Fulham summer 2018

I know we're not yet into the summer and a lot of this summer's activity will certainly depend on the outcome of the playoffs, but I ran across this article and thought it was a good primer for the upcoming offseason.

https://www.90min.com/posts/6041479...ry-fulham-player-s-contract-is-due-to-expire?

 

As MM so eloquently enumerated elsewhere, there will be changes. There always are. Some are surprises. Most are not. I'm not even going to think about it until after Saturday. This team has been a joy to watch. I'm gonna focus on that until the time comes to say goodbye to whomever ends up departing. They'll do so with my personal gratitude and thanks for such a wonderful season.

 

May we continue to find the tastiest AND largest bits of chum. Mitrovic may end up being the best piece of chum yet...

 

I read this last week, but did not want to post in fear of jinxing the final since it is written with the thought that Fulham would go up. I'm mostly in agreement with the author. I read somewhere else that Huddersfield and Brighton (? maybe) brought in 13 players a piece after their promotion. I think that would designate a number of our current players to a transfer or back up status. If Fulham lose certain crucial players (e.g., Cairney, Sessegnon), they must reinvest wisely. Hopefully the analytical team are shifting into high gear. The league schedule will be released June 14 and the season starts August 11 (76 days, but who's counting?). It's going to be an interesting summer...

https://www.90min.com/posts/6061808...rs-fulham-should-keep-and-offload-this-summer

 

I agree with almost everything in that article, except Norwood. He's one of the few players who I have very strong negative feelings about. I appreciate the block he made on Saturday and the PK's he converted earlier in the season, but his decision making with the ball at his feet leaves a lot to be desired. And I'm sorry, but Kalas is not "easily Fulham's best centre back", that honor has to go to Ream, but I also wouldn't mind Kalas staying.

Funny that they suggest keeping Woodrow. I think he'd be the only Fulham player to have played on the squad prior to relegation.

 

The squad that lines up on August 11 may look very different than the one we saw on Saturday. I have zero idea what that will look like.

Part of that is the fact Fulham had the max 6 players on-loan, and I doubt we'll see us purchasing all those contracts. Half of those loanees were loaned to us last season, which may say more about them and their level than us.

Another is the English summer transfer window actually ends before the season this year.

 

Fredericks has gone to West Ham. There goes our only (non-loan) player whose contract expires this year.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...egrini-completes-first-transfer-a3855936.html

 

For the first time in a week and a half I've stopped smiling! More of a pursed "ho-hum" face. Need to go watch that GJ cam video again.

While I liked Fredericks, I'm not too worried about losing him. Frankly I never thought we lost a step when Christie came in and who knows who we might be able to bring in. There are other key pieces I'm more concerned about losing (those stories of Jokanovic meeting with Chelsea cause my smile to downturn slightly)

 

I’m hoping the Slav talk is the classic move by a coach to get a sweeter deal.

 

In the grand scheme of things, we're sellers, not buyers, especially in the Premiership. If Abramovich wants Joka, he can pay him twice what we pay him with spare change. However...Khan may be willing to shell out more to keep a manager or player than Al-Fayed was. If he's got the money to buy Wembley, it follows that he's got the money to keep who he really wants to keep. And let's not forget what happened when Joka got Watford promoted. Did they really low ball him on new terms, or call his bluff and he walked? Those details don't normally become unbiased public knowledge. Or maybe I just don't understand finance at that level. I'm optimistic things will be different and we'll keep who we want to keep and lose who we don't really want to keep. And unless someone offers us $200 million for Sess, he'll be around for at least another season. Fredericks? Meh. A good player, but not indispensable. Norwood? Meh. Piazon? Meh, although I like him as a person, passionate, good attitude, etc. Just didn't do enough to merit prying from Scum. We could do this all day but the reality is, the roster's going to change. And the non playing staff have to figure out how to choose the best new pieces and make them fit better. Tricky? Sure. Risky? Absolutely. But we're gonna lose some good folks. Just gotta replace them with as good or, hopefully, better folks. Because going to Old Trafford, the Emirates, the Etihad, the dog track, Anfield and whatever the new Spuds stadium ends up being named ain't no picnic. But the core of this group didn't bat an eye on the big stage at Wembley. So, until proven otherwise, I'm still bullish on the club to compete, and compete well, regardless of who comes and who goes.
Now.....
who are we linked with?

 

Some in the twittersphere are getting anxious about our lack of activity so far.
I say keep your shirt on (something my Mammaw said often).
Until something happens, one way or the other, with certain players, there's no reason to panic.
Look no further than the 11 we brought in on loan or signed last summer, including returning loanees:
Marcelo Djalo, Ibrahima Cisse, Lucas Piazon, Oliver Norwood, Tomas Kalas, Aboubakar Kamara, Sheyi Ojo, Rui Fonte, Rafa Soares, Yohan Mollo and Jordan Graham. Remember anything any of them did in the playoffs (outside of Norwood's penalty area tackle at Wembley)? And let's not forget, Craig Kline was still employed by the club then. He wasn't sacked until November.
I believe Mitrovic is the key to our window. Whether or not we are able to pry him from Toons will affect every other transfer decision.
Patience.

 

Which begs the question: Has a breakout World Cup star who got a big, new club deal as a result ever panned out? I'm thinking specifically of James Rodriguez from 2014 and Diego Forlan from 2010, although I guess you could say they didn't exactly flame out. But they didn't justify the hype and pay raises either, did they? Curious to know what y'all think of the individual performances so far.

 

I thought that Mitro had just about the perfect performance from Fulham's perspective. He did well enough to show the past few months have not been a fluke, but not so well that he's likely to become a hot property who could fetch a lot more someplace else.

Other than that, this Ronaldo guy seems pretty good.

And I'm very sad Senegal didn't make it through. They were the team I enjoyed watching the most. I thought the ref got the penalty call right in their match with Columbia before overturning it after VAR.

 

Maguire? (#?). Or Henderson? (pos?)

 

And....hard to believe, but our lads are already back at it. Unreal.

First Day Back https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/july/02/first-day-back

 

Good News!!

http://hammyend.com/

 

New coach on the staff. Familiar face though.

Parker Appointed https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/july/04/scott-parker-appointed