Pod interview with Tony Khan

[Statto]

Mr Khan jnr would not get a job at any other top professional club and even if by some miracle he did, he would have been thrown out ages ago.

Yes he would get a job at another club, as Tony Khan is working for free, its pretty easy to get a job at zero wages and most non-profit jobs get a fancy title like "Director of Football". I also think many other Championship Clubs would let him buy players as he was probably the only person able to source money for new players. Many clubs in Championship failed to source money last season, with only ten championship clubs having net transfer budgets over £4m (with only six of the ten over £10m) and nine clubs even had negative transfer budgets.

I have no doubt a DOF that works for free, that can source £10m+ every season would get a job at most Championship Clubs. Other clubs are surely jealous.

How many times can you rehash and repeat the same argument? "Tony Khan is a great DoF because he has a rich dad"....

Surely it's crossed your mind that most posters are saying his dad's money is not soldered to TK's arse and as such could be, and would be much better off, spent by a more competent, alternative DoF.

In any case, disregarding non-football spending on the ground etc, I'd rather have another DoF even if it meant losing his dad's contribution to the transfer budget. Under FFP, that contribution was limited to £13m in 16/17 (Sigurdsson, Jozabed and Kebano), £13m in 17/18 (Fonte and Kamara) and £35m in 18/19 (Anguissa and Seri's left leg). I suspect a competent DoF would have been able to find better players than that lot in the loan and free transfer markets.

Yes, Tony Khan was responsible for obtaining the money and wasting the money on Sigurdsson, Jozabed, Kebano, Fonte, Kamara, Anguissa and Seri. So, another DoF would have to do better for 60m than Fabri, Christie, Bryan, Odoi, Mawson, McDonald, Jonasen, Vietto, Atyie and Mitrovoic. The Top 20% of DoF could do better than that with 60m, but most DoFs wouldn't. I am certain we won't get the top 20% of DoFs, they probably won't apply, but if they do they won't get selected.

And, you may have noticed we probable have one of the worst selection committees for selecting a new DoF so don't expect a quality DoF replacement. If Fulham ever get to Newcastle position, our owners unlike Mike Ashley have enough available free cash flow (i.e. money) to get to the next level including the Europa League.

We're in the top 20% of professional English clubs in terms of resources, and almost certainly in the top 10% across Europe, so that's the level of DoF we should/would have.

[I Ronic]

And what do you base "almost" on? The people that post on here, friends those you sit next to at games?

Yes

I'm interested to see what he has to say.

So am I. That was the first line of my post.

Hardly universal then but it's a football forum and assumptions are often plonked on here and.probably most forums, as truths.

[Statto]

And what do you base "almost" on? The people that post on here, friends those you sit next to at games?

Yes

I'm interested to see what he has to say.

So am I. That was the first line of my post.

Hardly universal then

Hence I said "almost" and not "universal"

[Sting of the North]

Yes, Tony Khan was responsible for obtaining the money and wasting the money on Sigurdsson, Jozabed, Kebano, Fonte, Kamara, Anguissa and Seri. So, another DoF would have to do better for 60m than Fabri, Christie, Bryan, Odoi, Mawson, McDonald, Jonasen, Vietto, Atyie and Mitrovoic. The Top 20% of DoF could do better than that with 60m, but most DoFs wouldn't. I am certain we won't get the top 20% of DoFs, they probably won't apply, but if they do they won't get selected.

And, you may have noticed we probable have one of the worst selection committees for selecting a new DoF so don't expect a quality DoF replacement. If Fulham ever get to Newcastle position, our owners unlike Mike Ashley have enough available free cash flow (i.e. money) to get to the next level including the Europa League.

If the main argument of keeping someone in a particular position is that "it could be even worse", then I believe that the aim is set too low. Surely, FFC should aspire to improve. One suggestion in that regard is to replace the current DoF. This suggestion can be made while at the same time acknowledging that it may not happen. If one is dead certain that we are stuck with TK, this may of course seem as a pointless discussion. Myself, I tend not to be very certain on anything going on at the club most of the time since I acknowledge that I am almost certainly lacking vital insight into many important aspects of the inner workings at FFC.

[snarks]

And what do you base "almost" on? The people that post on here, friends those you sit next to at games?

Yes

I'm interested to see what he has to say.

So am I. That was the first line of my post.

