Taken from their 10 things we learnt this weekend column is this, which offers a great deal of hope: If Fulham were ugly, Martin Jol might get a little less flak. Instead they are nearly beautiful, which is surely a most frustrating state of play. Dimitar Berbatov, Bryan Ruiz, Alexander Kacaniklic, Pajtim Kasami, Ashgan Dejagah, Adel Taarabt ... so many players who tease fans with glimpses of perfection and appal them with lapses into incoherence. The clutch of fans who chanted "Jol Out" at the end of Saturday's draw with West Bromwich Albion clearly believe the manager should have developed a system by now that wrings consistency and dynamism from his charges. The ones who did may believe that will come â and when it does, Fulham will be a joy to behold. Paul Doyle Let's hope it happens next Saturday.
Boy ..I'll have a few pints of what he's been drinking........ Is he trying to say we have a group of individuals who think about their own performances first before helping the Team ? Dejagah what's happened to him, not much of mention, is he injured ? Mesca ? another not involved. No Report about Ruiz injury yet ?
And in another article - Martin Jol admits he wants to take Fulham boo-boys outside after game please log in to view this image That was the headline in the today's Guardian - a newspaper which as Fulhaman says has been ‘Fulham-friendly’. In the supporting article Paul Doyle doesn’t back away from giving both sides of the story but it’s not all that clear whether he comes down on the side of Jol or the fans ”Craven Cottage a seething cauldron of hate? The notion does not quite compute; yet there was a loud outburst of bile towards Martin Jol from a small section of the home fans after this disappointing draw and the manager says their words wounded him. It is clear that some Fulham supporters believe their team should be performing much better and the cries of "Jol Out" at the end of the game suggest they are getting more numerous and more angry. Jol says they need to get real. "It's hard to fight expectation levels and maybe a minority feels we should be in the top four," says the Dutchman, who confesses that the choleric demands of that minority rile him to the point of making him want to respond in a way that would land him in trouble. "I'm proud and when people start yelling at you, well, I would like people to be a bit more appreciative. I can't tell them to come outside of the stadium after the game so I have to put up with it. But sometimes you make mistakes in life. I remember last year, I think it was the same geezer, and I did something but luckily enough nobody saw it." Jol estimated that the chants came from "maybe 30" but it sounded like several multiples of that number and was significant enough for the manager to feel the need to defend his record since replacing Mark Hughes in the summer of 2011. "Don't forget we have had 95 points in the last two seasons and Swansea had 93," he said. His point is that Swansea have been acclaimed in that time while Jol is catching flak but Fulham fans may bristle at his comparison of a newly-promoted club with one that Roy Hodgson guided to the Europe League final in 2010. That feat, suggests Jol, has gone to some fans' heads. "If you play in a European cup final then the expectation levels are too high. But that was three years ago. I played two semi-finals of the European Cup and I've forgotten about it, you know." Fulham finished eighth in their last season under Hughes and ninth in their first under Jol. Last term they slipped down to 12th but that was after losing key players such as Clint Dempsey, Danny Murphy and Mousa Dembélé. The manager has been remodelling the team and insists it is now stronger than last year and capable of returning to the top half of the table, which is the target that the club's new owner, Shahid Khan, has set for this season. But Jol says that if they do not quite make the top 10 this term, no one should feel aggrieved. "We are 12th in the league and that's maybe where I feel we could finish," he says. "Maybe ninth or 10th. I think we are doing OK. Realistically, we should think the same as a lot of other teams: stay in the league and then hopefully once all the players know each other, gel together, then we should be in the top 10. I think I have managed to collect together a strong group of players." It is true that Fulham possess some highly talented players who are capable of posing problems to any opponents. What Jol's critics contend, however, is that too many of those players seem flaky and the manager has failed to develop a coherent unit that wrings consistency from the likes of Bryan Ruiz, Alexander Kacaniklic, Ashkan Dejagah and Pajtim Kasami. All will come together with time, insists Jol. But factor-in the unpredictability of Dimitar Berbatov and new recruit Adel Taraabt, plus the haphazard tackling of the supposed midfield linchpin, Steve Sidwell, and you can understand why some Fulham fans fall prey to rage, especially on days when wasteful finishing and meek defending leads to two points being frittered away. Fulham had plenty of chances to build on Sidwell's 22nd-minute goal against Albion but ended up having to make do with a draw after Gareth McAuley was allowed to meet a stoppage-time corner and send a powerful header into the net. Patience, preaches Jol, patience. "I came here to try and help the club and I would like to help them, make the fans happy," says Jol. "Hopefully I can do that. If not, then we will have a problem." Man of match Chris Brunt (West Brom)” Source: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/15/fulham-martin-jol-take-boo-boys-outside
I thought he wanted to buy them a drink In any case I think Jol is right about the expectations of some fans but the fans are right in the own merrit as we seem to have similar problems to last year. After Saturday, although disappointed with the result, I am optimistic. If we get a reasonanly fit squad to gel we can play some nice football.
