Thursday Fulham Stuff (06/02/14)...

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Fulham Academy reaches out to grassroots coaches

Coaches from Surrey football clubs invited to Motspur Park to learn from Fulham Academy experts



Grassroots coaches from football clubs in Surrey were given the opportunity to learn from the best when they were invited to Motspur Park training ground to receive ­­coaching expertise from Fulham Football Club.

Coaches from Ashtead FC, Windlesham United, Horsley FC and Epsom & Ewell Colts, all of whom are members of Fulham FC Charter Standard Partner Clubs, were granted an audience with Fulham's Academy to learn their coaching practices and philosophies and strive to implement them at their own clubs.
Fulham Academy Coach Developer Geoff Noonan opened the session with a presentation on the Fulham academy's youth set-up, highlighting the need to balance school commitments with training and their goal to get players into the Fulham first team.

Coaches Kevin Betsy and Mike Cave then delivered a session with their Under-14s side, with a focus on movement off the ball and playing between the lines, breaking off from their session at regular intervals to discuss what they were doing with the grassroots coaches to aid their understanding. The evening was brought to a close with a question-and-answer session.

Charter Standard partnership

The Surrey County FA and Fulham joined forces to set up a new partnership with the six Charter Standard clubs in Surrey in September 2012. Since then the clubs, who were selected due to their Charter Standard status, have received support and resources from Fulham to develop all aspects of their operations, not just the playing side.
Other benefits include discounted tickets for Fulham's Barclays Premier League matches and visits from the club mascot, Billy the Badger.
"The sessions provided a great opportunity to allow us grassroots coaches to learn what the professionals do," Ashtead Colts coach Richard Trevarthen said. "All our coaches have come away feeling revitalised. The vital integration of grassroots football with the professional game helps volunteers continue to provide quality football to the youth of our community regardless of ability."
Trevarthen also appreciated the efforts made by Fulham to engage with young fans who are just discovering the beautiful game.
"Having Billy the Badger come down made 100 seven-year-olds very happy," he said. "The Fulham shirt framed in the clubhouse has kept everyone guessing at whose signatures they are, and the ball boys at the games have achieved a once-in-a-lifetime experience."



http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2013-14/feb/fulham-academy-reaches-out-to-grassroots-coaches.html?

[WhiteJC]

 
Patrick Barclay: It is not just Shahid Khan who'll be thinking: What have I done?


No fun: Imagine how new owner Shahid Khan felt as he contemplated the defeat by Sheffield United

To the Fulham fans, many of whom remember seriously worse times than this, it's one of those downs that make you cherish the ups.

Yes, being knocked out of the FA Cup by a struggling League One club is no fun, especially when your Premier League season increasingly resembles a battle fought with pop-guns, but memories of adversity were what turned the victory over Juventus, say, into sheer, unforgettable, magic.

That's not to say a bit of Premier League stability wouldn't be nice. Those of us who live near Fulham's lovely stretch of the Thames have got used to the club's big-time status and it enhances the League to have such a picturesque setting.

But nothing is for ever and, when Mohamed Fayed sold out last summer, maybe it was as if the ravens had left the Tower of London. Imagine how new owner Shahid Khan felt as he contemplated the defeat by Sheffield United and the daunting nature of the forthcoming League fixtures, which feature Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

All the fit-and-proper person's textbook would have told him was to change managers but he's already done that, replacing Martin Jol with Rene Meulensteen. And spent a bit of money, including £11m on Kostas Mitroglou, who, it is hoped, will make his debut at United on Sunday.

The striker could be excused a little pensiveness too. Until Fulham came along, he had expected to be facing United twice in the Champions League (and Rio Ferdinand duly tweeted thanks to Meulensteen for weakening Olympiakos) but now he faces a more clouded future.

Unless his contract contains a relegation clause, he could be spending next season not at places like Old Trafford but Wigan and Blackpool, where the breezes will seldom remind him of his favourite Greek island. And Khan, who paid Fayed upwards of £150m, will be pondering his own wisdom.


http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/patrick-barclay-it-is-not-just-shahid-khan-wholl-be-thinking-what-have-i-done-9108681.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Hangeland: Still Determined

Captain Brede Hangeland insists the Team will leave no stone unturned in our fight to turn the season around.

Brede: We Stay Determined


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/february/05/brede-reaction?

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ADO Den Haag Open Managerial Door For Former Fulham Boss Martin Jol

ADO Den Haag would love to have Martin Jol back in a coaching role at the club, after club sponsor John van Zweden admitted their current regime's football was unwatchable.

Van Zweden, an ADO sponsor who is also a director at Swansea City, feels Jol can chip in for the club that is currently lying bottom of the Eredivisie.

Jol, who spent time in the 1990s coaching in the ADO youth set-up, was last year sacked as Fulham manager, with Rene Meulensteen taking over.

And Van Zweden, amid the backdrop of Swansea sacking Michael Laudrup, wants the 58-year-old to help out given the failings of the incumbent Maurice Steijn.

"I am a big fan of Steijn, but I also know that he can no longer continue", Van Zweden told Voetbal International. "This type of football we cannot see.

"But what's the alternative? There is no money for a lump-sum payment and a new coach. Maybe Jol can help us?

"At the moment Martin has no club and he does not have to do it for the money. He needs to call [ADO majority shareholder] Mark van der Kallen and he gets it."



Read more at http://www.insidefutbol.com/2014/02/05/ado-den-haag-open-managerial-door-for-former-fulham-boss-martin-jol/125918/#bCTgwgZBAY4XqOfS.99

[WhiteJC]

 
It's The Hope That Kills You
by LRCN on FEBRUARY 5, 2014



After Rene's first game, our new man in charge pronounced the importance of succeeding in 'winning the fans back' after a valiant effort against Tottenham in which we were unlucky to lose. We played with pace, width, tenacity, intensity, and with the 'new manager bounce' cliche thoroughly disproved by statistics, it was reasonable to hope we might actually be able to turn around our dreadful performances and season. We followed that up with a win at Villa, pushed Everton and City hard before nabbing our third away win of the season up at Norwich.

