A fairly regular criticism of Jol regards one his promulgations at the start of the season. One of the reasons why the Fulham board felt he was a suitable candidate for Fulham manager was that they felt like the squad was too old, and Jol was only too happy to comply with the remit that the average age should be reduced. However, if you look out onto the pitch, the squad is just as old as it was (besides Ruiz and Riise who has a year on Salcido) before he took over. So what is Jol doing?

Well, Jol’s recruitment policy in the summer focused on signing up young players (pictured above standing next to Murphy is one such example). Kasami is just 19, Gecov 23 (he was when he signed anyway, not sure when his birthday is), Sa also 23, Ruiz 26 which is not young but not old either, especially considering the likes of Gera, Zamora and Johnson are attacking Premier League players into their 30s. Somogyi at 26 and Grygera at 30 were brought in too but have barely featured, if it all, although it was a great shame to see Grygera get injured after a bright start to his Fulham career especially considering the kerfuffle that has ensued around the right back position since. Riise is, of course, our regular left back although he didn’t play yesterday, as didn’t Ruiz, on which basis it’s almost acceptable to title this article ‘None Of Jol’s Signings Play’, but that’s just me being a bit melodramatic On top of that, Frei has made giant strides since joining 13 months ago and was promoted into the first team squad at 17, Briggs is now a recognised Premier League talent and Trotta, Dalla Valle and Donegan have all made debuts. It’s actually remarkably refreshing considering the approach taken by Hughes and even more so Roy before him. Not to mention the Academy’s relentless recruitment drive over the past year or two, seeing the likes of Cauley Woodrow, Dan Burn, Tankovic, Williams and many others join for fees that cumulate into the several millions.

Yet none of these players are regulars, yet anyway. And that is the key. To find talented young players in their teens ready to play consistently at an intensity of this level is infrequent enough, and then there is the consideration that either they play for large clubs so they would be difficult to persuade or they play for smaller ones but would cost alot of money. It is simply unrealistic to expect a manager to go into a club and turnaround a squad which averages 30 to one where half of them aren’t old enough for a provisional.

What is realistic however is for a manager to go into a club with a view of long term integration, buying players who demonstrate undoubted talent but not on consistent display or by promoting from within. Kasami and Gecov and Tankovic and Frei are’t for this season. They are for the many seasons they have ahead of them in their careers. They are rough diamonds, very talented players for sure but not yet ready to play Premier League football consistently. Frei is supremely gifted but still has many limitations; Kasami similarly is a very good young player but does not use it in the best way and so falls short of what is required. There are more exampls. If we were to suddenly throw these players into our first team it would suffer.

Even Dembele is a prime example. Signed for 5 million pounds of thereabouts, his first season in England was inconsistent, suffered from struggles with the physicality and he generally flattered to deceive, yet you could see glimpses of huge talent. A season later and we could sell him for 15 million, theoretically enough to buy three more Dembeles, which is exactly what brings this footballing and financial modelling success.

Don’t get me wrong, this article isn’t meant to be a desparaging comment on our young players, far from it infact; I believe we are fortunate enough to possess some players in our squad who in 3 or 4 years will be playing Champions League football reguarly, and the fact that Juventus have come in for Kasami speaks volumes about his talent (but so does their proposition to loan him immediately to relegation-battling Cesena). There is a vicious circle which goes something like

Player Needs Games To Mature Into Premier League Player -> Doesn’t Play Because He’s Not Ready -> Player Doesn’t Get Games He Needs -> Doesn’t Play Because He’s Not Ready -> Player Joins Huddersfield/Brighton/Other Lower League Club At 23 And Might Regain Some Momentum In His Career

but the way Jol has played it he has done pretty well. The drop off the face of the earth of Kasami is quite strange. although he’s now back on the bench, but Frei still gets plenty of bench time and Briggs is (going off his twitter) injured. Gecov yet isn’t trusted in the first team but next season I think he will make more impact. Not to mention the number of talented young players in our Development and U18 squads.

