Jan Kruger/Getty ImagesMartin Jol needs to conjure magic for disappointed Fulham supporters

I managed to grab a few words with Fulham manager Martin Jol away from the official media goldfish bowl after Saturday's latest debacle, a 3-0 loss to Tottenham. We were scuttling back towards the Cottage under the main stand. The cold was bitter as the scent of despair around the famous old ground had both myself and Martin at a brisk trot as we looked to thaw out.

With the floodlights off the place has an eerie, haunted look. A mixture of cold hard steel and unforgiving concrete - the wind whipping up dropped litter around your ankles. The trees a wintry black and stripped of leaves silhouetted behind the Putney End overhanging the riverside. A spectral scene. It captured the essence of our performance against Spurs perfectly.

"I can’t get away fast enough from that," Jol said. "I never saw that coming at half-time. It’s your fault, you know. Your preview demands playing Petric and Berbatov up front, and everybody is screaming for Frei. Now you see the reality of that system."

Martin had promised the family a night out to the Winter Wonderland village in Hyde Park and was in no mood for banter with your blogger. I looked for a response as we reached his car by the players entrance. "I know Martin, but in the summer you promised us total football and at the moment it’s total . . ."

But my words were whipped away by the wind into the night as the chauffeur slammed shut the doors of his gleaming Bentley.

At 2 p.m. Saturday I journeyed down to Hammersmith on the Piccadilly line, a trip I have been making to Fulham since childhood. Normally, a 20-minute walk to the ground follows. But not this week. I was carrying two guitars and my laptop of song files. From the station I turned right- not left- across to the 'Ram' public house for an afternoon of Cajun strumming.

And a jolly fine session it was too on a bitterly chill afternoon. Fulham is never far from my thoughts on these occasions. A glance at the mobile at 5 p.m. confirmed I’d made the right choice. And, in case you are still not quite with it, I made all the first bit up.

So I did not see the action. Please tell me, was it as bad as the scoreline suggests? Jol thought it harsh; the press seemed to think it was rather a non-event as London derbies go. The day’s headlines were elsewhere, Fulham have suddenly gone off the back pages. Well, having at least reviewed the three goals, all came cheaply without Spurs having to work too hard for them.

A major blunder from keeper Mark Schwarzer when we were more than holding our own, heads drop (even Jol admitted that) and Spurs Jermain Defoe does us with some clinical finishing at the death.

No, I was not there, but no matter what spin you want to put on it, if you don’t score you never win. This latest loss comes at the end of a horrible week when Fulham have not found a goal from three games. Worse, is that we have created virtually nothing of note from 280 minutes of football. Something is going wrong.

When you concede another three at home, and this time with all 11 on the pitch, the spotlight gets turned on the defence. Schwartzer must be allowed the odd mistake and it happens to the best. But that game-turning moment from Sandros’ 35-yard-hit-and-hope had fans scrambling to suggest Mark’s gone on one season too many, is not physical enough when faced with the ball in the air, and his clearances are weak and woeful, putting us quickly back under pressure.

Now that’s a different issue, and one I have been going on about for two years. Why David Stockdale, in the England squad in September 2010, is being railroaded out the door (seemingly) is beyond my comprehension.

Personnel and formations are being juggled on a regular basis. But what is the master plan? Injuries don’t help but every club gets them. The jury remains out on Ashkan Dejagah, Bryan Ruiz’s imminent return is currently being flagged the Second Coming, hardly born out on the return we’ve had to date from the £10 million pound misfit, surely?

We are in disarray at the back, devoid of creativity up the pitch (both Steve Sidwell and Chris Baird are doing their earnest best as honest pros) and now we are firing blanks. This despite the presence of Dimitar Berbatov, who according to Jol might as well be handed the Player of the Season award tomorrow from the praise he lavishes.

The table makes for sorry reading. How much more pain must we take through December, seeing the likes of Stoke, West Ham, Swansea and even Norwich streak above us? You just know the footballing gods have now decreed Saint ‘Arry the Saviour of W12 (primary school in West London opening soon) must be granted his first QPR win on December 15^th.

It’s not time to take the lifeboats yet. Of course not. A win over Newcastle will stop the rot and settle some nerves. But my goodness, what a huge game that has now become. What concerns me is the over-reliance on 'It will all come good in January.’ Who is arriving? How much money needs to be spent and where? What is the likelihood of getting more Gecovs, Richardsons and Kasamis for our dough?

And here’s a question I’ve not seen addressed for a while. Just who are the support team around Jol on the bench working to turn the good ship Fulham around?

Excuse me, but I’m putting another log on the fire and getting back to twanging ma geetar . . .As for a ray of light - Blackpool in the Cup? Now, we might just win that one.

Twitter@fulhamphil

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