FFC's survival blueprint
Posted by Phil Mison
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Fulham has not replaced Clint Dempsey - or his crucial goals.
I pinned notification this week that Fulham are now weaker across seven positions than when Mark Hughes walked out on the club in 2011. Here's my reasoning.
Keeper: Nothing against Mark, securing him on a free in '08 was one of the smartest bits of business dear old Woy did on behalf of the club. He has saved us many times since with outstandingly unflappable displays. Quite simply, the march of time has caught up with him. There's nothing Mark can do about that, but Fulham must forget sentiment and secure a top line replacement in the summer. I think we all know who that is likely to be.
LB: Carlos Salcido came too late in his career, but we just about got away with his one season in white. However, for a fee of £2million John Arne Riise has been a major disappointment. The sharp-shooting from distance has gone, his mobility when being run at with pace makes him a liability and his own ability to get down the flanks to hurt opponents diminishes by the month. Will be moved on this summer for sure, but I'm not certain he deserves to be starting for the crucial 12 game run in.
CB: The need to sign a commanding CB has been identified by the club from more than a year ago. We all thought it was going to be Twente's Douglas, but the club gambled they might get away with it for another season. By his high standards, Aaron Hughes has started to show his age, while doubts remain over Brede's long term commitment to the club. By failing to find cover at the heart of defence, Fulham have had to turn to Senderos. While he has now clocked up 100 starts in the EPL, never gives less than 100 per cent and provides an aerial threat at set pieces, if anyone across the back four is going to come up with a game-changing error, it's likely to be our Swiss international.
MF: It is hard not to be critical of the club for the way our midfield has been decimated. For this exercise I will say we urgently need one midfielder of stature to anchor the whole team. A captain, a leader, a playmaker, a tough tackling no-nonsense player of real class who provides the heartbeat of the side. But the way Fulham mishandled the departures of Murphy, Dembele and Dempsey without any strategy to replace such key individuals means we now find ourselves dogged by the spectre of a battle to avoid relegation. You could argue we need more than one fresh face here.
Wingers: From his arrival onwards Martin Jol emphasised his desire to play with pacy wingers. Should we lay the lack of progress from our academy graduates at his door? Is it down to coaching? Maybe they are just not up to it. But there have been enough transfer windows to address the problem, and signing Kieran Richardson is no solution. As a consequence, for the final 12 games to decide our fate, FFC still have nobody to run the flanks in a manner that can unsettle teams. Two more positions therefore where we have come up short in this difficult season.
CF: Finally, we turn to the man to fill the boots of our departed, and much-missed top scorer. Nobody quite knows how to label Clint. He wasn't a winger, nor a conventional midfielder, certainly he wouldn't himself say he was a striker. But by golly, he offered so much more in the box than any of our current crop. Again, the club failed to hang on to three players from last season who knew where the goal was - Zamo, the Pog and Deuce. Anyone here now to fill those boots? Emphatically not.
Is it therefore any wonder we have really gone downhill so rapidly since October? This weekend for the first time I took a hard look at our run-in. I have a really bad feeling about this, even though we look to be sitting comfortably mid-table with 29 points in the 2nd week of February. As Mokey writes, where are the points coming from to get us up to 40?
Let's start with our away games. Even before you factor in how dreadful the Whites are on their travels, we know the side cannot win at Everton or Spurs. Swansea are three-and-zero in our three games since they came up - in two of those we have been played off the park. Do you imagine long trips to Sunderland and Newcastle with a handful of supporters will be easy, both clubs fighting for their own lives? And then there's Aston Villa. Another ground where Fulham historically never win. Benteke to grab the winner anyone as Fulham fail yet again to test the keeper? That game has massive significance.
Let's get on to the home games to cheer ourselves up. Sure, fortress Cottage is where we'll do the business. Stoke next up. Based on past results, everyone seems to think this is three points in the bag. It sure needs to be, because two bad results on the spin and we could be down in 16th by the end of the month. Anybody seriously imagine a Pulis side is going to turn up and give you an easy game?
