HEC 2009-10 End Of Season - Awards

HEC has been very hit or miss this season and I'm planning on calling it a day very soon. Might do a write up of the Hamburg trip, for my own benefit if no one else’s. Anyway, couldn't leave a season like the last without doing my end of season awards. It's been a thrilling ride from start to finish, the best season I've ever witnessed, and quite possibly the best ever for our club. Whatever happens in the future, if Roy stays or goes, if the squad gets stronger or quietly goes their separate ways, 2009-10 will stand tall amongst greatest campaigns we've completed.

Player of the Season: Bobby Zamora - This was a really tough call with five players being genuine candidates. For me Zamora has been the stand out player. The injury to Andy Johnson not only left Bobby ploughing a lone furrow but changed the way we played football. Zamora has been outstanding as our target man, held the ball up as well as he ever did but also scored an impressive tally of goals. His all round game has reached new levels and he was deservedly linked with the England squad. Aaron Hughes was a very close second, an almost ever present who has been remarkably consistent, and Clint Dempsey, Zoltan Gera and Damien Duff all deserve praise. (Last season: Brede Hangeland)

Young Player of Season: Chris Smalling - Had he not claimed an unexpected transfer to Man United mid-way through the season he might have garnered more praise. As it turned out that £10Million+ agreement seemed to cause a small loss of focus. Despite this he has impressed, making the third choice centre back spot his own and earning the club a tidy profit in the process. He was a surprise inclusion in some of the earlier Europa League games but acquitted himself well. Followed that up with a first Premier League start against the dark side, in which he was unfortunate to score an own goal. His most extended run in the side came after the switch to Old Trafford had been agreed and saw the team struggling for form. It certainly seemed like we'd got the better end of the deal, but stronger performances at home to Wolves and West Ham and away at Everton suggest he may indeed go on to greater things. (Last season: Wayne Brown)

Best New Signing: Damien Duff - Duff's signing was the most exciting of our summer transfer news but we all must have wondered whether he could get anywhere near the form that had seen his value reach £17Million. Of course he'd achieved this feat partly under Roy's tutelage and it didn't take him long to settle in. His debut came in the 74th minute at home to Amkar Perm. He received the ball almost as soon as he stepped onto the pitch, side stepped a Russian defender, burst to the by-line and sent a rocket of a cross which looped up off Nevland's head before being lashed into the net by Zamora with a ferocity that almost broke the net. 75 minutes on the clock, some start. Duffer went on to have a great season, consistently a threat down the flank and a regular goal scoring contributor. (Last Season: Mark Schwarzer)

Goal of the Season: Bobby Zamora v Shaktar Donetsk - We scored a lot of great goals this season and this is another tough category to pick. Dempsey's goal against Juventus was right up there and Digger's goal against Hamburg a close third. Both those goals were arguably more important but there was something extra special about Bobby's strike against Shaktar. It came with the match evenly balanced but our chances of winning the tie still a long way from anyone's thoughts. A slick passing move saw Gera somehow flick the ball on to Bobby who let the ball roll then lashed home a bullet of a shot. The Donetsk 'keeper stood no chance and as it smacked off the underside of the crossbar and smashed into the back of the net we rose as one to applaud a wonder strike. (Last Season: Zoltan Gera v Man Utd)

Moment of the Season: Dempsey's goal vs Juve - OK, so I couldn't let this goal go unrewarded. The Juventus game was the most remarkable achievement and as fine an advert for European football as you're likely to find. Clint's pulled off the unexpected so many times that you almost think he couldn't surprise you any more. And then he does. From my vantage point in the Hammy End I was directly in line with Dempsey and that top corner. Everything happened in slow motion. I initially thought he had over hit a cross. Then I thought it was a shot about to scoop over the bar. As it began it's descent we all realised where it was heading. You could see it in the eyes of Juve 'keeper Chimenti as well. Oh. My. God! Top corner, 4-1, game over! A stunning goal to win a stunning game. (Last Season: Finishing 7th and reaching Europe)

Most Improved Player: Zoltan Gera - Again, there are a few contenders for this award. Chris Baird has not only shown he's capable at both right back and centre back but settled into a new role as midfield anchor. Bobby Zamora has added a massive dose of confidence to his game and turned himself into some sort of super hero. But it's Zolly who for me has made the most remarkable improvement. Europe has helped in this. Also, the loss of AJ which opened up the role of playing someone in the hole behind Zamora. I always thought of Gera as more of a central player and he's flourished with the freedom this role allows him. He's also gained confidence from his success which has allowed him to play in a wide role to greater effect. His work rate wherever he plays has been second to none and it's lovely to hear his name sung so loudly by the crowd. (Last season: Dickson Etuhu)

Most Disappointing Player: Greening - Jono has shown glimpses of what he can do and if the example of Zamora and Gera are an inspiration he could go on to become an important player for our club but there's no question he's not had the best of seasons. For me, the final straw came in the F.A. cup quarter final at home to Spurs. Too many sideways or backwards passes, no creativity or vision to see a way through the defence. Maybe the midfield anchor will be the role he ultimately plays but I was expecting more when he arrived and I'm sure he's capable of better things. (Last season: No award)

Most Underrated Player: Paul Konchesky - Underrated specifically by me. I was becoming a bit of a Konch critic before he was injured in January. Nicky Shorey's arrival seemed a breath of fresh air and I was singing the loan boys praises. Then Konch returned and showed just why he was first choice left back. Defensively solid and a definite threat going forward. (Last season: Aaron Hughes for 2nd time!)

Player Performance: Gera v Juve - I could nominate Zoltan for any number of his performances in Europe. This was a genuine team effort but Gera's willingness to run and run played a vital part in the win. (Last season: Murphy v Swansea City)

Team Performance: Home v Juve - Absolutely the best game I've ever seen. I'm running out of superlatives but this was a spectacular team effort against one of the giants of European football. (Last season: Home v Man Utd)

Best Opposition: Shaktar Donetsk - Pinpoint passing at 100 miles an hour. Shaktar were incredible and I'm still amazed we found a way to beat them. (Last season: Manchester United)

Best Opposition Player: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) - I didn't really appreciate it at the time but the 21 year old Argentinean really made Atletico tick. Effectively created both goals for his strike partner Forlan (though the first one was a scuffed shot) and caused us all sorts of problems in the middle of the park. (Last season: Stephen Piennar of Everton)

Best Goal Celebration: Simon Davies v Atletico - Simon Davies' Toto Schillaci impression as he pulled us level was perfect. He's struggled to find form and overcome injury this season but as our European tour extended he got better and better. Seeing the welsh man bursting with joy having pulled us level with a fine volley was another special moment. (Last season: Zoltan Gera v Man Utd)

Quote of the Year: Roy Hodgson "It's nice I'm being linked here and there, but it's not something I was aware of. We all know its part of football. We also know the sword has two sides. One minute the sword is tapping you on your shoulder and asking you to arise, the next thing it's being used to cut your head off." - Roy is full of wonderful wit and wisdom. He's made many comments that I've thought perfectly sum up our season. It's no wonder he's being linked with some top jobs, you wouldn't begrudge him the opportunity but I really hope he stays.

