Fulham have just released the prices for the season tickets for 2018/2019, and there has been a very big increase in the prices. On social media there have been cases put forward, both for and against the price hike. For example my season ticket in H7 has risen from £349 to £599, an increase of £250. So, can the club justify this?
The argument for, would be, that for far too many years we have been excessively cheap as a football club, which is very true. Another argument would be for us to compete in the Prem. more revenue needs to be coming through the turnstiles every match. Both of these arguments would hold up very well in any debate, as the club not only wish to be successful, but also need to be sustainable as a business model.
However there are arguments against this price hike. In reality we are a club with the same draw as Crystal Palace and a similar seat to mine would cost £480 at Selhurst Park, which is about £100 cheaper, and forget about the comparative locations of the two clubs. The main argument for me is, that even if £599 is a reasonable price for Prem. football at the Cottage, then a massive price hike in one go is unjustified. Many fans will look at the price hike and think "no thanks, that is too much of a jump". In the past few years there has been a nice increase in the amount of young adults coming to follow the club, home and away, and that should be welcomed as old gits like me won't be around forever. I don't believe that all these new younger fans are in jobs that pay fortunes, so will the new price deter them, also? Furthermore, we struggled to sell out near the end of our unbeaten run, so I am not sure whether we will sell out many times, apart from against the big clubs. I cannot accept any argument that the big fans will help fill the stadium, because I would rather have FFC fans in the ground than away fans. There will be fans with reasonable salaries, who will probably say it is justified, or take the attitude of "I'm alright, I can easily afford it", but do they want to sit in a ground with no atmosphere eating salmon sandwiches with fans who aren't real fans? Or....maybe they do. On social media, earlier, a fan wrote that he had not taken up his early bird offer because he was skint at the time, and I fully understand if he is now thinking against renewing given the big jump in cost.
I, personally, renewed with the early bird offer, so this price hike does not affect me, and in truth I would have probably still renewed, even on my poor wages. But, I also understand that there will be fans who are thinking twice about it now, especially as you can stream every Prem. game in your own home for free.
In conclusion, I can see why the club have implemented this big increase, but I also think it will have adverse affects on the club in the long term. The club should have handled this better and not almost doubled the prices in one go. What should have been done is, steady price increases over the course of two or three seasons, where the effect would have been negligible and less noticeable.
Anyway, that is my two bob's worth and every single fan is entitled to draw their own conclusions (unless of course there are some typos on the club website......fat chance).
FTID
COYWs
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
© Nic Smith
Hopefully this will be my last blog I write whilst the Whites are in the Championship. Some of you may have enjoyed my blogs, some of you will say " Who is this self righteous wan*er, spouting off his opinions about our club". Do you know what... we all have an opinion and who cares if we don't always see eye to eye... at the end of the day we are all one big happy FFC family.
I was a teenager the last time Fulham were at Wembley...drinking in the King's Arms in the morning and being silly, attacking West Ham cars after the game outside the Golden Lion. Every single moment of those long ago years are cherished by me, and a few unnamed people who may read this blog were also there at the time. And now, the conclusion of an amazing season is upon us all...as the White's approach our own personal judgement day.
I was going to write a match preview, but for superstitious reasons of my own, I cannot tempt fate. Before the Derby game, I predicted the score to myself (no, I cannot prove it), and I was correct. Again I have a feeling about tomorrow's result, and again I am keeping it to myself. It could be good news or it could be bad news, but I won't tell anybody.
I have been buzzing all week, but today I didn't think about the match too much... maybe the anticipation has numbed me, but reading the posts on various social media has made me proud to be part of this amazing club, and even more so to be a part of our family of supporters, some of whom I still see from that day in 1975. It wasn't our time back then, but our time will come and we will be celebrating outside the Golden Lion, still being silly but without the aggro.
Will I sleep tonight? Who knows and who cares? Tomorrow is all that matters, not my sleeping problems. I am certain many of you will be feeling the same, and like me you won't care as long as the boys go out and play at our best without fear.
Is this all garbled nonsense that I am writing? Possibly, but I cannot think clearly as all I can think about is watching our beloved Whites at Wembley.
So I will end with a few phrases.........
FTID
COYWs
London's Original
Mitro's On Fire
and most importantly..
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST.
