Al Fayed

[Admin]

With all due respect to our former owner, if you wanted things done the way you think they should be done, then you shouldn't have sold the club.  I also notice that he's taking no responsibility for the state the club and roster was in when he sold it.

And, who on Earth knows all these people who were so in love with that silly statue? I don't recall seeing anyone there to protest it's removal.

In poor taste stating these things, though he has every right to do so.

Mo isn't stable enough upstairs to buy the club back, even if he wanted to. His Son wasn't interested, so who the hell would run it for a start? All this is just a publicity speech, one that was made to lay the blame of relegation at the feet of Michael Jackson and Kahn, when really Mo was the main cause. 

[epsomraver]

The MJ statue on the pitch would have been more lively than some of our team this season :005:

[Berserker]

Very good epsom

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Sorry if this is sacrilege but to me, he is no less a mercenary than Dempsey, Dembele, Saha or Hughes. Yes, he did good for Fulham but in the end who profited from that good? He is no different than the rest; only the latest.

Please explain how Al-Fayed profited? As far as we know the best he can have done is got his money back and I doubt that. Then there is the interest he lost by investing in a football club rather than putting his money in a bank let alone the profit he would have made by invested in a `proper' business over that period.

Similarly with Dembele. In what way has he profited more than by doing his job? The buy-out clause? That seems good and fair business for both parties: he had to show that he was good enough to attract a buy-out bid and Fulham got a fair price, almost certainly more than they would have done without it as clubs would have waited until Dembele's contract ran down.

Very bitter comments.

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

We should stop singing about him

and as for: He would  would buy Fulham back for half the amount he got for it ............................

There is nothing to say really

[WayneKerrins]

These comments aren't bitter at all.

Fayed was the best thing that every happened to this club, yes.

Was he a benefactor or altruistic? No.

Was this about him (an absolute narcissist)? Absolutely.

Did he put adding 1 per cent to his wealth in his late 80s (the money from the player sales he squeezed out pre sale to Khan) over the security of the club? Yes

Is this inconsistent with claiming to love the club? In my book a resounding yes!

As a fella said on the radio the other day if he left that 20-30m in the squad he could have safeguarded the legacy he created but in the end the legacy wasn't granted: it was loaned.

If a fan is too myopic or dense to not see most of the above nor appreciate that you can say Fayed was the both the best thing that ever happened to this club but also one of the main reasons we are now down and most of what was built in his reign at risk then maybe something is limiting you that won't be cured by internet debate.

And Apprentice to the Maestro Ive looked over a few of the pre season threads and also a few Jol in or out posts. Id say you're pretty trenchant for someone who has called most of the big things plain wrong over the last season or so. Just my observation, but a sincere one.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

These comments aren't bitter at all.

Fayed was the best thing that every happened to this club, yes.

Was he a benefactor or altruistic? No.

Was this about him (an absolute narcissist)? Absolutely.

Did he put adding 1 per cent to his wealth in his late 80s (the money from the player sales he squeezed out pre sale to Khan) over the security of the club? Yes

Is this inconsistent with claiming to love the club? In my book a resounding yes!

As a fella said on the radio the other day if he left that 20-30m in the squad he could have safeguarded the legacy he created but in the end the legacy wasn't granted: it was loaned.

If a fan is too myopic or dense to not see most of the above nor appreciate that you can say Fayed was the both the best thing that ever happened to this club but also one of the main reasons we are now down and most of what was built in his reign at risk then maybe something is limiting you that won't be cured by internet debate.

And Apprentice to the Maestro Ive looked over a few of the pre season threads and also a few Jol in or out posts. Id say you're pretty trenchant for someone who has called most of the big things plain wrong over the last season or so. Just my observation, but a sincere one.

The word I questioned was "mercenary".

You haven't addressed the points I made.

As apparently such a keen observer of my posts you would have noticed that I have been consistently saying that the key missed opportunity in our downfall was the lack of investment after the Europa League final. All the rest since has only added to the slide.

But, then again, I am realistic and don't expect even a billionaire to squander money on a football team.

Don't bother wasting your abuse on me. I have to have confidence in the truth of the points and respect for the quality of the argument to be affected by such criticism.

And by the way, how much of your wealth are you going to donate to your business when you retire to safeguard your legacy?

[Full Metal Ham]

Mo, i sincerely believe the statue brought us luck and prosperity, please please let us have it in the locker room so the players can lick it before every game and take us back to the top flight. Better yet we could sign it as a central defender and probably stop a gap in that extraordinarily leaky back line of ours. Better yet we could use it as a projectile missile and decapitate Martin Jol with it. OH MO, you perilously deranged man, I love you please come back and be manager; be mascot, maybe we could stuff you and put you on a plinth for in fact the real reason that we got relegated is because YOU left, not play-dough MJ, YOU. Stop all this Egyptian 'statue curse' hoodoo nonsense, this isn't tutankamuns coffin, its a silly depiction of a plasticine peado. Come back to us Mo so we can embalm you and put you on display and lure back lady luck to the cottage. She is sorely missed.

[GloucesterWhite]

Of course Mo won't be back. BUT the club is now probably only worth half what Khan paid for it as we are now a championship club, so Mo is offering the going rate.

Yes Mo did stop 'investing' money in the team in his last couple of years. BUT Khan should have done proper due diligence when he bought. Had he done so he would have seen the need to replace half the team. It was not too late then. But he did nothing other than bring in more deadwood on the cheap. By the time Khan finally saw what everyone could see long before, he started panic buying in January.

I place the blame for our current situation firmly on Khan's shoulders.

[Reznor]

Of course Mo won't be back. BUT the club is now probably only worth half what Khan paid for it as we are now a championship club, so Mo is offering the going rate.

