Sometimes supporters need a scapegoat. It’s never really been Fulhamish to give a player the bird – and some prominent examples of boo boys have ended up becoming cult heroes. ‘Super Mick’ Conroy was lambasted by the Hammersmith End during his first season at Craven Cottage, Chris Baird had a horrible start in SW6 and there was the weird antagonism between Bobby Zamora and an ignorant section of the Fulham fanbase that left the lad who watched games in a baby costume looking very foolish indeed.

While there are players who definitely didn’t pull their weight in White – I’m looking at you, Mark Cooper, or you, Ruben Loftus-Cheek – it is certainly counter-productive to castigate those who Marco Silva selects to start. Even the genius from Estoril makes mistakes (witness the way Saturday’s Cup quarter final unravelled in a remarkably similar fashion to the league game against Crystal Palace five weeks earlier) and many new signings struggle in the early months of a spell at a new club for a whole host of reasons.

Silva was moved to offer a spirited defence of Emile Smith Rowe, an exciting summer signing who has borne some bizarre brickbats since Saturday, during his press conference yesterday at Motspur Park:

“People like to look at the negatives, but as a manager I like to look at the positives. For a player with his quality, with his talent, we expected him to have an impact in every game in a Fulham shirt. He has probably played more than 20, 25 games already. We saw the impact in half of them, but we are working with him to find more consistency. It doesn’t surprise me because he’s a player who hasn’t played enough football in the last two seasons. He’s had ups and downs.

For me it’s clear. The moments where Emile was there on the top of his game this season so far, he was in the best shape possible. He had a tough December which took the confidence and sharpness from himself. I recognise a top talent with top quality. If he puts everything together – the quality and talent with the physical part of the game with the physical demands that the Premier League demands, then I really believe we will see much more consistency.

He is working hard to try and get again in the best shape he can because he is a player we really believe in. Next season has to be much better from him, but he has nine games to play in this one. It doesn’t make sense to talk about next season [now] … nothing has been decided yet.”

Silva’s support of someone yet to hit their stride encapsulates why so many footballers are keen to sign for him. The former Hull City, Watford and Everton manager perhaps feels an affinity with stars whose quality has been questioned because he was left on the scrapheap after being harshly sacked at Goodison Park and felt he had a point to prove in England. The fact that several of the superb signings who have become pivotal parts of Fulham’s revival since he succeeded Scott Parker have previously called Ashburton Grove home [Leno, Iwobi, Willian for instance] might be no more than a happy coincidence but it does make this evening’s fixture intriguing.

Look at the man that Arsenal fans are excited to welcome back into Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up this evening. Bukayo Saka’s meteoric rise from Edward Beetham schoolboy in Greenford to wonderful winger has put smiles on so many faces, but it wasn’t without some rocky moments. Saka won plaudits for the way he put that 2021 penalty miss behind him, but his hunger has been fuelled by the fact that he was fortunate to have an opportunity to play professional football.

Henry Winter made a perceptive point on The Green Pole last month when comparing the two talents who the Emirates regulars used to eulogise about in a single song:

“I think with Emile Smith Rowe was that actually he needed more belief in himself. You compare his journey with Bukayo Saka, an Ealing lad … Bukayo Saka had this amazing self-will, this determination, this guts which he obviously needed after the abuse he got after the Wembley final in the Euros and Emile just needed to acquire some of that resilience, both physical and mental. I still think he needs to work a little bit on his stamina because he can fade a bit, but he’s such a lovely player and I think Fulham’s just such a great platform for him”.

Smith Rowe’s switch from north London to the banks of the Thames was delayed by injury concerns that meant he couldn’t play a full part in Silva’s pre-season preparations. He was excellent in Germany before the start of the season, shone against Leicester City but couldn’t nail down a clear starting position as the head coach tried to play Andreas Pereira and his big summer signing in the same midfield. As the manager made clear yesterday, Smith Rowe suffered another injury in December and missed the brilliant Boxing Day win at Walham Green, but still came back to score crucial goals at Leicester City and in that fine win over Nottingham Forest.

As Baird, Zamora and Conroy showed, you can easily overcome a slow start. Look at the trajectory of Zoltan Gera’s Fulham journey for how second season syndrome can transform a bit-part player into a cult zero. Smith Rowe’s enduring quality is there, Look at the way he takes the ball down and sees a pass or how he can glide into the box. He might be a shy figure, but so was Tom Cairney when he came to the Cottage for the first time at a similar age, and look how the Nottingham Zidane flourished when become the focal point of Fulham’s midfield under Slavisa Jokanovic.

In an era when players performances can be reduced to mere numbers through nebulous stats like ‘goal involvements’, there is a broader picture to think of. Johnny Haynes might have been maligned in modern times for dropping too deep as Fulham fought against relegation and then drifted down the divisions. A player of Smith Rowe’s pedigree, who flickered brightly for Gareth Southgate’s England and arguably earned Arteta the Arsenal job, should be afforded more than nine months before we pronounce him a failure. If all we have seen are glimmers of his talent, imagine what we could be enjoying next season – perhaps even all the way across Europe. As that famous TOOFIF cartoon proclaimed, we can dream, you know.