The Official Next Manager Discussion Thread

[alexmur]

warning massive speculation below


gray appointment today buys the club some time till after xmas when moyes wants to get back to work. gray will be his assistant.

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[J]

If we do have any chance of Jokanovic he may well be intending to fulfil all their champions league games first.
I was hoping we might be able to open talks after the last games when they were mathematically out of Europe but maybe (hopefully!) he just wants to wait until later this week.

[grandad]

I applaud Khan & Rigg in the way they are approaching the team management & coaching situation. They are not panicking into signing just anybody  just to appease a few supporters. The hiring of Gray as an interim measure is sensible while they calmly go about the search for a suitable long term solution.
Khan is nobodies fool & i am grateful that he is not being bullied by greedy prospective candidates or their agents.
Unlike MAF, who was not hampered with FFP regulations, Khan is running the club within its means.
I do not believe we will have an embargo imposed as we are just one of 30 clubs who have had to submit their own financial statement. They are the 24 Championship clubs plus the 3 teams that came down & the 3 that were promoted from League 1.

[J]

+1 fulhamstu
About Gray, yes Rigg said something like he will remain part of the coaching setup rather than the specifics after a head coach is appointed. Presumably he is allowing for flexibility depending what they are after, but probably Gray wanted assurances he wouldn't be out the door in 2 weeks! Which is fair enough.

[Fulham Tup North]

Chief Football Officer Mike Rigg spoke to fulhamfc.com regarding the search for a permanent replacement to lead the First Team.


“The search for a permanent Head Coach goes on, but it is important to ensure we focus fully on getting results back on track while this process continues,” he said.

“With that, I'd like to welcome Stuart Gray, who has joined the Club as Senior Coach and has already begun working with the First Team to prepare for Saturday’s home match against Brentford.

“Alongside Stuart will be Steve Wigley, who has assisted Stuart in training and will continue in that capacity while joining him in the dugout on match days.

“Stuart has a proven track record in both coaching and management with caretaker spells at Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers prior to joining Sheffield Wednesday as Head Coach. He also had a full season in charge at Sheffield and secured their highest finish for six years, along with a record number of clean sheets. We all know that we have suffered from defensive frailties all season and Stuart will be focusing on that straight away. He has first-hand knowledge of the Championship and knows how to get the very best out of a group of players, so his work with the First Team will be pivotal as the search continues.

“Peter Grant will return to his permanent position of U21s Coach where his management of that group is exceptionally important in the long term development of our younger players and I would like to thank him for his excellent professionalism and commitment dealing with First Team matters over the last few weeks.

“We have built some solid foundations at the football Club and ensuring we get the right person in for long term success on the pitch is vital to achieve our targets. This is a scrupulous process to ensure that the person we hire full-time understands the Club’s aims and philosophy and can deliver for us, immediately and for the long term. While there has been much speculation linking us with many names, we have not and will not discuss the ongoing process, nor will we appoint someone unless they are 100% committed to the Club and to its future.



“Of course I can understand frustrations, not least when results do not go our way, but we are working hard to make sure we get the right appointment as soon as possible. In the interim Stuart has proven coaching expertise and will enable us to stabilise the First Team and when a Head Coach appointment is made, he will still have a key role within the football Club’s coaching system.

“The most important thing now is that we focus fully on the pitch to prepare for Brentford and the busy Christmas period ahead, and get back to winning football matches and improving our position in the table.  We have every expectation to do so.”

... and more importantly, "The Search goes on" meaning that this thread still has lots of legs left in it!!
150,000? 200,000? Who knows where it will end?  :)

[alexbishop]

I applaud Khan & Rigg in the way they are approaching the team management & coaching situation. They are not panicking into signing just anybody  just to appease a few supporters. The hiring of Gray as an interim measure is sensible while they calmly go about the search for a suitable long term solution.
Khan is nobodies fool & i am grateful that he is not being bullied by greedy prospective candidates or their agents.
Unlike MAF, who was not hampered with FFP regulations, Khan is running the club within its means.
I do not believe we will have an embargo imposed as we are just one of 30 clubs who have had to submit their own financial statement. They are the 24 Championship clubs plus the 3 teams that came down & the 3 that were promoted from League 1.

