I thought it would be good to take stock of where we are now and where we thought we were in the Summer... If you remember, in the Summer nearly every football 'expert' had us down to struggle or even get relegated this season as we'd lost a glut of strikers and Dempsey was on his way out - "where are the goals going to come from". The QPR mob were rampant, with cries of "two teams going in different directions" (how that one has come back to bite them on their arse) and damning criticisms of our lack of goalscoring threat. Then, we batter Norwich 5-0 and push Man Utd to the wire (scoring 2 goals) at Old Trafford. Things seemingly take a turn for the worst as Dembele leaves and we crash out of the Captial One Cup to lower-league opposition but Berbs put us into dreamland by joining us. So yeah, it's the middle of November now boys, and I think it's fair to say we're all happy with where we are and where we're going. Of course, the season is still young and many more challenges await us (the FA Cup for one, which I'm buzzing about!) but I think we'll get through unscathed (or with minimal... scathes?) and still be able to be optimistic about our grand old club and where it's heading. COYW
It is refreshing to be at a time when disagreements are menial, such as whether or not Richardson is good enough, or whether or not Senderos should play. You go on the QPR board and it's chaos, half of them want Sparky out and the other half are looking for some telephone wire to dangle from. January looks like we may lose our skipper but it is good to see the majority of us remain calm, as his form has been a shadow of his former self lately. If Jol signs a new contract in the new year and we can sign an established quality CM to partner Diarra, and maybe a CB to replace Hangeland then we can look forward to a superb second half of the season.
I don't know if you know Bandit, but the club has taken up the extension on Jol's contract so he's contracted 'til 2014 now. If you meant signed a brand spanker of a lengthy contract, then I agree. I also agree we need quality in CM and CB, whether Hangeland goes or not.
Bidders, great article mate. I cannot believe where we are now. Losing so many centre mids during the summer, especcially DM, was potentially going to threaten the players and fans alike. However, Big Mart has got us playing some sublime football of recent. There are a few creases that need ironing out, namely defensively, but on the whole come MOTD on a saturday night I am genuinely excitied to watch us play. Under Woy, we were solid and defensively strong but under Big Mart we are offensively strong, which is great to watch. What's more is that we seem a strong team mentally and look as though we BELIEVE !!!! Loving being a Fulham fan, the future's bright, the future's jolly. COYW
I think my favourite point of the season yet was the 'group huddle' at the end of the Arsenal game. For all the stories last season of discontent, we look like we have brilliant team spirit, long may that continue!
Bidders, totally agree ol' son. Plug the leaks in defence, or is that a necessary evil of being more positive going forward? Taking things further and right through the club to youth development, its looking as though all the management team have the same philosophy. Which is brilliant for the club as a whole and the future of Fulham. As long as Big Mart stays for the next 20 years. COYW.
Spot on Bidley. The buzz this year comes especially from our attitude away from home - we have already scored as many goals (12) as we did in the whole of last season. And of course there has been the Two Bs (Bryan and Berba). Bryan has played in 8 games and has 1 goal, 5 assists (second only to Hazzard on 6) and 18 shots. Berba has played in 7 games and has 5 goals, 3 assists and 24 shots. Yet they have only played in 3 and a bit games together (I think that's correct), so who knows what may be in store. For once, I really do believe that statistics tell the true story. Roll on Wembley !!
Agree with everyone. For the first time in years I was actually thinking we'd be fine this season before it started. I had resigned myself to Dempsey going but losing DM was a real blow but then taking on Berba, well, just a magical moment, really. We have replaced the Double D's with Berba and Ruiz, who I have not been a fan of but I have to say his performances of late have been great and he really looks like a £10m player now, which to me he never had prior to this season. All we need do now is get Jol signed up on a very long term contract and we're laughing.
I was thinking about this this morning. One thing that has changed is that the creative axis of the team has moved further up the pitch. Last year it was located between Murphy and Dembele (either midfield and between mid and forwards, or two midfielders depending on whether Diarra was included), at the start of the season it was Dembele - now playing deeper - and Ruiz (attacking midfield). Now it's Ruiz and Berbatov (attacking mid-cum-forward and striker, respectively). Similarly, last season the main goal threat was Dempsey (attacking mid), now it's Berbatov (striker). Not sure entirely what the implications of that are, but I'm sure it's significant.
