Martin Jol - Did we dodge a bullet?

[ozzjim]

Houllier had a clue about passing, moving, creating chances etc. Eck struggles with that against anyone decent.


Eamonn, you are spot on with your JT comment timelines, and it was something we as fans had been bemoaning for months, and were appalled to hear a pro come out and say it directly.

Plus, if falling out with players is poor management, MON must have been a pretty rubbish one.

[Hookeysmith]

It was not just the tempo that MON played at - it was his lack of substitutional ability and insistance on draining every inch out of the first XI that always killed our seasons.
A lot of the old school managers do the same thing - they have a cast iron starting 11 and then cover that with players for injuries and suspensions

Its the opposite with Fergie and Wenger where they rotate their squads very well - even if they get slammed for it for not taking the cups seriously

MON tried this once (Moscow) and got slated and it was the begining of the end for him.
Makes me realise there is only so much motivational team talks anyone can do - to really excel in this game the manager needs a superb knoweldge of the game either player recruitment or tactical awareness

In that instance there is not a lot between AM / MON - aprt from MONS team always went forward

[Phil from the upper holte]

I dont get this I don't like the training method bollocks, I hate at work that they are constantly making me do stuff I don't want to do but they pay my wages, players would do well to remember this and realise they are bloody lucky to do what they do.

[Irish villain]

Poor displays this year
Senior players being vocal about training methods and coaching

He was fancied highly by a few on here

I actually think he is worse than Ginge - and thats saying something

Sounds like Houllier situation last season, a period which many are now looking back on with a certain fondness.

I don't look back on that with any fondness. Houllier had better players at his disposal than McLeish and the board backed him with cash in January. McLeish has been asked to work on a shoestring and has lost the likes of Ashley young, Luke Young and Dirty D (not saying Dirty D was a great player, but still, the fact that we lost two 'big players' and didn't replace both reduced Mcleish's prospects).On balance, Mcleish has done a better job than Houllier.

It's too early to make that call. Comparing the two home performances to ManUre, this season and last, they were worlds apart (I do acknowledge Young and Downing had great games in that match last season but we also had more inexperienced players on show that day than this season). McLeish had the easier fixtures at the start too.

OK, it's too early to call but remember we were deeply in the brown stuff all season until we won our last two games with McAllister in charge. Losing so many players in the summer and not replacing them left an expectation we would be in the brown stuff this season and we have been ok. Granted we have tough fixtures coming up, but I can see us frustrating some of those sky four teams and having a few points to show for our efforts.

The low points this season have been against Spurs and Man U. How many low points had we last year? Every other weekend.

[olaftab]

Martin Jol is a fine coach a lot better that our man. He is doing a good job at Fulham. He is working with a smaller budget that us and arguably lesser players. Their win v Liverpool was good and they were unlucky against Swansea. So we didn't dodge a bullett in fact the bullett is embedded in our head with the choice Randy has made.

[olaftab]

I dont get this I don't like the training method bollocks, I hate at work that they are constantly making me do stuff I don't want to do but they pay my wages, players would do well to remember this and realise they are bloody lucky to do what they do.

well said. Bloody shysters the lot of them.

[Concrete John]

Martin Jol is a fine coach a lot better that our man. He is doing a good job at Fulham. He is working with a smaller budget that us and arguably lesser players. Their win v Liverpool was good and they were unlucky against Swansea. So we didn't dodge a bullett in fact the bullett is embedded in our head with the choice Randy has made.

I'd argue the point about him having a smaller budget, unless Fulham also made a £20m+ transfer profit this summer.

[Chris Smith]

Martin Jol is a fine coach a lot better that our man. He is doing a good job at Fulham. He is working with a smaller budget that us and arguably lesser players. Their win v Liverpool was good and they were unlucky against Swansea. So we didn't dodge a bullett in fact the bullett is embedded in our head with the choice Randy has made.

We lost three quarters of our regular midfield in the summer, Jol has just had to carry on with the same players. He's had a much easier job of it and yet they're below us in the league.

[olaftab]

Yes they are below us and so they should be. We are a much bigger club. Yes we have lost some players but our current players are better than Fulham's.
Pound for pound  Jol is doing better than McLeish.

[Concrete John]

Yes they are below us and so they should be. We are a much bigger club. Yes we have lost some players but our current players are better than Fulham's.
Pound for pound  Jol is doing better than McLeish.

Such comparisons are hard to make, unless it's the lower spending club above the bigger spending one.  Where did they finish last season?  We've gone backwards player wise, yet (so far at least) maintained the same league position.

[SoccerHQ]

I think any manager is a success at Fulham if they never look like they're in serious danger of going down and progess in europe and Fulham look like they're comfortably on their way to both.

Jol is a bit like MON imo, can lift teams to a certain point like he did with Spurs when they kept on finishing 5th.

[olaftab]

Yes they are below us and so they should be. We are a much bigger club. Yes we have lost some players but our current players are better than Fulham's.
Pound for pound  Jol is doing better than McLeish.

Such comparisons are hard to make, unless it's the lower spending club above the bigger spending one.  Where did they finish last season?  We've gone backwards player wise, yet (so far at least) maintained the same league position.

Below us last season. Any coach keeping Fulham in the PL deserves credit based on their resources. They are not comprable to us and that is why I think both Hughes and Jol would have been a better choice for us  than Eck.

[Concrete John]

I accept they should be below us, but my point is that when they are it's harder to guage how far, mainly as I don't really know too much about their budget or squad value.  What I will say though, is that Jol inherited Hughes' squad and has done no better with them, where as Mcleish has inherited Houllier's, minus some key players and not been able to replace them, yet is still sitting where we were last season.  OK, long way to go and we may ultimately finish lower than 9th, but as of right now I don't think it's right to say Jol has done better based on results.

[Dave]

Yes they are below us and so they should be. We are a much bigger club. Yes we have lost some players but our current players are better than Fulham's.
Pound for pound  Jol is doing better than McLeish.

Such comparisons are hard to make, unless it's the lower spending club above the bigger spending one.  Where did they finish last season?  We've gone backwards player wise, yet (so far at least) maintained the same league position.

Below us last season. Any coach keeping Fulham in the PL deserves credit based on their resources. They are not comprable to us and that is why I think both Hughes and Jol would have been a better choice for us  than Eck.

Yet with more money, resources, local knowledge and better players Jol still did worse then Steve McClaren.

[Chris Smith]

Yes they are below us and so they should be. We are a much bigger club. Yes we have lost some players but our current players are better than Fulham's.
Pound for pound  Jol is doing better than McLeish.

What has Jol done? Picked more or less the same side as Hughes, it's a piss easy job compared to the one McLeish has had.