HEC 2008-09 End Of Season - Optimism Chart

Long term readers will be familiar with my optimism chart. This is my attempt to sum up the season with a graphical view of how optimistic I felt (the blue line) as the season progressed. Our actual league position is shown by the red line. Last years chart is here if you want to compare.



That's a pretty flat line which is partially down to, what turned out to be, a fairly comfortable season. I think it also has a lot to do with Roy's football philosophy rubbing off on me. We're going to have good days and bad days but we shouldn't get over excited or massively concerned about either. That said, I couldn't help but be enthusiastic after the Man Utd win and the brilliant finish!

HEC 2008-09 End Of Season - Awards

My view on what has been a fantastic season from start to end. There were lots of tough choices to make which is a good sign of how well things went. Although these awards identify individuals for praise the success we achieved was all about how we performed as a team. The sum of our parts was greater than the separate components and that's down to Mr Roy Hodgson.

Player of the Season: Brede Hangeland - This was really tough to choose which is probably one of the reasons our season turned out so well. For me it was between Brede and Danny Murphy. Both had exceptional seasons and were key players in getting the results we achieved. Up until a week go I was going with Murphy but I think I may have just got so used to Hangeland doing what he does I almost took it for granted. Strong in the air, comfortable on the ball and intelligent with his movement, Brede is all you could ask for in a centre back. (Last season: Simon Davies)

Young Player of Season: Wayne Brown - Well there weren't many options in this category. I've watched Wayne play a few times for the reserves and liked what I saw. He seems to have made progress this season and got a brief taste of Premier League football (albeit just four minutes) when he replaced Zoltan Gera at Old Trafford. His recent loan move, to TPS Turku of Finland, can only be good for his development. (Last season: Elliott Omozusi)

Best New Signing: Mark Schwarzer - Another contender for player of the season. Schwarzer was our first signing of the summer, filling that Edwin van der Sar shaped gap we've been struggling with for some time. He has been fabulously consistent all year and has rightly been identified as one of the best keeper's in the League. (Last Season: Paul Konchesky)

Goal of the Season: Zoltan Gera v Man Utd - We've not scored many spectacular goals this year. Paul Konchesky's at West Ham is the only one that really stands out. Zoltan's overhead volley wasn't the most technically brilliant of goals but it meant so much and felt so sweet. (Last Season: Diomansy Kamara v Spurs)

Moment of the Season: Finishing 7th and reaching Europe - It's actually been a season of great moments; the home wins against Arsenal and Man Utd, Dempsey's equalising header against them and being safe from relegation in March. They were all signposts along the route to; our best ever finish in the top flight, the most points we've ever achieved, our highest final position and qualifying for the inaugural Europa League. Brilliant. Bloody brilliant. (Last Season: Kamara's double v Man City)

Most Improved Player: Dickson Etuhu - I had no great expectations for Dickson when he arrived. There had been some strong words of opposition on TFi before he came but that apart I don't think anyone thought he'd be much more than a squad player. When a mop haired midfielder left and Dickson stepped up I thought it was only a temporary fill. He did OK but nothing to suggest he could hold down a regular place. But he did just that. He grew in confidence as each game went by and before long it was clear he WAS going to be a regular and a good one at that. He's become one of my favourite players, anchoring the midfield, freeing Danny Murphy and just playing simple but effective football. Dickson? SHOOOOOT! (Last season: No award)

Most Disappointing Player: No award - Yet again I don't think there's anyone who hasn't tried their best for the club this year. It may not have gone as smoothly for some as they would have liked but they've given it their best shot. (Last season: No award)

Most Underrated Player: Aaron Hughes - Can a player be underrated two years in a row? To be honest I think we all know how important Aaron is to our defence. He's one of the reasons Hangeland looks so good. Always there to tidy up at the back, cover for someone who's out of position or put in a late block. He's only underrated because there are so many other players around him getting the plaudits. A top bloke and a smashing footballer. (Last season: Aaron Hughes)

Player Performance: Murphy v Swansea City - Having scraped through the first game by the skin of our teeth, we found ourselves a goal down at home in the replay. We weren't playing badly but we were running out of ideas. Danny entered the fray on the hour mark and totally turned the game around. He's been running our midfield all season but this was spectacular proof of his all round ability. (Last season: Jimmy Bullard v Aston Villa)

Team Performance: Home v Man Utd - Quite possibly the best Fulham performance I've ever seen. Just two weeks after United had brushed us aside in the F.A. Cup this was the Hodgson team at its very best. A brilliant atmosphere from start to finish. A classy Danny Murphy penalty. Ridiculing the World and European footballer of the year. A winning goal from a remarkable over head kick. Great times. (Last season: Away v Reading)

Best Opposition: Manchester United - This for their 4-0 victory at the Cottage in the cup. For 20 minutes we seemed to have their measure but they were in determined mood that day. Stepped it up a notch got a bit of good fortune and took us to the cleaners. I was also very impressed with Everton on the last day of the season, even more so considering they had the F.A. Cup final on the horizon. A special mention for Swansea who were excellent in both cup games, and Sunderland who caught us on a very bad day but certainly didn't look like relegation candidates. (Last season: Tottenham Hotspur)

Best Opposition Player: Stephen Piennar - Strong running, intelligent midfielder. Did a lot of the hard work for the Toffees and proved too much for us to handle. Enabled players like Cahill and Leon Osman the opportunities to cause us all sorts of problems. (Last season: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool))

Best Goal Celebration: Zoltan Gera v Man Utd - It's been a difficult season for Zoltan and there was real joy in his eyes as he peeled away and ran towards the Johnny Haynes stand. (Last season: The whole team at Pompey)

Quote of the Year: Roy Hodgson "Do you want to go down the (Jamie) Redknapp route - only England, Italy and Spain count? Are we going to say 'You're from Spain, you might be just about okay but the rest of you, Switzerland, France, Poland, Russia, Austria, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, you don't count?' It's nonsense" - It's unusual for Roy to criticise anyone specifically which makes his response to Jamie Redknapp's suggestion about European Refs all the more cutting. As always Roy sees the bigger picture.

Friday snippets

Catching up with things that have happened since my last "news" post.

Fulham 3 Leicester City 2 - Good to see Roy playing a full strength side for this game. I know we've got almost three weeks until our next match but I believe he would have fielded a similar 11 anyway. It's easy for managers to claim they're going to take the cups seriously and still field weaker sides. I genuinely believe Roy sees the cups as important matches and we will see near enough full strength sides while we remain in contention. Reports suggest we got away with the result, in a see-saw game that was remarkably similar to the 4-3 victory in the 2006 FA Cup. Whatever the performance it's a great result, Leicester are still a decent side, and to get through at the first attempt is a bonus. Third round draw is on Saturday.

Players leaving - As the end of the transfer window draws near Roy has continued to "streamline" the squad. Can't really argue with these decisions as none of the players were likely to feature in the match day squad.

• Steven Davis completed his £3million move to Rangers. He's a decent player who out of all the Sanchez signings would have appeared to fit the Hodgson requirements best, but was never going to be happy with just being a squad member.


• David Healy has joined (and already scored) for Sunderland. He will now, inevitably, score the winning goal when Sunderland visit us at the Cottage. It seems a shame that we never really got to see what he could do, a victim of circumstance to some extent. Too much of an enigma to fit into Roy's style I suspect.


