Former Fulham full back George Cohen says Martin Jol can keep the good times rolling down by the Thames.
The England World Cup winner, who made 459 appearances in thirteen years during his Fulham career, says that the Dutch manager has all the attributes to continue the steady progression that the Cottagers have made under Roy Hodgson and Mark Hughes in the past couple of years.
I think he is a good appointment. He did reasonably well with Tottenham and got them into the top five. He’s been around, he knows what’s going on, including in England, and he’s an experienced man, which we do really need.
I understand he’s a very personable man, enthusiastic, gets on with people – and that’s what you’ve got to be able to do as a manager. If you get a team that wants to play for you, you’re halfway there.
Cohen praised the Fulham board for their swift action after the sudden departure of Hughes, who resigned last Thursday. Jol, reportedly Fulham’s first choice to replace Hodgson a year ago, signed a two-year contract yesterday and will now be in place to oversee the club’s European campaign, which begins on June 30.
The board have acted very quickly; they’ve been very decisive. They’ve got it right on the last two occasions and there’s no reason to suspect they haven’t got it right here.
He’s going to have to find out what kind of team he wants and who our best players are very, very quickly. He may need these games in Europe to sort out his league team.