What an utterly amazing final to the end of a fantastic season. To go down to the last wire like it did was truly breath taking. The only disappointment was that Bolton could not manage a win against Stoke to relegate the Haha's, but that aside fair play to Man City. At the beginning of the season we all had varying opinions of what success would be and opinions were at times divided. However, I think that anyone would be hard pushed to suggest that we have not had a successful season. " Transitional season " was what most expected. And it would be fair to say that we have moved to a new place under Martin Jol. We have changed our style of play to a more attractive attacking play and have shown that we can hold our own against some of the best teams in the premiership. A rocky start. Jol seemed unsure of what his best team was ans the players seemed indifferent to his tactics. But credit to both the management and the players as they all developped into a great partnership. We were defensively struggling early in the season but have got back some solidity at the back. We have played some fantastic football at times and deserve to be a top ten finisher. Martin Jol has to take some serious credit. He struggled at first but persisted and has introduced some young quality players into the squad, taken some out tht were not quite ready and developped some first teamers into truly world class players. Moving Dembele back into a deeper position has been inspired and I only hope we can keep hold of him in the close season. Giving Dempsey the freedom to push on and have a freer role has proved dividends. Riise has been a brilliant signing, we can only hope that Ruiz and Kasami can up their games to get to standard they clearly have. Danny Murphy has been a great captain and has a presence on the pitch that we need as a team. He is still so important, although perhaps his fitness cannot keep going for ever. Diarra and Pogrebnyak have excelled in their first half season and will hopefully become permanent fixtures in the squad. Kit Symons and Billy Mckinley take a bow. The youth team win their league and the development squad come second in their league. An unbelievable achievement, and the future of our club is looking so good, truly eciting times lie ahead. Once again, Big Mo has been a great chairman and Billy Mac has helped keep the ship steady. Disappointed that the season is over but majorly proud to be a Fulham fan and to have watched our club enter a new era. Roll on next year, hopefully with all the players still present. COYW
Excellent summary, Froggy. Things are looking good for next year, although I'll be happier when I know which of our big names are still going to be here and which are heading off for supposedly greener grass.
Great post Froggy and agreed on all fronts. I also agree with the Captain, once we know who is staying I'll be much happier too. I think we'll be fine if both D's leave, personally. It may mean another transitional season, but if that's what it takes, then c'est la vie!
Lots to build on- just need more attacking energy from the full backs and we've got a good system. One or two additions would strengthen us although the priority is to keep what we've got. I'd be happy with anything above 14th next season but i don't think a record league finish is out of the question. A long cup run would be great.
Couldn't agree more. Only point you missed was that it was great to have another crack at Europe. Ok it didn't work out all too well in the end this time but the early qualifiers gave us some summer football entertainment and allowed players like Frei, Kasami and Briggs to get some good game time, albeit the development of the latter two has been slightly disappointing comparably to the former though I have high hopes for them next season. Was lucky enough to go the Twente away game as well and although the result was bad it was a great experience, while the away game to Odense was also an excellent result. If we can get the Pog and Diarra tied down to long term deals, demps and the mousse to stay, the younger players to kick on and one or two others on board then there are many reasons to be cheerful.
Good summary Froggy! MJ has done a good job (didn't he get a good reception today at The Lane!). Now let's hope he can keep some key players! C O Y W
Agreed this season was a transitional one,but i feel that success next year, is not just staying a middle table team we realy need to step up a gear. There is, and will be next season 4 teams who will once again dominate, but the remainder can be within our reach. I dont want to constantly hear from our supporters that a mid table is ok . Winning promotion to the premiership. Getting to the Europa finals, And watching our youth side win the acadamy cup for the first time, we are now on the ladder of achievement. So lets not hear a mid table finish will be ok.
I don't think we should underestimate how much of an achievement it is for a club the size of Fulham to finish in the top-ten on a regular basis. In fact, can anyone tell me whether this is the first time in the history of FFC that we've secured back-to-back top-ten finishes in the top flight of English football? I certainly don't think it's happened before in the Premier League, so it's a great credit to the players as well as the way the club is run that it has been achieved despite the installation of a revolving door to the manager's office (which has hopefully now been removed)! With the squad we have at the moment, and two or three additions over the Summer, then there is potential to close the (12 point) gap between where we've finished this season and the top six. But going beyond that and overtaking the likes of Chelsea, Spurs or even Liverpool, who I expect to be much stronger next year, is going to be a tough call with our resources. If we assume that Dempsey and/or Dembele will go over the Summer, then closing the gap is going to be an even harder challenge. For me, if we can finish within 10 points of the top six and make a better fist of the cup competitions then we have over the last couple of years that would represent a good season. It's about time we all had a day out at Wembley so an FA Cup semi-final should be a realistic target!
I’m hoping for a more settled preseason than the last two seasons and hope this will help us hit our stride earlier in the season. The last two seasons we haven’t really got going until the New Year and then edged up the table from being mid-bottom half or worse. Under Hughes I remember us going 2nd bottom on Boxing day after losing 3-1 to West Ham at CC (what a horrid cold day that was) then we took off in the second half of the season. Again this season although not as bad we didn’t perform well in the first half and did in the second. I know there are other factors to account for this (injuries to BZ and AJ for Hughes poor run and the Europa games for MJ) but think the change in Manager, coaching staff and style of play also played a part. Hopefully we shouldn’t have those issues this season. I’m hoping the CD & MD issues get resolved quickly so (if necessary) replacements can be bought it in plenty of time for pre-season and not on the day the window closes. I’m also looking forward to how BR performs next season as he as shown glimpses be quality this season but hasn’t quite down as well as everyone hoped.
Great article Froggy, I must admit I doubted Jol at the start of the season and realised some months back how wrongs of me that was. Great to see a Fulham manager finally using some young gems rather than just talking about it. Zamora was (replaced) by the Pog, who I think could be a handy tool in the future. All we need to do is keep Demps and Dembele, offload the weights and keep pushing on up, I think we could have a very good squad. Would love to some more European football down at the Cottage in years to come.
Great summary froggy. The clincher to our season proper was, as you say, moving Dembele into the midfield - for the first time against Chelsea back in January. If we keep the double Ds and learn to close games off rather that sit back (as Jol himself re-iterated after the Sunderland game) we have the squad/ability to move on. If not it's likely to be another 'transitional' season. And hopefully just as enjoyable. Your plaudits for Kit and Billy Mac are equally spot on.