• Eddie Johnson has gone to Cardiff for a season long loan. I'm not ready to give up on him quite yet, though he hardly endeared himself to the Welsh fans on his debut.


• Moritz Volz also moves out on a season long loan to Ipswich Town. I think this could be a great move for Volzy and wish him the very best. As last season proved, a year is a very long time in football, so maybe we've not seen the last of him yet.

Finally another shockingly poor photo to add to my portfolio of crap pictures taken with my phone. My early arrival on Saturday was timed perfectly to capture injured new boy Andy Johnson walking into the ground. The camera on my phone really isn't that bad, it just doesn't have a cover over the lens and therefore takes a bit of a pounding in my pocket with the loose change and fluff. I've got a new camera now which will be much better and I'll take that along to a game soon. Ken Coton - watch out!

Midweek ruminations on losing to Hull and how to cope with failure

If there's one thing thirty three years as a Fulham supporter provides you with it's how to cope with failure. Maybe this is true of other teams as well (in fact it surely must be unless you support one of the Big Four). I'm sure I'm not in a minority when I say that I expect us to lose those games that to the neutral observer would appear to be our easiest. If we're set up for a prat fall then we'll take it head over heels.

As I alluded to last week we couldn't have faced Hull City at a more unfortunate time and I felt a certain inevitability that we'd come out of it badly. Thus it proved. Match of the Day must have suspected this as well, making us the first game of the new season. Those highlights are all I've seen but based on good reports from Jamie and Rich at CCN it sounds like we at least started brightly. In the end we were undone by an uncharacteristic mistake from Paul Konchesky. Maybe if he hadn't slipped we'd have held on for the point. A point would have been great. I think we'd all have settled for that, not the end of the world and something to build on. Now we go into Saturday's late kick off against Arsenal starting to worry where our first points might come from. The Man Utd game is postponed (not that we'd stand much chance up there) and with an International break just after it will be the 13th September before we play again.

The key area of concern is the lack of a ball winner in midfield. Yet this isn't anything new. Roy brought in Andreasen last season and he looked good in the few games he played, but following his sending off against West Ham he rarely featured for more than a few minutes from the bench. It's difficult to work out where Bullard stands in Hodgson's plans but it seems whilst he's with us, and with Murphy Club Captain, it's unlikely we'll see their partnership dissolved. Having spent big money on two new strikers as well I'm not convinced we're going to see a switch to a five man midfield either. For the time being I think we have to accept that we'll be sticking with a possibly lightweight midfield. That aside, I'm determined not to get caught up with panic about how well we're doing. Roy has earned my trust for a while to come and I am happy to leave things in his capable hands in the knowledge that he won't be panicking either.

Next fixture
Saturday sees the visit of Arsenal. This is normally one of my favourite fixtures though coming on the back of the opening defeat and with an annoyingly late kick off thanks to Setanta's miserable TV schedule it could have come at a better time. Before that several of our players will have to survive the midweek Internationals but that has to be a far greater hazard for the Gunners who are supposedly already missing some nine first teamers from their squad. We can only hope.

I may be out selling copies of The Fulham Review before kick-off. Should be fairly easy to spot (unless it's lashing it down) in my new home kit with Chopper and 40 on the back so pop over, say hi and pick up a copy of TFR.

News catch-up
Ipswich Town say they have had a bid accepted (alleged to be around £500K) for Moritz Volz.

Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers finally seem to have scrapped enough money together to fund a £3Million bid for Steven Davis. Or then again, maybe not.

There's also talk that we are considering a swap deal with Sunderland which would see David Healy heading up North and Dickson Etuhu coming South where he might add a bit of bulk to our defensive midfield options. While we're there we may also be taking a look at Dean Whitehead the Black Cat's incumbent skipper (the only link I could find to that story was on Tribal Football so I didn't bother, it seems to have originated from The Sun or The Daily Mail). There's still a few twists and turns to be made before this transfer window is out.

Finally Fulham Football Club have authorised the Johnny Haynes statue action group to begin raising funds towards raising the statue in honour of The Maestro. There will be volunteers with buckets at the game this weekend asking for cash donations. Please give what you can afford. If you want further information or can offer your help, contact them via this e-mail account or check the website at http://johnnyhaynesstatue.com/.

The value of the Pound - More on Andy Johnson

It seems record breaking transfers can create a bit of a stir. The club is due to confirm the signing of Andy Johnson at a press conference today alongside new right back Fredrick Stoor.

In response to my concerns about the cost of Andy Johnson, both Rich CCN and Colin CatB offered compelling arguments that a 10 goal a season striker is actually quite hard to come by and also very much worth having. Obviously there's no guarantees that AJ will score 10 but they are right that he has a decent track record of doing so. Rich also mentioned his pace, which is definitely something I think we're missing right now. Kamara had pace but too often didn't look like he knew what to do when his pace had found him a bit of time and space. However, even these arguments failed to make me completely at ease with breaking our record transfer fee.

With the deal taking a typically Fulhamish length of time to complete I've had plenty of time to ponder the pros and cons. Something that has crossed my mind is what a £13Million pound transfer REALLY means. When Spurs signed Darren Bent for £18Million last season a Spurs supporting friend at work (who suffered no end of grief from Arsenal colleagues) countered that whilst the fee might eventually have reached that figure, Tottenham certainly hadn't just splashed out the full amount from the off. In today's modern transfer market there are all sorts of conditions that affect the final price you end up paying. That means we may be paying something like an £8Million fee up front but the rest would only come after so many appearances for the club, a set number of England caps, maybe even a number of goals scored. In fact we may even be paying the initial fee in installments. It seems the credit crunch might even affect your common or garden Premier League chairmen.

Of course it's unlikely we'll ever know the exact terms of the deal. Fulham are the kings of the "Undisclosed" transfer, and even if we do announce a figure it's unlikely to go into the intimate details. For some reason that helps me feel more comfortable with the whole business. With the dust settled and Johnson soon to be a confirmed part of our team it's all largely irrelevant anyway. I'm ready to start singing his name - let's get this season started!

The Price Of Success?

A lot has been said about the proposed move of Andy Johnson from Everton over the last few weeks. It's very hard to work out when paper talk is real or fiction, but with prolonged and continuing claims from a wide range of sources it would seem that we are definitely interested and working quite hard to secure his services.

My experience of seeing him play is pretty limited. I remember him setting the league alight in his first Premier League season with Crystal Palace. A lot of those 22 goals came from penalties and there was much discussion about how easily he went down in the box. He looked pretty sharp when he played against us at the Cottage. He scored (a penalty of course) but faded as the game went on and we recorded a comfortable 3-1 win. Since moving to Everton he's stayed on his feet a lot more and has (appropriately) seen a subsequent drop in his goals tally. In fact looking at his last six seasons (even allowing for the difference in quality between leagues) there is a clear decline in his goal totals.

2002-03 C.Palace Championship  14 goals
2003-04 C.Palace Championship  32 goals - Promoted
2004-05 C.Palace Premier League 22 goals - Relegated & England debut
2005-06 C.Palace Championship  17 goals - Lost in playoff final
2006-07 Everton Premier League 12 goals
2007-08 Everton Premier League 10 goals
.
.