So the wild-eyed optimists over at FoF point to those two nailed on home wins heading our way from the visits of QPR and Reading, conveniently forgetting that we've failed to beat either so far this season. By the time Rangers arrive, they will man-for-man have one of the stronger teams in the league on paper and their manager is far better equipped to get a result from them than our own, despite their shortcomings. Perhaps by the time they arrive, Rangers may just have given up the ghost. Pray that's so, because this could well be another game - like Villa - full of tension where the nerves take over. And if Fulham are on the slide by this stage, how much more of a six-pointer will Reading become? They are far from anybody's pushover - just ask Chelsea.
As for the other three visitors still to come down to the Cottage - Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool - they are all sides we can beat on the day when raising our game. But if confidence starts draining away, I suggest Fulham are going to need a monumental performance somewhere along the line, replicating the feats at Pompey and Man City in recent years, if we are not to slip back into the Championship. It might just be two more wins and a clutch of draws from here on in.
Will we stay up? Let's come back to that after the Stoke game. But on paper, that run in has a horrible look about it right now.
Everybody's run in is terrible. At least we've played both Manchester clubs.
Not being a Tweeting kind of person, I have no idea who Phil Mison is (exponent of Balearic, electronica and ambient musical genres according to Wiki, which makes me very little the wiser) but this is not a 'survival blueprint'. It is merely a reasonably accurate statement of our present shortcomings, of which most of us are only too painfully aware.
A blueprint provides answers - this does not, except to suggest we need to win a few more matches to be totally sure of avoiding relegation.
I dont udnerstand the emphasis on Murphys departure. Dembele and Dempsey I understand but why Murphy? He was poor for us the season he left and I was less than distraught when he left, he went at the right time and the club made the right decision.
Agree with above, blueprint is the wrong word for this.
Oh and Riise has not been that much of a liability either. Not amazing but not that bad.
Seems bang on the money for me.
Murphy was way passed his best but we never found any replacement.
We were a jigsaw with a few tatty bits we had to work hard to find a way to fit. But you could tell what the picture was. Now the jigsaw is missing pieces and we have lost the box cover to tell what the picture is supposed to be. Frankly an ugly waste of a season.
Quote from: Lighthouse on February 13, 2013, 09:44:41 AM
Seems bang on the money for me.
Murphy was way passed his best but we never found any replacement.
We were a jigsaw with a few tatty bits we had to work hard to find a way to fit. But you could tell what the picture was. Now the jigsaw is missing pieces and we have lost the box cover to tell what the picture is supposed to be. Frankly an ugly waste of a season.
Yes.
We were right to let Murph go - wrong not to line up a replacement. Even super optimists like me can see this, which, with the departure of Dembele, has effectively neutered our midfield, as a strategic failure of management.
The only mitigating factor is that replacements of Murphy's quality are very very hard to find and/or very very expensive. We may have thought that we had a young replacement lined up (Minkwitz?) but this turns out not to have been the case.
Quote from: cmg on February 13, 2013, 09:12:47 AM
Not being a Tweeting kind of person, I have no idea who Phil Mison is (exponent of Balearic, electronica and ambient musical genres according to Wiki, which makes me very little the wiser) but this is not a 'survival blueprint'. It is merely a reasonably accurate statement of our present shortcomings, of which most of us are only too painfully aware.
A blueprint provides answers - this does not, except to suggest we need to win a few more matches to be totally sure of avoiding relegation.
About the Author
Phil Mison
Phil's Fulham mad Dad took him to his first game aged seven and stood him on an orange box at the Hammersmith End behind the goal. He was hooked for life, but discarded the orange box at 11. As a broadcaster, writer and sports producer he has supplied past club videos and numerous articles on FFC. LBC Radio's Fulham correspondent 1988-1993 and Sky Sports' reporter for the 1996-97 promotion season. Professionally Phil delivers football content to the highest level both to a global audience UK via TV, radio and digital media. You can follow him on twitter @fulhamphil
if he gets paid for this espn got robbed. about as much insight as a blind man describing the mona lisa.
Quote from: LRCN on February 13, 2013, 11:06:02 AM
if he gets paid for this espn got robbed. about as much insight as a blind man describing the mona lisa.
Just for clarification. I am not to be confused with a mixmaster DJ of the same name. I have no idea what 'Balearic beats' are.
