We are not good enough for the playoffs - Yet

[Wearethewhites]

I never expected Jokanovic to get us promoted this season, there were to many wholesale changes, I expected an 8th to 9th place finish, with an improvement in the quality of football, which, to date, is happening.

However, if we were to get anywhere near the playoffs, or a chance to break into the top 6, I'd have taken it with open arms, but, it would have taken good backing from the FFC board in January, which unfortunately didn't happen.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those fans who thinks throwing money at the cause always works, but, I do think we fell well short, when it came to showing some ambition in January. Especially against the likes Reading, Sheff Weds, Leeds etc, who I see as our competitors. Players like Rhodes, Grabban etc, will fire teams to promotion.

Transfer window aside, this Team can't ever string a run of 5 wins together, which is something required to make the top 6. If everyone's honest, can you ever see this side stringing together 5 wins together with our consistency? No.

Unlike Brighton, and a few other sides in the Championship, we simply can't grind out results either, or get ugly to pick up the 3 points. It's either play like Barcelona and win, or roll over and die to physical, long ball teams like Birmingham. Again, something else that needs to change if we're to compete for any type of promotion.

Have always said that next season will be the Holy Grail for FFC in regards to promotion, Jokanovic's current team would have settled, and with 3-4 decent additions, I can see us being a pretty lethal outfit.

However, I believe this all hinges on how the Board handles things from now until the end of the season, and if I'm completely honest, I still don't have much trust in them. The footballs much better, but I believe its masking the complete and utter mess behind the scenes still.

For me, the board needs to be working on Jokanovic to ensure he's here for next season. Even if he fails to make the top 6, its still not a failure, as you can see exactly where his philosophy is taking us. I hope the don't view it differently.

With Jokanovic still here, we have a chance of keeping hold of Cairney, Sess, and the likes of Fredericks. The board can't be selling Cairney just to make funds available, they need to back Jokanovic with at least 3-4 quality additions to build on whats here.

Next season is going to be even tougher, Villa will have the tools, and a few big guns with money will be coming down. Will we do whats necessary to get the job done, and I don't trust the board.

My prediction: 8th/9th place finish, Jokanovic will be off in the summer due to the boards lack of backing.   

         

[NJFulham]

Joka has all the leverage in a contract negotiation.

[Wearethewhites]

Joka has all the leverage in a contract negotiation.

Doesn't every coach? But I trust him more than our board at present. He will know what he wants to make this team into a promotion challenging side, yet I bet he's persistently challenged by Tony Kahn and his mate over who is statically OK for Fulham. For me, I can see him walking with this current setup, if he hasn't decided to already. Don't care what anyone says, the January window was a complete and utter disaster for us, and I can't see Jokanovic being satisfied with it either.     

[RaySmith]

What will happen in the summer?-Worrying!

[cookieg]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

[RaySmith]

But we've heard it all before - 'manyana', but tomorrow never comes.
Seize the time!


Why would  they conclude the play-offs weren't possible this year?

I respect your point, and maybe  you're right, but we seem to keep  rebuilding, only to  do it all over again when it all fails. But it's true that we're doing a lot better than last season, so we are progressing.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Unfortunately it pains me to say it, but , We will never get promotion under Khan, his son and his sons best mate.

[Wearethewhites]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

I'm sorry, but the playoffs were more than capable with a decent bit of backing. Even if we did miss out, the players are here, we go again next season, bit like the Karanka situation at Boro.

For a start, all these loans worry me, the Khans seem non-interested in investing, if Jokanovic goes next season, so will most likely the loans, Cairney, Sess, we have to start from scratch again.

This January, we had the whole window, yet fluffed and farted around again on the last day, Why? I know you get a better deal, but Christ, where's the planning, it was a mess again by the sounds of it.

Unfortunately for me, I don't buy that all is well behind the scenes still, the Club/Board don't want to spend, the urgency wasn't there, why?

