Optimistically Looking At The Future: The Official Thread

OK, I'm making the following assumption: Fulham playing in the Premiership in 2008-09 is not a lost cause. The right combination of player moves, motivation and tactics can keep us up. If anyone has a real "we're 100% doomed" mentality, this is not the thread for you. Your opinion is certainly as valid as mine, but I'd kindly ask you to discuss it elsewhere.

So, now that that's out of the way, what should be done in order to keep us up, with an eye towards helping to continue to succeed in the future? Here are some of my ideas, starting with general ones and then moving towards specific ones. Please bear in mind that many of the statements I make here are my opinions and should be read as such.

Given the position we're in, in the relegation zone, coming off a drubbing, and with a managerial vacancy, we shouldn't be afraid to cut bait on players, including guys who were just signed 4-6 months ago.

We should be looking to keep/sign players who:
A) are good for us/someone else in the Premiership right now;
B) are good for us/someone else in the Premiership recently, and are not so old that it's unreasonable to expect them to continue being good;
C) are good for someone else in another top-level league now or recently; or
D) have shown potential to be Premiership quality, and have not disproven that potential.

Looking position by position:

Goalkeeper

Antti Niemi is a good shot stopper. He's also 35, has been a bit injury-prone of late, and has a game that is noticeably lacking in certain areas. We need to realize that the Finn isn't a long-term solution, and be actively looking to get younger at goalkeeper. If we can get a younger guy in January, I think we need to be willing to pull the trigger.

Kasey Keller is perhaps a better all-around keeper than Niemi, but he's even older, having recently turned 38. He's obviously not a long-term solution as a starter either. However, because he outpaces Niemi in areas other than pure shot-stopping, I think he has more potential as a veteran backup/mentor to a prospect, possibly even a player-coach now that we're without a GK coach (though I'm simply speculating on that front; I have no actual knowledge as to whether Keller actually is interested into going into coaching). If we can sign a young hotshot and we had to sell either Keller or Niemi, Keller is the one I'd keep.

Tony Warner is a veteran #3, nothing more. If he's willing to accept that role, keep him. If he wants to be more than that, sell him somewhere that he'll have a chance to start.

Ricardo Batista has been, as I understand it, pretty good when out on loan and (if I'm not mistaken) for Portugal's youth teams. If his loan is up in January, I'd like to see him given a run out in real action for the senior squad to see whether he might be "the guy." He's 21, let's see what he's got.

Corrin Brooks-Meade is pretty good, I gather, but is only 19, also out on loan, and had a knee injury not too long ago. I don't think he's a factor at this point.

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I've realized how long this post is getting, so I'm going to break it up into multiple posts.

 

Right Back

Chris Baird can go. Let's get that over with. He's been pretty bad at fullback, and if he were any better than the guys we've already got at center back he would've been tried there by now. The fans don't like him, and they like the two other guys. If Southampton wants him back, sell him back. Take a loss if need be.

Elliot Omozusi has impressed early on and should be allowed to continue to do so. However, he's shown a tendency towards badly timed fouls and he needs to find a way to curtail that. He's got to be playing half of our games or more in the spring.

Moritz Volz has been (for as much as we all love him) a bit forgotten lately, with Liam Rosenior getting most of the action last year and Baird the first half of this year. But the fans do love him, and he's versatile, and he gets a chance to compete with Omozusi. He needs to understand that he's in a fight though.

Between Omozusi and Volz I think there's enough to work with. If a great right back somehow becomes available due to being out of favor with his team or whatever, fine, but I don't know that you'll necessarily find anybody much better available in January.

Left back

Paul Konchesky is the guy. It's tough to find a good left back and I doubt we'll see anything better available in January.

Nathan Ashton was pretty good filling in for a suspended Konchesky in the home match against Reading. I think he gets another shot at the first team at some point during the spring.

Carlos Bocanegra is your emergency backup but Konchesky should be starting every game for which he's fit.

With the emergence of Omozusi and the quality provided by Konchesky, I actually don't think you need to acquire a full back in the January window unless something falls in your lap.

Center back

I'll start with the easy ones.

Ian Pearce is old and slow even when he's healthy, which isn't often. He's just not good enough at this point. If he can be offloaded, do it.

Philippe Christanval is also never healthy. It's time to let someone else deal with the question mark.

Dejan Stefanovic is also old and slow, but strong in the air, seems to think the game well, and (to my knowledge) isn't injury-prone. Like Niemi and Keller, he's not a long-term solution. If nobody else signs, he's part of a rotation, but like everybody we've got, he's replaceable.

