About time we put the blame where it belongs

[nevzter]

Quote from Andy S...

"As for now and speculation as to what money is available. We have already spent on Muelensteen, Curbishly and Wilkins. None of which were cheap. I find it hard to believe the spending stops there. Shahid Khan has put in experts before he gets the cheque book out"

:plus one:

There's not much left to be said, however, there's so much more to be said regarding this topic.  This subject could be debated until 'the cows come home.'

Regardless, I think the club will spend, smartly, in the new year.  Survival in the top flight is the epitome for Fulham and a new owner's investment.  I'm optimistic that Khan will back the correct plan to beat the drop. 

PS.  Anybody know if Fulham can entice Roy to return? 

[ToodlesMcToot]

Well, I sure hope that the signings of players are of the same quality as those of our recent coaching and backroom staff. I just hope they are not the same age.

[ToodlesMcToot]

Quote from Andy S...

"As for now and speculation as to what money is available. We have already spent on Muelensteen, Curbishly and Wilkins. None of which were cheap. I find it hard to believe the spending stops there. Shahid Khan has put in experts before he gets the cheque book out"

:plus one:

There's not much left to be said, however, there's so much more to be said regarding this topic.  This subject could be debated until 'the cows come home.'

Regardless, I think the club will spend, smartly, in the new year.  Survival in the top flight is the epitome for Fulham and a new owner's investment.  I'm optimistic that Khan will back the correct plan to beat the drop. 

PS.  Anybody know if Fulham can entice Roy to return? 

From his dream job??? I haven't looked at England's group yet, but I'd wager Roy will get another crack if he's able to escape the group and show well doing it.

[WayneKerrins]

Gents as his tenure neared its end Fayed took dividends out financed by cash from player sales, then used the dems proceeds to reduce external debt before converting his loans to equity in time for the sale. Then he sold it got roughly what he'd put in.
Nothing unethical but he clearly felt the need to squeeze out the extra 20 or so million to add to his 2 billion before the final sale. Was that extra 1% of wealth at the age of nearly 90 so crucial?

[terryr]

My only concern with MAF as much as I love him is where did the dembele money go. Last season we only spent £6 mill and that's what we got from Dempsey. So why wasn't the £15-16 mill reinvested into the squad.

It is a business
NOT a charity.
Khan will invest as not to do so will lose him a piece of the £150 mil he spent to buy the club.
Why do you expect owners to lose money and reinvest everything?
Would you?
FFC has to go some way to paying for itself.
Wake up.
These guy didn't get rich by giving all their money away.
You wouldn't flush your millions down the toilet so why expect these guys to do so.....?
Man the naïve self righteous nonsense gets pretty boring after a while

[Berserker]

Yes I agree, man's self righteous nonsense does get a bit tedious, but after all these years I've got used to it

[Lighthouse]

Have to say it gets really boring having to listen to people defend a multi millionaire when he bothers to buy a business only to watch it run into the ground. At least he has that ground to sell to make money. As for the wait and see. I remember the same argument being made for Jol. That went well didn't it? No we can't change things but when a National Paper states we have no money than I think we have the right to worry. After all the same reports were made in the last few years and laughed at by some. The papers were right then.

Hope they are wrong now. But don't for a minute think the morale high ground is defending the club and our new owner for what they are doing. So far the club is being run like a club with a poor squad and side that ships 6 goals in 45 minutes against a poor opposition. By all means let's wait and see but we have a right to worry the way things have gone.

As for man's self righteous nonesense. Well its all relative as my auntie used to say.

[Arthur]

Have to say it gets really boring having to listen to people defend a multi millionaire when he bothers to buy a business only to watch it run into the ground. At least he has that ground to sell to make money. As for the wait and see. I remember the same argument being made for Jol. That went well didn't it? No we can't change things but when a National Paper states we have no money than I think we have the right to worry. After all the same reports were made in the last few years and laughed at by some. The papers were right then.

Hope they are wrong now. But don't for a minute think the morale high ground is defending the club and our new owner for what they are doing. So far the club is being run like a club with a poor squad and side that ships 6 goals in 45 minutes against a poor opposition. By all means let's wait and see but we have a right to worry the way things have gone.

It can be no less boring having to read people accuse someone who has owned the Club for no more than six months of doing nothing to prevent it from running into the ground. Not everyone dismisses the fact that we have, in this time, acquired the man whom the most successful-ever manager in English football trusted to coach his team and, now, two further experienced figures to assist him.

As for what the papers say, I am more concerned about the quality and suitability of the players who come into the Club during in the transfer window than whether or not they are permanent signings. If they are only on loan, so be it; I don't much care right now. In the short-run, let's do what it takes to retain our PL status and then take a longer term view in the summer.

You're worried, I'm worried, we're all worried. Being worried is no more the domain of those whose patience with Khan has already worn thin than it is those who want to believe that his motives are sound and his acumen sufficient. If the Club do little or nothing in the coming month, every supporter will be disappointed or angry or whatever. This is common ground that we all share.

[Arthur]

Gents as his tenure neared its end Fayed took dividends out financed by cash from player sales, then used the dems proceeds to reduce external debt before converting his loans to equity in time for the sale. Then he sold it got roughly what he'd put in.
Nothing unethical but he clearly felt the need to squeeze out the extra 20 or so million to add to his 2 billion before the final sale. Was that extra 1% of wealth at the age of nearly 90 so crucial?

You don't say from which player sales the money was taken, but I assume you are referring to £21M we received for Dembele and Dempsey. After the (enforced) sale of these players, we acquired Berbatov and added the associated costs of four further players to the squad over the course of the season (Karagounis, Emanuelson, Enoh and Frimpong). It would not be accurate to say, therefore, that none of that £21M was reinvested into the team - at least a third of it was.

Moreover, MAF had been managing the debt in similar fashion for years. Neither the sale of Saha nor Smalling for significant fees, for instance, resulted in the full sum of capital being made available for player purchases. Without claiming for one moment to be an expert, it does not seem that our Chairman's actions in the summer of 2012 can be deemed uncharacteristic.

Yes, it may be that the steps which were furthering MAF's long-term aim to make the Club more self-sustainable also served to make it more saleable. Is this worthy of criticism?  It's not as if he suddenly took the running of the Club in a different direction.

You say it's clear that MAF acted in his own interests to the detriment of the Club. As matters stand, however, there is not enough to convince me that his motives were dishonourable.

[Burt]

Call me churlish but MAF saved us from oblivion and without him I doubt there would have been premier league football, a Europa League final, the excellent facilities we have at Motspur Park, a great academy for aspiring players, and a realistic "balanced books" approach to running a club that won't lead to a points deduction for going in to administration.

[Rupert]

I agree with Churlish.
As also stated above, I think we need to wait until at least a few days into the transfer window before we hit the panic button. You never know, we may have some good signings, loans or permanent, lined up.

My "M" key is still sticking, just in case anyone is interested.

[Berserker]

Interesting point about the 'M' key Rupert  ; - )

[Burt]

I always find this key useful in situations like these:

[Berserker]

I use that key alot at work!

[bobbo]

We'll said I've stated similar but with no responses