Have we ever had it so good?

[Andrew]

To be fair, the reason we are doing so well is that Marco is a genius and mr Khan removed his son from the front line. When Marco goes we will be on real trouble, he i an ideal fit for us but he is a genius.

Under MAF we were far more secure until he got old and had to back away, I do not have the same feeling with Mr Khan, his one plus, and his only plus, was appointing Marco. Prior to that we were shambolic and what happened with Slav after we got promoted was ridiclous.

That is my opinion.

[jayffc]

To be fair, the reason we are doing so well is that Marco is a genius and mr Khan removed his son from the front line. When Marco goes we will be on real trouble, he i an ideal fit for us but he is a genius.

Under MAF we were far more secure until he got old and had to back away, I do not have the same feeling with Mr Khan, his one plus, and his only plus, was appointing Marco. Prior to that we were shambolic and what happened with Slav after we got promoted was ridiclous.

That is my opinion.

Please define the front line and then send the article/interview, literally any actual evidence that says he was removed from the transfer process by Shahid. Other than that's just what you think has happened. 1 single actual quote from anyone at the club that supports this assertion.

All we have over the years is continual articles, interviews and podcasts from both TK, Rutzler, the Athletic and more, saying he's still very much involved in the process and heads the recruitment department. Yet a handful still insist on saying this like it's a fact with no meaningful supporting evidence to the contrary.

Absolutely I agree that all evidence supports that Marco is an integral part of the process here, and that they trust him with final sign off on targets, and pushing money towards targets he's particularly hot on. All of this is true. It also appears true that they trust Marco more than previous managers and he accepts the invitation to be more involved than previous managers in watching tape, identifying targets together, joining transfer meetings and being a major part of it etc.  This has been stated in interviews and there is evidence for it direct from TK. But none of this runs counter to the repeated assertions by club reps, journalists and that TK himself that he remains an active driver of transfer stategy and acquisition.
Just the other day we had yet another quote from him saying he was very busy with meetings around transfers for Fulham. Through summer we had Marco in an interview name checking Khan Snr and Ali mac and himself as working together on it when discussing the process.

No matter how many fans with no inside access say contrary online, they never provide actual proof other than opinon based interpretaton and saying - well recruitments got better since Marco arrived, therefore its only him. Indeed, he's been a vital part of it's success... one could of course argue about Parkers relegated team of players, who went onto serie A titles and Ballon Dor noms but it's been done to death. So will leave it at just calling this out ,again. Prove it, or please stop saying it like fact.

[Willham]

A milestone to cement this for me would be surviving a change of manager.

Like the Hodgson success, this has been under silva and could be said 'silva success'

Not that I want a change of manager any time soon, a milestone I'd prefer to reach latest possible but when that happens, if we maintain the same position for a few good years (minimum 5) then I'd love to say this is an all round success. From top to bottom, until then there's an argument that could be had, in my opinion.

[jayffc]

A milestone to cement this for me would be surviving a change of manager.

Like the Hodgson success, this has been under silva and could be said 'silva success'

Not that I want a change of manager any time soon, a milestone I'd prefer to reach latest possible but when that happens, if we maintain the same position for a few good years (minimum 5) then I'd love to say this is an all round success. From top to bottom, until then there's an argument that could be had, in my opinion.

Absolutely agree that Silva has been a brilliant manager and ultimately a huge reason the team is playing as well as it is. But to be fair the club are the ones who identified, employed, supported and extended Silvas stay here, so it's still an all around club success already to get to this point. One which Silva deserves immense credit for still though as the key driver of our teams performance on the pitch...No argument there

The club is acting out the plan created alongside him and seem to be trying to support him in the next phase of it. Really hoping they pull off a signing or 2 more to help a decision to sign a new contract. As absolutely, as with any manager leaving, it would likely result in a transitional period where one hopes we can survive let alot even thrive through. To use villa as an example, Dean Smith brought em up, but then they hired Gerrard who underwhelmed, before finally hitting on Emery. It's possible to push on but certainly possible we struggle. Whoever follows him has huge shoes to fill for sure, will take a hell of a manager to improve upon what he's doing.

[perry geyton]

As well as Marco and his squad. I have to say  has to get a bit of credit as well.
Would you swap him for any of the other owners in the league?

The Khans hired Marco and pay for the signings

No I wouldn't I think he's a classy dude, nothing but love for him and what he's done

[Fulham Tup North]

Silva out 

I blame Tony!!
 

