Review of the summer - Conclusions

Bringing my week long summer review to a close I wanted to see if I've learnt anything I didn't already know.

A quick recap of the numbers so far. 15 players have permanently left the club none of whom none have generated any money. 4 players have been loaned out (Junior to Norwich, Lee Cook to QPR, T.J. Moncur to Bradford & Hameur Bouazza to Charlton). 9 new players have signed and 2 players (Kallio & Murphy) have been rewarded with contract extensions. This leaves us with something like 35 senior players of which I think only 20-25 are likely to feature.

I believe our senior squad can be broken down into genuine first team players (those that Roy has signed or seems happy to play), fringe players (those that could still leave if the right bid comes in) and development players (those still young enough to be considered potential prospects but not yet ready for first team action).

I consider our genuine first team to be these 21 players ; Schwarzer, Stockdale, Zuberbuhler, Konchesky, Kallio, Stoor, Paintsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Dempsey, Ki-Hyeon, Davies, Andreasen, Bullard, Andranik, Gera, Murphy, Johnson A, Johnson E, Zamora & Nevland. Ideally we need to add a strong centre back and maybe another midfielder but I think this core group of players looks pretty good. Bullard could still be an issue and if he goes I'm not sure we've really got a replacement but we'll see what happens.

The fringe players are; Niemi, Volz, Baird, Zakuani, Smertin, Davis, Kamara, Healy & John. Steven Davis has been in the news a lot over the summer and though reading between the lines it appears the club are keen to sell him, Roy may be happy to use him if he stays. Davis could benefit from Hodgson's style of play but may not be happy to be seen as an understudy to Danny Murphy, which is where I think he would most likely sit. Either way it's nice to see Roy being so bullish about his player's value in the press. Kamara won't be able to get involved until January at the earliest. Potentially he could still figure in the first team as Roy seemed happy to use him at the end of last season but again I get the feeling Dio would jump at the opportunity for a new start somewhere else if an offer arises. Niemi, Baird, Zakuani, Smertin, Healy & John don't seem to figure in Roy's plans at all and I'd be surprised if we didn't see several of them picked up before the end of August (injuries to Niemi & John may keep them at the club at least until January). That just leaves Mortiz Volz. He's a player I think we all like a lot but it's very hard to see where an opportunity might arise for him to feature. I think he needs to move on and play first team football and I'm sure he realises that as well. He might need to drop a division to get himself back in the frame but I do think he's capable of doing a job for someone in the Premier League.

The development players span a wide range of ages but we have a few that have caught the eye and seem to be considered a part of the larger first team squad. These include Adrian Leijer, Adam Watts, Chris Smalling, Robert Milsom, and Wayne Brown. Smalling was a summer signing from Middlesbrough but is still only 18 so expectations should not be too high. The others are all in their early 20's which is an age when they need to be thinking about playing regular competitive football. Wayne Brown is the one I take most interest in. He's a neat player with some nice skills and I'd love to see him make the jump into the senior squad.

Only 24 hours to go then until the season kicks off in earnest. Our trip to Hull is a bit of a banana skin. The pundits are all expecting them to struggle yet what better chance do they have of a win than in their very first Premier League match at home to the worst (as far last season's table is concerned) remaining established Premier League team. We need to approach this match in the right frame of mind. There are no easy games in the Premier League and you have to earn the right to win every point. If we work hard and concentrate for the full ninety minutes we'll get what we deserve. If we think we can coast through it we'll get a rude awakening. If we lose it won't be the end of the world, Hull could surprise a few people this season, but a win would be a fantastic start and maintain our oddly marvellous away form a little bit longer.

Review of the summer - The Attack

Our most stunning piece of transfer business this summer (in fact for some time) has been the signing of Andy Johnson for a potential record beating thirteen million pounds. AJ's arrival, combined with the four to five million pound acquisition of Bobby Zamora, issues a serious statement of intent from the manager and board. Despite my initial reservations, particularly regarding Johnson, these are exciting additions to the team, raising expectations for the coming season. Finding a replacement for Brian McBride was always going to be one of the key targets of the summer and I'm pleased we've been bold in our choices. Beyond our two new stars the pecking order is less obvious. Rich did a nice chart here that highlighted the different facets of our striking options. They could all have a part to play and with the expansion of the bench to seven players may have greater opportunities if Roy is looking for tactical alternatives.

