Speaking to fans in pubs, reading social media and talking with friends, it is clear that there is a sense of "disgruntlement", "confusion", "pessimism", "panic", or in some cases "realism" an quiet "optimism". The problem is, that this seems to be becoming a recurring theme, and is almost reaching the point of hysteria.
What am I talking about? The "should Slav be sacked?", or "where's the plan B?" debates that seem to rage on ad nauseum. We, as fans, have the right to our opinion on our beloved FFC, and we should accept the opinions of others whether we agree with them or not. But this should all be put into perspective, rather than rushing around blaming "this person" or "that person".
I, too, am probably becoming boring, as I have written about this before, but after watching the Barnsley win, it is becoming clearer where the problems lie.
I am one of Slav's biggest admirers, yet I find myself beginning to doubt some of his ideas. Whether this is because of the influence of social media or not, I cannot answer, but for the foreseeable future I am going to remain 100% behind the sullen Serb. Last season, in many fans eyes, he could have turned water into wine, as he led a small squad to achieving much more than we could have wished for. But, we would do well to remember that it was Leeds who threw it away. Granted, we had to go on that good run of form, but ultimately Leeds bottled it. There has been an argument that we cannot blame Kline because he was at the club last season also. What we don't know, is whether Kline's ego just got bigger and bigger and he started to exert more and more influence, as he got carried away with last season's success also. If Kline saw last season as a result of his methods, then he may have wanted more influence, but we will never know. Whether the "Slav out" camp like it or not, it is a fact that Kline unsettled the whole club. Do people really believe that once Khan had sacked Kline that stability would return overnight? It takes time to get a bad taste out of your mouth, and it will take time to get the club on a happier and more stable footing.
Watching the Barnsley game, it was too evident where many of our problems lie. Bettinelli is the fans favourite because he is an FFC man, rather than Button who is from the despised club up the road. Button would have to be twice as good as Betts before some fans would take to him. The problem is that both are good shot stoppers, but neither are great passers of the ball, and both look like they do not like high balls into the box. For me, Button is probably better at passing the ball out, because too often Betts kicks the ball out of play. Slav likes to play the ball out from the back, but does not have the keepers to do this, effectively. This also makes us more predictable, and teams know what to do against us. So, where's the plan B in this situation? Put simply......there isn't one, and there cannot be one when we do not have the correct personnel. If we go long, who can hold the ball up, or flick it on? Fonte can't and it is not his natural game against the lumps of defenders who we find in the Championship. Kamara doesn't have the technical ability to control the ball well, and big Matty Smith was sold (probably by Kline). And, much as I loved the effort of big Matty, he was not that great on the floor, apart from not being the quickest. If we want this option, then we need a Jordan Rhodes type of player, who has good technical ability an is also up to the physical challenge. If we could mix it up more, when the keeper has the ball at his feet, then we would be more unpredictable, but Slav needs the personnel to do this.
Another obvious thing is the form of Cairney. TC is our talisman and his obvious talent seems to have disappeared a little this season. Whether that is down to his injury, I do not know, but he seems to be playing a lot deeper in the last few games, trying to influence the game from the back. Last season he was almost playing in the number ten role where he was much more effective. My feeling is that Slav has given him a free role, and TC's natural instinct to run the show means he is dropping deeper. I, personally, would like to see him playing behind the striker/s where he can really hurt the opposition.
It is also worth watching how Freddo is being doubled up on more often when he goes forward. Last season, we had Aluko, who was capable of holding the ball up, with his trickery, allowing Freddo more space to get forward. As excellent as Ojo has been, he does not compliment Freddo in the same way as Aluko did.
It is also noticeable that the team are playing with a fear factor now, especially when taking the lead. I do not blame that on the coaching or the players, I blame it on the fact that we overachieved last season, and the players themselves are expecting too much of themselves, so that when we do go into the lead, there is a natural tendency to "get over the line" rather than go for the second goal which would give us a bigger cushion. Last season we could play without fear, because nobody was expecting us to reach the play-offs anyway.
Of course, there are many other areas where we do not look as effective as we did last year, but as many people have said "selling Aluko and Malone has had a very negative effect". If we do not replace such players with similar players, rather than players who have good stats, then it stands to reason we will not be as effective in these positions.
An excellent article in "Get West London" outlined a very good argument for sticking with Slavisa, using the example of Lee Johnson at Bristol City, who took them from flirting with relegation, last season, to where they are now. Knee jerk reactions very rarely work, and if the club have the right man for the job, then they need to give him time. And who is the alternative to Slav, anyway? We are not going to get Johnson down at the Cottage, and people who mentioned mangers like Pullis were living in cloud cuckoo land if they think he would come to us. We should also remember that the Kline business was well documented nationally, and how many respectable coaches would want to work under a system where they may have little say in who they can buy? Whether you are for the stats system or not, good coaches get a big say in the type of player they want, and I can see very few coaches who would want to put up with our current system, if it stays the same. Whether, you are in the "Slav out" camp, or in the "Slav in" camp, it is time to be realistic and understand that it is the Kline situation that has done most to ruin this season.
I sincerely believe that if Slav is given time and more influence we will be up there where it matters at the end of the 2018/19 season. For the moment I am sticking with Slav, and I urge every other fan to remember sometimes......"BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW"
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
COYWs
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Sometimes it feels like "Groundhog day".......Another Fulham defeat and social media is awash with "Bring back Betts", "Slav out", "Kahn's out", etc. etc.
