It seems there must be something in the water in Fulham. Clearly our neighbours up the road are drinking from the same tap. Couldn't happen to a nicer club.
It's a confidence thing, a mind set, we need something to galvinise us as a club. At the moment there's no enthusiasm from supporters or the team. As soon as we let in sloppy goals,it seems everyone just thinks oh no here we go again and gives up. All I want at the moment is to see entertaining football from my club, to see them start to worry teams in the oppositions half not play tippy-tappy football in their own half. Words like finding someone to fit the 'Vision' of a Head Coach has a negative effect on me. Magath was unmitigated disaster for this club, whoever thought that he was the right 'manager' for this club should no longer be at this club, the owner has gone from one disaster to another in quick succession. Is he the problem? who is the problem? It's getting very frustrating.
I see the same mistakes which can be attribute to a Fulhamish approach of life in giving people chances... I think the disaster started by keeping Jol at the end of season 12/13 or shall I say when we sent Mark Hughes packing. In any case we were too slow to fire Jol. It should have been done in Sep/Oct. 13/14 we kept Magath, another mistake. He came with the promise to save us from relegation and the signs were there but the club let him take the team in prep for next season. Again too slow to fire. Same mistake with Kit. Not his team last year but give him that till middle of the season. After that he showed that he is clueless. Again the club let him have another season and again too slow to fire when the signs were all over the wall. I conclude that the club is run by idiots who follow the same approach and expect a different result!!! And with that I am going back to my depressive mode over the Fulham affairs.
My big worry is will we do a Portsmouth or more recently Wigan. We have reputedly the 3rd richest chairman in the football league, and to acquire the wealth he has amassed I would not think he employs the Muppets he has gathered around him at the Cottage,
I would think if the rumors of problems with FFP are true Khan will not be able to dig deep. With no real proof of why we should be falling foul of FFP rules, except that could be a reason why we have no managerial/coach in place. But then Blackburn are supposed to be in trouble too, but Lambert went to them, so that brings us back to the conclusion that no one is that willing to work with Riggs 'Vision'.
Blackburn had the transfer embargo lifted last week. Only a couple of weeks after Lambert joined, so I suspect he knew that was in the offing. So far as we're concerned, for ages Ali Mac had been insistent that there were no FFP issues then at the Supporters Trust meeting a week or so ago (as posted in the other thread) he all of a sudden went 'no comment'. And said that a joint statement would be issued by the Club and the Football League sometime this month. That would certainly suggest there's some kind of trouble looming. Don't suppose we'll get to know the inside story but a good guess is that we thought we were being clever in the way some payments were made to players (past and present) but got caught out. It's also a pretty good guess that the possibility of a transfer embargo has affected recruitment of a new 'boss', since Mr Rigg wouldn't have been able to give any guarantees about money in the January window. The biggest worry in all this is that, to balance the books, we may have to sell key players. Dembele was always likely anyway but our hand might be forced into being, no option. And then there's McCormack - his goal scoring stats won't have gone unnoticed elsewhere and he .. no won't go there. And, there are one or two others we might try to offload, which may have been well and good if replacements could have been brought in.
I'm resurrecting Craving's post because there remains something critical still missing at Fulham. And it's this man on the left of the picture - well, not him exactly but what he was, a leader. please log in to view this image Slavi seems to have put his stamp, or at least his foot down, on the Club with the transfer window and in other ways. The one legacy which he's allowed to continue however is the captaincy on the field. McCormack with all his arm waving and spouting is not a leader and some on here (rightly in my view) have suggested that the extra responsibility has, on occasion, affected his performance. Parker, as club captain, assumes the role when he starts but that isn't going to be often and quite honestly his qualities as a leader have been disappointing in the past. You only had to look at Chris Baird on Saturday and the way he was taking up positions, organising things and issuing instructions to see what we are missing. And yes, I know he wasn't the Derby captain but he epitomises what's lacking. Guess it was always going to be difficult to appoint the right man when the team was made up of so many youngsters and newbies to the Club. And now loanees. At one time I thought Stearman would be that person but he's currently non grata. And I'm struggling to come up with anyone among the current lot who has the experience, attitude and nous to assume the mantle of Captain/Leader. Perhaps that's why Slavi has left things as they were. But so long as it continues unchanged, I fear we will have that niggling question of "what's happening at Fulham?" - on the pitch at least. Do you see any way that Slavi could solve that issue in the short term?
Dan Burn does a lot of shouting instructions and encouraging, then of course there is Jamie O'Hara. Yes Stearman, but it's anyones guess why our best defender is not even on the bench. Tim Ream was captain at Bolton, but unless he is played as a Defensive Midfielder (which I think he'd do better playing there) can't see him getting in the side unless there are injuries.
In the short term I think Slavi will let it ride, I'm guessing Ross is on his way out at the end of the season. I don't know how long Scott has got on his contract, he is a leader but he not a first team player - he would be ideal in a coaching position now with academy involvement. He's not got the legs for the all action game he's known for and he doesn't sit and cover in the way that I would like - for the Championship all we really need is someone with energy and strength, who can make a tackle, and is willing to sacrifice the glory for getting the dirty work done, in a holding position. I think the only aim this season now is to stay up and although things are bad we've not much choice but to stay as is. I had similar hopes for Stearman as C58 and at the beginning looked a great acquisition. I don't know what's happened and if it's to do with tactics or personality but it does look like he might not be an option, although I think he is the best we've got. I'm not sold on Burn as a long term starter but I know he is rated by other fans and seemingly by other clubs so he would be the next best option. Lonergan has been quietly heroic at times this season and if he has the personality could be someone to consider. I don't know what type of character LVC is, but, if he is showing leadership ability off the pitch, his energy on the field, status in the club and long term potential could make him another option - he was better positioned last year though and needs to nail down his starting role first. I'm keen to see how we look at the start of next season, Slavi gives me confidence although results haven't really gone our way - some of the football I've seen at home has been quite good and at the moment I do think he is hamstrung by the players not all suiting what he is trying to do, accommodating Dembele and McCormack into a 4-3-3 and keeping them happy looks tricky, particularly when Ross doesn't look interested in playing wide and to use Dembele there would just be a waste. O'Hara is another player we might not see next season - like Ross he is another good player who doesn't suit a regular system. They are both players teams need to build around but neither good enough to actually carry them. We could give O'Hara more freedom by putting two defensive midfielders in with him but Cairney and LVC both look better prospects and we can slot one of those into a wide position and include one less defensively minded midfielder alongside the other because they've got the legs to offer cover.
I think Slavi will get it right. In a way I'm glad results haven't gone our way. It has meant that we don't get the purple patch before mediocrity sets in. When Roy took over it took 2 months to get things right and the way he wanted to play ingrained in the players. I feel that Slavi is similar and the morsels of info from the players interviews is that a lot of things have changed in training including diets etc. No cheese on bruised knees though! It will happen, albeit slowly, and I trust Slavi. COYW
