A Clearing of the Air.....

[ToodlesMcToot]

I'll begin by stating that I do know that football clubs aren't the most forthcoming entities where backroom information is concerned....and quite often for very good reason. However, I maintain that those in charge of the club's PR often fail us and the club by missing opportunities to address certain issues openly and "getting out in front" of controversy.

I concede that I do not know the relationship between the FST and the club but sometimes I get the feeling that the club allows the FST to be its mouthpiece in a sense, waiting until those scheduled meetings for questions which have festered to be addressed and allowing the FST to disseminate the club's response. Maybe I'm a bit hyperbolic here. Call me out on it if so.

This Kline fiasco is the latest frustrating example for me. It was all over the press, yet I can find no mention of it on the official site. I don't recall any statement from the club at all regarding this (please feel free to point it out if such statements exist). The club seem quite content to bunker in, pretend it didn't happen and wait for the FST meeting to be pressed on the issues created by Kline's behavior and the Khans mismanagement of the situation. The only thing this behavior does, IMHO, is allow discontent amongst supporters to fester and I'd wager allow the same amongst the players and Slavisa. Why are the players and manager the only ones asked to cop to their poor performance publicly?

I'm not suggesting that the club, its owners and administration staff air all their dirty laundry and get into personal specifics but at least acknowledge that this situation was a poor one, poorly handled and state how the club would like to change and improve performance both on and off the field.

Wouldn't a clearing of the air allow everyone in and around the club to somewhat reset and let go of the frustration that's built over the course of the season and begin anew to some extent? I believe so. 

[Chutney]

Tony Khan for sure has to come out admit fault/promise to improve, Kline was completely his hire. The silence is just disrespectful. 

[ToodlesMcToot]

Tony Khan for sure has to come out admit fault/promise to improve, Kline was completely his hire. The silence is just disrespectful.

Wholeheartedly agree. You made a mistake. You're supposedly the leader where footballing operations are concerned. Own it! Show you can learn from it. Otherwise, what good are you doing?

I have no doubt that the Khans care for the club (perhaps I've been naive for years now) but, owning a situation like this is part of showing that. It's needed from where I'm sitting.

[cmg]

I'm as keen as the next man to know the full story with (hopefully) all the lurid details.
But surely there is a complex legal issue behind this, involving all the technicalities of employment law (possibly with two different legislations - UK and USA) and civil dispute.
The newspapers will publish whatever they think they can get away with - some of it may even be true, but you can hardly expect the parties involved to go public without thinking very carefully about what they want to say.
Even a simple statement like "K. has left the Club" has potential pitfalls if one party says they have been dismissed and the other says they have resigned (or vice versa).

[Marcel_Gecov]

I'm as keen as the next man to know the full story with (hopefully) all the lurid details.
But surely there is a complex legal issue behind this, involving all the technicalities of employment law (possibly with two different legislations - UK and USA) and civil dispute.
The newspapers will publish whatever they think they can get away with - some of it may even be true, but you can hardly expect the parties involved to go public without thinking very carefully about what they want to say.
Even a simple statement like "K. has left the Club" has potential pitfalls if one party says they have been dismissed and the other says they have resigned (or vice versa).

This plus potential for accusations of libel if you arent careful. If Kline's tweets were real then he's clearly not adverse to it.

[Baszab]

It's a bit like all the big name signings rumours before season tickets go on sale..... and then ending up with Martin on loan - same sort of attitude to the loyal fans

[toshes mate]

Although I agree that legal complexities will stymie what can and will be said about events that have occurred behind the scenes, it is what has already been expressed by the media and therefore in the public domain that remains fans' only access point in making their own deductions.  Those deductions, somewhat ironically, may be much more damaging to the parties involved in the 'troubles' than saying nothing!  'Has Kline left the Club permanently?' is a starting point which has no truck with Employment Law since there is no reinstatement remedy and yet there is silence on even that simple matter.

There seems to be a fear factor in much that is happening with this lovely little football club - the fear of being found out perhaps - and it has tumbled over everything that was achieved up to and even including the play-off semi-final games.   Someone needs to own up and take responsibility for what has gone wrong since May and until that happens the Club will not move forward.   

[Riversider]

Although I agree that legal complexities will stymie what can and will be said about events that have occurred behind the scenes, it is what has already been expressed by the media and therefore in the public domain that remains fans' only access point in making their own deductions.  Those deductions, somewhat ironically, may be much more damaging to the parties involved in the 'troubles' than saying nothing!  'Has Kline left the Club permanently?' is a starting point which has no truck with Employment Law since there is no reinstatement remedy and yet there is silence on even that simple matter.

There seems to be a fear factor in much that is happening with this lovely little football club - the fear of being found out perhaps - and it has tumbled over everything that was achieved up to and even including the play-off semi-final games.   Someone needs to own up and take responsibility for what has gone wrong since May and until that happens the Club will not move forward.   

