Reading some of the doomsday scenarios painted by some posters on the other main Fulham forums overnight, you would be forgiven for thinking somebody has died. Our rather quiet deadline day has provoked the usual responses: that Fulham lack ambition or that we’ve wasted a golden opportunity to push on. Whilst I was hoping that we might splash the cash a bit more than we have, I’m far more interested in the players we have managed to hold onto than the ones that we’ve signed.
For the past few years, those of us who have wanted Fulham to remain in the Premier League (and progress) have bemoaned the fact that we were a selling club. Chris Coleman in particular had to cope with his best players continually being sold. Louis Saha went to Manchester United – although we got an inflated fee and the club suggested that the money went towards our reurn to Craven Cottage. We also lost Edwin van der Sar, Steed Malbranque and Sean Davis – all arguably for fees that didn’t reflect their true value.
From before the end of last season, the media were linking Brede Hangeland with a move to Arsenal. When the rumours hit fever pitch just before the start of this campaign, many people assumed he was on his way. Hangeland said publicly that he had no intention of leaving Fulham – and Roy Hodgson told the media he wanted to keep him. Some hoped this was true but there were plenty of people who felt that Fulham could cash in on their biggest asset. Deadline day has passed and the big Norwegian is still here. You simply can’t overstate how important that is.
Just as vital, for me, is the fact that last season’s key performers have been signed up to new contracts. Mark Schwarzer was excellent in goal last season and continues to be one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the league. Clint Dempsey showed the doubters just how wrong they were last year – both for club and country – and, with rumours of Everton sniffing around at the start of the summer, the fact that the American signed a new deal on the new of the new season was a major boost. The rather lacklustre displays in Perm and at Villa Park showed just how much we missed Danny Murphy. Our skipper wants to stay at the Cottage for the remainder of his career – and, whilst there’s a lingering suspiscion that sides might have worked out how crucial he is to our system – he remains a reasuring presence in central midfield. It is, of course, true that contracts don’t guarantee as much as they once used to – but I’d much rather have these three on new deals than risk letting their previous ones run down.
The signings Hodgson has made have been about improving our squad with Europe in mind. Stephen Kelly have already proven that he’s good cover for John Pantsil and – in an emergency, Paul Konchesky. I’m excited by the signing of Bjorn Helge Riise, who looks like he marries the kind of industrious workrate that Roy demands from a new signing with an eye for a pass. I’m confident that Jonathan Greening can improve from a rather disappointing display at Villa and, although some people have been decrying Damien Duff as past it, I think the Irish winger offers us something we didn’t have previously. There has to be a doubt over David Elm’s quality, when you consider his scoring record in the Allsvenskan, but at £500,000 or thereabouts, it’s a pretty low risk investment.
Speaking of investment, some people have criticised the board for failing to back Hodgson with big money. I find this a little strange since we were prepared to pay a hefty transfer fee – and what I’d imagine were big wages – for Peter Crouch. Even if the deal was to be part-financed by the sale of Bobby Zamora, they’d still be the best part of a £5-6m shortfall to make up. I do wonder whether the millions spent by Manchester City, Sunderland and Tottenham have turned people’s heads. Looking at the Harrods financial reports of late, there doesn’t seem to be the money from Al-Fayed’s shopping empire that there used to be. In the current financial climate, it’s entirely understandable that we are being a little more prudent. A misplaced spending splurge – and it’s impact on the wage bill – could lead down the road that Leeds, and, to a lesser extent, Newcastle have recently travelled.
The spending of the likes of Manchester City and Sunderland (both under new ownership) and Spurs, who seem to be following the Redknapp blueprint of spending until the money runs out, makes it very difficult for clubs of our size to keep up. It almost rubbishes the talk of ‘pushing on’ from seventh place. Regardless of how many players we brought it, it was always going to be difficult to repeat that feat. I still maintain that the Fulham are in a good position to finish comfortably above the relegation zone and – whisper it quietly – progress in Europe.
Good post. Seem to remember people on various boards saying that they would gladly sacrifice a few signings if that meant that Hangeland, and to a lesser extent Dempsey, stayed. Now that has happened, there is almost outrage that Hodgson hasn’t gone out and spent tens of millions on individual players.