Yes Mo did stop 'investing' money in the team in his last couple of years. BUT Khan should have done proper due diligence when he bought. Had he done so he would have seen the need to replace half the team. It was not too late then. But he did nothing other than bring in more deadwood on the cheap. By the time Khan finally saw what everyone could see long before, he started panic buying in January.

I place the blame for our current situation firmly on Khan's shoulders.

I agree.

[The Equalizer]

Is Khan Indian or Pakistani? I'm sure he was from Pakistan- pretty grave error by the reporter if he's wrong.

Correct, he is from Pakistan. What really gets me is why they need to bother mentioning race in this at all? Surely he's just 'Fulham's owner, Shahid Khan', not 'Fulham's owner, the Pakistani Shahid Khan'?

[bill taylors apprentice]

Of course Mo won't be back. BUT the club is now probably only worth half what Khan paid for it as we are now a championship club, so Mo is offering the going rate.

Yes Mo did stop 'investing' money in the team in his last couple of years. BUT Khan should have done proper due diligence when he bought. Had he done so he would have seen the need to replace half the team. It was not too late then. But he did nothing other than bring in more deadwood on the cheap. By the time Khan finally saw what everyone could see long before, he started panic buying in January.

I place the blame for our current situation firmly on Khan's shoulders.

I agree.

Me too!

[Burt]

Oh it was the statue's fault!

Thank heavens for that.

I was having crazy notions that it was down to one or a combination of the following:

1. All the manager chops and changes we have seen and the resulting instablility.

2. Our inability to successfully manage a squad overhaul.

3. Walking on a crack between pavements under the ladder outside my house to escape a black cat who had just broken a mirror.

[WayneKerrins]

These comments aren't bitter at all.

Fayed was the best thing that every happened to this club, yes.

Was he a benefactor or altruistic? No.

Was this about him (an absolute narcissist)? Absolutely.

Did he put adding 1 per cent to his wealth in his late 80s (the money from the player sales he squeezed out pre sale to Khan) over the security of the club? Yes

Is this inconsistent with claiming to love the club? In my book a resounding yes!

As a fella said on the radio the other day if he left that 20-30m in the squad he could have safeguarded the legacy he created but in the end the legacy wasn't granted: it was loaned.

If a fan is too myopic or dense to not see most of the above nor appreciate that you can say Fayed was the both the best thing that ever happened to this club but also one of the main reasons we are now down and most of what was built in his reign at risk then maybe something is limiting you that won't be cured by internet debate.

And Apprentice to the Maestro Ive looked over a few of the pre season threads and also a few Jol in or out posts. Id say you're pretty trenchant for someone who has called most of the big things plain wrong over the last season or so. Just my observation, but a sincere one.

The word I questioned was "mercenary".

You haven't addressed the points I made.

As apparently such a keen observer of my posts you would have noticed that I have been consistently saying that the key missed opportunity in our downfall was the lack of investment after the Europa League final. All the rest since has only added to the slide.

But, then again, I am realistic and don't expect even a billionaire to squander money on a football team.

Don't bother wasting your abuse on me. I have to have confidence in the truth of the points and respect for the quality of the argument to be affected by such criticism.

And by the way, how much of your wealth are you going to donate to your business when you retire to safeguard your legacy?

if you consider my post abuse then so be it: it wasn't and I struggle with how anyone could categorise it as such.

I'm not accusing Fayed of being a mercenary or a profiteer: he's a self interested narcissist whose needs/intentions happened to be symbiotic with Fulhams for more than a a decade.
However pointing out the lack of congruence between claiming to leave a club and then squeezing out circa1% of your already accumulated net worth to add to it whilst running down the squad and putting our premiership future at risk is to me intellectually sound.
Re your view that it's his money it's his millions and if he chooses to put getting that extra % back over the legacy he had built and the clubs future then that is your view and I can't disabuse you of it. To me it's a curious position for any fulham fan and I can say with the utmost sincerity I would have no issue if I were in his shoes with 'gifting' that 1% to something I love.
I like plenty on here spend at least that amount of my net income annually on supporting the club and over 10% of my accumulated wealth is willed to my university football club and the 2 town rugby and cricket teams I played for and still follow.
Maybe I'm mad but I suspect there's plenty of fulham fans who would do the same.

[EJL]

Cam we put the whole thing into perspective.. he was joking around when he said it... papers never put context to things.

Well, perhaps now is not the best time to joke about such things either.

Especially when his penny-pinching shortly before selling up is as much to do with our current situation as anything else.

[HatterDon]

ah, he's a goofy old fart having some fun. I can relate to that -- and so can a few others on here I could name.

[Northern Cottager]

The Jackson statue has gone to the football museum...no chance of it coming back here then!

http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/about-us/latest-news/2014/05/jackson-statue-donated-to-the-national-football-museum-by-al-fayed/

[nixie-ffc]

criticising someone must be the easiest thing to do in the world. i wish mo would come back. everybody knows if it wasnt for him we would have never seen the highs.

[WayneKerrins]

criticising someone must be the easiest thing to do in the world. i wish mo would come back. everybody knows if it wasnt for him we would have never seen the highs.

What to walk across the pitch and squeeze money out of the club while running down the squad?

He was the best thing that very happened to the club but he didn't do it for FFC or us he did it for himself. We had a great ride and are clearly much better off than before the ride started.

However you have to be of limited intelligence not to see how his actions of the last 2 years put us at real risk of relegation and all because he wanted to add another 20-30m to his c2billion fortune.

[Twig]

Is Khan Indian or Pakistani? I'm sure he was from Pakistan- pretty grave error by the reporter if he's wrong.

He is from Pakistani heritage not Indian. Definitely a serious error.