Not going anywhere soon.
At least not if he has anything to say about it. That appeared to be the message that Fulham skipper Tom Cairney was sending out when it came to his future at the club. One of our longest-serving players having signed in the summer of 2015, he’s very much become part of the fabric of the club, scoring one of the more important goals in our history, the winner in the 2018 Championship Play-off Final.
And according to the man himself, he’s set to be around to hopefully make a lot more memories in the future. Speaking to The Athletic, Cairney explained how he wants to see out the rest of his career in SW6, seeing the club more like a family than a team:
“I had an early relationship with the fanbase. It helps if you hit the ground running and start well. Every player, or most players probably, find their one club that’s at their peak, or at a successful time in their career. Fulham is definitely mine. I like everything about the club; the stadium and how old it is, it’s old fashioned, it’s history… it’s just a lovely place to come to work. And Fulham, since I’ve been around anyway, they have always played good football. The way I see football. It’s been a good match.”
Will Tom Cairney retire at Fulham?
Yes
No
It’s certainly a nice sentiment, and for all that he has done for us in the past, he does deserve a little bit of leeway on this. But at the same time, the second he starts to become a true liability to the club, I personally wouldn’t have any hesitation or be sad to see him go.
Much like people had the debate about Arsene Wenger losing his legacy at Arsenal towards the end, you could make the claim the same is happening to Cairney. His levels of production haven’t been the same as they once were.
And with the team now evolving under care of Scott Parker, things are always going to be up for change, and if we have to sell him in order to facilitate things, for the greater good of the team, we shouldn’t let sentimentality get in the way of that.
What about you? What do you make of Cairney’s comments?