However, in the four league games we've played in the last four weeks, our season has descended back in to farce. A crushing defeat at home to Sunderland – appointing Poyet doesn't seem so foolish now, eh – and second half collapses in the three subsequent games, including the unforgivable miscarry last Saturday, have left us bottom of the table. Our football has lost spark, and our squad mentality is weak. Defensively, we have no shape or organisation or thought, and going forward we've recovered the incoherent messiness that put us here in the first place. Pulis, much to his credit, has demonstrated the virtues of defensive solidity at the bottom (as Roy did a few seasons ago). He is wildly overachieving with a Palace side bereft of quality by constructing a way of playing that has yielded clean sheets in half of his league games. Conversely, we've kept one in twelve, conceding 29 in the process. When we do go forward, we can't convert our chances, and when our performances inevitably dip in the second half there is a similarly inevitable collapse that follows us around like an unwanted shadow.

So, all the work Rene put in to 'winning the fans back' has been undone. We've removed our wingers (Holtby and Dempsey on the flanks Saturday? Resigning Dempsey, by the way, has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster), and play a terrible 4-3-3/4-4-1-1 hybrid. It just isn't working, despite the monotonous rhetoric being put out from the Fulham PR staff ("OUR SEASON STARTS HERE", "EVERY GAME IS A CUP FINAL", "STAY POSITIVE"). I want it to work for Rene, I really do, and maybe the introduction of Wilkin' ideas was where it predictably became ponderous, but the longer this goes on the longer our  management staff look wholly incompetent. Jol's stamp on the squad has been thoroughly dismantled with our late January business, so let's see how it works. But I fear for Fulham – and so does anyone else who watches us play.

LRCN



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2014/02/its-the-hope-that-kills-you/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham loan Danish international

VfB Stuttgart midfielder William Kvist has joined English Premier League side Fulham on loan until the end of the 2013-14 season.
Fulham have the option to sign the Danish midfielder on a permanent basis at the end of the season. He will be eligible to make his debut in Fulham's Premier League tie with Southampton at Craven Cottage this weekend.

Stuttgart sporting director Fredi Bobic commented:

"William hadn't quite been playing as regularly for us as he would have liked, and for that reason we wanted to find a solution that satisfied everyone.
"We wish him every success there and hope he can get back to playing regularly again."

William Kvist signed for Stuttgart in the summer of 2011 from Danish Superliga giants FC Copenhagen. He made 68 Bundesliga appearances for the Reds in the centre of midfield and has represented his country on 44 occasions, scoring 2 goals and played at UEFA Euro 2012.
Kvist had started 11 Bundesliga matches for Stuttgart this season but has made only a single substitute appearance since the end of November.
Fulham are sitting 19th in the English Premier League table and are already onto their second manager of the season.



http://www.bundesliga365.com/3427/fulham-loan-danish-international/?

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Rene Meulensteen tells fans: Don't add to our problems


Empty gesture: Fulham put Sheffield United under pressure at Craven Cottage last night, but few were there to witness it

This defeat will test the patience of Shahid Khan. Rene Meulensteen says he does not fear for his job but another abject performance is likely to leave the Fulham owner with his finger hovering over the panic button for the second time this season.

Khan, who was not at Craven Cottage last night to see Fulham dumped out of the FA Cup, continues to keep his counsel but fans are beginning to turn on Meulensteen.

The optimism following his arrival in December has slowly ebbed away after a series of poor results and, with Fulham bottom of the Premier League and sliding towards relegation, it is easy to understand why his position is under scrutiny.

The nature of this defeat, against a side second bottom in League One, will only increase speculation that Alan Curbishley is being lined up to replace him. Meulensteen insists he retains the backing of Khan and the board but he knows things have to improve if Fulham are to have any chance of saving their season.

Meulensteen says Fulham have reached "rock bottom" and admitted this was the worst display since he took over from Martin Jol.

"If we [continue to] play like this we have a big problem," he said. "The team lack confidence. There is not enough edge, not enough quality. And there is no direct fix or solution.

"We know the game plan Sheffield United would come with, getting men behind the ball. It was up to us to break them down and, in the end, we were not good enough."

It was an honest assessment from Meulensteen, who knew this fourth-round replay marked the start of a two-week period that will be crucial to the club's survival prospects.

Next up for Fulham, after four straight League defeats, are games against Manchester United and Liverpool.

The Dutchman believes they need seven wins from their final 14 fixtures to stay up but if they maintain their current points-per-game ratio under him, Fulham are on course to finish some way short of the 40-point mark.

Khan knows Curbishley, who was brought in as technical director over Christmas, saved West Ham from relegation in 2007 and will want to see significant improvements in the coming games. Meulensteen will argue he was without deadline-day signings Kostas Mitroglou, Lewis Holtby and Johnny Heitinga last night and that he rested key players ahead of Sunday's trip to Old Trafford. Even so, Fulham were flat, lacking in belief and devoid of quality.

With a penalty shoot-out looming Shaun Miller scored the winner before Fulham's lowest crowd of the season made their feelings known as Meulensteen and his players trudged off the pitch in the pouring rain.

Had it not been for the Tube strike the attendance would no doubt have been higher than 10,139 but the number of empty seats at Craven Cottage is a sign disgruntled fans are beginning to lose faith. "I understand their frustration," said Meulensteen, who hopes £11million signing Mitroglou will be fit to make his debut against United.

"I think everyone involved with Fulham will feel that but the most important message to the fans is: do not add to the problems we already have but be a part of the solution.

"Make sure you stick together, make sure you keep supporting the team and the players. This is when we need the fans the most."

Asked whether he feared for his future, Meulensteen added: "I will just keep doing my job the best that I can. I have no worries in that respect."



http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/rene-meulensteen-tells-fans-dont-add-to-our-problems-9108653.html

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Fulham manager says it can't get any worse... but fixtures, odds say it can

Fulham manager Rene Meulensteen says it can't get any worse for his beleaguered club.

Their fourth manager in four years watched his club, sitting in 20th place in the Premier League with 14 matches to go, use its home FA Cup fourth-round replay with League One's Sheffield United to throw up a 1-0 tournament exit.

"If you talk about this game and ask 'Have we hit rock bottom?', we probably have," Meulensteen told British television network ITV4. "If you say that, then it cannot get any worse, it can only get better."

Problem is: it can.

Fulham has 19 points through 24 rounds and even a shock win over Manchester United on the weekend would still have them in the relegation zone come next week. After rebounding from a 6-0 thrashing at Hull to beat West Ham on New Year's Day, Fulham has lost four in Premier League succession.

Those games include three scoreless losses (Arsenal, Swansea, Southampton) and a 4-1 spanking from Sunderland.

"We could have played until next month and not scored a goal," Meulensteen added. "I think the knocks we have picked up over the last couple of weeks have definitely had an influence on the confidence.

