Now that the season is drawing to a close,time for reflection, 1 Jols first season,good bad or indifferent. 2 Will Roys WBA finish above us. I think we will finish above WBA. The close season requires an analysis of our playing staff, in jols next season we need to move on,and hopefully upwards. Sentimentalism should not play any part on the necessary cull. .
This season has been by no means perfect, an incredibly shaky start has been countered somewhat by a decent run of form since the new year. This year was always going to be a transitional period, just a shame that it took so long to make things work. Still some issues to be ironed out such as who partners Hangeland, and the wing back issues but hopefully the summer will be an opportunity to resolve such issues. Good to see Jol bringing some much needed youth and enthusiasm to the team in the shape of Frei and Kaka, hopefully we will see a few more academy lads on the bench next season to replace the obvious outgoings (AJ, Etuhu, BHR, Halliche etc). Need to either tie Dempsey and Dembele down to new deals or get shot of them ASAP. Next season promises to be an interesting one nonetheless where we can hopefully look toward the top six, which as Newcastle have proven this season, is by no means impossible.
Pretty much what Bandito said. I hate to state the horrifically obvious, but as far as the squad goes it needs to be a balance between who we have in already, young players pushing through and getting a couple of good players in key areas in. We can still improve in the full back positions, and (as I've said before) I wouldn't mind seeing a decent striker come in. Pog needs signing up and of course, the two Ds need to be with us or gone.
Pretty much agree with everything said above by Roscafre, Bandit and Bidley. I think next season we'll benefit from the continuity of not changing managers yet again. Top half finish, maybe even pushing into the European places. Despite Newcastle's heroics, I think top six would be pushing it (though not impossible) but certainly somewhere in the second quarter of the table is a realistic ambition.
Assuming Chelsea will pick up at least one point from their last four matches, the highest we can finish is 7th and the lowest is 14th. Realistically, it will be somewhere in between so we're looking at another respectable mid-table finish. For a club the size of Fulham I think that's a decent performance, particularly when you take into account the fact that the season started in June. If you look at how Stoke have faded we've done extremely well to last the distance. I think the Jol era is shaping up well. The football we've played at times has been sensational, although the obvious flip-side is that there have been games like today and Swansea at home where we have been absolutely awful. It would be a brave manager who tried to change the entire team overnight, and generally I think Jol's handled the transition well. If the club's ambition is to become financially self-sufficient and produce it's own players then we have the right man for the job. He's gradually introduced the youngsters to the first team squad, and obviously has a clear idea of when a player's ready for the PL (e.g. Frei) and when they're not quite (e.g. Trotta and Kasami). As for next season, I expect more of the same. The likes of Hangeland, Murphy, Duff and Schwarzer will still have their part to play. The younger players will be used more and they now know that if they're good enough they'll get their chance. I think top-six will be beyond us but we'll continue to make steady progress and a proper run in one of the cup competitions should be a target. MJ's stated goal to be a top-ten club throughout the season rather than relying on a good run after Christmas seems realistic.
So we seem to have a high degree of consensus on this thread so far. A summer without changing managers again will lead to a continuation of the MJ plan, without a Europa League distraction (I would like Europe again, but not this year). Full-backs have been a concern for a while, and we need another striker. I hope that we don't lose Clint and/or DemPele - replacements are not that obvious. However, I'm still concerned about cover for Danny: Diarra is not it; Sidwell has not played; Dickson not really. We should be a proper top-half team next year, rather than this year's mid-table having flirted too near the bottom. C O Y W !!
I'll add this after the hiding we took Saturday afternoon: I'd like to see Fulham add some hardness to its lineup. I realize that's difficult to define, but if you look at what makes Everton a consistantly good team (despite its limited resources), it's the hard, competitive attitute the players take onto the pitch. If you took our team and compared it man-for-man with Everton, Fulham's players are at least as good, and in many positions better, in terms of skill, pace and overall ability. But Everton's players would, in most cases, tip the scale in Everton's favour when it came to good old fashioned harddness. We don't have anyone like Tim Cahill and probably haven't since Boa Morte left. I realize that hardness is an Everton tradition that Fulham doesn't share, but I think it's a key missing ingredient in our effort to move this team forward toward finishing higher in the league. If you ask me, our poor away form is symptomatic of this. I'm sure this little post will be misinterpretted, so let me state clearly that I'm not advocating that we unload all our skilled players and sign Joey Barton and Karl Henry when their respective teams are religated. I like our team and it's players, but I think we'd be well served by adding "competitiveness" to criteria list when considering our next set of players.
Quite agree DR,I feel that having watched him many times Trotta could fill that role, my criticism his dont keep appealing to the ref on every occasion,and spend the close season on some speed work. Problem solved.
roscafre ... I haven't seen Trotta play yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing some of these up-and-coming players make their mark.