Let's be clear - they are and should be panicking into bringing someone in. If the club wants to achieve play offs this season then it needs a leader be it manager or a head coach as a matter of absolute urgency. The reason we are here one month on, is that they still haven't been able to identify someone who a) fits their criteria and b) who wants the job and c) is affordable. Lets remind ourselves that we have been approaching candidates early on (Clarke, Pearson etc) and for whatever reason they have not been recruited. Perhaps we were approaching the wrong people.

Bringing Gray in now, shows that they weren't expecting the search to take this long, otherwise they would have done so earlier. The players will have now have had three people leading the coaching over the last couple of months - Kit, Grant and now Gray. When a head coach is brought in, that will be four. Not really conducive to a team trying to achieve play offs.

You say that Khan is running the club within its means but the rumoured impending FFFP transfer embargo suggests otherwise. We need to reserve judgment on this until the club release a statement.

[Logicalman]

I applaud Khan & Rigg in the way they are approaching the team management & coaching situation. They are not panicking into signing just anybody  just to appease a few supporters. The hiring of Gray as an interim measure is sensible while they calmly go about the search for a suitable long term solution.
Khan is nobodies fool & i am grateful that he is not being bullied by greedy prospective candidates or their agents.
Unlike MAF, who was not hampered with FFP regulations, Khan is running the club within its means.
I do not believe we will have an embargo imposed as we are just one of 30 clubs who have had to submit their own financial statement. They are the 24 Championship clubs plus the 3 teams that came down & the 3 that were promoted from League 1.

I agree, and time will tell if the claimed 'embargo' does come to fruition or not. Didn't this come from a newspaper story?

[SG]

I think we have to be honest here. The caretaker manager Peter Grant wasn't good and didn't want the job. So we have brought in an outside caretaker coach who has been promised a job in the long term. Meanwhile it has been over a month and we are still without a manager, head coach etc.

Even if we now employ a top class name. This whole thing has been more than frustrating. We don't know what has gone on behind the scenes. But from the outside looking in it smacks of incompetence.

Agreed LH. Reading Rigg's quotes, everything seems logical with this appointment but he is making it up as he goes along to fit the circumstances and justify the giant cock up he has made of things from the outset.

[SG]

warning massive speculation below


gray appointment today buys the club some time till after xmas when moyes wants to get back to work. gray will be his assistant.

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I admire your persistence with Mr Moyes. Are you related to him or his agent ?!!

[ron]

I still hope for and fancy Moyes to arrive at the end of all this mayhem too.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

So, now the new "Head Coach" not only has to cope with not being called a manager, but is saddled with having Gray as his senior coach !
Rigg is really digging himself deeper and deeper into that hole.
Just have to hope that the Jokanovic rumour is right, and that he's OK with the set-up.

This is slightly worrying and slims down the options even more.

Ferguson, Shankly, Stein, Mourinho, Clough and even Symons had a No 2, sometimes a close friend, sometimes just another coach.
Shouldn't be a problem.

. . . and Hodgson came in and worked with Lewington.

[bucksfulham]

I just checked on Skybet and they've removed the next Fulham manager bet. Interesting. ( At one point earlier today it was Gray 10/11 and Jovanovic evens.) Read into that what you will. I don't have any suggestions.

[J]

Ha oh yes, I bet there is going to be a bit of controversy whether to pay out on Gray!

[alexmur]

warning massive speculation below


gray appointment today buys the club some time till after xmas when moyes wants to get back to work. gray will be his assistant.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I admire your persistence with Mr Moyes. Are you related to him or his agent ?!!

ha not related to either, just really want him to be the man for the job, the way things are going anything could happen.

