Is it the Khan’s or Ali Mac?’bn

[Jeroen]

So who is in charge of our negotiations??

If it was lack of planning it's silva's fault as much as anyone else as by all accounts he is very involved with identifying players.

Our transfer windows have always been.... Risky even under MAF, so for me it's the board to be honest

[Penfold]

Who knows. I'm sick to death of all of them. Makes me a 'hater'. Rather that than a sycophant.

[Nero]

There's a difference to identifying players and getting them to sign and clubs being willing to sign

[The Old Count]

There's a difference to identifying players and getting them to sign and clubs being willing to sign

We seem to lack the ability and psychological skills to present an attractive proposition to players to make them want to play for us. That is lack of negotiating skills and weakness at motivating players to join. Motivation being, 'getting someone to want to do what you want them to do'.

[Lazybones]

There's a difference to identifying players and getting them to sign and clubs being willing to sign

I reckon this is right.  Getting them to sign is the thing.

There are lots of reasons why a player or a player's agent might hesitate about signing to FFC

- uncertainty around Silva's future
- the age profile of key players (Ream, Cairney, Willian, Leno, BDR)
- the ineptitude with which the club seems to have handled Mitro's transfer (and now Palhinha's non-transfer)
- the buckets of cash that other clubs are throwing around

Any one of these might be enough give some one pause.  Together they make for a much more uncertain future than one might get at other clubs.   

[Nero]

Why where the transfer with mitro and joao inept?

[hovewhite]

Marco said it all a successful season teams target coaches and players so only to lose our greedy no 9 a right result in my view.would be gutted if JP went to Munich that would have been a game changer.

[Lazybones]

Why where the transfer with mitro and joao inept?

In both cases, the club seemed to me (from the outside, with no real knowledge) to be jerking the players around. 

The "will-he-won't-he" saga of Mitro dragged on and on, and showcased a real breakdown between the player and the club. 

Letting Palhinha go for the medical without having first identified a replacement, yet making the replacement a condition of the transfer, is a recipe for disaster. The relationship between management and player is damaged forever with no gain on either side.

In neither case, would I have the sense, trying to imagine myself as a player, that the club is looking after me.

[Andy S]

That is the fault of the buying club wanting everything done in the last minute

[Andy S]

It's all down to the agents negotiating for too many players

[Thailand Mick]

so, if this is a blame game, please enlighten us as to which transfers, we have cocked up and where have those players gone to. Regarding Palhinha no one has mentioned that when we signed him we may of had a verbal gentlemen's agreement about allowing him to leave if a big club comes calling which Bayern Munich certainly are, how do people know if we have not played an absolute blinder in honoring our agreement with him and still kept him for now.

[cookieg]

Why where the transfer with mitro and joao inept?

In both cases, the club seemed to me (from the outside, with no real knowledge) to be jerking the players around. 

The "will-he-won't-he" saga of Mitro dragged on and on, and showcased a real breakdown between the player and the club. 

Letting Palhinha go for the medical without having first identified a replacement, yet making the replacement a condition of the transfer, is a recipe for disaster. The relationship between management and player is damaged forever with no gain on either side.

In neither case, would I have the sense, trying to imagine myself as a player, that the club is looking after me.

Mitro wanted out as Marco said and engineered the move. The club held out for the valuation we wanted, if we'd have caved in at £25m everyone on here would be in meltdown over how cheaply we sold him.

And as for Joao, if he had expressed a wish to play for one of the top club sides in Europe then why we would we stop him? If it was with the understanding that we needed to sign an adequate replacement for him to go then everyone knew where they stood. Bayern tried to be clever and get him cheap by leaving it too late. Again why should the club roll over to one of the big boys.

[Lazybones]

Why where the transfer with mitro and joao inept?

In both cases, the club seemed to me (from the outside, with no real knowledge) to be jerking the players around. 

The "will-he-won't-he" saga of Mitro dragged on and on, and showcased a real breakdown between the player and the club. 

Letting Palhinha go for the medical without having first identified a replacement, yet making the replacement a condition of the transfer, is a recipe for disaster. The relationship between management and player is damaged forever with no gain on either side.

In neither case, would I have the sense, trying to imagine myself as a player, that the club is looking after me.

Mitro wanted out as Marco said and engineered the move. The club held out for the valuation we wanted, if we'd have caved in at £25m everyone on here would be in meltdown over how cheaply we sold him.

And as for Joao, if he had expressed a wish to play for one of the top club sides in Europe then why we would we stop him? If it was with the understanding that we needed to sign an adequate replacement for him to go then everyone knew where they stood. Bayern tried to be clever and get him cheap by leaving it too late. Again why should the club roll over to one of the big boys.

I would be convinced by this narrative of club, coach and player all moving in sync if Mitro were not so visibly and pointedly unhappy with how it was all handled.

