At the beginning of last season (2011/12) Jol said that we would get 60 goals - we ended with 48 and 9th position in the League. Last week he said, "you have to score at least 50 goals to do well in this league”. Looking at the League table for the last 5 years their a considerable degree of consistency in the minimum number of goals scored in relation to placings: _____________Top 4__Top 7 Year 2011/12____66____50 Year 2010/11____60____50 Year 2009/10____67____52 Year 2008/09____67____39* Year 2007/08____65____50 * that was the Fulham total in the year we finished 7th - the 6th placed team scored 54 goals. The natural conclusion is that, having had a full year in the Premiership, Jol is managing his expectations this season However. is he realistic in setting his sights on a top 7 position ? We had already scored 10 goals (and taken 6 points) when he made last week's comment so perhaps he is.
Of course we should be targeting top 7, our recent finishes support that target. However, does that mean we should get upset if we finish 12th? No, of course not. Targets should be hard to achieve, otherwise they are not real targets. Interesting points about the goals though. I do feel that this season with Berba, we stand a better chance of getting to 50 goals than we did with Deuce. Berba is the first real goal-scoring centre forward we've had since Saha and the way we play has been crying out for a focal point since Zamora went off the boil two years ago.
I think Berbs offers more than goals, he can create them too. He'll be our main catalyst, add Ruiz to the mix and we're looking healthy.
Everyone where I work just drools over Berba and would love them in their team, including the Liverpool and Arsenal fans, so we have a real star here that other teams covet. My one worry is that Spurs will try and buy him again, either in January or next summer. You can just see it happening, can't you.
We've got to pull a Levy on Levy and demand more than they paid for him originally + if Dembele (who doesn't score many) is £15m then we should only take £20m+/
I think Jol is looking for improvement over last year. Why not go for top 7 but hey, being a Fulham fan I'd temper that with 'I'm not fussed if we finish mid table either. I definitely think we can score 50 goals. That's just over 1 per game.
I can't see that happening. If he was going to go to Spurs he would've gone last month, but he didn't.
This. AVB might have convinced Levy to forgive Berba and make an enquiry in the summer window but I can't see it happening again, he was a back up option rather than someone we were chasing very actively. Also Berba's at the stage in his career where he just wants to play and I can't see him being guaranteed starting ahead of Ade and Defoe, who both also want regular football. He's a great player though and Fulham have done well to sign him but it's also fair to say that Fulham was probably the best move for him too. Even though he upset a lot of Spurs fans with his behaviour in forcing a move, I think most of us still like Berba and appreciate that he was a fantastic player for us. How far can you guys go? I think you should be targeting top 6, if you're consistent you might just do it too but there's a lot of competition at that end of the table and in some ways your position could be decided more by how the teams around you perform.
I was about to say the same. He wanted to go somewhere where he'd be the main man, I think that was a big part of why he came to us. I agree. I think we'll all be happy with another top ten finish and we're probably aiming for top 6. If we get near that then we'll have done well, as we've lost our two best players and still have a wafer-thin squad compared to the top teams (with the exception of Everton). Like you say YV, the league is more and more dependant on the results of others, there are no guaranteed 3-pointers any more.
i honestly believe that berba will only be here for a season, its a good move for both parties, he gets to play every week, we get a quality player, if he does well he has other options if he wishes to take them, so i will enjoy him while we have him, i will be very surprised if he is here next season, time will tell
To put things in perspective, this time last year we had just drawn 0-0 at home to West Brom which took us out of the bottom three. We hadn't won a game (this was our fourth draw) and Jol was moaning about our lack of goal scorers. This year is our best start in a decade. I say forget the rest - you make your own destiny (to quote somebody) and if we keep scoring goals we'll win more than we lose (or draw). Also, forget all this talk about Berbatov moving. He's only just got here for goodness sakes - let the future take care of itself (to quote somebody else).
I think Jol benefits greatly from Hodgson's time- that's the only area of the time that is 3/5's unchanged. West Brom are the only other team to have not conceded at home yet. The solid base lets Jol do his thing in with the attack- if it was a case of Jol having to build a defence I would be less optimistic about our chances- but it's a neat fit for Jol and us.
