Tony Khan holds himself accountable for unsuccessful summer

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham vice-chairman Tony Khan has said he holds himself accountable for the club's unsuccessful £100million player recruitment last summer.



The Cottagers invested heavily on 12 new players ahead of their return to the Premier League, but many of their expensive signings have struggled.

Fulham are facing relegation and Khan has received criticism for his role in the recruitment. The club have a 'both boxes ticked' policy, in which any signing must be approved by data analysis and more traditional scouting methods.

Then manager Slavisa Jokanovic was unhappy with the strategy and wanted greater control.

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa was signed for around £30m, while Jean Michael Seri arrived for around £25m and they are among the new signings who have failed to make an impact.

In a meeting with the Fulham Supporters' Trust, Khan admitted he can understand some of the criticism aimed at him but said his record should be balanced by the success achieved by the club in the previous two seasons.

Notes from the meeting read: "TK (Khan) said no one has done more analysis of the struggle of this season, and holds himself accountable for recruitment this season, but also feels his record should be balanced by the success achieved by the club in the previous two years.

"He also felt that there had always been the chance that Fulham could get relegated this year, particularly given that 15 of the last 26 play-off final winners went straight back down.

"On criticism of the amount spent on incoming players last summer, TK responded that he could understand criticism given how events have transpired, particularly after two good years previously.

"Injuries to experienced players (Alfie Mawson) had an impact and signings, including Seri and Anguissa, were important players for the future. Some of the criticism of these players he felt had been unfair."

The Trust also used the meeting to urge the club to update supporters on what is happening with the £100m redevelopment of the Riverside Stand at Craven Cottage.

Fulham still plan to start work on the new stand at the end of this season but season-ticket holders have yet to be told where they will be relocated. Fans have also called for ticket prices to be reduced.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham/fulham-vicechairman-tony-khan-takes-blame-for-failed-100m-summer-recruitment-drive-a4096761.html

[Milo]

Hmm ok so responsibility for this season admitted. However, he claims previous 2 seasons his stats were a success.

Who did he bring in stats wise over the last two seasons on permanent signings?

Odoi has certainly been a good stats signing.
Kamara was, in my view, a good signing. However the end result is that his temperament has pushed him out on loan. So.. does that go down as minus points for a stats based model?
Kebano a luke warm signing on reflection.
Rui Fonte disastrous.
Others?

[aaronmcguigan]

Is this real?? Like actually??

The main criticism I can see , is the short termism in those aforementioned two years. The reliance on loans, and loans again which got us a 3rd place and a 6th place. Deeming those years a success in recruitment while those two years of loan signings ultimately forced the Khans hand in having to then go out and spend instead of building gradually over those 2 years with premier league ready players.
The fact we had to buy so many players and therefore rush this seasons recruitment was caused by only having what , 12 or 13 players start pre season

Even then, some or many of those signings weren't ready or good enough for the championship let alone have a strategy which was building towards the premier league.  No one can say the likes of Mollo, Djalo, Fonte, even Christie, Cisse or Sigurdsson were ever going to be good enough for the premier league.

It's short term thinking, poor planning and reactionary rather than proactive thinking which got us in the mess , which caused this seasons debacle , but it's a storm that's been brewed in a can kicked down the road repeatedly just to avoid forward planning.

[ScalleysDad]

I don't know for sure whether it's a combination of TK and SJ or simply one or the other but should it not read two successful half seasons in the middle years of this regime.

[ALG01]

The man is delusional.
He is very incompetent and his dad negligent for allowing it.

He failed to bring in the right players. We needed full backs and a fit center half plus a tough central midfielder and got none of that. But we did get two crap goalkeepers a couple of lightweight barely ordinaryy overpriced midfielders, a past his sell by date german and assorted other dross. A waste of £100m, not one success among them.

He is useless, and if his surname was not Khan, he would be gone. His words were pathetic and an insult to those that paid good money for their tickets.

[Woolly Mammoth]

If TK had any decency and was genuinely sincere, and had the best interest of Fulham FC at heart.
He would have resigned, but he has no shame, and his father conveniently overlooks the wreckage his son has orchestrated.

[Statto]

The headline is totally misleading. He blames injuries, says the criticism is "unfair", "15 of the last 26 play-off final winners went straight back down" and "his record should be balanced by the success achieved in the last 2 years." That is absolutely not "holding himself accountable".

FWIW we've been relatively fortunate with injuries I think, the criticism is more than fair (we're sh1t!), none of the last 26 play-off winners spent £100m, and our success in the last 2 yrs was more attributable to Rigg and Jokanovic than to TK.

