The Club site has 'crashed' but his is what Sky have to say: "Martin Jol has been sacked by Fulham, with head coach Rene Meulensteen taking responsibility of the first team. Jol, 57, had been in charge at Craven Cottage since June 2011 and his dismissal comes on the back of five straight Premier League defeats. "Our poor form and results this season are undeniable, and Fulham supporters deserve better," said Fulham chairman Shahid Khan in a statement."
Well we have all been waiting and expecting this. I hope we can draw a line under jol's time with us now. Personally, he has a woeful time of it for this season but I believe he is decent man that has simply struggled to get it going for us. I would thank him for his honesty and his belief in his players. Time to get behind the team and meulensteen now, lets hope he can motivate the team and get a respons from the players. Alex
Here is the statement: "Shahid Khan, Chairman of Fulham Football Club, this afternoon announced that Rene Meulensteen will run First Team duties, effective immediately, taking over for Martin Jol. “Today I spoke with Martin to thank him for his efforts on behalf of Fulham Football Club over the past three seasons and, in particular, since my becoming Chairman earlier this year,” Khan said. “Martin was very gracious and I appreciate his understanding of the situation. There is no question Martin is an excellent football man and he has my utmost respect for the commitment he made to our Club." “However, our poor form and results this season are undeniable, and Fulham supporters deserve better. With more than half the season still ahead, an immediate change was necessary.” Jol expressed appreciation on Sunday for his time at Motspur Park and Craven Cottage since arriving at Fulham in 2011. “It was a privilege to manage Fulham, one of the great clubs in the Premier League or anywhere in the world,” Jol said. “I am disappointed in this season but know there are better days ahead for Fulham and its supporters. I will always treasure my experience here and want to thank Mr. Khan and everyone at Fulham for the opportunity.” Meulensteen was appointed as Head Coach of Fulham Football Club on the 13th of November after working at Manchester United, where he worked alongside Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford between 2007 and last summer. “Rene Meulensteen was brought to Fulham to assist Martin and today was offered the challenge and opportunity to step in for Martin,” Khan said. “I thank Rene for accepting and now we move forward. I have great confidence in Rene and high expectations for our squad to respond.” “I appreciate the faith Mr. Khan has put in me and will do my very best to honour his trust,” Meulensteen said. “We aim to get Fulham back on track, starting Wednesday night.”
OK, we can start again, and in time for something in the January window (depending on how much is in the short-term purse). I sincerely wish Martin Jol success in the future, a nice guy, but somehow he seemed to lose things this year. Onwards & Upwards under Rene - COYW !!!!!
I feel sorry for Jol as he suited the club but a change was necessary. Onwards and upwards. Come on Fulham
I was so hopeful that MJ would be with us for a good number of years, quality bloke. He bought/loaned some average players but wasn't given the funds to get the right players imo. He didn't motivate the players this year and the run from March has been woeful. All the best big mart.
Spot on. When he joined I was really pleased and thought he was a great appointment but the slide since late last season, the seeming refusal to drop poor performers and to give some of our talented youngsters a chance, and the gradual loss of support from the players who quite clearly didn't seem to give two hoots with their performances recently, has obviously tainted his memory with supporters. A shame but best all round. Onwards and (hopefully) upwards.
Can't really add anything. At least the endless bitching will (hopefully) stop and we can move on. The sooner we can all look forward to Saturday afternoons again, the better. COYW
Just to add, I was just listening to Rene on Talksport, and when asked if he's the permanent manager, he was very non-committal and said he needed to speak to Ali Mac. I suppose we'll know more in a few days. Otherwise, he stressed quite firmly the need to invest in January. Not a great revelation but at least he knows as well.
Big job for RM...we are clearly lacking in many areas. It would be tough for anyone. He needs to sort out Berbatov - if he can.
I honestly think Jol loved it at Fulham, I really do. He just lost the team, seemed to lose the faith. Its a shame a good decent man just too much for him.
Here is link to Rene's interview with Sky when he repeated the things you highlighted Bidley: http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9052826/meulensteen:-a-massive-challenge Will be interesting to hear his precise job title and whether there will be changes to the coaching staff.
I believe he lost his way some time ago.but like many a long time supporter our club is the most important factor. Whoever appears on the scene will have my support over what is a very difficult inheritance, as we cannot afford another dissaster like this one.
A change can have a good impact as might force some of the under-performers to push more. Also means that players who wouldn't be first choice now have a chance again as starting from close to zero... This decision should potentially have been taken after the Cardiff game but there is still time and Rene in the picture. Hopefully Khan will splash some cash for a CM, LB and CB. Probably a forward too unless Berba decided to play football...
Just listened to the interview and a couple of things strike me. 1) He sounds like a bit of an hard-nut,especially when he was talking about what is required to stay up. Getting quite passionate about that he was. 2) If this is the case then some of our lazy arse players will be in for quite a shock or a lengthy spell on the bench. 3) Did he really have no inkling that he would be taking over from Jol - I doubt it, but at least he is well aware of the difference between being a number 2 and a number 1 and also between working at a club pushing for winning the league and one fighting relegation. 4) Is he really Dutch? Sounds like he comes from Preston. Sounds promising. If he can get a few results out of the next 3 or 4 (I'm discounting the Spurs game as we will more than likely get thumped) but from Villa onwards if we can pick up 4 or 6 points out of nine we'll be on an upward curve, then with some new signings (hopefully) in January we could kick on a bit. I've always thought we'd be okay - we have too many talented players not to be, but I think if we really can have 20 points just after Christmas we will be fine.
As everyone has said, it was inevitable and right that Jol went. Reading this statement, it looks like the club and Martin Jol have both handled the whole thing with a lot of class. Nice to see that, and good of Jol to speak so warmly of the club when the last few months must have been horrendous for him. Rene as a coach is clearly a great appointment; as a manager, the jury is still out. As others have said though, we have to get behind him and give him the chance to show what he can do.
Pretty much sums up my feelings. I'll add that I don't think just swapping the manager, even if he comes from ManU, will do the trick. We need an overhaul of our roster, starting with all our forwards (except Rodellega as backup) and at least adding one capable player in the midfield and another at the back, a new central defender to replace ... well anyone ... except a health Hangeland. Those, IMO, are the minimum changes needed in January if we're to savage our EPL status.
