In Jol's defence

[kempkong]

Ok I may get poo down fm for this but here goes;

Everyone seems to be attacking jol and I can see why but I feel people need to calm their emotions and take a step backwards.

1) jol has not become a bad manager in one season. At both hamburg and Ajax he had a 60% win record and in our first season did very well after a slow start.
2) he came into this season with high expectations and whilst he knew he would lose demps expected and I imagine planned around keeping dembele. Then he lost him and went on to struggle with the window as all the players he looked to be approaching he couldn't get. He did however secure one of the biggest signing in fulham history but bring berbatov here.
3) we started the season well but then came other problems and I think certain players failed to shine and whilst I agree Ruiz and berba don't always work when they do they are brilliant and from a managers perspective you have to keep trying it if you have seen it work so well in the past and I imagine in training.

As many people have said he has to take responsibility but so do the board and the players.

Would sacking jol actually be the answer and would you expect much better from someone else with the same squad?

I trust the board and whilst jol is in charge I trust him too.

[JackyFulham90]

It's not been a great season for us but we should stick by Jol losing Diarra , Sidwell & Dejagah for good lengths of time has just proved too much in the end

[Lighthouse]

Boils down to a few questions.

Do you like the football that has been on offer from Fulham? If you consider we are good to watch and have been unlucky with refs and injury then Jol is ok

Could Jol have done better with the squad on offer? If you think he has done the best he can then you should stick by Jol.

[horse1031]

It is impossible to tell how good another manager would have done with our squad.  I think Berbatov is a brilliant footballer but he is a luxury player and so is Ruiz.  Ruiz can pass and scores an occasional goal but he is one of the most lightweight and slowest players in the prem.  He doesnt play a lick of defense either but you can't take him off because he one of our most creative attackers.  The problem this year is that we don't have any midfielders that are premiership standard.  Sidwell is an average player but he got sent off 2 times in the last couple of months.  Kara is 90 years old and was played so much he can't play anymore.  Enoh and Frimpong are OK players but are not really the types that will boss the midfield.  I actually think our back four has been OK this season except for Riise who has had a shocker and is pretty much past it.  Dejegah was playing great and got hurt and Duff has been really inconsistent.

There have been times under Jol's tenure where we have played some of the most fluid, passing football I have ever seen Fulham play.  It is an absolute joy to watch and that is the type of football I like to watch.  On the other hand, when he has his tactics wrong and there are some injuries in the team we have seen some of the worst play from Fulham at home in the premiership era.  The worst thing is that it seems he is having problems motivating his players.  Is it a communication issue?  The latter has been the case in FAR to many games this year and it has made everyone fed up with him.  He comes off as being arrogant and not caring which who knows if he is that way with the players.

Here are some of the positive things that Jol brings to Fulham.

1.  He attracts quality players (huge for a smaller market team like Fulham).  Do we need luxury players though?  We need players that are in for a battle at the bottom of the table!!
2.  We look better away from home than we have been in the past.
3.  When we are clicking it is the best I have ever seen Fulham play.
4.  He is honest with the media.

I fear for next year.  If Jol leaves we are stuck with a small team and I dont know if we can attract quality players with our budget.  If he stays can he get the players in he wants and be able to motivate those players!!!  Mo needs to figure it out in the next 3 weeks if we are keeping Jol or getting someone else in.  The new manager will need time to get acclimated and find some players to fill our ranks.

It all kind of reminds me of when he was a manager at Spurs.  There are times when his teams can play and look like the best team in the prem and other times they go on a slide where they are the worst team in the league and deserve to be relegated.  We have seen both of those teams this year.  Started well, went through a terrible time in the middle of the season.  Throw is some big wins and good form in March and now this crap!!

[Burt]

Some things are out of Jol's control e.g. transfer policy, wages structure, the other resources at his disposal.

This is quite significant because at the end of the day this dictates who we have in the team, and whether they are up for playing the way that Jol wants them to play.

Too many times this season it is clear that:
- Our defence is no longer the rock it was.
- The midfield is quite pedestrian, slow to close down the opposition, and not particularly creative.
- We are laborious and predictable in getting up the pitch.
- We lack poke up front.

Is this really Jol's preferred tactics? Or is he limited by the types of players he has at his disposal? Are they getting on a bit and do we need a clear out? Or are they capable of playing like the Swanseas of this world?