[Andrew]

To be fair, the reason we are doing so well is that Marco is a genius and mr Khan removed his son from the front line. When Marco goes we will be on real trouble, he i an ideal fit for us but he is a genius.

Under MAF we were far more secure until he got old and had to back away, I do not have the same feeling with Mr Khan, his one plus, and his only plus, was appointing Marco. Prior to that we were shambolic and what happened with Slav after we got promoted was ridiclous.

That is my opinion.

Please define the front line and then send the article/interview, literally any actual evidence that says he was removed from the transfer process by Shahid. Other than that's just what you think has happened. 1 single actual quote from anyone at the club that supports this assertion.

All we have over the years is continual articles, interviews and podcasts from both TK, Rutzler, the Athletic and more, saying he's still very much involved in the process and heads the recruitment department. Yet a handful still insist on saying this like it's a fact with no meaningful supporting evidence to the contrary.

Absolutely I agree that all evidence supports that Marco is an integral part of the process here, and that they trust him with final sign off on targets, and pushing money towards targets he's particularly hot on. All of this is true. It also appears true that they trust Marco more than previous managers and he accepts the invitation to be more involved than previous managers in watching tape, identifying targets together, joining transfer meetings and being a major part of it etc.  This has been stated in interviews and there is evidence for it direct from TK. But none of this runs counter to the repeated assertions by club reps, journalists and that TK himself that he remains an active driver of transfer stategy and acquisition.
Just the other day we had yet another quote from him saying he was very busy with meetings around transfers for Fulham. Through summer we had Marco in an interview name checking Khan Snr and Ali mac and himself as working together on it when discussing the process.

No matter how many fans with no inside access say contrary online, they never provide actual proof other than opinon based interpretaton and saying - well recruitments got better since Marco arrived, therefore its only him. Indeed, he's been a vital part of it's success... one could of course argue about Parkers relegated team of players, who went onto serie A titles and Ballon Dor noms but it's been done to death. So will leave it at just calling this out ,again. Prove it, or please stop saying it like fact.

Nobody has to provide absolute evidence here and to use such abrasive terms towards me, a man that has had a season ticket, same seat for over 60 consecutive years, is not a proper way to interact. If we all had to provide absolute evidence the MB would be empty.

My opinion, and I did say it was my opinion not a court of law sworn on the bible statemen, is born out of observation. It is obvious to anyone with eyes in the head and a brain to think, what has happened from the moment Marco came in and we introduced players he knew, and Portugese speakers of a type TK was incapable of identifying before things had changed. Plus, Mr Khan said things would change at the time when Marco came.

Absolute evidence, oh dear I thought this MB had moved on from that sort of thing.

[jayffc]

To be fair, the reason we are doing so well is that Marco is a genius and mr Khan removed his son from the front line. When Marco goes we will be on real trouble, he i an ideal fit for us but he is a genius.

Under MAF we were far more secure until he got old and had to back away, I do not have the same feeling with Mr Khan, his one plus, and his only plus, was appointing Marco. Prior to that we were shambolic and what happened with Slav after we got promoted was ridiclous.

That is my opinion.

Please define the front line and then send the article/interview, literally any actual evidence that says he was removed from the transfer process by Shahid. Other than that's just what you think has happened. 1 single actual quote from anyone at the club that supports this assertion.

All we have over the years is continual articles, interviews and podcasts from both TK, Rutzler, the Athletic and more, saying he's still very much involved in the process and heads the recruitment department. Yet a handful still insist on saying this like it's a fact with no meaningful supporting evidence to the contrary.

Absolutely I agree that all evidence supports that Marco is an integral part of the process here, and that they trust him with final sign off on targets, and pushing money towards targets he's particularly hot on. All of this is true. It also appears true that they trust Marco more than previous managers and he accepts the invitation to be more involved than previous managers in watching tape, identifying targets together, joining transfer meetings and being a major part of it etc.  This has been stated in interviews and there is evidence for it direct from TK. But none of this runs counter to the repeated assertions by club reps, journalists and that TK himself that he remains an active driver of transfer stategy and acquisition.
Just the other day we had yet another quote from him saying he was very busy with meetings around transfers for Fulham. Through summer we had Marco in an interview name checking Khan Snr and Ali mac and himself as working together on it when discussing the process.

