Has "Oakland Al" Found a Way To Win The Fans Back?

To be honest, if you cared about the fans, as an owner you had to hate the last few years of Oakland Raider football. The media hates Al, Al hates the media, and both the fans and Al Davis hate to lose.

From a disaster of his own making with the 2006 crash, Oakland started anew, with a new head coach in Lane Kiffin, plenty of spending on the free agent market and the idea that a "fresh new face" in the NFL would help the team return to prominence.

Things didn't quite go according to plan, as some dissension in the ranks was felt, Kiffin tried to escape and was eventually fired in a media field day, and several players complained openly about management choices.

Al's choice to replace Kiffin was Tom Cable. Tom wasn't exactly Tom Flores, but Cable brought something to the team that others hadn't been able to achieve....the desire to remove the old mindset, and start "reprogramming" the team to compete.

For some, it was baby steps, for others it was too much. While Michael Huff had a career season, JaMarcus Russell regressed. While Shane Lechler continued to advance towards his place in history, Cornell Green showed why he should have been replaced last year.

Oakland, while winning big games in Denver, Pittsburgh and beating the Eagles, couldn't win against the Redskins, Chiefs of Browns.

So Al Davis had to look at the team and try to figure out which combination would work for 2010.

The first option that the media presented was the simple one. Fire everyone and start with a clean slate. He had assembled a team of coaches, along with Cable to get results. It would be expensive to do so and then try to lure in another coach, another roster of coaches....no, that wouldn't do.

The second option, was to keep the team in place, let Tom tinker more with the team. The outburst about Russell was disturbing, as that was his selection....and he would ride that choice into the grave. Or a Super Bowl win. No, something needed to be done, one way or another.

Al, being the judge of hidden talent, decided to look for name that was attracting attention. Hue Jackson's name had come up in the media, plus he had helped turn Joe Flacco into a good quarterback. Maybe Hue could help Russell to the next step?

If all else fails....Hue could replace Cable in the long run and save him the trouble of finding a replacement on short notice.

In the end, option three was the choice, with Al finding two coaches to help the Raiders out. One coach from the past, Mike Waufle, and one with an eye at the future of the NFL, in Hue Jackson, may just help the team.

Cable did say that without Russell, the team would have made the playoffs....what would the team had done if Russell had performed like Al Davis had expected him to?

Lastly, for the fans, Al Davis isn't done with this team yet, by any means. Last year Al Davis was willing to put down a ton of money to lock up Nnamdi Asomugha and Shane Lechler for extra time and then pulled a rabbit out of his hat, in the form of Richard Seymour.

What else does Al Davis have in store for this club? Stay tuned....no one can tell.