No. I loved Murphy as a player and I can see him being a good manager, but all the problems with Kit were, to a greater or lesser extent, due to his inexperience. The last thing we need is a rookie boss, even if his Fulhamish credentials are unimpeachable.
Quick recap: Blackburn – Lambert Brentford – Smith QPR – Hasslebaink (confirmed) Would be a bummer if Reading got Pearson or Rowett. We seem to be left with (realistically): Gray (a chum of Curbishley, Wigley and Huw Jennings) Pearce (pal of Rigg from FA days) Jokanovic (if Maccabi get knocked out of CL) Warnock (now in the frame) Clarke (not friends with anybody) I've excluded Murphy because, although he's 'Fulham' and has a good football brain, he doesn't tick the experience box and is far too big a risk, as the Captain says. As an assistant coach, yes. Also what he said in the recent radio show contradicts his previous comments and the differences between him and people at the Club after the 5-man committee thing are likely to be bridges too big to mend. No choice then .. it just has to be Oscar Garcia!
Clarkes managerial career is less than inspiring, and to invite him back after recently turning us down; is in my opinion an insult to the fans and a lack of ambition on the clubs part. While Rigg is still commander of the ship no manager with ability will step over the Cottage threashold.
How about....Clarke actually wanted to come here, but clubs couldn't agree severance...and now he has upset someone/the hierarchy too much. I think he is a Woy type.....discipline; tidy defence; fitness..........stuff we have been missing for a while. He's also a stubborn, plain spoken type.
Stereotyping the Scots there Tosh. For a moment thought you were talking about Peter Grant. He and Clarke also have that other Scottish trait ... passion. Although perhaps not the same variety; kind of Bellshill v Saltcoats. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Grant with The Bhoys please log in to view this image Clarke with The Buddies, not.
Nah, not stereotyping C58....I know plenty meek and mild scots (btw my surname is Grant). I think Clarke is stubborn....and maybe we need a bit of that right now.
When he was first linked I was for Clarke, felt he'd not been given a proper go at WBA and the table C58 posted showed Reading to be a far more stable side defensively than we have been. But now I think the moment has gone and I don't have the same optimism for Clarke as manager - it would certainly be a loss of face for the club, although missing all of our targets so far is just as bad. Clearly Rigg is a problem and I expect he will be getting some abuse from the stands today - seems like a classic case of a mans ego holding him back. I'm not that interested in Murphy as a manager, he's another one dominated by his ego and we don't need that. There's no point wallowing in what could of been, but we missed a trick with Warbuton, he should have been in place at the start of summer with the same backing Rangers gave him. I can't see a solution with Rigg in the picture, but neither can I see Khan moving him on. I can't imagine it's a happy boardroom to be in and Ali Mac must be reflecting on all that's happened since he joined and where we are now. It looks like we've cooked the golden goose with Roberts already gone, Hyndman on his way and Dembele likely to go in January. We should be offering him a wage not far from what Ross is on, but I bet we haven't. It will all be about not spoiling him but really it's rewarding him, the best way to keep him is to place him on our wage structure that reflects his importance to the team, not his age. The three of them should have been with us to the age of 20/21 when we could have moved them on for so much more than what we're going to get. There are other talents in our academy, but those were our three best prospects and could have helped attract a better quality manager to bring them through.
In goal Cardiff's 3rd choice keeper, an abysmal defence and as Silkship said 1 player gone who was not given a fair crack of the whip and another 2 great prospects off in the new year Hyndman who was completely out of favour with Symonds and Rodek who has got to be better than that clown Lewis. "OH WHERE ARE WE HEADING"
I am depressed enough, Warnock would introduce a terminal illness! Something is very wrong and today proves that the temporary measures cannot continue any longer. Our players and fans deserve much better and it's now time for Mr Khan to be brave. Speculate to accumulate. COYW's
Even our own don't want the job. Quote from journalist Simon Peach - Peter Grant hopes the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest is his "last game" in charge. "I'm desperate to get back to being the U21 coach"
Has to be huge issues at the club - who on earth takes a month to get a manager in with serious claims they want prem football. We're a laughing stock. No ambition no leadership. Rigg out and I'd go as far as saying Khan out.
I disagree with that... ...but I completely agree with this. What we have is a classic example of what happens when a business tries to implement corporate change without a clear step plan. Senior people are too comfortable, money is wasted, people never make decisions, the ship drifts and yet the money rolls in whatever happens. We have the remnants of multiple regimes in charge but we lack the singular leader to pull everything together. In the business world, this is what you see from businesses before a takeover - our base assets have more value than the overall club does and someone will usually buy the assets and integrate them into a more successful business. However whatever vision we choose to follow, we need to be all in. Right now we just have a mess. Mr Khan - make a decision and stick with it.
I don't think it is a requirement, but I am saying that Khan either needs to start treating Fulham like a real business with real accountability and a real vision or, yes, he does need to sell. His (lack of) leadership is currently providing a net negative to the overall value of our club.
The senior management of the club do not appear to know what to do. It's not as if Kit going was a surprise. Thus being Fulham, there was no Plan B in place. Its about time that our businessmen started acting as if they were so. Demotivated Fans - Demotivated Players - leads to worries about Demotion to League One. This group of players has the ability to be in the play-offs. Yet the sum of the parts is less than the individual components (Come back Micky Adams who knew had to get that bit right). Rant over, for today. But unfortunately, I fear our embarrassment will continue....
We might well have to Tosh. The big money is now on Alex "furryboots" McLeish. [I now need to crash down before tomorrow morning's announcement]
I'm resigned now to not being excited by whoever we get. McLeish has a good record at Championship level, but my memory of his time at Villa was that he was criticised for being overly negative in his tactics. The worrying thing is that options that I wasn't keen on when Kit first left are starting to look attractive. I'd take Sean O'Driscoll now, despite the fact that his excellent record of a few years ago has rather stagnated. From seeing a lot of the teams he built at Bournemouth, he'd at least get us playing an attractive style of football. If it has to be McLeish, so be it. Whoever we get needs the fans to get behind him and give him a chance, otherwise we're doomed before we even start. Unless we go back to Lawrie Sanchez, obviously.
I meant to pick up on this sooner, but I'm not sure I see where the idea of Danny Murphy as ego-driven comes from. Other than the fact that he's carving out a career as a pundit, he's always seemed very self-effacing to me. I remember after the Hamburg semi-final an interviewer said this must be the greatest achievement of the cup run, and Murphy immediately said that beating Juventus 4-1 was probably a bigger deal. The fact that he went out of his way to bring up a match that he missed due to suspension rather than one that he had just played a big part in suggests a team-minded, humble character rather than an egotistical one, and seems typical of the picture I've always had of Murphy in his Fulham days. I'm not picking a fight, Silky, I'm just genuinely surprised to hear Murphy described in those terms. Care to tell me what I'm missing that makes you think that of him? Is it just me who has missed this - what do the rest of the regulars make of DM?