Today’s Observer sport section contains a few pearls of wisdom from David Lloyd, the erstwhile editor of There’s One F in Fulham – which was my companion to a Craven Cottage matchday until he sadly had to stop producing regular editions of the fanzine a short while ago. I’m sure I’m not the only Fulham fan to miss hearing David’s ‘Tales from the Boredroom’ or the wonderful ‘We Can Dream’ cartoon strip, but at least the Observer’s fan previews mean we get a welcome dollop of common sense compared to what passes for Fulham comment in the national press these days.

David’s look ahead to the big kick off begins with the hope we all shared in May – that Fulham’s fantastic return to the top flight would be a springboard for Marco Silva’s side to build upon. As he writes:

“But this is Fulham, and it’s been yet another muddled pre-season, only this time with added interference from the Saudis. We’ve had Willian agreeing terms with Al-Shabab two weeks after signing a new deal with us and Al-Hilal still waving cash at Mitrovic. Even Marco Silva seemed to be up for grabs. It’s been unsettling.”

The rest of his piece includes paens of praise for Luc de Fougerolles and Luke Harris as well as a plea to Premier League referees to recognise that ‘tackling is an art when it’s not reckless’ rather than repeatedly carding Joao Palhinha. I suspect that one might fall on deaf ears, but it is another accurate observation.