I think you make some good points but….there is also evidence of deep incompetence on the part of Alistair Mackintosh. The club - under his leadership - has failed at basic things like communicating with the fanbase about pre-season friendlies or ticket prices (and managing the subquent crises created). This is not atypical - we’ve seen this kind of boneheadness over the past several years. Now, we see him mis-managing things with Silva where the club places a story (we don’t plan to make any moves) directly at odds with the publicly stated hopes of the manager they seem to want to keep and thereby humiliating him in the press (for reasons that are unclear but likely not very smart - burnishing TK’s rep, trying to fool trading partners?). It’s entirely possible that AM did this because he wants Silva out (because he is more concerned with consolidating his power than with pushing the club forward). This after continually failing to deliver earlier signings (or communicating with Silva about the club’s approach) when the manager has called publicly for earlier signings over multiple seasons. And the real kicker was the mismanagement of the Riverside Stand end (both with the vendor picked and the follow through) which has created huge financial challenges for the club and limited the budget for transfers (and created pressure for higher ticket prices). I think we may now lose Silva and have to play a season with a lame duck manager (who is the main reason why the players we have are here) because of AM’s incompetence. The only thing that AM seems to be good at, unfortunately, is convincing the Khans that he’s good at his job (so he gets to keep it). I hope, when Silva leaves, the Khans realize that he is not and also kick AM to the curb.
A great thing about Fulhamish - passionate people still capable of rational, reasoned thinking, and willing to say it out loud. Yes it's frustrating we haven't signed more/earlier, but this is the best full squad we've ever had. They are working for a manager who, if not our best ever, is in our top two. We are finally keeping our best academy players and signing them long term. We have a new stand that can make money 365 days a year, not just the 20 to 25 when we have home game. (And we should only really care about the Riverside on match days.) More than that it shows we won't have the ground sold from under us and end up watching games at Loftus Road again. The money the Khan's have invested in the facilities at Motspur Park have tranformed it - meaning we can attract and keep better players and bring more through the youth system. I know we all love a good moan, but let's save that for the important things: season ticket prices, the Hammersmith bogs, Andreas on free kicks and corners. These could be the best of times. (But it's Fulham, so I'm also ready for the worst.)
I think you make some good points but….there is also evidence of deep incompetence on the part of Alistair Mackintosh. The club - under his leadership - has failed at basic things like communicating with the fanbase about pre-season friendlies or ticket prices (and managing the subquent crises created). This is not atypical - we’ve seen this kind of boneheadness over the past several years. Now, we see him mis-managing things with Silva where the club places a story (we don’t plan to make any moves) directly at odds with the publicly stated hopes of the manager they seem to want to keep and thereby humiliating him in the press (for reasons that are unclear but likely not very smart - burnishing TK’s rep, trying to fool trading partners?). It’s entirely possible that AM did this because he wants Silva out (because he is more concerned with consolidating his power than with pushing the club forward). This after continually failing to deliver earlier signings (or communicating with Silva about the club’s approach) when the manager has called publicly for earlier signings over multiple seasons. And the real kicker was the mismanagement of the Riverside Stand end (both with the vendor picked and the follow through) which has created huge financial challenges for the club and limited the budget for transfers (and created pressure for higher ticket prices). I think we may now lose Silva and have to play a season with a lame duck manager (who is the main reason why the players we have are here) because of AM’s incompetence. The only thing that AM seems to be good at, unfortunately, is convincing the Khans that he’s good at his job (so he gets to keep it). I hope, when Silva leaves, the Khans realize that he is not and also kick AM to the curb.
A great thing about Fulhamish - passionate people still capable of rational, reasoned thinking, and willing to say it out loud. Yes it's frustrating we haven't signed more/earlier, but this is the best full squad we've ever had. They are working for a manager who, if not our best ever, is in our top two. We are finally keeping our best academy players and signing them long term. We have a new stand that can make money 365 days a year, not just the 20 to 25 when we have home game. (And we should only really care about the Riverside on match days.) More than that it shows we won't have the ground sold from under us and end up watching games at Loftus Road again. The money the Khan's have invested in the facilities at Motspur Park have tranformed it - meaning we can attract and keep better players and bring more through the youth system. I know we all love a good moan, but let's save that for the important things: season ticket prices, the Hammersmith bogs, Andreas on free kicks and corners. These could be the best of times. (But it's Fulham, so I'm also ready for the worst.)