transfers-change of focus

[Thailand Mick]

I have read many posts on here and twitter from Fulham fans complaining about losing signings, missed opportunities. don't any of these people think that now mitro has gone our focus has changed and we are trying and now able financial wise to buy better players. From my understanding from other people about ffp is that we not only have 40+ million to spend but with amortizing the incoming transfer fee over five years means we could technically sign two 50m pound players costing us 20m a year plus wages. I was hoping that this season we would go big on about four players that could play for a top six club without realizing we were still hamstrung by ffp,A left centre back,a midfielder who could score more goals and two strikers with pace who could play across the front three.It looked like we wanted Morata but couldn't prize him away so we opted for Bassey at LCB, I'm still hoping we can fill the other three positions late in the window and am hoping for players that are better than CHO and Gray in those striker positions.

[The Old Count]

With the way the Mitro situation has been handled (poorly imo) and the apparent inability to get players in who should take us to the next level, I am losing confidence in our management's ability to adapt to this season's difficult transfer window situation.
So, in short, I'll be amazed if we sign anyone truly outstanding.

[South Coast White]

We could all do with another Berbatov esk transfer, what a great lift that was completely out of the blue. Just have to keep hoping.

[KJS]

With the way the Mitro situation has been handled (poorly imo) and the apparent inability to get players in who should take us to the next level, I am losing confidence in our management's ability to adapt to this season's difficult transfer window situation.
So, in short, I'll be amazed if we sign anyone truly outstanding.

The truth is no one on here knows what has gone on, who we have genuinely bid for, what bids we received for Mitro and how many times bids have come in for our players?
The transfer window has and always will be carnage until it shuts but at least if rumours are true we managed to get double the initial amount bid for the Serbian which in my mind was great work by the club!

[Cumbrian White]

We could all do with another Berbatov esk transfer, what a great lift that was completely out of the blue. Just have to keep hoping.

Kind of what I'm expecting. All these ITK throwing names in (we should have a league table of ITK and the amount of correct names given for incoming transfers, all on zero points I believe), we do our business out of the media.

There is no way Marco stays if he isn't confident of being competitive this season.

Can't see any signings before deadline day but pretty certain one or two will excite fans.

The fact we haven't brought in CHO, Gray etc to me means we never really wanted th as primary (or even at all) targets. CHO in particular would seem to be a simple transaction. Good things will come.

[Carborundum]

Complicated dynamics for sure.  I interpreted leaving Willian and Bassey on the bench as Silva's way of saying we need much better players still.  Anyone at the Hoffenheim game could see Bassey should be our first CB pick and anyone attending last season knows Willian's our best winger.  If we'd started with two wins it would be oh so tempting for the owners to conclude Silva has enough at his disposal.   All of which helped subject us to a horrid afternoon.  But if it, and the Mitro transfer funds, propel us to a stronger squad by the end of the window, so be it.

Silva might be reaching the end of his stay with us.  There's something about the way he has spoken in recent weeks that suggest he is both masking his exasperation, just as a good professional usually should, but also entering a phase where he is leaving his comfort zone.  In working life it's sometimes the case that if your not part of a solution the default is that you are part of a problem. It's his squad, the headroom to outperform expectations is fractional and the media glare is merciless.  An underwhelming end to the window and I'd expect him to be off.  A strong set of signings and he may still decide he's had enough.  There's only so much buffing up of a CV that a stint at a club can deliver.

[HV71]

Complicated dynamics for sure.  I interpreted leaving Willian and Bassey on the bench as Silva's way of saying we need much better players still.  Anyone at the Hoffenheim game could see Bassey should be our first CB pick and anyone attending last season knows Willian's our best winger.  If we'd started with two wins it would be oh so tempting for the owners to conclude Silva has enough at his disposal.   All of which helped subject us to a horrid afternoon.  But if it, and the Mitro transfer funds, propel us to a stronger squad by the end of the window, so be it.

Silva might be reaching the end of his stay with us.  There's something about the way he has spoken in recent weeks that suggest he is both masking his exasperation, just as a good professional usually should, but also entering a phase where he is leaving his comfort zone.  In working life it's sometimes the case that if your not part of a solution the default is that you are part of a problem. It's his squad, the headroom to outperform expectations is fractional and the media glare is merciless.  An underwhelming end to the window and I'd expect him to be off.  A strong set of signings and he may still decide he's had enough.  There's only so much buffing up of a CV that a stint at a club can deliver.

