It seems we need a space to chat about what is likely to be a few months of significant change for Fulham. I expect we'll see a bit of a changing of the guard in the playing squad in addition to a revolution in the coaching staff.
Silva - I don't know if I can think of any other Fulham manager who was as good at building up players' confidence and developing their strengths. Silva's weakness is game management. I will always like the man and be thankful for his making Fulham into an established Prem side, but I think the potential of the Fulham/Silva combination is just short of the European spots. There is no question at this point that he will leave. Who will replace him? I've seen rumors about Kieran McKenna from Ipswich and admit I don't know enough about him.
Playing squad - Wilson and Jimenez are at the end of their contracts, and Chukwueze and Kusi-Asare are likely going back to their clubs. Beyond those, I expect Cuenca, Reed, and Diop to seek other places with more opportunities. TC is a playing coach rather than a full-time player. Berge/Lukic is not really a top-half center-mid pairing, and the new coach may show one or both the door. Then there are those annual unpleasant surprises. Will someone come with offers our brass decides we cannot refuse for Bassey and King? They're likely to draw interest. What kind of Fulham will emerge from the transfer window after the world cup? Will it be a strengthened squad able to emulate the likes of Bournemouth or Brighton of this season, or will we be collectively holding our breath and expecting relegation?
So many good questions in there. We'll likely see many key changes over the summer and will be left wondering if they were a net positive before that first kickoff in August.
I totally agree with your take on Silva. I have no problem if he leaves even if the chances of finding someone better are less than 50/50. We've seen the best of what he can do with Fulham and I'd like to give someone else a shot. For a while it felt like we could say he just didn't have the right players. This season that excuse ran out of steam. He had better players than back when Fulham got promoted and still didn't accomplish anything more. If he does happen to stay, that isn't the worst thing either. He'll have Fulham around 50 points, never worry much about relegation, get a wiff of further success but nothing more - not terrible but not great.
I think that Fulham under Silva have gotten too cautious and predictable. Things just grind to a halt too often trying to go forward. If someone new comes in I'd like to see a team that reacts more quickly when it has the advantage. Some greater variety in the attack would be good too - fewer lofted crosses into the box please.
I've been thinking back to that deal for Pepi that fell through. Pepi recovered from his injury and did well for PSV so his price certainly hasn't gone down. Fulham desperately needs a better option up top and he could have been it - any maybe still could be. However, now that Europe is out of the question and Silva's status is up in the air I 'm not sure if Fulham can attract someone of his caliber. I wonder if the deal had gone through earlier, could we possibly have seen the Muniz that was scoring for fun when Broja was brought in as a loan. That pressure seemed to ignite something in Muniz and maybe Pepi's potential arrival could have done the same, and then that would have meant Fulham earning more points, and possibly Europe, and possibly Wilson/Silva staying, but that's a lot of conjecture. What can be said is that Fulham have the fewest goals in the PL over the last eight matches - just four, and three of those came against Burnley. That is something that cannot continue into next season.
I hope Fulham can keep Cuenca and Diop. They are both very good options to have and Diop should have gotten start over Andersen down the stretch. However, given their playing time, I would understand if they moved on. If Fulham does end up selling Bassey then it would be even more important to keep Cuenca since he would b a good option to fill that hole.
Fulham feel on the cusp of something. Could be relegation. Could be Europe. I just don't think we'll see another comfortable mid-table finish next season.