Hardly universal then

Hence I said "almost" and not "universal"

You could just as easily have said "amongst the people I talk to we don't like him much" however it's semantics which is pointless. It's just a view, like mine which is he gets a lot of hugely unwarranted stick because he is the owners son.

However, you could see his passion after the playoff win, and I'm sure he is gutted that the club was relegated, I like the fact he had a go back at some idiot on twitter, there is no reason why he should put up with abuse. I like that he cares that much, I'll be interested in what he says in the podcast.

[The Rational Fan]

Yes, Tony Khan was responsible for obtaining the money and wasting the money on Sigurdsson, Jozabed, Kebano, Fonte, Kamara, Anguissa and Seri. So, another DoF would have to do better for 60m than Fabri, Christie, Bryan, Odoi, Mawson, McDonald, Jonasen, Vietto, Atyie and Mitrovoic. The Top 20% of DoF could do better than that with 60m, but most DoFs wouldn't. I am certain we won't get the top 20% of DoFs, they probably won't apply, but if they do they won't get selected.

And, you may have noticed we probable have one of the worst selection committees for selecting a new DoF so don't expect a quality DoF replacement. If Fulham ever get to Newcastle position, our owners unlike Mike Ashley have enough available free cash flow (i.e. money) to get to the next level including the Europa League.

If the main argument of keeping someone in a particular position is that "it could be even worse", then I believe that the aim is set too low. Surely, FFC should aspire to improve. One suggestion in that regard is to replace the current DoF. This suggestion can be made while at the same time acknowledging that it may not happen. If one is dead certain that we are stuck with TK, this may of course seem as a pointless discussion. Myself, I tend not to be very certain on anything going on at the club most of the time since I acknowledge that I am almost certainly lacking vital insight into many important aspects of the inner workings at FFC.

True, but the main argument of keeping "Rafa Benetiz" and "Chris Houghton" is also that "it could be even worse", and I believe that the aim is not setting the bar too low.

[colinwhite]

Dont think TK gets any credit.We got promoted under his watch and will again . Like most clubs our signings have been mixed. Lets face we have no idea how the transfer procedure works at our club. If Tk is responsible for signing Seri because of his title then he is also responsible for signing target and Mitrovic. some of the poison thrown TKs way on here has been extremely annoying ,repetitive and ridiculous. More or less put me off posting on here to boot.

[toshes mate]

Dont think TK gets any credit.We got promoted under his watch and will again . Like most clubs our signings have been mixed. Lets face we have no idea how the transfer procedure works at our club. If Tk is responsible for signing Seri because of his title then he is also responsible for signing target and Mitrovic. some of the poison thrown TKs way on here has been extremely annoying ,repetitive and ridiculous. More or less put me off posting on here to boot.

There are poisons that harm you and poisons that heal you, you just have to know which is which and the required dosages.  If TK was responsible for promotion (which I don't think he was as my postings on Jokanovic should reveal) then he was responsible for the mediocre recruitment over a good few seasons that ultimately stultified Jokanovic's miracle work.  I took a break from posting on here because of 'in crowd' nonsense posted about certain views which can get tedious after a while, but then I got wise counsel and decided to hammer home my points with evidence and mercilessly.  Targett was loaned with no buy option - mistake or good recruitment practice?  You pays your money .... 

[Sting of the North]

Yes, Tony Khan was responsible for obtaining the money and wasting the money on Sigurdsson, Jozabed, Kebano, Fonte, Kamara, Anguissa and Seri. So, another DoF would have to do better for 60m than Fabri, Christie, Bryan, Odoi, Mawson, McDonald, Jonasen, Vietto, Atyie and Mitrovoic. The Top 20% of DoF could do better than that with 60m, but most DoFs wouldn't. I am certain we won't get the top 20% of DoFs, they probably won't apply, but if they do they won't get selected.

And, you may have noticed we probable have one of the worst selection committees for selecting a new DoF so don't expect a quality DoF replacement. If Fulham ever get to Newcastle position, our owners unlike Mike Ashley have enough available free cash flow (i.e. money) to get to the next level including the Europa League.

