Is our owner a complete numpty??

[davew]

Another nail in our coffin today with the transfer embargo, whatever next? I wonder why Khan ever purchased FFC, was it an ego trip, an investment for the future or simply a way of losing money? MAF must have been laughing all the way to the bank when he sold the club, I wonder how our new owner feels now? I also wonder how much his investment is worth now, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of what he paid? There are no signs that anybody associated with the management (if they can be called that) have any idea how to run a football club, the last 2 years and current position prove that! We have become a laughing stock on and off the pitch, I am almost ashamed to admit to others that I am a FFC supporter. If I were Khan I would get rid of all the management and hangers on, which would include a lot of the players who show no passion for the club. If this means we get relegated so be it, perhaps that is where we are going to end up anyway and at least I won't have to keep reading that with our current squad we should be attacking the play off places, COMPLETE RUBBISH! Maybe Khan should sell up or if he insists on staying then show us a sign of his intention to carry out his words after taking over FFC, what were they "pleased to be the new guardian of FFC" (LOL), does he know what the word guardian means? I have been fortunate to have witnessed FFC playing in the top league not just since the Premier League was founded but also in the old 1st Division. In the mere 60 years I have supported the club I fear that we are again at almost rock bottom and have little confidence of us returning to the top division or even staying in the Championship unless there are major changes. Is there another MAF around who can produce another miracle?

Am I angry, you bet and I am sure I am not alone!!!!

[f321ffc]

No i dont believe he is, you dont make the sort of fortune he has being a numpty, i do believe that he has been ill advised regarding those he has put in charge of our club or worse still has he got hidden agenda?
I think the Riverside redevelopment if it goes ahead will answer that but only time will tell.

[Dodger53]

I dont think he's a numpty but out of his depth owning a football club, many foreign owners.   
60+years as well, we have been far worse off than we are now but I cannot think of a squad with so many ordinary/poor players who don't appear to care, don't work hard and don't seem inclined to improve.
The incompetence on display for all to see from our managemt team beggars belief.

[davew]

Well said Woolly, totally agree!!

[HatterDon]

Oooooh, look. Our first ever thread critical of Khan! Look at all the new comments and criticisms. I've never seen anything so original.

[davew]

Oooooh, look. Our first ever thread critical of Khan! Look at all the new comments and criticisms. I've never seen anything so original.

It wasn't supposed to be original, how could it be? Just trying to reinforce the doubts and shortfalls of this club after the latest fiasco. Do you think our situation is improving then?? Probably best for most of us to just keep quiet and accept where we are and where we are going (nowhere), some of us will still post our views on here even though it is just a forum and nobody associated in the running of FFC will take the blindest bit of notice what we write on here! I wish my Dad hadn't given away my Grandad's shares at least I would have had the opportunity to speak in better circles!

Perhaps I will start a few more threads to get more measured responses.

[Blanco]

Well he´s worth $5,9 billion so I think you are the numpty for questioning his intelligence.

[Fulham76]

Well he´s worth $5,9 billion so I think you are the numpty for questioning his intelligence.

Agreed. You don't become a billionaire by mistake. He knows exactly what he's doing, whatever that may be....

[WayneKerrins]

Oooooh, look. Our first ever thread critical of Khan! Look at all the new comments and criticisms. I've never seen anything so original.

Serial and oft repeated mistakes isn't a rich context for original criticism you big loon.

Anyway, seasons greetings!

[davew]

Well he´s worth $5,9 billion so I think you are the numpty for questioning his intelligence.

Glad you think he is doing such a great job with our club, maybe he is just a numpty when it comes to running a football club, I wasn't questioning how he made is fortune!

[Arthur]

Another nail in our coffin today with the transfer embargo...

Are you predicting relegation for us this season? Otherwise, how can this possibly be a 'nail in our coffin'? If we're still a Championship club come the summer transfer window, our current embargo won't matter one iota.

If I were Khan I would get rid of all the management and hangers on, which would include a lot of the players who show no passion for the club. If this means we get relegated so be it...

So the consequence of getting rid of those who are contributing nothing to begin with is that relegation could follow? There is no logic to this statement whatsoever.

In the mere 60 years I have supported the club I fear that we are again at almost rock bottom...

We're nowhere near 91st in the professional leagues. Supporters aren't being asked to throw money into a bucket to help prevent the Club going out of business. There's no speculation that the ground will be sold to pay our debts. The players aren't having to train on public pitches or wash their own kit or travel long distances to away matches on the day of the game.

I think its safe to say that 'again at almost rock bottom' is a sizeable exaggeration.

I wonder why Khan ever purchased FFC... MAF must have been laughing all the way to the bank when he sold the club...

Am I angry, you bet...

So whom should you be angry with? Khan for buying the Club or MAF for selling it to him in the first place? Your suggestion that our former owner was 'laughing all the way to the bank' is, if true, also an acknowledgement that he must have known he was stitching us up.