The article was written for ESPN's website, and far from being robbed, this is my third season as their FFC blogger. We have increased traffic enormously to the site in that time. Care to visit and review the number of posts since the Norwich game and you will see the bigger picture. Of course, most of our readership is coming from the USA, but the ESPN club bloggers are all solid UK writers working through the Hammersmith office of ESPN's HQ in the UK. Unfortunately our copy is subject to review by staff in the US before going live, who have a bad habit of changing the top line. This article was submitted under the title, "Where FFC have gone backwards." It is not a blueprint for anything and was not written as such. My piece from Norwich, "Dont' Shoot! It's only a game," also got cut - the Yanks are currently ultra-sensitive on gun issues.
Finally, it is for the FoF mods to decide if they want to aggregate my stuff and stick it up on this site. White Noise has regularly done so in the past. I never ask for it, but I'm quite happy with the exposure. That's why journalists write.
Ignore or respond to my material here or at ESPNFC, it's all fine by me. Just please don't shoot the messenger without knowing the facts.
In our last three games we have played well with a solidity at the back we have not shown all season and have a dangerous and classy midfield and forward line who will score goals.
We are on the way up not on the way down as this pessimistic tosh implies.
Why are so many Fulham fans so morbid?
Agree with A Humble Man - this post is far too pessimistic, implying, as it does, that Fulham have had a sudden decline in performance unmatched in their Prem history.
We have had many worse squads and equally bad runs -this last bad run now having ended, hopefully -than at present.
Of course, relegation is a possiblity - but it always is, at the start of every season, for Fulham - along with a number of clubs.
If Jol and the team were this pessimistic, we might as well all give up. Yes, we could go down , but we could also play our way into a top ten finish.
Yes, constructive criticism is to be applauded, but we should all also get behind Jol and the team - which now contains many top class players - probably more so tha most of Fulham's time in the Prem.
Quote from: fulhamphil on February 13, 2013, 11:49:30 AM
Just for clarification. I am not to be confused with a mixmaster DJ of the same name. I have no idea what 'Balearic beats' are.
Fair enough, Phil. Pity really as I was looking forward to extending my musical education with some insights on 'Balearic ambient electronica' (sounds like the latest Latin pronouncement from the Vatican).
It was to the headline that my mild criticism was leveled, rather than the content.
Glad to welcome another Fulham fan to the fold.
As a fan in the US who posts at Phil's blog as well as here, I have to say some important context is missing when you look at one piece in isolation. Maybe we look with different preferences - and without a lifetime's loyalty to 'our club' right or wrong - but we've been aghast by many of the 'performances' FFC have put in. I took no comfort from 1 point at Norwich, because it was a pretty dreadful display by both sides, if good football is what you want.
In our last three games we played well? Only if you leave out the last one, in which the "offense" was back to little/no creativity and few chances, much as it was for most of November and December. Maybe the short-term injection of Emanuelson will propel us to better offense and enough points to stay up, with the player well beyond our means to keep. But Phil is right, in my view - you can excuse lack of preparation for losing Dembele, but the management also failed to replace Murphy and Dempsey with a whole summer to come up with some options. We've seen some flashes in MF from Diarra and Kara, but we can also see why the bigger clubs no longer wanted them; they're worn down, past it, can't be counted on for a run of games. Coupled with inconsistency at the back and on the wings, it's a recipe for wondering where 40 points will come from. It's a good thing we probably won't need 40 to stay up, since I'm not sure we can get them.
Another doom and gloom piece as far as I'm concerned. Certainly isn't a blueprint.
You could probably look at any one of 10-15 Premier League clubs, and say that they are weaker in certain positions than last year.
What does it prove, except that all but the top 4-6 can afford to strengthen / maintain each year, whilst the rest struggle to replace the players they've inevitably lost.
Welcome to the forum Phil!!!
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Your insight on Fulham would be good to have on the messageboard on a regular basis. I enjoy your Fulham blogs on ESPN and have been reading them for a couple years now. You say where are the 40 points going to come from? My thought is that we will limp to the finish line but grab a couple scalps along the way. It will be on par with the rest of the season. We have had some good performances, mostly some uninspired performances, and some terrible stuff. I think we need a center mid so badly. If we could get a decent one in we could be in for a good year next year. Martin Jol is such a polarizing figure and that makes life at Fulham very interesting for a fan. Can he take this team to the next level?
Quote from: fulhamphil on February 13, 2013, 11:49:30 AM
x
i am aware your column is ongoing. i've read it before. but as i say, i think it is flawed and uninspired. but each to their own and fair play if others enjoy it. i have no intention of censoring it.
anyway, as you were.
