Dembele To Be Sold: Why You Should Panic, and Why You Shouldn’t Panic

Moussa Dembele, Fulham’s midfield tactical genius, looks to be heading to White Hart Lane to replace Luka Modric.

Who knew a 2nd round, 1-0 exit from the Carling Cup (I refuse to call it the Capital One Cup) to Sheffield Wednesday would be the second most grim thing to happen to Fulham today?

Something we’ve been avoiding as fans for this whole window, shoving it to the back of our minds and scolding our thoughts for bringing such negative energy into our swirling heads. Fulham are probably going to be selling Moussa Dembele.

It is 99% going to be to Tottenham, as they look to be replacing Luka Modric. Fulham did all but confirm this yesterday when, after that awfully disappointing loss to a Championship side, on the very bottom line of the manager’s reaction stuffed away in the article, they made the following vague but dooming statement:

Jol also confirmed post-match that the Club has accepted a bid for Mousa Dembele from Tottenham Hotspur. The player is currently undergoing a medical.

So, it seems our rock solid midfielder, our technically gifted central glue who truly exploded onto the scene in the first two matches this season, is gone.  The glue to the midfield, the center of the attack.  Dembele’s passes completed numbers were staggering through the first two matches, and he had more completed dribbles than the entire Manchester United team put together.  So it’d be a bit fitting to dub Dembele one of the most “complete” midfielders, yes?

Anyways, after an incredibly rough day to be a Fulham fan, here is a complete summary of my feelings, broken down into two seperate categories.

WHY YOU SHOULD PANIC:

Sheffield Wednesday players celebrate converting a penalty against Fulham in their 1-0 victory to eliminate Fulham from the Carling Cup. Note the lack of Dembele in this photo.

• Moussa Dembele is no longer going to be playing at Craven Cottage, leaving the starting midfielders as Steve Sidwell and Mahamadou Diarra, with Pajtim Kasami, Simon Davies, and Chris Baird on the bench, and the other midfielders Damien Duff and Alex Kacaniklic both play on the wing.  Let me rephrase this for you if you’re struggling to grasp this here: there is no depth.  The starting midfielders are 29 and 31 years old, and on the bench are two defenders who can play in the midfield and a promising yet unproven 20 year old. Oh and there’s Clint Dempsey too, Fulham’s player of the year last year and leading goalscorer. But he doesn’t count because he doesn’t want to play, nor will he talk to the manager. Because apparently now employer/employee relationships are akin to two 15 year old girls who aren’t speaking after they got in a fight over boys they’re dating.

• Fulham, without Dembele mind you, lost to Sheffield Wednesday 1-0, in a match that saw the away side (us) completely and utterly lacking…well…Moussa Dembele.  There was absolutely zero creativity, and there was no connection between the defense and attack.  It was an altogether lackluster effort, described by Gentleman Jim as “pedestrian.” Sure, you could argue Fulham do this every year in the Carling Cup (they’ve crashed out in the 3rd round in each of the last 5 years prior to this year), but it’s still a glaring weakness to the club without Dembele to hold things together.

• Oh, also Bryan Ruiz was injured in pregame warmups. GREAT.

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T PANIC:

• Fulham have the ace up their sleeve that every shrewd club has: a good manager.  Martin Jol gets paid the big bucks to be in his position for a reason.  If he were smart, and I see no reason why he isn’t, he’ll have contingency plans drafted up for just about EVERY possible scenario.  Like, for example, if Mladen Petric were to pick up a season-ending injury tomorrow, what would the club do? If Brede Hangeland suddenly decided to head off to Barcelona, what would Fulham do? If Fulham got a sizeable offer for Dembele from a club who just lost one of, if not the, Premier League’s best central midfielder to Real Madrid, what would the club…..oh, that DID just happen.  Jinxes aside, just like any other apocalyptic scenario Fulham could face, this one needs to and does have a backup plan, which I’m sure was drafted WELL in advance of today’s happenings.  Jol will be working around the clock to fix this issue along with plugging the already-existing holes in the squad.

