My Feedback to Mr Khan

[FulhamStu]

Via Jim Woodcock

Hello again Jim, I hope you don't mind me contacting you again.

I am afraid we have another major state of unrest amoungst our
Fulham fan base, a lot of which I share.

Due to the seemingly continued downgrading  of our players, many
are questioning Mr Khans committment.  We all acknowledge Mr Khans
words, which are frankly encouraging and sensible.  The trouble is the
actions we see do not seem to back the messages up.   We have recovered
somewhat from the disaster of Mr Magath, and thank you to Mr Khan
for listening to the fans and replacing him.  Kit Symons has done a decent
job, all be it he is learning his trade, however we are a million miles away
from being of the required quality to challenge for a promotion place.
Many of our young players are very good, but can't be expected to succeed
without much more experienced quality players alongside.  Our total lack
of success in the most recent transfer window to bringing in permanent playing
upgrades is there for all to see.

In addition to the playing side, we seem no nearer to moving ahead with the
staduim improvements, indeed the timeframe would appear to be slipping. I
do believe there are good reasons for this, however many are very cynical as
to our owners intentions here as well.

Any words backed up by action would go some way to helping the fans current
morale.  We have slipped a long way in the last 2 years and we are worried.

I saw someone today talking about information he has that Mr Khan is looking
to sell the club.  This is a person who told us that Mr Alfayed was thinking in a
similar way some years ago.

I continue to support Mr Khan, but I am reaching out in the hope you can help
ease the current atmosphere, which quite frankly is becoming more difficult
by the day.

To finish on a positive note, I was very pleased indeed with the appointment
of Mr Rigg, this for me did show good intensions.

Jim Woodcocks reply:

Stuart ... thanks for this and apologies for the tardy reply.  Been on the road like you wouldn't believe (Super Bowl responsibilities consumed me for much of January).  I will share with Shad ... I also appreciate you sharing, because I may not see everything that is out there.  The Chairman is acutely aware of our form, that much I know, and he speaks frequently to Kit Symons and Mike Rigg.  He could not possibly be more wired in or committed, but the expression of frustration by supporters is understood.  Again, I'll share and let's expect a turnaround on Saturday at the Cottage ... best wishes.



My reply to Jim Woodcock

Brilliant, thanks so much Jim, just one thing to add, its not
so much the 'form' which I guess we can agree is inconsistent,
its more the perceived lack of investment by the board/owner
to getting us where we want to be.

Football success is generally pretty much related to the amount
the owners invest financially into the team (transfers and wages).
Whilst everyone will accept we have to somewhat cut our cloth
according to where we are (FFP etc), plus, of course, money should be used
wisely and not to recruit over paid mercentary types (which we may
have misstakenly done in the past).  Good recruitement (like McCormack)
will be essential if we are to challenge to return to the EPL.  Apart from
the above named player, this financial backing seems to be missing.
We have clearly moved a huge amount of 'cost' from the playing squad,
and boy this was a good thing to have done, but the lack of recruitment
to supplement our great young talent will not only hold us back, but
even put us in danger of further decline.

Always keeping the faith, Stuart Roberts - COYW.

[colinwhite]

Stu , well done . I share your concerns and your points were very eloquently put .Thanks from me .

[Jonnoj]

Thanks Stu, well said and I hope we get some sort of public answer to your eloquently put concerns

[Fulham76]

Very easy to fob people off on an email, but nice of him to respond, I suppose.

Interesting he didn't mention, deny or refer to your comment about Khan selling up. This is now the third time I've heard this 'rumour' over the last week or two.

[FulhamStu]

Very easy to fob people off on an email, but nice of him to respond, I suppose.

Interesting he didn't mention, deny or refer to your comment about Khan selling up. This is now the third time I've heard this 'rumour' over the last week or two.

I really don't think there is anything what so ever in the selling up quote, it was more of a point that I was letting him know, this is the sort of thing some of our fans base are saying and this needs to be squashed quickly.  We need our fans to be positive, as we were at the start of the season.  We need to have faith that things will be good in the future.  I personally think it will take time, and taking time is something most fans will struggle to accept.

[BestOfBrede]

Wow woodcocks reply was very sincere and understanding!
"Let's expect a turnaround at the Cottage on Saturday"?

Didn't even attempt to answer your, and our, concerns!

Who is he anyway?

Well done Stu, for your attempt at sharing your/our concerns with the club....
I'm not so certain I'd have replied, as you did, with so much courtesy to his 'Tardy' reply!

[Tooting legend]

I don't even think that is a genuine reply from someone who works with Mr Khan, anyone can type what people want to hear just to get a response on the board.

[JDH101]

I don't believe Khan is looking to sell. Didn't he buy it for 240 million? When we were in the prem... He'd be lucky to get a third of that now.

His best bet would be to spend some $$$ in the summer and get us promoted. Then he could think about selling.

[beijing ben]

Very easy to fob people off on an email, but nice of him to respond, I suppose.

Interesting he didn't mention, deny or refer to your comment about Khan selling up. This is now the third time I've heard this 'rumour' over the last week or two.

I really don't think there is anything what so ever in the selling up quote, it was more of a point that I was letting him know, this is the sort of thing some of our fans base are saying and this needs to be squashed quickly.  We need our fans to be positive, as we were at the start of the season.  We need to have faith that things will be good in the future.  I personally think it will take time, and taking time is something most fans will struggle to accept.

But he didn't squash the rumour at all. My guess would be that he is waiting for the result of the court hearing over the FFP situation in April...

[beijing ben]

I don't believe Khan is looking to sell. Didn't he buy it for 240 million? When we were in the prem... He'd be lucky to get a third of that now.

His best bet would be to spend some $$$ in the summer and get us promoted. Then he could think about selling.