[Statto]

The main criticism I can see , is the short termism in those aforementioned two years. The reliance on loans, and loans again which got us a 3rd place and a 6th place. Deeming those years a success in recruitment while those two years of loan signings ultimately forced the Khans hand in having to then go out and spend instead of building gradually over those 2 years with premier league ready players.

Without wishing to go off on a tangent or repeat things already said on other threads, all those loan players, except perhaps Targett, were available to buy (or even re-loan) in the summer if we wanted to keep them longer. So to me it seems immaterial whether they were on loan or permanent. I suspect TK just didn't think Kalas, Piazon and Norwood were good enough. In which case, if they'd been on permanent contracts, I suspect he'd have sold them or loaned them out as he did with Button and Johansen.

[YoungsBitter]

The man is delusional.
He is very incompetent and his dad negligent for allowing it.

He failed to bring in the right players. We needed full backs and a fit center half plus a tough central midfielder and got none of that. But we did get two crap goalkeepers a couple of lightweight barely ordinaryy overpriced midfielders, a past his sell by date german and assorted other dross. A waste of £100m, not one success among them.

He is useless, and if his surname was not Khan, he would be gone. His words were pathetic and an insult to those that paid good money for their tickets.

I think that we all know that his relationship with the owner is the only reason for his continued presence in that position as Head of Football Operations. I think its interesting as that role could have a Director of Football report to it as the Coach and Head Scout does, several people have argued that what he needs is an experienced football professional as that DOF next to/under him and helping him. Come what may as the owner's son he comes with the territory.

I think in his defence:
a. FFP due to the screw ups of their first two seasons when they listened to "real football men" like Curbishley and Mike Rigg meant they worked with a lot of loans as there was no guarantee of promotion.
b. They pursued Targett until being screwed over by Hughes and Les Reed on the last day of the window.
c. They signed 2 Premier League quality CBs in Mawson and Chambers plus MLM as squad back up. It was not TK's fault Mawson is made of balsa wood and glue and Chambers had one horror show CB game and disappeared into midfield until last week.

[Milo]

The headline is totally misleading. He blames injuries, says the criticism is "unfair", "15 of the last 26 play-off final winners went straight back down" and "his record should be balanced by the success achieved in the last 2 years." That is absolutely not "holding himself accountable".

FWIW we've been relatively fortunate with injuries I think, the criticism is more than fair (we're sh1t!), none of the last 26 play-off winners spent £100m, and our success in the last 2 yrs was more attributable to Rigg and Jokanovic than to TK.

Agreed. Bar Odoi, nearly all his stats signings have been poor. And Odoi is not Prem quality.

So, this interview tells us that we are in for more of the same as long as TK is in charge. He has not reflected or learned from his mistakes. Very, very concerning.

Let's hope Khan Sr. steps in and sympathetically changes things up.

[filham]

We need more details on this two boxes ticked system , I assume that for those summer signings one box was ticked by Khan based on the stats formula and the other box by Jocanovic based on scouts reports.
If this is the case then Khan should be taking only 50% 0f the responsibility.

It is good of Khan to take responsibility for the recruitment failures but it would be nice to know what he intends to do to avoid a repeat of the same failure occurring again.

[filham]

It is good to see that Khan is taking responsibility for our summer recruitment failure but perhaps  this two boxes ticked system that is in operation needs to be revised.
As I understand that both boxes needed to be ticked before a new player could be be signed, one box by Khan based on stats data and the other by Jocanovic based on his knowledge and scouts reports.

If this was the case then at the most Khan was only 50% responsible for the errors made.

[gang]

15 out of 26 teams that win through the playoffs are relegated. More bleeding statistics, when will he learn.
Once said of an American President "For Gods Sake Go".

[H4usuallysitting]

So, I think he's saying Anguissa, Seri & Mawson will be with us next season in the championship.... I'm assuming Shirley & Babel won't be - although I recall Shirley being signed on a 2 year loan....

[Milo]

Schurrle in the Championship would be funny if nothing else

[Jimsbeerbelly]

So, I think he's saying Anguissa, Seri & Mawson will be with us next season in the championship.... I'm assuming Shirley & Babel won't be - although I recall Shirley being signed on a 2 year loan....

He also said we'd see multiple signings in January, and that we'd get ourselves out of trouble..

I'm sorry, but the guy is full of poo, and those comments about the last 2 seasons, tells you how far out of touch he is with football.

Tony is a legend in his own mind, and we a lot more to come from this clown yet, trust me.

[ALG01]

The man is delusional.
He is very incompetent and his dad negligent for allowing it.

He failed to bring in the right players. We needed full backs and a fit center half plus a tough central midfielder and got none of that. But we did get two crap goalkeepers a couple of lightweight barely ordinaryy overpriced midfielders, a past his sell by date german and assorted other dross. A waste of £100m, not one success among them.