Essentially what I’m saying is be patient. The young players are here in the long term, and in the short term we are lucky to have a good group of talented proffessionals who can carry the Fulham beacon with pride for another season before it is handed over to the next generation of players, a set which one would think would conform more to Jol’s style of play than the relatively static bunch we have now. Roy’s recruitment policy was a double edged sword; while he brought in some good players, the egg-timer on their career was running down and now Jol has inherited the problem of a squad full of 30 year olds, a problem which shouldn’t be overlooked and if not dealt with will be the demise of our Premier League status. For now however, they are doing just fine on the pitch, on track to avoid relegation comfortably while the successors which Jol has brought are  being groomed to take their place. Maybe the absence of cup competitions, a series of ‘easy’ home games and absence of relegation fear means that the revolution will start sooner rather than later

Expect a dramatic Summer transfer window.

~lork

Any hope that Fulham had of extending their fine unbeaten run against Manchester City evaporated inside half an hour of this clash at the City of Manchester Stadium this evening. Significant questions were awaiting Roberto Mancini’s side after their defeat by Everton midweek and, with skipper Vincent Kompany still unavailable despite completing his suspension after picking up a knock in training, there was a hint of brittleness about the league leaders.

Martin Jol pledged that his side wouldn’t sit back and soak up the pressure but take the game to City, but Fulham never really had the opportunity to get out of first gear. Mike Dean was more than obliging when Adam Johnson took a tumble after running into Chris Baird after nine minutes – the England midfielder making the most of minimal contact that he initiated himself after catching the Ulsterman’s foot with his own. Sergio Aguero made no mistake with the spot kick, planting it past the recalled Mark Schwarzer into the bottom right hand corner.

Baird, a surprising inclusion ahead of John Arne Riise at left back, endured a difficult evening in the snow. He became even more frustrated after Johnson threw himself to the ground by the byline under no challenge, but the telling blow arrived on the half hour mark. Fulham failed to deal with a fizzing cross from Aleksander Kolarov and, when Johnson attempted to return the ball within interest across the six-yard box from the back post, his cross-cum-shot rebounded off the unfortunate Baird and flew past Schwarzer.

Fulham had little chance of recovering from that two-goal deficit, whatever their record of startling recoveries against City might have suggested. Instead, they were fortunate not to be further behind by the break. Schwarzer’s reflexes prevented Philippe Senderos from adding another own goal and Brede Hangeland’s brilliant saving tackle denied Edin Dzeko, who had earlier gone close on two occasions, when Fulham were caught horribly square at the back. Though Clint Dempsey and the returning Moussa Dembele worked tirelessly, the visitors offered little on the counter save for a scurrying run and shot from Damien Duff that crept just wide.

Even though Fulham had the greater share of the possession in a more even second period, Jol’s side were restricted to hopeful shots from distance. Joe Hart, a virtual spectator for much of the contest, smothered a Danny Murphy effort and got down well to save from both Baird and Stephen Kelly. Fulham paid for their failure to stretch the England goalkeeper when the quick feet of Aguero uncovered gaping holes in their back line. Both Senderos and Hangeland were left flat-footed by the nippy Argentine as he sped towards goal and Aguero unselfishly squared the ball to Dzeko as he bore down on Schwarzer, leaving the Bosnian striker with a simple finish.

The game was stopped twice as the heavy snow forced referee Dean to summon the ground staff and their shovels to clear away snow and remark the goal-lines, but the match had long since lost any semblance of urgency. Kolarov was fortunate to avoid a second booking after clashing with Dembele as both players put their heads towards one another after the City full-back had tugged back Dembele. Fulham’s frustrating afternoon was summed up in the dying embers of the contest when substitute Bryan Ruiz’s corner was diverted onto his own post by Dzeko. When your luck’s out, it’s well and truly out.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-2-2): Hart; Richards, Kolarov, Savic, Lescott; Adam Johnson (Pizarro 90), Barry; Nasri (Milner 54), Silva; Dzeko, Aguero (de Jong 80). Subs (not used): Pantilmon, Zabaleta, Clichy, Rekik.