If his transfer fee was lower I don't think this would seem as quite so big an issue.
Playing for Everton he was one of maybe four contenders for a starting place, at Palace he was probably the first name on the team sheet. Moving to Fulham might give him that status again and provide greater opportunity to show the league what he's got. However, when a fee is reported of £10.7Million it's not surprising we fans start to get a little agitated.

For one thing there's a feeling we're being ripped off. Everton paid £8.6Million for him back in 2006 and there's not much evidence to suggest he's improved in that time. He has added to his England caps but is a long way from being considered one of the prime squad members. There's also the concern that the last time we spent this much money - and if the figure is true we are looking at a total that is only £300k below our all-time record fee - it all went horribly wrong. Steve Marlet wasn't a bad player per-say but he struggled to shrug off the expectations of an enormous transfer fee. For a club of our size to pay so much money suggests high expectations at management and board level which AJ can only really meet by scoring a lot of goals.

Should it really matter to us what price the club pay? Should it affect our judgement of how good a player is? I think it does matter. I think it is fair to have greater expectations of a player that cost £10Million compared to a player that cost £3Million. That said I'm happy to leave these decisions in the hands of Roy Hodgson. If he thinks Johnson is worth that sort of money then I'm content to accept that he is. Roy has talked of building a squad of 20 or so core players, increasing the quality so that any of those players are capable of performing for us, reducing the number of fringe players who aren't up to scratch and looking for players who are intelligent users of the ball. These are exciting times again. We earned a reprieve from certain relegation and now we're doing our best to make sure that doesn't happen again. If AJ completes his move I hope he plays a big part in doing just that.

HEC 2007-08 End Of Season - Squad review

In his post match interview on Sunday, Roy mentioned that the following ten days (after which he's off to the Champions League final in a UEFA capacity) were going to be very busy as the club had not made any decisions about changes to the squad before they knew their fate. Knowing Roy I'm sure he got straight to work on Monday morning but I'm only just getting to a point where I can even begin to consider what players we might let go and what positions we need replacements for. I had a quick scan through our current squad and was shocked by the potential size of the task facing our management team. There are so many players in our squad who are likely to be released or keen to move on that it seems inevitable we will see another influx of fresh faces.

Goalkeepers
Antti Niemi (2009)
Ricardo Batista (2009)
Kasey Keller (2008)
Tony Warner (2008)
Straight off the bat and we've clearly got some problems between the sticks. Keller has impressed over the last few weeks and I wouldn't be surprised to see him gain a one year extension. Niemi is a mystery. It wasn't clear if he'd picked up an injury or fallen out of favour (or maybe both) but it does seem that Roy prefers Keller. Warner, whilst clearly possessing the talent, possibly lacks focus and with his contract at an end may just be released. Batista seems unlikely to make the grade. I suspect only one of Keller or Niemi will remain and either way we may be looking to sign at least one new 'keeper.

Left Backs
Paul Konchesky (2011)
Tony Kallio (2008)
Carlos Bocanegra (2008)
Nathan Ashton (?)
Konch has been reliable all season, at times he has a tendency to get caught for pace but I don't think we could do much better than him right now. Tony Kallio obviously came in on a short term contract and has so far only featured for the reserves. Bocanegra's contract is also up and It's been reported elsewhere that Carlos is likely to leave. I hope retaining our Premier League status might change this. Carlos has been a very useful player to have, and would still be useful cover for both left back and centre back positions. This may be the crux of the problem. Carlos properly feels he needs to be playing first team football and who would blame him. This could mean we'll need capable cover for this position, Nathan Ashton might be up to the task (he did well in his one chance so far) though I think Roy would be looking for someone more experienced.

Right Backs
Paul Stalteri (Loan)
Chris Baird (2011)
Mortiz Volz (2009)
Elliott Omozusi (?)
Stalteri has really impressed since his arrival from Spurs in January. I'd be very happy if we were able to turn his loan into a permanent deal. Volz seems likely to move on in search of first team football. He's been a star on and off the pitch since he joined and will be sorely missed but, like Carlos, I can't see him breaking into the first team and can't blame him for wanting to play. Baird will surely also depart, he's suffered more than anyone from the "Sanchez factor" and having been overlooked by Roy so far must surely be looking for a fresh start. Omozusi is good enough for first choice cover and will hopefully continue to press for a first team slot.

Centre Backs
Brede Hangeland (2011)
Aaron Hughes (2010)
Dejan Stefanovic (2009)
Philippe Christanval (2008)
Ian Pearce (2008)
I expect to see both Pearce and Christanval released, and based on his lack of opportunity and based on his ill timed comments before Sunday, I reckon Stefanovic may join them. That leaves us with just Hughes and Hangeland and the possibility that we'd need to find at least two replacements.

Midfielders
Simon Davies (2011)
Leon Andreasen (2011)
Hameur Bouazza (2011)
Lee Cook (2011)
Jimmy Bullard (2010)
Clint Dempsey (2010)
Seol Ki-Hyeon (2010)
Alexey Smertin (2009)
Danny Murphy (2008)
Simon Elliott (2008)
Wayne Brown (?)
Davies, Andreasen, Bullard and Dempsey at least give us a good foundation and I'm sure Danny Murphy has done enough to earn himself a new contract (to go with his newly acquired cult-hero status). Who knows about Lee Cook, I'd like to at least have the chance of seeing him play in a Fulham shirt, but I've no idea how Roy's going to make an assessment. I liked Bouazza when he was playing but like Baird he's not been given many chances under Roy. Seol was a big disappointment but has a lengthy contract and may be a useful squad member. The rumours are that Smertin will depart and the unfortunate Simon Elliott will surely be released. Until we've had a clear out though, it's difficult to pick out where we will need new personnel.

Forwards
David Healy (2011)
Diomansy Kamara (2011)
Eddie Johnson (2011)
Eric Nevland (2010)
Brian McBride (2008)
Jari Litmanen (2008)
The big question here is will McBride retire or will he give us one last year. Either way I think we need to find a suitable replacement. Litmanen will probably move on having offered little in his short spell at the club. Before Portsmouth Kamara had also hinted he may be moving on in the summer, it will be interesting to see if staying up changes his mind. I expect Nevland, Healy and Johnson to stay so the key may be finding a striker that can compliment their varying styles.

To summarise, I think at the minimum we'll see a new 'keeper, a centre back, hopefully Stalteri in at right back, a left midfielder and a big man up front. Possibly a couple of squad additions and around ten senior players leaving. If we've learnt anything from this season it's that massive upheaval in playing personnel is unlikely to yield good results. I suspect Roy will be more subtle in his transfer dealings. I think he'll build on the core of players that saw us stay up and we'll see a more balanced and streamlined squad come August.

Right, I'm off to see a bunch of 8 year olds drive Tanks and Quad Bikes round a field in Dorking (my eldest's early Birthday party). If all goes to plan we'll be back in time to watch the Cup Final. Have a marvellous weekend - whatever the weather.

HEC 2007-08 End Of Season - Optimism Chart

Last season, rather than write a long review of the season I put together a chart of how optimistic I had felt as the season progressed. This season I thought I'd do that "live" and have kept track of my optimism factor on a weekly basis (actually that's not strictly true - after the Sunderland game, as with real life, I gave up, but I've filled in the gaps now). The chart belows shows "How optimistic I felt" in blue and matches that with our league position (in Red), which I've had to show as places off the bottom to get the figures to fit.

