Fulham v AJ

"Johnson, who has scored 11 goals this season, has missed the last two games with a groin injury but is thought to be upset by Fulham’s offer.

He wants to stay at the club he joined in a £10.5m move from Everton in 2008 but feels he should not have to take a further pay cut following a reduction in terms last year.

Martin Jol’s side are short of strikers following Zamora’s departure and Pavel Pogrebnyak’s delayed arrival due to work permit issues."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z1lk12k3lL

11 goals. Hey that is great. Wait. When did he score those? Europe/QPR. Hrmmmm... Has AJ been a great up front player for us, sure. Do I get a bit turned off with his whole "They must be crazy" gesture, sure. So, where does that leave us? Do we sign AJ who we have rebuilt twice to a long term contract (2.5 years, yep that is long term) or do we let him go on a free over the summer. Maybe a promoted side pick him up, maybe a side that just made it by. But at the end of the day is he going to produce for Fulham?

I add my two cents and say let's see the metal of Trotta (not currently out on loan), Pog (oh goodness will he ever come), Dalla Valle (Blondie we stole from Pool), and Grimmer (yet another teen talent we acquired).

Jol's SOP was get the age of the side down. Let's say "side" means the first team and take a leap of Fulhamish and start the lads this weekend. No Huth, better chance they won't catch a cleat to the face.

 

Let him leave if he won't accept the terms. He is useless unless he plays against shit competition. He gives us a bit of pace, but I could find dozens of forwards who could do the same thing at half his wages. I would rather see what Trotta can do rather than keep him on the bench so AJ can miss chances.

 

I agree. As has been pointed out, ad nauseum, his stats were primarily against Europa League minnows and QPR. Time to move on.

 

HD, if that is indeed what they are doing, then I'm beginning to wonder about Fulham's immediate future in the Premiership. The club is sitting in 15th, has precisely ZERO strikers available that have Prem experience except for AJ. There are some bad teams down at the bottom, but we've all been around enough to know those teams will start scratching out W's. Why would you jerk around the only experienced forward we have??? It's beyond stupid. Seriously, is the goal to eek out 17th place? Keep going down this road, throw in a injury to Clint and we're looking at trips to the Bristol City and Watford next fall (and those 2 aren't on my list to get promoted).

Professional athletes above all things appreciate straight talk. You sit down AJ and tell him that he's not in the club's future plans, but that he will be given the opportunity to showcase his skills the rest of the way and can leave on the free. Honest talk gets honest effort. Bottom line, the club is not in a position to have continued dissension in the ranks.

 

It definitely seems as though Jol is making a concerted effort to reform this team as he sees fit. Bringing in Ruiz and Pog, sending Bobby on his way, and the unorthodox (well, for us) formations and squad selections. And it seems AJ doesn't fit in those plans.

Agree with Joe - if that's the case, then just be honest about it; sit him, play him, but don't make up stories about why he will/won't be around next season. Hoping this is the press blowing something out of proportion, but it seems they were right all along about Bobby.

Which brings up the very real concern about the next few months, to Joe's point. How quickly can we expect this team to be remade to Jol's liking? By this time last year, we had turned things around and were getting results. If we continue to flounder, I'm going to have to invest in some antacid.