please excuse my ignorance. Who is Mesca? I think we're almost there. Lacked some cutting edge at the front, could have/should have been 2-0 with Berba onside IMO! His over head and Bryans shot hitting the bar. Still positive and certainly not calling for Jol to get the sack. That would be a massive problem if we do and who would replace him? Some fans are just idiots and chanting for chanting sake!
I think fans expectations are too high. to finish between 9th and 12th we will lose games and draw games and home. It's the law of averages. I wish he had gone outside with them, I know who I'd put money on! In Jol I trust.
Exciting young winger, Jol's been talking him up for ages. I think he originally came from Chelsea and has been with our youth squad for a couple of years. He's been given a squad number this season. His real name is Buomesca Tué Na Bangna.
There is probably a stunning anagram in that name but I can't work it out. I doubt it will beat Neil Warnock's, however.
Some very valid points made in that article. We do have some classy players we just need them to gel. Without wanting to put too much pressure on Diarra but he really could be the difference. His disappearance coincided with our dip in form last season. Him and Parker, albeit on the mature side, would and could be just the foil for the front 4 to perform. Add to that bent pressing higher up the pitch and the result more space for our creative players to work in.
Jol said at today's press conference that he was wrong to criticize fans after the West Brom game: "Fulham manager Martin Jol has admitted he regrets hitting out at supporters who barracked him at the weekend. Some of the Craven Cottage crowd turned on the Dutchman after his team conceded a stoppage-time equaliser against West Brom. He responded after the 1-1 draw by describing them as “disappointing” and subsequently suggested their expectations are too high. “I think it’s better not to talk about it – I did and I shouldn’t have,” Jol conceded. “The supporters pay us to play football for them. They’ve got an opinion and are entitled to express themselves." “But to concede in the 93rd minute was very disappointing, not only for them but for me and the club as well." He added: “I talked about the fact that expectations can make you very unhappy and they can at any club – even the big clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United. Seven new players were not even there last week so we still have to find the balance and it’s not easy. I think there are 10 or 11 other teams who are not settled either. “But what I mean is as soon as we gel I think we will be fine.”
His post match comments did strike me as being of a man on the edge, not that I think his head is on the chopping block yet. I think Jol struggles to handle criticism which may be why he persists with a strategy that is the complete opposite to what served Roy so well. I think he is struggling to handle the boards demand- which is essentially to stay in the league (and the budget provided to him over the summer would suggest it is no greater than that despite what is said in public), and the fans, which is to go on a cup run and finish 14th or higher. I think he is a good manager but a bit like Ruiz, not suited to Fulham. With the lack of an obvious or realistic alternative I'm still behind him but slightly concerned that things already seem to be off track so early in the season. We need further investment in the squad to plug the gaps and, given what some other clubs who I would put on par with us in terms of fan expectations have spent, I hope that it comes in January. Signing Parker, Bent and Taraabt is not bad business, but it's not a long term strategy. We can go through each season with short term solutions. There were some good passages of play against West Brom but I don't think we look lethal in attack or strong in defence. Parker and Sidwell are similar players, although Parker is a level above. We signed him as a DM but he is the one doing the passing. It's pointless bringing in quality and then not utilising it properly, see Ruiz also (and Amo who is not a dedicated left back- Senderos getting the nod ahead of him, combined with Jol's comments about him not being where they expected are not promising signs for the future)