If the main argument of keeping someone in a particular position is that "it could be even worse", then I believe that the aim is set too low. Surely, FFC should aspire to improve. One suggestion in that regard is to replace the current DoF. This suggestion can be made while at the same time acknowledging that it may not happen. If one is dead certain that we are stuck with TK, this may of course seem as a pointless discussion. Myself, I tend not to be very certain on anything going on at the club most of the time since I acknowledge that I am almost certainly lacking vital insight into many important aspects of the inner workings at FFC.

True, but the main argument of keeping "Rafa Benetiz" and "Chris Houghton" is also that "it could be even worse", and I believe that the aim is not setting the bar too low.

No. Notwithstanding the fact that they are not DoFs, surely the main arguments of keeping Rafa Benitez would be that he has done a very good job on a comparatively tight budget and that he has also proved historically to be a successful manager. The main argument to keep Chris Hughton was likely that he had shown that he could make Brighton perform above expectations. Thus, the main arguments would be that they have both performed well over time. In Hughton's case, he seemed to have stagnated and thus upper management saw an opportunity to improve. 

In short, I believe that you are 100 % wrong if you think that the main arguments for keeping Benitez and Hughton for as long as they did were that it could have been even worse.

[snarks]

Dont think TK gets any credit.We got promoted under his watch and will again . Like most clubs our signings have been mixed. Lets face we have no idea how the transfer procedure works at our club. If Tk is responsible for signing Seri because of his title then he is also responsible for signing target and Mitrovic. some of the poison thrown TKs way on here has been extremely annoying ,repetitive and ridiculous. More or less put me off posting on here to boot.

There are poisons that harm you and poisons that heal you, you just have to know which is which and the required dosages.  If TK was responsible for promotion (which I don't think he was as my postings on Jokanovic should reveal) then he was responsible for the mediocre recruitment over a good few seasons that ultimately stultified Jokanovic's miracle work.  I took a break from posting on here because of 'in crowd' nonsense posted about certain views which can get tedious after a while, but then I got wise counsel and decided to hammer home my points with evidence and mercilessly.  Targett was loaned with no buy option - mistake or good recruitment practice?  You pays your money .... 

Southampton didn't want to sell Targett but wanted to see how he would perform, he was 3rd in the pecking order at the time and coming back from injury so from their perspective it was sensible to give no option to buy. We were desperate for a LB to allow Sess to play further forward, and if we didn't get promoted (as with Mitro) then we wouldn't sign him anyway.

[toshes mate]

Dont think TK gets any credit.We got promoted under his watch and will again . Like most clubs our signings have been mixed. Lets face we have no idea how the transfer procedure works at our club. If Tk is responsible for signing Seri because of his title then he is also responsible for signing target and Mitrovic. some of the poison thrown TKs way on here has been extremely annoying ,repetitive and ridiculous. More or less put me off posting on here to boot.

There are poisons that harm you and poisons that heal you, you just have to know which is which and the required dosages.  If TK was responsible for promotion (which I don't think he was as my postings on Jokanovic should reveal) then he was responsible for the mediocre recruitment over a good few seasons that ultimately stultified Jokanovic's miracle work.  I took a break from posting on here because of 'in crowd' nonsense posted about certain views which can get tedious after a while, but then I got wise counsel and decided to hammer home my points with evidence and mercilessly.  Targett was loaned with no buy option - mistake or good recruitment practice?  You pays your money .... 

Southampton didn't want to sell Targett but wanted to see how he would perform, he was 3rd in the pecking order at the time and coming back from injury so from their perspective it was sensible to give no option to buy. We were desperate for a LB to allow Sess to play further forward, and if we didn't get promoted (as with Mitro) then we wouldn't sign him anyway.

You do not have, and cannot have, any credible evidence of what was or wasn't on the table at the time of any FFC dealing.  The left back problem was caused by the release of Malone and a failure to cover it by purchasing decent cover (supposedly RS would be left back despite SJ's preference to play him further forward).   Do these guys actually talk to each other?  These mistakes led to the RS controversy with SJ playing him 'out of position' which came to a head just before the start of 'the run'.   Do you remember all the anger post Brentford away?  A left back should have been found before Malone was sold. In similar vein the Fredericks issue was a recruitment failing to include an extension clause in his contract.  Those are mistakes that should have been eradicated from our recruitment team a long, long time ago.

These mistakes do not get dealt with. Is that because we do not have a fit for purpose senior executive tier at FFC?  I'd say the answer is more than likely that there is a serious communications issue at the Club which reveals itself every time we get into apparent trouble.       

