Brave call, good luck Felix, board did the right thing...merged

[Ordar]

So I was as shocked as anyone to see than Rene has been replaced. He is a great guy and I enjoyed him bringing though some younger players. At the end of the day though we're in a very precarious position and regardless of the recent upturn in performances we're still not picking up points and are adrift at the bottom.

Performances prior to the recent two games were extremely poor, especially the Sunderland home game. We've conceded so many goals and even in the 2 games we played "well" we conceded 5 goals, and couldn't hold on to 3 leads.

Another thing that concerned me was in those two games we had 25% or so possession. That's not conducive to getting results and we were under constant pressure throughout the game. A lot of us on here were wondering how he was going to change the style to actually attack teams, which failed so badly against Sunderland.

Given the break we have until WBA, if a change was going to happen it had to be now. We need to realistically win 6 games, and with our home form being so poor, and having to play City and Chelsea it's going to be extremely difficult. Bringing this guy in who has more experience in management and under the pressure of a relegation battle can surely only be positive in trying to stay up.

None of us have any real idea of how we're going to play, or what players he will select until the WBA game. He's here now, so let's all get behind him. There's a lot of negative feelings behind Khan at the moment, but I don't really see why. At least he's trying to keep us up. Rene wasn't getting the points which is the bottom line

[Admin]

 :plus one:

[fulhamben]

Good post, its easy to forget that we have a new chapter about to begin when someone who is liked is surprisingly removed from office. Felix magaths black and white army

[Highlander]

Do tough managers work in Premier League though?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Di_Canio he was an unmitigated disaster. Not sure about this new guy.

Generally very bad press by Fulham. Can see why they tried to bury it on a Friday night. Not working though. Twitter on fire and SSN interview with Rene embarrassing for Fulham. Embarrassing all round. I thought Khan was better than this.

[Ordar]

If Rene hadn't been such a nice guy, I wonder if his sacking would have caused such an uproar. We didn't win enough games, and crucially we lost games against our rivals at home conceding a bucket load of goals in the process.

Plus that Sheff Utd defeat was some of the poorest football I've ever seen

[ToodlesMcToot]

Do tough managers work in Premier League though?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Di_Canio he was an unmitigated disaster. Not sure about this new guy.

Generally very bad press by Fulham. Can see why they tried to bury it on a Friday night. Not working though. Twitter on fire and SSN interview with Rene embarrassing for Fulham. Embarrassing all round. I thought Khan was better than this.

I think you meant "Ali Mac". He's the CEO. He sees to it that Fulham's image is managed properly. Mr. Khan writes the checks.

[ToodlesMcToot]

If Rene hadn't been such a nice guy, I wonder if his sacking would have caused such an uproar. We didn't win enough games, and crucially we lost games against our rivals at home conceding a bucket load of goals in the process.

Plus that Sheff Utd defeat was some of the poorest football I've ever seen

I agree. Rene's results and goal differential were in line with Jol's. Rene benefits from being very likeable and from the new signings. That's about it.

[Berserker]

I think the Sheffield match may have been the final straw

[ToodlesMcToot]

I think the Sheffield match may have been the final straw

Had to have been.

[Berserker]

I think the Sheffield match may have been the final straw

Had to have been.

Well it was for me anyway when I drove home from the match, cold and wet

[VamosFFC]

So I was as shocked as anyone to see than Rene has been replaced. He is a great guy and I enjoyed him bringing though some younger players. At the end of the day though we're in a very precarious position and regardless of the recent upturn in performances we're still not picking up points and are adrift at the bottom.

Performances prior to the recent two games were extremely poor, especially the Sunderland home game. We've conceded so many goals and even in the 2 games we played "well" we conceded 5 goals, and couldn't hold on to 3 leads.

Another thing that concerned me was in those two games we had 25% or so possession. That's not conducive to getting results and we were under constant pressure throughout the game. A lot of us on here were wondering how he was going to change the style to actually attack teams, which failed so badly against Sunderland.

Given the break we have until WBA, if a change was going to happen it had to be now. We need to realistically win 6 games, and with our home form being so poor, and having to play City and Chelsea it's going to be extremely difficult. Bringing this guy in who has more experience in management and under the pressure of a relegation battle can surely only be positive in trying to stay up.

