Felix on Rene--no philosophy

I'm not sure about this guy Wolfgang-Felix Magath.
From a coach with no managerial experience, to a manager with no English football experience.
The club have either made a very wise decision or the mother of all c@ck-ups.
Games are running out and we're bottom of the league.
It's points in the bag time.

 

That statement makes me wonder how long he has been observing Fulham's situation because it is dead on.

 

Well if he's spent half as much time watching Fulham video as the fans have trying to keep up with the ins and outs of staff since Friday, he'll have seen the Meulensteen catalog in full multiple times over.

I don't see anything to disagree with in Felix's comments. When you come to a club in a relegation fight you have to bring in stability and structure and Rene shot himself in the foot in that aspect on every front. Requesting Curbishley be brought in so early showed a lack of confidence in his own managerial abilities. Bringing in Wilkins was less of an issue, except they were practically joined at the hip on the sideline. You don't see that much from other sides. As his term progressed, we started hearing about Curbs conducting some of the training sessions. He couldn't settle on a formation, tactics or strategy, or any consistency in squad selection. He started off playing the old guard, then upon seeing they weren't getting it done, he went with more youth. This after already being here for a month where he should have had time to sort out a number of those issues just from observing Jol's team. The whole thing had a learn on the job feel to it and the only constant in his time here was that we conceded a boatload of goals.

I was listening to an interview with Dean Jones and he said that Rene had told him several times that the players' confidence was low and that he couldn't figure out how to turn it around. He said that once the first goal went in, the heads would hang and their belief in their ability to win would deflate. The more it happened, the worse it got. We went into halftime tied 8 times under Rene and only took 2 results (both wins, the last one on 1/1). In the second half of those matches, we conceded 17 while only scoring 4. In his comments to the press, Rene mentioned scoring first several times. Perhaps that might have helped turn confidence around, however, we scored first against both Liverpool and United and we still went on to concede multiple goals in the 2nd half in each match.

I know there's a lot of sympathy for Rene and a feeling by many that he would have eventually turned it around. We'll never know until he gets another gig and is given enough time to figure things out. But for a relegation team, he wasn't going to turn it around in time. Sure, we looked better against United and Liverpool, but that counter attack strategy doesn't work against the other bottom feeders. Rene had yet to show he had a strategy that would enable us to get results when we have to take the match to the opposition. And he'd yet to show we could slow the flow of balls into the back of our net, despite a number of different approaches.

People use Roy as an example of being given more time. But Roy inherited a team that had conceded 34 goals from 19 matches (1.79/g). In his first 13 matches, the team only let in 17 (1.31/g). Rene inherited a team that had let in 24 goals in 13 matches (1.85/g). In his 13 matches in charge, we shipped 34 goals (2.62/g). There were visible signs of improvement under Roy that just weren't there under Rene. The only thing we had to hang our hat on was that the effort was better. And even then, we didn't look like a side that could maintain a performance for a full 90'. I'm sorry, but that's just not good enough.

As for the lack of Premier League or English football experience, Roy had been out of England for almost a decade when he returned. Plenty of managers have come in recently and done well with no league experience. I'm sure there's something to be gained with the familiarity, but I doubt it's a make or break factor. Besides, the Bundesliga seems to translate well to the Prem, imo. In recent years, German players haven't taken long to adapt in England and German clubs have been very competitive in European matches with English clubs. I don't see why a manger wouldn't translate as well. Especially one with a focus on defense and discipline.

 

I have no choice but to feel optimistic about Felix at this point.

My problems have been with the rudderlessness (and yes, I realize I probably just made up that word) that we showed at the highest levels of the club. If even the players aren't aware who's in charge, there are problems. Was Rene really first choice? Were there doubts about his abilities to do the job? At what point was it decided he needed help, and who made that decision? At what point was it decided he (and his staff) weren't up to the job? Who made that call? All unanswered questions at this point. I'd just hate to think that, at the end of the season, the difference between survival and relegation could be the failed Rene experiment.

 

What's your starting eleven and bench then Don?

 

This is a lot of how I feel. I am so confused by what has gone on, have so many questions that I cant even articulate anything that could contribute to a conversation. It is mindboggling that the coaching and management of what used to be a small, well-run club has gotten to the point where nearly every step they take appears to be wrong or at best - one step forward and then two steps back. What bloodly happened? Remember when Roy was the manager. It seemed every move he and Ali Mac made was flawless. Remember when Sparky was here and he talked about how well the club functioned, the support he got which allowed him to just focus on managing the team. :confusion-helpsos: :confusion-helpsos:

It seems possible that the new kaiser can save us from relegation, but then what? He doesnt seem to be someone for the long haul and how on earth is the club/Khan affording all these firings and hirings?

 

That's not that far off of what I would like to see but I don't get Briggs at all. Personally I'd swap out Bent for Sidwell in the starting eleven and Woodrow/Briggs for maybe Kasami/Tankovic. I just don't see Fulham having the defensive cohesion to be able to play two up front. It will be interesting to see who Magath calls on

 

I agree with that completely Barry. I dont get what Kasami has done to be buried so deep. He is one of if not the most promising young player we have.

 

No kidding. Don't think I've heard you that upset over Fulham before. Unless you feel that Rene will be a great manager in time and that we are dead certain for the drop, no matter what we do, I don't get it. Even then, I still don't get it b/c I don't see it that way, but still, I'd rather see the club go down swinging than just accept relegation. That's way too heavy a price to hang on the hopes that RM might be a great manager...some day.

For me, the who isn't all that significant. I don't care who he plays if we stay up. We can set about sorting out the future in the summer, or once we're mathematically down. I'm more concerned with the how and want to see some defense and discipline to shape. But most important, is the what. We need results. Bottom line. We have far more options for starting to sort out the mess long term if we stay up.