[FulhamStu]

Tony Khan is similar to most in that he has recruited some very good players and some poor players.  He has probably overpaid for some but who can say these days what a player is worth ?   The top clubs are spending almost as much as Fulham's total recruitment spend last summer on just one player !

I would much prefer to talk about what we will have next than what happened in past years.  Us fans speculate on what might have happened but in truth we know very little of the detail.   It's a bit like politics, you take a position and often stick to it without knowing much detail, then argue your corner, again with little proper background knowledge.

I have long argued for Fulham to be far more open and transparent to the fan base and I congratulate Fulhamish and Tony for doing this interview.  Let's hope it reveals some positive messages and gives us all optimism for the season ahead.

[snarks]

Dont think TK gets any credit.We got promoted under his watch and will again . Like most clubs our signings have been mixed. Lets face we have no idea how the transfer procedure works at our club. If Tk is responsible for signing Seri because of his title then he is also responsible for signing target and Mitrovic. some of the poison thrown TKs way on here has been extremely annoying ,repetitive and ridiculous. More or less put me off posting on here to boot.

There are poisons that harm you and poisons that heal you, you just have to know which is which and the required dosages.  If TK was responsible for promotion (which I don't think he was as my postings on Jokanovic should reveal) then he was responsible for the mediocre recruitment over a good few seasons that ultimately stultified Jokanovic's miracle work.  I took a break from posting on here because of 'in crowd' nonsense posted about certain views which can get tedious after a while, but then I got wise counsel and decided to hammer home my points with evidence and mercilessly.  Targett was loaned with no buy option - mistake or good recruitment practice?  You pays your money .... 

Southampton didn't want to sell Targett but wanted to see how he would perform, he was 3rd in the pecking order at the time and coming back from injury so from their perspective it was sensible to give no option to buy. We were desperate for a LB to allow Sess to play further forward, and if we didn't get promoted (as with Mitro) then we wouldn't sign him anyway.

You do not have, and cannot have, any credible evidence of what was or wasn't on the table at the time of any FFC dealing.  The left back problem was caused by the release of Malone and a failure to cover it by purchasing decent cover (supposedly RS would be left back despite SJ's preference to play him further forward).   Do these guys actually talk to each other?  These mistakes led to the RS controversy with SJ playing him 'out of position' which came to a head just before the start of 'the run'.   Do you remember all the anger post Brentford away?  A left back should have been found before Malone was sold. In similar vein the Fredericks issue was a recruitment failing to include an extension clause in his contract.  Those are mistakes that should have been eradicated from our recruitment team a long, long time ago.

These mistakes do not get dealt with. Is that because we do not have a fit for purpose senior executive tier at FFC?  I'd say the answer is more than likely that there is a serious communications issue at the Club which reveals itself every time we get into apparent trouble.       

Depends what you call credible evidence, no I didn't see the agreement or speak to anyone directly involved in the negotiations, did speak to several people at Southampton about it tho'.

I wasn't talking about the why and wherefores of why we needed Targett, just talking about his loan. Similarly to your comment to me, you cannot possibly have any credible evidence as to what was put to Fredricks during contract negotiations and whether he would have signed with an extra year option. Much as you accuse me of doing, you're basing a lot on guesswork and what you perceive as failings.

Still don't want to argue about this, as it's fairly pointless, it's in the past, just hope lessons have been learnt going forward

[ByTheRiver]

Forgive my ignorance/laziness/bit of both, but how does one go about accessing said interview?

[toshes mate]

Depends what you call credible evidence, no I didn't see the agreement or speak to anyone directly involved in the negotiations, did speak to several people at Southampton about it tho'.

I wasn't talking about the why and wherefores of why we needed Targett, just talking about his loan. Similarly to your comment to me, you cannot possibly have any credible evidence as to what was put to Fredricks during contract negotiations and whether he would have signed with an extra year option. Much as you accuse me of doing, you're basing a lot on guesswork and what you perceive as failings.

Still don't want to argue about this, as it's fairly pointless, it's in the past, just hope lessons have been learnt going forward

Your last sentence rather negates the whole point of history - the more you understand of the past the better you can do in the future.  I don't see it as an argument but more of a discussion about individual perceptions which are based on a very loose version of reality.  Like climate science you should never make declarations one way or another until you absolutely know.  But here we are in a world where you are either a believer in anthropogenic global warming or you are a heretic.  No middle road at all - isn't that bad science considering it is all based upon theories that have yet to be proven? 