"When it happens, that is when you need to stick together. We know we only have ourselves to blame, we need to look in each other's eyes and dig ourselves out of it."

Fulham's next eight dates include the aforementioned match against Manchester United in addition to visits from Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Newcastle, as well as a trip to Manchester City. It doesn't look pretty for Fulham, who will also lose all-time leading scorer Clint Dempsey to the end of his loan deal soon (not that he's done much of anything so far in a currently disappointing return to England).

But the Cottagers are coming off a seemingly successful transfer window that saw them pick up Lewis Holtby and John Heitinga on loan in addition to their big ticket acquisition of Kostas Mitroglou from Olympiacos.

The web site Sportsclubstats says Fulham have an 82 percent chance to get relegated and 50 percent chance to finish dead last in the PL. Does that feel about right to you, or can Rene pull his boys out of dangers against the odds?



http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/05/fulham-manager-says-it-cant-get-any-worse-but-fixtures-odds-say-it-can/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fading Fulham have to get out of neutral – and fast

I don't mind Fulham.

Who does, really? Maybe Chelsea, QPR, but even so, they are never going to be fierce rivals in a derby. Fulham are the sort of club people describe as 'my second team'.

There's very little to dislike about the Cottagers, but maybe that is their problem.

The club have always been mid-table fodder in recent times and rarely fallen anywhere close to the drop zone. Until this season.

Visiting teams have found the pleasant surrounds of the Cottage, neutral stand et al, simply too welcoming, and the club's home form has deserted them, with three wins from 12 at home in the league.

For the first time in as long as I can remember, Fulham are in a mess. Two managers have been in charge this term: Martin Jol and Rene Meulensteen, but there are also two other big players involved, Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley.

With Meulensteen (ex-Manchester United), Wilkins (ex-Chelsea) and Curbishley (ex-West Ham) involved, you would imagine the Cottagers would come through this crisis.

But maybe there are too many chiefs...

What is clear at the moment is that they are marooned at the foot of the Premier League, four points adrift of safety, and, it would seem, deservedly so, too.

Last night's horror show as they crashed out of the FA Cup at home to League One's second-worst team Sheffield United in extra-time only heightened the sense of freefall at Craven Cottage.

Meulensteen was meant to turn things around after being promoted to manager when Jol was axed, but has instead seen his new side slump to the bottom of the league.

Is that down to too many voices? Is he in sole charge? How much power do Wilkins and Curbs really have?



They have at least been backed in the transfer market, with Clint Dempsey and Lewis Holtby (both on loan), £11million man Kostas Mitroglou, Larnell Cole, William Kvist all coming in.

But Meulensteen has little time in which to create a cohesive team out of the bloated squad he now has. As well as bloated, it is also ageing and, on recent evidence, headed for the Championship.

Three of Fulham's next four games are against United (admittedly not as difficult a prospect as previous seasons), Liverpool and Chelsea.

The club with the neutral zone has to get out of neutral
Their only realistic hope of staying up comes in the form of clashes against the teams around them.

If the Cottagers can take points off them, they could pull off a miracle and stay up. But there is plenty of rebuilding ahead if they do – whether that is for Meulensteen to do in the future or someone else.

The club with the neutral zone has to get out of neutral – and fast – if they are to rescue themselves.



http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/05/fading-fulham-have-to-get-out-of-neutral-and-fast-4291641/?

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Hugo Rodallega takes being substituted by Fulham to extremes
• Colombian striker appears to be close to tears
• Maarten Stekelenburg attempts to console him


Hugo Rodallega steels himself to peer over the seat back as Fulham are knocked out
of the FA Cup by Sheffield Uniited. Photograph: ITV/PA

A lot of players get upset when they are taken off but Hugo Rodallega took it to extremes after being replaced by Ashkan Dejagah in Fulham's FA Cup defeat by Sheffield United on Tuesday.

The Colombian striker appeared to close to tears as he took his place on the bench after an hour of the fourth-round FA Cup replay and pulled a coat over his head to hide his embarrassment.

Jeers from the crowd at Craven Cottage cannot have helped and although he was consoled by Maarten Stekelenburg, the rest of his team-mates just looked awkward.

The 28-year-old has yet to make an impact for Fulham, having scored just three goals since arriving from Wigan on a free transfer in 2012.

His substitution had little impact on the game, however, Fulham going down 1-0 in extra time.


http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/05/hugo-rodallega-tears-substitution-fulham

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Warbo's Word: QPR better off than Fulham?

Rangers' loan stars have hit the ground running, but Cottagers' £11million striker is a massive gamble

QPR were true to their promise in the transfer window.

Once bitten, although once is pushing it, twice shy was something of a mantra as they refused to pay out big bucks.

The temptation was great. A month's groundwork went into the proposed transfer of £7m rated Ishak Belfodil. But the Serie A striker's people and clubs, he is jointly owned, pushed their luck as Harry Redknapp suggested.

"They couldn't agree on the way we wanted to structure. We're in the Championship – we're not prepared to splash silly money," was how the boss dismissed the failed deal.

Wouldst it was the same in the past.

Rewind 12 months and 12 months before that, and QPR were left with not so much an account in the red, but something closer to purple as the spending totted up.

In fact, it says something for Rangers nerve that with the carrot of Premier League football a bite away, they held out for a clutch of loans and short-term deals.

Kevin Doyle and Modibo Maiga hit the ground running, and the other three may follow suit.

But if not, then at least Rangers won't rue another January that left them financially cold.

Not so at Fulham, perhaps.

They really are going for broke. That minimum £60m just for staying in the Premier League is slipping like sand though desperate fingers, and £11m for Konstantinos Mitroglou is a gamble in anybody's book.

The striker hit 14 goals in 10 Greek Super League games, although what's super about it I'd like to know.

he Premier League is another matter, as many imports have discovered to their clubs' cost.

If he fails to hit the target on a regular basis, Mitroglou will be as much the baddie as Basil Rathbone's character in the Robin Hood classic he resembles.

'Rock bottom' was how boss Rene Meulensteen described the defeat by Sheffield United in the FA Cup last night.

He hasn't been to Doncaster on a Tuesday night in February, but he might get to compare Cup loss and Keepmoat next season.



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/warbos-word-qpr-better-fulham-6674985?

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Losing his League One mark on a match-losing goal: Are you worried about Clint Dempsey yet?

Are you worried about Clint Dempsey yet? The American captain did very little upon his heralded return to Major League Soccer last season and has struggled to find any semblance of his form at Fulham.

