Wrong again! According to journalist Simon Peach (who tends to be credible) Stuart Gray took this morning's training session. please log in to view this image He's been touted heavily since the Clarke fiasco and I've resisted posting anything in the hope that it wouldn't happen. Won't go into any of his history now, since if it's a fait accompli .. so be it! I'm still not clear whether he'll join as the team 'boss' or whether it's as a 'senior' coach with the main appointment still to be made. If he's the main man however, he'll unfortunately start on the back foot with fans. Not at all his fault. It's all down to Rigg. As always it's the Club I support and will give him a fair chance. But can't help but feeling rather flat about the prospect.
From his wikipedia page he looks like a competent coach who has worked with some good names - Hoddle for one - but I don't think he could claim to be the man to take us to a higher level, as Mr Khan stated he wanted when Kit was sacked. I think his highest league finish when he was actually in charge for a proper spell was 13th with Sheffield Wednesday. That is some way short of "experience in getting teams out of the Championship". But I think he knows Rigg from the past, so hey ho...
If Gray did take training today (and the sources are so numerous that it has to believed) then it’s more that disappointing that the Club has said nothing. And naturally the speculation why they’ve stayed silent is beginning to hit row Z. An obvious start point is; Gray is not being given the Head Coach job permanently. The combinations thereafter get too complicated for my brain. The only one thing that seems clear to me is that Peter Grant made it clear after the Forest game he was unhappy continuing his first team role, the Club now have Gray coaching the first team - and there are some twists in the tail still to come. One other thing though. If the Club are going to appoint a Head Coach (Mr X) soon, it appears very cack-handed to bring in an assistant coach (Gray) beforehand and without the new man’s endorsement. Unless of course it’s Rigg (again) simply having another panic attack and reacting rather than planning with foresight. Whatever, the omnishambles keeps rolling along!
My theory and hope is that Gray has been brought in as a stop gap, hired by the day, until we have a new man in charge (title withheld) come in with his own team of coaching staff. Gray has done similar before on several occasions. Not a good scenario but to me the only that would make sense. I have never heard of a new head coach or manager starting work before a club announcement, it would be nonsense to do so........but the silence is as said before is deafening.
I think when they put Grant in charge two days before the first game of the interregnum, having previously let Curbishly take the reigns, it was a pretty sure sign that the powers-that-be didn't want Curbishly. If he'd have done well as caretaker, they might have got into a situation where it was impossible not to give him the job. The fact that first Grant and now Gray have been put in ahead of him shows that someone (Rigg?) isn't willing to risk that happening. Curbishly wouldn't have been my first choice, but the longer this mess goes on, the more he's looking like he would have been a better option. I really despair of a satisfactory end to all this now.
How can Rigg think this is acceptable. I'm baffled that Khan thinks it's okay too. Someone needs to go in and kick some arse. I nominate Surly, C58 and Kunye to do this.
Too right Craving! However, can I suggest an alternative that those you have volunteered? If Surly, C58 and Kunye could take the first 3 matches as Head Coach, you take Boxing Day. I'll take Rotherham, then someone can take the two back-to-back Owls matches. Given the wise words on this Board over the years, we could at least talk-the-talk. And it couldn't be any worse than the current management shambles embarrassment. Notwithstanding the joke/rant.... Best wishes to Stuart Gray in his new role!!!
I'm looking forward to those board meetings! Although to be honest, I don't know half as much about football as most of you guys so I guess I would take Sean O'Loughlin's job with the purse strings. No failing FFP on my watch! Anyway joking aside, I'll echo GeraScores and say: good luck with your new role, Stuart Gray. Sadly, I suspect you may need it.
Think everyone at this club, players, supporters needs someone to inspire us to get us back behind the team. Over the last few seasons we've stumbled from one debacle to another. At the moment someone like Gray is not going to have a easy time if he is the person Rigg thinks is going to turn this club around, simply because he is an unknown, and we are more likely to give him less time, especially if results don't pick up. We saw it with Magath you get the wrong person in and soon players are less than co-operative, and that can lead to disaster.
Supposedly he is good working with the defensive side of the game so that is a plus. I read also that he has a good working relationship with the Sheffield Wednesday players when he was there , so not all bad. I'm so fed up with the last month I just hope this guy can kick us on and we can pick up a few points. We played well against Notts Forest, particularly the first half, and lost it due to silly goals again. I will say again that our team is made up some of the best in the Championship and when they click such as against QPR we can beat the best and certainly the likes of MK Dons, Preston etc where we have been lacklustre. A good win against Brentford will be a fantastic tonic and quieten down a few people. The players need our support and I'm happy to go with it, given the last month we have had.
The man in waiting - Mr G Monk of Wales? Swansea have "reluctantly" parted company with him. Personally, I'm a tad superstitious and wary of Swansea managers who inherited a good team and set up - Rogers, Laudrup and now Monk.
It might be unfair to him now but he was certainly known as cocky in his younger days and has acknowledged it in interviews since. I remember reading or hearing a quote from his very early days, around the time he moved to Liverpool along the lines of "Danny Murphy is the new Danny Murphy", which on one hand is fair enough but at the time it struck me as arrogance rather than profundity. I'm not in a position to judge really but when I'm watching him on the telly speak, particularly when it was around Magath and the cheese and more recently in interviews where he talks about being the Fulham manager and why it won't happen, I just think it's a bit beyond confidence. He was the main man with us under a good manager, so we saw him at his best, he was a senior player, the captain, and we achieved more than had been ever before. At some of the other clubs where he didn't have that success I know some fans have raised it. It might not be a bad thing, there are plenty of successful people who are ego driven and don't have any control over it, but in the context of Fulham now I don't think it's what we need, not with Rigg in the picture. I don't know him though -have never seen him off camera - so you could well be right. On to Monk being sacked, I'd be happy for him to come in, although it is difficult to get a measure of him given that it's a good set up. I'm curious to see who they bring in - Kit may be sat by his phone right now.
Thanks for clarifying, Silky. I hadn't heard the 'new Danny Murphy' quote. I remember a few years ago some Charlton fans coming onto our board and referring to his attitude when he was with them leaving a lot to be desired. Going on what I've seen of him with us (and since), I still think he's one of the good guys. One of my favourite ever Fulham players, in fact.
