Fulham gag players from talking to the press

[NorthernWhite]

The club are obviously unhappy with some of the stuff that's been coming out of late. Good for the club as we've never really had this before.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2069935/Fulham-gag-players-speaking-publicly.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

EXCLUSIVE: Fulham's gag to repair Cottage leak as club clamps down
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
Last updated at 11:00 PM on 4th December 2011
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Fulham players have been hit with a gagging order to stop tales of dressing-room unrest leaking to the media.  
Players face a fine of two weeks' wages if they speak publicly without the club's permission. 
Fulham sent all squad members a letter outlining the possible punishment — which could cost the club's highest-paid stars more than £100,000 — after it was revealed Pajtim Kasami was fined £500 for missing a penalty against Chelsea in the Carling Cup in September.

In the dock: Fulham's Pajtim Kasami was fined for missing a penalty 

The west London club are braced for a difficult December. Their 1-0 Europa League defeat at FC Twente last Thursday was the first of eight matches they face in 31 days.
Martin Jol's side have managed just two wins from 13 Premier League games this season and must win their final Europa League group match against Odense on December 14 to guarantee a place in the last 32. 
Fulham also play Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea before the new year, starting with the visit of Kenny Dalglish's side to Craven Cottage on Monday. 

Tough times: Martin Jol (right) has endured a difficult start to his Fulham tenure
But, despite admitting last week the Fulham  job is the toughest of his 20-year career in management, Jol is not under any immediate pressure from chairman Mohamed Fayed.
The Dutchman will look to strengthen again in January and will once more concentrate on lowering the average age of his squad, leaving senior players uncertain as to whether they will feature in Jol's plans. Damien Duff and Simon Davies, both 32, and Brede Hangeland, 30, are under contract until  May 2013, but captain Danny Murphy, 34, and 30-year-old striker Andrew Johnson — who is attracting interest from Sunderland — could be free agents at the end of the season. 
Mark Schwarzer's deal also runs out then, but the Aussie goalkeeper, who came close to joining Arsenal in the summer of 2010, has the option of another year.

Flying high: Kenny Dalglish
Meanwhile, Dalglish has warned Liverpool remain a work in progress, despite being on the brink of a club record. If Liverpool win tonight it would be their seventh consecutive away win in all competitions, a feat which has been achieved only twice before, most recently between January and March 1988 — when Dalglish was first in charge.
Since losing at Spurs on September 18, Liverpool have enjoyed an 11-game unbeaten run and reached the Carling Cup semi-finals with a win at Chelsea.
'A positive result (like against Chelsea) helps everybody,' said Dalglish.
'We've beaten some good teams and we've deserved it. We are still a work in progress and we will continue to work.
'We have to remember how we got those rewards — by working for each other and playing for each other.
'We are much more difficult to beat as a team rather than an individual.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2069935/Fulham-gag-players-speaking-publicly.html#ixzz1fbuKqPi1

[Lighthouse]

If true it proves that Jol IS involved in a power struggle with the players and that Big Mo will back him. Another failure to buy strikers in the January transfer window however could make all this pointless, as we will struggle anyway with the strikers we have.

[richie17]

I wonder if this was a leak.

[Berserker]

I feel this is worrying, and definitly backs up what we thought about somebody stirring it within the team. Wonder if that covers agents or staff at the stadium as well. I just don't think it bodes well and the more i hear about Fulham FC the move depressed i get. Actually i feel a bit sorry for Jol, not sure all of this is his doing, i think it is terrible if players do gang up on a manager personally, and i wonder if he will get fed up and resign.

[Oakeshott]

"i wonder if he [Jol] will get fed up and resign"

We can but hope so.

[TonyGilroy]

"i wonder if he [Jol] will get fed up and resign"

We can but hope so.

Why?

Jol does not come over as being a nasty sort and doesn't have a poor reputation in this respect.

If he's being undermined by senior players then it would be a disaster for the club if they forced him out and in effect usurped power in their own interests.

The time may be coming when he has to assert authority and force the troublemakers out but the sensible approach would be to try to bring them onside but if that fails to delay drastic action until the January window when players can be moved on and replacements obtained.

