Summer Transfer Window 2015

Discussion in 'Fulham FC News and Notes' started by ChicagoCottager, May 12, 2015.

  1. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2008
    Location:
    Alamo City, Texas
    I offer a pragmatic view, in part, to temper expectations in the hopes of minimizing the over the top criticisms. You're not one to do that, and I'm certainly not trying to rain on your parade. I just caution against overestimating a team that still has quite a few flaws, imo. Of course I hope I'm wrong.

    While I think I have a pretty good feel for the league, I have a better feel for us & how teams have played us. This isn't any different than you predicting how far Zona hoops will go in the tourney. You may not be spot on, but you can tell the difference in what your team looks like when they're an NIT team, a tourney team, a Sweet 16 team or a Final 4 team. You don't need to know the field in depth to give a pretty darn accurate assessment.

    So who are the 8-10? I think Brighton, Cardiff, Hull, Boro, QPR & Burnley are better than us. The other 2-4 teams will come from a group of Ipswich, Brum, Charlton, Leeds, Forest & Derby. I might be overlooking a couple and I might be over rating a couple.

    Btw Joseph, you did ask to be called overly optimistic. :)
     
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    Last edited: Sep 1, 2015
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  2. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

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    I checked the updated promotion odds on 3 sites post transfer window & we're listed as tied for 16th, tied for 18th & 19th. Take that for whatever you will.
     
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  3. BarryWhite

    BarryWhite Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Newburgh, IN
    I think the defense and midfield have been upgraded over last season. Fewer goals allowed should mean more points and that by itself will see Fulham finish comfortably midtable IF we can find goals. McCormack is probably going to need to duplicate or exceed last seasons output and the trio of Dembele, Woodrow and Smith plus the midfield will need fill in for what we lost this summer. Come January I think there is a good chance Fulham are shopping for a striker unless someone shows a proclivity for scoring soon.

    Overall this looks like a good summer window.
     
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  4. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2014
    Here's a recap of what happened this Summer:

    GK Lonergan
    GK Lewis (loan)
    D Richards
    D Garbutt (loan)
    D Fredericks
    D Ream
    D Stearman
    M Cairney
    M Mattila
    M Pringle
    M O'Hara

    Here is why I'm feeling pretty good about things overall. We got the equivalent of a whole new back line, which we really needed (I didn't include Husband since he came on a 1 month deal, we'll see what happens there). We also made some strong additions to the mid-field. I've really liked what I've seen from Cairney and O'Hara so far.

    We got four players who had been voted Players of the Year. Yes, being PotY from Blackpool is like graduating valedictorian from SUNY Cortland, but still better than some guy who hadn't played in the past year and had most recently spent time playing in the fourth tier of the Swiss football league - we really signed that guy last year.

    Last year we only got three guys with Championship experience - McCormack, Smith, and Kiraly. The other 11 came from the hinterlands. This year we have just have two, and to be fair, Garbutt comes from a Premier League team, so only Mattila feels like he belongs in last year's signings. Plus no one this year plays in sweatpants.

    So this team is far, far better than the team that Kit cobbled together to get out of relegation and finish with only a modest amount of anxiety in the closing weeks of the season. The teams we've lost to this year are currently #1 and #2 and we kept them close. Sure, I'm also concerned that we can't score enough goals, but in our first 5 games our offense scored enough for us to have a record of 2 wins and 3 draws if we hadn't had some late defensive lapses.

    What do I expect? A upper-mid-table finish just outside of the playoffs. I'll say a crushing loss to Brentford the last week of April that takes us out of the running and of course triggers the mob to call for Kit's head.

    Normally I follow a personal philosophy of Positive Pessimism (trademarked, I'm going to be a motivational, maybe de-motivational, speaker with that someday) - expect the worst and you'll be happy with just about any other outcome. Kinda like what AggieMatt described. Yet with Fulham I can't help but feel, what's the word? Optimistic! I felt optimistic last year that Magath was some mad genius (half-right on that one) and look where that got me. This year will be different, right?! COYW!!
     
    #244
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  5. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    I think we're significantly better than we were at any point last season.

    As for what the bookies say now, I'd be interested in seeing who the bookies thought would win the league this time last year, and where they thought Bournemouth would finish. It's also good to remember that the bookies picked us to be relegated about 8 seasons in a row in the Premier League but NOT when we actually did get relegated.
     
