At last, Magath has gone. While most people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt after the first 3-4 games (particularly considering the integration of youth in to the team and squad) but understandably, patience was quickly lost. There were too many baffling decisions that on no fundamental level, or at least not one that I could see, could be termed rational. Our possession play was okay, but our defending woefully, woefully inept, our team structure arbitrary (Scott Parker as a false 9?), players – very good players at that – frozen out at a whim, no consistency in team selection, an overhaul in the summer which, in my opinion, was far too radical (and I will never forgive Magath for selling Stockdale). There was a huge departure from the Fulham ethos.
Anyway, that’s that. It has been destructive, and almost certainly means that we will be in the Championship beyond next summer, but order is born out of chaos. Kit Symons si the man charged with bringing about that order for now in his role as caretaker manager, but there are many reasons why he should stay.
1. He’s sensible.
This is almost trivial, but the last sensible man we had was Roy Hodgson, a long four years ago now. We need someone to restore order and structure to the first team at least, something that Kit has demonstrated he can do with the youth teams he’s managed. No more leaving Bryan Ruiz out of match day squads, no more lineups that feature 6 defenders, no more Ross McCormack at left wing (hopefully). I think professionalism is the word. His presser today is worth watching (go to FulhamFC.com to catch up on everything). We have players here good enough to get results on the pitch without the most spectacular tactical mind, it’s just a case of organising them in to a cohesive system.
2. He’s Fulham.
In his presser today, Kit has already alluded to the fact that he is a Fulham man, having firstly played a large role in our rise up to the Premier League and then in the background structure of the club since 2009, and right off the bat there will be a ‘feel-good factor’ around the team, a nice contrast to the cloud that had been hanging over the club for a few weeks now. At least he won’t have to wait for results for fervent support from the fans, and his appointment won’t be received with the degree of scepticism appointments usually do.
3. He’s worked with the U21s.
There is not much to be proud of about Fulham at the moment, but one of them is the integration of young players in to our first team squad. We’ve seen some real quality from the likes of Chris David and Emerson Hyndman (the latter of which looks like he’s been playing first team football for years), and Burgess has also made an impression. Symons has worked with the younger players for coming up to five years now, and is familiar with him as well as having partial responsibility for their development. I would also assume they have an affinity with him, which is no bad thing between a boss and a player. It should also be remarked he got some good results as well.
4. He has conviction.
Kit seems to have a lot of good characteristics and elements that means he will be a successful boss, but most importantly is that he wants it. He stated as bluntly as one could his ambition to become manager full-time, and that conviction and resolve will carry him through to success.
This season is effectively a write-off, although we could still push for a play-off place. Why not let Kit develop as first team manager?
LRCN.
