cardiffcity.no

Not very Jol-ly 22/07/2010

I’m a bit frightened to open my web browser these days. Will the headline “Dave Jones appointed Fulham’s new manager” be what greets me?

With the current transfer embargo I haven’t been too hopeful of reading of any new Cardiff signings lately, but who would have thought that the faith of Martin Jol would become so interesting for Cardiff City supporters? He’s the manager of Ajax and not anywhere near being a candidate for becoming manager of the Bluebirds, but in these times of managerial merry-go-rounds, the turmoil and financial uncertainty at our club and the success and reputation of  Dave Jones, any managerial vacancy in the Championship and the Premier League this summer has been cause for concern (apart from the Liverpool job perhaps, as it’s unlikely both that Jones would be offered that job and that he would take it being the Evertonian he is).

The news today that Jol is not becoming Fulham’s new manager even though he’s agreed personal terms paired with the bookies now holding Dave Jones as favorite to land the job is worrying. The word crisis has been used in conjunction with Cardiff already during the close season, so if Jones is to suddenly leave we’ll have to come up with an even stronger word to describe the situation for Cardiff.

It was good to see Hull going for Nigel Pearson in stead of Dave Jones as their new manager (although I’m pretty sure Mr. Jones wouldn’t have been interested in that job anyway), and it was even better to see the Jacks lose their “managerial prodigy” Paulo Sousa to the Foxes as Pearson’s replacement. Sousa’s following comments:

“I am delighted to be here, it is a great club with great supporters and a rich history and I am very excited by the challenge.”

“The club has a fantastic stadium with great facilities and I am very much looking forward to working with the players.”

…reads to me as a Cardiff City fan as:

“I’m so glad to have got away from Swansea, it is a crappy club with bad supporters and not much of a history and I wasn’t excited by being their manager.”

“The club has a terrible stadium lacking in facilities and I hated working with the players.”

I think this is the first time I agree with you on something, Paulo!

Fulham say they have a shortlist and will act fast, so I guess there won’t be many days until we know whether or not the Cottager’s new boss has firstname Dave and surname Jones. It’s a bit comforting to see that City today say that there hasn’t been any approach for Jones yet by Fulham, but if they ring him tomorrow morning then that’s of course worth squat. Let’s hope they go for the (in my opinion) highly overrated Sven Göran Eriksson in stead!