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Paddy Vanderpant's avatar

It's a well written, but pretty provocative piece. I think the club deserve some credit for getting good money for Mitro and JP, and for locking down a number of contracts this summer.

But that said, you're entitled to your opinion Drew, so keep writing what you think. We don't all have to agree with you or try to persuade you otherwise!

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Drew Heatley's avatar

Appreciate that, Paddy! Probably a bit too provocative, but I was in the mood 😅

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Will Fry's avatar

Selling Muniz is giving me horrible 20-21 vibes, like we are going to end up with the equivalent of Cavaleiro and Maja as our only strikers.

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Mark trounce's avatar

I agree totally. Forget about how much money has been spent. If they didnt want to spend any, then get out of Premier League Football. This is big business!! OK, so we have to be sensible, but as transfer fees and wages increase you are always spending ahead of potential returns. Risk capital right! Not giving Muniz a new deal is crazy, then trying to replace him with someone unproven in the Premier League with someone expensive and on much higher wages... hmmm, well, that makes sense?? We are 3 to 4 players light in our squad. Improving our squad, would generally mean paying more for a new player. No business means, Silva will go, probably during this coming season. I can't see him publically moaning.. he has been let down and he will go. Let's all hope the powers that be are lining up players right now, who are about to join. COYW!

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Kevin's avatar

Sadly, have to agree. It looks like we hit the peek of the Khan's ownership and are now on a downward trajectory. Strange, as with the opening of the Fulham Pier etc, you'd think things were looking up. If Muniz does go, it'll be such a shame. The guy scores against the top teams and he should have been given a new contract an age ago. Time will tell all in the end, though this period does remind me of the last season before Fyad sold the club.

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Fulhamboy's avatar

Oh dear, calm down Drew. I've been a supporter for over 60 years and can tell you we are incredibly lucky to have the Khans as owners of the club. The club last made a profit over 10 years ago and the Khans have made losses of roughly -£417ml to this point. As an aside I remember watching us play in front of over 35,000 at the cottage during the 60s and some years later playing Scunthorpe and losing 1-3 in 1996 in front of just over 2000 fans. I was one of many who gave money around that time to keep the club afloat so be careful what you wish for! COYW's

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David Gregg's avatar

sorry but I think this is a neurotic piece that has no sense of the reality. We have seen in the past where we have bought players in a rush, and very few have persisted. And where are these players that we must buy at all cost irrespective of agents players and clubs. This is not championship manager. Everybody wants their piece of the action, Marco Silva should know this, and probably they are all playing games with newspapers agents and fans. Stupid stuff, expect better from Fulhamish

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Drew Heatley's avatar

Well maybe don't buy players in a rush all the time? Other clubs with smaller budgets shop smarter than us. So what is the excuse?

It amazes me that some fans have such an allergic reaction to criticism of the club. I think it is completely valid to say that the club has failed Marco. Do you think he would stay at a club for four years if he wasn't sold a promise? And you wouldn't imagine that promise involved continuously selling our best players.

We aren't Newcastle under Mike Ashley, or a lower league club in danger. No one is saying that. But those at the top value money in the coffers over trophies in the cabinet and that has been demonstrated year after year. If you're OK with that then fine. I'm not.

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David Gregg's avatar

Hi Drew, I am nearly 80 years old and am not allergic to anything other than time and gravity. I think we are all being taken for a ride over transfers and contracts etc, all of which is subject to whim. look at the current situation with Isak who is following the Mitrovic strategy of sulking and not playing. Isak will move just as Mitro moved. As for offering contracts to Muniz or not, it means nothing. If the player is good enough and wants to move, he will move.

What really concerns me about your article is the way it makes assumptions beyond the obvious, in that it is a suggests that the owners have an ulterior motive. All owners or their CEO's want income over trophies, they speak of nothing else. If they don't get the right players in, the owners of Fulham know what will happen, we will get relegated and income will drop, and the price of Fulham to any potential buyer will also drop. So what is the ulterior motive? To see Fulham relegated so that they can sell the club to a property developer? If that is the case then get the facts. Or is to sell players and recoup as much money as possible before selling to Rich Americans who don't have a clue? If that is the case then get the facts.

Or is it to spread rumours that so inflame the fans and owners that action is taken that ultimatly destroys the potential. I am refering to the strong tumours spread by Fulham fans that Jean Tigana was in cahoots with Agents and creaming money off the top. A rumour that resulted in us losing the best manager we ever had and a court case where Tigana quashed that rumour. A rumour started by so called Fulham fans !

my message to you and other podcasts is to think and be calm, there is a lot to get angry about with Fulham, but lets not get drawn into their political games. It happens every year to every club. Marco Silva is a good manager, but he has shown in the past that he will move on when it suits him and not the club. Players, managers, owners, they are not the club, we are.

