And thus, the Bryan Ruiz era is over

[God The Mechanic]

Seemingly a nice fella (Until the gives his first interview and says that playing for us was hell. You know its coming), but a terrible footballer in this country. He just wasnt cut out for it. Ill remember those special goals but Ill also remember all the frustrating times he was terrible. The one that always stands out was him giving the ball away for what lead to an Arsenal Peno in the 90 something minute at Emirates when it was 3-3

Is that the one that Arteta missed and we ended up drawing 3-3?

Yeah. I remember watching the match with my United supporting mate. When Bryan got the ball i went "Whats he at, he better not make a balls of........" Never even got to finish my sentence before he predictably gave the ball away

The penalty that never should have been, that was missed, in a game where Ruiz was absolutely outstanding (as were we as a team) and even won our penalty by hustling Arteta off the ball.  Yet you remember him in that game for a misplaced pass that didn't actually change the scoreline?  That's a lot of the problem with Ruiz - he could be fantastic, but was often liable to do something poor or stupid and the latter was the only thing a lot of people would bring up.

It doesn't have to be big decisive mistakes that make you dislike a player. With Ruiz it was his general style and attitude that most people didn't like. He did have flashes of brilliance but I'd rather have a good solid player that is consistant than Bryan Ruiz. As someone else pointed out, if he is all that and the fact he performed like he did at fulham was down to fan pressure then why didn't any other English club make an offer? Unless of course without us knowing about it.

I was more making the point that even when he WAS good, a small mistake would be enough for a lot of fans to forget about the good stuff he did in the game and solely focus on the bad.  When he scored the winner against Reading this year there were a good few people around where I was sat who were disappointed that it was him who scored it.  That says a lot more about the fans than it does Ruiz.

I won't contest that he isn't totally suited to English football, but there's also a fair amount of blame to be placed elsewhere when we look at the total picture about how he performed for us.

As for wanting solid players over occasional flair players - that's perfectly fine and something I won't argue over, you're entitled to want what you want.  And a large part of our problems over the last few years was the fact we had so many inconsistent players - had we had a few more solid players around him, maybe he (and we) would have done better.

[rusty shackleford]

Seemingly a nice fella (Until the gives his first interview and says that playing for us was hell. You know its coming), but a terrible footballer in this country. He just wasnt cut out for it. Ill remember those special goals but Ill also remember all the frustrating times he was terrible. The one that always stands out was him giving the ball away for what lead to an Arsenal Peno in the 90 something minute at Emirates when it was 3-3

Is that the one that Arteta missed and we ended up drawing 3-3?

Yeah. I remember watching the match with my United supporting mate. When Bryan got the ball i went "Whats he at, he better not make a balls of........" Never even got to finish my sentence before he predictably gave the ball away

The penalty that never should have been, that was missed, in a game where Ruiz was absolutely outstanding (as were we as a team) and even won our penalty by hustling Arteta off the ball.  Yet you remember him in that game for a misplaced pass that didn't actually change the scoreline?  That's a lot of the problem with Ruiz - he could be fantastic, but was often liable to do something poor or stupid and the latter was the only thing a lot of people would bring up.

Sorry it slipper my mind that that game was one of his 3 decent ones for us

[God The Mechanic]

Seemingly a nice fella (Until the gives his first interview and says that playing for us was hell. You know its coming), but a terrible footballer in this country. He just wasnt cut out for it. Ill remember those special goals but Ill also remember all the frustrating times he was terrible. The one that always stands out was him giving the ball away for what lead to an Arsenal Peno in the 90 something minute at Emirates when it was 3-3

Is that the one that Arteta missed and we ended up drawing 3-3?

Yeah. I remember watching the match with my United supporting mate. When Bryan got the ball i went "Whats he at, he better not make a balls of........" Never even got to finish my sentence before he predictably gave the ball away

The penalty that never should have been, that was missed, in a game where Ruiz was absolutely outstanding (as were we as a team) and even won our penalty by hustling Arteta off the ball.  Yet you remember him in that game for a misplaced pass that didn't actually change the scoreline?  That's a lot of the problem with Ruiz - he could be fantastic, but was often liable to do something poor or stupid and the latter was the only thing a lot of people would bring up.

Sorry it slipper my mind that that game was one of his 3 decent ones for us

Yet you remember it well enough to remember his mistake.  And there's my point - even when he played well there are plenty of fans who will ONLY ever remember the stuff he messed up.  Even if the good things he did contributed to the scoreline and the negative didn't.

Anyway, he's gone.  Some people will be happy, others won't.  Let's end it here.

[rusty shackleford]

I am happy

So happy

[westcliff white]

I for one will miss his skill, but he never really settled over here.

Her has gone I wish him well, and hope everyone will now stop moaning about him. I guess though the moaning will move onto Mitro now

[win-dup]

Bryan Ruiz is a brilliant player who seldom was given a role with Fulham that suited his talents. If there was one player who could be said to have staved off relegation last season, it was him [check points when he appeared and points when he didn't see the pitch].

Having said that, now he'll play in an easier league with a side that qualifies for Europe on opening day. I won't have to put up with weekly distortions of his contribution and moaning that he's still here. Conversely, I'll still have to put up with mindless posts saying he was the worst signing since Marlet.

There will never ever, ever being a signing as bad as Marlet. He was absolutely hopeless. I think his signing was the moment the scales fell from Mo's eyes and he started to think about selling the club.

[f321ffc]

Bryan Ruiz is a brilliant player who seldom was given a role with Fulham that suited his talents. If there was one player who could be said to have staved off relegation last season, it was him [check points when he appeared and points when he didn't see the pitch].

Having said that, now he'll play in an easier league with a side that qualifies for Europe on opening day. I won't have to put up with weekly distortions of his contribution and moaning that he's still here. Conversely, I'll still have to put up with mindless posts saying he was the worst signing since Marlet.

There will never ever, ever being a signing as bad as Marlet. He was absolutely hopeless. I think his signing was the moment the scales fell from Mo's eyes and he started to think about selling the club.

Are you not counting the Mitroglu signing.

[Riverside]

I wish Ruiz all the best

I think he will have fun in Portugal

[The Rock]

Best of luck as well, and he deserves it. I hope he achieves all the success we couldn't give him and he couldn't give us!

[Shredhead]

I wish him all the best in Portugal. (Personally) I think he was one of the most talented players I've seen in a Fulham shirt and it was especially poignant that he wore my late father's name on the back of his shirt. Last season he did a lot more defensively as well. Pura Vida, Bryan.

[Humbled]

Apparently Sporting Lisbon have buy a buy out clause in Ruiz contract for 43 million......

[Burt]

I always remember his debut v. Blackburn when the physicality of the game just left him stranded, I think he may even have been subbed at half time. At that point I was left wondering whether it was another expensive dud.

To be fair, he did start to improve, and on his day he was as good as they get... Unfortunately those days weren't that frequent and he could never put a consistent run together... He would drift in and out. On balance, he delivered less than his potential which was a shame as I thought he would be a key part of the squad.

Good luck to him. 

[YankeeJim]

Square peg. Round hole.
He also suffered from that odd thing that some players just seem to provoke out of Fulham fans. Senderous, Baird at first, Dempsey and a few others all had it. Even if they played well, all that some remembered was the odd mistake. Some just look for the errors.