I haven't worked that one out yet...

[westcliff white]

I think all teams of our stature can afford one luxury player, to have 2 means the others need to be up for it week I. Week out or of a better quality.

Would having moussa and murphy in the midfield have changed how we were with berba and Ruiz up front? Or maybe moussa and diarra?

We missed the ,ayers that left and those that were inured, our squad quite simply could not cope in my opinion. Replacing diarra with kara was the best we could do, and kara was ok between November and the end of feb but he ran out of steam. We need strength I depth, obvious I know

[MJG]

I just think that Jol has no idea how to get the best out of  Ruiz and Berbatov in the same team, no matter what the support the board give him.
Anyone who read his quotes last week about what he needs to help Ruiz was complete giberish.
Where would he play Ruiz if we got another striker or even another cm?
Both ruiz and berbatov on their own need a runner with them. The two of them together up front is like following a couple of old dears getting on a bus, going in the right direction but then pissing around slowly trying to find their pass.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

It's not been a great season for us but we should stick by Jol losing Diarra , Sidwell & Dejagah for good lengths of time has just proved too much in the end

We also lost Davies, who solidified the left side, and Frei and and Kacaniklic who offer pace.

[Denver Fulham]

Several points have been touched on, but it's worth listing them for clarity:

1) Our only reasonable goal this season, once we sold Dempsey and Dembele and never replaced them in the midfield with anyone of similar quality, was survival in a transition year. Despite this awful run-in, we were effectively safe with eight matches left, and had played well in 2013 through QPR at home.

2) For Fulham (not necessarily other teams), Berbatov and Ruiz are both best suited to play behind a pacier (or target?) striker.

3) The lack of fit between the two of them was made much worse by Dejagah's injury, as that robbed us of the only pace we regularly used in the front six and it also broke up a really dangerous partnership with Riether, who was much less dangerous going forward down the stretch.

4) We clearly need another center back and very badly need to find a left back. Riise had a horrible season and Richardson isn't the answer there, even if he deputized ok.

5) Thanks, Mark, for your service to the club and for stealing us some points in games this season, but you need to be replaced. Not good enough anymore for a modest-budget team over 38 games. We've allowed 60 goals this season. Not all of that is on the back four or the lack of cover/tracking in the midfield.

My global sense right now is, if we're as skint as suggestions say we are, then there's no reason to retain Jol. He's not going to put a grinder team together and eke out 40 points.

I also think we'd be best off selling Berbatov, so this season was essentially a freeroll (in terms of transfer fee, anyway). Unless someone wants to surprisingly take a nibble on Ruiz and Fulham want to sell him at a fair loss, I think we need to stick Bryan at the 10 next season and build around him with pace. Assuming Dejagah is healthy and Kaca or Frei continue to come along, we just need a proper striker who can run and finish on top, along with a creative mid behind him.

I don't think we're *that* far away from being a pretty decent team next season, but those parts -- all in our spine; striker, CM, CB, goalkeeper -- won't be cheap. Do we have anywhere near the money to fill those holes, even if we sell off Berba?

P.S. Jol keeps lamenting Dempsey's absence, but it was clear to anyone paying attention that Dembele would be the crushing loss for this team this season. Shame to see him sort of stuck in neutral at Spurs. One more year for us and he could have made a massive move.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Some of our stalwarts from the time of Hodgson have had less than commanding seasons.

Schwarzer's shot stopping has been good but his command of the area and particularly his distribution, which tends to give the ball straight back to the opposition, have been weak.

For all the blame placed on Senderos, our central defence has looked less than convincing than in previous seasons even with Hangeland and Hughes. Partly this is down to weaknesses in central midfield, particularly when Diarra was missing.

Also, three red cards for stupid tackles and the consequent suspensions were damaging. We used to be top of the fair play league.

None of this is Jol's fault and there was little he could do about any of this.

[Steven Ageroad]

I think our season turned with the Sunderland game.We were doing well up to that point and we were in control with that particular game and looking like another 3 points, then Hangerland got sent off for an innocuous challenge which came from a poor back pass from Karagounis. I feel we have never the same confident team since then.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Several points have been touched on, but it's worth listing them for clarity:

:

My global sense right now is, if we're as skint as suggestions say we are, then there's no reason to retain Jol. He's not going to put a grinder team together and eke out 40 points.

