Fulhamish - Daily Mail article

[gezkc]

The Daily Mail don't often have much good to say, but I thought Patrick Collins' article about Fulham in today's Mail was spot on. See what you think:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2565703/PATRICK-COLLINS-What-friendly-old-Fulham-deserve-pitiless-fate.html

[DukeTyrion]

What have friendly old Fulham done to deserve such a pitiless fate?

Now on their third manager of the season, will Fulham erect a statue of Felix Magath come May?
Ruthless, pragmatic, uncompromising methods may go down well in certain Premier League boardrooms. But that is not Fulham's way

Once upon a time, when telegrams were a popular means of communication, Fulham Football Club boasted their own telegraphic address: 'Fulhamish —  London SW6'.
The years passed and telegrams fell from favour, yet still they clung to the same distinctive title. It seemed a snug fit for that raffish enclave on the Thames; a haven in which success was relished, failure was tolerated and laughter was guaranteed. Not so much an address, more a state of mind. 
Fulham is the place where they erected a preposterous statue to Michael Jackson because he was a chum of the last chairman.

It is the club where, long ago, a blissfully under-talented winger named Tosh Chamberlain was booked for swearing at his captain, the great Johnny Haynes. Tosh was not happy. 'But he's on my side!' he complained. 'I can call him anything I bleeding like!'
Quite recently, a fans' forum was asked to define 'Fulhamish'. One contributor suggested: 'The ability to mock one's own and to find humour in shameful circumstances.' Another offered: 'In the Hammersmith Road End at Craven Cottage, singing "Let's all cheer for Torquay" because they'd only brought 20 fans. Then, naturally, Torquay scored. Fulhamish.'

But one fan expressed his fears with considerable candour: 'Perhaps we have drifted from being Fulhamish to rubbish-ish,' he said.
What Felix Magath makes of it all, I really cannot imagine. Herr Magath is the third manager Fulham have tried this season, the last one, Rene Meulensteen, having lasted 75 days and 17 games.
The new man came wading through carnage at the Cottage, following the dismissals of the coaches Alan Curbishley, Ray Wilkins, Mick Priest and Jonathan Hill.

The chairman, Shahid Khan, owns an American Football team called the Jacksonville Jaguars. He paid tribute to the departed quintet in these words: 'I'm very grateful to Rene, Alan and Ray, as well as Mick and Jonathan, for their commitment to Fulham. Their efforts were admirable and appreciated and I wish them the best.' It was a classic of effortless insincerity.

The appointment of Magath, who has not worked in management since October 2012, represents Khan's final shot at getting it right. The mass sackings, and consequent compensation bills, were gestures which only a billionaire could afford. Some of his surviving senior employees may have privately  queried the wisdom of allowing Meulensteen to buy five players on deadline day, including an £11million Greek striker, then firing the manager three weeks later. But, since Khan pays the bills, they never raised their voices.
And anyway, the future belongs to Felix. This is a man who, in the course of a substantial managerial career, has acquired a reputation for being a pitiless trainer; drive them hard, success through sweat. It is a notion he does not discourage. A few of Fulham's underachievers will have winced at his much-quoted justification: 'Until now, everyone has lived through my training. No one died.'

He is doubtless aware that such an attitude will win him public favour, since the public perceives footballers as being both overpaid and underworked.
 
And yet Magath needs to be much more than a martinet if Fulham's survival is to be achieved. Just about every gym in the country contains people capable of pushing athletes to their limits; it takes the talents of a teacher, an educator, an innovative coach to improve the skills which deliver results.
Soon, we shall discover if Magath possesses those qualities, or if his hard-driving reputation represents the real man. The evidence is conflicting. 'I'm a nice guy. I'm very nice,' he insisted, with the smirk of a pantomime villain.
Stephane Henchoz, one of his former players, said: 'I understand where his critics are coming from but to call him Saddam Hussein is a bit strong,' which is possibly not quite the compliment he intended.
But the recent remark of Uli Hoeness, the renowned German international forward and current president of Bayern Munich, remains curiously disturbing. Hoeness, who once worked with Magath at Bayern, said: 'I would never want to treat human beings the way he does.'
Time will tell. By the middle of May, they could be raising a statue to Felix in the place where Jacko once stood. Or the chap from the Jacksonville Jaguars could be forming a new firing squad.
Because of what the club have been and what they have meant to the English game, we must wish them well. But we must also be forgiven a small shudder at the behaviour of those who are in control.
Ruthless, pragmatic, uncompromising methods may go down well in certain Premier League boardrooms. But they are neither humane nor admirable. And they are certainly not Fulhamish.

[gezkc]

Thanks Duke.  065.gif