Hughes: a clever boy?

I've put off doing a season preview for a while now as it's hard to discern what state Fulham are going to be in for most of the season. Mark Hughes has been in charge for one competitive game and the 0-0 draw at Bolton seemed very much business as usual. Hodgson players in a Hodgson style getting a Hodgson goalless away draw. Sparky just hasn't had the time yet so big changes could be ahead - making predictions extremely difficult to make.
Received wisdom suggests that Hughes will continue Hodgson's style of play, but be a bit more adventurous going forward. That all sounds good to me, but could see the team's defensive capabilities flounder.
Similar to last year, there hasn't been a whole lot of transfer activity ahead of the closing of the window, Man City aside, and I anticipate another mad rush from most teams over the next fortnight as both managers and players panic over the new 25-man squad rule.
Fulham are likely to be involved too if Hughes' comments today are anything to go by with the unveiling of Moussa Dembele (pictured). But where? Every season I seem to say Fulham need more competition at left back and it is again a weak position with only Konchesky filling the position naturally. And he is still linked with an unlikely  move to Liverpool. Stephen Kelly filled in at LB against Bolton, but he's hardly a long term prospect. Even Chris Baird can't play there.
Goalkeeper is another key spot with Schwarzer seemingly wanting away. I'm a big advocate of giving youth a chance in goal so I reckon Stockdale should be given a chance, but if Shay Given was interested in coming to the Cottage then he should be snapped up. Strange that two signings strongly linked to Fulham - David James and Craig Bellamy - both find themselves in the Championship this season. Hopefully the whites will not be following them.
Dembele seems to have strengthened the attacking line, but assuming Johnson E isn't going to get a look in and Johnson A remains injured, another striker will be very useful. Hughes pulled out the stops to get Roque Santa Cruz to join him at Man City which ironically probably makes him too expensive for Fulham unless Sheik Mansour agrees to cover most of his wages. Santa Cruz needs to re-establish himself anyway after a  couple of underwhelming and injury wracked seasons.

Most Anticipated Player: Well it will have to be the new arrival Dembele, as I find it hard to get excited about Senderos and he is injured anyway for six months. From what I have seen on YouTube he appears to be a more physical Kamara, but has been likened to both Theo Walcott and (preposterously) Zidane. A winger who might be converted to striker? Worked for Thierry Henry I suppose, if not for David Bellion.

Least Favourite Player: After last season's heroics, this section will have to remain empty again I think. I realise some people dislike Greening, but I don't really think he has been given a chance other than as Murphy's deputy.

Season Prediction: Without the strain of Europe, if Hughes can continue where Roy left off then the upper echelons of the table are not unreachable. Turmoil at Villa could see an opportunity for other teams to press on. 8th or 9th. Only Ashley Cole has won the FA Cup more than Mark Hughes as a player so he has a special affinity to the cups. In fact as a manager he has reached several semi-finals. Maybe another one this year is possible.

The land of what might have been

I was in Monaco this week visiting friends and there was a harsh reminder of how things might have panned out differently. Monaco is the venue for the European Super Cup - where the winners of the Champions League and Europa League (European Cup and UEFA Cup in old money) play off for a mainly redundant third cup. Why it is held in Monaco eludes me. My friend lives in the area of Fontvielle, where the Stade Louis II is also based. Not that you'd notice. Well not that I noticed the ground. I saw a couple of signs indicating that it was present somewhere in the area, but it was pretty elusive for an 18,000 capacity stadium. Perhaps the city would give more credence to its football ground if it was named after Princess Grace, like everything else in the place is.

So it's Sparky then

After a couple of false starts on recruiting a new manager (for which the club should be applauded for aiming high), The Guardian is reporting that Mark Hughes has agreed to take the reins. I've always been a fan of Hughes as a player although his Blackburn side was criticised for being somewhat agricultural. However he got Rovers, who are of a similar size to Fulham to three semi-finals and a sixth place in the Premier League. That kind of record should see him welcomed at the Cottage.
At City he was undone by expectation, although people seem to forget that City were in fourth spot when he got sacked. The nouveau riche club finished in fifth.
Possibly the worst thing about Hughes' appointment (aside from the fact he is actually a Chelsea fan) is the fact he is highly likely to bring Roque Santa Cruz and perhaps even Craig Bellamy with him. I have never really seen what people see in the Paraguayan, but he has already scored at the Cottage. As for Bellamy, for a long time I hated the whinging, aggressive, no-necked swine. However I actually built up some strange respect for him at City - he was their best player at the start of last season. But grudging respect is a far, far distance from being able to support him.
Still just over two weeks before the season starts, Hughes has a few key decisions to make about personnel, but already has a healthy base from which to start. It also suggests that the club's expectations should be towards the top half of the league rather than the bottom as feared when Hodgson upped sticks to Liverpool.

Bye Woy. Thanks for everything!

It appears that Woy has finally left the building - the allure of the big club on hard times was just too much. I can fully understand his decision and he has worked wonders with Fulham in order to be even linked with that kind of job. But why Liverpool? I'm going to struggle to wish him well while he's there. Growing up in East Manchester in the 80s when Liverpool were winning everything meant that I knew more Liverpool fans than Man City fans.
Still I hope he does well, but not great. Consistent Europa League qualification will do Woy. The Champions League is old news.
As for replacements? Well this news certainly brings a narrative to the up coming season which wasn't necessarily there before. No-one really knew what Fulham would do next with Woy at the helm. Now there is a clear ambition - survival! Personally I think Alan Curbishley would be a safe pair of hands, but after a season in which Fulham reached a European final, would the fans be happy with that? It's going to be an interesting few months.

Over-reaction?

Well it seems that it might not be too stupid a headline after all as it apparently references a famous American Football game between Harvard and Yale, which ended up as a 29-29 draw. But as Harvard (for whom a young Tommy Lee Jones was playing) scored an incredible 16 points in the last 42 seconds, it felt like a victory prompting the headline: 'Harvard Beats Yale 29-29'. The film dramatising this game was named after the headline.

However, let's not give the NYP too much credit as it is the US version of The Sun (only more right-wing of course) and it also references Bunker Hill as a 'tie' even though it was a British victory, albeit a Pyrrhic one. And this was against the English anyway.
And maybe it's not too tongue in cheek given the match report begins: "In true revolutionary style, the underdog Americans came from behind and blasted the powerful Brits to a nail-biting 1-1 draw yesterday in one of the all-time great World Cup soccer battles."
Still, both teams were pretty poor in a terribly boring match given the only talking points were Rob Green's horrific mistake and ITV cocking up again.