Seri

[b+w geezer]

The two responses to The Rational Fan there have, seems to me, missed his point. Admittedly he wasn't talking about Seri, so that may explain it.   

The complaints made by Woolly Mammouth are highly applicable to Seri and the summer 2018 recruitment in general -- too much regard for theory and too little for how they would suit the situation they would actually find themselves in. They mostly didn't !

But the caravan has moved on, as The Rational Fan is surely trying to point out.  Most of the players here NOW (and on hiis list) have already done well in this very division, in many cases for this very club.  That's because THIS summer's recruitment was less speculative, more down-to-earth, prioritising people who had already been there, done that, in the Championship. And mostly known to work hard too. No leaps into the unknown this time.

And yet (TRF's point) most of them are performing individually at well below how they were performing when last in The Championship.  Our own eyes tell us that, so the supporting numbers don't really surprise, do they?

The figures he is quoting are admittedly impressions -- a (yes) statistical website gives them marks every match. And of course these are imperfect and can be queried, BUT apples are being compared with apples here -- how the same system has rated the same players over many matches in the same division, then and now.

If almost all concerned are doing notably worse now then previously, then I agree that that is worth pointing out. I agree also that -- unlike this time last year -- the reasons are less obviously connected with recruitment as such.

[MJG]

The longer Fulham blames recruitment as our #1 problem, the longer Fulham "doesn't address its number one problem".

Statistics show are #1 problem is "nearly all our players have got worse since the were last in the EFL".

R   Player   Rating 17/18,   Rating 19/20, Decrease
1   Alfie Mawson    7.46   vs 6.73   -0.73 (huge decrease)
2   Harry Arter   7.31   vs 6.77   -0.54
3   Anthony Knockaert   7.60   vs 7.11   -0.49 (very large decrease)
4   Aleksandar Mitrovic   7.65   vs 7.21   -0.44
5   Marcus Bettinelli   6.79   vs 6.37   -0.42
6   Tim Ream   7.05   vs 6.65   -0.40  (large decrease)
7   Bobby De Cordova-Reid    7.11   vs 6.72   -0.39
8   Denis Odoi    7.05   vs 6.66   -0.39
9   Harrison Reed    6.86   vs 6.64   -0.22 (medium decrease)
10   Tom Cairney   7.42   vs 7.20   -0.22
11   Stefan Johansen    6.89   vs 6.73   -0.16  (small decrease)
12   Joe Bryan   7.37   vs 7.37   0.00 (the same)
13   Ivan Cavaleiro   7.32   vs 7.33   0.01 (the same)

Our players have decreased 0.34 whoscored points per game, which is difference in a player quality at Leeds vs Barnsley.

We have been blaming recruitment, but based on past performance in the championship our team should be the best ever seen.

If all our players get a lot worse since last time in the Championship, then something other than recruitment is seriously wrong.

the problem with this comparison as I pointed out last time you did it is the 17/18 figures are full season and this year is one third.
Our players in that season improved second half of season and I would suspect their scores were lower than they are now.

[Twig]

The longer Fulham blames recruitment as our #1 problem, the longer Fulham "doesn't address its number one problem".

Statistics show are #1 problem is "nearly all our players have got worse since the were last in the EFL".

R   Player   Rating 17/18,   Rating 19/20, Decrease
1   Alfie Mawson    7.46   vs 6.73   -0.73 (huge decrease)
2   Harry Arter   7.31   vs 6.77   -0.54
3   Anthony Knockaert   7.60   vs 7.11   -0.49 (very large decrease)
4   Aleksandar Mitrovic   7.65   vs 7.21   -0.44
5   Marcus Bettinelli   6.79   vs 6.37   -0.42
6   Tim Ream   7.05   vs 6.65   -0.40  (large decrease)
7   Bobby De Cordova-Reid    7.11   vs 6.72   -0.39
8   Denis Odoi    7.05   vs 6.66   -0.39
9   Harrison Reed    6.86   vs 6.64   -0.22 (medium decrease)
10   Tom Cairney   7.42   vs 7.20   -0.22
11   Stefan Johansen    6.89   vs 6.73   -0.16  (small decrease)
12   Joe Bryan   7.37   vs 7.37   0.00 (the same)
13   Ivan Cavaleiro   7.32   vs 7.33   0.01 (the same)

Our players have decreased 0.34 whoscored points per game, which is difference in a player quality at Leeds vs Barnsley.

We have been blaming recruitment, but based on past performance in the championship our team should be the best ever seen.

If all our players get a lot worse since last time in the Championship, then something other than recruitment is seriously wrong.

the problem with this comparison as I pointed out last time you did it is the 17/18 figures are full season and this year is one third.
Our players in that season improved second half of season and I would suspect their scores were lower than they are now.

It will be interesting to see this analysis repeated nearer to the season end. If the stats are similar then we really do have to start to take notice. We used to be a club where players rebuilt their careers or kicked on, if we are becoming the opposite then that is cause for serious concern.

[b+w geezer]

It will be interesting to see this analysis repeated nearer to the season end. If the stats are similar then we really do have to start to take notice.

Yes, you have taken MJG's point there and fair enough.

We used to be a club where players rebuilt their careers or kicked on, if we are becoming the opposite then that is cause for serious concern.

If it proves that way, then yes.

However, what "used to be" is more mixed than you imply. Very true under e.g. Tigana and Hodgson, and a mark of their quality.  But also many seasons when imports proved a big disappointment and the team less than the sum of its parts.

Under multiple regimes (coaching and recruitment) we've been the opposite of career rebuilding for most Centre-backs who've arrived here this decade. Mawson is the latest, most expensive case, of quite a few. Hopefully Hector proves an exception.