Fair play to your views, but why are we talking survival. We have spent 12 consecutive seasons in this league and are now established. We can look down our current squad, and it doesn't take a genius to find areas we need to improve. However, we have players full of skill to maintain our position, it is just a case of getting them to play in a system that suits their skills. Yes we are having a difficult up and down season, that worries fans who had bigger expectations. It is obvious with the influx of youth players that the board have a blueprint for the future. I like that idea and am willing to support it. We are financially secure and why buy our way out of a mediocre situation that just hasn't reached the levels of performance that the past seasons have bought for fans to expect.
We have nothing to worry about. Trust in the squad, the future looks bright
I don't think the run in is bad 3 winnable away games, also we can beat any team we have left at home
I thought a blueprint was a plan
Quote from: horse1031 on February 13, 2013, 02:18:02 PM
Welcome to the forum Phil!!!
Thanks horse. Will try to find time from my other two FFC blog platforms to post when I can. I am humbled to read moderator Lork will not censor my views.
Memo to self: After 25 years at this game if only I could learn to make my copy less 'flawed and uninspiring.'
Haynes The Maestro:
I want to do a female Fulham fan blog, wouldn't tell anybody on here though, they definitely wouldn't be interested in my Fulham angst from a female perspective.
Quote from: Berserker on February 13, 2013, 04:39:59 PM
I want to do a female Fulham fan blog, wouldn't tell anybody on here though, they definitely wouldn't be interested in my Fulham angst from a female perspective.
All angst's are welcome
The headline is indeed poor, as it doesn't seem to be a blueprint for survival, but for relegation. It explains how we might not get the requisite points... and if we don't then this will probably be about right: Villa snatch an ugly home win like they did against West Ham (or like we did against them), QPR finally play to their potential, and then we revert to the form we showed in December which turns the home fixtures against the big clubs that went well last year into lost causes. Add in the expected results against the top half clubs away, poor performances after long journeys to the north east, and some bad luck against Stoke and Reading, and getting to 40 (though the actual requirement will likely be lower) isn't such a sure thing. But that's a lot to go wrong, and even when we were supposedly playing "last days of Sanchez" football we were still getting almost a point a game. The way the league has gone this year, no matter how poor a run you are on you will eventually play someone worse. Even playing poorly we should find two wins and a few draws, and then (assuming none of the teams just below us do even worse) two of the bottom four would have to make a big improvement to catch us and put us in the bottom three... in QPR's case they'd need more points from the last 12 than they got from the first 26, so probably two of three realistically. Not saying this is what we're aiming for at this point, call me an optimist but I'm looking up the table, just noting that even the pessimists should recognize the bar for survival is still low at this point.
So it's not impossible, but it's a bit of a stretch to say we have a horrible run or that it's hard to see where the points will come from. Stoke is hardly a must win game, though I do hope we win (beyond just wanting Fulham to win as usual) since I'm sure there will be plenty of posts about how the relegation fight (as opposed to just "the spectre of a battle to avoid relegation") is back on if we don't. But if we do lose we'll still be out of the relegation zone by at least three points, probably more assuming Villa don't win at the Emirates, with plenty of winnable (and drawable) games to go.
Quote from: Berserker on February 13, 2013, 04:39:59 PM
I want to do a female Fulham fan blog, wouldn't tell anybody on here though, they definitely wouldn't be interested in my Fulham angst from a female perspective.
As a man I would be wrong anyway
I'm a fan of Phils blogs / links on twitter & Lorcans input on Cottage Talk / Twitter / Hammyend
Parts of Phils blog rings true with me in regards to the massive gaps left, fact that if we stumble at home and get dragged into the battle we have unfavourable away fixtures etc
found this blog also
Relegation Watch... its a good read with some decent stats & figures
Despite my disappointments with whats happening on the pitch this season, really does indicate that 8th on a great year & 10th on a good year are realistic yet tenable glass ceilings
http://www.cominghomenewcastle.com/2013/2/13/3980376/newcastle-united-nufc-premier-league-relegation-battle-southampton-aston-villa-reading-wigan-qpr (http://www.cominghomenewcastle.com/2013/2/13/3980376/newcastle-united-nufc-premier-league-relegation-battle-southampton-aston-villa-reading-wigan-qpr)
I have been conscious for a while that we are facing a difficult end of season home programme, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are really attractive fixtures but unlikely to yield points for us. Stoke, Reading and QPR therefore become critical "must win games ".
The worry is in some recent games we seem to have played the majority of the match in our own half with hardly a shot on goal.We cannot afford many more performances like those.
My hope is that this two week break from matches will be well used to blend a couple of our new signings into the team and that Jol will come up with a solution to the Berbatov/Ruiz conundrum to enable us to field a settled side that will fully contest each of our remaining fixtures. We need 10 or 11 points , we should manage that.
I think it's an exaggeration to say that 'everyone seems to think this (Stoke) is three points in the bag'. Arguably, even less accurate is the assertion that those here are 'conveniently overlooking' our failure to win at the Madejski Stadium and Loftus Road. (Anyone who witnessed the latter is unlikely to forget the inept performance in a hurry, that's for sure.)
Moreover, while we cannot afford to be complacent, the league table does suggest that fewer than 40 points will be enough to survive. Though we won't pick up every point for which we hope, we won't necessarily have to.
What strikes me most, however, is that the author, having outlined the remainder of our season in a manner that anyone would be hard-pushed to make seem more daunting or worrying, lacks the courage to back his words and draw the only logical conclusion: relegation. In my eyes, that he failed to do so instantly redefined what had gone before as nothing more than scaremongering.
Quote from: fulhamphil on February 13, 2013, 04:29:30 PM
Welcome to the forum Phil!!!
Thanks horse. Will try to find time from my other two FFC blog platforms to post when I can. I am humbled to read moderator Lork will not censor my views.
Memo to self: After 25 years at this game if only I could learn to make my copy less 'flawed and uninspiring.'
Haynes The Maestro:
I was wondering when you were going to join the messageboard. I thought you were already a member with a different name. Hope to see you on here and posting some more.
:008: I was on the forum regularly in the past two seasons by proxy because White Noise cut and pasted my old espn.soccernet blogs into his regular daily press cuttings round up. A number of fans started following me from that. Not sure if ESPN have put a block on this. I had registered but rarely felt the need to add anything else to the Fof forum, it was all in my blogs.
The system at ESPN changed over the summer - for the worst. I can no longer go straight to publish, being subject to sub-editor approval in the U.S. I am unable to select my own images. Blogs can sit in the system quite some time before going up. Interference with copy, as with the corrupted headline to the current piece, written as "Where FFC have gone backwards," is a major irritant, and out of my hands. Please read the piece as a comparative of where the club finished in May 2011 (qualifying for the Europa League) and then argue we have made progress under Martin, if you can.
There's a marked contrast in the way Yank followers see our predicament to those of us closer to the drama here. Maybe it's a more detached viewpoint brought about by distance. Posts tend to be more objective, well reasoned, and fans over there know their stuff, and believe me, they see this side for what it is. I am not scaremongering when I write this team of Jol's is in very poor shape. As for the 'R' word, the last line of current blog says it all...Ask me after Stoke.
Quote from: fulhamphil on February 13, 2013, 07:15:07 PM
:008: I was on the forum regularly in the past two seasons by proxy because White Noise cut and pasted my old espn.soccernet blogs into his regular daily press cuttings round up. A number of fans started following me from that. Not sure if ESPN have put a block on this. I had registered but rarely felt the need to add anything else to the Fof forum, it was all in my blogs.
The system at ESPN changed over the summer - for the worst. I can no longer go straight to publish, being subject to sub-editor approval in the U.S. I am unable to select my own images. Blogs can sit in the system quite some time before going up. Interference with copy, as with the corrupted headline to the current piece, written as "Where FFC have gone backwards," is a major irritant, and out of my hands. Please read the piece as a comparative of where the club finished in May 2011 (qualifying for the Europa League) and then argue we have made progress under Martin, if you can.
There's a marked contrast in the way Yank followers see our predicament to those of us closer to the drama here. Maybe it's a more detached viewpoint brought about by distance. Posts tend to be more objective, well reasoned, and fans over there know their stuff, and believe me, they see this side for what it is. I am not scaremongering when I write this team of Jol's is in very poor shape. As for the 'R' word, the last line of current blog says it all...Ask me after Stoke.
so, do you want a new manager? what is the solution?
i do know that our academy is better than it was then. first team, not so much. One thing Jol does do well is that he is able to bring in some quality players. ie... reither, berbatov, ruiz, urby, dejegah, rodallega.
If we battle Stoke like we battled West Ham then I think we will be ok. Stoke is bullish and the game could go any sort of different ways. We need some leadership and some toughness. I know just the player... Karagounis.
p.s. - i am a yank, and yes we are very objective, well reasoned fans!! HAHA :scarf:
Well I always remember those vidoes,.......and we are lot better off today!
Like then everyone is entitled to an opinion......
Horse, you are trying to drag me into contentious territory. Change the manager now? We discussed this at length on t'other forum last month. No obvious candidates, too disruptive for the board, we were still in the Cup (just!) and had two games with United coming up. IF the side were to take a couple of hidings Wolves style, say an 0-4 at home then a 5-0 away, and it was clear Jol had lost the dressing-room, the board may have to act. In 2003 Tigana went in April. It's an awful scenario to contemplate, I guess you could only ask McKinlay and Kit to try and get a fractured side over the line by appealing to their pride. In my fantasy world I see MaF asking the FA to release Woy and Lew to double up on duties for a few weeks. How the rest of the league would NOT like that! Aint gonna happen.
p.s. - i am a yank, and yes we are very objective, well reasoned fans!! HAHA :scarf:
[/quote]
Handsome too!
Quote from: YankeeJim on February 13, 2013, 10:38:22 PMp.s. - i am a yank, and yes we are very objective, well reasoned fans!! HAHA :scarf:
I'm a women and the same applies ;-)
Welcome to the board Phil.
I think your post is a reasoned assessment of the current state of play, and most of it resonates.
The key though is what your expectations are. From my perspective, every season is one where we will lose some of our best players but still muddle through, and we will be lower to mid table more often than we are mid to upper table.
Every year we remain in the premiership is a good achievement.
Sounds gloomy, but in my time watching our fine club through thick and thin you can perhaps appreciate that. Or not, it's just my opinion, after all. And I am easily pleased!
And it doesn't detract from the fact that these are our golden years. We have had top half finishes, not to mention a fab journey to Hamburg.
Quote from: fulhamphil on February 13, 2013, 04:29:30 PM
Quote from: horse1031 on February 13, 2013, 02:18:02 PM
Welcome to the forum Phil!!!
Thanks horse. Will try to find time from my other two FFC blog platforms to post when I can. I am humbled to read moderator Lork will not censor my views.
Memo to self: After 25 years at this game if only I could learn to make my copy less 'flawed and uninspiring.'
Haynes The Maestro:
Phil, looks like you "struck" a chord with optimists ;) . I am as pessimistic as you are and find too many of my fellow supporters think we are suddenly going to 'snap out of it' and start playing inspired football. I don't believe we will. We may not play as poorly as we did for that miserable 4 month run of the most uninspired football I've seen us play. We will struggle for sure.
I also hope I am dead wrong!
I agree we need an overhaul, top to bottom.
Welcome to the board!
I suggest you go on th bbc footballl predictor and fill in all the results to see who is most likely to do the drop
Please explain why the so called pessimists are the ones who want Fulham to do as well as a club with thirteen years established in the Prem and have at best wasted this season. Yet the so called optimists have no trouble watching a club struggle and not shoot and have talented players poorly used. It all sounds very Fulhamish.
Also beware when the optimists criticise thread titles. The last argument of a defeated poster.
Quote from: Lighthouse on February 13, 2013, 11:44:53 PM
Please explain why the so called pessimists are the ones who want Fulham to do as well as a club with thirteen years established in the Prem and have at best wasted this season. Yet the so called optimists have no trouble watching a club struggle and not shoot and have talented players poorly used. It all sounds very Fulhamish.
Also beware when the optimists criticise thread titles. The last argument of a defeated poster.
My dear tall beam of light, you are not a glass half full type as much as a glass empty fellow. BUT, it certainly is Fulhamish. LOL
I think this is an interesting thread and an insightful piece from Phil Mison, although not addressing the topic title! The Oxford dictionary defines blueprint as: "something which acts as a plan, model, or template for others..."
The 'Jol blueprint' appears to be based on survival planning and short term objectives - plugging gaps and building an ageing squad built around one and two year player contracts, loan signings of out of contract / injury prone / out of favour players linked to Jol's past and the Eredivisie. In my view, this situation has blocked the progress of our young players, and contributed to the lack of 1st team consistency in performances, team structure, and cohesion.
