I may be shot down for saying this but i think Jol is now treading on eggshells. 2 years in the job,no cohesion no tactical team plan at this moment in time am i calling for his head (no ) but there must be a point when one must say enough is enough,for me another 5 games.
My issue is not so much in questioning Jol, but in putting any kind of arbitrary timeline on it. This year is make or break for Jol. He knows that, we all know that. But pulling the trigger without a better plan in place leads to certain relegation. I'd much rather give Jol the season, unless it clearly isn't working.
Well we certainly didn’t camouflage our weaknesses today and they all fall at Jol‘s back door. Balance - No (what system, exactly were we playing?) Tactics - None (other than to attempt to get a 0-0 draw) Substitutions - Nonsense (take off the only striker, go one down and bring on your No3 striker) Encapsulating all of these was that he started with both Berbatov and Ruiz playing (somewhere) around the middle of the pitch and substituted neither
I think Jol might leave himself at the end of this season. If he does well but we don't make the Europa place then I can see him wanting to move to a club that spends a bit more money and competes in Europe. For me he has to get us moving the ball faster, Dutch football has always been about possession football, but at the moment our passing has no end product. I can only see Khan searching for a new manager if we are struggling in the bottom 3 at christmas, before the next transfer window.
It wouldn't surprise me if Jol walks at the end of the season either. Personally I think he is a good manager who we are lucky to have. He hasn't been backed in the transfer market this summer or last. Look at the players he has lost and the money he has been given to spend. He hasn't even been given the money to reinvest let a lone additional funds! I don't think anyone could have done a better job working with the restrictions he has.
Most agree that he did not have the funds last year but got funds the year before. If we do a recoup of his acquisitions with a few exceptions(Riether, Berba, Dejagah?, Parker, Kara) there have not been any great signings. Ruiz his biggest spent has been a failure so far. Not blaming only Ruiz as he might be a victim of Jol's tactics. Jol's first year which was his best the team was mainly Roy's with the addition of Dembele (from Mr Ambition). The youngsters that came through (Kaca, Frei and Briggs) are part of the academy and not his doing. Credit to him he is giving them time. He needs to sort out the tactics, drop Riise, drop Ruiz if he can't find a role for him, and potentially drop Berba. And for the record. Our weakness is not much up front as much in the midfield. We need a creative midfielder that can pass swiftly the ball. Ruiz is not. Kara 4 years ago yes. And a left back, and a right back for cover... Some times I still wish we had Baird still with us although understandably he wants first team football. Stop wasting time with knackered players like Diarra and others.
... And the following year was stripped of Dembele and Dempsey, having built a capable team, and wasn't given the funds to replace them.
No offense, but what exactly is the point of saying "With the exception of his good signings, there have not been any great signings"? You can say that about any manager. It's a fair point about Ruiz, without the awkward attack on Jol's other signings.
Jol himself said, "it is our best ever squad". So what are the three pretty impotent performances down to - tactics, coaching, both ??
I'd also be interested to know where the new TV rights money is going- it all a bit quiet on the new stadium front. Jol seemed quite proud of us being the lowest spending club in his inhouse interview but I suspect he raised it for a reason. Wouldn't be surprised if he ended up going the way of Sparky and leaving on account of the board lacking ambition. With the fans not really demanding more than avoiding relegation comfort could very quickly turn to malaise. EDIT: Also, Berbatov was very poor- hasn't been looking great so far. I wonder if it came to it would Jol ever drop him out the first team, not that I'm calling for it now but if his performances dont pick up (it's not even about lack of effort his technique has been off) it has to become an issue.
Ah ha, the Club have just revealed the 'master plan' - "Ruiz was handed his first league start of the season and was deployed in a role on the right of midfield as Martin Jol fielded two strikers up top in Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov." Guess I watched the wrong match. That was an extract from an article about Bryan and how he saw the match. The only comment worth noting I thought was this: “I (Bryan) was pleased to be back in the first XI but I need to get my rhythm and play more minutes,” stated Ruiz. “That will get my confidence up 100 per cent. I felt comfortable on the right, I am happy to play there and I saw a lot of the ball.” Here's a link to the full article: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/september/02/ruiz-sees-the-positives
