We won't bounce back at the first attempt

[Lighthouse]

Please it is too early for the positive posts telling us it is too early to me negative.

I think there will be plenty of time for all the happy, clappy, 'we will be fine, we don't know what will happen, life is lovely and all the trees are green'.

For now a bit of realism is needed. If fans hadn't been all happy when Hughes left and sent out a warning we may have been ready for the last few seasons of utter neglect.

[Twig]

I don´t care which division we are in. I am Fulham through & through. It has been in my blood since 1954 & will be till my last breath. I have so many treasured moments & I am convinced there will be more to come. Still believe.

I too am Fulham through and through so yes I care passionately which division we are in.

[Admin]

Well, what a way to be positive. Why even create a thread saying we won't bounce right back up. There is no way to know that. If we clear out the deadwood and start fresh, we have just as good a chance as any team in the championship.

I said we'd get relegated this season, before it even started. I said we'd lose 3-0 today in a must win game, and although I got it wrong, it was still a 3 goal deficit. Without blowing my own trumpet, I'm not a fool when it comes to football, the job in hand is to big, Fulham have been neglected for far to long. We'll bounce back, but not at the first attempt, sorry.

I have no doubt you know your football, but why be negative and say we won't bounce back up. It's been done plenty times before. Yes, I know it's a tough task, but next season is a new chapter.

I'm not being negative, I'm just being realistic, like I was about this season. Yes, it's been done before, but we're not a West Ham, West Brom or Even Newcastle who managed to hold on to a lot of their talent when relegated. We're going to have to start from scratch, that squad will require a complete overhaul, bar a couple of players. The youth are far from ready, what we do purchase will need time gel, and we don't even know what intentions our new owner has.

[Peabody]

I was just waiting for somebody to say it is the fault of the happy clappy fans. Well, as one of those happy clapplies, who has been around for nearly 70 years and has more than paid my dues in supporting this club and is still paying. I object to being singled out as the cause of our clubs demise, from someone who was even negative in the good days. So bring it on Lighthouse, let's see who else you want to blame.

[Nick Bateman]

Sorry I do not agree.  Lamblast me for saying that also.

Fulham will be the BRAZIL of the Championship, our team was "too good to go down" yet it did.

Our owner is a MULTI-BILLIONAIRE and has already invested in the team.  He was only let down by Ali Mack, but not by his own ambitions for the club.

Therefore, Fulham's salaries will be the highest in the lower league and should retain the players we wish to keep, which many other relegated teams could not or would not sustain.

I would like to see Sidwell sign for another two years to begin with and we need a decent goalkeeper.

[Reznor]

I agree Admin and under the current owner I think it is more likely we will get relegated again rather than win promotion. I dared have a go at khan the other day and was pretty much shot down. One poster said how superior he will be to the 'chicken feeders at blackburn' as the poster put it. Well in my mind there is nothing between them. They have both made dreadful decisions resulting in relegation from the Prem. At least the chicken feeders have Rhodes and in my opinion will easily finish above us next season.

[Baszab]

Relegation is going to be a major shock to those who think we can just bounce back - once the club has been carved up by Khan - the team is completely rebuilt - 12,000 attending matches - what a disaster and what rubbish people say that it is just as much as fun in any division - just naive rubbish - the Premier is the ultimate goal of football and we have mucked it up through utter bad management

[Logicalman]

At least nobody has said "we don't expect to be in the second division very long" 092.gif

we don't expect to be in the second division very long


there, i've said it. 

[Baszab]

 As was said in 1968

[AlexH]

We have parachute payments and I would hope a chairman who wants to return his asset to the Premier League so we've got two seasons to invest.

We have a good set of youth players, keep the odd experienced pro and bring in five or six proven Champ players and we should be in the mix.

I'm very wary though that just a few mistakes and we could easily do a Wolves.

[nose]

all too negative for me, even today.

We have a new challenge and must rise to it, and demand better from our management, viz a vie mr khan has to do what top business people do abnd be ruthless and then get better staff.

But look what tiganan did, bvirtually overnight he transformed the team, belief and imagination can do that again, get malky in now, he is the one I like the look of.

