There is such a culture of failure and complacency ............

[bill taylors apprentice]

embedded within our club that you can almost smell it.

Players, coaches, managers come and go but the toxic stink still permeates throughout the club.

Being generous for moment, this season the plan seemed to be to bring in players on the cheap (comparatively speaking) but who all had a pedigree and enough experience to build a decent foundation.

Add in the couple of decent players already here and the young talent coming through and I suppose you could call it a plan (considering the financial constraints)

But its been just another disastrous season and another group of players who have failed individually and collectively.

The dichotomy of scoring enough goals while conceding at an embarrassing level tells me this league is not all that ability wise but you have to be well drilled and win the physical battle first (individually and collectively) all over the park before you earn the right to show off your skill.

These qualities have been lacking for so long its become endemic and new players have generally failed to improve things and are now just another part of the problem.

I'm sure they all feel bad when they lose for a few moments but then its back to the comfy world of a highly paid footballer, the pampered life style and the excellent facilities etc.

Does the current manager have the ability and drive to cleanse this stinking squad and fashion a team that has a winning mentality?

IMO he does but he will need to be ruthless and the club will need to back him big time in the transfer market or its only going to get worse.

[Lighthouse]

A number of managers have failed to stop the match by match similarity. One half good. one half bad. Little or no pace and not an idea how to mark and defend in the area or in our own half. Teams just have to run at us. If anything we are worse now than we have been for some time. Fortunately so are a few others in the league.


I am not sure  how much the players care.  They certainly have no idea how to stop making the same mistakes. I am not sure how much this manager has achieved or how backing him in the transfer market will help. But I do know that I am on the edge of taking the Fulham pennants down from the wall. The badge key rings are already replaced with normal non specific ones. Yes the culture of failure has certainly embedded itself in me. I have no faith in the club and less pride in it than at any time I have supported them. I feel distanced from the club and the game itself. Not because we are rubbish. I traveled around the Country with Fulham when we were in the lower leagues. But this failure is all club made.

I can blame the manager, the players but frankly I don't care. We had a Prem side and then lost it through multi, ill advised decisions by the club over many seasons. Open the barrel of any toxic waste and you see goo. You don't want to touch it without protective clothing. That is how I feel about Fulham right now.

[Baszab]

Lighthouse - exactly how I feel too - your assessment is pretty valid - and I do have a fair amount of inside knowledge 

I am sure I will renew all my season tickets but I just feel sort of passionless and negative

I cannot get excited by the present manager and his "entourage" - mainly because he has achieved nothing in half a season

3 good wins ensured our safety -- but to be honest  they were all pretty fortunate - (although remember Gary Player)

[Twig]

Lighthouse - exactly how I feel too - your assessment is pretty valid - and I do have a fair amount of inside knowledge 

I am sure I will renew all my season tickets but I just feel sort of passionless and negative

I cannot get excited by the present manager and his "entourage" - mainly because he has achieved nothing in half a season

3 good wins ensured our safety -- but to be honest  they were all pretty fortunate - (although remember Gary Player)

Bas,why do you persist in referring to our manager's  "entourage" as you put it?

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

I like Aston Villa's decision to cancel their player/s of the year awards.
I'm not sure we've been that bad though.

[love4ffc]

Agree with you BTA.  I think Joka could change things this summer but as you say he will need to be "Ruthless" and need the entire clubs backing. 

I can completely understand fans being disgusted and ashamed with our current state.  I for one though still want to believe there is hope to change the culture and results around.  For that to happen though I think Khan has got to buy completely into whatever it is that Joka is trying to accomplish.  He will need to show full support for the players Joka both wants gone and brought in. 

[cmg]

I like Aston Villa's decision to cancel their player/s of the year awards.
I'm not sure we've been that bad though.

How wonderful it would be if we cancelled our Player of the Year award...and then saw one of our players voted league Player of the Year!

[Wearethewhites]

For me, this Kahn ownership, just feels, I don't know, soulless. I've been a Fulham supporter for many years now, all the way from Torquay, up to Hamburg, but this is completely different. Regardless of what position this Club is in, there has always been a buzz about Fulham, the place, the Club, the fans, the pubs, but it feels to me as if the heart has been ripped out of what we stand for (if that makes sense)?

[rubbernecca]

Completely agree. It's hard to get excited about Fulham anymore.

[Mince n Tatties]

I like Aston Villa's decision to cancel their player/s of the year awards.
I'm not sure we've been that bad though.

How wonderful it would be if we cancelled our Player of the Year award...and then saw one of our players voted league Player of the Year!

That would be funny.

[Mince n Tatties]

For me, this Kahn ownership, just feels, I don't know, soulless. I've been a Fulham supporter for many years now, all the way from Torquay, up to Hamburg, but this is completely different. Regardless of what position this Club is in, there has always been a buzz about Fulham, the place, the Club, the fans, the pubs, but it feels to me as if the heart has been ripped out of what we stand for (if that makes sense)?

We're known for having a neutral stand, a statue of Michael Jackson outside the ground and probably the quietest fans in the country, most of them being Tourists. Oh and we've got a crap, soulless badge as well.

I remember the 90s and how the club felt back then but let's be honest, our soul went long ago, probably some time around the early 2000s 

You missed out of all the teams that play in white in
the country,we are the only ones that have a off white
or cream it looks to me.
Even Adidas couldnt get the white right...lol

[HatterDon]

What a relief it must be for some of us for Fulham to get well and truly hammered after taking 10 of 12 points in the previous four matches.

It's not good to let all that build up inside you week after week.

[SouthIslandWhite]

And that's the problem IMO, who is going to back this manager?  The owner?  Certainly not.

Three letters are king Fulham: N F L

The National Football League.

Explain to me how anyone, anywhere, could own an NFL franchise and an English football franchise and not have the NFL be the #1 priority day in and day out?

You can't.