No matter how many fans with no inside access say contrary online, they never provide actual proof other than opinon based interpretaton and saying - well recruitments got better since Marco arrived, therefore its only him. Indeed, he's been a vital part of it's success... one could of course argue about Parkers relegated team of players, who went onto serie A titles and Ballon Dor noms but it's been done to death. So will leave it at just calling this out ,again. Prove it, or please stop saying it like fact.

Nobody has to provide absolute evidence here and to use such abrasive terms towards me, a man that has had a season ticket, same seat for over 60 consecutive years, is not a proper way to interact. If we all had to provide absolute evidence the MB would be empty.

My opinion, and I did say it was my opinion not a court of law sworn on the bible statemen, is born out of observation. It is obvious to anyone with eyes in the head and a brain to think, what has happened from the moment Marco came in and we introduced players he knew, and Portugese speakers of a type TK was incapable of identifying before things had changed. Plus, Mr Khan said things would change at the time when Marco came.

Absolute evidence, oh dear I thought this MB had moved on from that sort of thing.

Fair regarding the inclusion of that's my opinion at the end. Hadn't spotted that so that's my bad.

However It is a message board and so people are free to respond to the claims you've made and it's one that's been discussed and refuted (I would say at this point debunked) over the years.

Many People spend a ton of time on here providing evidence to support their opinions and claims, so it's very much the nor.. It's what usually happens in message board convos with different opinions ,so I disagree with the assertion the mb would be empty.

Generally if someone states such an opinion, especially a divisive one that follows a tired narrative of discrediting the guy who supposedly still heads the transfer department, it's useful to provide something to back it up beyond assumption.

The things you've mentioned arent backed by the endless interviews and comments that have been posted here many times, from club sources and outside article's. So it isn't obvious at all if it actually goes counter to what all those sources say directly

Tk was incapable of singing Portuguese speaking players? eh? It's relatively easy when you own a stats company and scouting network to switch that filter and focus to Portuguese speaking players if it's desired by a manager. Muniz definitely is an example though. As this one was confirmed in an interview by TK ,specifically referencing it as an example where it was more the manager as they didn't have stats. But it was framed as a specific deviation from the club's normal multi tick system where all parties compare notes on targets, watch video together etc...andreas Pereira was a long term target linked before Silva joined.

I'm open to reading this alleged khan statement suggesting a change to TKs duties or stepping down involvement in transfers,  but I've never heard of such a thing.

Anyway. Ya welcome to see it as you wish as some people will never change their mind no matter how much actual evidence there is out there to the contrary.

Sorry if it came off harshly, it's a subject that's been done to death here for years ,so won't go down the road of posting all the links and receipts again if that's not your bag. All the best

[Angus Telford]

However It is a message board and so people are free to respond to the claims you've made and it's one that's been discussed and refuted (I would say at this point debunked) over the years.

Many People spend all day on here providing evidence to support their opinions and points of view so it's very much the norm, and the assertion the mb would be empty just isn't the case.

Jay with all due respect I think you've a unique willingness to "spend all day on here providing evidence", ie trawling through six-year-old press conferences and copy-pasting the bits that, with some creative interpretation, support your argument. Credit where it's due, you always present a well-reasoned, dare I say it 'plausible', viewpoint. But you haven't "debunked" anything. We all also saw TK disappear from Twitter, his visible shift in focus to AEW, his college buddy disappear from Motspur Park, the nature of our signings drift from obscure names that were obviously predominantly stats-driven, to compatriots of our manager or players he knew, and so on. So there's a body of evidence against you here.

Also, what's so controversial about TK having taken a step back? There's no shame in it, and it wouldn't make him a bad or insignificant actor in our journey. Seems a strange hill to die on.

[acji]

Fayed years for me, not even close, quality of football was far superior, entertaining, attacking with both Keegan and Tigana.

TBF, not a big thing, but back those days "Tigana's black and white army" got more participation than "He's a genius" does now.

[jayffc]

However It is a message board and so people are free to respond to the claims you've made and it's one that's been discussed and refuted (I would say at this point debunked) over the years.

Many People spend all day on here providing evidence to support their opinions and points of view so it's very much the norm, and the assertion the mb would be empty just isn't the case.