COME ON YOU WHITES.....WE BELIEVE.....
© Nic Smith
In the league a 1-0 win would have given Derby 3 points, but in the play offs it gives Gary Rowett a tactical dilemma. It is impossible to see how Derby can possibly "park the bus" for 90 minutes, as they did for the entire second half on Friday night. If we went 1-0 down, at home, in the first minute of any game we would still have faith that the Whites would recover to win.
For Fulham, there is no tactical dilemma, other than not getting caught on the break, but that is exactly the same as any of our home games since Bristol City at home. Most teams have come and sat behind the ball, waiting for a counter attack. Only Sunderland played with freedom against us, but they were already doomed and had nothing to lose. Slav can tell the boys to go out and play our normal game, and not to panic. If after 60 minutes, it is still 0-0, then he can throw on AK, and other attacking options, but that is something the lads are already used to. So for me, Slav has the easiest of tactical decisions to make.
Rowett on the other hand must decide whether to stick or twist, or something between the two. He may opt to try and get another goal, early on, whilst being cautious, and for me that is his best option. He cannot tell the Rams to attack us too much as he knows we will have lots of possession and we also like to play on the break. He could decide to sit back for the first 45 and frustrate us, but that is risky, because even against a tight defence we can still score, and after Friday Slav will know how they will set up to defend. The biggest problem for Rowett is what happens if we score late in the first half. A goal before half time, changes his tactical talk, and does he take the risk of leaving his defence more open whilst chasing a goal. A 1-0 home win in two legged fixtures is always the toughest result, other than a defeat. Even a draw is better than a 1-0 home win, despite the obvious advantage. Tactically Rowett has a massive dilemma on how to approach the game, and also on what contingency plans to put into action when Fulham score, as i believe we will. Rowett will know all of this, but it is still his dilemma.
I am not going to make any prediction regarding the score, because I do not want to tempt fate, and like all the Whites' faithful I am nervous as hell. I think that Derby will press us high up the pitch early on whilst keeping men behind the ball. I cannot see a repeat of the last 30 minutes on Friday when their furthest forward player was 10 to 15 yards inside his own half. Fulham will stick to their normal patient passing game early on, and many of our fans will get frustrated by it. We need to take our time and slowly force them to defend deeper, and we are used to doing that. I expect Derby to tire and as long as they do not get a first half goal, then they will defend deeper and deeper in the second half. Even though I am not convinced by AK, if it is 0-0 in the second half then it will be time for him to be thrown on, up top with Mitro, so that their big centre backs have more to worry about. Predicting this is difficult, but deep down, I have a feeling that after 90 minutes us Fulham fans will be thinking about going to Wembley to get one over on that Pikey they call Terry.
Whatever happens tomorrow night, we are Fulham, and we will always be Fulham.
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
FULFORCE
STILL BELIEVE
COYWs
© Nic Smith
Fulham's 1-0 win at Boro' has been described as many things, most notably "a robbery". At least that is what Tony Pulis and the Boro fans are saying. Yes, on the face of it, Boro had the better chances and a good shout for a penalty, but even if I take an impartial stance, I think the Whites deserved the win. Why? for several reasons.
Gestede and Braithwaite both had glorious chances to score, but neither did. People can argue all day long that Gestede finished badly, or that either should have shot earlier (or gone around the keeper). But, where is the credit for Betts when he came rushing out, made himself big and forced Gestede into a rush decision? Braithwaite's chance was tougher as he was not so much in the clear, and again Betts made himself big, and with Kalas closing down also, the chance became more difficult. There are 11 men on a football team and Betts is one of those. So, to say the two Boro strikers missed sitters, is an injustice to Bettinelli. Other than that, in a first half where Fulham didn't get going, Boro did not have a shot on target. The biggest danger in the first half came from the impressive Traore, who gave Sess a torrid time, but luckily his skill is not complemented by a good end product.
In the second half, the Whites looked much better, and some of the passing and interplay was similar to the excellent results at the back end of last season. Then we come to the penalties. The foul on Braithwaite, by Kalas, was a penalty. But, if you see it from the ref's point of view, Braithwaite put his arm around Kalas' neck. I can imagine in normal time and from where the ref was standing it must have looked like "six of one, and half a dozen of another". The law states that if in doubt he cannot give the pen, and had Braithwaite not put his arm over Kalas' neck then the pen would have been given. Our pen, was soft, but the replays show that the defender's foot clearly made contact with Norwood's foot. Norwood had every right to go down, and he promptly gave us the win from the spot. So, two definite penalties, but one easier to give than the other from the ref's point of view.
