Showing posts with label Fulham FC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fulham FC. Show all posts

Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Jol Joins Fulham 12 Months Late.....

Martin Jol makes it to Fulham

Fulham announced on their website that Martin Jol has signed a two-year deal with the club, with an option of extending his contract for a further season.

The Dutchman, 55, arrives at Craven Cottage after 18 months with Ajax, where he resigned in Dec 2010.

Jol spent three seasons with Tottenham, who he guided to fifth place and the brink of Champions League qualification two years in a row.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed has moved quickly to replace Hughes, who walked out of the club last week after a year in charge.

"I am very happy to join Fulham Football Club, a wonderful traditional club," Jol said. "It is a club with good, solid foundations and a great fan base.

"I am looking forward to being part of the Fulham family and thank the chairman for the trust he's shown in me."

Jol, who was sacked by Spurs in 2007, was linked with the Fulham role last year but Ajax refused to release him from his post as head coach at the Amsterdam ArenA.

Hughes stepped down from his role last week after guiding the club to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League and earning them a return to Europe via the Fair Play League.

He also built on a reputation initially forged at Blackburn and then Manchester City, where many felt he was unlucky to lose his job, but departed insisting he had had no contact with any other club.

The Welshman's decision left the Cottagers searching for a new manager for the second consecutive summer, after losing Roy Hodgson to Liverpool last year.

Jol will have little time to get his feet under the table, with the Fulham players due to report back for pre-season training on June 23 and facing a Europa League qualifier in less than four weeks' time.

A club statement confirmed: "Martin joins Fulham on an initial two-year contract with the club having an option to extend for a further year.

"He will arrive at our Motspur Park training ground in advance of the players return to training later this month."

Jol moved to Spurs in summer 2004, initially as an assistant to Jacques Santini, after having started his coaching career with stints at Roda JC and RKC Waalwijk in his homeland.

The Dutchman was handed the top job at White Hart Lane when the Frenchman left the following November and won many admirers for the attractive football played under him.

Following his dismissal in October 2007 - he was unceremoniously dumped following the Uefa Cup defeat to Getafe - he spent the 2008/09 campaign at Hamburg before succeeding Marco van Basten as Ajax coach in May 2009.

Jol helped the Amsterdam club to KNVB Beker glory in 2010 before stepping down last December with the club in fourth place in the Eredivisie standings in what turned out to be a title-winning campaign.

Friday, 20 May 2011

Mark Hughes Could be Fulham Free

Mark Hughes

Fulham have just 12 days to sign Mark Hughes on a new contract or risk losing their manager.

Hughes has a break clause in his two-year deal which can be activated on June 1. He could, in theory, leave the Premier League club as a free agent on June 30.

A number of other clubs are aware that Fulham have not yet carried out their stated intent to sign Hughes, who arrived last August, to a new extended deal.

According to sources, there have been only initial discussions but no offer has been made.

Fulham deny there is a problem. A spokesman said last night: "Mark has made it clear he is happy here and looking forward to the next campaign. We, and he, are looking forward to building on what has been achieved in the past nine months. We are adamant that he will be staying at Fulham."

There is also understood to be concern from Hughes as to whether he will be given the funds he was promised -- £20m has been mooted -- to improve the squad.

Aston Villa, who considered making a move for Hughes last year when Martin O'Neill left, are waiting to hear whether Gerard Houllier will continue as their manager following his health problems.

If not then they might be interested in Hughes -- who has enjoyed an outstanding campaign despite severe injury problems at Fulham -- who now sit eighth in the Premier League table and are set to qualify for the Europa League through the Fair Play League.