David Bewley 1920-2013

David Bewley ist tot. Der ehemalige Fulham-Außenverteidiger starb am 6. März im Alter von 92 Jahren. Bewley spielte seit 1945 für Fulham, insgesamt 14 Partien absolvierte er während des 2. Weltkrieges. Alles in Allem verbrachte er acht Jahre am Craven Cottage. Er war mehrfach Kapitän der Mannschaft, unter anderem beim ersten Auftritt der späteren Legende Johnny Haynes in einem Freundschaftsspiel.

Sein einziges Tor für Fulham erzielte Bewley im März 1948 bei einem 3-0-Erfolg gegen Luton Town.
1949 wechselte er zu Reading, kam 1951 wieder zu den Cottagers zurück.

Ruhe in Frieden, Dave!

Jol in! Well, for me anyway.

So, the negative run continues. Fulham only managed a lacklustre 1-1 draw against Wigan. At home, that is. We have suffered from a severe dip of our (usually very good) home form and have only managed four wins at Craven Cottage this season.
People are starting the "Jol out" thing again. And that annoys me.

Ok, our form is definitely concerning at the moment. We're only six points away from the relegation zone, and have a tough fixture list coming up. However, it would be sheer madness to sack or let go Jol at this stage. I'll tell you why:


1. You cannot sack a manager during a transfer window. This would mean that we are a lame duck on the transfer market, unable to attract players and unable to sign anyone. Even in January, this would be a crushing signal.

2. We need stability. The consistent changes on the managerial position have cost us badly. This is a squad which contains the ideas of three (!) different managers, Hodgson, Hughes and Jol. That's why we don't see a team. We need consistency of we will never get out of that catch-22-short-term-thinking. We need a manager who is actually willing to build a TEAM. We don't see one at the moment, but a manager needs time to establish a fluid system. This takes at least two years.

3. We need a manager who can attract the players we need. Martin Jol has got excellent contacts within the game. Without him, the likes of Bryan Ruiz and Dimitar Berbatov, Mladen Petric and Mahamadou Diarra wouldn't have come to Fulham.

4. He is still an excellent manager. I disagree with some of his decisions, but overall he's done really well in both the Bundesliga and the Premier League. When people call him "clueless" I just laugh.

Concern - Jol In or Jol Out?

So what's the matter? I don't even see what he's done wrong that makes him deserve all that stick.

1. Is he responsible for the squad composition? Yes and No. Yes, he has done the transfer business and has managed to bring in some very good players.
While I think it was a mistake to bring in both Berbatov and Mladen Petric (both very similar, Petric a poor man's Berbatov), he has done some decent (and cheap) transfers.
I told you the other week that there must've been a clear message by the chairman that Jol and Mackintosh have to look at the self-sustainability at the football club. However, they were unable to keep the two Dems, Dempsey and Dembele, for obvious reasons. Dempsey wanted a last big contract, Dembele had the chance to get the big move he deserved.
We didn't replace them in time, and Jol was very upset about this. I can understand him. It was the club's mistake not to instruct him about the 15m-clause in Moussa's contract. A blatant mistake by the board.

2. Is this squad better than where it stands in the league? No, it isn't. We don't have too much squad depth, we've lost our head (Murphy), heart (Dembele) and arms (Dempsey) in summer and Jol is not to blame for a lack of funds available. However, I can also understand this board. We need to get on the road to self-sustainability. We've made a major minus during our first few Premiership years and why would Al Fayed throw all his money into a bottomless pit?

3. Is he trying to bring new players in? He definitely is, but obviously resources are limited. Don't talk about the 20m. They won't be reinvested, especially not now. It would be sheer madness to start the panic buying. I think Derek Boateng will give us a boost when he joins in February, he's a very composed footballer, very much like Dickson Etuhu, but with superior footballing skills and class.

I think we need possibly one or two additions in midfield and defence, but most of the squad rebuilding can wait until summer.


This is not the time to panic. If possible, we need to give Jol founds  and keep him as long as possible. Show some support and don't moan, we're in this together.

Keep Calm And Carry On
Mr Fulham

What's The Story, Twitterati?

Ok, this is a little different from what I usually do on this website. First of all, I've decided to do this post in english. Prior to the actual text, I want to apologize for my poor english. As you may already know, English is not my mother-tongue. So please excuse possible mother-tongue interferences. Thanks in advance.

Today, Fulham have beaten West Bromwich Albion by 1-2 in a crucial away fixture. Fulham currently sit 13th in the Barclays Premier League table, the victory against the Baggies was the first win after a lenghty spell without positive results for Fulham.

The cause for this post is a little different though: During the last couple of games, Martin Jol has tested young fullback Matthew Briggs in place of the out-of-form left back John Arne Riise. Briggs showed a steady performance during the loss against Swansea (1-2) and overall had a good game against Albion, albeit he was partly responsible for WBA's goal.

