Fulham's Rene Meulensteen has revealed his surprise at the sacking of Martin Jol this afternoon, with the former Manchester United coach saying that he felt the pair could have turned the club's fortunes around.

Jol was sacked on Sunday following a string of defeats that has left the club 18th in the Premier League table.

"I had some other personal business to attend and suddenly found out that Martin was gone," Meulensteen told BBC Sport.

"It has been quite a stretch before I decided to join Fulham and the meetings I had with people at the club including Martin Jol were very important to that.

"Eventually it was to work alongside Martin, stay in the Premier League and to make sure we can take Fulham to the next step."

Meulensteen will take charge of Fulham's next game against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening.