Hi Everyone,
This is a special episode as we interviewed Tony Khan who is Vice Chairman and Director Of Football Operations for Fulham Football Club. At the end of the episode, we previewed the upcoming match for Fulham against Preston North End.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cottagetalk/2017/03/04/cottage-talk-exclusive-interview-with-tony-khan (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cottagetalk/2017/03/04/cottage-talk-exclusive-interview-with-tony-khan)
Very interesting. Thanks.
Fantastic interview. Fasinated by some of the stuff, Cairney recruited by Shahid, Slav will stay longer than 2 years, Riverside development WILL happen and much much more. Every Fulham fan has to listen to this, very open uplifting and probably the most open I have ever heard a Fulham leader in the history of the club. Well done Russ Goldman.
You've said it all Stu-great interview.
Thanks Russ.
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 08:52:13 AM
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
I haven't listened yet but will do, but the so called "Khan bashers" have more evidence (perceived or otherwise) of failure than anything the "Pro Khan" brigade can until recently.
Even if the shambles we have all seen was done in good faith it was still a shambles, right!
Having said all that, there does seem to be a new wind blowing and I'm happy to give them another chance.
Some interesting stuff. It's always good to hear commitment and positivity and Tony Khan gives us a glimpse of the possibilities that can be made to happen when you have the right team running a football club. Especially good to know of the high regard Fulham hold for SJ both before and after his arrival. It all sounds promising.
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 08:52:13 AM
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
Great interview but as to your Khan Bashers comment, yawn.
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 08:52:13 AM
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
There were more than a few grandad. So let's not do a Peter Mandelson here. Forgetting about the interview for a brief moment. Prior to this interview, please tell me exactly what your thoughts were and what you appreciate what the Khans are trying to do, and please don't look at your notes. Try explaining it from the top of your head.
Hi Everyone.
Thank you for your feedback on the interview as I think it was important to have a lengthy discussion with him. I hope you got something out of it.
Russ
Interesting interview .Thanks
In fairness our clubs failings up until now has been because the Khans had NO clue about Fulham or football before they bought the club and in many ways no interest (as Tony said) and that has grown and shown, so has their interest and investment. Slavisa was the stabilising influence we need so hopefully now it'll be onwards and upwards.
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on March 04, 2017, 10:35:20 AM
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 08:52:13 AM
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
There were more than a few grandad. So let's not do a Peter Mandelson here. Forgetting about the interview for a brief moment. Prior to this interview, please tell me exactly what your thoughts were and what you appreciate what the Khans are trying to do, and please don't look at your notes. Try explaining it from the top of your head.
They are trying to build our great club up again after the unholy mess they inherited. A far harder & longer job than the previous owner had. I feel more confident of the future of the Club. It is not just a plaything. Just enjoy the march onwards & upwards.
It's a great interview thanks Russ.
Whatever doubts anyone may still have at least they're now engaging with the fans and openly discussing what's happening.
I do think it's a rather favourable cherry picking of the good business but overall really good to hear.
Proof's in the pudding and all that but I'm more hopeful now than for some while.
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 11:15:16 AM
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on March 04, 2017, 10:35:20 AM
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 08:52:13 AM
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
There were more than a few grandad. So let's not do a Peter Mandelson here. Forgetting about the interview for a brief moment. Prior to this interview, please tell me exactly what your thoughts were and what you appreciate what the Khans are trying to do, and please don't look at your notes. Try explaining it from the top of your head.
They are trying to build our great club up again after the unholy mess they inherited. A far harder & longer job than the previous owner had. I feel more confident of the future of the Club. It is not just a plaything. Just enjoy the march onwards & upwards.
I know you will not be swayed in your view on how the new owner handled the club after buying it but yet again your selective memory is astonishing!
I join you in enjoying the "march onwards and upwards" but I'm also sure there are many who will continue to be circumspect until further notice.
Quote from: Statto on March 04, 2017, 11:00:07 AM
It's good to get such a lengthy and wide-ranging interview. Good questions. But his answers are a bit hit and miss for me.
Jury's still out for me overall.
I've taken the liberty to shorten your post but the overall content echos my misgivings (as an example I found the answer to the January window question a sidestep rather than a full on attempt to explain what happened and why i.e. what the Club have learned from it). I take a lot of things with a pinch of salt (it is probably my age) and I am glad to know you do too. The jury is definitely still out and all Fulham supporters would be wise to understand why.
I know this may be rebuffed, but does anyone have the opinion that he told a lot but little of consequence?
Having listened I can't help but he gave his own personal stance on the club, which is great because of the position he holds in the club but also with his father being the owner, but there wasn't much tangible there?
He gave reassurances about the Riverside stand - which sounds great - but little to no detail about any aspect of it aside from enthusiasm for it happening at some point as a commitment... I know the support for the development in some capacity will appease people for now, but if we don't hear concrete information or steps it's only going to subdue you for a while before you get aggrivated by it not having happened for what will amount to an ever increasing period of time.
He didn't really give a lot more input re what we already know regarding Martin - a very capable footballer, but he hasn't been playing for the club recently which to me suggests things aren't ok still.
He alluded to Moussa Dembele being let go on the cheap and being an issue with the previous ownership/management but hasn't Ali Mac been here since Moussa Signed? Why didn't they change things when they came in, they had 2 years to do so... the other perspective that wasn't given which I assume he didn't know was whether Moussa would've signed for us if we hadn't offered him the terms/contract we offered him.
Then, again it's great to hear that he wants us to be successful, which fan doesn't want to hear that, but whilst he articulated his vision including us being back in the premier league he didn't really articulate what success for us in the premiership counts for. This isn't a moan, I think the ambition to get us back in the premiership is good, Slav hopefully staying on longer if he is successful is great but It is an observation and a truth to a degree.
Do they want to build the clubs fan base and how? Is there ambition to create a bigger stadium, or develop other stands as well as the Riverside to allow us to get the income to be sustainable at the top end of the league? Is the focus going to allow us to be Cup focused so we win some silverware?
January he and the interviewers skipped. He talked about the positives a lot, but I like to know people have their beliefs and accountability in what didn't work out too... January as a transfer window was poor. We kept good players, but we didn't do anything significant. Cyriac is on the bench, Pestos has been on the bench and injured.. he heralded his approach to recruitment and saying it's worked.. The summer was good admittedly, but one window isn't that impressive if not sustained.
I do think Shahid isn't stingy with his money which is a breath of fresh air as those limits seem non-existent if we get to a competitive place again in the premiership, we could see £25 - perhaps even £40 million windows but It would have been nice to have him appease us with plans and strategy instead of just top lines.
That said, it seems that the both of the Khans and the senior management of the club get fan engagement which should be encouraged.
Great interview, thank you.
Some good questions but I thought some of the answers could have been probed a little more. Some good points were made after the interview that would have been well put to Khan.
He certainly seemed obliquely critical of Rigg. Presume that the allusion to legal action is aimed at Derby.
Well done Russ.
The little bits I've seen and heard of Tony, I like.
Nothing I have seen from his father has suggested to me that his heart isn't in the right place for FFC. They made mistakes and will almost certainly make more.
I have said before that I found most of the anti-"input your choice" on here by the usual names really tiresome. I usually don't read their posts anymore. I don't need negativity in my life, especially with my football club (my escape).
The one thing I assumed that Kit would have done well with was our youth, it appears he has a bit to answer for on that basis.
Good feeling about the place. Getting into play-offs would be a major bonus this season. A season I have enjoyed more than probably the last 5. I think we are definitely a club building for the future and I would say next season is maybe where we start really taking off.
I have heard people saying things like "season over if we lose". I don't feel like that at all. The team feels like about 60% there and one of my favourite manager's completely on board with the club.
I liked the bit about pending legal action against Derby
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 11:15:16 AM
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on March 04, 2017, 10:35:20 AM
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 08:52:13 AM
Great interview. Tony Khan came over very honest & enthuiastic. Lets hope this interview is listened to by the very few Khan bashers who don´t appreciate what the Khans are trying to do.
There were more than a few grandad. So let's not do a Peter Mandelson here. Forgetting about the interview for a brief moment. Prior to this interview, please tell me exactly what your thoughts were and what you appreciate what the Khans are trying to do, and please don't look at your notes. Try explaining it from the top of your head.
They are trying to build our great club up again after the unholy mess they inherited. A far harder & longer job than the previous owner had. I feel more confident of the future of the Club. It is not just a plaything. Just enjoy the march onwards & upwards.
You cannot be serious!
Really enjoyed this interview Russ. Congratulations for getting Tony to do it! I hope the club will continue to provide interviewees to you from time to time.
For the amount of time that you had, I thought you packed quite a lot in and got some fairly open responses. I did think Tony sidestepped this past January window a little bit and I would have liked to hear his thoughts on the failure to get primary targets (Enrich) and why those kinds of transfers occur so late in the window. I know that many of us have our own versions of why this happens but would have been nice to hear Tony's.
Thought Tony's response to the Riverside question basically boiled down to "Some version of it will happen but the extent of redevelopment will depend on when/if we achieve promotion"
Very much enjoy that we are apparently going after Derby for the interference Martin.
Tony did seem quick to lay the Dembele, and I guess Roberts/Hyndman by extension, situation indirectly at Rigg's feet.
I hope that supporters will now just resign themselves (skeptically perhaps) to Tony's timeline for the full implementation of his and Kline's 2 check system of recruitment and hold that method to account in future windows. It's here to stay.
All good stuff. Some a bit controversial. Some just plain good information and great news, a la the commitment to the relationship with Slavisa.
Again, all really enjoyable. Thank you Russ and Emilio!
Quote from: ToodlesMcToot on March 06, 2017, 01:54:12 PM
Tony did seem quick to lay the Dembele, and I guess Roberts/Hyndman by extension, situation indirectly at Rigg's feet.
I'm please you posted this as that bit had been sticking in my head and I was going to post a question.
You think this was referring to Rigg? I had assumed Kit. On reflection, I think you may be right.
I can't help feeling that Kit could have done more on the whole youth front. I know there were other big factors but we did lose Hyndman & Roberts etc under his watch.
Quote from: BedsFFC on March 06, 2017, 02:01:42 PM
Quote from: ToodlesMcToot on March 06, 2017, 01:54:12 PM
Tony did seem quick to lay the Dembele, and I guess Roberts/Hyndman by extension, situation indirectly at Rigg's feet.
I'm please you posted this as that bit had been sticking in my head and I was going to post a question.
You think this was referring to Rigg? I had assumed Kit. On reflection, I think you may be right.
I can't help feeling that Kit could have done more on the whole youth front. I know there were other big factors but we did lose Hyndman & Roberts etc under his watch.
It goes back to before Rigg arrived. Kit was less than giving to all three of them and although more could have been done the seeds were sown in their heads to move on.
Quote from: BedsFFC on March 06, 2017, 02:01:42 PM
Quote from: ToodlesMcToot on March 06, 2017, 01:54:12 PM
Tony did seem quick to lay the Dembele, and I guess Roberts/Hyndman by extension, situation indirectly at Rigg's feet.
I'm please you posted this as that bit had been sticking in my head and I was going to post a question.
You think this was referring to Rigg? I had assumed Kit. On reflection, I think you may be right.
I can't help feeling that Kit could have done more on the whole youth front. I know there were other big factors but we did lose Hyndman & Roberts etc under his watch.
I make the assumption mainly b/c Tony is Rigg's direct replacement. Kit was Rigg's employee but one I don't believe that Rigg ever wanted as a senior team manager - seemed clear to me when Rigg, Kit, and AM were interviewed together (such an uncomfortable trio).
I just don't believe that Kit had the luxury to experiment with youth as much as he would have liked, again because I think he had that points goal hanging over his head - rightly or wrongly.
All guessing on my part - just a little bit better informed than previous guessing. :022:
Enjoyed it! Thanks
Quote from: MJG on March 06, 2017, 02:05:45 PM
Quote from: BedsFFC on March 06, 2017, 02:01:42 PM
Quote from: ToodlesMcToot on March 06, 2017, 01:54:12 PM
Tony did seem quick to lay the Dembele, and I guess Roberts/Hyndman by extension, situation indirectly at Rigg's feet.
I'm please you posted this as that bit had been sticking in my head and I was going to post a question.
You think this was referring to Rigg? I had assumed Kit. On reflection, I think you may be right.
I can't help feeling that Kit could have done more on the whole youth front. I know there were other big factors but we did lose Hyndman & Roberts etc under his watch.
It goes back to before Rigg arrived. Kit was less than giving to all three of them and although more could have been done the seeds were sown in their heads to move on.
Wasn't aware of that tidbit. Of course, that changes my opinions. Seems odd that he'd "abandon" his best youth players when they were partly of the reason he was promoted/given caretaker status. I obviously don't know Kit. So, maybe it's not actually odd behavior for him at all.
I'm sad that we lost them and more so because most of the damage done to the club's relationship with those players seems to easily preventable.
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on March 04, 2017, 01:40:01 PM
Quote from: Statto on March 04, 2017, 11:30:24 AM
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 11:15:16 AM
A far harder & longer job than the previous owner had.
my word
fp.gif
Astonishing.
I'll only say it depends on your perspective. MAF could just throw money at it, whereas that can't be done now (I'm ignoring the arguments about decline/relegation etc, and just focussing on getting a team into the premiership).
I've heard Tony Khan about 3 times now (official, Talksport, and now this) and he definitely doesn't give the impression of someone merely playing with an expensive toy given to him by his dad.
What comes across is someone who cares, is driven to succeed, and above all has a plan and structure in place.
Above all, there can be no doubt of the recognition he gives to Slav as a top manager, and as long as he shows this with actions as well as words, then this should be the start of the next successful period in our history.
COYWs 082.gif 049:gif
Quote from: snarks on March 06, 2017, 02:17:29 PM
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on March 04, 2017, 01:40:01 PM
Quote from: Statto on March 04, 2017, 11:30:24 AM
Quote from: grandad on March 04, 2017, 11:15:16 AM
A far harder & longer job than the previous owner had.
my word
fp.gif
Astonishing.
I'll only say it depends on your perspective. MAF could just throw money at it, whereas that can't be done now (I'm ignoring the arguments about decline/relegation etc, and just focussing on getting a team into the premiership).
We have had this sooo many times now. Yes MAF could spend with relative impunity (although he cut a number of smart deals). However, as yet Khan has spent the square root of nothing on net transfer costs (I refer you to some excellent posts by Statto). Now this is not necessarily a criticism of Khan's transfers (early efforts underwhelming vs recently much better) just a statement of fact.
If Khan wanted to spend more heavily he could.
Isn't it around the same time Khan senior made his famous "I'll do what it takes" statement? And then failed adequately to replace McCormack and Dembele or strength the squad as two transfer windows passed......
Must be season ticket renewal time!
