Although discontent with his reign had been rumbling for some time, it was essentially the two games in November which cost Kit Symons his job as Fulham manager.

Before that, a fairly productive October had yielded an unbeaten run of five games, starting with three draws, which included useful away points at Middlesbrough and Charlton. The month also ended with a pair of wins in which Fulham scored four in each, against Reading and Bristol City .

Yet a week after the second of those wins, at Ashton Gate, Symons was gone, a midweek 3-1 defeat to Burnley followed by a 5-2 home drubbing by Birmingham . On paper at least, with the sort of form Burnley are in, there is no shame in losing at Turf Moor. However, it was the Brum battering which proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. But just what went wrong in those two games?

Burnley 3 Fulham 1

Playing a 3-5-2 formation worked a treat at Ashton Gate three days earlier, so Kit was naturally tempted to stick with it at Turf Moor. The sticking point? Burnley aren't Bristol City, and an in-form Andre Gray (pictured) is not a man you want to be allowing more time and space than usual.

Symons realised his error at the break and switched back to 4-4-2, and the move paid instant dividends when Ross McCormack pulled one back, but the defensive frailties which have haunted Fulham all season ultimately cost them.

Many teams have struggled to cope with Gray of late, and while it was disappointing for the manager, it was not fatal. However, what followed at Craven Cottage four days later proved to be exactly that.

What Kit said : “You lose games of football sometimes but if you’re going to go down then go down with your boots on having a right go. I thought we were very brave, we really had a go.”

Fulham 2 Birmingham 5

Kit was hampered immediately going into this game by an injury Ryan Fredericks. With Jazz Richards and Jack Grimmer already sidelined and Kay Voser unavailable for personal reasons, Fulham found themselves fresh out of right backs.

Tim Ream stepped into the breach for the visit of Brum, while Symons opted for neither 3-5-2 nor 4-4-2, going instead for that old favourite of Terry Venables, the 4-3-2-1 'Christmas tree' formation.

But any hopes of a tighter back four were blown away by a rampant Birmingham side, who were 3-0 up at the break and blasted in five goals in all.

Fulham were not helped by James Husband's red card, while Joe Lewis will do well to hold onto his place when Andy Lonergan returns from injury in the new year.

What Kit said : “We actually started the game okay, we had a few decent openings and then to concede two goals in such a short space of time is very poor defending from us. At 10 men I thought we were quite brave and had a go."

Verdict

The main sore point for Fulham fans, however, is something which has not only been a bugbear all of the season, but also for much of Kit's reign, and that is the inability to perform for 90 minutes.

Even when they were surprising everyone by coming from two goals down to beat Reading 4-2, the fantastic comeback came after a poor first half performance.

This is one of the first things that whoever replaces Symons will have to address.