None of us have any real idea of how we're going to play, or what players he will select until the WBA game. He's here now, so let's all get behind him. There's a lot of negative feelings behind Khan at the moment, but I don't really see why. At least he's trying to keep us up. Rene wasn't getting the points which is the bottom line

Have to agree with this. Even though I am shocked and sad to see Rene go, I'm excited to see what Magath brings to Fulham and the tough run-in we have coming.

[Highlander]

If Rene hadn't been such a nice guy, I wonder if his sacking would have caused such an uproar. We didn't win enough games, and crucially we lost games against our rivals at home conceding a bucket load of goals in the process.

Plus that Sheff Utd defeat was some of the poorest football I've ever seen

Worst game I have ever seen (at any level) but I was willing to give Rene the chance with new players, even if we went down. He is an intelligent guy who could have rebuilt. After this, if we fail there will be a lot of fallout. He has to hit the ground running or fans (and players) will destroy him.

[Berserker]

He doesn't sound the type to be destroyed!

[YoungsBitter]

The big question to me is why when he is obviously a great coach they didn't offer him a role but reporting to Magath, thats ultimately what Butch and Curbs were doing. Also fascinated to see if those two, who were Rene's recruits according to everything Rene said, even his post firing interview with BBC5Live he confirmed it. They may be out the door if Magath brings his own crew

[bigalffc]

Felix is a male given name and surname, stems from Latin (felix, felicis) and means "lucky", "favored by luck" or "the lucky one" lets hope this is a good omen. 049:gif

[BestOfBrede]

Muelensteen has only just got players in of his choice rather than the oldies left by Mo/Jol
We were already showing immediate improvement only for this!

I'm utterly embarrassed by this debacle of a club at the mo!

What will the youngsters think after being given the boost of promotion to the first team?
What must the new signings think after joining, presumably, because of Meulenstten?
What must the big improved players think after upping their game - again because of Meulensteen?
What must Wilkins and Curbishly think?
What signal does this give to the rest of the relegation candidate teams - Fulham are panicking?
What are we- the fans- supposed to think?

Oh well maybe it will work out (I sincerely hope) but we will never know if that was because of Muelensteens acquisitions or the Germans management.

[Julius Geezer]

Rene's been stabbed in the back.

Not just now but I believe he was never truly left to his own devices.

Not Felix's fault, he's here to do a job and I hope he does but the board need to take a serious look at themselves if this goes t*ts up!

[YoungsBitter]

Magath's not an idiot. He will watch all our game videos so he will see what has worked and what not with a cold detached eye as he has no relationship with any of these players (except maybe Dejegah and Riether from Wolfsburg, not sure about Kvist as his time at Schalke I don't think overlaps, Holtby has some history). He will make judgements then on what he saw plus what he sees in training. The young players have as good a chance as any i would say. Certainly Parker on his recent performances has as much to worry about as Tunnicliffe, if not more.

[Matt Inglis]

First off, I do acknowledge Meulensteen was not given the time to deploy his big signing. (And that that is unfortunate)
However, I don't think that this should really matter.
Ultimately, I can only thank Meulensteen for completely banishing the horrendous memories of how Fulham played under Jol. In my mind, at least.
However, conceding 33 goals in his 13 games shows that our defensive woes have not been put right at all.
It's a shame really, since when Rene first came in I thought we looked much more structured defensively, but that just hasn't lasted.
If we go on this way then we will go down. For me, there is just no question about it. You simply cannot get away with nearly conceding 3 goals a game in the Premier League.
Therefore, the board have managed to bring in a man who, from what I have read in the last few hours, is famed for his ability to coach teams to be structured in a way that we are not.
The way the club has gone about removing Meulensteen (or have they) from his position is obviously terrible. But on the bright side I am glad we have taken no time bringing in this suitable replacement.

We may still go down, but at least efforts are being made to stop our decline.

I realise the majority of people here will not agree with me, but I guess I just felt I wanted to get my opinion out there.

[Admin]

Nope, I fully agree.