BOOKED: Kolarov.

GOAL: Aguero (pen 10), Baird (o.g. 30), Dzeko (72).

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Schwarzer; Kelly, Baird, Senderos (J.A. Riise 73), Hangeland; Etuhu (Ruiz 68), Murphy; Duff, Davies, Dembele (Gecov 85); Dempsey. Subs (not used): Stockdale, Hughes, Kasami, Frei.

BOOKED: Senderos, Dembele, Baird.

REFEREE: Mike Dean (Wirral).

ATTENDANCE: 46,963.

I imagine there will be people angry about this but City have won every single home game this year, right? So quite what we were supposed to do about that I’m not sure. People talk about our record at Eastlands but that was before City became CITY and, well, honestly…

The shame was that the game was over before it had begun, Adam Johnson managing to fall over Chris Baird in the area to win a dodgy penalty to make it 1-0, then Baird put through his own goal to make it two before we’d even started to play. From there it was really a question of how many, and it’s to the team’s credit (well, and the weather’s) that the second half was reasonable.  City got a late third but a 3-0 defeat to this team isn’t terrible.

Interesting team selection: Etuhu recalled post-window (he’d wanted out, but having stayed, was to be trusted again it seems), Davies, Dembele and Duff as a three behind Dempsey which meant no Ruiz but presumably more defensive solidity. Maybe. Schwarzer was back and Chris Baird was brought in to play left back (combat the inverted wing play of Johnson) and did moderately well after that start, but ultimately we were outclassed.

So in the end the story was the weather, which was snowy. The game’s out of the way now, let’s move on.

Check out our photo special from Saturday's match against Manchester CIty when the snow hit the North West with force.

Manager Martin Jol looks back on Saturday's 3-0 away defeat to Manchester City.

Join Club commentator Gentleman Jim at the Etihad Stadium as Fulham take on Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League.

Keep up to speed with events at the Etihad Stadium between Manchester City and Fulham on the Club's official Twitter feed.

Fulham were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Fulham welcome Stoke City to Craven Cottage on Saturday 11th February (KO 3pm) and tickets are available on General Sale. Prices start from just £30 for adults and £10 for juniors. Buy yours today.

Martin Jol was sounding a realistic note during his pre-match press conference yesterday, acknowledging Manchester City’s phenomenal home record and lamenting his own side’s travel sickness. With Roberto Mancini sure to demand that his side deliver a fired-up response to their defeat by Everton in midweek, the pessimist in me wonders whether the Premier League’s first ever free-to-air fixture might be a massacre. Given some of Fulham’s defensive deficiencies lately, it’s not out of the question.

That’s disregarding Fulham’s fine record on the blue side of Manchester though. The Londoners are unbeaten on their last four visits to Eastlands, dating back to that Lazarus-like recovery that kickstarted the Great Escape. They have lost just once in their last six trips – and that was after extra time in a League Cup tie where Roy Hodgson played a shadow side. Even Jol has an impressive record against City. He hasn’t been beaten in seven league meetings – and the comeback at Craven Cottage this season was his first draw after six wins.

But Fulham will need more than merely faith in statistics to preserve that proud record this evening. They might have been the last team to avoid defeat at City last February, but Mancini’s attacking arsenal is truly frightening. Even without the suspended Mario Balotelli, the Italian can still call upon Eden Dzeko, David Silva, Samir Nasri and no Fulham fan will need reminding about the danger posed by Sergio Aguero. When you consider both Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards should return to strengthen the league leaders’ defence and that Fulham have the worst away attack in the league (having managed just seven goals in eleven games), it’s not difficult to envisage a disappointing evening.