Thoughtful, considered , eloquent and to the point as always. Great post

[filham]

With the way the Mitro situation has been handled (poorly imo) and the apparent inability to get players in who should take us to the next level, I am losing confidence in our management's ability to adapt to this season's difficult transfer window situation.
So, in short, I'll be amazed if we sign anyone truly outstanding.

Mitro wanted the big money and was determined to leave and we achieved a record fee of £40/50m. That is a reasonable end result , how could it have been handled better.

[Surlyc]

The fact we haven't brought in CHO, Gray etc to me means we never really wanted th as primary (or even at all) targets. CHO in particular would seem to be a simple transaction. Good things will come.

It does seem like the Khan's have learned their lesson from the 2018 (Anguissa/Seri) & 2020 (Knockaert/Cavaleiro) recruitments. Last season we targeted players at good value (Pereira/Palhinha) and saw fantastic return  on that. They are looking for the same again this season which has proved difficult (for all clubs), especially given Silva's commitment issues.

Where I do wish we would change our focus is in bringing in younger back ups. The Brentford/Brighton model is based on bringing in unproved young players to back up their starters and then integrating them into the starting line up  after 2/3 years. Young players are cheaper and more likely to accept being back ups than the likes of Soares or Kurzawa. There is a higher miss rate, but the pay off is seen in squad unity and the occasional blockbuster sale.

[alfie]

The fact we haven't brought in CHO, Gray etc to me means we never really wanted th as primary (or even at all) targets. CHO in particular would seem to be a simple transaction. Good things will come.

It does seem like the Khan's have learned their lesson from the 2018 (Anguissa/Seri) & 2020 (Knockaert/Cavaleiro) recruitments. Last season we targeted players at good value (Pereira/Palhinha) and saw fantastic return  on that. They are looking for the same again this season which has proved difficult (for all clubs), especially given Silva's commitment issues.

Where I do wish we would change our focus is in bringing in younger back ups. The Brentford/Brighton model is based on bringing in unproved young players to back up their starters and then integrating them into the starting line up  after 2/3 years. Young players are cheaper and more likely to accept being back ups than the likes of Soares or Kurzawa. There is a higher miss rate, but the pay off is seen in squad unity and the occasional blockbuster sale.

Bringing in young unproved players would cause this board to go into meltdown, one of the biggest moans we get is "no premiership experience".

[Surlyc]

Bringing in young unproved players would cause this board to go into meltdown, one of the biggest moans we get is "no premiership experience".

Agreed, it would be a change of focus for our fans as much as the club! 

Over the past few years we have signed plenty of players with no PL experience (e.g. Palhinha, Tete, Robinson, Reed, Tosin, Solomon). It can clearly work and it is the only way to achieve long-term sustainability in the modern footballing world.

[JimOG]

Complicated dynamics for sure.  I interpreted leaving Willian and Bassey on the bench as Silva's way of saying we need much better players still.  Anyone at the Hoffenheim game could see Bassey should be our first CB pick and anyone attending last season knows Willian's our best winger.  If we'd started with two wins it would be oh so tempting for the owners to conclude Silva has enough at his disposal.   All of which helped subject us to a horrid afternoon.  But if it, and the Mitro transfer funds, propel us to a stronger squad by the end of the window, so be it.

Silva might be reaching the end of his stay with us.  There's something about the way he has spoken in recent weeks that suggest he is both masking his exasperation, just as a good professional usually should, but also entering a phase where he is leaving his comfort zone.  In working life it's sometimes the case that if your not part of a solution the default is that you are part of a problem. It's his squad, the headroom to outperform expectations is fractional and the media glare is merciless.  An underwhelming end to the window and I'd expect him to be off.  A strong set of signings and he may still decide he's had enough.  There's only so much buffing up of a CV that a stint at a club can deliver.

Thoughtful, considered , eloquent and to the point as always. Great post

Not disagreeing with the general thrust and, as many rightly say, none of us knows what is going on behind the scenes but we are led to believe Silva is much more involved in transfers than previous managers? Another interpretation of his lack of 'bounce' is that the Mitro saga has really drained him His anger briefly displayed to national media at the weekend suggests the pre-season has been a nightmare.

