Slav speaks - real hope or do words come cheap?

[VicHalomsLovechild]

Don't see what he's said now being any different to what he's said before. He has always said there are targets he has in mind and wants business done early but it's up to the club. Fingers crossed for once the woeful Tony Khan leaves his footballing calculator in the draw and actually let's someone with a footballing braincell conduct the business

Slav's been here a while now. Same owner, same set up. If he was seriously unhappy about the transfer policy he could have quit in the summer when his stock was high. He has his little digs about not getting what he wants but he is in that enviable position where he can could say "well I didn't want him" if a player is rubbish and we'd all agree. Or soak up the praise when a transfer goes well.
While the way the club targets players is, with justification coming under the spotlight. Slavs choices and tactics need to as well.
I don't believe it's all the fault of the owner. There are a few at the club that need to take a long look at themselves and think am I doing enough.

[MikeW]

I reckon the Messrs Khan are looking down the barrel at £20M for 3-4 key players.  Don't know who, but we don't need any more rubbish.

[toshes mate]

Jokanovic has been similarly phlegmatic throughout his time at Fulham, even during the moments he has seemingly sought to push home the deficiencies he, and his coaching staff, have noticed.  He inherited a team and managed them to survival.  He and his coaching staff rebuilt the team from what was on offer, regardless of how much say he did or didn't have in who was recruited, sold on or released, and, in time turned it into a team worthy of the Championship.  His position as a professional coach has not changed over that time and it does not surprise me that he still believes he can build a successful team in the Championship regardless of circumstances because he has done it once and also had a close encounter.

Any mistakes made by him or others this time around have just been far more obvious, and exacerbated by injuries and suspensions.  The engine still isn't tuned correctly and a few parts may need replacing or repairing but throughout he has maintained a similar attitude.  For my money he has been thoroughly professional throughout and I hope that is the way he continues to approach his work regardless of where it takes him.   If coaching a successful team could be taught then there'd be colleges teaching the subject and charging the earth to do just that, but getting it right is so much harder than anyone other than those who try to do it know.

My problem with the Khans is in knowing just what sort of profession they are really engaged in and just what it would take to make them love the team they own across the pond as the one they own at home.

 

[Lighthouse]

Knowing what we need is not the problem but actually bringing them to Fulham usually is. But I hate to say it but as this season is probably dead and gone. The pressure is less to push for the very best players we would need for a promotion push. Bringing in the spine or a better spine will be good but no longer crucial as frankly we are just treading water for the rest of the season.

[ToodlesMcToot]

To me, this kind of statement by Slav is as much a part of the overall problem at the club as Tony Khan's failed application of stats to recruiting......though not an equal part by any means.

The Khans' problems with transfer dealings are widely known. So no need to cover those issues for the millionth time here. So.....

Slav knows that the likelihood of getting all of these targets in the beginning of January is extremely low. Recent history tells us that it's likely some targets will use us to improve their own career without much care for actually coming here and that it's almost certain that all will want to see what the market is for their services throughout the entirety of the transfer window before actually signing. This means we either wait til they are satisfied our offer is best or we overpay enough such that they know they'll not be getting any better offer. So, why issue this sort of statement? I don't see how it does anyone any good at all......except for Slav.

Ultimately, Tony's system and his trust in Kline has failed us this season. Slav hasn't done a very good job managing the situation that he has. I wish both were more singleminded about getting results.

[FulhamStu]

I believe we tried very hard to get Dunk the year before last and Mourne.  We have many attempts at getting the right players but often don't succeed.  Being in the Championship is a problem and now a mid table side will not help either. 

Keegan bought good players to us in the lower leagues by selling our dream and being so high profile himself.  Does Slavisa have this same effect, does Khan.. ?  Apparently Shahid is responsible for getting Cairney.  It is possible but you need to sell the club, sell the ambition and pay the money.

[YoungsBitter]

To me, this kind of statement by Slav is as much a part of the overall problem at the club as Tony Khan's failed application of stats to recruiting......though not an equal part by any means.

The Khans' problems with transfer dealings are widely known. So no need to cover those issues for the millionth time here. So.....

Ultimately, Tony's system and his trust in Kline has failed us this season. Slav hasn't done a very good job managing the situation that he has. I wish both were more singleminded about getting results.

I think Slav has made his point loudly at times about what was needed but in the summer Khan chose to back Kline who was as stubborn as Slav about who he thought we needed. The real cardinal failure is that we missed the right window - summer, we had just got to the playoffs so we could sell the push for promotion. Now its January and thats not the most productive - mainly players out of contract or clearly underperforming somewhere else. Now we are 8 points off playoffs and sputtering so not the easiest sell.
The hope is this time Khan and Lovell listen to Slav, are flexible on the age rule and work harder to find stats on players in League 1 and 2 who could do a job for us. They reconfirmed at the FST meeting that the policy rules still apply and Slav cannot just throw a name out there, like Cameron Jerome, and we try and sign them. The difference now we hope is that there is a willingness to work with Slav wheras my gut feel is Kline just wanted to prove him wrong and purposefully ignored his requests.

[Forever Fulham]

Kline is gone. So now we'll see.  Slava didn't mention any specific positions that he is planning to upgrade, but even general statements like he made must have an impact on the current squad none of whom want to be one of those he plans to replace.  If I was a player on this team and heard such statements or read them, I'd redouble my efforts not to be roadkill in January.  But it's December 20 already, so not much any player can do now to change opinion as to relative merits...