The difference between jol and meulensteen is soo vast

[General]

You can't help but think that the players purposefully sabotaged Jols reign, albeit perhaps on the sly or in a dignified manner.

No matter how good you are as a coach you don't get a team turned around that quickly to the point they go from registering no shots on target to over 20.

Would explain Berba being upset as he rated jol, but perhaps he just knew jol wasn't really the same coach/manager he had been...

The players have always been good enough and this maybe would explain why everyone was still so confident despite our lowly position..!?

[God The Mechanic]

There was nothing dignified about the recent run!

[Aaron]

Have been mulling this over in my head tonight myself..

Don't think it holds water though, it's not in any players interest, financially or otherwise, to see their club relegated whether they think they'll be out the door at the end of the season or not.

I think the 7 or 8 changes, total overhaul of the system and crucially (also unfortunately as I'm sure the poor lad is smarting, but whatever, it's been two years and it doesn't work at Fulham) the removal of Ruiz as being the cornerstone has a lot more to do with it.

Full fitness and confidence will take a while, but tactics and team selection can bring around more or less instantaneous changes and we all know that neither of these areas were poor old Martin's strong points.

[Forever Fulham]

I agree.  If you play poorly, it redounds against you. 

[fulham traveller]

I think the players lost confidence in jol, and it rubbed off on them, and we are not fit enough, cant believe how much we have improved, can we replay the west ham away game pls

[Denver Fulham]

Muelensteen's biggest thing so far is realizing he can only play one luxury player. And since Berba has more class at this level in his small toe that what Ruiz or Taarabt can offer, there's your choice.

Of course, it's helped that he's actually utilizing pace on both wings and actually changes tactics based on the opponent, all stuff that somehow was well beyond Jol.

That said, it makes me wonder what Bent's and Taarabt's futures are this season. Is there a provision to end their loans early and send them back, or are we stuck all season with them? I don't see a ton of playing time for either unless there's injury. We can buy a striker in January better than what Bent's offering.

[Count Berbatov]

I wonder what message that would send to the players. Shopping in January I mean. The team works well at the moment. These players are rising from the ashes. Wouldn't want to tell them, you ain't good enough and generally mess with the system. It ain't broken. Don't fix it.
Now a back up player here and there, yes. But not a starter. More shopping in the summer perhaps.
Sorry, a bit off topic...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I agree with Count at the moment.... but come the end of the December we may have injuries and a loss of form again. A few players will freshen things up

[RaySmith]

I'm looking forward to seeing what Bent will do under Rene , with good service from the wings, though presumably he won't play him and Berba together unless he uses a different formation.

I also think Taraabt will do well if Rene finds a role for him. He can at least play him in the Cup.

I agree that we  could do with some new faces in Jan - to provide cover and competition for places - and a striker if Berba leaves?

[JBH]

Jol had his favourites which I think upset a lot of the squad and he played Hangeland even though it was pretty obvious that he wasn't fit, Karagounis Riise and Dejagha were left out in the cold so that Ruiz, Taarbat and Richardson could play,

Move forward 7 days and Karagounis, Riise and Askan are playing with passion the team look like a unit and fans left the ground with a smile on their face after watching FFC play football again.

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

There was nothing dignified about the recent run!

Neither.  I is there anything dignified about slyness ??
Under Jol, The team probably felt like we did, hopeless

[General]

Have been mulling this over in my head tonight myself..

Don't think it holds water though, it's not in any players interest, financially or otherwise, to see their club relegated whether they think they'll be out the door at the end of the season or not.

I think the 7 or 8 changes, total overhaul of the system and crucially (also unfortunately as I'm sure the poor lad is smarting, but whatever, it's been two years and it doesn't work at Fulham) the removal of Ruiz as being the cornerstone has a lot more to do with it.

Full fitness and confidence will take a while, but tactics and team selection can bring around more or less instantaneous changes and we all know that neither of these areas were poor old Martin's strong points.

Hence perhaps why the run has started and finished before Christmas... The loss to west ham was inept and seems to have been so in a way which was on purpose... Worst performance of the season by a way and quite a significant score line to a team that was very close to us and who have a much weaker squad.

[Barrie]

The difference between how the team played under Jol early on and at the end is also vast.  We are playing the same system now as how Jol set us up when we were playing well, before Jags got injured.

[MikeW]

Does anyone think Tom Ince might be a good buy?  Blackpool are floundering at present and their chairman always has an eye on the cash .... might be a bargain?

[RaySmith]

Confidence seems the main change - linked with better organisation.

Even at the beginning under Jol we were erratic - great one week, rubbish the next. He never seemed to cope with the loss of the 2 D's.

At West Ham, i think the main thing was a chronic loss of confidence, rather than lack of desire. Once their fluky goal went in, we'd had it.

Under Rene the team has a totally different attitude, and are, importantly, defensively more sound, with a strong midfield protecting the defence, and defending in depth - seems to give the team more confidence.

We are playing like a team, not a collection of individuals.

[jarv]

Let's wait a few more games and hope the performances continue. The spurs game was terrific, but our ageing team allowed a player to cut through like a knife near the end and steal the points. (as did Swansea) Yes, Fulham were far superior over Villa and could have scored 4 but a couple of Villa players nearly brought them back into the game by doing the same thing late on.

I, like many, think we will be fine but my opinion is we need a centre half and a centre forward in January. Good ones don't come cheap.

[ToodlesMcToot]

I wonder what message that would send to the players. Shopping in January I mean. The team works well at the moment. These players are rising from the ashes. Wouldn't want to tell them, you ain't good enough and generally mess with the system. It ain't broken. Don't fix it.
Now a back up player here and there, yes. But not a starter. More shopping in the summer perhaps.
Sorry, a bit off topic...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

The only problem that I see with this approach - and it's early days in the RM regime - is the ages of the players he's counting on and the minutes they are getting. Straight down the spine of the team, we are well over 30 yrs of age. While this is definitely not old (least not from my perspective) it is in the age range for professional athletes' bodies begin breaking down in one form or another.

Failing to cover for eventualities ( I personally find it difficult to count on Karagounis for 60 to 70 minutes a game for the rest of the season, though I'd love it if it happened. ) with talent in our situation is a great risk. We are walking the knife's edge this season already.

I agree that we shouldn't change what is working. I also think that our being prepared in the case that change is forced upon us is smarter than hoping that nothing further goes wrong for the remainder of the season.

[Northern Cottager]

Does anyone think Tom Ince might be a good buy?  Blackpool are floundering at present and their chairman always has an eye on the cash .... might be a bargain?

No way. Not good enough for this level. Seen him play a few times. He was pants against us and I went to see him against Preston in the cup this season. He was woeful. Bags of pace but came up against some big defenders and was non existent in the second half after only managing one or two off target efforts in the first. Really, really don't rate him.

[Ichabod Magoo]

I wonder what message that would send to the players. Shopping in January I mean. The team works well at the moment. These players are rising from the ashes. Wouldn't want to tell them, you ain't good enough and generally mess with the system. It ain't broken. Don't fix it.
Now a back up player here and there, yes. But not a starter. More shopping in the summer perhaps.
Sorry, a bit off topic...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

I think the message it sends is that the team is trying to improve by any means.  If players fear somebody better than them being brought in, maybe it makes them play at a higher level.  I really wouldn't worry that somebody would lose confidence by being replaced by someone better.  Isn't that the point ... to improve the squad?

[mccscratch]

I really hope that this keeps up... sometimes the Honeymoon period lights a spark but things go back to normal after a few weeks...

I really enjoyed watching us play that kind of football on Sunday... been too long...