I think most of us think of Fulham's 'rightful place' in recent years as being a top half, somewhere between 7th and 10th sort of team, at least when we don't have Europe to distract us. On another Fulham site I came across a link to this fascinating article about where clubs should finish based on their net spending over the last ten years. Here it is: http://www.sportingintelligence.com...ecade-puts-them-9th-in-premier-league-120802/ Obviously, this is based on transfer fees, not the equally important wages, but it's still interesting. On the basis of this Manchester United and Arsenal are both impressively punching above their weight, as are Everton (not sure how long they are going to continue to do so though). We 'ought' to be 12th, which suggests that we have been outdoing ourselves too. Chief among the underachievers are Sunderland, who 'ought' to be European regulars on the basis of this table. I was most interested by some of the clubs who have outspent us in this time - Stoke, West Brom and Wolves, for example - particularly as each of them has spent time outside the top flight in that time while we have been a fixture there. Does that also suggest that now is a good time to invest a little more in transfer fees, to preserve our place in the upper half of the table?
Quite agree captain,its ok to buy 1/3 mil players who look as though they could be stars of the future, but we do need experience to play and maintain our "prem" status, and that costs money. I often read that so & so is only 21/23,so needs time to mature,but having followed FFC for a good number of years,we had Haynes,Robson, Mullary, Macedo, Cohen,Barret, Marsh,all first team fixtures at 18/.20. But lets hope that in the next 2 weeks we find a goal scoring C/F,(& RB)
Hello everyone. Afraid I've been laid up for a bit with a serious illness. First day back on my computer & I seem to be able to type ok. My boy has been attending games & from what I gather Jol's doinh ok. He certainly saw through Salcido immediately & is looking to youth. I think we'll be ok tonight but Sunday? What do you all think?
Hi Rocky - very glad to hear you're ok. We've all been worried as you'll see from various threads which I'm sure you've yet to catch up on. Plus, its not too late for you to join our fantasy league! As for your comments I agree - tonight we should do ok, Sunday is (unfortunately) a different matter.
Delighted to have you back, Rocky, and sorry to hear that you've been poorly. I hope you're properly on the mend - you've been almost as missed as the elusive goalscoring partner for Zamora we've been waiting for all summer.
Rocky!!! Good to see you back on here. Hope you get better ASAP. We figured you were travelling, or something had put you out of computer use for a while. Jol is doing well against the 'lesser' teams of the Europa League qualifying stages but hasn't really show his worth in the PL.
Thanks for all your kind words. I've got Guillain-Barre syndrome, you can look it up. I'm having to learn to walk again & my hands are affected. I'm on a home visit today but should be out for good tomorrow, having been in a hospital then rehab for 2 months. I'll gradually get back into things although it'll be a while before I return to the Cottage.
I have heard of that before Rocky, (well MrsWDWW has) thatâs awful. I tell you what though I have a lot of respect for you coming back on 606 so soon after. Hopefully you will be back down the Cottage sooner rather than later, I bet you're missing the old place.
Just looked it up, Rocky. It sounds horrible, but it sounds like you're making good progress. Apparently other famous sufferers include Tony Benn. From what I recall of your previous off-topic comments, you'll agree with me that you're in good company there!
Rocky welcome back and all the best for full recovery. Keep up the good work as a lot is about mental strength that you seem to have by being here.
Yes, Rocky, nice to have you back. A bit of a cloud has been hanging over the board for at least that the last month. Sounds like you've got some serious challenges ahead, but I'm sure you're up to it. Concerning the original topic, I think it's a fascinating subject. I suspect Arsenal and Man U achieve well because of steady, intelligent management. The same could be said for Everton, who've had a great manager at the helm since Walter Smith left. I don't think any team punches above its weight as much as Fulham. While I'm proud of that fact, it's also a bit worrisome. An injury here, and injury there and we could be struggling down in our own weight class.
