You know things aren't bad but odd when...

[General]

You're in a developing world country and a local who's a chef at the hostel you're staying at says,

'what's up with fulham? It doesn't make sense, they have a good team and good players but aren't playing very well'...

Lets be honest with ourselves here, we are a club with a squad that is capable of great things but for some reason everyone is becoming perplexed as to why we're not doing well.

Our formation? Our amount of luxury players? The attitude of our manager?

We know that with the players we now have, having seen what Hodgson accomplished with hardly anything like the talent at jols disposal what type of results can be got when a team plays for one another and when everyone is on the same wavelength, so where are we going wrong?

Have we signed too many players to short term contracts or loans? Are we being hampered by injuries to stekelenburg and amorebieta which may have seen us draw against Newcastle...

Are our tactics shoddy, or do the players not get inspired by a consistently negative jol?

Is jol doing this intentionally hoping to be fired?

He obviously has pointless gripes about our financial capabilities, and I have to say with all this new tv money and our new owner I would've expected a far better outlay but we have brought in strong players since khan came in, which says that in many respects he is true to his word - or did we have the capability to bring in these players under al fayed?

I worry about this season if I'm being honest... Jols attitude has stunk for a while now, he's so worked up about losing Dempsey and dembele and not having funds but even he says he can't believe signing bent, Berba, taraabt and Parker, something he said was a dream, so why has his attitude still remained in the gutter since these players have come on board?

Are our players too old?

How much does an attitude of a player like berbatov negatively influence the players? He doesn't seem to care about the club but himself and for a player like hangeland whs been through everything with this club it must get to him even the slightest bit...

Are there any solutions? Do we need to play three Cm's in boateng karagounis Parker and Sidwell every game to stabilise jols attacking style of play? Are our players simply too old? Hughes, Parker and hangeland s performances would suggest not.

Are we suffering from favouritism too much? Berba should be dropped, but do we have the competition to be able to do well?

I'm aware with two up top we still had few shots but, although I only got to watch the first 10 mins against Newcastle we didnt look too out of place in comparison to past games.

[cottage cheese]

I had a similar experience while i was in India this summer. Was in Varansi and just sitting with some locals in a shack talking about cricket and when I mentioned I supported Fulham they replied "I have no idea whats wrong with your team, you have the players and a manager who is highly rated with spurs fans but its just not working for you. Maybe if you signed a solid midfielder who can run the show!"....I was amazed

[General]

I had a similar experience while i was in India this summer. Was in Varansi and just sitting with some locals in a shack talking about cricket and when I mentioned I supported Fulham they replied "I have no idea whats wrong with your team, you have the players and a manager who is highly rated with spurs fans but its just not working for you. Maybe if you signed a solid midfielder who can run the show!"....I was amazed

I've done quite a lot of travelling over the years and before it used to be something I would pretend as a joke is a fault knowing people would laugh and say fulham aren't very good, to which I would say, at the moment actually were not to shabby (Europa league run) or yeah something's not right... Was the first time though that this had happened...

And let's be honest whilst there are some passionate fans in developing countries they only really support top teams and only vaguely know about others away from the obvious facts... But for them to now be aware of us and have an invested interest in the club due to our players etc is something else, and for them to say something just isn't that right is an entirely new level yet again...

What is going on with our club that means a reputable manager and a strong squad is soo bizarrely underperforming?

[the nutflush]

I had a similar experience while i was in India this summer. Was in Varansi and just sitting with some locals in a shack talking about cricket and when I mentioned I supported Fulham they replied "I have no idea whats wrong with your team, you have the players and a manager who is highly rated with spurs fans but its just not working for you. Maybe if you signed a solid midfielder who can run the show!"....I was amazed

We truly are a worldwide joke now.

[OdecaMynoT]

I had a similar experience while i was in India this summer. Was in Varansi and just sitting with some locals in a shack talking about cricket and when I mentioned I supported Fulham they replied "I have no idea whats wrong with your team, you have the players and a manager who is highly rated with spurs fans but its just not working for you. Maybe if you signed a solid midfielder who can run the show!"....I was amazed

We truly are a worldwide joke now.

Yep.........and may the ghost of Tommy Trinder be with us now and forever more.

Not so funny though when the football we play is sooooooo tedious.

If this team had to change a light bulb they'd get a plumber to tile the roof.

[Yamus]

Perhaps if our captain knows what's wrong(which I believe he does) he should have a quiet word with Mr Jol on behalf of the rest

[jarv]

I too, in America, have had comments from friends lately along the same lines. "What's wrong with Fulham?" They have a good team.
I suppose it is good that finally, some recognition for Fulham. My answer to the question....Jol.