Albion's right back Billy Jones had a great game, caused havoc and showed decent dribbling skills ahead of their goal. Matty Briggs had difficulties against him. It's got to be said that he didn't get that much support from left winger Alex Kacaniklic.

Part of the group - Matthew Briggs (l.) celebrates Berbatov's opener.

Whereas he was definitely at fault ahead of Romelu Lukaku's equalizer, he made some vital interceptions and some good overlapping runs. It is clear that he's not the finished article yet, and it's obvious that he needs some coaching in terms of his marking. It's clearly not tight enough. Having said this, I think it is worthwhile to hang onto him. He's shown some good promise, is a strong lad and, whereas it's obviously too early to run the rule over him, I definitely think he deserves a decent run out.

As most of you will know, I'm a strong advocate of the youth at Fulham. In Alex Kacaniklic, Matthew Briggs, Kerim Frei and Pajtim Kasami we've got some decent prospects out there. Whereas the two wingers Kacaniklic and Frei received much pitch time during the course of the season, Briggs and especially Kasami didn't get much of that.

During the last couple of weeks, I had lenghty discussions about this topic with my twitter followers. As they will know, I'm all for more pitch time for youngsters. Today, I got a lot of stick because I defended young Matthew Briggs. I thought he did really well, especially in contrast to the recent performances of experienced John Arne Riise.


While I don't understand this, I can still see why it's annoying to bleed in youngsters. It's amazing though that many young guys on twitter think Briggs is 'not good enough' or even 'shite'. If you were in Matty Briggs' position, what would you prefer? A coach who gives you a chance to improve or a coach who drops you after one mistake? Clearly I'd prefer the former.

My reasoning is pretty simple actually. Play them and they will benefit from that. Is it really that simple? No, obviously not, but at times it's really helpful for a youngster to get first team minutes under his belt. They will make mistakes, but in my opinion it's still a lot better to play a 21-year-old who makes one or two mistakes in his first performances than a 33-year-old who - in addition - does earn a multiple of the young 'uns wages.

This aspect is important too, as owner Mohamed Al-Fayed wants the club to be self-sustainable in the longer term. Signing elder players for low fees is one thing - but players like Riise do earn around  40k/week, whereas younger players like Briggs only earn a fraction of that. You may even sell them on for a big fee - that's always the distant possibility around when you've got younger players with talent. We've seen this with Dembele. It can definitely be a worthwhile investment. Get them aboard for a relatively low fee and sell them on for twice as much. I think we should look at this instead of what we did before or what we're doing now.

While I agree with you - you need a couple of experienced players, a good core of a team - it is important to see the bigger picture. Fulham already have the oldest team in this division. In November, against Chelsea, the average age of the starting XI was almost 32 years! When Martin Jol signed for Fulham, in June 2011, he said that he wanted to make the squad younger. Well, up until now, he didn't do it. The upcoming January transfer window will give us no clue as to where he intends to take this squad, as it's not easy to get value for money during the winter window. I guess we'll have to wait until summer to see what Jol has in store for this team.

Another one who I fiercly defended and who I want to see in action again is 20-year-old midfielder Pajtim Kasami. Kasami, a swiss youth international, was signed from US Palermo, roughly a month after Martin Jol took over from Mark Hughes. Kasami had played more than 15 matches for Palermo in the italian Serie A and the Coppa Italia - as an 18-year-old, mind. Under Jol, he got regular pitch time during the first half of his first season. While he didn't 'shine', he did his job and wasn't to shabby. When the boys visited Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the League Cup, he even felt confident enough to take a penalty. Unfortunately for the young lad and for Fulham, he missed it. After the match the club imposed a £500 fine on the kid. After that, he never got another real look in. The odd cameo every now and then, but nothing more.

Starlet - Pajtim Kasami showed early promise for Palermo

Many people say that he's 'not good enough' or 'shite' - well, see where we are again - while I agree that he hardly set the world alight during his spell at Fulham, I find this reasoning rather odd. He did well for Palermo and he attracted the attention of a certain Martin Jol. I think it's a shame that he doesn't even get cameos anymore, especially with our depleted midfield.

I acknowledge that Martin Jol is a great football coach, but I'd like to think that the fact that we're down to the bare bones almost warrants a chance for Kasami to get another run out.

I understand where the critics are coming from, but a lack of experience and sloppy performances in youth games shouldn't prevent a player from regular pitch time. I can fully understand the kid, I would also get a bit annoyed when the coach continuously ignores me.

I agree, neither Briggs nor Kasami are the finished article, and they've got to learn an awful lot to be Premiership starters (Briggs' marking for instance) I reckon they'll only get better when they play regular football. Kasami has got talent, I've seen Serie A matches of him and a couple of youth matches too - he may only need some confidence.

People often underestimate how confidence can change a player. Throw them on, throw them on in difficult circumstances, and they may surprise you.

I for one think they deserve their chance, very much so. Even if they haven't shown yet that they can perform at the big stage.

Leon, if you read this, this is my 'whatever'.

Cheers,
Sönke (@MrFulham)