Where do we go from here

[Fulham 442]

Simon Grayson is available.


Larry Grayson would have more ideas in defending..."shut that door"......

You beat me to that comment!

[Lighthouse]

At the end of last season I said along with many others we need a spine to the club. All we did is repeat the same central pairing and keeper and bring in a raw striker who may well be good enough and a striker who is not really the type we need.

The manager tries to change things around as he did tonight but the team just are unable to respond. In the managers words the team looked confused in the first half. That is down to the coach.

Kline has gone and the coach may not be far behind. But there is clearly a problem from way back that has not been resolved. We simply haven't the right players and the coach is simply unable to get the best out of the players he has.

[Bassey the warrior]

Think the manager has to go if (when) we lose Friday

Don't blame him for this mess, think he's been given an impossible task, but we look to have reached a point where only a fresh face and approach can fix it

Of course changing the manager will mean this season is a write off, and another overhaul next summer no doubt. The real problem is the Khans but who's going to sack them?

We won't get a better manager than Joka. That would be short termism and a mistake.

We won't get a better manager than Jokanovic? I think you're one of those fans who I was talking about above.

Or maybe I'm one of the fans that remembers what it's been like since Mark Hughes left. Joka is indisputably our best manager since Hughes and by a long distance. He wasn't properly backed in the window and he should be in January.

On what basis Is he out best manager?

On the back of last season's overachievement. He was let down in the summer when we brought in loanees to replace two key players leaving and failed to sign a premium number 9 to get the goals.

[The Old Count]

At the end of last season I said along with many others we need a spine to the club. All we did is repeat the same central pairing and keeper and bring in a raw striker who may well be good enough and a striker who is not really the type we need.

The manager tries to change things around as he did tonight but the team just are unable to respond. In the managers words the team looked confused in the first half. That is down to the coach.

Kline has gone and the coach may not be far behind. But there is clearly a problem from way back that has not been resolved. We simply haven't the right players and the coach is simply unable to get the best out of the players he has.

There are a few people on here who've been saying this 'till they're blue in the face.
One more time from me - we needed and still need a spine to the team. We're small, lightweight and unbalanced as a team.  We've done nothing to address the issues of last season and just waltzed into this season thinking we'd sail through to automatic promotion.

[Chutney]

We can't do anything about it until January, we stagnated our squad and it is weaker than last season, while other teams around us improved theirs. Our season is over in terms of a promotion push, truth be told it was over on the final day of the transfer window.

[grandad]

21 shots & only 2 on target says it all.
People talk about there being no plan B. Last night Slavisa tried plan B & C & they didn´t work.

[aaronmcguigan]

21 shots & only 2 on target says it all.
People talk about there being no plan B. Last night Slavisa tried plan B & C & they didn´t work.

A plan B was a back 3. But it looked like they hadn't even practiced or trained it

[Chutney]

Think the manager has to go if (when) we lose Friday

Don't blame him for this mess, think he's been given an impossible task, but we look to have reached a point where only a fresh face and approach can fix it

Of course changing the manager will mean this season is a write off, and another overhaul next summer no doubt. The real problem is the Khans but who's going to sack them?

We won't get a better manager than Joka. That would be short termism and a mistake.

We won't get a better manager than Jokanovic? I think you're one of those fans who I was talking about above.

Or maybe I'm one of the fans that remembers what it's been like since Mark Hughes left. Joka is indisputably our best manager since Hughes and by a long distance. He wasn't properly backed in the window and he should be in January.

On what basis Is he out best manager?

We hugely over achieved last season, largely down to the manager getting the players performing way above their usual standards. Issue is this season, every other team strengthened over the summer, its ridiculous to expect the same level when we didn't improve our team. 

[davew]

Think the manager has to go if (when) we lose Friday

Don't blame him for this mess, think he's been given an impossible task, but we look to have reached a point where only a fresh face and approach can fix it

Of course changing the manager will mean this season is a write off, and another overhaul next summer no doubt. The real problem is the Khans but who's going to sack them?