• There’s still 2 days left in the transfer window.  Just last year, Fulham secured two players within ticks of the transfer deadline (Ruiz and Orlando Sa). Sure one of them didn’t end up amounting to anything, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this can still happen.

• Fulham didn’t just hand Andre Villas-Boas Dembele for the fun of it.  They now have about £18 million to use.  Theoretically, Moussa Dembele, just like any other player under squad control, is an asset – a financial one.  They gave Spurs Dembele’s control and got money in return, theoretically equal to Dembele’s value.  Therefore, that money will be IMMEDIATELY reinvested into the club.  This goes hand-in-hand with the previous two bullet points, and by putting all of them together, there’s still plenty of hope that Fulham can right the ship before the window shuts and we have to play West Ham the following day.

• We still have one Moussa Dembele, remember?

CONCLUSION:

Do I want to panic? YES. Do I really, really, really want to panic? YES.

Should I panic? NO.

And neither should you. Should you panic once the transfer deadline is finished and nobody is brought in to replace Dembele, or any of the other holes Fulham need to fill? Yes. But before that deadline shuts, hold it in.  It’s easy to vent all over Twitter and call the club stupid and throw around words like “ambition” and “painful” and “Mark Hughes” but don’t.  It’s not what a real fan would do.  The real fan holds their club accountable for their actions, but only when said club has been given a fair chance to act. Those next 2 days are CRITICAL to the club’s health, but let’s wait till those days are complete to see what happens.

Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to Moussa for all he’s given this club.  Fulham made him what he is, and the club is better for what he’s given it.  He’s handled this season of speculation with nothing but class, playing in every match he’s been asked to, and playing stellar in those matches might I add (which is way more than some of our other players rumored to be leaving can say). Of course this move reestablishes the theory that Fulham are just a feeder club, but it’s a loooooong process to removing that label. We’re well on our way,  but it’s still a fact I wholeheartedly accept, and something that doesn’t make me shy away from the club. It’s just something we live with.

If you get a chance, let Moussa know on Twitter how much you appreciate his time at Craven Cottage.  It’s been a blast to watch him, and I wish him all the success at Tottenham and/or wherever else he ends up.

If you want more thoughts on this move, read this article by Andy Glockner, it’s an excellent summary of the impacts this move has, and brings up a great point about Clint Dempsey.

Two Fulham Strike Options Developing: Yilmaz and Rodallega

It seems the most likely options to shore up Fulham’s bone-dry strike options have been made known.  Martin Jol reportedly fancies bringing Hugo Rodallega and Burak Yilmaz to Fulham, in moves which for the most part would make the attack once again prolific at Craven Cottage.  Neither have been locked down yet, and both are just rumors, but this certainly seems a case of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Burak Yilmaz:

Martin Jol is hoping to snatch Burak Yilmaz and his intensity in front of goal from under the noses of Italian side Lazio

Certainly the more exciting of the two, the current Trabzonspor front man is on his way out, and Fulham are one of two options he’s considering, along with Serie A’s Lazio.  The Turk has scored a whopping 55 goals in 75 appearances with Trabzonspor in the Super Lig, including an incredible 32 goals in just 30 appearances this past season, along with 9 assists.  At 6’2″, Here’s the lowdown:

Yilmaz was originally to be dealt to Lazio.  They had all but agreed on pretty much everything they needed to agree on. In fact, Yilmaz was even quoted with saying the following:

I know that Trabzonspor and Lazio are still talking but I believe the outcome of these talks will be positive.To this I cannot say the deal is finished but I’m 80% sure that next season I will be playing in Italy. Within days I hope this should be finalised.

However, there was one problem: the €5 million release clause in the Turk’s contract.  It was already agreed that Lazio would cover the cost, but how they would do so is what they’re balking at.  The Italian side wants to pay the 5 mil in four different installments, whereas his current club want it all in one lump sum.  This hiccup could potentially kill the deal.