Jay with all due respect I think you've a unique willingness to "spend all day on here providing evidence", ie trawling through six-year-old press conferences and copy-pasting the bits that, with some creative interpretation, support your argument. Credit where it's due, you always present a well-reasoned, dare I say it 'plausible', viewpoint. But you haven't "debunked" anything. We all also saw TK disappear from Twitter, his visible shift in focus to AEW, his college buddy disappear from Motspur Park, the nature of our signings drift from obscure names that were obviously predominantly stats-driven, to compatriots of our manager or players he knew, and so on. So there's a body of evidence against you here.

Also, what's so controversial about TK having taken a step back? There's no shame in it, and it wouldn't make him a bad or insignificant actor in our journey. Seems a strange hill to die on.

With respect in turn, People in every thread here and online generally share their reasoning, stats, evidence and quotes to support their claims, it is not unique to myself and think the somewhat subtly sly condescension of suggesting as such is a bit of a cheap shot. That said I do like to be clear on where my pov comes from.

Sadly No matter what direct 'from the horses mouth' evidence is provided some people will still refuse to budge though. As per the quotes from yesterday's thread about the club planning the recent transfer approach. Which  had Marco directly stating it was the plan. Without any real need for additional creativity at all It pretty clearly debunked the idea the recruitment approach last few years wasn't deliberate and planned. No "fair enough" or acknowledgment followed.

The report about Danny Murphy took about a minute to pull up as it's in my post history findable with one keyword fwiw.

Id give that This topic can be open to a little more interpretative wiggle room due to assumptions that can be made based off of generalised observations or personal interpretation of what 'stepped down/back' even mean, but still, the ongoing statements from club, it's reps and reporters continuously go against those assumptions that mostly are quoted as being based off of

-tony being on twitter less
- owning another company
-firing someone else
- hiring portugues speaking people more
- being in the us

Except None of these require someone stepping back from overseeing Fulhams general transfer strategy,running analysis, watching tape, taking online meets etc. so just as easily I don't really get why you would die on the opposite hill either. No ones claiming Marco hasnt had a significant impact on the approach either. The 2 things aren't mutually exclusive.

I just find the sniping about TK so unnecessary. And think it a bit tiresome that on a thread celebrating how good we have it, we find ourselves with people still going out their way to discredit their favourite villain unprompted.

And as I've said before. If there was actual confirmation he had stepped down from recruitment process, completely fine, no qualms whatsoever, credit where its due to whoever deserves it. But it just doesn't appear to be backed by what the club continuously, say so I took find it all a bit baffling why people are so keen for it to be the case, and die on the opposite hill.
.
Anyway we've done this routine enough over the years. We see if different we know this by now.

Back to enjoying the recent success and this window, whoever's job it is to make it successful

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

Personal perspective on Woy v Silva is that this team is far more dangerous, but also more prone to mishap. You can rarely say a Silva game is dull, whereas you definitely could have said that under Roy.

Also we are now far more of a threat to the big teams than we were back then. Roy's success traded on extreme organisation and being difficult to beat.

Now it looks like we're planning more for the future in a way we didn't back then. ESR, King, Kevin, Bobb, hopefully a new 8 and a young striker, Munoz when fit.

Future is looking good. My vote is firmly in the now... we just need a cup run to back it up :)

[Angus Telford]

As per the quotes from yesterday's thread about the club planning the recent transfer approach. Which  had Marco directly stating it was the plan. Without any real need for additional creativity at all It pretty clearly debunked the idea the recruitment approach last few years wasn't deliberate and planned. No "fair enough" or acknowledgment followed.

Ok, my apologies for not acknowledging your reply on that thread. Again, I think it was you taking some selective quotes from Silva in bad English, and supplementing them with your own lengthy narrative interpretation about a "plan", which seemed a bit of straw man among other things, because no one was really suggesting we signed a load of 29/30 year olds accidentally. The issue was, was it a mistake not to focus more on younger players (and/or spend more ambitiously) sooner? I've given my opinion on that ad nauseum, you disagree - "fair enough". No debunking required.

[jayffc]

As per the quotes from yesterday's thread about the club planning the recent transfer approach. Which  had Marco directly stating it was the plan. Without any real need for additional creativity at all It pretty clearly debunked the idea the recruitment approach last few years wasn't deliberate and planned. No "fair enough" or acknowledgment followed.

