Martin Jol believes Fulham fans need to reassess their expectation levels, after an increasing number criticised him during the stalemate at the weekend.
The Cottagers looked to be on the way to what would have been just their second win of the season on Saturday afternoon, when a first half volley from Steve Sidwell gave them the lead against West Bromwich Albion. However, the visitors registered their first goal of the campaign in injury time through Gareth McAuley to rescue a point.
Chants of ‘Jol Out’ could be heard at the full-time whistle, as the home supporters voiced their frustration at another two points dropped. Jol’s side have now gone three matched without a win, having lost twice after their opening day win at Sunderland. The Dutchman, though, has hit back at his critics and asked for a little realism.
“I’m a very proud person and I’m used to playing in the top five or even higher,” Jol said in the Daily Mirror. “I came here to try and help the club and I would like to help them, make the fans happy. Hopefully I can do that, and if not then we will have a problem. At that end, there’s always five, 10 or 15 who shout at me. It looked a bit more, maybe 25 or 30.
“So it’s getting more. I would like people to be a bit more appreciative. It’s hard to fight expectation levels and maybe a minority feels we should be in the top four or something. But if you play in a European cup final (Fulham reached the 2010 Europa League final) then the expectation levels are too high. But that was three years ago.”
Since they returned to the top-flight under former France international ace Jean Tigana in 2001/02, after an absence of 33 years, the highest the Craven Cottage outfit have finished is seventh position, under the guidance of Roy Hodgson in 2008/09. Jol led them to ninth in his debut campaign, and last term they finished in twelfth place.