We have four pretty decent strikers, plus EJ who looks as if he’s improved and Elm – we only look short on cover there because our main two are injured. Apart from our main four midfielders last season (Davies-Etuhu-Murphy-Dempsey), we felt that back-up was poor, especially beyond the disappointing Gera. We now have a natural LM in Duff, Greening who can play anywhere across midfield and has Premier League experience, and the industrious pair of Riise and Dikgacoi. We have kept our back five which were so consistently excellent throughout last season, although admittedly an extra CB and cover for Schwarzer would have been nice. Essentially, we have kept the core of our side (we haven’t really sold anyone), and added decent players to the mix.
As for the worries about Duff and Greening, mainly based from the performance at the Villa game, I feel that new players will at first always struggle to fit in to the Fulham side. When our first XI are playing, everybody knows exactly where they should be and what they ought to do – they are that well drilled by Hodgson. Once they learn exactly what is expected of them, I would expect two such professionals as Duff and Greening quickly adapt to what is required. Greening in particular played a lot like Jimmy Bullard on a bad day, but this I feel can be remedied – after all, he probably only trained with the team a couple of days before they went to Perm, and perhaps once when they returned.
However, I must admit that my hopes for the club are probably different to that of many others. I would be very happy for us to play well in Europe and perhaps come 13th or so in the League. As long as we stay up. If we do go down, I would like to think that the club would survive and possibly even come back up again – simply because we haven’t spent a fortune on transfers and wages. So, unambitious me is pretty happy with the transfer window and, whilst it could no doubt have gone better, it is certainly not the disaster that the immediate reaction would have us believe.
Good stuff, Dan.
No need to post my own thoughts now!
Interesting summary there Nick. It’s pretty clear that Roy wants a particular type of player who will contribute to the side through his work ethic and isn’t prepared to just go and spend money on a whim. Spending £10m or so on a forward might make the TIFF readers feel better but it could be financially disastrous for Fulham.
On your point about the strikers, I agree completely. He didn’t have much time and didn’t get a chance in front of goal – but EJ did look very sharp, didn’t he? He might slip behind Elm in the pecking order now but I’d like to see him get a run out at Manchester City in the League Cup at the very least.
Concur completely with regards to Duff and Greening. Can’t believe that Duff – who was being lauded as a brilliant buy after that flash of inspiration against Amkar – is now regarded as a poor signing. Think he could be a very handy addition once he learns the system. Same with Greening, whose versatility could be key.
The expectations game is interesting. This was something that I was trying to get across in my post. I’d like to try and progress as far as possible in the Europa League – and would gladly sacrifice a few places in the league, (because we’re not going to go any higher are we?) – but I don’t think Roy will share the sentiment. Actually, the only thing I disagree with you on is the confidence that we might come straight back. I’ve just got a horrible feeling that relegation could see us slip down the leagues.
Don’t be silly timmyg, I’d like to read them.
The thing is, I don’t have a great deal of confidence that we’ll come straight back up. In fact, I too feel that relegation would be the first part of a slippery slope back down the divisions. But I could live with that – I started supporting the club back when we were in the fourth tier. What would sadden me though is seeing the club going into administration, losing the Cottage and then ceasing to exist. The future of the club is paramount.
The club’s best chance for prosperity in my opinion is to aim to consistently play top-flight football, without spending bucket-loads of cash on transfers and wages. There isn’t a big difference in prize money between 9th and, say, 14th. But the difference between 17th and 18th is astronomical. With Al Fayed wanting the club to become self-sufficient, you can see where the club is coming from, and why perhaps we have to be slightly thrifty.
Portsmouth at the moment demonstrate what I’m worried about. Buying aged players on ridiculous wages was all very well and good when they won the FA Cup, but it has crippled the club. They are very fortunate to have been taken over by Al Fahim, otherwise a slide down the leagues was on the cards. I for one think we ought to be happy with what we’ve got and not necessarily demand more and more as the years go by. That, ultimately, was Charlton’s error, and they’re now playing in League One.
Having said that, a cup win would be nice….!
Nick’s post is entirely sensible. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to the days when we were seriously worried about the Cottage and our entire existence. That’s the reason why I can understand the club being a little uneasy about investing large amounts of money.
Somebody said elsewhere that being a lower mid-table Premier League side is the only place where it might be profitable. I don’t know whether that’s true, but I do know that MAF’s put a hell of a lot of money in and, as the original post states, there’s not that much money left in the Harrods rainy-day pot, now. I haven’t always agreed with the board (especially over the Cottage) but their prudence is entirely sensible. Nick’s point about Portsmouth is very instructive.
okay dan, i wrote something…
http://fulham.theoffside.com/team-news/transfer-reviewseason-preview.html