Magath Appointed first team Managaer

Well that was interesting. Thanks for the link. Rene strikes me as upset (rightfully so) but also a bit naïve there. If he thought Jol's sacking came as a surprise, he's the only one. Also, when you take over a team in a relegation scrap, there's no "wait until I get my guys". It's about survival and making chicken salad out of chicken shit. If you can get some guys in to improve the quality in January, that's gravy. Clearly he felt he'd signed up for a long term project, regardless of results, and the club felt otherwise. Whether that was a misunderstanding, a panic move or a change in plans on the club's part, we'll likely never know. Glad he cleared up the Wilkins and Curbs bit...again. Maybe now people will stop with blaming them for the performances and giving Rene a pass.

I wasn't impressed with the radio guys wanting to press the meme about foreign ownership. I don't know why there is this delusion in England that foreign owners don't understand the game or the circumstances. Fans may not agree with the nature of the business and the direction it's gone in, but then the stakes aren't what they once were either. The hiring and firing of managers, and their willingness to move on at the drop of a hat, is universally the same across all clubs, regardless of ownership. Last I checked, Mike Ashley wasn't born in Boston, Belgrade or Beijing. He was born in Buckinghamshire and he's made a mockery of the Toon on many occassions. I heard something earlier where they were counting off the longest tenured managers across all 4 tiers of the English football league and Wenger was 1, Paul Tisdale of Exeter was 2 and Mark Yates of Cheltenham was 3. They are the only managers to last longer than 3 full years (not seasons, but years to date from date of hire). Alan Pardew is 6th (2nd in the Prem) at 3 years, 68 days. There are only 9 managers who have been in charge for more than 2 full years...across 92 football clubs. That's not a foreign thing, it's just a football thing. And more to the point, a money thing.

 

Just messaged the chairman: enquiries@fulhamfc.com
Doubt he'll read it, but someone from the club will.

Dear Mr Khan,

I, and a number of Fulham fans, were extremely disappointed that Rene Meulensteen was not thanked for his services to Fulham Football Club, or mentioned at all, in the statement issued on Friday 14th February (http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/febru ... -appointed).

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your other efforts on behalf of the club, especially the removing of the Michael Jackson statue.

Regards

 

From what I've read this morning, I think the reason they haven't publicly mentioned Rene yet is the fact that they haven't actually sacked him. He's still technically under contract, on the payroll, pending some sort of negotiated departure terms. Guess they didn't want to give his lawyer any bargaining chips one way or the other. Still, classless.

 

Sounds like something like the Leeds saga.
I have a lot of time for Meulensteen and it's not being handled properly by the club.

 

It may not be a matter of foreign ownership, but one of naïve ownership, a matter of whether Khan knows how to handle this situation. When he took over, there were several people asking, considering the consistent poor performance of the Jags, how Khan would handle a relegation scrap. This, after all, is not a league where you can rebuild over the long-term. In most American sports, you're rewarded for poor performance (see the pundits who suggest that the L.A. Lakers deliberately tank the rest of their season).

As I mentioned before, this really reads like our owner not knowing exactly how to handle the situation and pushing a panic button. We're not winning??? Sack the manger! Shoot, we're still not wining?? Do it again! It seems a desperate, clumsy move from someone without the requisite experience and wisdom to know how to act in this situation. You'd hope there would be enough collective wisdom in the backroom staff, but ultimately it's the man with the checkbook making the decisions.

So no, not a matter of foreign ownership, but one of inexperienced ownership.

 

Spotted Clint in at least one shot in there, so he's still there, not on a jumbo jet bound for the Pacific Northwest.....yet. The question is, will he see the pitch again for Fulham.....ever?

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...y-and-ray-wilkins-leave-their-roles-at-fulham

There's a video link in there as well and in it, the reporter says that Curbishley left early and Wilkins hasn't been at Motspur in several days. However, Magath and his staff (Bernd Hollerbach and Werner Leuthard) have been. Not in the piece, but Rene hasn't been anywhere near training since the announcement either, so it would seem a good bet he is departing as well, as he first said on Friday.

 

So from what we've heard, it was Khan's decision to make a change from Meulensteen, but Mackintosh's recommendation for the appointment...which Khan signed off on. As I've said before, I'm certain this was all decided in advance of the United and Liverpool matches and we'll never know if Meulensteen could have saved his job with any combination of results from them. Obviously those results attained weren't enough.

The way this has played out in the press has been a mess. I don't think that's Khan though. The whole scenario around Meulensteen, from bringing him in as head coach under Jol, to putting him in charge of first team duties while going out of their way to NOT identify him as the manager, to functionally replacing him without sacking him, has Mackintosh's fingerprints all over it. We've seen this type of thing at Fulham for the last 3-4 years with the handling of Mark Hughes, player renegotiations/contract extensions and the Dempsey saga, to name a few. The club have operated in a more cut-throat, bottom-line oriented and somewhat manipulative manner that is a departure from the way Fulham were reputed to handle their business in the past. That period extends across 2 ownerships groups, with the one common link being Mackintosh. Obviously the owners have to allow him to do this and the circumstances and restrictions he's been placed under may contribute greatly, so I'm not suggesting they aren't in some way culpable. But to point fingers at Khan alone is to take a cursory viewpoint of the situation, imo.

Can't say I know the first thing about Danger Mouse other than I've heard of it, but that Penfold character does bear a striking resemblance to our new manager. Good catch.

 

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/spor...s/riether-backs-magath-succeed-fulham-6719261

Not if you don't stop making ill advised tackles in the penalty area near the end of tied matches, ya' goofball. I'd might want to decline press opportunities for a while after that bone headed play, at least until I've done something to redeem myself in the eyes of my teammates and supporters. Until then, STFU.

 

Between there being no games, Valentine's Day, and birthdays to celebrate I took a a little break from footy news and came back to a full blown soap opera. Rene deserved better, even though he probably wasn't the right choice in the first place. Is there enough time and more importantly is there enough leadership amongst the players to pull it together and survive?

 

Finally some official announcements. René Meulensteen, Alan Curbishley, Ray Wilkins, Mick Priest and Jonathan Hill are all out. Tomas Oral in as First Team Coach and Werner Leuthard as Conditioning Coach.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/february/18/first-team-staff-update

 

And thusly, the technicalities have been concluded. Now, down to the business of staying in the bloody top tier!

COYW!

 

Why doesn't the club skip the foreplay and just name Redknapp manager? If it didn't mean relegation this is all quite comical.