So, Yilmaz and his agent have traveled to Fulham, where they have reportedly come to a complete contract agreement.  Now, everything hinges on whether Lazio and Trabzonspor can agree on how to pay his release clause.  If so, that’s where he’ll end up.  However, if they can’t agree and the deal completely falls through, it seems Fulham have him locked down.  Tottenham are also supposedly involved in the chase, but at this point it seems they’re a distant third.

Whether Fulham are legitimate contenders or Yilmaz’s agent is using them as leverage against Lazio remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a promising prospect.

Hugo Rodallega:

Longtime Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega is rumored to be on the verge of completing a free transfer to Fulham

Rumored to be coming on a free transfer, Rodallega’s contract with Wigan is up and he’s been involved with Fulham in the past.  The Columbian was set to come to Craven Cottage as recent as this January, in a switch for Andy Johnson plus cash, but AJ scuttled the deal after refusing to head north.

He came to Wigan in 2009, and has scored 24 goals for them, making him their all-time Premier League goalscorer.  He’s often played as more of a left winger than a central striker, and if both these deals were to go through successfully, a combination of Ruiz and Rodallega on the wings with Yilmaz in the middle could be deadly.

Funny note about Rodallega that I found: according to his Wikipedia page, he played goalkeeper for a few minutes during the end of an international match against Venezuela after first string keeper Robinson Zapata received a red card and Colombia had no more available substitutes.  Best part – he kept the clean sheet!

Thoughts:

Like I said earlier, with Rodallega and Ruiz on the wings, Yilmaz up front, and Sa and Petric on the bench as options, striker would be a position of strength at Fulham in my opinion.   Here’s my only concern: with the fates of Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele still hanging in the balance, if Martin Jol shores up the goalscoring options too quickly, he may actually be missing out on a few opportunities.  Let’s say even one of those two Fulham stars end up being sold.  Jol would receive a great deal of cash that he would be able to turn around and use to purchase a replacement.  However, with the striker position completed already, there would be no room to then purchase an even better option to a guy like Rodallega let’s say.  We’ll see how it maps out, but all in all, these are two promising options to directly bring goals to the club not only next season but beyond as well.

Breaking Down Fulham’s 2012/13 Fixtures

If you haven’t seen the fixture list yet, which was released today, do yourself a favor and check out the path Fulham will look to traverse next season as they take on their Premier League foes in the 2012/13 season.  Martin Jol is setting out on another full campaign that is sure to be littered with peaks and valleys, euphroia and heartbreak, celebration and controversy.  This year is the first in many that Fulham will be starting the season with the same manager they ended the previous one (knock on wood, hopefully Martin Jol doesn’t pull another Mark Hughes that no one saw coming. Not saying he will, just saying no one saw the last one coming).  So with the road paved, now all Fulham have to do is perambulate the meandering path of the Premier League.  To me, there are three sections of the fixtures that Fulham must conquer to have a successful season.  The definition of “successful season” for the upcoming year is also up for debate (another post? I think so!) but whatever that goal is, these two portions of the season must end in Fulham’s favor.  Let me explain:

Section 1: The first 2 months

Fulham have been notorious in the past 2 seasons at least of getting off to some pretty crummy starts, having fans question the manager, then beasting in the second half and finishing strong.  Now, imagine last year that the club hadn’t needed the break-in time with a new manager in the beginning of the year. Imagine they started how they finished.  9th doesn’t seem so good anymore does it? They could have finished 7th, or even better, and all the fans know it.  Well, this year, there’s no break-in time.  Sure the club will have new signings to get settled in, but who doesn’t?  That’s why this year the stretch of the first 8 games is ESSENTIAL to this season’s success.  If progress is to be made, they need to perform where they didn’t last year, and that’s in the beginning.

