After watching last night's flat performance against Wolves, it
would have been easy to make a knee jerk reaction, calling for "Slav
out", or "Khan out". Social media was awash with "who's to
blame", "so and so is useless", "next manager?", and
the obligatory "no plan B". We are all entitled to our views, and we
all feel that we are possibly correct, and that everybody who does not agree
with us are talking nonsense, or "they don't understand football". In
reality, we are all correct, but on Monday I will return to my job which is not
as a coach of a Championship football club, and everybody else, who complains
on social media will go back to their jobs as plumbers, bankers, teachers etc.
etc.
The point is, that while we
are entitled to our view, we should remember that the coaching staff at FFC
have much more knowledge and experience than any of us. Playing FM or FIFA does
not make us good coaches, in fact it makes us worse coaches, because we are
learning how the software can make our teams better, and the software does not
take into account the intricate nature of human beings and their interaction
with other human beings.
This morning I read an
excellent article by Danny Fullbrook which can be found here- http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/11/slavisa-out-why-fulham-fans-should-keep-the-faith/. I
tI agree with Danny to a
certain extent, especially in that we should keep faith in Slavisa and his
methods. So please indulge me and allow me to share my "objective"
views on why we should not rush into anything with regards to our club's
dilemma. Anybody who has read my previous articles will know that I am a big
fan of Slavisa, and I am certain that with the right personnel we could have
pushed on from last season.
Signings-
The
"who buys the players" debate will probably go on forever, but it was
clear that Kline had too much say on who we bought. Slavisa bemoaned the fact
that he had little say on transfers repeatedly, and I disagree with those
people who said "he was just moaning". Why would Slav moan just for
the sake of it? There is no logical argument for anybody to make that
assertion. It is obvious that the coach was being overruled on any decisions
regarding signings. That is something that needs to change, and now with Kline
gone I am certain that Slav will be given much more say. Unfortunately, he only
has the "difficult to buy anybody" January transfer window this
season. If Slav stays until next summer, then I expect some much better
signings.
Aluko and Malone-
The worst
bit of business the club did in the summer was selling these two. Although
Aluko was not a great goalscorer, he gave us something different and Ayite (who
has gone backwards) will never replace him. Slav knew how integral Aluko was to
the team and went public saying he did not want the club to sell him. Malone
was a strange sale, because we had nobody to cover left-back. Whether we could
have kept Malone, because of the lure of Prem. football, or not, is difficult
to say, but he should have been replaced straight away, and by somebody who was
fit. Fundamentally, these two players gave the team balance, and allowed
Sessegnon to play in his natural role of left wing-back.
Strikers-
Put simply,
we needed two strikers, one big striker and one box striker. What we got was
Fonte and Kamara, neither of whom has stood out. £8 million for Fonte was a
total waste of money. One good season with Braga, in the Portuguese league was
never going to make him a good player in the much more physical Championship.
Apart from one excellent finish at Ipswich he has done nothing of any
significance. Kamara has no real pedigree, having played for Monaco B, and
Amiens in the lower leagues of French football. Nobody can claim that outside
of 5 or 6 clubs, most French clubs would not struggle in the First Division let
alone the Championship. Kamara looks clumsy, slow and unable to hold up the
ball. What the club needed to do was to buy proven players from the
Championship or the First Division, who understood the physical demands of
English football. Even keeping big Matty Smith would have given us an option to
switch to "plan B".
Plan B and tactics-
"Plan
B" now seems to be the only thing on FFC fans' lips, and rightly so. But
let's look at the facts. Firstly, what is "Plan B"? It's all very
well shouting for "Plan B", but we have to back it up with what our
vision of "Plan B" is. Is it to go more direct? If so, we need a
front man who is big enough to win the duels and hold the ball up. That is one
luxury, Fulham FC do not have, so that option would just give the opposition
the possession all of the time. We could go with our wingers in more advanced
positions, draw teams on to us, and then release the wingers down the channels
with balls over the top. The problem with that is, that Sess and Fredericks would
have to play more defensively, as they could both be exposed with less cover.
We could go 3 at the back- tried and failed against Bristol City. We could go 2
up front, which has been mooted by some fans, but we need complimentary
strikers to do that, which we do not have. And, that option would leave us
short in midfield, in a league where most teams play with 5 in midfield. The
options for "Plan B" are endless, but we have to have the players who
can compliment the tactics, and new tactics take a long time to instil and
implement. Virtually every team presses us high up now, because they have
worked us out, and we need a different option to stop this from happening, but
Slav and his coaching team can only work with the materials (players) they have
got at their disposal. I am certain that Slav and his team know exactly what we
know, and they are working hard to do something about it.
High expectations-
Last season
we came from nowhere and suddenly, we all thought 'next season we will push
on'. We were on a roll and we expected it to continue. Maybe, just maybe, we
over-achieved last season. Maybe, we weren't as good as we thought. Maybe, we
were too over-reliant on Tom Cairney who stayed fit. My prediction at the start
of the season was 7th to 10th, with an outside chance of the play-offs. The
summer signings had not inspired me to think we could finish top six, let alone
top two. That does not make me some "expert after the fact", but I do
think we all got carried away. After all, if Leeds hadn't messed up so badly,
we wouldn't have made the play-offs at all.
Overall reflections-
The players
look drained of confidence, but I do not think that is down to Slavisa
"losing the dressing room" as some have suggested on social media.
Maybe the players were, also, buzzing from last season, and when you are on a
high and things don't go well it is easy to become incredibly despondent, and
start to question yourself and you ability. It is obvious from press reports,
that Kline was a very disruptive "human being", and he may have upset
too many people around the club. Modern football teams are very close knit
operations and if one person is p**sing everybody off, it can have a massive
effect. The fact that Shahid Khan got rid of Kline should not be
underestimated, as it shows he is behind the coaching staff, rather than his
son's best mate. With Kline gone, and an international break, we have time to
gain some stability inside the club. We would do well to remember, that it was
this international break that was the catalyst for our excellent run last
season. A couple of wins on the bounce and the confidence will come back. Now
is not the time for knee-jerk reactions, and as fans need to back the coach,
players and club. I, personally think Slavisa is the best man for the job, and
bringing in a new coach will mean the season just drifts away as the new man
would need a lot of time to instil new tactics.
*This article is meant as an opinion, and is not intended to deny the opinions of others*.
Our facebook group is open to new members and can be found here- https://www.facebook.com/groups/FFC.Ambition/
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
COYWs
FTID
© Nic Smith
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