   

[ALG01]

Mr Khan jnr would not get a job at any other top professional club and even if by some miracle he did, he would have been thrown out ages ago.

Yes he would get a job at another club, as Tony Khan is working for free, its pretty easy to get a job at zero wages and most non-profit jobs get a fancy title like "Director of Football". I also think many other Championship Clubs would let him buy players as he was probably the only person able to source money for new players. Many clubs in Championship failed to source money last season, with only ten championship clubs having net transfer budgets over £4m (with only six of the ten over £10m) and nine clubs even had negative transfer budgets.

I have no doubt a DOF that works for free, that can source £10m+ every season would get a job at most Championship Clubs. Other clubs are surely jealous.

With no disrespect intend at all... I do not begin to understand what you are saying. I would do the job for nothing and nobody would employ me either. He has no talent or experience, all he has is his dad's money and lineage. Did I really have to say in words of one syllable, imagine TK had never done the job before, and did not have access to his dad's funds, I thought that was self evidently implied.

The ability to source money is down to hios dad not down to his ability which he has spectacularly not shown any of.

[hovewhite]

If he didn't have daddy behind him he wouldn't be in the job anywhere else.

[The Rational Fan]

Mr Khan jnr would not get a job at any other top professional club and even if by some miracle he did, he would have been thrown out ages ago.

Yes he would get a job at another club, as Tony Khan is working for free, its pretty easy to get a job at zero wages and most non-profit jobs get a fancy title like "Director of Football". I also think many other Championship Clubs would let him buy players as he was probably the only person able to source money for new players. Many clubs in Championship failed to source money last season, with only ten championship clubs having net transfer budgets over £4m (with only six of the ten over £10m) and nine clubs even had negative transfer budgets.

I have no doubt a DOF that works for free, that can source £10m+ every season would get a job at most Championship Clubs. Other clubs are surely jealous.

With no disrespect intend at all... I do not begin to understand what you are saying. I would do the job for nothing and nobody would employ me either. He has no talent or experience, all he has is his dad's money and lineage. Did I really have to say in words of one syllable, imagine TK had never done the job before, and did not have access to his dad's funds, I thought that was self evidently implied.

The ability to source money is down to hios dad not down to his ability which he has spectacularly not shown any of.

I believe Tony Khan has the ability to source money from Fulham's owner better than other DoF. The ability to source money is Best Prediictor of DoF success. Even if Shahid Khan wasn't the owner, I have little doubt about Tony Khan's ability to source money probable from his family.

[Penfold]

Mr Khan jnr would not get a job at any other top professional club and even if by some miracle he did, he would have been thrown out ages ago.

Yes he would get a job at another club, as Tony Khan is working for free, its pretty easy to get a job at zero wages and most non-profit jobs get a fancy title like "Director of Football". I also think many other Championship Clubs would let him buy players as he was probably the only person able to source money for new players. Many clubs in Championship failed to source money last season, with only ten championship clubs having net transfer budgets over £4m (with only six of the ten over £10m) and nine clubs even had negative transfer budgets.

I have no doubt a DOF that works for free, that can source £10m+ every season would get a job at most Championship Clubs. Other clubs are surely jealous.

With no disrespect intend at all... I do not begin to understand what you are saying. I would do the job for nothing and nobody would employ me either. He has no talent or experience, all he has is his dad's money and lineage. Did I really have to say in words of one syllable, imagine TK had never done the job before, and did not have access to his dad's funds, I thought that was self evidently implied.

The ability to source money is down to hios dad not down to his ability which he has spectacularly not shown any of.

I believe Tony Khan has the ability to source money from Fulham's owner better than other DoF. The ability to source money is Best Prediictor of DoF success. Even if Shahid Khan wasn't the owner, I have little doubt about Tony Khan's ability to source money probable from his family.

So what your saying is if he did leave Fulham and, somehow, got a job as DOF at, let's say Blackburn Rovers, he'd be able to source money from his family for players there.

Which member of the family will give him that money?

[Herbie]

Forgive my ignorance/laziness/bit of both, but how does one go about accessing said interview?

Ditto.  Where and when will the interview be released please?