Morning all, How do everyone, I have been in the Internet wilderness for a while but would like to say a big hello from a happy if not slightly concerned Fulham fan. Been an interesting summer, some good business in the window and we have a solid squad, very fulhamish !!!! Looking forward to Jol finding the right combinations up top with berbatov, Ruiz, Tarrabt and Darren bent. We have the making of a quality team but are not getting the best out of the players we have. Ruiz's potential is huge as shown in last nights game for Costa Rica where he apparently ran the game from the number 10 role. Jol must be feeling the pressure already but he is a good manager and hopefully will get us reaching our goals as soon as possible. I hope you are all well and look forward to getting involved again. Froggie
Welcome back, Frogman. There's something of a wave of discontent amongst the faithful at the moment, with a little bit of bickering over Jol and our transfer dealings. I'm sure we'll pull through it though. The performance from Ruiz last night underlined to me that alot of our problems come from the Jol/Berbatov relationship. Jol signed Berba and made him the heart of our team, yet he doesn't seem to have really signed the right players to play around them. I think Ruiz would work much better with Bent than Berba does, but that won't happen with Berba in the team. Ah well, I guess this is Jol's dilemma and solving it is why Jol earns the money he does!
Surly you have nailed it there. It is such a difficult situation. Berbatov last season was massive for us and this should not be underrated. I think Ruiz assisted quite a lot. With the arrival of Bent we should have a very strong attacking line up. Darren Bent prefers to the lone striker and will be essential for our system. As well as providing some much needed attacking prowess in the box he will also stretch defenders up the pitch and create space for the others behind him. This is where Jol needs to get Ruiz behind the striker, given space he will be devastating. With Tarrabt on the left, who to play on the right. Déjà gah is the obvious choice if he can get back to full fitness and possibly our new right back. So what to do with berbatov ? With Bent and Ruiz he needs to start putting in more of a shift. I think Jol has up to Christmas to prove his worth, I hope he sorts it out. Coyw
Thanks for the hellos guys, I have missed the banter and constructive/abusive comments. The beauty of the magical game is that we all have our opinions and unlike other FFC sites this remains the only one where logic and reasoning prevails. Bidders you know we always keep the faith, even if we are pushed to the limit sometimes. Gera did you boy get a contract extension at the Albion in the end ? El capitano good to see you are still flying the flag. Cottager being FFC fans we have to be eternally hopeful. It will all come good by Xmas !!!! Might just have set myself up there. On a lighter note, I have just returned from my daughters first game of the season for Newhaven girls under 11's. I have been inadvertantly coaxed into managing them. An exciting 0 - 0 was the final result, both teams could have nicked it. The pressure you feel under as a coach, even at this age, is immense so god only knows what it must be like at pro level. Anyone else run a team ?
Yes Froggy, My Man returned to The Albion on a one-year deal. I was hoping to see him next week, but have to leave my seat empty due to family matters. Good luck with the u11 team. I was involved with kids' teams for a few years and really enjoyed it. (Just ignore the few "Jose's", who are so focused that they forget to enjoying the many individual progressions of those in their charge). And FFC will indeed by fine be Xmas, and ready to spend a very targeted 20m in January! C O Y W (and now Newhaven, of course)
For the last couple of years I've managed my eldest in a 'friendly league' organised by the local sports centre. They put the kids into teams at the start of the season, then expect one of the parents to volunteer as manager. There are no sub so everyone gets to play every minute of every game, but you're a man short if someone doesn't turn up. Usually it's good fun but last year we had one lad who was really good but in no way a team player, and the whole atmosphere in the team soured. At one point his Dad squared up to me when I dared to ask his son to play in defence for once! We've requested not to be put in the same team as that lad this year. It all starts up again next week, but hopefully someone else will step up to manage this time. My youngest is finally old enough to join the youngest age group of the same league, so I might end up managing him if no one else volunteers. I still feel a bit burned from last year's experience to be honest.