Think we're exaggerating? Take a look at the stellar man-marking by Dempsey that lead to the free-headed game-winning goal, embarrassing Fulham in extra time of their FA Cup ouster against League One's Sheffield United yesterday.

And photography can play tricks, but look at this photo of Shaun Miller heading home in the 119th minute after slipping Dempsey... who is not even in the frame.

It's poor, and comes on the heels of eight goals conceded, none created and four-straight Premier League losses with Dempsey back at Craven Cottage. Which, of course, follows one goal in 12 appearances for the Sounders.

In fact, since scoring 3 goals and posting an assist in back-to-back matches for the States against Belgium and Germany, Dempsey has appeared 24 times in total for the Yanks, Seattle and Fulham. He scored the lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Costa Rica and recorded a goal and an assist in the last two matches of October for Seattle.

That's it for his point production, and while there's much to be said for how, at most, only the final two players pick up tally marks on the stat sheet, there's plenty of reason for concern here (even for a gamer like Dempsey).

He's been backed by Fulham teammates who say he's out to prove a point, and our own Kyle Bonn further detailed his Fulham struggles last week. Something's gotta give for the 30-year-old.

Cause if he's not flying in Brazil... what's happening to the US in Group G?



http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/05/losing-his-league-one-mark-on-a-match-losing-goal-are-you-worried-about-clint-dempsey-yet/related/

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Players need to take responsibility for Fulham's awful form – not Rene Meulensteen

When you're in the mire, things only seem to get worse.

The 3-0 home defeat to Southampton was bad enough, coming at a time where points are coming at a premium and where confidence is all but spent, yet the cup exit, again at home, to Sheffield United, has dragged a whole new cloud over Craven Cottage.

It was an emotionally draining performance for the fans, full of apathy and a sheer lack of urgency. Yes, this was no cup final and nor was it a league six-pointer, but there are moments in a season – many moments in Fulham's case – when the players need to pull together in recognition of the mammoth task they are taking on.

Pulling together, in this sense, simply involves trying to win, showing hunger or, for the sake of sounding overly Hollywoodish, running that extra yard.

None of these traits were on show on Tuesday night. Not even close.

And that has become an unfortunate characteristic of this season's Fulham side. No matter how much we protest, we do have a squad that oozes talent and shouldn't, really, be bottom of the table.

[Meulensteen] deserves more time and more patience, despite a run of results that is less than impressive

But their application and their desire has to be severely questioned. We all thought Martin Jol was the problem – and a lot of his decisions didn't help him – and now a mixture of Rene Meulensteen, Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley are being targeted for their role in our plight.

Fair enough, but the players need to accept their role in this sorry mess, too.

Because, if things continue as they are – and, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all to come in the next four weeks, it is likely – Meulensteen will lose his job.

Yet, he deserves more time and more patience, despite a run of results that is less than impressive. The instant improvement upon his arrival was evident, with a change in style of play that was encouraging and, in those early days, fruitful.

Unfortunately, though, the argument against our current head coach has much support. Defensively, we are a shambles and our cutting edge is dissipating with each passing match.

Curbishley could sort out the former were he manager but he is not exactly famous for his progressive style of play.

Would we take that compromise right now? Probably, but it's the players that are letting us down the most.



http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/05/players-need-to-take-responsibility-for-fulhams-awful-form-not-rene-meulensteen-4291522/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Meulensteen a dodged bullet for Sunderland

Sunderland fans should count their blessings that the club appointed Gus Poyet rather than Rene Meulensteen to replace Paolo Di Canio.

The following is a user-submitted blog and does not necessarily represent the views of Footyplace. Submit your own football blog and we will publish it on our homepage.

It has likely escaped most that Rene Meulensteen was one of the favourites for the Sunderland job, following Paolo Di Canio's departure. I recall a significant portion of fans crying out for the Dutchman to be appointed, citing his success as part of Alex Ferguson's staff at Manchester United as ample proof of his ability to make us successful. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

With Fulham on Tuesday night crashing out of the FA Cup with about as little a whimper as is humanly possible, we should perhaps begin to thank our lucky stars that Meulensteen was not the choice of Mr Ellis Short.

There is perhaps a danger in believing that because a coach has worked with an extremely successful manager, that this will rub off on them, but so often this is not the case. Since Meulensteen's appointment Fulham have arguably gone backwards and sit bottom of the Premier League, with no style or commitment evident in their play (*chuckles uncontrollably whilst thinking about Darren Bent*).

We, however, find ourselves with Gustavo Poyet, who looks like the best appointment in living memory. Not only has Gus reformed a cracked and distorted dressing room, but he has brought about a magnificent style to Sunderland, one of which we haven't seen since Martin O'Neill was in charge (JOKES!). With Sunderland seemingly going from strength to strength and Fulham dropping like a lazy stone, this is surely the time to acknowledge how well Gus has done.

The other positive to take from Poyet's appointment is that, should we be unfortunate enough to go down, Gus is an manager who is well acquainted with the Championship and whose style would surely guarantee success at that level.

Fulham on the other hand look as though much work would be required to overhall a squad riddled with uncommitted players. With Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley suspiciously receiving roles at Fulham, one may think it's only a matter of time before Meulensteen gets the sack.

Thank you Mr Poyet and well done Mr Short.



http://www.footyplace.com/features/meulensteen-a-dodged-bullet-for-sunderland-0205280917?

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Fulham's chief must decide whether to stick or twist with René Meulensteen
Fulham's overworked chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, faces tough decisions over the Dutch manager after their FA Cup exit, with Alan Curbishley and Ray Wilkins waiting in the wings

The question for Alistair Mackintosh, Fulham's overworked chief executive, involves whether to roll the dice again; whether to recommend what would be a remarkable re-run of the recent past.

Last November, Mackintosh oversaw the recruitment of René Meulensteen as the club's assistant manager or, perhaps, the manager-in-waiting if results continued to be poor. There was, of course, plenty of protesting about the conspiratorial notion. Meulensteen, according to everybody at Fulham, was there only to assist the manager, Martin Jol, who himself had pushed for the appointment of his friend and fellow Dutchman.

Results continued to be poor and, on 1 December, the day after the 3-0 Premier League defeat at fellow strugglers, West Ham United, Jol was dismissed and replaced by Meulensteen.

Over Christmas, Mackintosh, who effectively runs the club on behalf of the owner, Shahid Khan, oversaw another structural re-tweak. In came Alan Curbishley as the first-team technical director and he would be followed by Ray Wilkins as the assistant head coach. Meulensteen said he was "delighted" and in no way, according to everybody, was Curbishley, the former Charlton Athletic and West Ham manager, an insurance policy in the event of results continuing to be poor.