Aaron Hughes is pretty good but continues a pattern of guys who were deemed replaceable by other Premiership clubs and should be deemed replaceable by us should another opportunity arise.

Carlos Bocanegra is great in the air but occasionally has mental lapses and his distribution out of the back is lacking. Like Hughes, he's got the versatility to fill in at full back if need be.

If nobody else is brought in, these three guys should rotate into/out of the lineup depending on form, injuries and suspensions. This continues to be an area of concern though, and the new manager should be actively seeking someone who's younger and better all-around than the options we have. In the absence of that sort of a possibility, though, I'd rather keep the guys we have to see if they can gel than make a knee-jerk purchase that just confuses things more.

For what it's worth, an Arsenal fan had this to say when I asked why Philippe Senderos hasn't been playing:

I really don't know much at all about Adrian Leijer, other than that he's 21, which is old enough that if we think he's ever going to be good enough to play in the EPL, he should be getting a look now.

Likewise, I don't know much about Adam Watts, but if I recall correctly, word has been that he's been good for the Reserves this year. He'll be 20 in the spring, so I guess it's also time he should be given a look if the opportunity arises.

I don't know if Gabriel Zakuani has been hurt, but if not, then if he's only played 5 times for Stoke this year, which seems to bode poorly for his likelihood of success in the Premiership.

 

Defensive midfield

Well, let's start here: we need one. Whether you think a pure midfield ball-winner needs to be on the field at all times, or just as a guy to stabilize things late and help hold leads, this is an area that needs improvement.

Carlos Bocanegra and Moritz Volz are capable of filling this role but I don't think it's natural for them.

Simon Elliott was crap in MLS, if you ask me, AND he can't stay healthy, so dump him as far as I'm concerned.

Alexey Smertin isn't bad but he isn't great either, and he's 32. I've never been a huge fan of his, honestly, and I think the run of good form he had for us in the preseason and early this year was just that. He's adequate until the end of the year if there aren't better options and should be used to stabilize games, but I think that's about it.

Steven Davis makes some smart defensive plays but he's miscast as a defensive midfielder, so I'm not going to talk about him here.

If Jean Makoun is available, as FFC24 (I think) suggested, he'd be a great option. As much as I think he's a hack, Shalrie Joseph might be a good pickup, though MLS has been reluctant to let him go and he's actually older than I realized (29). Signing a good defensive midfielder should be a priority in January.

Left Midfield

I think Hameur Bouazza is pretty good. He's fast, runs at defenders, crosses reasonably well. I really like DStriker's caricature of him where his ears are bigger than the rest of his head. He seems to have a tendency to wear down in matches and his shooting is erratic.

Lee Cook hasn't played yet. There must be some reason why QPR were so reluctant to part with him and I'd like to see what it is.

Robert Milsom is, I gather, also a left side midfielder and I guess I'd like to know what he brings to the table as well. From what I read, Michael Timlin used to play primarily on the left but now plays mainly in the middle.

Like I said about right back, if you can find a really good replacement (I wish we'd signed Olivier Kapo, who we'll see on Saturday, in the offseason), great, but a knee-jerk signing isn't the answer here.

Right midfield

Simon Davies is better than anybody we'll find for a reasonable price in the offseason. He's got a decent strike rate for us, crosses pretty well, takes set pieces. I'm not saying there aren't better players whom I'd try to sign if they were to become available, like if the Blue Poo decided to try to unload Shaun Wright-Phillips, but this should be basically our lowest priority in January.

Clint Dempsey is probably our backup here, though I think he's better used elsewhere, so I'll discuss him elsewhere.

Seol Ki-Hyeon would probably be most effectively utilized here, but has been forced to the left because Davies is quality. If, by some chance, Davies were to be severely injured between now (knock on wood) and the end of the transfer window, I think Seol becomes your starter in right midfield, though he's unpopular among the fans at the moment. Barring that, I think his skills make him a marketable commodity and you may as well try to make some money for him.

Central/attacking midfield

Jimmy Bullard is the question, isn't he? If he can regain his form, he's your midfield creator, your emotional leader, your class clown, probably your captain when Brian McBride retires or moves elsewhere. But with serious knee injuries, you never know. They've been right not to rush him back too quickly, but I think it's time that he gets into some matches, ideally at least three of the next six, so we know what we have by the end of the transfer window.

Steven Davis is still only 22, and jeez, he was a Premier League club's Player of the Season as a 20-year-old. I think he has to factor in here, because there's clearly skill here. (For what it's worth, in my Football Manager game where I'm using Barcelona, he's one of the top ten players in the world in another four or five years. Milan paid Fulham like 25 million pounds for him in 2010 or so.)