The first 8 matches are as follows:

(H) Norwich City
(A) Manchester United
(A) West Ham
(H) West Brom
(A) Wigan
(H) Manchester City
(A) Southampton
(H) Aston Villa

The way I see it, best case scenario we finish with 18 points from that stretch.  That’s best best case scenario obviously, so it’s slimly realistic.  But it’s attainable.  There are 5 winnable matches in that stretch.  You know what we need to do to maximize points from this stretch? WIN AWAY.  It’s time, folks.  This club showed at the end of last season that the monkeys may be off our back.  But to do this they need to start early.  Fulham won 3 of their final 7 away matches last year.  While that’s not great, it’s better than it has been. We’ve gone SEASONS with 3 away wins.  If you look at that stretch, there are 6 winnable matches of the 8.  3 of those 6 are away.  If Fulham is to separate themselves from the middle of the pack and step into an upper echelon of clubs such as the Evertons and the Newcastles, this is where it’s going to get done.

Section 2: December

If Fulham finishes off the first half of the season on a good note, the wins will come in the second half, bottom line.  Also, there are some huge matches against teams that Fulham are looking to emulate the success of, and these matches will be vital tests to see if the club has indeed reached that level.  This month will be the busiest for the staff at Craven Cottage, as there are four, yes that’s FOUR, home games in the month of December, and 6 matches overall.  That includes an exhausting stretch at the end of the month where there are 3 matches in 8 days.  Here’s the month of December fixtures:

Dec 1: (H) Spurs
Dec 8: (H) Newcastle
Dec 15: (A) QPR
Dec 22: (A) Liverpool
Dec 26: (H) Southampton
Dec 29: (H) Swansea

Yikes.  The first 4 are the roughest, although the stretch of Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday matches to end the month will be brutal for the players.  Think about this though.  Last year, Spurs finished 4th, Newcastle finished 5th, and Liverpool finished 8th.  If Fulham are to progress into the top 7 consistently in the table and challenge for a Europa League spot on a yearly basis, they need to prove they can challenge these clubs.  Last year, Fulham lost to Spurs at home 3-1, destroyed Newcastle at home 5-2, and beat Liverpool away 1-0.  To me, that’s competing.  However, this is a new year.  If Fulham are to once again have those kind of results, they need this stretch badly.  It’s going to be tough.

Section 3: April

Just like they need to start strong, this club is going to have to finish strong to have a shot at the top 7.  I don’t need to tell you any more about Fulham’s away form for you to get where I and just about every other fan stands on the subject. With that in mind, take a look at April:

(A) Newcastle
(A) Aston Villa
(H) Arsenal
(A) Everton

Yikes.  That’s a tough way to bring the season to a close.  May isn’t as difficult, but this has the potential to bring the club to a screeching halt.  They need to perform well here to not ruin any good form they had leading up to it.  If they can navigate this month with 6 points, I’d consider it successful.

So what are everyone’s thoughts?  Are there other areas of concern or stretches where the Cottagers should excel? What are your expectations for this season?

Tottenham vs. Fulham: Ending 2011-2012 with a Bang or a Clang?

Fulham will look to get a better result than the home fixture against Spurs this season, a 1-3 defeat

Tottenham invites Fulham to White Hart Lane on the final day of this wonderfully unpredictable season, with the hosts certainly having more on the line that the visitors. Depending on which Fulham team shows up, this could be a really exciting match or a horribly frustrating “away-day obligatory appearance”, in which Fulham fulfill their away fixtures without showing any real desire to actually play them.

However, given our current form and the fact that this window could see a lot of movement in the squad, I don’t think the latter will be the case. Players will either want to prove that they still have something to give to the club, or look their best for other clubs scouting them (hopefully not that for the two D’s), so we should see a committed, attacking performance. Well then, on to the preview proper!

State of Fulham:

Not in a bad way, coming off of the exciting 2-1 win over Sunderland and the rather painful but still extremely satisfying 1-0 win over Liverpool. The team looks motivated, happy, and focused, which is positive and should carry into next season. Obviously the away form hasn’t been the best, but a very interesting statistic from Opta reveals that Fulham average 1.58 Premier League points away from home in May, compared to 0.76 overall, so with some luck we’ll make our favorite travel month count!