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Drew Heatley's avatar

I hear what you're saying re: Tigana etc. But this is an opinion piece - as much as I'd love to turn the website into the Athletic, we don't have the resources, ha. As a result, we've always positioned ourselves as a site of opinions - an independent voice.

I felt strongly enough that we have not done enough for Marco Silva since he arrived. I believe that he will feel the same, and I believe he will go either next summer or earlier. Then there will be a lot to get angry about, because he's one of the best we've had.

Appreciate the comment and apologise for my initial 'guns blazing' response! As you could tell from the piece I was fired up!

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Lojo's avatar
3dEdited

Hi David - while I am not 80, I am up there! :) I think you are over reacting to Drew’s very good, useful piece. The behavior of the club toward Silva, which claims they want to retain him, is head scratching. That story that Drew referenced was clearly placed by the club and humiliated him and he is now likely to react. Perhaps, the club has decided it doesn’t want to retain him? Who knows. But this - and the strange mismanagement of the Algarve game and the visiting fans (on top of so many other management own goals) - makes me think that something very off with management of the club. Most relevant is the complete mismanagement of the Riverside stand project, which is still reverberating today (on the transfer strategy, high wage to revenue situation and ticket prices). It is entirely possible that dysfunction - rather than strategy - is driving this behavior (with Silva), so we will see. We need more critical pieces to push the club to at least communicate what they are doing with Silva and otherwise.

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Paul O'Connor's avatar

The yanks are wa.ks

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Bruce Robertson's avatar

Hi Drew, a very well written article that I fundamentally disagree with.

Marco may well not be here at the end of the season. This is not dependent on signings, he knows how the club works, but on whether he is presented with a bigger job eg. Manchester United. Of course he wants additional quality players -who doesn’t?

He knew exactly what was required of him when he signed: to re establish FFC as a Premiership side, knowing the squad and resources available- And, to redeem his own reputation.

He has been outstanding in achieving this goal, and accumulating the highest number of points gained in a season. Achieving European football through the league was the cherry on top of the cake, a romantic notion that, let’s face it, was unlikely. No Fair Play award this time.

But let’s say we had got over the line: It would have been a prime time to sell the club. Who knows to who, and that would not necessarily have led to stability or a benign owner.

And then preparing for European football:

Clubs who have bigger resources, and bigger squads: Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham had a torrid time last season, with poor league form; unhappy fans, full of frustration bitterness and resentment. And Spurs, who did win something for the first time in years, sacked their manager because of poor league form-Poor Form, but not entirely unexpected.

It will be interesting to see how Palace fare in the League. Playing on a Thursday is extremely difficult, no recovery time and likely to sustain additional injuries.

Come December, let’s hope they are depleted.

And then there is the investment required for a European campaign. Newcastle fans were up in arms for years with Mike Ashley, who cleverly worked out that the business model required to sustain a strong enough squad required a sovereign wealth fund - and sold to the Saudis, with all those political implications.

If fans are desperate for Europe there are lots of alternatives in London-No, I thought not.

I really do not get why there is so much disappointment, verging on grievance. TK and their recruitment Team have slowly built a sustainable squad, which should keep us in the middle tier of the table-Yay!

I’m sure they’ll be some toing and froing before the end of August.

Would love to see some more high profile scalps, and not play Robin Hood again this season - although that does add to the joy of being Fulhamish.

The only way for us to get into Europe is by winning a trophy 🏆.

What a dream that is - once again walking down Wembley Way

Not Europe, but winning a trophy that’s the Dream.

Then it’s time to check passport

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RW's avatar

This feels incredibly dramatic.

Yes the transfer window has been poor, but the club would be beyond negligent spending a fortune on players for Marco when he has shown no intention to sign a new deal. Say he got given £100 million to spend, spent it on largely players in their prime with no or low resale value (as he has largely done so far with us) and still didn't sign a new deal. We'd be stuck next summer with a squad of expensive players we couldn't get rid of unless we made a hefty loss while trying to attract a new manager. Had he signed a new deal last season then he'd have more cause for complaint, but he can't realistically expect huge investment with a year left on his current contract.

As for Muniz in particular, the guy has been with us for four years and has only really started to feature in the last two. His entire first season was basically a waste, as while we were battering sides left and right he still got barely any game time cos everyone seemed hellbent on getting Mitro his Championship record scoring season. His second season we loaned him out and he got almost no chance to play under Carrick at Boro. Then we get to the last two, where ideally when he was given the number 9 shirt last summer it should have been coupled with a new deal. But you could hardly blame him for not wanting to sign one when he had effectively played for 6 months in the three years he'd been at the club - and you could equally hardly blame the club for not wanting to pay him a huge amount if that's what was being demanded.

Do we need more players? Absolutely. But if Marco isn't gonna sign a new contract then we just can't spend big this summer.

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