In his internal video interview Jol talks about this season - in a word, "depressing" - and the next. He confirms Sascha's signing and that another new signing will be announced in the next week. Bets on Amorebieta ?? His summation of this year, I think, is good and it's honest. [video=youtube;gf3hB1gzdNs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf3hB1gzdNs&feature=player_embedded[/video] http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/may/17/manager-video
These interviews are a big part of why I believe Jol is the right man for the job. Jol is frank and honest as always, as well as being insightful.
The Club have posted comments from Jol which more or less repeat what he said in the video interview http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/may/18/a-fantastic-place However there is an additional, interesting tailpiece -
Amorebieta and Riether for a combined total of £1.3m? This is why Jol is the right man for the job. Boateng on a free as well and we're half way there.
Don't understand this speculation about Gus Poyet being lined up to take the Fulham job. Surely we need to keep Jol, continuity is key for me and not to change managers through them moving or failing to meet targets every season. Be a bit harsh if he was shown the door. I'll be disappointed if he does go. The only reason I can think off is that Al Fayed gave him targets to get and he failed to reach them. Like 10th or above, a cup run.
If Jol left I think it would be due to differences with the board, rather than due to results. I agree that continuity is key though and Poyet isn't really an upgrade from Jol in my opinion.
I would imagine if the board were going to get rid of Jol then the time has been and gone. We've just signed three players too.
Their is an interesting article in todays football 365,regarding MJ. Read into it what you will, we all have our own thoughts on what direction the club is, or should be taking, but there are many points raised, which us fans have shown concerns about in past posts.
The article Ros is referring to: Is Jol's Short-Termism Harming Fulham? The article ignores the key fact/concern that Jol has not had very much money to spend in his time with us. Yes, we should be expecting to see more of our young players next year, but I don't think it's short-termism to bring them on slowly and find veterans within our budget. I'm sure Jol would love to go and sign a bunch of players in their early/mid twenties, but those players are not cheap. They certainly aren't available for free or on loans with options to buy. The article really should have been either "Is Jol's reluctance to play academy players harming Fulham?" or "Is Al Fayed's reluctance to spend harming Fulham?", which would be much more valid questions to ask.
I'm sure I read somewhere in a club article that Jol said that he expects to see some of the academy players coming through into the first team squad, as this is what happens in the Dutch League, that they feel that at the age of 18-21 players should be pushing for first team games, if they have not made it by then they tend to be sold to lower division clubs. I think it's a very brave manager who does that in the Premier, as it can go terribly wrong. And as a club Fulham have never been great at bringing through talent into the Premier. The last one was Smalling, and he got snapped up before he'd played much for us.
From the article Surly linked to; 3 of those were free transfers, the other two were a combined cost of, what, £6m-£7m? Hardly "reinvestment" on the £26m we got for the Ds. Yet another example of shoddy, lazy journalism. While it's true we're not progressing, the lack of spending power in this day and age is counter-productive.
This was the first season since we escaped relegation where we didn't do aswell as before. It's not difficult to see why. The sale of our 2 best players days before the end of the transfer deadline (cheers Spurs), last minute free replacements that were squad players and a couple of key injuries when we least needed them. I see a different season coming up. Agree it was a tad lazy of the journo. If the youth players are deemed too young it would put them back years.