I'm naturally an optimistic person so the flat line that marks out most of the season is a pretty stark indicator of how our season went. God knows how the pessimists coped! There are a couple of real low points (The home matches against Derby, Arsenal and Sunderland in particular and the period around Sanchez' sacking and Roy's arrival) but it's great to see that massive upturn at the end. Roll on next season!

HEC 2007-08 End Of Season - Awards

The annual HEC end of season awards. With so many changes in personnel this was a lot harder to pick. I'm amazed, having spent much of the season moaning about him, I've managed to give Joe Kamara two awards, while conversely there are a number of players I've really admired who haven't got any. Special mentions must go to Brede Hangeland (who despite a couple of dodgy games has looked very solid since his arrival), Danny Murphy (who has been at the heart of Roy's design for a passing team and of course scored THAT goal), Clint Dempsey (who has worked so hard all season and also finished top scorer) and Brian McBride (who was so hugely missed for most of the season but still played a big part in our success).

Player of the Season: Simon Davies - Simon has been mister consistent throughout the season. Worked hard, wherever he has been asked to play, and been responsible for much of our more fluent attacking play. (Last season: Liam Rosenior)

Young Player of Season: Elliott Omozusi - Junior retains his title. He came in at a very difficult point in the season and did exceptionally well. I think he only initially lost his spot due to injury but was then kept out of the side by the very reliable Stalteri. I'm sure Roy will be able to continue the development of one of the few success stories of our youth program. (Last season: Elliott Omozusi)

Best New Signing: Paul Konchesky - Difficult one to pick but Konch has been solid all year. (New Award)

Goal of the Season: Diomansy Kamara v Spurs - I like a spectacular goal and this has to rank up there with one of the best I've seen. Completed a remarkable come back against a Spurs team that really should have seen us off. (Last season: Clint Dempsey v Liverpool)

Moment of the Season: Diomansy Kamara's double to help turn the game at Manchester City on it's head. A game that encapsulated our season in 90 minutes. Two down and out for the count, there was a point when we were actually relegated. The team put in a phenomenal performance to turn the result around and Joe's impact on the game was immense. The moment when the impossible suddenly seemed possible again. (Last Season: Ian Pearce v Pompey)

Most Improved Player: No award - With such massive upheaval there's no player I feel has had the opportunity or time to improve. Hopefully things will be more stable under Roy. (Last season: Tomas Radzinski)

Most Disappointing Player: No award - There are players that didn't live up to my pre-season expectations, but the squad have pulled together under Roy and I don't think anyone deserves to be picked out. (Last season: Collins John)

Most Underrated Player: Aaron Hughes - A bit like Simon Davies, he goes about his business without much fuss or bother but usually puts in a good shift and rarely makes a mistake. He's been overshadowed in recent games by the towering performances of Brede Hangeland, but I think Hughes has done well all season. (Last season:Liam Rosenior)

Player Performance: Jimmy Bullard v Aston Villa - Possibly the point where things really started to turn. Jimmy was on fire at this point and put in a number of "one man team" performances. Created the equaliser then scored the winner and claimed our first three pointer under Hodgson. (Last season: Moritz Volz)

Team Performance: Away v Reading - Like last year it was a game that I missed but this was a complete performance from the whole team. We won 2-0 but might have scored more had we not found Reading's crossbar in excellent form. (Last season: Home v Arsenal)

Best Opposition: Tottenham Hotspur - Can't quite believe I've typed that, but Spurs were the team who performed best in both matches against us. They absolutely hammered us at home and yet somehow contrived to allow us back in for a spectacular point. They didn't make the same mistake in the return leg, catching us at our lowest ebb they inflicted our worst defeat of the campaign. Man United, Arsenal & Liverpool all comfortably completed doubles over us but none of them had to shift very far from first gear to do so. (Last season: Liverpool at Anfield)

Best Oppo Player: Javier Mascherano - Orchestrated an impressive performance from a second string Liverpool side and completely out foxed all our attempts to get a foothold in the game. (Last season: Henri Camara (Wigan)/Kevin Doyle (Reading))

Best Goal Celebration: The Whole Team following Danny Murphy's survival clenching goal at Fratton Park. Happy Days! (Last season: Jan Lastuvka's at West Ham)

Quote of the Year: Roy Hodgson "I Won't need to celebrate. If we win and stay in the Premier League it would bring me such satisfaction that I would happily go home and have a glass of water and read my book" - Seems to sum up everything about Roy. He is the antithesis of so many modern day managers and all the better for it.

Marlon King - Where did it all go wrong?

I've not been back to update this entry on Marlon King since the negotiations broke down at a very late stage. There's some quotes from Mr Hodgson on Sky which give a few clues (if you read between the lines) as to what happened. Hodgson says "I wanted Marlon as a player, I met him and was happy to work with him at the club. Then, two aspects were out of my hands, ie the medical. First our staff, and then Mohamed Al Fayed's personal physician looked at the player, and then the negotiations with the player with regard to his personal contract. I believe that some sort of deal had been agreed between Fulham Football Club and Watford before that came about, and the information I was given, quite simply, was that the personal physician of Mohamed Al Fayed was not prepared to give a guarantee given the injury that it would not reoccur". Hodgson added "He's a good player and I'm sure he'll do well for Wigan, and I wish him well there. As far as I'm concerned I quite happily accepted the facts as they were presented to me and I have been moving on with other transfer targets since then, and as soon as it was made clear to me that Marlon would not be a viable proposition". My only comment on this is to wonder if Mr Al Fayed's current physician is the same man that performed the medical on John Carew ... we'll probably never know. I'll leave the following introduction to Marlon in place for the interest of any passing Wigan fans.

Finally, seventeen days into the transfer window, we've managed our first signing. Marlon King arrives from Watford in a deal suggested to be worth £5Million, with Collins John going the opposite direction on loan for the rest of the season. Striker King is a few months short of 28 years old and has previously played for Barnet, Gillingham, Nottingham Forest and (albeit briefly) Leeds United. He might not be that big imposing centre forward we've been looking for since Brian McBride got injured (though he is 6' 1'') but he certainly knows his way to goal. According to SoccerBase he's scored 100 goals in 239 league appearances, though most of those are outside of the top division. He missed most of Watford's season in the Premier League due to injury but did manage four goals in the thirteen games he played including, almost inevitably, a goal against Fulham in the 3-3 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road. King was touted as a target when Sanchez was still in charge, and having again been made to pay through the nose for a Championship player (hello Mr Kamara, I'm talking about you!) there's bound to be concerns that he won't be able to step up to the required standard. I'll not make any judgements yet, we'll see how good he is when he starts to play.