Not that I actually buy the ever exaggerated stories of disharmony that I'm reading but I suspect that certain players are reluctant to take on new ideas and roles and can see the disadvantage, from their perspectives, of lowering the average age of the squad. Not what you want to hear if you're the wrong side of thirty.

[dgnffc]

If he's being undermined by senior players then it would be a disaster for the club if they forced him out and in effect usurped power in their own interests.

Isn't this what's happening up the road at our neighbours?

[TonyGilroy]

If he's being undermined by senior players then it would be a disaster for the club if they forced him out and in effect usurped power in their own interests.

Isn't this what's happening up the road at our neighbours?

Don't know or care. Whatever's bad for Chelsea is fine with me.

[Edwatch_Winston_Malone]

It could just be the club recognising the impact of Twitter / Facebook etc

[JBH]

"i wonder if he [Jol] will get fed up and resign"

We can but hope so.

Knob

[White Noise]

It could just be the club recognising the impact of Twitter / Facebook etc

No, its specifically speaking to the press. Etuhu coming out recently and saying 'play me or I stroll' will not have helped. He has now come out and said I love the club and I'm very gratfeul to the Chairman for the nice long contract I got recently.

[BalDrick]

It could just be the club recognising the impact of Twitter / Facebook etc

No, its specifically speaking to the press. Etuhu coming out recently and saying 'play me or I stroll' will not have helped. He has now come out and said I love the club and I'm very gratfeul to the Chairman for the nice long contract I got recently.

Statements like the latter are so transparent aren't they? Up there with 'Paul and John couldn't be here today but they both want to say they really appreciate all the time you spend listening to their records and hope you will continue to do so'.

On a wider, not to say more serious note, if nothing else this is a sign of tensions building and, with any luck, this whole saga coming to a head. I wasn't confident about tonight earlier, I'm certainly not now.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

It could just be the club recognising the impact of Twitter / Facebook etc

No, its specifically speaking to the press. Etuhu coming out recently and saying 'play me or I stroll' will not have helped. He has now come out and said I love the club and I'm very gratfeul to the Chairman for the nice long contract I got recently.

Statements like the latter are so transparent aren't they? Up there with 'Paul and John couldn't be here today but they both want to say they really appreciate all the time you spend listening to their records and hope you will continue to do so'.

On a wider, not to say more serious note, if nothing else this is a sign of tensions building and, with any luck, this whole saga coming to a head. I wasn't confident about tonight earlier, I'm certainly not now.

Hey, the last time there were widespread reports of unrest we smashed QPR 6-0.

There are several things that mean we should approach tonight without any apprehension:

1) Our defensive record remains excellent
2) We matched Spurs (despite the scoreline) who appear to be a better team than Lpool

and the more self pitying

3) At least it probably cannot get any worse than last years performance
4) Liverpool are in a good run of form, if we can just play well then there will be positives.

[aussierod]

"i wonder if he [Jol] will get fed up and resign"

We can but hope so.

Why?

Jol does not come over as being a nasty sort and doesn't have a poor reputation in this respect.

If he's being undermined by senior players then it would be a disaster for the club if they forced him out and in effect usurped power in their own interests.

The time may be coming when he has to assert authority and force the troublemakers out but the sensible approach would be to try to bring them onside but if that fails to delay drastic action until the January window when players can be moved on and replacements obtained.

Not that I actually buy the ever exaggerated stories of disharmony that I'm reading but I suspect that certain players are reluctant to take on new ideas and roles and can see the disadvantage, from their perspectives, of lowering the average age of the squad. Not what you want to hear if you're the wrong side of thirty.

Completely agree TG. Looks like Jol has MAF's backing and that will hopefully mean a busy transfer window. I think Jol will be given the best backing we've had recently and I trust that his signings will have an impact on our side. I think we aer being linked with lots of young players but I think that is also due to the number of players potentially ready to leave, AJ, Duff, Zamora etc, thats 3 key positions and guys on high wages so we should have money to spend.