Agree 100% , a few months ago we had Khan, Rigg, Kline and Jokanovic, things weren't going well the fans weren't happy so somebody had to go, bye bye Mike Rigg,
Then there were three, Khan, Kline and Jokanovic, still things weren't going well, results and performances were poor and the fans were unhappy, so somebody has to go, bye bye Kline,
Then there were two Khan and Jokanovic, still signs of an unhappy underperforming squad and plenty of fans unhappy, so again somebody has to go...............to be continued (maybe)

[Lighthouse]

What could they possibly say to make fans happy? We all know what went on. We know they were quick to find a replacement at least a temp one. Nobody is going to fall on their sword and nobody will admit anything for all sorts of reasons. All we really need to know is will we ever score a goal again. Or failing that get a point.

This idea that they would publicly come out and admit mistakes on employing people is ridiculous. They didn't when they sacked Magath so they certainly will not start now

[ToodlesMcToot]

I'm as keen as the next man to know the full story with (hopefully) all the lurid details.
But surely there is a complex legal issue behind this, involving all the technicalities of employment law (possibly with two different legislations - UK and USA) and civil dispute.
The newspapers will publish whatever they think they can get away with - some of it may even be true, but you can hardly expect the parties involved to go public without thinking very carefully about what they want to say.
Even a simple statement like "K. has left the Club" has potential pitfalls if one party says they have been dismissed and the other says they have resigned (or vice versa).

I have little interest in all the sordid details of this and know that nothing like that will ever come from the club officially. In fact, I think I alluded to this in my OP - perhaps not clearly enough.

I would just suggest that it's better for the club to acknowledge the troubles in some way and address some semblance of a plan of action to improve things. Saying nothing at all allows the public to infer that nothing is being done to change the systemic issues which led the Kline incident.

[ToodlesMcToot]

What could they possibly say to make fans happy? We all know what went on. We know they were quick to find a replacement at least a temp one. Nobody is going to fall on their sword and nobody will admit anything for all sorts of reasons. All we really need to know is will we ever score a goal again. Or failing that get a point.

This idea that they would publicly come out and admit mistakes on employing people is ridiculous. They didn't when they sacked Magath so they certainly will not start now

While I agree that, based upon track record with such things, the expectation might be considered ridiculous. However, possibly a change in behavior might instigate better results (not on the field necessarily). They continue to, seemingly, make huge mistakes in judgement. Status quo doesn't seem to work well for them.

[SG]

What could they possibly say to make fans happy? We all know what went on. We know they were quick to find a replacement at least a temp one. Nobody is going to fall on their sword and nobody will admit anything for all sorts of reasons. All we really need to know is will we ever score a goal again. Or failing that get a point.

This idea that they would publicly come out and admit mistakes on employing people is ridiculous. They didn't when they sacked Magath so they certainly will not start now

While I agree that, based upon track record with such things, the expectation might be considered ridiculous. However, possibly a change in behavior might instigate better results (not on the field necessarily). They continue to, seemingly, make huge mistakes in judgement. Status quo doesn't seem to work well for them.

'They continue to, seemingly, make huge mistakes in judgement' - that sums up the entire period of ownership as far as i am concerned. There is no reason at present to think that they are going to learn from these mistakes

[The Old Count]

Nonetheless I see no reason why they can't talk openly about what they expect from Jokanovic in the rest of the season (now top 6 obviously isn't happening), who will be in charge of transfers in January, and what changes (if any) are planned for our senior management structure.

This is exactly what we want to know.

[love4ffc]

Agree with the op.  How hard is it for the club to come out and make a simple statement?

[hovewhite]

Maybe the awnser is the FST need to probe some of the observations with khan ,im sure the staff at the club are in the dark as we are,MI5 seem to be more open than fulham fc.

[alfie]

I have shopped at the same Sainsbury's for the last 35, I have spent thousands, but I am just a customer so I do not expect to be informed of any internal issues, same as I am a customer at Fulham FC, I am not an employee, I don't have any shares, so why should I be entitled to be advised of internal employment issues, why do we as customers of the club feel we have a divine right to know.

[Lighthouse]

I have shopped at the same Sainsbury's for the last 35, I have spent thousands, but I am just a customer so I do not expect to be informed of any internal issues, same as I am a customer at Fulham FC, I am not an employee, I don't have any shares, so why should I be entitled to be advised of internal employment issues, why do we as customers of the club feel we have a divine right to know.

Although had you seen the advertisement for that food you really liked and went to the store and found that one of the assistants had decided not to bother to put them on the shelves because he didn't like them. You may be entitled to ask a few questions. When that same assistant is seen fighting in the frozen food counter with a giraffe. You may be entitled for an explanation.

[Jonaldiniho 88]

I have shopped at the same Sainsbury's for the last 35, I have spent thousands, but I am just a customer so I do not expect to be informed of any internal issues, same as I am a customer at Fulham FC, I am not an employee, I don't have any shares, so why should I be entitled to be advised of internal employment issues, why do we as customers of the club feel we have a divine right to know.

Bizarrely enough you a point. I don't agree that we are customers but with the money in football, maybe more so the PL but with the money involved shirt sales and bums on seats isn't all that important  financially. You could in theory have no fans and still win the league. I think the club should have released a statement at least as the lack of such just makes fans speculate wildly and it can drag the club through the dirt further

[RaySmith]

A club statement may be forthcoming.

[cmg]

A club statement may be forthcoming.

Would have been issued already, but the only bloke who can work the photocopier seems to have left the building.