Still Waiting

Crikey it's Wednesday since my last post and in that time pretty much nothing has happened. I was expecting a flurry of transfer confirmations to come through and to be full of positivity ahead of Tuesday night's match at Bolton. It's not looking good. Marlon King has officially joined Wigan. It seems they only paid £3.5Million which is a long way short of the £5M we had apparently agreed. Whatever the truth behind the "failed medical" and our attempt to renegotiate terms the one thing I am really glad about is that we won't be playing Wigan again this season. Daniel Cousins is still waiting on FIFA clearance to allow him to play for three clubs in one season. He claims to be already training with us, but neither FIFA nor the Premier League (who may also have to ratify the decision) are renowned for their speedy responses. NEC Groningen have rejected our "last offer" for Erik Nevland, so unless we decide to renegotiate that deal looks dead as well. All a bit depressing really after the excitement of last week. The trip to the Reebok looks ever more likely to be a point-less one but I've still got my fingers crossed for the beginning of the revival.

Raking over the ashes

I'm not feeling much better about the Arsenal game. I've talked it over with various friends and colleagues and end up with the same conclusions every time. Arsenal ARE very good, but we are also VERY poor. We are very probably going to go down, but if by some minor miracle we don't, it will be the best and most exciting end to a season in Fulham's history.

I took this picture at the game. It's not very good because I used the camera on my phone which is a) not really up to fast moving action and b) a bit foggy thanks to the lack of a lens cover and the inevitable contact with detritus that comes from spending quite a lot of time in my pocket. It does, however, capture the moment just before Gael Clichy crossed for the first Arsenal goal ... I didn't take any more pictures after that.



If the weather is kind and the Memorial Stadium pitch has recovered from the two matches (Bristol Rovers drew with Walsall on Saturday, whilst Bristol Rugby lost to Cardiff Blues on Sunday) that were played at the weekend we may finally get to play our F.A. Cup 3rd round replay tonight. There's a pitch inspection at 10:30 to assess the state of the pitch and, if the go ahead is given, the covers will be put back on until an hour before kick-off. I've placed my bets on a Rover's win and a draw to ensure luck is on our side, but a sell out crowd will almost certainly be anticipating another Premiership exit. I think we NEED to win this game to reclaim a bit of confidence, but to do so we'll have to find a stronger fighting spirit than we managed against Arsenal.

West Ham United 2 Fulham 1 - Keep the Faith!

Reduced to watching the Internet for text updates during the game I then caught the limited Match of the day highlights which as always provided scant detail of the game but probably told me all I needed to know.

Simon Davies scored an early goal with a wispy free kick that evaded everyone, including Bocanegra who was closest to it but whose presence did enough to prevent Robert Green from making a save. Bocanegra was then replaced, less than 5 minutes later, by Aaron Hughes having caught a blow to his face. West Ham levelled just before the half hour as Dean Ashton lashed home a wicked Freddie Ljunberg cross. Niemi kept us in the game with good saves from Ashton (twice) and Carlton Cole. It took 67 minutes for the Hammers to claim a second, Anton Ferdinand firing home another cross we were unable to deal with, but having conceded a second it seemed unlikely we would be able to respond. We had one late chance which fell to Chris Baird of all people. He was unmarked but unable to head home a Danny Murphy cross. Jimmy Bullard made his return playing the last 15 or so minutes. This is great news for Jimmy, and football in general, but must not be seen as the answer to all our problems.

I guess it's always the case but the doom and gloom on the message boards got to me this weekend. Many people seem to think we are down already, and whilst I don't doubt we have a mountain to climb I'm not prepared to give up just yet. I lambasted Chris Coleman shortly before his departure for his quote about having to "fight like dogs" when in a dogfight. Yesterday Roy upped the ante, according to the BBC, asking the players to "fight like tigers" in their remaining matches. It's going to take a few more games, a lot of work and maybe a bit of luck but Roy's certainly not going to throw the towel in, in his post match interview he said "There are enough games left. It won't be easy for us or many of the others around the relegation zone either. I believe we can do it. We had chances at the end and it was difficult to see a point disappear. I can't complain about the effort but our balance is not right and we will have to work to bring new players in".

Playing catch-up

So, a new year and a new resolve to spend more time doing important things has meant I've not been posting so regularly. Therefore, much like Fulham, I'm now playing catch up. I'd like to boast that I've got lots more accomplished because of my new direction ... but that doesn't seem to be the case. I spent the best part of the weekend tending the sick in the Chop household. Mrs C spent most of the weekend in bed and little chop junior was a bit out of sorts as well. All this meant I was not able to get along to the Cup game which I had hoped was going to be an opportunity for LCJr's first ever game. With no MOTD2 this week either I didn't even manage the briefest glimpse of the game.

I may be in a minority (possibly of one) but I actually think the replay won't do us any harm. I think we need some games to apply the principles Roy Hodgson is trying to implement, and a cup replay away from the "must win" attitude of the Premier League could be a useful opportunity. Premier League teams have an easy life to some extent, and we certainly play far fewer games now than we did when we were climbing the leagues. I was pleased that we fielded a first team, maybe an indication that Roy saw it as a good opportunity for the players as well, but our poor performance (see reports at CCN, White Lines, 3pm Cottagers) certainly highlights how bad a state we are currently in. This must in part be due to a massive lack of confidence and I feel we desperately need 2 or 3 new players on board in this transfer window to help raise the spirit of the squad.

It's going to be tough down at the Memorial Stadium and Bristol Rovers will quite rightly fancy their chances. We need our players to show what they're made of and really compete. I think it's important we stay in this competition as long as we can. I'll also be reinvesting the £8.40 I won on the previous draw to ensure we don't slip up this time round. Winning games will lead to greater self-belief and, rather than being a distraction from survival in the Prem, I think it could be an aid. Failing to beat Bristol Rovers would leave us without a game on the 26th/27th January and I think the last thing we need right now is a week off.

Both Jimmy Bullard and Lee Cook played in the reserves 2-0 win over Arsenal at Underhill. I believe that's Jimmy's third game in three weeks and there is talk that he could be getting close to a place on the bench. The suggestion from the physio team is that Lee Cook just needs to build up his fitness, so we may find that new signings or not we will have two new players available from February.

There's been quite a bit written about Roy Hodgson, (not least on the Offal) yet each piece I read makes me feel more confident in his ability to really achieve something at Fulham. There's an excellent article HERE from Paul Doyle of the Guardian which is one of the best I've read and, more then any other, makes me think we've got the right man. It's been linked to by a number of other Fulham sites already but I feel it's worth doing so again if only for my Dad to read.

Finally I've picked up on a number of new (or at least previously undiscovered) Fulham blogs. Championship At Best has actually been around for a while but is now "fully operational". It's an offshoot of ColinBaker.org and is a really smart site offering much more than the normal blog. There's some good stats pages and a very clever blog aggregator that picks up all the new posts from the various Fulham blogs as they are published. I get the impression it will add more features and content as time goes on. It was from this site that I also noticed Jason's Cottage which publishes the Fulham specific entries from Jason Gatties (HEC reader and comment poster) more rugby-centric Try Gol website. Finally I stumbled across 3pm Cottagers which follows the 2007/8 season at Craven Cottage from the perspective of season ticket holders who aren't necessarily Fulham fans. It looks like offering an interesting alternative view on the events in SW6 this season.

I think that's probably quite enough, back to doing important things again ...

Filth preview, winter breaks and early kick-offs

A 12:45 kick-off on New Years Day. What's that all about? Crikey of all the days in the year to pick for an early kick-off we get the one where more people will be struggling to cope with hangovers and lack of sleep than any other.