Rank   Season 2007-08        Season 2008-07

1      Brian McBride         Andy Johnson

2      Diomansy Kamara       Bobby Zamora

3      Erik Nevland          Erik Nevland

4      Eddie Johnson         Eddie Johnson

5      Clint Dempsey         David Healy

6      David Healy           Diomansy Kamara

7      Collins John          Collins John

Nevland impressed me in the limited pitch time he had last season. I'm sure he'll figure to some degree though more likely as a sub. Eddie Johnson seems to have a way to go before being a genuine option, his pace could be a real threat but, in the brief glimpses we've seen so far, he has a lot of work to do on positional play and decision making. As with the midfield a number of players find themselves in various states of limbo. Healy remains an enigma, he has been linked with several clubs over the close season, but if he stays will be keen to show he can cut it in the top division. Before getting injured in an international friendly, Kamara sounded very much like he was ready to move on. He's now likely to be out for several months so it seems unlikely he'll depart before January. Somehow Collins John is still on our books. I'm pretty sure his contract expired at the end of June, but he's young enough to still entitle us to a transfer fee if he moves on. He's not been involved at any level in the pre-season games so seems likely to be on his travels one way or another very soon. The seven subs allocation means that I think we have room for five or six strikers but we could get by with only four. Roy has discussed the flexibility he's looking for in our players and I think we have options to use attacking players from other parts of the squad (I'm particularly thinking of Dempsey and Gera here - possibly even Seol at a stretch ...).

When all is said and done Football is about goals so it is encouraging to see the club spend big money on new faces. I had my doubts about the move for Andy Johnson, but now he's an official part of the team I find myself getting more and more excited about the prospect of him and Zamora forming a potent partnership.

A small footnote to mention the three strikers that were released at the end of last season. Ishmael Ehui and Bjorn Runstrom were never able to make the break through from fringe players into the first team. Jari Litmanen's Fulham career may well have just been an urban myth. Very few people actually saw him in a Fulham shirt and his appearances were pretty much limited to a couple of reserve games and the occasional mention on the official website. It seems appropriate that a player who can claim to be little more than a footnote in the history of our club should be discussed one final time in this one.

Review of the summer - The Midfield

Midfield is the area that has so far seen least change. Fringe players Simon Elliott and Michael Timlin have been moved out permanently whilst both Lee Cook and Hameur Bouazza have been dispatched on season long loans. Two new players join, the versatile Zoltan Gera looking most likely to fill the left flank and Andranik Temouryian adding depth to the holding role. There's still a few question marks over which of these players will still be with us come the end of the transfer window. Steven Davis appeared very close to a move to Rangers but is currently back in the fold after the club stood firm on his valuation. This is good to hear and Roy has made some positive comments about Davis' ability to add to our squad. This could just be posturing but I'm sure if Steven remains come the end of August Roy will make use of him. Alexey Smertin seems more likely to move on as he's been pretty much invisible since he last played for the first team whilst the confusion over Jimmy Bullard's future continues to rumble. Danny Murphy, who may well be our new club captain, earns a much deserved contract extension after his season saving goal at Fratton park.

Position     Season 2007-08     Season 2008-09


AM-01 R      Simon Davies       Simon Davies
AM-02 C      Jimmy Bullard      Jimmy Bullard
AM-03 C      Clint Dempsey      Clint Dempsey
AM-04 L      Hammeur Bouazza    Zoltan Gera
AM-05 C      Steven Davis       Steven Davis
AM-06 C      Seol Ki-Hyeon      Seol Ki-Hyeon
AM-07 L      Lee Cook


DM-01        Danny Murphy       Danny Murphy
DM-02        Leon Andreasen     Leon Andreasen
DM-03        Alexey Smertin     Andranik Teryouakin
DM-04        Simon Elliott      Alexey Smertin

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I'm finding it quite hard to work out where we stand with this group of players. If we lost Bullard, Davis and Smertin before the end of August would we have enough to cope with a full season? If they are allowed to go have we got other targets lined up to replace them? There were rumours of interest in Torino's Vincenzo Grella which are quite exciting but nothing concrete. If Bullard really is completely out of favour have we actually got enough creative alternatives. I'm reasonably happy with the likely starting four but feel concerned about the depth of quality beyond that.

Review of the summer - The Defence

One of the key areas for concern for some time has been our back four. This probably isn't surprising for a team generally operating in the lower reaches of the league table. It seemed that as soon as we had one position nicely sorted out we'd lose a key player somewhere else. Lawrie Sanchez arrived with the defence in need of some reorganisation and left with it in a shambles. Roy acted promptly bringing in the impressive Hangeland to add some presence to the centre and (it turns out only temporarily) borrowing Paul Stalteri to add experience and reliability at right back. However come the summer any depth to our defence has rapidly vanished as Hodgson took the opportunity to clear out players he felt weren't up to the job.