"Not at all," Meulensteen said on Monday, in the wake of the demoralising 3-0 home defeat to Southampton, when he was asked whether Curbishley's presence was unnerving. "I brought Alan into this club as part of my squad, to give me the best possible backbone."

But these are anxious times and Mackintosh has a decision to make. Meulensteen's team were abject on Tuesday night, in the 1-0 FA Cup replay defeat at home to Sheffield United. He did make changes to his normal XI, featuring a few of the young players that Khan has wanted to see integrated but there ought still to have been enough on the field to see off the second-bottom team in League One.

Hugo Rodallega, the striker, was booed when he was substituted on 59 minutes and he looked to be on the verge of tears. He was not the only one. The Craven Cottage crowd appears to have lost faith in this team.

It has been a fiendishly tough seven months or so for Mackintosh, which began with Mohamed Al Fayed's £150m sale of Fulham to Khan last July and has also taken in two transfer windows, with the stressful dealings with agents, and one managerial change. Fulham have only one other director – Sean O'Loughlin – plus the non-executive director, Mark Lamping, who is Khan's right-hand man. Mackintosh has an awful lot on his shoulders.

He is highly regarded within the game; a calm and stable operator, who stuck with Jol until the bitter end, partly because of an awareness that, Meulensteen apart, there was the lack of readily available alternatives. That remains the case, as Meulensteen finds his methods and results under scrutiny but, once again, there is an in-house option.

Curbishley, famously, led West Ham to Premier League survival in 2006-07, having taken over with the club in the relegation places. He began with a 1-0 home victory over Manchester United and, after a further slump, he won seven of the season's final nine games, culminating in the 1-0 triumph at Old Trafford that hauled them out of trouble. Fulham visit United on Sunday.

It should be remembered that Curbishley has not managed since his dismissal from West Ham in September 2008, although he has involved himself in first-team training at Fulham. The players have been surprised to see Curbishley in a tracksuit and taking a part of certain sessions. When Meulensteen's assistants, John Hill and Mick Priest, are factored in, there are plenty of cooks.

Meulensteen had never managed in the Premier League until his promotion at Fulham and his previous experience ran no deeper than an ill-starred 16-day reign at Anzhi Makhachkala last year. The 49-year-old has a reputation as an excellent coach, which he forged during his years under Sir Alex Ferguson at United. But there is clearly a leap from coaching technically brilliant players, and with Ferguson ensuring discipline, to having to find a way to win matches at the foot of the table.

Meulensteen is not battle-hardened in the Premier League like, say, Tony Pulis is at Crystal Palace. Pulis is hard and uncompromising, and he knows how to get results, often scruffy 1-0s but the points all count the same. Since he was appointed at Selhurst Park before the trip to Hull City on 23 November, when the club sat bottom of the table with four points from 11 matches, he has taken 19 from 13 games to lift them to 17th place. Fulham have technically gifted players but do they have the mentality to grind out victories?

The FA Cup exit was, in itself, not disastrous. Khan does not want to emulate last season's Wigan Athletic by enjoying cup glory and going down. But the performance against Sheffield United betrayed the fragility of the collective confidence levels. Fulham are bottom of the table for a reason and their defending, in particular, has been consistently bad. Meulensteen's record in the league reads: P11 W3 L8.

In one sense, Meulensteen has been left to hold the baby. Under Jol, as Al Fayed's interest dwindled, there was little investment in the squad. Across five transfer windows, Jol's net spend on permanent signings was roughly £4m. The group came to lack balance. Khan reacted on the final day of the January window, funding the £12.5m signing of the striker Kostas Mitroglou. The defender Johnny Heitinga and the midfielder Lewis Holtby also arrived, together with the young midfielders Ryan Tunnicliffe and Larnell Cole from United, as they supplemented the earlier loans of Clint Dempsey and William Kvist. Dempsey, who will return to Seattle Sounders at the end of the month, has been a disappointment so far.

The impression given was of an owner, fearful of relegation and the associated hit to his investment, moving to back his manager. It was a slightly belated statement of intent. "Hopefully, the new players coming in can help us fix it," Meulensteen said, after the Sheffield United defeat.

Fulham's upcoming fixtures are daunting. After United, they face Liverpool while they have Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton before the end of next month. Meulensteen is on the edge.



http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/feb/05/fulham-rene-meulensteen-manager

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The Crumbling Cottage

Craven (adjective) – contemptibly lacking in courage; cowardly: 'a craven abdication of his moral duty'.

Last night, Craven Cottage lived up to its name. The defeat by Sheffield United signalled yet another low point for this rankly average Fulham side; the performance was as cowardly as you're likely to see from a professional team. By mid-May, the inglorious climax of 18 months of regression looks set to be relegation to the second tier. Based upon what we've had to endure so far this season, the drop would be wholly deserved.

For the club's players to give up the ghost once in a season, at the end of Martin Jol's dismal tenure, was unacceptable. For those same players to give up once again, as they seemed to last night, is unforgivable. The momentary jubilation of a 'successful' transfer deadline day has quickly dissipated as the harsh reality of mediocrity and gutlessness hit home once again.
Yes, gutless. For seemingly talented footballers to play without any hint of heart or desire is a disgrace. For professional footballers to 'hide' in a game against a team two tiers beneath them is truly embarrassing. The starting 11 against Sheffield United looked more desperate to play themselves out of contention for a trip to Manchester this weekend than challenge for a first-term berth. That by default some of those players will be in the starting line-up at Old Trafford depresses me immensely.

This team has sleep-walked its way to the brink. We have a squad bursting at the seams with overpaid, over-aged has-beens whose hunger seemingly centres solely upon hard currency. Shame on them. Could I have imagined two or three years ago wishing for relegation as a means of purging the club of its mediocre blood-suckers? Not on your life. But now I'd happily settle for the drop, an almighty summer clear-out, a top-to-bottom refresh and a reinvigorated Championship squad built upon a foundation of youth, hunger and ambition. If only it didn't have to come to that.

And what of the club's managerial hornets' nest? Who answers to whom? Rene Meulensteen has won just three of his 11 Premier League games and the initial bounce, in spirit at least, that accompanied his arrival is long gone. Quite frankly, the managerial situation is neither here nor there. We are too far down the road to even contemplate changing this season's fateful course without the buy-in and willingness of the players. It's high time they front up, take responsibility and give it their all.
Fans can, and will, forgive technical deficiencies or a lack of confidence; all we ask, however, is that our club's players give 100% effort.

