker will be based on how Fonte and Kamara do before January - if one of the bangs in 12 goals I don’t think the recruitment team will spend money on inflated prices to bring a striker in for the sake of it.

Strikers, and indeed players, always cost more in January so whether Tony Khan will feel the need to make a move in January remains to be seen.”

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Let's get started

Right, let’s get this underway then, our first question is in and it’s about Dwight Gayle.

Celebration: Lucas Piazon scores against Reading
Celebration: Lucas Piazon scores against Reading (Image: Harry Hubbard/Getty Images)
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Welcome to our webchat

We’re back!

It’s been a fair while since I’ve done one of these but I’m back and ready for your questions.

We’re starting at bang on 12pm but you can get your questions in now using the form above, so if you’ve got any pressing issues you want answered get them in and I’ll do my best.

See you at lunch time!

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