Fulham keeper David Stockdale believes Fulham’s squad needs to be a mixture of youth and experience as the Whites look to bounce back to the Premier League.
The west Londoners released Steve Sidwell, Damien Duff, Giorgos Karagounis, Mahamadou Diarra, John Arne Riise, Matthew Briggs, John Heitinga and Neil Etheridge after their relegation to the Championships.
Fulham also released youngsters Charles Banya, Alex Brister, Dino Islamovic, Ronny Minkwitz, Max Oberschmidt and Josh Pritchard.
And Stockdale believes that Felix Magath needs to compile a squad that has experience as well as the innocence of youth.
“I think it’s got to be a mix of youth and experience,” he said after the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. “The Championship is not easy. I told the lads it’s not going to be a walkover. You might think you are Premier League players now, it doesn’t mean you are next year.”
Stockdale was one of the standout performers, despite Fulham’s inability to beat the drop and he admitted that his displays were of cold comfort.
“On a personal level, I feel disappointed because we got relegated,” he added. “I know you’re going to say my performances but it’s not just about my performances it’s about the club staying where it should be.”
Stockdale does have experience of winning promotion from the Championship with Hull and he is looking to his Tigers experience for inspiration.
“I’ll have to take my experience at Hull,” he admitted. “We have to get more points than 20 other teams. At Hull we had some team unity and had a manager who was a bit like this one. He wasn’t afraid to make decisions. When it goes against you have to get behind the lads. You need to go to Bournemouth on a cold Tuesday night and then again on a Saturday.”
