Youth

[fulhams_finest]

He might as well start putting the youth through now because we're gonna need them next season when were in the championship

[Jamie88]

He won't. Even though Dembele was on the bench yesterday I feel it was pretty clear he never intended to give him a runout and that he was forced to put him in the squad.
You hear Jol mention he loves using the youth, yet he hasnt given them so much as a sniff. Kasami was signed with the intention of being in the first team so I dont generally regard him as being one from our youth setup. Kacaniklic is the exception perhaps.
But several occasions, such as Grimmer, Banya, David and now Dembele all being put on the bench you would have thought he'd give them a runout of some sort, even if it were 5 minutes.
I think the way things are going we won't see them until next season, when we are in the championship with a new manager.

[One Martin Thomas]

Do we want to demoralise our young players by putting them in that god awful team ?

[Classic94]

Do we want to demoralise our young players by putting them in that god awful team ?

Of course it's not ideal, but can they really be any worse? I'd much rather see Grimmer, Mesca, Dembele etc. given game time than some of our ageing no-hopers.  

[fulhams_finest]

Do we want to demoralise our young players by putting them in that god awful team ?

Of course it's not ideal, but can they really be any worse? I'd much rather see Grimmer, Mesca, Dembele etc. given game time than some of our ageing no-hopers. 

I remember when jol first came in and I quote he wanted to "lower the average age" at the club - then he preceded to buy old past it players

[God The Mechanic]

I remember when jol first came in and I quote he wanted to "lower the average age" at the club - then he preceded to buy old past it players

He's actually "bought" very few of the older players.  I think Riise, Parker and Berbatov are the only ones a transfer fee has been spent on - Parker has been a highlight of this year and Berba of last, so only Riise from that bunch have been disappointing.  The rest of his signings have been in their prime effectively, just incredibly ineffective at football.

[Stefano Okaka Chuka]

That's been our biggest problem in a nutshell. Jol came to rejuvanate our ageing team and instead of blooding youngsters he bought all the senior citizens available on the cheap. To be fair I credit him with our academy development but he should have given more chances to the young lads in the last two seasons.

[God The Mechanic]

That's been our biggest problem in a nutshell. Jol came to rejuvanate our ageing team and instead of blooding youngsters he bought all the senior citizens available on the cheap. To be fair I credit him with our academy development but he should have given more chances to the young lads in the last two seasons.

Yep - your academy can be the best in the world, but it won't matter unless you actually use it.

[St Eve]

Do we want to demoralise our young players by putting them in that god awful team ?

Of course it's not ideal, but can they really be any worse? I'd much rather see Grimmer, Mesca, Dembele etc. given game time than some of our ageing no-hopers. 

I remember when jol first came in and I quote he wanted to "lower the average age" at the club - then he preceded to buy old past it players

I think that had something to do with not being given any money to spend

[One Martin Thomas]

Do we want to demoralise our young players by putting them in that god awful team ?

Of course it's not ideal, but can they really be any worse? I'd much rather see Grimmer, Mesca, Dembele etc. given game time than some of our ageing no-hopers. 

I remember when jol first came in and I quote he wanted to "lower the average age" at the club - then he preceded to buy old past it players

I think that had something to do with not being given any money to spend

If you only have £9m, why buy a 33 year old holding midfielder like Parker when you got Boateng for nothing and a goalie that we did not really need.  Schwarzer could have carried on another year (he did just retire from international football).  ENOH was a good age and at the reported £2m !?  £9m is not a lot, but did he use it wisely ?

[God The Mechanic]

If you only have £9m, why buy a 33 year old holding midfielder like Parker when you got Boateng for nothing and a goalie that we did not really need.  Schwarzer could have carried on another year (he did just retire from international football).  ENOH was a good age and at the reported £2m !?  £9m is not a lot, but did he use it wisely ?

Replacing Schwarzer was necessary, maybe not last summer but definitely next summer.  The chance to sign a keeper of Stekelenburg's ability wouldn't have come round again, not taking advantage of that would have been ridiculous.

As for Enoh, all his performances last year suggested he'd be a great signing with a full pre-season behind him.  Really not sure why he wasn't bought.

[MJG]

If you only have £9m, why buy a 33 year old holding midfielder like Parker when you got Boateng for nothing and a goalie that we did not really need.  Schwarzer could have carried on another year (he did just retire from international football).  ENOH was a good age and at the reported £2m !?  £9m is not a lot, but did he use it wisely ?

Replacing Schwarzer was necessary, maybe not last summer but definitely next summer.  The chance to sign a keeper of Stekelenburg's ability wouldn't have come round again, not taking advantage of that would have been ridiculous.

As for Enoh, all his performances last year suggested he'd be a great signing with a full pre-season behind him.  Really not sure why he wasn't bought.

But do you use say 40% of your actual cash budget on a GK when tbh we had one already in reserve who deserved a chance at least.
Its just another bit of mismanagement by Jol and the board.
With Parker I did not agree with 3M on a 33 year old, and while he has played well I would have used the money different.
That 8M plus wages couild have gone on 1 creative CM which was more important. The 4-5M on Bent and Adel could also have been spent more wisely.
if your going to loan and pay that much with the budget we have, then they have to be first team starters.
Boateng..four windows Jol looked and chased him and then not used.

Wasted a limited budget this year.