My 'blueprint for success and future development' would be based on:
• Nurturing youth talent through and into the 1st team squad – not looking for every opportunity to loan out (like Frei, to sit on the bench at Cardiff!) or "blocking progress" of our young players
• Building a sound, secure 'spine' to the team - with reliable goalkeeper, strong centre back, leadership in central midfield, 'regular' goal scorer (McBride, as an example); all on secure contracts
• Achieving balance of youth and experience throughout the team – to provide pace, enthusiasm and invention
• Using loans more strategically for specific positions - which have cover provided by young players who are being developed in a process of succession
• Providing longer term (at least 3 year) contracts to key players - the 'spine', most talented and youth elements of the team
...to all those critical of the title 'fulhamphil' - the author of the piece has already stated in this very same thread the following:-
The system at ESPN changed over the summer - for the worst. I can no longer go straight to publish, being subject to sub-editor approval in the U.S. I am unable to select my own images. Blogs can sit in the system quite some time before going up. Interference with copy, as with the corrupted headline to the current piece, written as "Where FFC have gone backwards," is a major irritant, and out of my hands. Please read the piece as a comparative of where the club finished in May 2011 (qualifying for the Europa League) and then argue we have made progress under Martin, if you can.
Hopefully this misleading post title is now cleared up.
Irrespective of the style and tone, there are statements of concern about progress and proceedings at the playing level, and like any long article there will be points I don't agree with and others I strongly agree with. I happen to agree with a lot of what Phil has written, we don't have all the facts and we can only speculate about what is going on behind the scenes, but as humble supporters all we can do is interpret the results we see on the pitch. Of course we all see things differently, but apart from the clinically ecstatic, few would say that the team are performing regularly to the best of their abilities, and if we cannot express our views on a message board we may as well wrap this all up.
PS: Welcome to FoF Phil...
Quote from: BishopsParkFantastic on February 14, 2013, 08:33:17 AM
I think this is an interesting thread and an insightful piece from Phil Mison, although not addressing the topic title! The Oxford dictionary defines blueprint as: "something which acts as a plan, model, or template for others..."
The 'Jol blueprint' appears to be based on survival planning and short term objectives - plugging gaps and building an ageing squad built around one and two year player contracts, loan signings of out of contract / injury prone / out of favour players linked to Jol's past and the Eredivisie. In my view, this situation has blocked the progress of our young players, and contributed to the lack of 1st team consistency in performances, team structure, and cohesion.
My 'blueprint for success and future development' would be based on:
• Nurturing youth talent through and into the 1st team squad – not looking for every opportunity to loan out (like Frei, to sit on the bench at Cardiff!) or "blocking progress" of our young players
• Building a sound, secure 'spine' to the team - with reliable goalkeeper, strong centre back, leadership in central midfield, 'regular' goal scorer (McBride, as an example); all on secure contracts
• Achieving balance of youth and experience throughout the team – to provide pace, enthusiasm and invention
• Using loans more strategically for specific positions - which have cover provided by young players who are being developed in a process of succession
• Providing longer term (at least 3 year) contracts to key players - the 'spine', most talented and youth elements of the team
Sorry but that all makes for too much sense.
Quote from: MJG on February 14, 2013, 11:00:36 AM
Quote from: BishopsParkFantastic on February 14, 2013, 08:33:17 AM
I think this is an interesting thread and an insightful piece from Phil Mison, although not addressing the topic title! The Oxford dictionary defines blueprint as: "something which acts as a plan, model, or template for others..."
The 'Jol blueprint' appears to be based on survival planning and short term objectives - plugging gaps and building an ageing squad built around one and two year player contracts, loan signings of out of contract / injury prone / out of favour players linked to Jol's past and the Eredivisie. In my view, this situation has blocked the progress of our young players, and contributed to the lack of 1st team consistency in performances, team structure, and cohesion.
