Craven Cottage Newsround

Premiership: 14th (bear with me here, its not as pessimistic as it sounds)

Cups: League cup run (semi final), FA Cup (unlikely unless the draw is kind).

Key player: Diomansy Kamara

Those of you who have read the Fulham Review (and if not, why not) may recognise me as the Southend supporter incapable of minding his own business. To that end I present my own opinion, as a neutral not clouded by ‘heart’ issues, of Fulham’s prospects this coming season. Please feel free to tell me where I don’t know what I’m talking about….

Anyone harbouring any doubts over what Lawrie Sanchez thought of the squad he inherited need only look at the ‘Transfers In’ column. And he’s not finished yet (perhaps). Watching Fulham in the latter stages of last season, it was obvious that something needed changing. Confidence and morale seemed low, and I have to say, I thought the club were on their way to the Championship. Then Rafa Benitez turned up and plucked 11 lucky competition winners from the Putney end to play against Fulham (at least that’s the impression Neil Warnock and the tabloid press gave me) and Clint Dempsey scored the goal to keep Fulham up. It was a mighty mighty lucky escape.

Sanchez was duly installed, and has wasted little time in clearing the clutter and putting together a Fulham side that he can truly be judged by. The defence, on paper at least, looks much more solid. Hughes and Konchesky are experienced players – ‘used to the hustle and bustle of the Premiership’ you might say. I’m aware my host, WMC, is a fan of Franck, so I’ll tread carefully here, but personally I’d prefer Konchesky myself. Though it’s a pretty subjective comment, I’m fairly sure neither has been part of a team relegated. Actually it’ s a subjective and negative way of looking at it, in any case – do they improve the team – yes. I’ve seen Chris Baird play just once – at Old Trafford when England played Northern Ireland. His left ankle cost me £40 as it deflected Fat Frank’s wayward shot on target to make it 4-0 (I had a fiver on 3-0). Still, can’t hold that against him, and by all accounts (mainly from Southampton fans) he’s some player. Fulham’s midfield was probably their strongest asset last season. All it lacked was a bit of width, a problem Sanchez has partially rectified with Cook. I’ve seen quite a bit of it him having accompanied a QPR supporting friend to a few games (I’m quite the West London hussy), and have always been impressed. A goal I saw him score against Stoke a couple of years back was so good it made it on to the Championship highlights programme title sequence. He’ll stretch defences, albeit possibly not as often as he’s used to, but he’ll also have around 5 stinkers. Steven Davis is the other key midfield signing. Villa fans I know are in two minds. On the one hand they feel he had to move on really, and with the likes of Reo-Coker coming in, he probably won’t be missed. On the other, none will be surprised if he recaptures the form of two seasons ago and becomes the bargain of the close season. Let’s hope so.

So far, so steady on the signings front, but in attack I think Sanchez has excelled himself. Healy is a decent signing – some have questioned his club record versus his international record which ignores the fact that Sanchez is the manager who has got him scoring so freely against the likes of Spain and England. So long as Sanchez continues to do whatever it is that gets Healy scoring so well, be it powdered sugar on his porridge or a bedtime story on the eve of the game – just keep it up. Diomansy Kamara is the other new striker, and here maybe Sanchez has signed someone quite special. Now, Kamara has a wealth of ‘problems’ – he misses sitters, he was rubbish at Portsmouth (on the wing), his goals at Championship level will not translate to the Premiership etc. But I like him. He’s quick, he’s skilful and he’s an absolute bugger to defend against, I’ll bet. At Craven Cottage I suspect he’ll have you tearing your hair out, but what he gives you on the road may justify that £6 mill price tag.

Fulham’s lack of pace in attack has not helped their cause away from home. Add just three away wins to the points total last season and they’d have had 48 points – good enough for 12th place. Even if you sub 3 draws for 3 wins that would have meant 46 points (also 12th). Now, a bit of pace a lone will not win games, but it does add a dimension that, from what I saw last season, was missing. Even that shambles at Wigan might have been improved were there an explosive striker lurking on the halfway line, who might actually stand a chance of picking up one of those hoof-balls and having just the keeper to beat.

So with these signings in mind where will Fulham finish? I see the Premiership splitting 3 ways – the usual top 4 plus Spurs at the summit; Brum, Wigan, Derby, Bolton and Reading as the bottom 5 – with everyone else sandwiched anywhere from 6th to 15th. I think watching Fulham will be a greater experience than last season. There will be wins against at least one (and maybe more) of the top five, while away victories will no longer be an arcane concept that you need to be over 30 to remember. Against this, however, there will be inexplicable defeats to the likes of Derby and Birmingham, and I fear silly goals will, at times, turn victories to draws. On balance I think Fulham will be at the bottom end of this second group - the position of 14th representing only a slight improvement on paper. However, May 2008 will be a world away from 2007, with Fulham closer on points to 8th than 18th. For what its worth I have a sneaky feeling there will be a cup run. If Southend can reach the QFs of the League cup, there is no reason why Fulham, with a bit of luck, can’t get as far, if not further. I don’t see the point in making a prediction on the FA Cup, other than I don’t think Fulham will win it.

Rich and Lawrie S are both hoping for a top 10 breakthrough this season. With so many new players, I just can’t see it, but I don’t expect relegation to be a danger either. In short, maintain the home form, improve (even slightly) the away form and all will be well. That the first match is against Arsenal is a bonus – its almost a freebie as no-one will expect Fulham to get anything. Just try and keep the margin below 4 goals lads!!!

Martin

Well, numerous sites are saying we picked up two players. None have been announced by the front office yet.

The first is Adrian Leijer. A 21 year old Australian who is an up-and-comer. The transfer has been confirmed by his Melbourne team, the Victory. But nothing yet from Fulham. Chopper says over at The Hammy End that Leiger will not arrive until Tuesday in which he thinks they will announce him then. Speculation is that Adrian is still a bit raw, though extremely talented and one would not expect him to make the starting 11. But with some time he could end up being a fine acquisition. Interesting that with this pick it does not appear that Sanchez is just thinking short term. It’s nice to know that the man has long range plans as well.

This morning Sky Sports is reporting the rumors that we have all been hearing for a while. 22 year old left winger, Hameur Bouazza, the French born Algerian will be making his way to the Cottage for this coming season, giving the team yet another option at left with Lee Cook. Watford have agreed to release the young forward for between 4 to 5 million which would be the second largest transfer fee ever received at Watford. But in checking his record, Bouazza has not exactly been eating teams up in either the Championship or the Prem. He has only a 8 goals in 83 appearances for Watford. I’m not sure what the draw in Bouazza is even though I keep reading that he is very talented. If anyone out there has some information on him that they would like to share I sure would appreciate hearing it. I’ll try to post when word become official.

bq