[H4usuallysitting]

I think that the club has come out well in the metro saga....metro wanted out....and we appear to have stuck to our gun's with the fee (metro's Fulham career being cost neutral)....in the short term we need a replacement, but we shouldn't rush into thing's - we have Vini, Raul, BDR & Andreas that can and will score goals.... Getting an out & out 20 goal a season striker aren't out there for cheap money & Fulham will be way down the list.....we could possibly see out this transfer window with a loan.... Lukaku could be that loan option

[EN1 FFC]

Fulham have always been a club that needs last minute deals, as the perception of our club by both media and other teams fans is of a club who don't belong in the Premier, this feeds down to the players we pursue, and they leave it till the last minute to agree to come if nothing better is on offer.
I think the only thing we can hope for is that Marco Silva will have some influence in getting a Marquee Striker to join us, the same way Jokanovic had with Mitrovic, Tigana with Steed and Saha, Jol with Berbatov, Roy with Hangeland, Keegan with a Coleman and a few more...

In the coming weeks we will continue to hear, Mitrovic has left so teams and their fans are less worried about the threat we pose in games. Many a fans will have a sigh of relief that we no longer have the presence of Mitrovic to threaten them, let's hope Silva finds a solution.

[WindyCity]

Complicated dynamics for sure.  I interpreted leaving Willian and Bassey on the bench as Silva's way of saying we need much better players still. 

No, can't agree with this sentiment at all.  And I've seen this similar interpretation used oft times in this and other sports teams.  MS, as with any field manager, is paid to win games.  Coaches don't play to lose, to prove a point to ownership/management.  I'm sure MS had his reasons for his selection of players in that or any other game.  And he plays to win.

[cookieg]

Silva walked out on Hull, walked out on Watford and was sacked by Everton. Walking out on us isn't going to make him an obvious choice for a mid to upper Prem team who is looking for their next manager. He may well not sign an extension and walk away but my view is that he needs to be successful at Fulham for a few years to be taken seriously as an ambitious manager so for all his moaning he needs to get his on with it and show what a good manager he is/can be.

[Buffalo76]

I'm gonna tell you what's gonna happen. We'll sign someone towards the end of the window who've we've never heard of on a season long loan with the option 2 buy at the end of the season. Someone who's played a hundred odd games and scored about 15 goals. They started their career in the french or Swiss league, then got some move 2 a bigger club - where they featured numerous times in the europa league and scored 2 goals as their team made it out of the group stages......but they've been injured for the last 3 months 🤷

[Andy S]

All managers need to be on their toes. They need to react quickly and ooze confidence. It is a difficult job and not to be taken lightly. You don't just need a plan be on the pitch but off the pitch as well. You also need to work with what you have. You must never forget that the next game is the most important.

[toshes mate]

Two things arise from recent events - FFC can be worn down both from without and within and we now have a lot of dirty money which I hope everyone else in football outside Saudi Arabia avoids like the plague.

FFC has provided me with grounds for divorce and I never thought I see such a moment.  What a shambles we have become despite having a decent coaching team (who I do not blame at all) and all because people don't know how to say NO anymore (unless its about inappropriate negatives for nuclear, oil, gas and coal to help us make EFFICIENT electricity) and it is just so lazy.

Not sure where we go from here but it isn't where I thought we would go a few weeks back. As for FFC I am almost passed caring.

[SG]

Two things arise from recent events - FFC can be worn down both from without and within and we now have a lot of dirty money which I hope everyone else in football outside Saudi Arabia avoids like the plague.

FFC has provided me with grounds for divorce and I never thought I see such a moment.  What a shambles we have become despite having a decent coaching team (who I do not blame at all) and all because people don't know how to say NO anymore (unless its about inappropriate negatives for nuclear, oil, gas and coal to help us make EFFICIENT electricity) and it is just so lazy.

Not sure where we go from here but it isn't where I thought we would go a few weeks back. As for FFC I am almost passed caring.

I am passed caring. No idea who is to blame but this window seems to be Groundhog Day with all the others and with the added complication of the SA intervention