Position Season 2007-08     Season 2008-09

RB-01    Paul Stalteri      Frederick Stoor
RB-02    Mortiz Volz        John Paintsil
RB-03    Elliott Omozusi    Elliott Omozusi
RB-04    Chris Baird        Mortiz Volz

LB-01    Paul Konchesky     Paul Konchesky
LB-02    Tony Kallio        Tony Kallio

CB-01    Brede Hangeland    Brede Hangeland
CB-02    Aaron Hughes       Aaron Hughes
CB-03    Carlos Bocanegra   Tony Kallio
CB-04    Dejan Stefanovic   Chris Baird
CB-05    P. Christanval
CB-06    Ian Pearce

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The full back slots are fairly well covered. At right back new boys Frederick Stoor and John Paintsil look likely to fight it out over who is going to be first choice. Konch will continue rampaging down the opposite flank with cover most likely to be provided by Tony Kallio who has seen his short term contract converted into a two year deal. Elliott Omozusi heads to Norwich on a season long loan which will hopefully see him gain some useful match experience. To my mind Junior is definitely capable of making the step up to first team football so I'm hopeful he will come back an improved defender and ready to make an impact with Fulham. Mortiz Volz, cult hero though he is, will surely serve himself better by finding a club where he can play regular football and there's been talk of interest from both Middlesbrough and Hull.

It's the centre back position that most concerns me. Hangeland and Hughes are a capable pairing but beyond them we're looking very thin on the ground. I'm desperate to see how Tony Kallio actually plays and to find out I plan on going to a reserves game soon to see him do his stuff. I can't imagine Chris Baird is in serious contention but from Roy's comments it looks like he has a better chance here than at right back. That said having seen him play there against Kingstonian a few weeks back I don't really fancy his chances.

We'd been linked with Croatian centre back Simunic during the European Championships, but news of any deal has gone quiet. If there's money still to spend then this is the key position we need to fill. There's a possibility that Roy has other tricks up his sleeve. He talked about the versatility of Paintsil when he signed so could he fill the role? Maybe there's someone else in the squad who could do the job in a pinch. At the very least we need a capable back up but if we are able to buy and can find an alternative of the same calibre as Simunic the squad would be looking very strong indeed.

Review of the summer - The Goalkeepers

A week to go until the action starts and so I thought I'd take a look at the changes Roy has made to the playing squad. At the end of last season, the playing staff consisted of some 44 players. Clearly there was a lot of dead wood but whilst it was easy to see who we could let go there was also a need to improve the quality of players. I'm planning to take a look at each area in turn to see where we are and what we might still need. Roy didn't waste much time sorting out the number one position so it makes sense to start with the Goalkeepers.

Rank  Season 2007-08   Season 2008-09

1  Kasey Keller    Mark Schwarzer

2  Antti Niemi    David Stockdale

3  Tony Warner    Pascal Zuberbühler

4  Ricardo Batista   Antti Niemi

Mark Schwarzer arrives from a successful career with Middlesbrough to claim the number one shirt. He's a proven Premiership 'keeper with a decent track record. It's been clear for a while that Antti Niemi is not having the best of times and whilst he stays on our books for the time being it's likely he'll be on his way fairly soon. Niemi has picked up another injury which might end up delaying his departure until January but I very much doubt we'll see him in a Fulham shirt again. Other new signing David Stockdale (22 year old signed from Darlington) seems to be considered good enough to be the second choice keeper, and we've brought in veteran Swiss stopper Zuberbühler to provide a bit of experience if it turns out he isn't.

Ricardo Batista moved to Sporting Lisbon on a permanent deal which must be good news for him. I think I only saw him play once in a very entertaining Carling Cup game against Lincoln which we eventually won 5-4. He was clearly very nervous that night and had a complete nightmare. In fact I don't think I've ever seen a worse performance from a 'keeper. At the time I posted on TFi to say how poor he was and was taken to task by someone who correctly pointed out how young he was. Felt bad about that ever since so I wish him all the best for the future.

Tony Warner moves to Hull where he has a chance to put in his regular first game of the season blinder and embarrass us in our opening fixture. Tony definitely played his part in Fulham history. He had some bad days but some very good ones too.

Kasey Keller has apparently been released. His contract expired at the end of June but as far as I could tell the club never listed him as a player released. Poor manners from the club there, Keller made a significant contribution to our escape from relegation and deserved an official thank you at the very least. He wouldn't have been happy with being a 3rd choice keeper so no great surprise really. There's been talk that, like Brian McBride, he planned to return to his home town and play for Seattle in the MLS.

Almost a complete change in personnel then for this key position but some sound decisions from my point of view. I feel comfortable with Schwarzer being able to do a good job in the number one jersey and early reports suggest that Stockdale is decent as well.