Ok, my apologies for not acknowledging your reply on that thread. Again, I think it was you taking some selective quotes from Silva in bad English, and supplementing them with your own lengthy narrative interpretation about a "plan". Which seemed a bit of straw man, because no one was suggesting we signed a load of 29/30 year olds accidentally - the issue was, was it a mistake not to focus more on younger players sooner? I've given my opinion on that ad nauseum, you disagree, fine, but you didn't "debunk" anything.

As per the quotes from yesterday's thread about the club planning the recent transfer approach. Which  had Marco directly stating it was the plan. Without any real need for additional creativity at all It pretty clearly debunked the idea the recruitment approach last few years wasn't deliberate and planned. No "fair enough" or acknowledgment followed.

Ok, my apologies for not acknowledging your reply on that thread. Again, I think it was you taking some selective quotes from Silva in bad English, and supplementing them with your own lengthy narrative interpretation about a "plan". Which seemed a bit of straw man, because no one was suggesting we signed a load of 29/30 year olds accidentally - the issue was, was it a mistake not to focus more on younger players sooner? I've given my opinion on that ad nauseum, you disagree, fine, but you didn't "debunk" anything.

No worries,
But this is somewhat revisionist to put it mildly.The claim was and has been for a long time the club wasnt forward planning, Was buying old players only and it would be to the detriment of the club, even possibly resulting in relegation (with comparisons to former old teams) and even in some comments that the club were incapable of scouting younger talents from other leagues, Silva only caring about short term and not the clubs future . Looking at old posts I could pull receipts again here to show this all explicitly, not just or all from you, but we'd just get into more petty squabbles no doubt boring many, myself included

The refuting point was always that it had nothing to do with being incapable or short sighted...it was a pre planned choice that the club were working through by design,a planned path of stages of scouting and transfer focus. that we were establishing a core of premier league/experienced players to secure league status, then would likely sprinkle in younger talent or bigger risks to an established core once we were established. And that's exactly as it's playing out.

Having seen that press conference in its entirety someone arguing that's not exactly what Silva was confirming would be, frankly, arguing in bad faith. It couldnt really be clearer at this point unless one is willfully wanting it to be otherwise, which would be an odd want tbh.

The clubs claimed it all along with the language used in interviews regarding its approach to promotion this time, Silvas now confirmed it himself and the actions reflect it, but thats still not enough to just go...ya know what fair enough. Ever...we just have to move on to deflection and ad hominin or revising the angle of what people were saying through that time to make it seem like it was something else.

Ah well. As for was it a mistake to do it sooner, evidently not really, given we're in a thread asking if we've ever had it this good. 🤷

Might it have gone even better? Maybe, might it have gone terribly or no better than what's been, very possibly. We did try the wild spend approach under parker, so they took another route and it's working well. But it's a bit of an easy out leaning on an unfalsifiable argument that can't ever be proven or disproved. Instead we can only really go off of what did happen , which has been so far, that the club pre planned this and it's playing out pretty well. As reflected in comments from Wilson recently about what Silva told him the project plan was when he signed, and how essentially 'everything he's said would happen has been more or less what has happend'

I can hear the Angus and Jay groans, but hey it's been a while 😅

Back to the positivity. Hopefully a bobb announcement is just the ticket today 

[Sting of the North]

I get a strong feeling of deja vu... 

[Snibbo]

As well as Marco and his squad. I have to say  has to get a bit of credit as well.
Would you swap him for any of the other owners in the league?

No. We're very lucky to have the Khans, especially when you look around at some of the other owners

[Cambridge Away]

You can rarely say a Silva game is dull, whereas you definitely could have said that under Roy.

I never found a Hodgson game dull. Isn't that a narrative that comes from the far less refined Palace fans? IMO, only people who can't admire the art of defending could find it dull. I would say those people just lacked football intelligence to appreciate half of what the game is about

[SuffolkWhite]

I get a strong feeling of deja vu... 

Is this the new French striker per chance! I feel I've heard his name before some place.

[jayffc]

I get a strong feeling of deja vu... 

Is this the new French striker per chance! I feel I've heard his name before some place.

But can he play cm?

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

You can rarely say a Silva game is dull, whereas you definitely could have said that under Roy.

I never found a Hodgson game dull. Isn't that a narrative that comes from the far less refined Palace fans? IMO, only people who can't admire the art of defending could find it dull. I would say those people just lacked football intelligence to appreciate half of what the game is about

I used to play in defense, albeit badly. Doesn't mean I couldn't find, for example, a last minute 0-1 loss at home to relegation certs Hull in the depths of winter dull.