If this great club is going to go down, let's for God's sake go down fighting.

Published by: Henry Hoare
on 5 February 2014


Read more: http://pickourteam.com/premierleague/fulham/news/05-02-2014/the-crumbling-cottage/869863?#ixzz2sVfp1TJk

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What's Going Wrong at Fulham Under Manager Rene Meulensteen?

Yesterday evening we witnessed Fulham's ignominious exit from the FA Cup at the hands of League 1 relegation candidates Sheffield United at Craven Cottage. Such was the despondency around the ground following the Blades' one hundred and nineteenth minute winning goal, there is now a genuine worry as to whether or not manager Rene Meulensteen will be able to rally his troops in a fight against relegation but what exactly is going wrong with a club that very few tipped for relegation this term?

Fulham finished twelfth last term and last summer the club could be accused of not strengthening adequately however with the process of a board takeover ongoing it would always be difficult to free the finances to improve the squad too much although the deal was completed in mid July. The then Head Coach Martin Jol brought in a couple of players who you would imagine would have strengthened the team, Darren Bent on loan for £2million looked a bargain, as did Scott Parker at £4million. Fernando Amorebieta, who came from Athletic Bilbao with a sizeable reputation, cost Fulham nothing in terms of a transfer fee but has been a heavy disappointment since due to injury struggles and poor performances.

You got the impression that close to the end of his spell with Fulham, Martin Jol's time with the Cottagers was beginning to look very similar to his final days at Tottenham Hotspur. Anything that could go wrong did, results weren't too good and it was only a matter of time before his dismissal. Admittedly at Tottenham Daniel Levy had been looking at appointing Juande Ramos for a while, I don't think you could say the same about the Fulham hierarchy with Rene Meulensteen.

There have been flashes of good football and strong performances from Fulham this term, stretching back into the Jol era and now with Rene Meulensteen. Steve Sidwell and Scott Parker look to be a good midfield pairing albeit short of mobility and genius, if you could place a third man in that midfield alongside or just in front of them, a playmaker then you wouldn't be far off a strong mid-table starting midfield.  Going forward there has been issues with scoring, Darren Bent hasn't shown anything like the form he has at previous clubs, last season's events at Aston Villa where Bent was frozen out of the team but was still deemed too important to sell has clearly had a negative impact.

Dimitar Berbatov has looked at times disinterested prior to his January move to Monaco and the performances of Bryan Ruiz and Adel Taarabt have been inconsistent with very few moments of magic.

In fairness to the incoming Meulensteen the first thing he did was surround himself with coach's who had experience in the Premier League in order to assist him. Ray Wilkins enjoyed an excellent spell as Assistant Manager to Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea with the general consensus that the decision to remove Wilkins from his post taken by owner Roman Abramovich was the beginning of the end of Ancelotti's highly successful time with the London club. Alan Curbishley was also brought in as a technical director after tallying up years of experience as a Premier League manager with Charlton Athletic and more recently West Ham United where once again the circumstances that surrounded his exit were interesting to say the least.

One of the main, if not the most significant problem Fulham has faced this season, has been their work defensively. It has been for want of a better term, an absolute shambles at the back for Fulham this season.  Fulham have already conceded fifty three league goals this season which is the most by twelve goals. That is a staggering drop from twelfth last season.

It has looked at times as if the Fulham defence has been playing on a completely different wavelength to each other, the prime examples occurred in November when Manchester United and Liverpool both faced Fulham and put a number of goals past the Cottagers' defence. Not one of the four defenders could keep a stable line in either of those matches, you would have Kieran Richardson at left-back holding far too high a line with the two central defenders and Riether at right-back all in different positions which left opposition forwards in great positions, unmarked, yet still onside.

Against teams with clever players like Liverpool and Manchester United you cannot afford to be slack at the back, you cannot afford to play people far onside as a Luis Suarez, a Wayne Rooney or a Steven Gerrard will find that unmarked striker with a clever reverse pass and there is very little you can do from that position to recover the situation, as Fulham found in both those matches where they conceded a total of seven goals.

Rene Meulensteen's reign hasn't seen too much more defensive solidity with Fulham conceded seventeen goals in Meulensteen's first month in charge, including six at Hull City just before the New Year. You can't defend that poorly at Premier League level and expect the talent in the squad higher up the pitch to get you out of trouble time after time, even more so when your talented front men are often labelled languid yet mercurial which is as great a juxtaposition as you could find.

In fairness to Rene Meulensteen the January transfer window has seen some steady purchases and departures. Berbatov, Taarabt and Bryan Ruiz have all found themselves unwanted at Craven Cottage and have been given new adventures at Monaco, AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven respectively whilst Meulensteen has replaced them with energy, hard work and individual brilliance in the forms of Clint Dempsey on loan, Lewis Holtby on loan and Konstantinos Mitroglou for a club record transfer fee of £12.4million.

Rene Meulensteen has been clever in his transfer business this past January as he has replaced what he has lost but also added deeper resolve to his squad. In Mitroglou you are going to get the fantastic technical ability that Berbatov brought, however Mitroglou is also very energetic as he has proven in the Champions League this season with Olympiacos. Lewis Holtby and Clint Dempsey can both be very creative but will work a lot harder than Taarabt and Ruiz in terms of closing down defences and possibly tracking back to help defensively.

William Kvist has been brought in as a defensive midfielder, this gives Fulham options to play three in midfield and take away the workload from one of Parker and Sidwell and the signing of Johnny Heitinga from Everton adds an experienced centre half who in his time at Everton and Atletico Madrid was a tough defender to get past as well as a good organiser of a defensive line.

So why you may ask is there still such gloom around Craven Cottage? Especially when you consider a lot of the players brought into the club late in the window were not eligible for selection in the FA Cup fifth round replay defeat to Sheffield United. Well the answer to that was the spirit of the rest of the squad last night. It was non-existent. This was a Fulham side bereft of confidence and self belief and bringing a number of talented players into a team is supposed to improve those aspects yet it appears to have had no effect. Yes they haven't played yet but having players of that ability on the training ground should be more than enough to motivate a team, Clint Dempsey was a key member of the great Fulham team which defied all the odds and reached the 2010 Europa League final where they only just missed out on glory in Hamburg, Germany. If that doesn't get teammates around him motivated to kick-start a fight against relegation then I'm not sure what will.