Danny Murphy is alright, I guess, but I'd just as soon see Davis get those minutes instead.

Clint Dempsey is probably best used here, if we played an attacking midfielder directly behind a striker or two, but I don't know if that's in the cards.

Michael Timlin is now 22 and has yet to play a senior match for us, if I'm not mistaken. I think maybe it's time to let him go.

Wayne Brown supposedly has been very good for the Reserves this year and it might be interesting to see what he can do in the FA Cup match against Bristol Rovers.

 

And finally...

Striker

Brian McBride is the man, as we all know. He's also 35 and coming off a serious knee injury. I don't know if he's interested in signing an extension for 2008-09, but that's certainly the last we can expect of him. It'd be nice to find another, younger big striker.

Diomansy Kamara... wow, did we spend a lot of money on him. Look, he's very fast, and he's been a few hair's breadths away from having 3 or 4 more goals for us. In view of how big of a loss we'd have to take if we sold him now, I don't think that's an option, but he needs to know that he's got to improve big time in the spring.

David Healy isn't big enough or fast enough to be successful in the Premier League. Even at Leeds in the Championship, his strike rate wasn't great. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm ready to admit that the magic he has when he's playing for Northern Ireland isn't captured at the club level, much like Lawrie Sanchez' coaching. If we could get back a mil of the 1.5 we paid for him, I'd let him go in the January window.

Shefki Kuqi is fine for what he is; specifically, a big striker brought in to fill McBride's void. I'm under the impression that he goes back to Palace in January. If McBride will be ready by the end of January or the middle of February, I'm not opposed to extending his loan for another couple of months; we can't be paying him all THAT much. If McBride is worse than that, we need to look elsewhere.

Bjorn Runstrom has chipped in a few goals for Kaiserslautern next season, and I believe he's there until the end of the year. Like Timlin, it's time for him to shape up or ship out. In the summer we need to see whether he's going to be a factor next year, and if not we need to sell him.

Collins John... oy. Like Steven Davis, he was great two years ago as a 20-year-old and who knows where it went? Despite the problems some people have with his effort, his strike rate for us is about as good as McBride's, and it was even better in the Eredivisie (not a bad league) as a younger player. There's definitely still potential here and I'd like to see him get another crack next fall.

Ismael Ehui "has great potential as a forward, excellent technique with both his left and right foot and in the air and has a good turn of pace," according to his bio on the club website. If that's genuinely true, I'd like to see him also get a run out against Bristol Rovers also. By the time Collins John was his age we were already ready to give up on him, it seemed, so I think it's time to see what he's got.

This is obviously an area of concern for us in January. Stuttgart's Danijel Ljuboja is available, but everything I read about him suggests that he's a head case. He's big and talented and maybe available at a knockdown price, so if we think McBride can show him how to have a better attitude, he might be worth a shot.

That being said, what we shouldn't do is sign a late twenty-something who's only been successful in the Championship (*COUGH*). Signing more decent but not great players (Bobby Zamora, say) is not the solution, like I said about center backs. If you have the chance to splash the cash on a genuine big name (if Spurs are willing to sell one of their big four, say, or if the rumors of David Villa being available are true) do it, and maybe even be willing to pay a little more than a higher-profile club to get the deal done, but another Diomansy Kamara is to be avoided.

Sorry for rambling there. Have at it, folks.

 

Hmmmm... Interesting points. I must say that I think you must be looking thru some rose colored glasses on a few of these, but I understand your desire to keep this thread positive so I will try to not say too much negative.

GK - I dont mind Niemi. Yeah - he is not great, but you have to give up something somewhere when you dont have the money.

RB - None of the RB's cut it - period.

LB - Konchesky.

CB's - All the guys you list are Band-aids, and not ones that are that great at stopping the bleeding. You are right tho - if the DCM can get sorted this area wont be such an eye sore.

DCM - Big hole that needs to be filled.

CM - Bullard

RM - Demps

LM - Bouazza seems like he could be something special here

Stikers - Look, here is where I must respectfully disagree with the idea that there is something worth saving. Especially when you are talking Healy and Kamara. Say what you want, but Kamara is horrid and Healy doesnt have the chops. Kamara and Healy 'should have scored?' Well they didnt, and they dont. Crap and Crap. I actually like Healy better than Kamara - At least Healy picks his head up to look around every once in a while...
McBride is old, but he will be a great help when he comes back. If he stays next year he is going to be coming off the bench.