In the absence of Steve Sidwell, who has suffered a recurrence of the groin injury that sidelined him for much of 2011, Dickson Etuhu should return to the centre of midfield. The Nigerian had been left out of Jol’s squad of late – as his demands for a regular spot and then a move away tried the Dutchman’s patience – but, with his short-term future resolved, Etuhu should add some bite and drive to Fulham’s midfield. In truth, he was rather unlucky to lose his place to Sidwell so soon after some fine performances, especially away from home against Sunderland and Arsenal. The 29 year-old, who started his career with City, always seem to play well when he comes up against them – memorably scoring the equaliser to spark Fulham’s second half comeback in April 2009.

The bigger decisions will come at opposite ends of the pitch. With Mark Schwarzer reportedly ready to return from a neck injury, does Jol drop David Stockdale? The England number three has done well since replacing the Australian veteran in mid-December – with a fine display at Stamford Bridge springing to mind – but he hasn’t been blameless. As I argued last night, the smart long-term choice would be to give Stockdale the shirt to continue his development but, with all the pressure on them these days, Premier League managers don’t tend to think beyond the next set of fixtures – and who can blame them.

With Andy Johnson still sidelined by a groin problem and Fulham still awaiting Pavel Pogrebnyak’s international clearance, Jol will probably persevere with Clint Dempsey as a lone striker even if Moussa Dembele is fit to play after a heel injury. The Belgian has looked most effective as a withdrawn forward and should be given an opportunity to fill Bobby Zamora’s boots, allowing Dempsey to make those late darting runs from midfield. There’s a reason in such a rich vein of form and that’s due to his nous in the penalty area. Fulham probably won’t spend much time in the City area tonight, so by using Dembele to occupy defenders, the American could exploit the space to great effect.

The only question mark surrounds who should be sacrificed to make way for the returning Dembele. Simon Davies started brightly against West Brom but faded in the second period, understandably given how few full ninety matches he has completed in the last 18 months. Damien Duff has scored on his last two visits to City and his defensive diligence and work ethic might be badly needed today.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Stockdale; Kelly, J.A. Riise, Hangeland, Senderos; Etuhu, Murphy; Duff, Ruiz, Dempsey; Dembele. Subs: Schwarzer, Hughes, Baird, Kasami, Frei, Davies, Trotta.

Fulham midfielder Pajtim Kasami has admitted that he was flattered to be the subject of interest from Italian giants Juventus but reiterated that he wants to stay in England and fight for a spot in Martin Jol’s first team.

Having only joined the Whites last summer from Palermo and has had a difficult start to life in England, making the majority of his appearances in the Europa League. The teenager was also fined by Jol for taking a penalty – that he missed – in the League Cup exit at Chelsea that had been allocated to Orlando Sa. The Swiss midfielder hasn’t featured for the first team since the Boxing Day draw at Stamford Bridge, but he wants to prove he is worth a place in the Fulham side.

I’m honoured to have received an offer from Juventus, a great club. But this is the middle of my first season with Fulham and I don’t want to leave at the moment. Of course, lately I haven’t been playing and I’m not happy about this, but I prefer to stay and try to establish myself.

Martin Jol hopes Andy Johnson is close to agreeing a new two-year contract with Fulham after the club offered him a new deal.

The Fulham manager revealed that, after rejecting approaches for the 30 year-old during the January transfer window, the club offered Johnson a revised extension to his contract, which expires in the summer. The former Crystal Palace and Everton striker is currently sidelined with a groin injury but has scored 11 goals in 29 appearances for Fulham so far this season.

There was an inquiry from one or two clubs so we had to make a decision on that. I said to Andy you will stay here whatever happens and that probably wasn’t ideal for him, but it was good for me because we can now get on with the job and hopefully he can play for us and score goals.

It is more to do with his situation. His contract is up at the end of the season and he is a bit insecure about his future. But I don’t think there is any problem with him so we will find a solution. And I think he wants to stay as well.

We have made him an offer a couple of times and in the latest stage we even offered him what he wanted and that was two and a half years. So we are close. The sticking point was a year difference.