The real test is to come for Fulham and Meulensteen. Can Heitinga provide the defensive boost in quality in organisation which the club desperately needs? Will Mitroglou continue his excellent form from before Christmas and help Fulham's goal tally? We still have to give time for the January signings to first play and then adapt to the squad however time is not on Meulensteen or indeed Fulham's side and with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in three of Fulham's next four matches, the worrying lack of commitment and self belief within the Fulham team that was displayed last night gives little indication of Fulham's 'fight' for survival in the Premier League.



Read more at http://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/02/05/whats-going-wrong-at-fulham-under-manager-rene-meulensteen/#c36wYmLEJ0pVl1Mp.99

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Greek Coach Who Discovered Mitroglou

Nobody can doubt that the Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou is a gifted and talented player. His recent transfer to Fulham F.C proves it. The Greek explosive striker penned a contract that will keep him at the Cottagers for 4 and a half years. This transfer was the most expensive in Greece's football history.

But what about the man who discovered the Greek striker and put faith in his abilities when no one else did?

His name is Kostas Melikidis who is a former professional footballer of the historic team of Greece, Doksa Dramas. Mr. Melikidis lives in Germany permanently for the last 20 years and is the man who discovered Kostas Mitroglou.

Mitroglou, since he was a young boy, loved football. He was playing for the village's football team, Neukirchen-Vluyn. Back in 2002, when Kostas was 13 years old, his father introduced him to coach Melikidis. The same year, Mitroglou joined MSV Duisburg U17 squad and after four seasons with the club he joined Borussia Mönchengladbach U19 squad.

Then, Tasos Melikidis decided to bring Kostas to Greece. He personally recommended him to Michalis Iordanidis who was also the assistant manager of Greece U19's coach, Nikos Nioplias. Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and Mitroglou became a key-player for both Olympiacos and Greece's National Team.

"It is sad to say that I regret what I have done for Kostas" stated Mr. Melikidis at Newsit. "I have seen the love this child has for football. I remember when Kostas spent a lot of time playing football when he was just a little boy. Every time I used to visit his family, his mother would tell me 'Kostas is outside somewhere playing football again.' Before the German football officials convinced Kostas to join the German U19 national team, I brought him over to Greece personally, at my own expense. I thought that such a talent should play for Greece."

Mr. Melikidis continues. "Kostas has not called me since the day he joined Olympiacos. It's been 8 years since the last time we spoke on the phone. I expected him to call me and invite me to one of his Champions League games. When a child becomes a mature man, he should think that 'there was a man in my life who helped me in my early career steps and believed in me, I should call him or send him a letter.' Kostas showed his indifference towards me all these years. He behaved in an ungrateful way after all the things that I have done for him."



http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/02/05/greek-coach-who-discovered-mitroglou/?

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Fulham give muddling Rene Meulensteen longer to deliver on his saviour act

It feels like a long time since the Fulham manager, Rene Meulensteen, was dishing out advice to David Moyes on how best to approach the task of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. He said that he told the former Everton manager that he had gone "from a yacht to a cruise ship" and while the season has hardly been plain sailing for Moyes, it has been dreadful at times for Meulensteen.

The one-time United coach faces his former club on Sunday in the Premier League, with both in desperate need of a victory as they tackle their respective crises. Meulensteen has lost eight of the 11 Premier League games for which he has been in charge of Fulham since taking over in late November and the club are bottom of the table, with their 13-year stay in the top flight in peril.

The defeat at home to League One Sheffield United in the FA Cup fourth round on Tuesday night was a new low for the Dutch manager. Yet, as of this evening, Fulham were sanguine about their position. They say they are focused on the league and have been prepared to let the Cup result go. More importantly, the support from their American owner Shahid Khan has been unstinting despite the poor results.

When the daily call came in from Jacksonville, Florida, the centre of Khan's sports operations with his NFL franchise, the Jaguars, the Americans were reassured that the club believe they are ready to see off relegation.

The billionaire, who bought the club in July, is doubtless being told the story of the 2007-08 season, which is being recounted at Fulham as a means of reassurance as the club prepares itself for a relegation battle. That season they went into March with just 19 points, the same total they have now, and come the end of season survived – albeit taking 17th place on goal difference.

The management at Fulham believe that, critically, the run-in over the last two months of the season favours them. Before the end of next month they must play United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton, but the fixture list does look a lot kinder after that. In spite of Meulensteen's alarming record so far there appears to be no wavering of the faith placed in him.

The club are adamant that the appointments of Alan Curbishley as technical director and Ray Wilkins as assistant were made on Meulensteen's initiative. Curbishley gives the manager, he believes, a different perspective watching games from the stands and has the facility to communicate with the bench during the match. But he does not come into the dressing room at half-time and is not regarded as a potential replacement for Meulensteen.

There were some big decisions made in the transfer window, during which seven new players came in, although £12m record signing Kostas Mitroglou is yet to play for the club, as is Johnny Heitinga. Lewis Holtby has figured just in the defeat to Southampton. Dimitar Berbatov had scored more goals under Meulensteen than any other player save Steve Sidwell, but with no prospect of a new contract for the Bulgarian in the summer, he was allowed to leave for Monaco.

It was a big call, given what Berbatov is capable of on his best days and much expectation is now upon Mitroglou, who is not certain to make his debut at Old Trafford. The hope is that the Greece international, who has been injured, will have an immediate effect on Fulham's fortunes. It is worth noting that, by Sunday, Mitroglou will not have started a game for three weeks. His last goal for Olympiakos was on 10 November.

The margins are always fine when it comes to changing managers amid a relegation battle. Before appointing Meulensteen, first as Martin Jol's assistant, and then as Jol's replacement, Fulham did consider whether the then out-of-work Gus Poyet might be a better option. While they have fallen, Poyet's Sunderland are up to 14th and their recent 4-1 win at Craven Cottage was a major part of their revival.

When he was appointed, Meulensteen retained much of the sheen that one would expect of a man who had sat alongside Ferguson in the Old Trafford dugout for the previous six seasons. Like most of Ferguson's staff over the years, he had given precious few interviews beyond MUTV, which only added to the aura of the astute behind-the-scenes coach.

Yet the hard truth is that he took over with Fulham 18th in the table and has overseen a slip two places further down the league. He is at a club that has had a tradition of buying wisely and, in recent years, making huge strides with its academy. But the key to Fulham since they returned to the Premier League in 2001 has been their ability to survive without risking the house.