I'm in favour of a short Winter break. Football matches on Boxing Day and during the Christmas Holidays seem unnecessary to me. They get in the way of time I'd rather spend with the family and make life much harder for those teams that don't have a squad of 46 full internationals. The FA have at least responded to fan concerns by improving the match selections so that in the last couple of seasons we've not had to travel too far. This year has also seemed slightly less frantic, possibly due to Fulham having two away games, but probably more down to the quirks of this years calender. I'd like to see a two week break, which would give everyone a rest from the relentless grind of the league and allow us time to prepare for the next transfer window in the New Year.

Roy's had two days with the squad to prepare for the visit of the other team in the borough. It's too much to expect him to have really achieved much in the time but hopefully the team can show more of the effort they did at St. Andrew's and combined with the boost of a new man in charge and a game against our greatest rivals can find the way to an unexpected result. Someone on TFi pointed out that whilst it's possibly a good time to play the Filth (missing John Terry, Petr Cech, Carlo Cudicini, Claude Makelele, Andrei Shevchenko, Florent Malouda, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba through injury as well as Carvalho through suspension), it's also a very good time to play us. The Filth are starting to close the gap a little on Arsenal and Man United and are one of only two teams to have so far not lost a game against teams in the lower half of the table.

Fulham will be without Hameur Bouazza who serves his one match ban for the, I thought unlucky, sending off against Birmingham. Murphy, Dempsey, Seol and Kamara have all played left wing at some point this season so we'll have options to fill the role. I'm no fan of Seol so I'd probably go for Kamara who has looked more useful when switched to the wing than he has up front. Dempsey needs to be retained in the centre where he has more options available to use his skill and eye for goal. Hodgson is known as a tactician so it will certainly be interesting to see how he lines us up. I think we've only played with 5 in midfield from the start for one game this season and that was the humiliation against Spurs.

Hope you have fun whatever you're up to tonight and very best wishes to everyone for the New Year.

Some interesting quotes on Hodgson

I found some interesting comments about Roy Hodgson from Blackburn Rovers fans over on the Sky Sports website.

Patrick Doolan (Blackburn Rovers fan) said "A surprising appointment i think. But as a Blackburn fan knowing of his time at Rovers. I thought he was a good manager, he just had a split dressing room, a certain Mr. Sherwood didn't like him and caused unrest. As long as he keeps all his players in the dressing room working with him, rather than against him i think he could keep you up! Good luck".

Fraser Ormerod (Blackburn Rovers fan) said "Roy Hodgson was an unknown to English football after managing Inter and the Swiss national side. He started full of promise , but it became all too obvious that he had other things on his mind, i.e. a top four or national team. He was on Sky every other game pontificating about other teams tactics etc and how it should be done to improve things, it didn't take long for him to take his eye from his REAL responsibilities which [in his 2nd year] was to halt a rapid decline. I think Sherwood had too much to do in the dressing room because Hodgson was never there and was lining his nest for his next move. Pity for him it took to long as he'd neglected Rovers for so long he was no longer admired. So, if he keeps his eye on the ball, decent manager! only problem is does he see Fulham, like Blackburn, as a stepping stone to BIGGER clubs! HMMMM sounds like i m talking about Benni McCarthy now, that s a different story".

There's also a very sensible post from Fulham fan Steve Linsell who says "An experienced manager was the prime requirement in Fulham's current position. When you look at the viable alternatives, Roy Hodgson would be high on that list. Steve McClaren; Ericsson, Venables, Martin Jol all have good CV's - but also skeletons in their cupboards. That unfortunately comes with longevity of career. Roy should have good football contacts both home and aboard. Sometimes it is not what you know , it is who you know to get the right people into your coaching or playing squad. Realistically, his first job is to stabilise Fulham and that probably means getting approximately 35 points this season. It doesn't have to be pretty, but with every player needs to work for the team and not individual glory. Roy has Bullard; McBride and Cook coming back from long terms injuries. The players are under performing and with 1 or 2 good new signings his current squad can turn from 'zero's to heroes!' He needs to ensure everyone pulls together and hit hard any negative karma should there be doubters.Results are everything, but confidence must not be undermined even in jest. Fulham fans need to get behind the team and the new manager. It is a new sunrise and perhaps belief comes in front of confidence and getting those vital points.

Some good points to ponder then. It all starts on New Years Day with the SW6 derby of course. Win that one Roy and you'll be a hero before you've even begun!

This is a low

It’s late on Monday night. I’ve been tentatively checking the BBC Sports page all day half expecting to hear that Lawrie Sanchez has been called to an emergency meeting at Harrods. Its not happened yet, but I’m not ruling it out before the end of the week. As previously posted I didn’t go on Saturday as it was Mrs C’s birthday weekend. It looks like I picked the right game to miss.

My friend Mark turned up to collect my season ticket about an hour before kick-off. He was cutting it fine and didn’t look particularly excited about going. It was cold and getting dark and for the first time since I can remember I didn’t feel a pang of regret that I was not going as well. I might have missed a key game, a turning point in the season, a dramatic return to form, but my gut feeling was that I wouldn’t. I avoided checking on the score until quite late on. Still 0-0 but not much to write home about. I turned off the PC and waited to hear from my “roving reporters”.

Mark’s text summed it up fairly succinctly, “Lost 1-0, Sanchez Out”. Bugger. I got a late text from my Dad along similar lines, which he followed up in the previous comments thus “As for the game, I have never felt so disappointed with our team. Nothing to cheer or get excited about to make it worth going. You know my thoughts on LS from the first day he was appointed and he has done nothing since to prove me wrong! I don't hold out much chance of us beating Wigan next Saturday unless the players start playing football - on the ground with some decent passing instead of this persistent head-tennis. Junior was really unlucky if the penalty was down to him but he is the only one who seems to know what they should be doing. Also who advised Al Fayed that LS was the manager we needed? Also who persuaded him to spend more money than Chris Coleman saw in his entire management period? That is someone else who should be given his cards!”.

Not good then. Our worst fears realised. The end of the road for Sanchez? I think it’s certainly close. If it’s not then he has a massive task to pick the team up ahead of Wigan on Saturday. I will be going to that game and, perversely, I am actually looking forward to it. Wigan are in a bit of form, I watched a very entertaining MOTD on Saturday which included their 5-3 goal-fest against Blackburn. We’ll have to up our game 200% if we’re going to win but I wonder if having reached a new low we might find we can play with less fear of failure.

Trying to make sense of it all

This week I’ve been struggling to make sense of my thoughts about Lawrie Sanchez and his future as Fulham manager. I knew two weeks ago the chances were high that this week would see the pressure for his removal reach a new high. We played two tough back to back away games and as expected lost them both. Before those games I thought there were signs (in performance if not results) that we were improving. However, I now find myself in the build up to Newcastle feeling this is a make or break game. To try and make sense of all this, and think with my head instead of my heart, I thought I’d try to compare the current team with where we were before the arrival of LS.

Goalkeepers
We've stayed much the same as we were under Coleman. Niemi has looked solid since reclaiming his spot and all Sanchez has really done is shuffle the back-up 'keepers a little. It was sensible to bring in Kasey Keller as a reliable back up, but having survived an early season wobble there’s no serious threat to Niemi’s number one position.