Maybe I should just make my life easier and stop reading social media. There are too many knee jerk reactions for my liking, and everybody is looking for somebody to blame. I am in no way defending the club, the players or the manager for our less than inspiring first half of the season, but there has to be a little rationality, rather than us all turning on our beloved club.
Maybe we should try and analyse this, calmly-
THE KHANS
Ever since Al Fayed left, the club seems, at times, like a headless chicken. I have never been impressed by Americans owning English football clubs, as they want the American model of becoming too involved in the playing side of things. You only have to look at what Lerner did to Villa, and the Glaziers at Man Utd. The stand out instance, is the appointment of Magath, who was apparently recruited by an American sports promotion company. I may be wrong on what type of company it was, but he was definitely recruited under a stats style system, and we all know what a disaster that was. Thankfully, the Khans seem to have realised that knee jerk sackings don't always work (see Rene Mulensteen's short tenure). Their insistence on sticking with the crazy transfer policy of Kline and Tony Khan is another prime example of their ineptness at running football clubs. Whether you are for the stats system or not, it is clear that making the stats system as the sole criteria for signing players has not worked.
Even the new Riverside development looks like a joke. I would not pay to sit in a stand that looks like it is open to the elements. Why they did not stick with the original p;an is beyond me, but this is a side issue.
Where I will criticise them is for the "moneyballs" policy of not signing players over 28. Selling Aluko was an absolute joke leaving the team unbalanced and losing one of our more maverick players who can do the unpredictable. Because Aluko was 28, the board would not give him the contract length he wanted and they decided to cash in when they could. Slavisa also wanted Glen Murray, but wasn't allowed to look at him, because he was too old. I accept the idea of making FFC a sustainable business, but the "moneyballs" policy is sheer madness. The reason? We are in the Championship.....FFS, not the Premier league. If we are turning down players because they have no resale value, players who may just give us the extra to reach the Prem., then we may as well resign ourselves to Championship football for the foreseeable future. Promotion to the Prem. is worth £100 million plus, and even though I am not a business expert, even I can do the maths. Get Murray on loan, keep Aluko and lose 7 million, and maybe have a shot at promotion. Even I can see that we would still be way in profit if we reached the promised land that is the Prem. We as fans have a choice, accept we will always be a selling club, bringing through youth to sell and staying in the Championship, or we can ditch the rigid "moneyballs" policy and sign some players who have the nous to take us up.
Whatever the Khans are planning, and whatever their philosophy is, it doesn't seem to be working.
SLAVISA
I have always been a fan of Slavisa, and I still think he is the right man for the job. But, even I start to question some of his decisions, and Slavisa lovers can only defend him for so long. Slav made no secret that he wanted to keep Aluko, and it is clear that he had little, or no, say over signings. He obviously doesn't fancy Kamara or Djallo, and even Fonte doesn't seem to be too high on Slav's guest list. For me, Kline was the man who has made Slav's team selection so difficult, but Slav must also start to step up now that the Yankee clown has left. I would like to see Slav given more say in January, and if we can get who he wants, then we can start to scrutinise his selections. And, in reality, who else is out there, who would be tempted to come to the Cottage if we are mid table come February? People can argue that there are good coaches out there, but we cannot force them to come to the Cottage. For the Slav knockers, "be careful for what you wish for", or "better the devil you know".
In my, very humble, opinion, I would keep Slav and see who we can sign in January and next summer, and allow the unsmiling Serb a full season with HIS team, not Kline's team.
OUR DEFENCE
A debate that could rage forever. For too long we have had a porous defence, long before Slav, or Kit. I do not know if it the coaching staff, the manager, or our style of play, but something is amiss. Maybe it is just the mentality surrounding the whole club, maybe it is something deeper. Gus Poyet, said there was something deeply wrong with Sunderland, but he couldn't put his finger on what was wrong, and maybe it is the same with our defensive problems. It just may take some time to fix. Nobody can say Kalas is a bad player, even though he has not shone this season, and Ream and Odoi have improved. There is a definitely a problem, but if the professionals can't fix it, then I doubt us armchair coaches can fix it.
STRONGER DIVISION
We, as a team, overachieved last year, and rightly our expectations were greater, but it is clear this is a much stronger league than last year. The three defeated play-off teams, all sit mid table, us included. Wolves and Middlesbrough both spent big, even though the latter only sit 3 points clear of FFC. Villa spent money and already had a Premier league squad that wasn't dismantled. Virtually every club invested incoming money on players suited to the Championship. The big surprises at the top are Bristol City and Sheff Utd, but I don't expect either of them to maintain their high positions. FFC also spent some money on players like Fonte, but the majority of our signings do not know the Championship, let alone English football. Fonte is a flop, totally unsuited to English football, and Djallo looks out of his depth, not to mention some others like Kamara. We should have kept our squad (Aluko) intact, and strengthened with players who know English football, not players who tick the right boxes in the stats column. For this the blame lies firmly at Kline, and the Khan's door. Murray, or Abrahams, both wanted by Slavisa, should have been brought in to give us goals, but they weren't for various reasons. Blame Slav all you want, but he can only work with what he is given.
IN SUMMARY
Since the international break, we have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1. Defeat at Brentford is hard to take, but it is not the end of the world. A good little run will put us on the edge of the play-offs, and remember it was this time last year we started our season. We may all be getting a little jittery, but it is not all doom and gloom just yet. I for one will be 100% behind Slavisa and the lads come Saturday.
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IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
COYWs
© Nic Smith
