The Club have posted a video interview with Shad Khan where he talks about his ambitions for Fulham. Not sure how current this is (they mention that the Jaguars lost their first game and they are now three in). However he seems to be backing Jol and looking to invest in the Riverside Development rather than the team. [video=youtube;a0BAmEdGlBc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0BAmEdGlBc&feature=player_embedded[/video]
I rarely comment here since my knowledge of football is very limited, but I do live south of Miami and some American Football --NFL-- news does occasionally filter down from the wilds of North Florida (almost Georgia, seven hours of high speed driving north of here, on the pay to play limited access Turnpike). The Jags fans (who are in primo American football territory from birth on up) are not and haven't been happy since Mr Khan took over and they've lost their first five games this year. He's different from most of our team owners, whatever sport, who are businessmen but, importantly, fans from kidhood, too. Mr Khan is purely about business and he understands the first rule of real estate: location, location, location. Sorry to say this, but I've been thinking it over since he bought Fulham, which I've come to love, and I have trepidation in my heart. Rant over. Thanks for listening and for letting me listen in to you all.
In today's papers, Shad Khan has reported as saying he will stick with Jol: "Shahid Khan has said he will resist a knee-jerk reaction to the clubâs current form, despite conceding they have suffered a disappointing start to the Premier League campaign. The Fulham owner has watched the Cottagers table just seven points from as many games so far this term, but insisted he is prepared to exercise patience with Martin Jol amid growing pressure. Khan told the Daily Mail: "Martin is a very experienced coach. He's a good guy." " We've gotten off to a start nobody's happy with, whether you're a fan or you're Martin. We want to do better but I'm not the kind of person who's going to act on impulse. You go through life and learn valuable lessons. I want Fulham to be very successful. You can't go out of the frying pan and into the fire. That's the most important thing." "Relegation is a horrible thought but you've got to keep in mind it's only seven games. You can't jump to conclusions.There are 31 games to play. You can't feel too good and you can't feel too bad."
Good. I'm glad he has said this. He's right. There are so many games left it would be daft to throw Joll out on his ear just because we've had a dodgy start.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...w-Fulham-owner-billions-ambitions-USA-UK.html The Mail has a very strange article on him, wouldn't be surprised if his PR wrote it with passages like this featuring; Immaculately dressed in a black jacket and a teal (club colours) tie, he stands to watch, arms folded for the most part. He is lean and fit in defiance of his 63 years with a glossy mane and a kind expression. Not to go too far off track but really wouldn't surprise me, the mail has been doing 'advertorials' under the guise of legitimate stories for a while now - see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ns-just-bought-freezer-local-supermarket.html.
Frustrates me how many FFC fans see it like this. We have been dire for the best part of a year, not just the last few games. Jol had an entire summer without player sales to fix things and if these first few fixtures are anything to go by, he hasn't.
Added to that is the way Jol justifies himself with stuff like this: "I have great plans for the club and if I can do that, fine," the Dutchman said. "And it's fine for them as well because I think when I came here they were quite happy and lucky to get me. I was used to good clubs and I want to make Fulham a good club. "So I will listen to them. I don't know what their intentions are but if they want to work with me, then I'm fine." Source: http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/8961528/-? Not only is it patronising but it shows disrespect to the Club, and the fans. Fulham was âa good clubâ, with a fine heritage long before his arrival. Sure weâve had our black times and a fair share of bad managers. Chairmen/owners for that matter. Nonetheless I cannot remember any, not even Vic Buckingham, showing such arrogance as this.
I'm not sure. He's made too many bloopers recently for it to all be blamed on his 'poor' English. Was it lost in translation when he said FFC fans need to 'forget' about getting to a European final as it raises their 'unrealistic' expectations, or when he said Bent wouldn't start ahead of Berbatov despite the fact he's been bleating on about getting them playing together since we signed Bent. Even 'big' would be wrong. Tottenham weren't a 'big' club when he took over, Ajax haven't been good for decades and Hamburg, albeit a decent team, are nowhere near the likes of Bayern or Dortmund. His arrogance leads you to think he's spent years at Barca and Madrid.
The comments above highlight part of what I see our problem is. It's almost a perfect storm, a nonchelant manager and an owner who wants to keep things as they as. One wants to live in London, the other wants to own a part of it. Complacency will take us down - if you are not changing you are dying- neither has much to lose from relegation.