I think the season is already a write off, hopefully not involving us in a relegation battle! The saving grace is that believe it or not there are worse teams/squads than us e.g. Burton (they beat us), Bolton (we couldn't beat them), Reading (we couldn't beat them), Sunderland (? who knows how we will get on against them, probably lose). By the time we get to the January window we will be out of contention for a top 6 position, talk of changing the manager now achieves nothing except more instability! The other options are to replace Joka in January or at the end of the season, so if that happens in January and we start to get good results that still won't be a guarantee that we won't start next season the way we have this one. What is the answer, I have no idea!!

[toshes mate]

On All Hallows' Day tradition says the faithful worship Saints, known and unknown.  Do we martyr SJ?  Do we acknowledge the turning point of a season which has illustrated the deep flaws in Fulham's structural team building enterprise, find the culprits and make the necessary organisational changes?  Any choices and actions 'may' lead to the Promised Land, but the question is which 'May' will success occur in, and how much damage will need repairing from the sweeping changes before that 'May' comes around?

Transitions occur by identifying what has gone wrong and rectifying it.  We are not, despite looking for goal scorers in the window, scoring goals.  In Bristol City came a side playing attacking football with skill, touch and flair, a similar place to where we were sometime last season.  But we are not scoring goals in spite of making many attempts to do so.  There have been near misses, but mostly we have been wasteful and some of those involved were not so wasteful last season.

Let the disbelievers have their pints of blood or keep a firm hand on the tiller and get talking about now as to how January 2018 may be utilised as the first window we, as a Club, have seriously done the business for quite a while? 

Be very careful what you choose Mr Khan for spirits can be easily upset.   

[grandad]

There are a few already calling for Slavisa´s head but no one has come up with a credible replacement. Madness to sack one of the best coaches we have had since Tigana. We have had cruel luck with injuries. Cairney & Johansen are both not 100% fit. They were a major part of last season´s push for promotion but have been hampered this season.
Give Slavisa a fully fit squad, player confidence, clinical finishing, a return to our pacy counter attacking & we will see an upturn. We are still only 4 points off 6th.

[joeemslie]

Give Slavisa a fully fit squad, player confidence, clinical finishing, a return to our pacy counter attacking & we will see an upturn. We are still only 4 points off 6th.

Sometimes you aren't given everything you need and he needs to be able to cope with that situation. It's what he is paid for.

Also, "pacy counter attacking", I would say that that it happened once yesterday.

If we need all the stars to align for a decent performance, let alone a win, we are in serious trouble.

[Chutney]

Give Slavisa a fully fit squad, player confidence, clinical finishing, a return to our pacy counter attacking & we will see an upturn. We are still only 4 points off 6th.

Sometimes you aren't given everything you need and he needs to be able to cope with that situation. It's what he is paid for.

Also, "pacy counter attacking", I would say that that it happened once yesterday.

If we need all the stars to align for a decent performance, let alone a win, we are in serious trouble.

How is it Slav's fault that other teams all signed good players and improved and we went backwards over the summer? Mid table is where our squad belongs, should we finish any higher than that then credit to the manager.

[joeemslie]

Give Slavisa a fully fit squad, player confidence, clinical finishing, a return to our pacy counter attacking & we will see an upturn. We are still only 4 points off 6th.

Sometimes you aren't given everything you need and he needs to be able to cope with that situation. It's what he is paid for.

Also, "pacy counter attacking", I would say that that it happened once yesterday.

If we need all the stars to align for a decent performance, let alone a win, we are in serious trouble.

How is it Slav's fault that other teams all signed good players and improved and we went backwards over the summer? Mid table is where our squad belongs, should we finish any higher than that then credit to the manager.

Where did I blame Slav in my post? I just said he needs to be be able to cope with the current situation. I agree that mid-table is where we belong.

Are you absolving him of all blame then? Are you happy to accept yesterday's performance?