Martin Jol’s team selection at Eastlands tonight will be very interesting indeed. Will Dickson Etuhu – badly missed in the past couple of weeks – be restored to the starting line-up? In the absence of Pavel Pogrebnyak or Andy Johnson, will Clint Dempsey continue to plough a lone farrow up front? But the one question that will tell us whether Jol’s a pragmatist or has a true desire to bring down the age of his first team is who the Fulham manager picks in goal.

David Stockdale’s done pretty well since being rushed back from his loan spell at Ipswich. He preserved parity at Stamford Bridge in the derby and made a few important saves against Arsenal and Newcastle. If you were going to be critical, he should have saved Mortem Gamst Pedersen’s free-kick at Blackburn and might have stopped Formica’s crucial third. Equally, perhaps Stockdale could have done better with either of the headers that knocked us out of the FA Cup at Everton. Young goalkeepers – and, 26, Stockdale is young for a keeper – make mistakes and Stockdale is Fulham’s future. He also needs first-team football to cement his position as Fabio Capello’s number three goalkeeper, as Jol himself conceded:

If Mark plays then I will have to sit down with David. He told me at the start of the season he needed to play and I think he was right.

Mark Schwarzer’s quality isn’t in doubt either. He’s had an outstanding career in England with Bradford, Middlesbrough – and latterly with Fulham. The Australian commands his box with authority, which is the area where Stockdale might improve, and has been a key part of the club’s success over the last few years. Yet, there are signs that his powers are waning. His decision to come for a cross at Wolves was a rash one and he let a speculative shot from Leon Best beat him a little easily up at Newcastle.

The reports suggest that Schwarzer’s ready to challenge for a starting spot against Manchester City today. He’s the safer option I suppose and, having just signed a two-year contract, looks like the number one. But there is always the danger that Stockdale might become tired of being passed over. Jol made it clear he would be looking to reinvigorate an ageing squad on his arrival but so far, with the exception of introducing Kerim Frei, has been largely conservative in his choices. Sticking with Stockdale would prove he means business.

Dickson Etuhu could return to the Fulham side against his former club Manchester City after Martin Jol revealed that the Nigerian midfielder had been dropped from the squad because he wanted to move during the closing days of the January transfer window.

The Nigerian international midfielder had been impressive since replacing the injured Steve Sidwell earlier in the season, but lost his place once the 29 year-old regained fitness. Etuhu had been linked with a transfer exit, with reports of a move to Turkey or even to Wolves on loan, but Jol insisted that there was no approach for his services. The former Sunderland midfielder is in contention to return to the starting line-up tonight after Sidwell suffered another hernia problem against West Brom on Wednesday.

He was in the squad then out. Last time he wanted to move. I want players who want to focus on Fulham but there was no approach so he is back in the squad.

His mentality is fine but he’s one of these players – and especially in the transfer window – who comes up to you and tells you he needs to play. And not once, but a lot of times – ‘I need to play, I need to play’. I said ‘okay, wait and see’ so for me it was no problem but there was no approach so we have to sit down again.

Fulham boast an impressive record away to Manchester City over recent years and Martin Jol's charges will be looking to keep that run going when they visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon (KO 5.30pm).

Next up at the Cottage is Stoke City who currently sit just three points ahead of the Whites in the Barclays Premier League Table. Tickets are available from £30 for adults and £10 for juniors. Buy yours today.

Fulham and US international star Clint Dempsey discusses life in the UK with his family and joining the world of Twitter.

Hear from Martin Jol and Brede Hangeland in this week's edition of the Inside Fulham podcast.

Craven Cottage is perfectly situated with stunning views across the opening mile of the famous Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race. You can relax in the comfort of one of our hospitality lounges thanks to a variety of packages that we have on offer for this very special event.

Fulham Football Club Foundation's Half-Term Holiday Courses start in just over a week. Holiday Courses are a great way to learn new skills and techniques, play in tournaments and make new friends, whilst being coached by the Foundation's expert coaching staff. With a number of locations across South West London and Surrey you are bound to find the ideal Holiday Course for your child.