But what can they realistically hope for this January? I would guess it will be in the defense, but I agree that it should be in the DCM and an in-form striker. Look what Tevez did? You win by scoring goals - not necessarily by stopping them.

All of this said - I still think they will avoid the drop. They can still get it together and make it happen - it is not too late.

 

thanks for the comprehensive list jmh. its tough to stay positive when its been an eraserhead-a-riffic two months since the reading victory. I mean the fans, the players, the board, hell maybe even the Cottage, is sinking at an alarming rate.

Although we're missing, although I know its weighing on everyone's mind (everyday i check the headlines to see if its happened yet), one KEY element. Until fulham gets a new manager we have absolutely no idea who will go out, who will come in, who will play what, and what results will then come out of everything. everything hinges on that.

Unfortunately Don, Murphy signed with us, and is not on a loan. He should not be starting regularly but fighting with Davis, Smertin, and Volzy as the CM's

Pearce is def leaving, and SKH should follow therein (can a team just outright release a player in the EPL??).

If we can loan Baird out somewhere, I wouldnt mind that. Omz has proven himself, and Ashton deserves another run out. As previously mentioned, Volzy should move up to CDM.

I've read reports that, though they were during LS's myopia, Kuqi's loan spell was being made permanent. I really hope thats not the case.

Bouazza needs a left winger (a la Matthew Taylor) that is good defensively to split time with. Its not that Booze is awful on D, but he runs REALLY fast in one direction and then cant cut well. Thats not very helpful defensively.

Cook and Christanval are a POW/MIA/AWOL/IR casserole, so I dont consider them actually on the team and think we should stop discussing them until they actually play a match. [/url]

 

Great analysis JMH, in Italy we began to turn to pessimism after seeing that Sanchez, like Attila the Hun, destroyed all.
He sent away all the quality players that we had (apart from Jimmy) and all the players committed to the cause (like Liam Rosenior) replacing them with less than average players whom he thought he could trust.
Thank you for giving us a bit of optimism.

P.S. Please, could some kind mod reduce my avatar?

 

Dempsey is not a winger; yes, he can play Right and Left Mid, but he can play Defensive Mid as well - just not nearly as well as he can play Attacking Mid or even striker.

I would keep Baird. Like Boca, he can play both CH and one of the FBs so, if nothing else, is a versatile substitute. With Boca playing CH, Baird provides complete coverage [RB goes out, Baird goes to RB; CH goes out, Baird goes to CH; LB goes out, Boca moves over and Baird goes to CH].

Probably our best bet for the future is to go with a 4-5-1 with McGod up top and Bullard and Dempsey as Attacking Mids behind. Put a solid DCM behind them and you'll be effective. I would keep Healy as a SuperSub (adding a 2nd striker when we need) and would keep Kamara to possibly compete at LM and as a back-up ACM.

..just think about it.....

McBride, Dempsey, and Bullard up top, attacking and passing back and forth, with Davies and Cook sending crosses in to them...

 

Sent to your email as reg'd on site

 

JMH...great thoughts. I think it's going to be tough to move anyone that we just picked up without taking a major hit and I doubt MAF would do that, and I'm not sure he should. Let's not chop these guys right now, let's see if they can fit into the new managers style of play. could be that some of them (Kamara for example) were playing in a system that doesn't suit their skills. Kamara is a guy that needs the ball played to his feet. I agree that the position we need to upgrade right now is DMid. As much as he may have fallen from when he started with us, I sure would take Diop over anything we have at the moment. So who can we get then? I like your suggestion of Shalrie Joseph. The guy is a quality player, is big and duanting, but also distributes the ball well.

 

Great posts, jmh! Agree with most of what you've said.

GK: Niemi is ok for now. I'd like to see us pick up someone for the future. For whatever reason, the club doesn't seem too high on Batista, evidenced by the lack fo first team action. I'd really like us to make a bid for Wayne Hennessy. I've watched a few Wolves games this season and he looks like a good one. Brooks-Meade could be alright, too early to tell. We also have a couple of very good looking keepers in the U18s, but they have a long way to go before they're ready.

RB: Omozusi is the future, and apparently, the present. Volz is a nice option, and we have a few others who can fill in if necessary. Baird should be moved to CB IMO. Don't have much beyond that, but I don't think we'll need help for awhile.

CB: We have some decent players here, but nothing great. Stefanovic and Bocanegra are close to the same player. I've been impressed with Hughes, and I think Baird would do a good job here. Pearce and Christanval are good players when fit, but both have gotten to the point in which they shouldn't be relied upon at all.

