Finishing the Season

We're entering the final stretch of the season with seven games in five weeks. I feel like we are in a good position to avoid relegation, but the recent loans make me a little worried that we might attempt dramatic changes that could do more harm than good. However here are the things that settle my mind:

• In the last 7 games Wigan has scored 3 more points than us. If we both keep our current pace, we still have a 5 point lead on them at the end of the season.
• Wigan has a tougher road ahead than us with their opponents on average in the 11th position and ours in the 13th position. We also get to play 4 teams lower than the 8th place Wolves (the clearest dividing line of quality in the league) while they only play 3. Even better for us, 3 of our 4 teams are below us in the table.
  
• We've got a guaranteed win when we wrap up the season vs Norwich. They are allergic to us or something.
• If Rotherham continues their recent form along with us, we'll finish above them even if Wigan surpasses us somehow

The match against Wigan at the Cottage on April 10 will be key. After that game both Wigan and Fulham face off against two lower opponents. If Wigan wins and they cut the difference to something around 6 points, it will make rest of the season a lot scarier. If we win and difference is around 12 points then we can relax.

At this time next season I hope to be talking about our possible matchups in the playoffs and a return to the Premier League rather than how we probably won't be relegated.

 

I think most of these loans are insurance policies, but I'm with you Micah let's get through this season unscathed and contend next year. Some Intl breaks are welcome, this one was not. Just want to get on with it and get the necessary points.

 

We seem to be on a 2 to 1 ratio in recent performances...2 bad ones for every good one. We haven't had a decent WINNING streak (not unbeaten, WINNING) all season that I can recall. Our best run of form was when Kit was caretaker. Performances suddenly and inexplicably fell off the table again when he was named permanently. There's certainly no guarantee it will happen, but we're WAY overdue for an extended run of good form, given the talent we have relative to those around us in the table. I'm not sure about these late season loans. And it doesn't seem to matter where the team we're playing next are situated in the table. We just need to WIN, period, and the threat of relegation will take care of itself.

 

Two things. Jump, I'd remind that the sum is greater than the parts and our sum sucks.

Second, for anyone who's frustration is relative to expectation, I'd forget about contending for promotion next year. Barring the most brilliant summer window in the history of the club, it's not happening. The one benefit that we'll have next year is the FFP rule change that allows an owner to fund £13M in losses each season. However Khan has been quick to talk about sustainability & they've gone to great lengths acquiring 16-17 year olds to stock the Academy. That's not a bad long term plan, but a smart short term one is needed as well for promotion any time soon & that's where the club have consistently fallen on their face. Hopefully change is around the corner on that front. I have yet to see one sign that's the case though.

There's a good article up on Viva El Fulham about the particulars of the financial position of the club, using hard numbers and not speculation. I can't seem to link it using my phone for some reason.

 

I wish I had said any or all of that first.

 

Just read the piece your referring to. Man I knew wages were too high but when you look at it like he did, it's incredible. Obviously a different sport and everything but as a Cowboys fan I've seen it take 4 years to get back on a good financial(meaning salary cap) footing. I hope Fulham can turn things around a bit quicker than that.

 

Interesting tidbit: we're currently 8pts from the drop, and 8pts from 14th.

Wigan have a pretty bad offense: 22nd in goals scored, 21st in Total Shots For, 24th in Shots on Target For.

Yet they have a halfway decent defense: 3rd in Total Shots Against, 7th in Shots on Target Against, their Save% is better than ours. Plus their TSR & PDO are very much middle-of-the-pack.

MicahMan you're right in saying they have been improving, but the hole they dug themselves may be too big to surpass...and none of those numbers I've listed are really enough to see them out of this.