We shouldn't forget that Sess and Kalas both got into scoring positions, so we had our chances also. The possession stats of 63% to 37%, in Fulham's favour, are excellent given the talent at Pulis' disposal. Credit must be given to the FFC players for continuing to look for the win in the last 10 minutes,when many other teams would have shut up shop against a strong Boro' team. Every team needs a little luck, now and again, but I think the Whites' made their own luck yesterday.
We come to the two managers and their tactics. I think Slav probably played Sess at left back to try and counter the pace and skill of Traore. In the second half, the introduction of Kalas for Ojo, who was not at his best, allowed Sess to move forward and Odoi to slot in at left back. It was also noticeable that Pulis moved Traore over to the left wing, which gave Sess and Odoi, less to worry about defensively. Why Pulis did this is a mystery, given the torrid time Traore gave Sess in the first half. Maybe it was to try and halt the forward runs of Ryan Fredericks, but only Pulis knows why. The end result of this switch, was that Traore was not a threat, and his only involvement was chasing back as Ryan marauded forward. Whether Slav made the switch before Pulis made his switch, I do not know, but I do know that Slav's switch worked and Pulis' switch did not work.
All in all, whatever the players are feeling, even if they think we got out of jail, the fact they we won at one of our stronger rivals, will give confidence and freedom for the rest of the season. One word of caution, is that Burton are better away than at home, and Slav will be instilling in the players, the need for concentration and not to become complacent. The words "banana skin" spring to mind, but I have faith that the Slav and the lads will have already thought this.
MOM- Kevin McDonald.
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
COYWs
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© Nic Smith
Body language is always a bit of an enigma, and no matter how much we think we can tell from it, we can also read it incorrectly. I am certain I am not alone, in that when watching FFC, I occasionally look to the touchline to see what the manager is doing. As much as Kit Symons was a fans' favourite, his body language always concerned me. Every time I looked, he stood, hands in pockets, almost static, and totally emotionless. That was why I always questioned his ability as a true football manager. There is a big difference between being a good coach on the training ground and being a good match day manager of players.
Slavisa Jokanovic is, by nature, a private person, so he is never going to be as animated as a Jurgen Klopp or Conte (replace the "o" with a "u"). But, there is an obvious, underlying passion inside the Serb. What is noticeable, since the departure of Kline, is how much more animated Slav has become. Under the Kline era, he often stood, hands folded, with only the rare waving of his arms. However, since the departure of Kline, I have noticed how much more animated he has become, even at times (against Hull) standing outside his technical area gesticulating at the players, officials and opposition bench. And would he have made those two substitutions against Hull if Kline was still around? This may all seem trivial to many fans, but I view it as a shift to Slav feeling more in control of HIS team.
I do not claim to be some expert psychologist, but I can draw from my own experiences and observations. How many of us cannot say there has been a time when we know what is the best way to do our jobs, only to be hampered by a boss, who tells us to do it in another way? I have seen it where workers are trying to do their job and being given the wrong tools or told to do it in an non-productive way. The workers become frustrated and that is mirrored in their mood and body language.
This may all be conjecture, on my part, but I sincerely believe that Slav feels more in control and his body language portrays this. Some could argue, that as a professional he should just get on with his job and that would be true if he was a robot and not a human being. Slav would get another job tomorrow, and it is to his credit that he suffered for so long under the clown called Kline. Kline was without doubt an egomaniac and wanted to even sit on the bench on match days. I can understand how Slav might have been thinking "what is the point?".
As much as I have criticised Khan, in the past, I think he is wise enough to know that he needs to give Slav more control, and even though Khan Jnr. will have an influence, I believe that Slav is a much happier man now.
The January transfer window will show us how much control Slav has, but if body language is anything to go by.......................................
I would like to wish all FFC fans a successful new year, and let's hope Slav and the players give us something to cheer about come May.
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IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
COYWs
© Nic Smith
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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© Nic Smith
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