    #245
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  6. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2008
    Location:
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    It's hardly an exact science, thus why I said take that for whatever you will. Case in point, the relegated Prem teams are listed as promotion favorites by default most years.

    I found one preseason odds list from last year, but it's from early August, so not after the window closed. Final place in standings in parentheses.

    Promotion:
    Cardiff (11)
    Derby (8)
    Norwich (3)
    Fulham (17)
    Wigan (23)
    Brighton (20)
    Wolves (7)
    Forest (14)

    Relegation:
    Blackpool (24)
    Millwall (22)
    Rotherham (21)
    Brentford (5)
    Brum (10)

    Thats just one bookie from one year, but it pretty much makes Don's case, at least on the promotion end.

    Going back to the season we were relegated, I found one with us 14th & one with us 16th. I picked us to be relegated that year, fwiw.
     
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  7. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
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    In the latest TOOFIF, there's a snapshot of the league table after Magath's Revenge. Forest was top of the league, we were bottom, and Bournemouth had 8 points from 7 matches and were lying 15th. I don't think anyone would have picked them to be promoted, never mind the champions and the greatest offensive machine in the land.

    The problem with the Championship is also why it's so much fun to follow -- as I did for a few seasons before we were relegated. Everyone beats everyone. We can't do the double over 22 teams, but we can deprive 'boro of promotion with a late season 4-3 victory. Derby County has had the best squad in the league for the last two full seasons and hasn't rung the bell yet -- and don't look likely to this season either.

    Before the Premier League was invented and football quality became measured by European club success, the old first division looked like this also. Bottom half teams routinely turned over top half teams and drives for league championship got derailed by the most amazing match results. The only thing that stopped the old first from winding up in a 22 team tie was the holiday schedules -- Christmas, New Years, and Easter all featured two matches in two or three days [never on a Sunday] and the sides with the weakest squads generally suffered the most. It was common to hear, "Wait until Easter to separate the wheat from the chaff." That's where we still are in the Championship.

    With still more than 40 matches to go, anything can happen.
     
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  8. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

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    Jan 20, 2008
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    Don, I think your memory is being skewed by the time you spent there a little. In the 60's, there were 9 different 1st Division champs and it was completely as you say. However, throughout the history of the league, going as back as far as post WWI, there have only been either 4 or 5 champs in any decade. There was one decade with 6.

    The Prem launched in 92 so it's been going for 23 years. There were 4 champs in that first half (United, Arsenal, Chelsea & Blackburn) but there have only been 3 since '05 (City, United & Chelsea). It's definitely more elite at the top now, but you still have clubs from the bottom turning over the big boys.
     
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  9. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    4-6 different champs in each decade sounds EXACTLY what I was talking about. I also lived in England in the mid-70s and and the early 90s, by the way, and there was a First Division back then as well. If you're trying to disagree with me, you'll have to work harder.
     
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  10. timmyg

    timmyg Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2006
    Who was that?

    Echoing Don's sentiments: it's way too early and there's still so much left to play (I did not know about Bournemouth's 8pts from 7 matches). The Championship is really like the MLB season, and we're barely into the first month of either. On May 1, Texas was the worst team in the AL. Now they may take the AL West.

    Going back to the Thread: this was the most sensible transfer window since ... Hughes? I'd have preferred another ST be brought in (esp with Taggart going out) as we're currently down to 3 active (what's the timeline on Smith?). If any of Ross, Moussa, or Woodrow get hurt we're suddenly quite thin at that position.
     
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  11. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2008
    Location:
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    I think I misunderstood your point. Mine was that, unlike the Championship/2nd Divsion, the First Division has almost always had periods of dominance from any given team. This is reflected in the fact that in the pre Premier League era, going back to 1920, there were only 19 different champions in 65 seasons of football. Compare that to the Championship/2nd Division where there have been 44 different champs since 1920 (88 seasons). The one exception was the 60's where it truly was anyone's guess from year to year who would win b/c no one or 2 teams dominated the decade. But re-reading your post, that wasn't what you were saying, so mea culpa.
     
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    Last edited: Sep 2, 2015
  12. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    and, of course, you can't have back-to-back champs in the Championship/2nd division. No sweat.
     
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  13. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2014
    #253
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