If I was a betting man, I'd say that Jokanovic has already said that he's not going to be there next season, so the Club was reluctant to spend. I think that Tony Kahn and Craig Klines Xbox type approach may have finally taken its toll. 

[Twig]

Unfortunately it pains me to say it, but , We will never get promotion under Khan, his son and his sons best mate.

:plus one:

[NJFulham]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

I'm sorry, but the playoffs were more than capable with a decent bit of backing. Even if we did miss out, the players are here, we go again next season, bit like the Karanka situation at Boro.

For a start, all these loans worry me, the Khans seem non-interested in investing, if Jokanovic goes next season, so will most likely the loans, Cairney, Sess, we have to start from scratch again.

This January, we had the whole window, yet fluffed and farted around again on the last day, Why? I know you get a better deal, but Christ, where's the planning, it was a mess again by the sounds of it.

Unfortunately for me, I don't buy that all is well behind the scenes still, the Club/Board don't want to spend, the urgency wasn't there, why?

If I was a betting man, I'd say that Jokanovic has already said that he's not going to be there next season, so the Club was reluctant to spend. I think that Tony Kahn and Craig Klines Xbox type approach may have finally taken its toll. 

Decent chance Khan sacks Jokanovic anyway.

[NJFulham]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

I'm sorry, but the playoffs were more than capable with a decent bit of backing. Even if we did miss out, the players are here, we go again next season, bit like the Karanka situation at Boro.

For a start, all these loans worry me, the Khans seem non-interested in investing, if Jokanovic goes next season, so will most likely the loans, Cairney, Sess, we have to start from scratch again.

This January, we had the whole window, yet fluffed and farted around again on the last day, Why? I know you get a better deal, but Christ, where's the planning, it was a mess again by the sounds of it.

Unfortunately for me, I don't buy that all is well behind the scenes still, the Club/Board don't want to spend, the urgency wasn't there, why?

If I was a betting man, I'd say that Jokanovic has already said that he's not going to be there next season, so the Club was reluctant to spend. I think that Tony Kahn and Craig Klines Xbox type approach may have finally taken its toll. 

Decent chance Khan sacks Jokanovic anyway.

i'm not sure if this post is a wind-up or a dig at Khan. The tragic thing is his stewardship of this club has been so awful, it wouldn't surprise me if he did something as obscenely moronic as sacking Jokanovic. The man has shown baffling lunacy on numerous occasions before, for example when he bought the club in 2013.

Not really. Just beginning to think Jokanovic is overrated. He's too stubborn, for one.

[bill taylors apprentice]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

I'm sorry, but the playoffs were more than capable with a decent bit of backing. Even if we did miss out, the players are here, we go again next season, bit like the Karanka situation at Boro.

For a start, all these loans worry me, the Khans seem non-interested in investing, if Jokanovic goes next season, so will most likely the loans, Cairney, Sess, we have to start from scratch again.

This January, we had the whole window, yet fluffed and farted around again on the last day, Why? I know you get a better deal, but Christ, where's the planning, it was a mess again by the sounds of it.

Unfortunately for me, I don't buy that all is well behind the scenes still, the Club/Board don't want to spend, the urgency wasn't there, why?

If I was a betting man, I'd say that Jokanovic has already said that he's not going to be there next season, so the Club was reluctant to spend. I think that Tony Kahn and Craig Klines Xbox type approach may have finally taken its toll. 

Decent chance Khan sacks Jokanovic anyway.

i'm not sure if this post is a wind-up or a dig at Khan. The tragic thing is his stewardship of this club has been so awful, it wouldn't surprise me if he did something as obscenely moronic as sacking Jokanovic. The man has shown baffling lunacy on numerous occasions before, for example when he bought the club in 2013.

Not really. Just beginning to think Jokanovic is overrated. He's too stubborn, for one.

[/b]


Behave !