The club and their American owner have shown great faith in their largely unproven manager, with a January transfer window in which they believe they landed all their targets. Now it is up to Meulensteen to demonstrate that he is a capable manager in his own right. Since he left the security of life at United, the evidence for that has been rather thin.



http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/fulham-give-muddling-rene-meulensteen-longer-to-deliver-on-his-saviour-act-9110505.html

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As Meulensteen struggles to stop the rot at Fulham, here's how all Fergie's assistants got on when it was their turn in the hotseat

It is a truism that dates back to the time of Don Howe. Good coaches don't always make good managers. Renowned as an innovative training ground operator at Arsenal back in the early 1970s, Howe took the managerial reins at West Brom and promptly steered them to relegation.

There are plenty more besides who have tried to spread their wings, only to fall flat in their faces.

Brian Kidd and Carlos Queiroz immediately spring to mind, and Rene Meulensteen must surely be bracing himself for the same impact after presiding over a calamitous sequence of results at Fulham that culminated in Tuesday's embarrassingly-inept FA Cup home defeat by League One strugglers Sheffield United.

Notice a theme developing? They have all tried to emerge from the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, and Meulensteen even resorted to contacting his former boss for advice on how to pull Fulham out of their nosedive towards relegation.

The reply has not been divulged, but it may well have been along the lines of: 'Too late, old son. You shouldn't have left your comfort zone.'

While Ferguson remained a constant at Old Trafford throughout nearly three decades, trusted lieutenants came and went. Most departed in the belief they could cut it as the main man. As Meulensteen, like others before him, has discovered the hard way, that belief may have been misplaced.

Here is how Fergie's sidekicks fared in the hot seat.

Archie Knox (1986-91)
He actually had four years as player-manager at Forfar before being snapped up by Ferguson at Aberdeen in 1980. Bitten by the managerial bug again in 1983 he had three moderately successful years at Dundee, including a respectable sixth-place finish, before linking up again with Ferguson in 1986 and following him to Old Trafford.

For all Ferguson's legendary hairdryer tirades, Knox was the one who instilled fear in players. Hard as nails and not to be crossed. The support role as No 2 was one he filled for the rest of his career, returning to Scotland to assist Walter Smith at Rangers in 1991 and operating in the same way at a further eight clubs, as well as with the Scotland team.

Brian Kidd (1991-98)
Kidd worked in youth development at United from 1988 and he was promoted three years later to fill the gap left by Knox's defection to Ibrox. Kidd is perhaps the ultimate example of a widely respected and admired coach finding the gap between Nos 2 and 1 impossible to bridge.

Many a Premier League player has described Kidd as the best coach they ever worked with, but when he was handed his big chance to be the decision maker, at Ewood Park in December, 1998, it was little short of disastrous.

Replacing the sacked Roy Hodgson after an admittedly poor start to the season, he spent the best part of £20million on Keith Gillespie, Ashley Ward, Jason McAteer, Matt Jansen and Lee Carsley and took Blackburn down, just four years after they had been title winners.

Floundering in 19th place in the First Division the following November, he was sacked and perhaps left to rue letting ambition running away with him, as he reverted to his old No 2 routine with Leeds, Sheffield United, Portsmouth and Manchester City, where he continues to help with coaching.

Steve McClaren (1999-2001)
Having revolutionised training ground procedures as assistant to Jim Smith at Derby, McClaren filled the gap created by Kidd's departure in early 1999, just in time to share in a tumultuous treble-winning end to that season.

McClaren enthusiastically embraced forward-thinking initiatives such as using video analysis and sports psychologists like former PE teacher Bill Beswick and was always looking to branch out into management.

His transition was, by a distance, the most notable of all Fergie's right-hand men, but he wasn't exactly an unqualified success.

After being appointed by Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough, he led them to an FA Cup semi-final in his first season and, a couple of years later, a League Cup final win over Bolton that brought them their first-ever trophy.

But elevation to England manager on a four-year deal was to prove short-lived. In fact, it was the shortest reign of any England coach, a 16-month stay that ended the morning after a wretched Wembley defeat by Croatia that cost the country a place at Euro '08 and inspired the headline 'The Wally With The Brolly' after he sheltered under an umbrella throughout.

His fortunes picked up again when he made FC Twente Dutch champions for the first time but plummeted once more when Wolfsburg sacked him after nine months. They are on the up again as Nigel Clough's successor at Derby, but it has been a rollercoaster ride.

Jim Ryan (2001-02)
A former United outside-right, who filled in when McClaren left but never had designs on management and went on to work as director of youth at Old Trafford up to retiring in 2012.

Carlos Queiroz (2002-03, 2004-08)
If anyone comes close to emulating Kidd's unfortunate experience as a No 1, it is surely Queiroz. He had already managed the likes of Portugal, Sporting Lisbon and South Africa when he pitched up at Old Trafford in 2002, so it was perhaps no surprise when he got itchy feet within a year or so and returned to frontline duties.

It wasn't just anyone who came calling, either. It was Real Madrid, looking for a successor to the immensely successful Vicente del Bosque and somehow believing they might find one in the coaching room at Old Trafford.

Someone of Queiroz's self-regard was never likely to think twice about accepting, but it was to prove a traumatically-brief stint at The Bernabeu, the axe falling after 10 months in the wake of a five-match losing finale to a season that left Real in fourth place, way behind champions Valencia.

Walter Smith acted as Fergie's assistant in his absence, but there was little sign of Queiroz taking any harsh lessons on board after returning to his old post at United. Four years into his second spell, he was off again, this time for a second stint as Portugal manager. And guess what? It ended in the sack after two years.

Mike Phelan (2008-13)
He was signed by Ferguson from Norwich as a workmanlike midfielder in 1989, he was initially employed in the centre of excellence at Old Trafford before being promoted to assistant-manager.

Rather boldly claimed to have been manager in all but name for the last five years of Ferguson's time in charge. One can only wonder how that went down with the great man, but Phelan was clearly hoping chairmen up and down the country might take note after he made little secret of his wish to be given an opportunity as manager.

Nothing has materialised so far, and the prospects will surely continue diminishing the more Meulensteen makes a hash of reviving Fulham and adds substance to a theory that is difficult to argue against. Trusted aides they may have been, but can Fergie's old accomplices really be trusted with the responsibility of being placed in charge?



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2552715/As-Rene-Meulensteen-struggles-stop-rot-Fulham-heres-Alex-Fergusons-assistants-got-turn-hotseat.html#ixzz2sViIcuoh
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