Really interesting interview (audio) with Kasey Keller. Tells the story of the last few games.
I agree with him: we weren’t that bad in the first place. But so much credit to the players for staying cool under pressure and getting on with the job. More credit to Roy “guys, you’re doing fine, keep at it”.
As Keller says, “we had plenty of times in the season where everything that could go wrong did, so we were due for a good run.”
Real sense that a lot of the players feel that they’ve been through something special together, which should bode well for next season. And also reinforces to me that we only need to tweak this team, not rebuild it. Those players did something special and deserve the chance to be here next season.
eeesh, I don’t know about those last two sentences. They finished strong but let’s not cocoon too much. I don’t know if it’s particularly practical to do anything more than tweak with our budget level, but as good as they were towards the end, let’s not let it cloud our memories of the beginning and middle. There are real flaws in this team.
Comment by WithAPlum — May 15, 2008 @ 7:42 pm |
I unfortunately agree Plum. I think we could use a bona-fide striker (read: not eddie johnson) to partner with McBride and decent wing player.
Comment by jgoldman007 — May 15, 2008 @ 7:53 pm |
The first half of the season we were a) very unfortunate and b) using a different manager and a different squad. We are good enough to stay up *now*. Yes we need to replace McBride and add a couple of very good players, but some people are talking as if we need to tear the whole thing down and rebuild again. By all means trim the squad of dead wood, but that 16 we saw to end the year is quite handy.
Comment by weltmeisterclaude — May 15, 2008 @ 8:03 pm |
We’ve seen what Roy can do with only a few playes that he chose. I’d like to see what he can do once he’s gotten rid of players who don’t fit his mold and brings in a few more that do. I think we need something between a major overhaul and a slight tweaking. I don’t think our current squad could guarantee us more than another relegation fight. And I’d like to go back to enjoying my football again, thank you.
Comment by HatterDon — May 15, 2008 @ 8:15 pm |
I agree with HatterDon. The squad could do with a bit of streamlining as I think Roy was careful not to lose anyone who might have helped us out but we also need to improve our quality. I’d hate to see a massive turnover, I think we’ve seen how destructive that can be, but we need to make a few select additions.
Comment by Chopper — May 15, 2008 @ 8:52 pm |
I think we need a complete overhaul to not be in a relegation fight. But as we saw last summer, that’s impossible at our budget level. So we’ll need to make do with tweaks. I think it will be a real test for Roy. Better to spend the money where it can make a difference than spread it out over a full squad. That doesn’t mean that the full squad is strong, just that our options aren’t very good.
Comment by withaplum — May 15, 2008 @ 9:26 pm |
I don’t know about that. We should, on quality, have finished about 15th this year, but things didn’t quite go our way. The squad, with the benefit of a full year of Roy, one or two clever upgrades, and the presence of some quite bad teams up next season, should be very well placed to challenge for the 14th place Chris Coleman’s team always seemed to be floating around. I don’t know, I maintained all year that the team wasn’t as bad as the league table showed, and it was better than I thought at the end, so I’m expecting a bit more from this group down the line.
Comment by weltmeisterclaude — May 15, 2008 @ 9:57 pm |
Adding a quality right back is the big key. A voracious striker (everyone is looking for these) and a genuine technical left footed player will also be on the Roy’s shopping list. Spreading the money out is not the answer these days I think for small clubs, concentrating it into three or four players, and conducting thorough scouting is the real trick.
Comment by YankatOxford — May 16, 2008 @ 4:17 am |
Over the past two seasons, you couild say that the team only pulls its finger out when the chips are really down.
If any one can change that culture, it`s Roy. Maybe he`s started to do that already. Let`s hope so.
I think the squad needs “major tweaking”! It needs a good-quality goalkeeper, centre-half, energetic midfielder and a striker. Not too much to hope for, is it . . . or is it?
Comment by Wing Half — May 16, 2008 @ 6:47 am |
I doubt that Roy gave a thought to planning for next year in the Premiere League until Monday this week. Our survival was that unlikely.
As things are, I’m strongly in favour of continuity. That means signing Murphy and Stalteri ASAP. The spirit and belief gained over the last few weeks give us a real springboard for next season.
We need a keeper in his prime because at 38 Keller can’t be relied upon to play a full season. Whether or not McBride stays it would be enormously beneficial to have a truly reliable 15 goal a season striker.
Those for me are the essential additions that are necessary to stop us being found out next year.
Comment by Tony Gilroy — May 16, 2008 @ 7:41 am |
Agree with Tony: a ‘keeper (the Darlington youngster might need a bit of time; 22 is young for goalkeepers) and a goalscorer. I’m getting quite fed up with the Stalteri bashing on the boards. In my eyes he made a huge difference and shut down the opponents’ left flank. He absolutely has to stay: that back four learned to play together and to keep clean sheets.
Comment by weltmeisterclaude — May 16, 2008 @ 8:18 am |
Occurred to me that Stockdale might have been signed with a view to him competing with Batista as 1st choice keeper for us in the Championship.
The transfer window works differently there and if we’d needed to loan in an experienced keeper because neither of those were up to it there wouldn’t be a problem.
In the Prem League we can’t afford to reach September without 2 proven keepers and if Stockdale is a done deal I think he may get loaned straight out.
Comment by Tony Gilroy — May 16, 2008 @ 8:24 am |
Rich, as I watched the game last Sunday with a group of people at the pub, our friend Bruce commented that he did not like Stalteri and felt he was a liability. Now Bruce does not catch all that many Fulham games but does watch more football than most. But I pointed out as you are that he did a hell of a job for us this year. I can rarely if ever think of a time when he got really smoked, unlike some his former teammates who played that position including Volz who I really like but feel he too is somewhat a liability in the right back position.
Stalteri has got a damn fine cross and it’s a lot better than Konch’s crosses that rarely seem to find there marks. Consistently his stats were far better then Konchesky’s stats for passing accuracy and total passes.
I guess I don’t see the big fault in him. No, he’s not a player who is going to be playing for a top 1-6 place team in the Prem., but who on are team is beside Bullard?
Comment by bqfootball — May 16, 2008 @ 12:03 pm |
a liability? I don’t know, sometimes some passes don’t come off, but that’s very much a secondary thing for a defender I think. If he can defend – and I believe he can – then I can forgive the odd stray pass. What was Bruce’s reasoning?
Comment by weltmeisterclaude — May 16, 2008 @ 12:09 pm |
As much as I look forward to what Roy does in the transfer window, I’m almost moreso looking forward to see what he can do as a coach. We saw a lot of individual improvements in 2008, we don’t have to overhaul the squad if Roy can overhaul our existing players. Dempsey, Hughes, Murphy and Kamara already look to be a lot more useful, and I don’t see any reason not to expect further improvements next year.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d be more than happy if we go out and sign Morten Gamst Pedersen, but if Roy can get Bouazza to play like that, better for us!
Comment by Colin — May 16, 2008 @ 1:52 pm |
No, exactly right. For ages now we’ve said that Fulham players have been less than the sum of their parts, and that no players actually improve at Fulham. They’re bought for what they’ve done and don’t progress from there; they’re static entities. Now we see that Roy can take players to another level, to unlock their potential. Which is a big part of why I’d be in no hurry to disrupt the squad as is. Maybe 2-3 very good players in and 8-9 fringe players out
Comment by weltmeisterclaude — May 16, 2008 @ 2:04 pm |
[...] at CCN, the Weltmeister is hoping for “tweaks” instead of wholesale squad changes. Although I [...]
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