He is useless, and if his surname was not Khan, he would be gone. His words were pathetic and an insult to those that paid good money for their tickets.

I think that we all know that his relationship with the owner is the only reason for his continued presence in that position as Head of Football Operations. I think its interesting as that role could have a Director of Football report to it as the Coach and Head Scout does, several people have argued that what he needs is an experienced football professional as that DOF next to/under him and helping him. Come what may as the owner's son he comes with the territory.

I think in his defence:
a. FFP due to the screw ups of their first two seasons when they listened to "real football men" like Curbishley and Mike Rigg meant they worked with a lot of loans as there was no guarantee of promotion.
b. They pursued Targett until being screwed over by Hughes and Les Reed on the last day of the window.
c. They signed 2 Premier League quality CBs in Mawson and Chambers plus MLM as squad back up. It was not TK's fault Mawson is made of balsa wood and glue and Chambers had one horror show CB game and disappeared into midfield until last week.

when you fail on a serial basis, and he has there is no defence. I do not accept that in all the world, what we got was all that was available.

[The Rational Fan]

15 out of 26 teams that win through the playoffs are relegated. More bleeding statistics, when will he learn.
Once said of an American President "For Gods Sake Go".

More than half of those 15 teams are likely to be in the premier league next season.

Teams that were promoted in the playoff and relegated first season include:
1. Burnley
2. Leicester City
3. Wolverhampton Wanderers
4-5. Crystal Palace x2
6-7. Watford x2
8.Norwich City

This shows we need to avoiding a panic rebuild and just build forward.

Forget the Blame Pie, the squad is good enough to win the Championship provided we don't lose any permenants down the spine of the team (e.g. Mitro). Fulham need to lead the Championship from start to finish and then do better in the premier league.

[The Rational Fan]

The man is delusional.
He is very incompetent and his dad negligent for allowing it.

He failed to bring in the right players. We needed full backs and a fit center half plus a tough central midfielder and got none of that. But we did get two crap goalkeepers a couple of lightweight barely ordinaryy overpriced midfielders, a past his sell by date german and assorted other dross. A waste of £100m, not one success among them.

He is useless, and if his surname was not Khan, he would be gone. His words were pathetic and an insult to those that paid good money for their tickets.

I think that we all know that his relationship with the owner is the only reason for his continued presence in that position as Head of Football Operations. I think its interesting as that role could have a Director of Football report to it as the Coach and Head Scout does, several people have argued that what he needs is an experienced football professional as that DOF next to/under him and helping him. Come what may as the owner's son he comes with the territory.

I think in his defence:
a. FFP due to the screw ups of their first two seasons when they listened to "real football men" like Curbishley and Mike Rigg meant they worked with a lot of loans as there was no guarantee of promotion.
b. They pursued Targett until being screwed over by Hughes and Les Reed on the last day of the window.
c. They signed 2 Premier League quality CBs in Mawson and Chambers plus MLM as squad back up. It was not TK's fault Mawson is made of balsa wood and glue and Chambers had one horror show CB game and disappeared into midfield until last week.

when you fail on a serial basis, and he has there is no defence. I do not accept that in all the world, what we got was all that was available.

Looking it from the Player's Perspective. Before FFC signed both Mitrovoic and Mawson signed (2nd August), I think, we would have been one of "premier league quality players" last choices for the club they wanted to join (Huddersfield and Cardiff being worse).

All the players that we wanted would have thought "we can find a better club" that will be assured of staying up. After 2nd August, players might have thought the squad should be ok, but it maybe already too late to form a good team cohesion for the season anyway.

And, every other Premier League club that wanted those available players would remind them not to join Fulham because:
i) "15 of 26 playoff clubs get relegated first season"
ii) "18 of 26 playoff clubs get relegated within two season"
iii) "3 of 26 playoff clubs that stayed up were bouncing back up after being in the premier league within the last two seasons"
iv) leaving "5 of 23 clubs succesfully achieving what Fulham is attempting first season"

What they won't tell them is there are five teams in the premier league this season (maybe Norwich will be the sixth next season) that got promoted via playoffs and relegated first season, only to be part of a longer journey renewing the squad and getting back into the premier league.

Lesson Learnt, next season we must avoid aiming for playoff place and go for automatic promotion. We need to start strong, be winning mid-season and even get one premier league quality player (like a centre back) in January transfer window to finish the season well and better prepare for premier league.  049:gif

[Woolly Mammoth]

I am glad that Tony Khan has at last holds himself responsible for the carnage he has enveloped Fulham FC with due to his incompetence. I am pleased he has found inner sanctuary, and I am looking forward to reading about his impending resignation to allow Fulham to bring in a genuine qualified professional Football person, to allow him to return to the land of the Cuckoo.