From today's Times: "Concerns at Fulham put Martin Jol’s position in doubt"

[Deanothefulhamfan]

Pardew will be next... you heard it here first

[Berserker]

If Pardew goes next he could end up as Jol's replacement. I think it is an interesting article

[RaySmith]

Yes, i think this is  just an example of a press story made out of  very little hard fact, in order to sell papers.

i mean, fancy bringing up that last season story about Kasami, who was quite reasonably fined imo, for breaking club discipline

[Brown@FFC]

If we don't beat Cardiff, and possibly stoke, I can't see him staying. The Everton game was a good win, but the first half was shocking. He is far from Khans good books, and we all know Khan won't take any rubbish. It must be a bad situation if papers and journalists, who have no relation to the club, get it spot on.

[Buffalo76]

They forgot to mention that Jol thinks he'll win away games without attacking.

:plus one:

[Buffalo76]

Pardew will be next... you heard it here first

He'd love the Fulham job, should it become available of course and if he's unattached. Dream post for a Fulham fan.

[horse1031]

Does anyone have the interview with Jol where he said he was worried about goals?  That Brede was worried?  Is this speculation?!

[nose]

If we don't beat Cardiff, and possibly stoke, I can't see him staying. The Everton game was a good win, but the first half was shocking. He is far from Khans good books, and we all know Khan won't take any rubbish. It must be a bad situation if papers and journalists, who have no relation to the club, get it spot on.

you know that i am a big jol critic BUT after a great second half we have to see if theat level of performance continues. i am less concerned by the result tomorrow (although winning is vital ) than getting the players to work as a team and looking the part, creating chances and being positive. What was what was so dispiriting about the 4 points we did get was that some people were mislead into thinking play poor and get points is good... that is only if you are man utd or an already decent side....  yet if we have finally learned, if jol has finally learned how to be better then I will be happy.

I want to be positive going into tomorrow's game, i want us to improve, i want this to be the start of a long winning run. I didn't want to read such negative articles after we had just beaten everton, the first time they lost in martinez's reign. That was quite and achievement. Let's be optimistic, at least for today.

[Pluto]

I wouldn't read too much into this- as an article it's a complete mess with no real structure, reading like a bunch of sentences cobbled together. As a writer myself, I certainly wouldn't want to put my name to it.

Most likely this is just a slow news day, and someone has had a poor intern trail through message boards, then cobbled this together in ten minutes.

[RidgeRider]

I thought that the three comments though, despite being a slow news day, are worthy of concern:

1) that he was almost sacked last term
2) that there is a problem, and a meeting this past week, with Jol and the academy directors
3) and some players stated they are worried

I find Jol refreshingly honest and somewhat transparent but I also find what appears to be grudges, with Patjim and Dega to be concerning.

Whatever happened this week may well have been all on Scott Parker firing up the team at half time and nothing to do Jol. Remember, Jo'ls only good season with us was when he had Hodgson's players and Danny Murphy leading the men, just like Murphy did when Mr. Ambition did his summer internship with us. I am giving Jol no credit for Everton until I see more of it, and even then it may be that Parker is the new Murphy and the reason the boys are up for it moving forward.

Jol's track record with us has been a season + of uninspired performances. Parker may be the guy that saves his bacon.

[HatterDon]

I'm not sure how much this has been talked about before in this context, but the problem that American owners have with the "transfer system" is probably primarily with the role of the agents. When I first found out that clubs were paying agents directly and above/beyond their client's/player's salary, I was stunned. In the US, the value of the contract is the value of the contract. To suddenly discover that not only have you paid Manchester United a fee to acquire Berbatov [for example] AND you've negotiated a new contract for Berbatov's wages, now you also have to pay a bonus to his agent seems ludicrous. I know it still does for me.

In the states, agents are employed by the athlete, and what the agent gets is between the agent and the client.