I talked a bit about Zakuani earlier this morning on teh TFI board. He's been in and out of Stoke's lineup, but their fans are very happy with his performances. He recently lost his starting place to Leon Cort, but a lot of supporters seem disappointed with Cort's form since joining the team a few weeks ago. IMO Zakuani is the second-best CB for Stoke (behind Man Utd's Ryan Shawcross), who currently sit 3rd in the Championship. Not too bad. I had hoped earlier this season that Stoke would get promoted, so we would extend the loan to next year and get him some Premiership experience, but we may need him sooner than later.

Beyond that, Watts and Leijer are next on the depth chart. They have been decent in the reserves, but unspectacular. Hopefully we'll see them get a shot in the Cup, and see what we have here. In the U18s, we actually have a lot of talent. Joe Anderson (also plays LB), Matthew Briggs, and Ashley Thompson are probably the best of the bunch, and all 3 have seen time with the reserve squad. Depending on how they do in reserves matches, some of these guys might get a run out with the first team before long.

LM: Sanchez' favorite toy. I really like Bouazza, and Dempsey can fill in in pinch. Lee Cook is supposed to be good, but we'll see when he's fit. For the future, Lino Goncalves might be a decent prospect. He's 19, and has contributed quite a bit to the reserves since he was brought up from the U18s. Seems to be a very good crosser and has a decent shot. Biggest knock on him is that he might be too lightweight for the Premiership. Milsom has done well this season, though I think he's played mostly as a central midfielder.

Not sure what to make of Timlin at this point. I think he's been injured this season. We should see if a Championship side would take him on loan, just so we can see what we have.

RM: Davies is obvious here. Dempsey can fill in, Seol can too but shouldn't. For the future, Goncalves has also played on the right some, and so has Wayne Brown. Bradley Hudson-Odoi is primarily a striker but can play right wing as well. So, lots of guys who can fill in here, but thats about it. It's not a pressing need, but if we can pick up a young prospect, we should consider it.

CM (defensive): Our biggest hole to fill in January, I don't think many would disagree. I would like to see Volz here, but if we can find a more natural midfielder, that would be better. Smertin is a good player when fit, but I see him more as a two-way player. Michael Timlin might be another option, but not this year.

CM (attacking): Lots of options in the first team, with Bullard, Dempsey, Davis and Murphy. Wayne Brown definitely deserves a call up too - he's our #2 prospect behind Omozusi IMO. A couple of U18 guys to watch out for are Wayne Jackson and Max Noble, though neither have even played with the reserves yet so it may be awhile.

F: Not much depth here. I think Healy can score a lot of goals for us if he plays (and more importantly, stays in the penalty area). McBride will be a welcome addition next month, and I think both Healy and Kamara can do well if paired with him. I'm sure Kuqi is gone at that point.

jmh's post is spot on for Runstrom and John. Runstrom needs to show something - unfortunately, he hasn't done much this season, even in the German second division. Collins John I see as similar to Healy at this point, but still has potential to be better. Hopefully he'll get some consistent playing time over the rest of the season with Leicester and get back to form.

In the reserves, Ismael Ehui and Bradley Hudson-Odoi have seen the most time. I don't expect much from Ehui to be honest, but he'll stick around until better options emerge. He still has potential, but should have a lot more goals to his name. Hudson-Odoi seems to have improved quite a bit in the last year or so, and has actually earned a few caps with the Ghana U20s. I don't expect a whole lot from him either, but he I believe hes still only 18 so he definitely has time on his side. Not much more in the Academy yet unfortunately, though one guy who actually hasn't played a whole lot that intrigues me is Kai Bichard. He's played mostly as a sub, but he seems to make things happen every time he comes on. I'm hoping he gets a bigger role in the second half of the season.

Whew, that was a lot more long-winded than I had intended. We've some good young talent moving up the ranks in some spots, not so much in others. I haven't really thought about a January wishlist yet, but hope that whoever the manager is, he can find the right players to help us stay up.

 

I actually think Bouazza did well defensively early on in the season, but has moved toward a more attacking role recently. Whether that was on his own or manager's choice I have no idea. Watch this clip of Simon Davies' goal v Man City, I think it really highlghts what Bouazza is capable of:
http://www.championshipatbest.com/video ... ester-city

 

Thanks richardhkirkando, you clearly know a lot more about your younger guys than I do!

 

no doubt that Bouzza has talent...he just needs more consistency and a higher fitness level so he can play the full 90 effectively. The most glaring position to me is a ball winner at d-mid that can also aid in holding possession