Telegraph Sport understands that the American law graduate, who was given the title “director of statistical research”, was told on Wednesday that he would no longer be working at the club’s Motspur Park training ground.
Kline, a university friend of Tony Khan, son of Fulham’s billionaire American owner Shahid Khan, was employed by Tony’s company True Media, and it is not out of the question that he might return to the club at some point. Earlier in the season, he was asked to stay away from the training ground for a month after an argument with chief operating officer Darren Preston but subsequently returned.
Kline’s influential role at Fulham where he claimed to have “ownership mandate” via Tony Khan, also a devotee of data analytics, was revealed by Telegraph Sport on Sunday. He wanted his data model to take precedence over more traditional scouting methods for players.
In this instance, the battle by Slavisa Jokanovic to have control of first team matters appears to have been won by the club’s new manager. Jokanovic did not agree with Kline’s data-first strategy of recruitment and the final decision appears to have been made by Shahid Khan who, as chairman of the club, has a hands-on approach when required.
Now the transfer window has shut, the club feel there is less of a requirement to have Kline around. He does not have to be in the UK to work on his statistical model of rating players. His challenging personality around the training ground also seems to have played a part in the decision to relocate him.
Fulham were under a transfer embargo in January and only able to sign loan players and free agents on a maximum of pnds10,000-a-week. They brought in loanees Rohan Ince (Brighton), Zakaria Labyad (Sporting Lisbon), Fernando Amorebieta (Middlesbrough) and Michael Madl (Sturm Graz).
- Telegraph