“It gives you real satisfaction and pride,” he tells Sky Sports from the club’s Motspur Park base. “When I first joined the club, the mood was really down after a really tough season where the club had only won five games.
“You can imagine how it starts. The coaches, the staff, the players – that was the moment everyone needed a lift. The best way to do it was by winning games and with the style of football. Now everyone is enjoying what we are doing – the players, the fans and ourselves.
“[That longevity] has not been at some clubs because at some moments, you and they have to take decisions. Some clubs want you to stay, some don’t. The reality is that in every club we have been able to have a fast impact, which has always been very good.
“Afterwards, if you keep going – even with some doubts – it’s normal that results are going to be like we saw at my first club Estoril. And now at Fulham too.”
Some Fulham fans talk of Silva as the club’s best ever manager. Better even than Roy Hodgson, and his march to the Europa League finals.
Side-by-side, Hodgson’s achievements appear far grander. In deeper context, Silva’s Fulham have had to survive without an irreplaceable striker, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and with what he admits were unwanted distractions over the futures of several other key players last summer.
That the Cottagers could match the points tally of their first season back in the top flight would represent something bigger than it may appear on the surface.
“Mitro had a huge impact on this club since I joined, it was not planned to lose him,” Silva says. “With all that noise in pre-season, it was tough not having that focus there should be to prepare.
“Even after winning our first game, our start was not the level we are at now. To match what we did last season would be a big achievement.”
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