[Woolly Mammoth]

You tend to reap what you sow, mediocre recruitment in the Summer, not enough investments in new players. Too many players in the same position signed, and not enough quality in important positions like, Goalkeeper. Centre Back and Centre Forward/ Striker. Signing deadwood from overseas is not the answer.
Penny pinching will only maybe allow us to stand still, no obvious ambition from the Board except to paper over the cracks.
Maybe poor preparation in preseason did not help. In our first match v Norwich compared to them, we looked uncooked and not fit enough.
Why did we go on two tours and play opponents that were nowhere near the standard we can expect in the Championship. One tour was sufficient and then any other matches should have been played in England, where any players picking up injuries can be treated better and quicker in our facilities.
We did not look prepared from the commencement of the season. We did not use last seasons superb run in the second half of the year as a launching pad to bounce into this season. Instead amongst others, we sold two players who could have made a difference, as they had shown they were good enough in this Division, and we still have not replaced them.
Bringing in a player who was injured and still hasn't started a game and it's now November, and he has already missed a quarter of the season tells me that they still haven't got their act together behind the scenes.
Apart from everything else, name me one new player who has secured a regular starting place in the team, tell me who has nailed down a place and made an impact from the start.
I shall answer that for you. None, nobody, zilch. Most of them are nowhere near match fit so we are told as an excuse for their poor form. A couple haven't hardly had a kick. We are told they are back up. Back up for who exactly. Because we haven't enough quality of first choice players.
Add injuries and loss of form, which every club should have the vision and foresight to prepare for, and we are up the swanny without a paddle.
Square pegs in round holes is a recipe for failure.
With a Coach who chas run out of ideas and gone stale.
Has Jok the Charisma and the Character to lead us out of this pickle. That's a question that needs answering sooner rather than later.
Has he he the Leaders the Warriors the Fighters, the Winners in the squad to support him in the fight.
I don't think so, and this has been magnified by a timid milky defence with no depth or balance, no height or physical presence. Time and time again we see the defence breached and bullied, the team is so naive it's criminal. 
Add the fact that after all this time we haven't signed a genuine striker, then how do we expect anything else now but a struggle.
Our home record shows that teams are not afraid to come to our fortress and most of the time come away with either a point or even three points. To them it's a picnic.
Our players must take responsibility, Jok must take responsibility, but the whole structure of the club involving the first team shows that it's not operating to its full capacity, and not being run professionaly by genuine football people.
Kline has gone, why now. He should never have been recruited, but that's what happens in a business where family and friends get put into positions of authority because they are family and friends.
The poor results and indifferent form shows there is quite a lot wrong within the club, and it will not go away by making excuses for people.
Jok is not the reason on his own for this debacle, he is a victim of the symptom.
Nevertheless, what is he doing in training, what are his match team talks consisting of. Why is he being outwitted regularly by opposing managers.
The responsibility for the results and the performances stop with Jok, and although at this stage the club needs him more than he needs them, the sands of time are starting to run out, so he needs to turn this round now. Not next year or next month.
As for the Khans they have much to answer for, they own the club, so where are they, and what are they going to do about it.

[davew]

Well written Woolly, like me you have started the day in a good mood!!!

[Woolly Mammoth]

Well written Woolly, like me you have started the day in a good mood!!!

I always try and be in a good mood Dave, must be that Dark Rum.

[Milo]

Okay Sky highlights never tell a story but does anyone think our 3 at the back formation might have contributed?

I think just in terms of adjusting to it in the first half? Perhaps defensively we just needed to stick to what has worked this season (god knows how). Odoi seemed to pile pressure on us in some of the plays with ineffective headed clearances ... coupled with our back line being out of position at times?

I feel like we've tried this formation before and it didn't really work. I'm sure SJ would say something along the lines of "but you all wanted a plan B..!" In response to this...

[Chutney]

Give Slavisa a fully fit squad, player confidence, clinical finishing, a return to our pacy counter attacking & we will see an upturn. We are still only 4 points off 6th.

Sometimes you aren't given everything you need and he needs to be able to cope with that situation. It's what he is paid for.

Also, "pacy counter attacking", I would say that that it happened once yesterday.

If we need all the stars to align for a decent performance, let alone a win, we are in serious trouble.

How is it Slav's fault that other teams all signed good players and improved and we went backwards over the summer? Mid table is where our squad belongs, should we finish any higher than that then credit to the manager.

Where did I blame Slav in my post? I just said he needs to be be able to cope with the current situation. I agree that mid-table is where we belong.

Are you absolving him of all blame then? Are you happy to accept yesterday's performance?

No, the performance was terrible, but we are only two points off our total at the same time last season, given our shambolic recruitment and the fact that other teams are stronger this season that's really not that bad. Credit for that has to go to the manager.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Then on that basis where exactly do we go from here ?