I also think we'd be best off selling Berbatov, so this season was essentially a freeroll (in terms of transfer fee, anyway). Unless someone wants to surprisingly take a nibble on Ruiz and Fulham want to sell him at a fair loss, I think we need to stick Bryan at the 10 next season and build around him with pace. Assuming Dejagah is healthy and Kaca or Frei continue to come along, we just need a proper striker who can run and finish on top, along with a creative mid behind him.

I don't think we're *that* far away from being a pretty decent team next season, but those parts -- all in our spine; striker, CM, CB, goalkeeper -- won't be cheap. Do we have anywhere near the money to fill those holes, even if we sell off Berba?

:

I don't think that any PL club will be skint for transfer funds next year given the huge amount of TV money. Yes, we might put £15-20m towards the Riverside expansion and fees for players already in the PL may rise but there will be quality players all over Europe who would like the opportunity to play in the PL, even for Fulham.

And playing for Fulham will look a much more attractive proposition if we keep Jol, Berbatov and Ruiz.

We must not get in a `grinder' manager and put together a `grinder' team to eke out 40 points. That is not going to attract new fans to fill out our expanded stadium and also that way lies retreat and relegation. We need to invest £20-25m in the team much as has been outlined and build around Berbatov, Ruiz and youth.

[Denver Fulham]

To Maestro: To be clear, I don't want a grinder team, but if the club is for whatever reason cash-strapped until the new stand is built and we raise our turnover, then I don't see what purpose retaining Jol would serve. I would imagine we'd be more likely to find ourselves in trouble next season if we force Jol to run the team like he had to this season. He has no interest in this cruddy, slow kind of football. And I don't really blame him, even if his decisions can be weird at time. His track record deserves better than running a month-to-month loan shop.

[jmh]

1.  He attracts quality players (huge for a smaller market team like Fulham).  Do we need luxury players though?  We need players that are in for a battle at the bottom of the table!!

I don't really get this distinction.  Good players are good players.  Berbatov scores goals; they don't count less because we're in 15th and not 1st or 2nd.  If a player produces a moment of magic every now and then but contributes very little, the problem isn't that he's a luxury player, the problem is that he isn't all that good a footballer.

[BillNRoc]

As I said elsewhere, during our two bad stretches we've played the ugliest football I can remember since the worst days of the Sanchez regime. Ugly, ugly, ugly. I don't want another minute of it. Fire the manager, get some better players, and for gosh sakes stop playing such ugly football...whatever it takes.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

To Maestro: To be clear, I don't want a grinder team, but if the club is for whatever reason cash-strapped until the new stand is built and we raise our turnover, then I don't see what purpose retaining Jol would serve. I would imagine we'd be more likely to find ourselves in trouble next season if we force Jol to run the team like he had to this season. He has no interest in this cruddy, slow kind of football. And I don't really blame him, even if his decisions can be weird at time. His track record deserves better than running a month-to-month loan shop.

I accept that you don't want a grinder team. Some others on here under the threat of relegation though have suggested managers who would be more suited to consolidating our position rather than trying to play better football.

We usually, quite rightly, keep quiet about the money available for transfers and our targets. We have money left over from the sale of Dempsey and Dembele plus the money unspent last summer plus, even with the Riverside expansion, a fair amount from this year's TV money which should be more than enough. Jol is not extravagant like Hughes and 'arry at QPR. A couple of quality players to compliment Berbatov and three or four solid players of the likes of Reither will do nicely thank you.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

As I said elsewhere, during our two bad stretches we've played the ugliest football I can remember since the worst days of the Sanchez regime. Ugly, ugly, ugly. I don't want another minute of it. Fire the manager, get some better players, and for gosh sakes stop playing such ugly football...whatever it takes.

I don't understand these accusations of ugly football.

Stoke play ugly football. They kick lumps out of the opposition and then thump a long ball down the centre.

We, on the other hand, played poorly for about half the season. We could not keep hold of the ball for long, gave it away cheaply, were slow in our build up passing the ball back to Hangeland and Schwarzer and lacked pace and creativity.  For spells in games we could show what we were really capable of, like our move for the goal on Sunday, but these were too short and too rare.

We played poorly but not ugly.