[NJFulham]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

I'm sorry, but the playoffs were more than capable with a decent bit of backing. Even if we did miss out, the players are here, we go again next season, bit like the Karanka situation at Boro.

For a start, all these loans worry me, the Khans seem non-interested in investing, if Jokanovic goes next season, so will most likely the loans, Cairney, Sess, we have to start from scratch again.

This January, we had the whole window, yet fluffed and farted around again on the last day, Why? I know you get a better deal, but Christ, where's the planning, it was a mess again by the sounds of it.

Unfortunately for me, I don't buy that all is well behind the scenes still, the Club/Board don't want to spend, the urgency wasn't there, why?

If I was a betting man, I'd say that Jokanovic has already said that he's not going to be there next season, so the Club was reluctant to spend. I think that Tony Kahn and Craig Klines Xbox type approach may have finally taken its toll. 

Decent chance Khan sacks Jokanovic anyway.

i'm not sure if this post is a wind-up or a dig at Khan. The tragic thing is his stewardship of this club has been so awful, it wouldn't surprise me if he did something as obscenely moronic as sacking Jokanovic. The man has shown baffling lunacy on numerous occasions before, for example when he bought the club in 2013.

Not really. Just beginning to think Jokanovic is overrated. He's too stubborn, for one.

i thought it was still a few months until April fool's day ??

064.gif fp.gif

16 new 1st team players and they are barely 9th. Monk's Leeds squad is a lot worse than ours and they're 1 points ahead of us.

[davew]

You have to wonder if SK and SJ had a conversation during this window as to whether the play offs were realistic and they came to the conclusion no but start to put things in place for next year. A couple loan to buys, shipping out the extras etc with a view to next season being the season to go for it.

Do you really believe that (lol), sorry but I think that is not what has happened.  SJ will be off at the end of the season (if not before), we will lose our best players in the Summer window and Khan will be asking his team of experts what he did wrong. Kline will probably report that he got his numbers wrong and the club will be put up for sale in 2018! Just my opinion of course though.

[AlexW132]

I never expected Jokanovic to get us promoted this season, there were to many wholesale changes, I expected an 8th to 9th place finish, with an improvement in the quality of football, which, to date, is happening.

However, if we were to get anywhere near the playoffs, or a chance to break into the top 6, I'd have taken it with open arms, but, it would have taken good backing from the FFC board in January, which unfortunately didn't happen.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those fans who thinks throwing money at the cause always works, but, I do think we fell well short, when it came to showing some ambition in January. Especially against the likes Reading, Sheff Weds, Leeds etc, who I see as our competitors. Players like Rhodes, Grabban etc, will fire teams to promotion.

Transfer window aside, this Team can't ever string a run of 5 wins together, which is something required to make the top 6. If everyone's honest, can you ever see this side stringing together 5 wins together with our consistency? No.

Unlike Brighton, and a few other sides in the Championship, we simply can't grind out results either, or get ugly to pick up the 3 points. It's either play like Barcelona and win, or roll over and die to physical, long ball teams like Birmingham. Again, something else that needs to change if we're to compete for any type of promotion.

Have always said that next season will be the Holy Grail for FFC in regards to promotion, Jokanovic's current team would have settled, and with 3-4 decent additions, I can see us being a pretty lethal outfit.

However, I believe this all hinges on how the Board handles things from now until the end of the season, and if I'm completely honest, I still don't have much trust in them. The footballs much better, but I believe its masking the complete and utter mess behind the scenes still.

For me, the board needs to be working on Jokanovic to ensure he's here for next season. Even if he fails to make the top 6, its still not a failure, as you can see exactly where his philosophy is taking us. I hope the don't view it differently.

With Jokanovic still here, we have a chance of keeping hold of Cairney, Sess, and the likes of Fredericks. The board can't be selling Cairney just to make funds available, they need to back Jokanovic with at least 3-4 quality additions to build on whats here.

Next season is going to be even tougher, Villa will have the tools, and a few big guns with money will be coming down. Will we do whats necessary to get the job done, and I don't trust the board.