Captain fortunately for me my team does not have any egomaniac parents who seem to put there kids out as more a representation of themselves. I have watched a few games that my nephew has played in, he is 8. There were pretty unpleasant parents present. The worse thing was that you see on the kids faces that they were both embarrassed and intimidated. I cannot believe some parents behaviour. So far, there has been a noticable difference with girls football. Generally speaking both parents and girls are just dead keen to play and watch, giving enthusiastic support. The only team we have played when it was taken a bit too seriously was against Crawley Town, but I guess they were cherry oicked from a big area. If you get the opportunity to manage a team of youngsters and watch them develop under your guidance take it, it is hugely rewarding. If you are anything like me, then it can take over your life a bit and put you under nervous stress come kick off. However, to see the happiness on the players faces when they come off the pitch is very special.
Hi gents. As someone who manages a local team - http://www.bsufc.co.uk/details.asp?cID=U9 - if anyone wants to take a look at us - I can honestly say its one of the most rewarding things that I have volunteered to do in my life. The way kids develop is excellent, I was never any good at football but doing this has really made me fall in love with the game more than ever before. Yes there are ups and downs but it really is so rewarding to see a group of boys who 3 years ago couldn't kick a ball to where we are now. I would recommend it to anyone. Hope you are all well WDWW
...and suddenly your son's fantasy football team name makes much more sense! Good work with the youth teams, guys. It's definitely something I'll consider when I'm a bit older (when I either have kids or niece/nephews).
Woy, I will need some coaching tips from you by the look of things. That has been a very successful pre season for your boys. Good luck with the new season ahead and keep us posted of the scores.
Frogman, great to have you back mate. Next you will tell us you saw Rocky in the pub last week! I've never managed a team but I used to play Newhaven as a junior.
Yes - Pre season was good fun and the results were great but more to the point the football was exceptional to watch. We were worried going into this season as our best player was snapped up by Bristol City leaving a midfield 'workhorse' slot available for someone else. In fairness him leaving was actually very good for us as the boys have all had to step up a level and cover the huge task that he did last season. Anyway our first game of the season was on Sunday 8th. A strange away game as it's actually closer than our home venue! Unfortunately the game started and the boys were lacking in effort which was a huge disappointment. It seems that new rules meaning our games are now 1030 KO's rather than 1400 might take a few weeks for us to get used to as the lads seemed to have had late nights on Saturday. Game 1 was a 4-3 win and game 2 was an 8-1 defeat. The scores are aggregated. I'm not one of these coaches who demands wins, however I do expect everyone to work hard for the team and enjoy the game. Unfortunately the former was missing, resulting in the latter being a negative follow-up as heads dropped. We have another game on Sunday so training this week will really be a focus on tracking back as a unit to help the defenders and tackling drills. A lot of the boys said they felt tired so I hope they will all pull together on Sunday to show just how much of a team spirit they have for the second game of the campaign.
Nice to see you back Froggy. Always good to see the old faces (metaphorically speaking, of course) on here again. I am Mr Positive this season. Think we will do okay in the league and might even go for it in a cup.
Craving good to hear you are still around. I wish the rockster was still on board, although I am sure he is still keeping the faith somewhere and flying the FFC flag. Fulhaman like wise good to be back. We really do have some class players but are not quite getting to right combination like you I think we will be alright, would truly love a decent cup run, not sure anything will eclipse the Europa run. Mmmm. Woy, getting the kids out and ready is a challenge, especially so early in the morning. Not sure about you but I have found that it is perhaps more important to find a way to get in their heads before being to train them. Once I got past that point the fun began and I realised they were mad keen to learn. It may sound a bit crazy, but I have considered playing some music whilst we are warming up or allowing each one to set up a playlist. If it generates some liveliness on a cold and early morning it may be worth a go. We got thumped most games last season and it is hard to keep their interests up but regular praise regardless of the score seems to work.
