As already flagged nobody was going to come out of the Amsterdam stand off looking great. Fulham are a week closer to the new season without a big name manager to build on Hodgson's legacy, with the next party to be courted knowing they are very much second choice. Do we have a plan B?

So Martin Jol has had a change of heart and decided he does after all have a future at Ajax. it will be interesting to see anyone offer the Dutchman a route back to the Premiership in the future - which Jol says he craves - after this U-turn. As to how Ajax fans view their incumbent's loyalty to the cause next season will also be worth watching.

It's a setback for Fulham certainly, as the Chief Executive returns empty handed, while Ray and his staff up in Sweden continue to hold the reins - for now - in a kind of limbo land. As to the implications for getting busy in the transfer market between now and August 14th...I suddenly hear the very loud ticking of a clock.

Fulham under al-Fayed have a habit of surprising us. Nobody saw the Pharaoh coming out of the desert in May 1997 for a start, nor the arrivals of Keegan or Tigana. Even Roy's appointment in January 2008 caught the whole press pack by surprise.

It's not the way anybody would have wanted the summer to have gone after the high point of Hamburg, so what does our barometer of optimism read now? Are you in deep despair with the notion the CEO is currently smoothing out all those rejection slips from his waste paper basket, or confident Mo will pluck another rabbit from the hat? I have a hunch Ray may be in charge for a while longer than he anticipated...