Guardian Picks Fulham To Finish 16th

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/ ... ulham.html

Especially read the comments.

 

And note that writer was more favorable to Fulham than the rest of the 'footy writers' apparently were.
Overall a good piece, disregarding the 'poll'.... which is easy for me, it being the Guardian.

 

I could see us finishing between, say, 11th and 15th, but I don't think what the author said was terribly unreasonable.

3000:1, eh?

 

The only way Fulham gets that close to a relegation fight is if the new signings all completely falter and/or the team loses it's collective will (or gets incredibly unlucky or gets so many ties it's like wins to us) to win in '08 like the first half of '07.

I'm confident that most of the new signings will perform very well in the team and so Fulham will finish at least 14th. Count it! (my opinion can't be any less worthy than the Guardian's, right? I'm a MB poster!)

UPON FURTHER REFLECTION: I was a bit hard on the piece, I have to agree with the author's main assertion that Fulham could finish anywhere. Still, I'm confident.

 

Sean Ingle, the author of the piece, actually states Fulham could finish anywhere between 8th and 18th. The Guardian hack consensus picks them 16th. I pick Fulham to finish 15th, but I think they might actually do better than that.

Although with all the new signings it looks like Fulham is headed in the right direction, no one really knows how good a manager Sanchez is and no one knows if Kamara or Healy or anybody else will be worth their price. This is why I think it is impossible to say Fulham won't be in a relegation fight towards the end.

 

Well, really, could we have expected any more from Sanchez this summer? He needed to overhaul the team, no doubt, and he's done it on a decent budget. As everyone has said, there are a lot of question marks but it's certainly better than seeing the same old defence let goals through in numbers while our attack flutters in the wind. Now, at least we have depth, competition for positions and a good locker room atmosphere. Those three things will make us a better team. I don't think you'll see us in the relegation battle. I think we'll finish between 10 and 15 and next year or the year after, once all the new lads have had a chance to gel, we'll break into the top ten.

 

Well I am no expert but I think this team is going to surprise people. The gaffer knows the majority of these players from international duty and I think they will have a chip on their shoulder and really give it 100% and work for the team. I think we will be very hard to breakdown and dangerous on the counterattack. Maybe this is the year for a decent cup run also?

 

I think I was more surprised by the comments left. I know that football is HUGE over there, but the pure animosity is stunning.

I guess it reminds me of american football here. I know I can't even start to reason with a Browns fan, as I am a Steelers fan.

I guess it was just interesting to read. But as for FFC, I feel they will shock many people this season. Dempsey is in fine form and Boca, and I've done enough research on the new signings by now to think they can really bring something to the club.

 

"...might not quicken the pulse like a foreign fancyboy whose every goal in the Chilean first division is downloaded in fuzzyvision on to YouTube, but they won't need time to adapt to English football either."

FUZZYVISION! Hilarious!

Decent article, it being the Guardian and all, probably not unreasonable. I'd like to see a decent mid-table finish, though, and I think they can achieve it.

 

I see a good cup run and an 11th place finishing. Remember that Kamara wasn't playing the center position in the EPL, but when West Brom went down they switched him up and he scored 21 goals. I see him scoring at least 10 goals, McBride adding another 5, and John and Healy giving in a few off the bench. The midfield looks great, defense is a bit iffy though. I would like to see a good CB coming in soon, although we did get that Aussie kid who was young player of the year in the A-League. Good FA Cup run, 11th place finish.

 

He couldn't of started his article off any better... "When it comes to assessing Fulham's prospects this season, we're all guessers and potential fools."

This season will definitely be interesting and I can't wait for the Gooners on the 11th.

Though his analysis was unbiased and thorough. LS has gone a long way to add depth to the side, but again the bit question for Fulham supporters is how the backline will perform. There is no question that Niemi is quality, but what of the backline? If 60 goals are conceded again... it will be a very long season.

 

this season wont be pretty, but it also wont be like last season. if we can get points against the relegation teams (which we didnt, excluding the match against charlton i was coincidentally at) we'll be fine. in the big scheme of things, spots 10th-15th dont really mean much anyway.