Perhaps in hindsight my post exceeded the line of banter. Whilst i agree with your balanced reaction Jol for me is uninspiring, although i take my hat off to him for finding Ruiz he looks world class. Its only an opinion from outside but it seems FFC went through a period of modernisation under Fayed, however the revolution was not completly played out. This is where i feel a difference between our clubs, and i say this without gloating. As a supporter i am over the moon that many years of underinvestment in the club has come to an end. Two things i have dreamt of as a football supporter, seeing my R's back in the top 10 of the EPL and europe, and England winning the world cup. A Fernandes revolution for now is great. Best of luck for the rest of the season!
Nice one LoopyR. All said in haste and all that. Don't forget though the Fayed revolution is still on going with stadium expansion and still keeping some history of the ground i.e. keeping the cottage. Plus he is working hard with the MD to make Fulham profitable and stick to things like a proper wage structure for players - can anyone of my esteemed FFC posters confirm this has happened yet. All in all we are on the right track and I look forward to seeing how things go with the hoops too.
Yeah, fair play Loopy. We're happy with Mo aspiring to move our club on whilst keeping it solvent. Much rather that than be another Portsmouth.
Loppy You might want to post that comment on the Blackburn board as they are the ones more likely to be upset by Hughes joining you, not us. We have Jol (who I was unsure of) who is getting us playing attractive football which is now being shown with recent results against Chelsea and Arsenal. Hughes's football is absolutely dire and took him 6 months to figure out how to get a team to play. Apparently the players had enough of his coaching and reverted back to Hodgson's methods, which transformed us from being in the relegation zone to top 8. I think Hughes will do well at QPR, he will bring in a few decent players, but don't get too carried away, the truth is you were never Hughes's first choice.
Fair's fair, Bandy, I don't think we were Hughes' first choice either. He only came to us because nothing better had come along since he left City.
And conversely, Hughes wasn't our first choice either - we were trying to prise Big Mart away from Ajax before Sparky got the job
He and Mac have indeed got a grip on things Craving. Last year player wages to income was brought down to 69% (the 'Platini plan' sets the threshold at 70%). This year this ratio continues to fall and I believe they are looking to level out at 60%. Given that clubs like Fulham (and of course QPR) rely heavily on premiership performance and TV money, this is sound business management. We also made a trading profit last year. And of course our gates for last year were at 98% capacity of the 25,700. As others have said there is development of the Cottage to increase the capcity to 30,000 - and I posted in another thread planning permission was submitted today. The important point of the re-development is that it is realistic in terms of scope and cost and achievable within 18 months. If these real facts don't demonstrate forward thinking and ambition, I din't know what does. All in all a grand "little" club.
Cheers C58 - I hope Mac doesn't leave for pastures new I think he's been instrumental in all of the above. Not just MAF.
Obliged Bandit. It's a heck of a balancing act and there has to a great deal of trust between Mac and Jol when it comes to the transfer market. Another successful forward looking policy at the club which I should have mentioned is the Academy - going great guns at the moment.
Yes, great post C58. The relationship between Chairman Mo and Big Mac is at least as important (probs more) than MAF/BMJ. I'm as pleased with our structural improvement as with our team performance (well almost) - because that is the sustainable future for our club.