[CanadianCottager]

We will not bounce up on the first attempt and nor should we attempt to. The fact of the matter is that this team needs to be blown up, only a handful of players that we have on the books should be kept and we will need to go through a long process of rebuilding the squad into something resembling a competitive team again. This will not be accomplished in a single transfer window. If we attempt to simply splash the cash on a short term promotion drive we're much more likely to end up in further financial peril and struggling to stay in the Championship. This team needs a few seasons to create the kind of chemistry we saw under Roy, and the best way to do so will be intelligent long-term investment and breaking in of the excellent youth talent at our disposal. Fulham will rise from the ashes, but we will have to be patient lest we risk doing a Wolves.

[Riversider]

Is that the same Wolves who sacked an experienced manager, then replaced him with his assistant, then sacked him and replaced him with a foreign manager for The Championship !
All this whilest having a new stand being built by the Buckingham Group !
Spooky !!!

[alfie]

I agree Admin and under the current owner I think it is more likely we will get relegated again rather than win promotion. I dared have a go at khan the other day and was pretty much shot down. One poster said how superior he will be to the 'chicken feeders at blackburn' as the poster put it. Well in my mind there is nothing between them. They have both made dreadful decisions resulting in relegation from the Prem. At least the chicken feeders have Rhodes and in my opinion will easily finish above us next season.

I find this amazing, "under the current owner I think it is more likely we will get relegated again rather than win promotion"  for goodness sake the guy has only just got here, he has been reliant on what MAF told him and the current management structure and that means all management not just AM.

[Reznor]

I agree Admin and under the current owner I think it is more likely we will get relegated again rather than win promotion. I dared have a go at khan the other day and was pretty much shot down. One poster said how superior he will be to the 'chicken feeders at blackburn' as the poster put it. Well in my mind there is nothing between them. They have both made dreadful decisions resulting in relegation from the Prem. At least the chicken feeders have Rhodes and in my opinion will easily finish above us next season.

I find this amazing, "under the current owner I think it is more likely we will get relegated again rather than win promotion"  for goodness sake the guy has only just got here, he has been reliant on what MAF told him and the current management structure and that means all management not just AM.

I hope you're are right but there is completely no evidence to suggest we will suddenly change. We can only go on how the club has been run to date. I work on facts not on hopes. We will see over the next few months if he is going to start doing things correctly.

[MJG]

Of course we can and to write us off already is wrong. Lets see how the summer goes and where we stand when we start the season. Lots of things can happen between now and the season starting.

[MrProphet]

And I thought I was negative this year. Christ it appears I should give Up!

We may not come straight back up but I for one am excited for another fulhamish year of anguish (minus 90% of the current first team)

[Tonywa]

At least nobody has said "we don't expect to be in the second division very long" 092.gif

Oh don't remind me!

[b+w geezer]

Please correct if wrong, but I believe the situation is as follows....

Financial Fair Play rules prevent another early-days MAF scenario where the owner bankrolls a club to promotion. Billionaire or not, Khan won't be allowed to subsidise us by more than £3 million per season even if he wants to.  Parachute payments and wage reduction clauses help, but we'll still need to reduce costs drastically at a time when many expensive unwanted players remain under contract.

Having dumped as many as we can, we'll only be able to recruit on normal Championship wages, while of course wishing for above-normal Championship standard. If promotion is not accomplished by the time the parachute payments run out, then we enter the same situation as former Premier clubs like Charlton, Blackburn, and Bolton.

[MJG]

Please correct if wrong, but I believe the situation is as follows....

Financial Fair Play rules prevent another early-days MAF scenario where the owner bankrolls a club to promotion. Billionaire or not, Khan won't be allowed to subsidise us by more than £3 million per season even if he wants to.  Parachute payments and wage reduction clauses help, but we'll still need to reduce costs drastically at a time when many expensive unwanted players remain under contract.

Having dumped as many as we can, we'll only be able to recruit on normal Championship wages, while of course wishing for above-normal Championship standard. If promotion is not accomplished by the time the parachute payments run out, then we enter the same situation as former Premier clubs like Charlton, Blackburn, and Bolton.

We would have to refund purchases mainly through sales..Stek and Ruiz for a start. Then that money is ok to use on transfers. Khan can then put extra money in based on turnover as well. I'm thinking try and raise £10M from sales and another £10-15 investment. I believe thats whats required and can be done within rules because a lot of contracts are up.