Hopefully another QPR result (in our favour) will be forthcoming tonight

[Oakeshott]

Wake up and smell the grass. Jol has already spent quite a bit of money and so far NONE of his buys have made the first team consistently except JAR, who frankly has looked poor positionally too often and whose performances, in my opinion, have cost us points.

I'd love to see us do a "QPR" on Liverpool tonight, but realistically its odds against us winning, let alone destroying them.

We have taken some imaginative free kicks since Jol arrived, and it is almost certainly down to him as I can't see where else they have come from. That apart, if the rumours are true, and they very well may be given their persistence, the way the team has often played, and the apparent clamp down on player's comments, it is because he is a poor man manager. Yes, he took over a squad with largely older players and that has to be addressed - but a competent man manager is one who does that and keeps the team's spirit up at the same time. His whole demeanour is one of dissatisfaction and I can readily believe the kind of comment reported on the "Sun" thread. I'll be glad to see the back of him.

[ImperialWhite]

"i wonder if he [Jol] will get fed up and resign"

We can but hope so.

If Jol leaves this Christmas we'll be relegated (this season or the next, soon).

[AlFayedsChequebook]

"i wonder if he [Jol] will get fed up and resign"

We can but hope so.

If Jol leaves this Christmas we'll be relegated (this season or the next, soon).

Exactly. Mark Hughes/Roy Hodgson are not walking through that door!

In all seriousness, we have little choice but to stick with Jol, like him or loath him. We have had such high managerial turnover that bringing in another manager is not really a valid option.

If someone can come up with a realistic manager to replace Jol, that would guarantee safety, then feel free to share. Would this new manager also not want to impose his own way on the squad?

[Burt]

All this player power nonsense is ticking me off.

Jol is the gaffer.

He has a great track record, probably the most successful manager we have been able to lure to Craven Cottage, so he clearly knows what he is doing.

As such, he has the right to determine the best way to manage the resources he has at his disposal. If that means some players don't like it then they either shut up and step up, or move on out. Moaning to the press, whingeing about it on Twitter etc. is just not professional.

Jol's challenge is that the core of the team are settled and experienced and used to playing the Hodgson/Hughes way. The fact of the matter is that we need to lower the age of the squad, through a phased transition to some of the promising players we have bubbling up under the first team or through the new faces that Jol transfers in to the team.

[ClarksOriginal]

All this player power nonsense is ticking me off.

Jol is the gaffer.

He has a great track record, probably the most successful manager we have been able to lure to Craven Cottage, so he clearly knows what he is doing.

As such, he has the right to determine the best way to manage the resources he has at his disposal. If that means some players don't like it then they either shut up and step up, or move on out. Moaning to the press, whingeing about it on Twitter etc. is just not professional.

Jol's challenge is that the core of the team are settled and experienced and used to playing the Hodgson/Hughes way. The fact of the matter is that we need to lower the age of the squad, through a phased transition to some of the promising players we have bubbling up under the first team or through the new faces that Jol transfers in to the team.

+1 Mr Burt.

I'd also like to add, the players he transfers into the team either in Jan or the summer, must be ready to play in the Prem, not in two years time, a la Gecov + Kasami.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

All this player power nonsense is ticking me off.

Jol is the gaffer.

He has a great track record, probably the most successful manager we have been able to lure to Craven Cottage, so he clearly knows what he is doing.

As such, he has the right to determine the best way to manage the resources he has at his disposal. If that means some players don't like it then they either shut up and step up, or move on out. Moaning to the press, whingeing about it on Twitter etc. is just not professional.

Jol's challenge is that the core of the team are settled and experienced and used to playing the Hodgson/Hughes way. The fact of the matter is that we need to lower the age of the squad, through a phased transition to some of the promising players we have bubbling up under the first team or through the new faces that Jol transfers in to the team.

+1 Mr Burt.

I'd also like to add, the players he transfers into the team either in Jan or the summer, must be ready to play in the Prem, not in two years time, a la Gecov + Kasami.

Kasami is premier league ready, unfortunately for him he plays in our most crowded position.