Defenders
The right back slot has been full of controversy. Chris Baird has taken a lot of flack and has now been usurped by a player from our youth system. Moritz Volz has been ignored when he could have made a difference, and then injured when he could have played. Liam was sold as Sanchez cleared the decks, and whilst I'd have liked him to stay, Sanchez' faith in our younger players has so far paid off. Aaron Hughes has been consistent and a good purchase. Stefanovic is ok but has looked a little of the pace in recent games. I’d rate Christanval as better than both but it’s unclear whether he fits into Sanchez plan or not. Bocanegra has been fairly reliable, and whilst I like Stefanovic's football brain, it could be time for a return to Carlos' athleticism. Left back is the only position in defence where I can see an obvious improvement. Konchesky being a mile better than Queudrue.

Midfielders
The midfield was looking pretty poor during the last days of Coleman. Radzinski and Jensen were sensibly moved on. Bullard remains injured where he has been joined by new signing Lee Cook. Our wings look better with Simon Davies settled in and playing the best football of his Fulham career, and Bouazza much livelier and capable than anyone who has filled that role since Boa left. Other than a 20 minute cameo against Man City Seol has looked poor but it’s in the centre where our biggest problems exist. The sale of Papa Bouba Diop and Michael Brown removed our physical presence. Smertin had looked good in a holding role early on but now seems to have fallen out of favour. Steven Davis has shown signs of promise but not really enough and whilst Danny Murphy has been improving he just isn’t capable of bossing the midfield. We desperately need a ball winner in the middle, an enforcer to do the dirty work.

Strikers
Our attack was also struggling under Coleman. Helgusson has been moved on and Collins John won't be far behind him. I do regret our decision not to pursue Montella but even if Coleman had remained he would have probably been a luxury we couldn't afford. McBride was looking like being an important player again and has been a massive loss which has only served to highlight Sanchez' failure to find a suitable backup. Kuqi has done a decent job in this role for little outlay but is not a long term solution. Healy has not had the opportunity to really shine and I’d like to see him used more often than he is. Kamara has been very poor indeed though both might benefit from a big centre forward to lead the line.

Results
The results speak for themselves and have been the most disappointing aspect of the season. Our worst ever start to a premiership season and, most damning of all, we've only managed two wins.

Performances
I can only really judge performance for the eight games I’ve been to.
v Bolton – We were ok. We did enough and got the win.
v Boro – We started well and looked sharp, but then following the injuries to McBride and Bouazza fell apart and were very poor.
v Spurs – We were poor until the last stunning 20 minutes when we suddenly found an extra gear and were very good.
v City – We were good. I was disappointed at the time but this was a decent performance against good opposition.
v Pompey – Poor, got mugged and caved in.
v Derby – Poor, failed to grab a good opportunity.
v Reading – Despite winning I was not that impressed. We tried very hard and got the result and there were a few signs of an upturn in form.
v Rovers – Rode our luck, but a great effort and for me a better performance than the previous game.

Overall
Individually I don’t think we’ve made any great strides in the quality of player in our squad. Possibly the biggest indictment of the Sanchez era is that our best players so far (Niemi, Davies & Dempsey) are all Coleman signings. As are the two injured players we are missing most (McBride & Bullard). Konchesky, despite a recent dip in form, has probably been the best of the new players and Aaron Hughes has looked good as well. As a team we have possibly looked a little more organised and have fought harder in games we've gone on to lose. With so many new players in the side, many of them from the Championship, we are very much like a newly promoted side. Maybe with time and a couple of key signings we could see the team click into shape. The bottom line is we're not winning enough games and we need to change that soon or we'll be adrift at the bottom with no hope of salvation.

The right man for the job?

The last 3 months have seen a fairly high turnover of managers throughout the English leagues. Unlike players, who can be judged on actual performances, assessing how good a manager is can be a more nubilous task. Watching your own players week in week out gives a much clearer view of their style and ability than you can gain for players of other teams who you only see play occasionally. With a manager, whilst you can see certain characteristics in the way his team plays, it’s more difficult to judge exactly how good he is at his job. Most of what he does on a day to day basis is done away from the public view, and so opinions tend to be based on 5 minute post-match interviews or rumours picked up from people "in the know". The bottom line for all managers is that, no matter how good you might be as a coach, you will be judged on results and often won’t get much time to change things if those results are not going well.

What I am trying to get to here is how do you judge when enough is enough and it’s time for a change or when giving a manager more time will yield the right results. It’s clear the best managers around now tend to be the ones who have been in their jobs for longest. A quick look at the League Managers Association website shows the current top 10 to be thus;



I think it’s surprising to see that it’s possible to make the top ten after only 3 seasons but It’s also interesting to note that, with all but a couple of exceptions, the clubs involved are currently in the top half of their respective tables and several of them pushing for promotion or silverware.

Just giving a manager time does not, on its own, mean you’re going to do well. You need to pick the right man for the job in the first place and THAT is the crux of my post. How do you pick the right man? What indications are there to know you’ve found someone who will take the club forward? I think many recent premier league appointments have shown how difficult that is.

Bolton Wanderers are a good example of the quandary. When Sam Allardyce left I think everyone expected them to find life difficult. They choose Allardyce’s assistant Sammy Lee in an attempt to maintain consistency. It didn’t look good from the start, and as Lee tried to introduce a more classic passing style of football to the side, the results were poor and papers were full of reports about fall outs with senior players and disharmony in the squad. When Lee was subsequently sacked Bolton fan’s must have been hoping for a "name" manager to fill the role. Someone with a "proven track record". Instead they got Gary Megson who was instantly derided in the media and not given a particularly warm welcome by the fans. Less than two months in and, following some great results in Europe and at home, Megson’s name is being sung with gusto. Megson does have a track record, but bar two promotions to the Premier League with West Brom he's not looked that impressive. Has he learnt from past mistakes? Should he have been given more time at previous clubs?

Down the bottom of the Premier League Derby, Wigan, Birmingham, Bolton and Spurs have all changed their manager this season. Arguably those five clubs have all seen an upturn in fortune. It's still early days but I reckon the fans of those teams are happier now than they were. That leaves only us, Middlesbrough and Sunderland sticking with the men that began this campaign. I’m sure Roy Keane will see the season out whatever happens to his team (if nothing else keeps him in the job, who would have the guts to sack him?) and Southgate has a very supportive chairman who would not make any changes rashly. Does Sanchez have the support of our board? They certainly backed him in the summer with a decent investment, but are they prepared to stand by their man in the longer term.

Is Sanchez the right man to take us forward or should we fire him now and begin the search again? There are some interesting names out of work right now; Billy Davies, Martin Jol, Martin Allen, Paul Bracewell, Roy Hodgson, Gerrard Houllier, Leroy Rosenior, Terry Butcher, Glenn Hoddle, Joe Royle, Berti Vogts, Marcello Lippi even Jose Mourinho. Probably reading that list there are names that get you excited and others that make you cringe, but I wonder how many we’d all agree on. Being realistic we’re unlikely to see Mourinho or Lippi rolling up at Craven Cottage any time soon but there are some good options should we (or in reality the board) decide it's time for a change. For now Sanchez is still the man but, if he’s going to stay in the job, he needs to get some results very quickly.