Comment above...we've been dire for the last year..totally agree. The form suggests so and if anyone says we've played well you need your eyes testing. No offense intended. We're all behind the club and we all want us to do well but Jol is not taking the club in the right direction. We used to beat a top 5 side at the home, similar to what Norwich did last year. The fear factor has gone. His purchases still are questionable. I fully expect him to be sacked or released come the end of his contract.
Should we fail to win on Monday the "Jol Out" company will become a battalion and the battalion a brigade with a similar result against Soton if he is still the manager... I give him these two matches to turn things around. After that no more excuses and I will openly support the Jol Out cause... Simples...
Jol is one of the best managers, one of the nicest guys in the Premier League. In no way is he arrogant. Fulham have not been great in the past year, but they were severely handicapped by the loss of Dembele. Be patient and I'm sure things will improve. I know beating Stoke was a bit lucky, but it's something to build on.
I wish I shared your optimism but unfortunately watching Fulham for almost every home since Jol was appointed I can't muster it within myself. I disagree that he is one of the best managers. If we are to look at it in terms of trophies, he's won the dutch equivalent of the FA Cup twice, once with Ajax which is an achievement, but I wouldn't consider it a great one. To me he is a second tier manager who thinks he is a first- very much a 'nearly man' always hamstrung by someone else. His comments about Fulham, highlighted in other threads by myself and other posters, suggest he feels that Fulham is a little beneath him and I honestly think in his mind he feels we should be grateful for him 'helping out', in return he gets a nice life back in London. His man management style is abrasive to say the least, and I think that is a sign of his arrogance, along with what appears to be a total unwillingness to genuinely admit mistakes (any previous uttering in this direction has been couched in language that actually deflects criticism). I agree we were handicapped by the loss of Dembele but that was more than a year ago now. I shudder to think what the dressing room is like at the minute. I'd say Berba is onside because he is at Fulham for the same reason as Jol, and probably shares the same perspective. After his public criticism of Brede I wouldn't be surprised to see him agitating for a move in January, although he's probably lost a lot of his market value and the demand for him probably isn't what it was. Who knows what Kasami thinks- ostracised for a fair amount of time I refuse to believe that his performances now are a result of that. To me, Kasami would at a more advanced stage of his development if he had been with us the whole time.
It was Jol, not an explicit criticism but just one of a few questionable statements from the last 2 months - "I’ve got players who have played 300 games. We had all the size in the world today and we still lost headers at the far post, even when we are 6ft 6 ins or 7 ins. And that is worrying." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...375/Fulham-1-Cardiff-City-2-match-report.html I don't see the problem as individual errors, its the dysfunctional system we employ.
I do feel that there is too much negativity around Jol at the moment. We have played better and looked a better team but I am not certain at all that changing the manager would be particularly helpful. Who could we get to replace him. All the good managers are employed. It is very unlikely anyone would resign from their current post to jump at the chance of taking over at Fulham and those managers that are available certainly aren't upgrades. You need to be careful what you wish for - Charlton being the best example I can think of. Can you imagine MoN or 'Arrry in charge? No thank you.
Even if I agreed with your point, which I don't, you think the candidates to replace Jol are rubbish because you're assessing the ones mentioned in the media. The McLaren's, O'Neill's, Keane's are all rubbish I agree, but why not do what Southampton and Swansea did and look abroad. If not, then RDM would be a fine choice for me. Why do people think Jol is such a catch for FFC? Our form under him the past year has been like it was under Sanchez and I don't remember people calling for him to remain in charge, and he had a group of players that were nowhere near as good as the ones we had now.
Some interesting points. First and foremost, the chairman will always come out and show support for his manager. Can you imagine if Khan came out and publically put his manager down saying he only had a few games to prove himself. There are arguments being made as to whether he is a good manager and both views carry some weight. The fact remains though we do not spend much money, we have an aging squad and have a history of canning managers, whether there are managers out there or not, appealing prospect we are not. Jol and the players have to step up to the mark, blame the manager but the players have to take some reponsibility. To concede in the final minutes is unforgivable but to do it 2 or 3 times is poor concentration and play. That is not the managers fault it is the players fault, so big mart cannot carry the burden alone. Bandy you make some very valid points but to compare Martin Jol to Sanchez is a bit harsh. Sanchez made some atrocious signings and our style of play was pump it up to Healy and hope for the best. At least Jol is trying to get us playing attractive football.