I've seen a lot of posts like this and JDH101 this is by no means meant to just you personally but to everyone that holds this view of 'he has decided to not spend his money'. My view is that due to the FFP rules he can't spend money. It's against the rules. You need to be able to justify why you are spending the amount you are spending. Kit said himself in the press conference towards the end of the january window that any incomings were long shots. My interpretation of that is we are hoping that the players we want will decide to take pay cuts and the selling club will not want any money. Otherwise we just wait until the emergency loan window when players know that if they don't go out on loan then they are not going to play for the rest of the season and that their chances of a good deal are now gone. Because of the spending in the previous few windows and relegation it means that now we must show that we have made money before we spend it. The only way he can invest in the club is in the youth academy. I would guess this is why he got Mike Rigg in as he has a good CV in this area. It would appear he has already got to work with us signing two youth prospects...

[FulhamStu]

Wow woodcocks reply was very sincere and understanding!
"Let's expect a turnaround at the Cottage on Saturday"?

Didn't even attempt to answer your, and our, concerns!

Who is he anyway?

Well done Stu, for your attempt at sharing your/our concerns with the club....
I'm not so certain I'd have replied, as you did, with so much courtesy to his 'Tardy' reply!

He is Khans communication guy and has a regular contact with Khan.  He will pass this message on I am sure, Khan is very approachable.  I am not looking for Jim Woodcock to answer the question, I am looking for Khan to take some action.  Will it happen - don't know, but it worked with Magath.  Its my attempt to make sure Khan knows fans feelings, how he reacts is up to him.

[TheManOnTheBus]

Yes, well done Stu. I remember Mr W responding (seemingly genuinely) to a number of fans earlier this season.

First I have heard the "looking to sell" rumour.

[MikeW]

I too have had contact with Jim W and he always replies personally.  He is a PR man (like me) so he knows the lingo but is also the important link between a top exec and his public (in Khan's case) or his employees.  There is no reason to believe he is not passing things on but I agree he dodged the specifics.  I repeat, he is a PR man!

Have faith.

[FulhamStu]

I too have had contact with Jim W and he always replies personally.  He is a PR man (like me) so he knows the lingo but is also the important link between a top exec and his public (in Khan's case) or his employees.  There is no reason to believe he is not passing things on but I agree he dodged the specifics.  I repeat, he is a PR man!

Have faith.

Thanks Mike, if I am not wrong,  Customers are very important to PR people and I would hope we are all considered Customers.   Jim Woodcock is also a Fulham fan, so I think he really does want what is best to the club.  Khan is a very succesful businessman and will aslo want his customer base as happy as possible, so I hope and expect him to listen.  What he then does we have no control over, however the minimum I want is clear, open, honest feedback.   I think most fans could deal with that.

[Fulham1959]

Wow woodcocks reply was very sincere and understanding!
"Let's expect a turnaround at the Cottage on Saturday"?

Didn't even attempt to answer your, and our, concerns!

Who is he anyway?

Well done Stu, for your attempt at sharing your/our concerns with the club....
I'm not so certain I'd have replied, as you did, with so much courtesy to his 'Tardy' reply!

He is Khans communication guy and has a regular contact with Khan.  He will pass this message on I am sure, Khan is very approachable.  I am not looking for Jim Woodcock to answer the question, I am looking for Khan to take some action.  Will it happen - don't know, but it worked with Magath.  Its my attempt to make sure Khan knows fans feelings, how he reacts is up to him.

Agreed.  He is a messenger not a decision maker.  He could have waffled on with meaningless platitudes but he didn't.

Why do so many of us have to be so cynical, so impatient ?  Though I dislike the phrase, "better evolution than revolution" (and even though Kit's appointment was a mini-revolution of sorts) I have no real reason to doubt that things will progressively improve.

The years pass quickly.  A firm foundation to any venture is always the best way and will be worth it in the end.  There have been too many expensive quick-fixes in football that have ended in debt and disaster.

[Baszab]

Problem is : surely Khan is not here for a 5 to 10 year plan developing 16 year olds ?

Everyone of his ilk wants an exit and it must be doubly so now we are back in the backwaters of football and therefore no immediate prospect of an NFL tie-up.

He needs to invest in the summer (given FPP limitations) to the max --- and that doesn't mean one panic buy just before season-ticket renewal time

[Jonnoj]

I too have had contact with Jim W and he always replies personally.  He is a PR man (like me) so he knows the lingo but is also the important link between a top exec and his public (in Khan's case) or his employees.  There is no reason to believe he is not passing things on but I agree he dodged the specifics.  I repeat, he is a PR man!

Have faith.

Hi Mike

What's your PR role?

[MikeW]

Obviously nothing to do with Fulham.  That is just long standing devotion!

I work for companies in manufacturing and I freelance in the trade press.

Mike W

[Jonnoj]

Obviously nothing to do with Fulham.  That is just long standing devotion!

I work for companies in manufacturing and I freelance in the trade press.

Mike W

Obviously nothing to do with Fulham.  That is just long standing devotion!

I work for companies in manufacturing and I freelance in the trade press.

Mike W

That's interesting, I'm a client in a similar industry. have just sent you an email.

[nose]

They all speak nicely but unfortunately we are in crisis... not with regard to survival this season but i absolutely doubt we will do what needs to be done in summer with regard to the squad to make a proper assault ion promotion.

we needed to get the frst couple of players in the winter transfer window... getting nobody shows lack of intent or if not that lack of capability. it isn't like our shortcomings are not obvious.... we do not need a redeveloped riverside stand, we need a big ugly central midfielder cpapble of passing the ball to a player in white rather than the error laden players we have at the moment.

sorry to be quite so negative because a couple of weeks ago i was sort of happy but this lack of activity in the last transfer window has totally shocked me!