My prediction: 8th/9th place finish, Jokanovic will be off in the summer due to the boards lack of backing.   

       

Never mind 5 wins we can never win 2 in a row. Not since early November

[colinwhite]

Sorry but I'm depressed enough after yesterday's defeat without having to read another " I told you so " post. We are talking about fine margins between success and failure. If we had scored another 6 of the eight pens we missed then we could have had another 7 points on th board. That's nothing to do with the board , grinding out results,or having savvy.
We have in fact been quite consistent all season.
There are no quick solutions and none of has a clue about what's going on behind the scenes. But we can see that that we have a very good side, and if we , the club , players , manager have a bit of patience we are going to get there, because the improvements on the pitch this year under Slavisa are amazing and frankly a million miles from where we have been for the last five years!

[AlexW132]

Sorry but I'm depressed enough after yesterday's defeat without having to read another " I told you so " post. We are talking about fine margins between success and failure. If we had scored another 6 of the eight pens we missed then we could have had another 7 points on th board. That's nothing to do with the board , grinding out results,or having savvy.
We have in fact been quite consistent all season.
There are no quick solutions and none of has a clue about what's going on behind the scenes. But we can see that that we have a very good side, and if we , the club , players , manager have a bit of patience we are going to get there, because the improvements on the pitch this year under Slavisa are amazing and frankly a million miles from where we have been for the last five years!

When you say we've been consistent, I hope you mean consistently inconsistent because we haven't won back to back in the league since Brentford and Huddersfield

[Al]

we are in a tricky position at the moment. It cannot be denied that we are playing some wonderful football under the current team management. Joka has done wonders with the team, we play with a definite ' system ' and ' style '. This has been seriously lacking in the last few seasons. There is a confidence about the players that can only come about through a belief in what they are doing. It has been along time, perhaps since the Hodgson days, that we see a Fulham team enjoying their football.

Fine margins have been mentioned and these are where the champions stand out from the nearly rans. We have played well enough to win more games than we have, better finishing and definitely better penalty taking would see us comfortably in the play off spots. What joka has built is a team that would be better suited to life in the premiership. The passing and movement would be complimented by the space available in premiership football.

The main issue is we are in one of the toughest leagues in the world to out of. Quality football is not enough in the championship. Digging deep and playing dirty is needed from time to time as well. the addition of another tough tackling midfielder may help here, we will see.

As for funding, the board did try and get the striker we needed albeit at the last hour. Never understand why it is left so late, they obviously knew they wanted enrich so why wait until the final day ? I think they do want to back the manager but are just a bit crap at it. They must however pull out all the stops to keep Joka. Add in a striker that defends from the front with hard work and who runs the channels to stretch defences and we will be ready next year.

[colinwhite]

Take your point about back to back wins but we have been consistently producing our football home and away without always getting the results. To claim we are just inconsistent is not doing justice to the improvements  that have been made even in that department.
At least now we know we have a team that is going to compete in every game.

[Woolly Mammoth]

It's the most consistent teams Result wise in any League that will finish the highest. No matter  how well we may play in certain matches it's the results that count to be successful. At the moment we have a soft underbelly and other clubs will use that to undermine us. Most certainly the kick and run merchants.
Our worst enemy and our Achilles Heal is our enormous lack of consistancy. There is no man woman or otherwise in this land that could successfully forecast what Fulham are to do in the next match, no matter how good or how bad we played in the previous match. Who knows whetherr we are going to win lose or draw or burst into flames. That's how unpredictable we are.
We could still reach the play offs, and win the FA Cup, and then I woke up.
Fulham FC is like many women I have met, a rocky ride, unpredictable, but are capable of taking you to heaven and back one minute, and then break your heart the next minute. Not forgetting the enormous expense. In times of despair, you say never again, and find yourself taking more punishment and heartache because you can't help it, you follow your heart.