With Joáo it's too early to tell. I don't put much stock in rumours of bust ups with BOA or instagram follows and unfollows. If I were Joáo I would not feel that the message of the last few days was either affirming of my value to the club or of the club's willingness to let my career evolve (trying to imagine myself into his headspace).

[alfie]

Why where the transfer with mitro and joao inept?

In both cases, the club seemed to me (from the outside, with no real knowledge) to be jerking the players around. 

The "will-he-won't-he" saga of Mitro dragged on and on, and showcased a real breakdown between the player and the club. 

Letting Palhinha go for the medical without having first identified a replacement, yet making the replacement a condition of the transfer, is a recipe for disaster. The relationship between management and player is damaged forever with no gain on either side.

In neither case, would I have the sense, trying to imagine myself as a player, that the club is looking after me.

Mitro wanted out as Marco said and engineered the move. The club held out for the valuation we wanted, if we'd have caved in at £25m everyone on here would be in meltdown over how cheaply we sold him.

And as for Joao, if he had expressed a wish to play for one of the top club sides in Europe then why we would we stop him? If it was with the understanding that we needed to sign an adequate replacement for him to go then everyone knew where they stood. Bayern tried to be clever and get him cheap by leaving it too late. Again why should the club roll over to one of the big boys.

I would be convinced by this narrative of club, coach and player all moving in sync if Mitro were not so visibly and pointedly unhappy with how it was all handled.

With Joáo it's too early to tell. I don't put much stock in rumours of bust ups with BOA or instagram follows and unfollows. If I were Joáo I would not feel that the message of the last few days was either affirming of my value to the club or of the club's willingness to let my career evolve (trying to imagine myself into his headspace).

Fulham quite rightly told them if you want him you pay what we think he is worth, they didn't so the answer was no, they came back with an offer acceptable to the club and off he went. For me it was handled in the correct way, Mitro was annoyed that he might lose out on millions on top of the millions he was already earning.
Remember his quote's

"I don't play football for money or trophies"
"Fulham is my home I love it here"

[Logicalman]

Why where the transfer with mitro and joao inept?

In both cases, the club seemed to me (from the outside, with no real knowledge) to be jerking the players around. 

The "will-he-won't-he" saga of Mitro dragged on and on, and showcased a real breakdown between the player and the club. 

Letting Palhinha go for the medical without having first identified a replacement, yet making the replacement a condition of the transfer, is a recipe for disaster. The relationship between management and player is damaged forever with no gain on either side.

In neither case, would I have the sense, trying to imagine myself as a player, that the club is looking after me.

Mitro wanted out as Marco said and engineered the move. The club held out for the valuation we wanted, if we'd have caved in at £25m everyone on here would be in meltdown over how cheaply we sold him.

And as for Joao, if he had expressed a wish to play for one of the top club sides in Europe then why we would we stop him? If it was with the understanding that we needed to sign an adequate replacement for him to go then everyone knew where they stood. Bayern tried to be clever and get him cheap by leaving it too late. Again why should the club roll over to one of the big boys.

I would be convinced by this narrative of club, coach and player all moving in sync if Mitro were not so visibly and pointedly unhappy with how it was all handled.

With Joáo it's too early to tell. I don't put much stock in rumours of bust ups with BOA or instagram follows and unfollows. If I were Joáo I would not feel that the message of the last few days was either affirming of my value to the club or of the club's willingness to let my career evolve (trying to imagine myself into his headspace).

In the case of Joao, to fail to give him permission to travel for the medical(s) UNTIL we had secured a replacement, would not have worked as the German window was closing 6 hours or so prior to the English window, and therefore he was allowed to travel, etc. to ensure that if we did secure a replacement his transfer was then a formality and quickly completed. Thus, Fulham did all they could to accomodate him, short of the final signing which was contingent on the replacement being found.

As for Mitro, the club rightly held out for a fairer price, that's due diligence in pratice.

With respect, people like us have little no idea of the the inner workings of all this and so to criticize the club on what little we do know seems a tad rich for me. Then again, all my assumptions above could be way off the mark.
 

[Lazybones]

.

With respect, people like us have little no idea of the the inner workings of all this and so to criticize the club on what little we do know seems a tad rich for me. Then again, all my assumptions above could be way off the mark.
 

Absolutely. As I said from my first post on this, we don't really know.  I have no inside knowledge. None of us do.

We have to try to understand things as best as we can from the outside.

I'm not criticising or applauding the club here.  I'm am trying to imagine from the outside how the club looks to a player thinking of transferring into it.  How Fulham looks compared to other options.

Neither the way it has dealt with Mitro or JP (from how it looks on the outside) would give me confidence to sign on the dotted line.

P.S. But I'm probably an incurable romantic. I'm a Fulham supporter after all!  Players might be better adjusted to being treated like commodities.