Dare I say it, but I find the rhetoric of your post unconvincing.

[HatterDon]

Oooooh, look. Our first ever thread critical of Khan! Look at all the new comments and criticisms. I've never seen anything so original.

Serial and oft repeated mistakes isn't a rich context for original criticism you big loon.

Anyway, seasons greetings!

and back at you sir, from South Texas' finest loon!

[FulhamStu]

Things will turn around next year.

[Oakeshott]

"Your suggestion that our former owner was 'laughing all the way to the bank' is, if true, also an acknowledgement that he must have known he was stitching us up."

Not at all. Merely happiness that, in difficult financial times, he's found someone with the resources and interest to take the Club forward. MAF would have respected the fact that Khan seemed to be a capable (and seemingly self-made) man, and would have no more idea than we did that he would turn out to be, football-wise, so completely incompetent.

[RaySmith]

Arthur is right - this is nothing like as terrible a situation as in the bad old days of plunging down the divisions, when we did indeed reach 'rock bottom.'

At least we have a millionaire at the helm, who has been prepared to spend money on the club in these very competitive football times.

The reasons for our demise are manifest and it's not fair to lay blame on a particular individual, imo- only to say that the Prem is a  very tough climate for a club like Fulham, and it doesn't take much to suddenly fail to maintain that status, and then find it hard to recover - but I do think the decline has been halted, and that we  will again move in an upwards direction under Khan's stewardship.

But obviously, the managerial situation seems to have been mishandled to say the least - and I thought it was wrong to sack Kit in the first place, and not having a replacement lined up is the crux of this whole mess, but I think the club is trying hard to rectify the situation, and I don't see how Khan is to blame - he presumably employs people who  claim to know what they are doing - to be  experts in the football world

[davew]

Ray, firstly Merry Xmas, why do you think that our decline has been halted, the last 8 results show that we are almost in freefall. The managerial situation is a shambles, my anger towards SK is probably due to the fact that imo he has done little for this club that has been productive. Ok I agree that his management team don't provide inspiration neither did the 5 man panel who appointed KS, at the end of the day if the owner lacks knowledge in owning a football club he should by now have realised that he has the wrong team of advisors. MAF would never have allowed this situation to happen though granted when he sold up we were left with a squad  not capable of staying in the PL. At least MAF did get us to the PL with his money and hands on leadership.

[The Old Count]

"Your suggestion that our former owner was 'laughing all the way to the bank' is, if true, also an acknowledgement that he must have known he was stitching us up."

Not at all. Merely happiness that, in difficult financial times, he's found someone with the resources and interest to take the Club forward. MAF would have respected the fact that Khan seemed to be a capable (and seemingly self-made) man, and would have no more idea than we did that he would turn out to be, football-wise, so completely incompetent.

Yes I agree, and to add to that, what is just as dissapointing, is that Khan does not seem to have learnt very much if anything at all about English Football since he bought the club.
But maybe it's because he is not that interested.

MAF made the time to engage with knowledgeable people in the game such as Cantona, O'Neil and Franco Barresi.  He made the effort to fill the gaps in his knowledge.
Nothing from Mr Khan suggests that he has done the same thing.

[Arthur]

"Your suggestion that our former owner was 'laughing all the way to the bank' is, if true, also an acknowledgement that he must have known he was stitching us up."

Not at all.

Merry Christmas to you, sir.

Despite your rebuttal, I stand by my interpretation.

I wonder why Khan ever purchased FFC, was it an ego trip, an investment for the future or simply a way of losing money? MAF must have been laughing all the way to the bank when he sold the club, I wonder how our new owner feels now? I also wonder how much his investment is worth now, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of what he paid?

From the extended quote, above, it can clearly be seen that the O.P. is linking Al Fayed's 'laughing to the bank' with the inevitability that our current owner's investment would not be worth the sum that he paid.

In the O.P's eagerness to depict our chairman as a 'complete numpty', the opening salvo that Khan was ignorant of his impending loss of money does - as a consequence of its comparison as to how much more savvy was Al Fayed - unwittingly expose our departing owner to the accusation that he stitched us up.

[Arthur]

MAF made the time to engage with knowledgeable people in the game such as Cantona, O'Neil and Franco Barresi.  He made the effort to fill the gaps in his knowledge.
Nothing from Mr Khan suggests that he has done the same thing.

Indeed, Al Fayed met these people. He met them to offer them roles within the Club. There is nothing to suggest, however, that he took the opportunity to 'fill gaps in his knowledge'. On the rare occasions that I saw our previous Chairman interviewed live on television by Sky or the BBC, he never, in my opinion, came across as having anything other than the most rudimentary understanding of football matters on the field of play.

I do agree, nonetheless, that it is not apparent that Khan has a significantly greater appreciation of football's finer points than he did when he first acquired the Club.

[Alexis]

Having a billionaire owner is nice. Just imagine he meltdown if he leaves today.