Clear and simple as the truth
11 Comments on “Clear and simple as the truth”
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oh right thats that then.
havent felt this let down and dejected since we sold barry hayles
This has a Jimmy Bullard feeling about it. A player who has been a king-pin of our squad, both as a player and a personality. He is now past 30, a bit injury prone (not as seriously as Bullard) and is no longer on the same wavelength as the manager.
It doesn’t matter where he has gone, the question is have Fulham done the right thing? From a business point of view, probably yes. For Jol to get the team playing his way, yes. For the team’s morale and performance level? That depends on his replacement. I have been as jittery as anyone about how we cope without Zamora, just as I feared, wrongly as it turned out, about how we would cope without Bullard.
If Pogrebnyak can find his feet quickly we’ll be OK. Maybe Trotta will also get his chance. This time last year we were just turning the corner, so our present position is similar.
I think it boils down to this:
Success – we stay up this season
Failure – we get relegated
As mentioned above, the similarities with Bullard are interesting. At th end of the season, if we are still in the prem, with the chance to buy a young striker or two, having gotten rid of two of our highest earners and oldest players? That is pretty good business. We have to stay up first though, which now revolves completely around whether or not Dembele can stay fit. If he can, I predict some sexy football, if not, we end up looking like the first half against newcastle.
I suppose we can only sit and watch to see if the ‘Martin Jol project’ is going to work out. I just don’t know if I’ve seen any real evidence that he’s got the abilities which were suggested when he arrived.
“The Martin Jol Project” can only really be properly judged next season. He is making several big changes, and this coming summer will be crucial, both on and off the pitch (training and transfers).
I’m optimistic, and I think we will be far more consistent next season, once his philosophy is properly imposed on the team.
I am not too bothered by this transfer. I haven’t got the facts but I am sure his on pitch time is actually really small in compared to your average striker due to injuries, attitude or whatever reason. The plain fact is he did not want to be there, it was all degrees of dissatisfaction rather than joy. I just can’t believe the new player who has been capped 30 times for a major team will be that much worst, I mean he will be better than Elm won’t he?? And he wasn’t that bad. One thing for sure, we won’t miss his goals. Also I looking forward to not hearing the guy sitting next to me moaning and groaning all through the game.
Bobby Zamora. In 40+ years supporting Fulham I don’t recall another player who had such difficulty doing the simple things one minute, and yet could be sublimely brilliant the next. But the first half v Newcastle was the final straw for me – how many times was he caught offside? He couldn’t be arsed to make any effort, and in the end he just didn’t want to play for us any more.
QPR can have him. He seemed like a prick, and barely seemed to care this year. Let’s move on.
Disappointed that we sold him so late in the window, but I’m sure that was due to either trying to work something out for him to stay or to get QPR’s price to a decent level.
Saw an interview with Zamora a couple of months ago and when the interviewer asked him what he does to stay fit (as far as diet, etc.), Zamora’s response was that he did nothing. Didn’t watch what he ate and hasn’t changed his habits since he was younger. That didn’t seem very professional to me and would be a red flag for a player who’s 31 and on a huge salary.
I think that this deal will hurt us in the short term, but in the long run, we’ll view this as a positive development (much like the Bullard deal whose salary became an albatross to both Hull and Ipswich).
Interesting to read that QPR only gave him a 2.5 year contract. Bullard got a 4.5 year one, at about the same wages, and was only about ten months younger then than Zamora is now. So, at the very least, QPR have show some restraint here and Zamora hasn’t quite got the contract that I’m sure he was hoping for.
Good point, rjbiii. I didn’t realize that Zamora “only” upped his wages by 5k per week.