[One Martin Thomas]

If you only have £9m, why buy a 33 year old holding midfielder like Parker when you got Boateng for nothing and a goalie that we did not really need.  Schwarzer could have carried on another year (he did just retire from international football).  ENOH was a good age and at the reported £2m !?  £9m is not a lot, but did he use it wisely ?

Replacing Schwarzer was necessary, maybe not last summer but definitely next summer.  The chance to sign a keeper of Stekelenburg's ability wouldn't have come round again, not taking advantage of that would have been ridiculous.

As for Enoh, all his performances last year suggested he'd be a great signing with a full pre-season behind him.  Really not sure why he wasn't bought.

But do you use say 40% of your actual cash budget on a GK when tbh we had one already in reserve who deserved a chance at least.
Its just another bit of mismanagement by Jol and the board.
With Parker I did not agree with 3M on a 33 year old, and while he has played well I would have used the money different.
That 8M plus wages couild have gone on 1 creative CM which was more important. The 4-5M on Bent and Adel could also have been spent more wisely.
if your going to loan and pay that much with the budget we have, then they have to be first team starters.
Boateng..four windows Jol looked and chased him and then not used.

Wasted a limited budget this year.

Exactly !

[God The Mechanic]

But do you use say 40% of your actual cash budget on a GK when tbh we had one already in reserve who deserved a chance at least.
Its just another bit of mismanagement by Jol and the board.
With Parker I did not agree with 3M on a 33 year old, and while he has played well I would have used the money different.
That 8M plus wages couild have gone on 1 creative CM which was more important. The 4-5M on Bent and Adel could also have been spent more wisely.
if your going to loan and pay that much with the budget we have, then they have to be first team starters.
Boateng..four windows Jol looked and chased him and then not used.

Wasted a limited budget this year.

Had it just been any keeper probably not, but I think Stekelenburg (as long as he can be convinced to stay :p) should be in goal for a long, long time to come.  As good as Stockdale is, may be or will ever be, he isn't gonna get anywhere near as good as Stekeleneburg can be.

The most concerning part of all of this is (if you're right) 40% of the "budget" being £5million.  For a club that has been in the top league for as long as it has been, in spite of any changes to ownership, there should be significantly more available than that.  Especially considering the state of the team, it was well known that changes were needed in the squad - the lack of investment in those changes (over the last few years, not just last summer) is what has put us in this situation.

Having to make do with freebies, rather than filing a spot or two, and then motivate them isn't an easy job.  Jol is doing wonderfully terribly at it as it is, but he hasn't been helped by circumstances outside his control.

[One Martin Thomas]

But do you use say 40% of your actual cash budget on a GK when tbh we had one already in reserve who deserved a chance at least.
Its just another bit of mismanagement by Jol and the board.
With Parker I did not agree with 3M on a 33 year old, and while he has played well I would have used the money different.
That 8M plus wages couild have gone on 1 creative CM which was more important. The 4-5M on Bent and Adel could also have been spent more wisely.
if your going to loan and pay that much with the budget we have, then they have to be first team starters.
Boateng..four windows Jol looked and chased him and then not used.

Wasted a limited budget this year.

Had it just been any keeper probably not, but I think Stekelenburg (as long as he can be convinced to stay :p) should be in goal for a long, long time to come.  As good as Stockdale is, may be or will ever be, he isn't gonna get anywhere near as good as Stekeleneburg can be.

The most concerning part of all of this is (if you're right) 40% of the "budget" being £5million.  For a club that has been in the top league for as long as it has been, in spite of any changes to ownership, there should be significantly more available than that.  Especially considering the state of the team, it was well known that changes were needed in the squad - the lack of investment in those changes (over the last few years, not just last summer) is what has put us in this situation.

Having to make do with freebies, rather than filing a spot or two, and then motivate them isn't an easy job.  Jol is doing wonderfully terribly at it as it is, but he hasn't been helped by circumstances outside his control.

Can only assume though if Jol had more, he'd have spent it !  With £9m, would you have bought a goalie and Scot Parker ?  I am not so sure.

[HatterDon]

It seems to me that our U18s and our U21s both won titles last season, and our U18s won an international cup.

This means that these lads are used to winning. They're used to dictating the game and closing games out. Shipping them all out in favor of ancient slow coaches is ridiculous. I agree that it will do little good to blood them now -- UNLESS -- we fire Jol and replace him with the people who produced those title-winning teams as interims.

[SouthfieldWhite]

That's been our biggest problem in a nutshell. Jol came to rejuvanate our ageing team and instead of blooding youngsters he bought all the senior citizens available on the cheap. To be fair I credit him with our academy development but he should have given more chances to the young lads in the last two seasons.

Why do you credit Jol with our academy development when really its all down to people like Hew Jennings, Malcolm Elias, Kit , Steve Wigley etc

[Stefano Okaka Chuka]

That's been our biggest problem in a nutshell. Jol came to rejuvanate our ageing team and instead of blooding youngsters he bought all the senior citizens available on the cheap. To be fair I credit him with our academy development but he should have given more chances to the young lads in the last two seasons.

Why do you credit Jol with our academy development when really its all down to people like Hew Jennings, Malcolm Elias, Kit , Steve Wigley etc

Because despite what many thinks he signed a lot of these players (like the aforementioned Moussa Dembélé for instance) and because clearly many kids came to Fulham with first team football on their minds looking at what Jol did previously. When he worked at Ajax, HSV and Spurs he did blood youngsters through, but at Fulham, I can't understand why, he hasn't done it.
Bloody hell, we hired him because of that. His main duty was to rejuvanate the team.