My 'blueprint for success and future development' would be based on:
• Nurturing youth talent through and into the 1st team squad – not looking for every opportunity to loan out (like Frei, to sit on the bench at Cardiff!) or "blocking progress" of our young players
• Building a sound, secure 'spine' to the team - with reliable goalkeeper, strong centre back, leadership in central midfield, 'regular' goal scorer (McBride, as an example); all on secure contracts
• Achieving balance of youth and experience throughout the team – to provide pace, enthusiasm and invention
• Using loans more strategically for specific positions - which have cover provided by young players who are being developed in a process of succession
• Providing longer term (at least 3 year) contracts to key players - the 'spine', most talented and youth elements of the team
Sorry but that all makes for too much sense.
When has sense ever had to do with anything :005:
It's a good business plan but it's also stating the obvious.
Jol and Mackintosh would agree with every word - it's the implementation that is the problem and the associated cost.
Agree with Tony Gilroy.
I'm sure Jol and Mackintosh have the long term, as well as the short term, interest of the club as their priority.
Well - why wouldn't they? they have years of experience between them, and it is in their own interest that Fulham are successful- to continue in the Prem and build on the recent high league placings and Europa success - it is their careers and reputations involved.
But we just do not know what constraints they are working under.
Fulham is is a success story over the last 10 plus years, since MAF took over, and I'm sure everyone nvolved withe club wants it to continue to be so.
Quote from: YankeeJim on February 14, 2013, 12:19:16 AM
Quote from: Lighthouse on February 13, 2013, 11:44:53 PM
Please explain why the so called pessimists are the ones who want Fulham to do as well as a club with thirteen years established in the Prem and have at best wasted this season. Yet the so called optimists have no trouble watching a club struggle and not shoot and have talented players poorly used. It all sounds very Fulhamish.
Also beware when the optimists criticise thread titles. The last argument of a defeated poster.
My dear tall beam of light, you are not a glass half full type as much as a glass empty fellow. BUT, it certainly is Fulhamish. LOL
I am supposed to have a glass? :Get Coat gif:
Quote from: Lighthouse on February 14, 2013, 01:02:41 PM
Quote from: YankeeJim on February 14, 2013, 12:19:16 AM
Quote from: Lighthouse on February 13, 2013, 11:44:53 PM
Please explain why the so called pessimists are the ones who want Fulham to do as well as a club with thirteen years established in the Prem and have at best wasted this season. Yet the so called optimists have no trouble watching a club struggle and not shoot and have talented players poorly used. It all sounds very Fulhamish.
Also beware when the optimists criticise thread titles. The last argument of a defeated poster.
My dear tall beam of light, you are not a glass half full type as much as a glass empty fellow. BUT, it certainly is Fulhamish. LOL
I am supposed to have a glass? :Get Coat gif:
Remember you are the light in the darkness Mr Lighthouse, guiding us all to safety
My thanks to those who have welcomed me to the Forum. Seems churlish not to post again. Not wishing to stir up another hornets nest of controversy, but am working up my next blog on the character of the current side for taking on a relegation scrap, should it come down to the wire. It's not a cheery prognosis.
We have three groups of players - those signed by Jol, who you might expect to show loyalty to the gaffer, the seasoned old guard who've also played under Hodgson and Hughes and are at the end of their contracts, and the loanees on short deals, who probably couldn't care less where Fulham finish in May. Make you own minds up as to whether you think that constitutes a healthy mix...
The loanees are presumably playing for their futures. I don't think we should assume anything about players' attitudes - all that matters is their performances.
FWIW I'm by no means convinced that we'll stay up. We probably will but it'll be tight and serious squad improvements are necessary in the summer.
Yes, I think loanees are desperate to impress their home clubs or the marketplace. Emmanuelson has said his future is at Roma, and wants to show them what he can do, and I think Frimpong said something similar.
Obviously it is far better to have players contracted to the club, butyou could turn it round and say isn't it good that Jol managed to reinforce the squad when he obviously wasn't able to get his targets in the Jan window mainly because of money.
Agree that we could go down , but our win over West Ham and performance against Man U were encouraging - and even our away point and clean sheet at Norwich!
As supporters , frustrated as we are about things, I think about the only power we have to influence matters is to really get behind the team during matches.
Phil, as an ESPN reporter/blogger and lifelong Fulham fan, what is your take on the departure of Dempsey? He's been defended, vilified, his accomplishments and contributions trivialized--you've probably been reading the posts, yes? Just curious if you have any insights that haven't been aired thus far.
That's a big topic and deserves its own thread. I have a big file on Deuce, I'll get round to posting something but don't expect any revelations. Model pro in my book.