I'm fairly certain that the European/South American system of having agents essentially own the rights to players is not legal in most individual countries. Then there is the collusion issue -- a manager signs a player on transfer that has the same agent as he has. There's a conflict of interest if there ever was one.

In the USA, leagues and individual teams enjoy what could be termed a super-legal status. There are certain laws that affect everyone else that they don't have. One price they pay for this is a huge degree of transparency and a hell of a lot less of the corruption that's a feature of top flight football around the world.

It certainly must be a stunner to new American owners. I know it is to new American supporters.

[Holders]

It hardly seems ethical to us either.

[jmh]

The way Jol handled the Kasami incident was a joke.

Which "Kasami incident" is this?

[Forever Fulham]

HD, I think you are absolutely right about the weird set up re: agents.  It leads to mischief and inherent conflicts of interest.  The U.S. treatment of agents is fairer and more transparent.    As to the article about U.S. owners of EPL teams, there's a tone between the lines which I think is misleading.  I don't think U.S. owners buy EPL teams under the impression there are riches to be made.  The books are opened, and the potential buyer gets a look at the Profit/Loss statements, the balance sheets.  There's no mystery.  If a club is barely breaking even, then why would an American buyer think profits will suddenly change if he buys the club?  I think they hope for synergies with fans of U.S. sports teams they own.  I think it is a novelty, an ego stroke, an adventure.   Now, the Glasiers--well, don't get me started on that family.  They're different...  And I think it is unfair to lump Hicks and Gillette as interchangeable.  One was a horse's ass; the other one was a good guy with a good track record who wanted to do good.  But by buying together, the one was stymied by the other.  I think Man U is on borrowed time.   But maybe Arsenal is too tight-fisted.  All we know for sure is that this arms race of players' salaries has to end and sanity restored.  A day of reckoning is coming if they don't get their financial houses in order and just say 'no' to unjustifiably high player salaries.

[Nightwind15]

Looks like this season is going to go the wire unless some needed people get healthy quickly.  Jol on the other hand.......I never liked. 

[EJL]

The way Jol handled the Kasami incident was a joke.

Which "Kasami incident" is this?

The penalty miss at Chelsea two seasons ago, leading to Jol more or less ostracising Kasami from the first team setup until this year.

[win-dup]

One MJ leaves the club this week another one to follow-and not beforw time.

how very observant. I hadn't noticed that.

[jmh]

The way Jol handled the Kasami incident was a joke.

Which "Kasami incident" is this?

The penalty miss at Chelsea two seasons ago, leading to Jol more or less ostracising Kasami from the first team setup until this year.

Kasami was never ostracised.  He was a young player who needed time to develop, as Jol said all along, which is why he was loaned out to get more playing time.  He's still just a kid, the youngest player in the first team (pending the increase in Mesca's involvement) but has been involved heavily this year, and if you saw Kasami's reaction when he scored against Sunderland (ran straight over to the sideline and hugged Jol) he clearly doesn't bear any ill will over it.

[EJL]

The way Jol handled the Kasami incident was a joke.

Which "Kasami incident" is this?

The penalty miss at Chelsea two seasons ago, leading to Jol more or less ostracising Kasami from the first team setup until this year.

Kasami was never ostracised.  He was a young player who needed time to develop, as Jol said all along, which is why he was loaned out to get more playing time.  He's still just a kid, the youngest player in the first team (pending the increase in Mesca's involvement) but has been involved heavily this year, and if you saw Kasami's reaction when he scored against Sunderland (ran straight over to the sideline and hugged Jol) he clearly doesn't bear any ill will over it.

Okay, fair enough. But the incident still happened.

[Andy S]

This makes me laugh out loud. Do you not realise where all this has come from? This web site nowhere else. It is lazy Journalism and you have swallowed it hook line and sinker. Our Chairman Already believes he has a top man at the club in Martin Jol. Jol is going nowhere so get used to it!
The players say Jol is a good manager and motivates the team. The chairman believes it and so do most of the fans.
Start supporting the club and get behind the Boss