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[alexmur]

I still hope for and fancy Moyes to arrive at the end of all this mayhem too.

wouldn't it be great if it happened

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[HamsterWheel]

There'll be no controversy - they all have their rules. 
Betfair's for example:
"Who will be appointed as the next first team manager of the named club?

1. Subject to paragraph 2, an appointment described by the named club as 'interim', 'caretaker', 'temporary' (including an appointment described as 'to the end of the season') or similar, will not constitute first team manager.

2.  Notwithstanding paragraph 1, an individual appointed by the named club on an 'interim', 'caretaker', 'temporary' (including an appointment described as 'to the end of the season') or similar basis who remains manager in that capacity for at least 10 completed consecutive Domestic League games (including over the course of more than a single season), will be considered to have been appointed as the next first team manager for the purpose of this market and Betfair will settle the market accordingly on that person.

3. The actual duration of the manager's contract will not be relevant for the purpose of this market.

4. This market will be settled using official information provided by the named club. Betfair will not be under any obligation to contact the named club for confirmation regarding the nature of the appointment. Betfair reserves the right to wait for further official announcements before the market is settled.

5. In the event that the named club change the structure of their management team and do not call the appointed individual first team manager, Betfair will settle the market on the individual who is responsible for picking the first team. In the event of any ambiguity over the appointment, Betfair may determine using its reasonable discretion how to settle the market based on all the information available to it at the relevant time.

6. Betfair will NOT be responsible for suspending the market when an official announcement is made by the named club. However, Betfair will suspend the market as soon as it becomes aware of an official announcement by the named club. Customers are responsible for all bets placed on this market at ALL times. Runners will be added on request subject to Betfair's absolute discretion."

[J]

weeeeell... Gray's appointment is permanent, just not as "manager". But we aren't going to appoint a manager in any case.

[HamsterWheel]

yes, and if Gray were to pick the team for 10 matches then they'd pay out on him. But hopefully Fulham will have found a Head Coach by then !

[alexmur]

weeeeell... Gray's appointment is permanent, just not as "manager". But we aren't going to appoint a manager in any case.

it's definitely going to be difficult situation for those who put money on gray. it's pretty clear he is just there as a coach, and caretaker till they appoint a head coach. so I doubt they will pay out.

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[Logicalman]

There'll be no controversy - they all have their rules.  
Betfair's for example:
"Who will be appointed as the next first team manager of the named club?

1. Subject to paragraph 2, an appointment described by the named club as 'interim', 'caretaker', 'temporary' (including an appointment described as 'to the end of the season') or similar, will not constitute first team manager.

2.  Notwithstanding paragraph 1, an individual appointed by the named club on an 'interim', 'caretaker', 'temporary' (including an appointment described as 'to the end of the season') or similar basis who remains manager in that capacity for at least 10 completed consecutive Domestic League games (including over the course of more than a single season), will be considered to have been appointed as the next first team manager for the purpose of this market and Betfair will settle the market accordingly on that person.

3. The actual duration of the manager's contract will not be relevant for the purpose of this market.

4. This market will be settled using official information provided by the named club. Betfair will not be under any obligation to contact the named club for confirmation regarding the nature of the appointment. Betfair reserves the right to wait for further official announcements before the market is settled.

5. In the event that the named club change the structure of their management team and do not call the appointed individual first team manager, Betfair will settle the market on the individual who is responsible for picking the first team. In the event of any ambiguity over the appointment, Betfair may determine using its reasonable discretion how to settle the market based on all the information available to it at the relevant time.

6. Betfair will NOT be responsible for suspending the market when an official announcement is made by the named club. However, Betfair will suspend the market as soon as it becomes aware of an official announcement by the named club. Customers are responsible for all bets placed on this market at ALL times. Runners will be added on request subject to Betfair's absolute discretion."

How do they adjust then where, say Gray has a price on him, and is then taken on as interim? Does the book on him stop at that date, or can someone still place bets on him up until the night before his tenth game? Just curious.