Dempsey of course continues to look dangerous, and Dembele may be interested in adding another goal, so look for him to shoot a little more in addition to his stellar midfield play. Overall, the squad is in form and seems to genuinely want to perform despite the relative meaninglessness of these last few fixtures.

Edit: It’s been revealed that Dempsey will actually miss the match with a hamstring injury. Read into that what you will, but hopefully he doesn’t end his Fulham career on the sidelines, injury or not.

On the line for the Cottagers is prize money for finishing in a certain place, so the club in general will have that to play for.

Lastly, I think the team will want a bit of revenge for the reverse fixture, a rather unjust 3-1 defeat in which we dominated the second half and couldn’t break down the Spurs defense. Going even further back, the fixture at White Hart Lane last season was a strong performance that again offered no points. We can play well against Spurs, so perhaps we’ll find the finishing touch this time.

State of Tottenham:

Like Liverpool, Tottenham have had an interesting season to say the least (for a non-fan at least, one might even call it amusing). Their early season brilliance faded as ‘Arry for England rumors picked up, and the wheels well and truly came off after that incredible 5-2 Arsenal match in February. They went from “title challengers” (at least in their manager’s head, it never really looked possible in truth) to barely clinging to a Champions League berth.

More specific – and relevant – to the Fulham game was the farcical choke at Aston Villa last weekend. Arsenal had lost the day before, meaning Spurs just needed three points against one of the dullest and low-morale sides in the Premiership. Instead, they draw 1-1 and give the initiative back to the Gunners. In addition, they lost their backup full-back to a red card, meaning that the third choice will have to fill in there. Look for Fulham to attack the right flank often. Tottenham doesn’t seem to deal well with intense pressure, and they’ll certainly have that Sunday. If they win, they’re in the Champions League, assuming Bayern beat Chelsea in the final. Talk about pressure.

So, I’m predicting a nervy performance in front of a tense and impatient home crowd. They’ll want goals, and hopefully that will play right into Fulham’s hand. However, if Fulham come out lackluster, Spurs will no doubt pounce, and an early home goal could spell doom.

Prediction:

Spurs have struggled through the home stretch, while the Whites have gotten stronger and stronger throughout the spring. However, three points may be a little too optimistic – it is a Fulham away game after all – so I’m going with a 2-2 draw, with Pog and someone different (think Riise/Hangeland/you get the idea) getting the Fulham goals. A little on the optimistic side, but hey – we drew at Chelsea and Arsenal, two other sides reeling a bit at the time.

Fulham Transfer Roundup 8/8: Martin Jolly For Zolly?

Zoltan Gera could in fact be running his way back into Craven Cottage with the help of Martin Jol

Get used to that pun. Quick. Because I’m going to use it over and over again. Because I’m a cheesy bastard. Get over it.

Now that the manager situation is solved, we can now look back to the transfer rumors, which look to be flurrying way more now under new management than the old Hughes regime, which was clearly more concerned with his next job than keeping Fulham afloat.

-The appointment of Martin Jol could be exactly what Zoltan Gera needed to stay at Craven Cottage. After reports of Gera headed out for almost 6 months now, the Mark Hughes quitting and replacement with Jol could cause a change in philosophy that would keep Gera around, although his fan favorite buddy Jon Pantsil might not be so lucky.

Now multiple reports are suggesting Jol has shoo’ed away Roy Hodgeson at West Brom in an effort to get Gera to stick around at Fulham. The midfielder and Europa hero was never in Mark Hughes’ plans, but now Jol is suggesting, and rightly so, that Gera would be invaluable to this year’s Europa campaign at the very least, and maybe even work his way into true first team form.

-Jonathan Greening is probably headed the same route as Pantsil, as he looks ready to head to Nottingham Forest.

-As I tweeted last night, Spurs bid £10 million for Moussa Dembele, but it was rejected by Fulham management.  The bid predated the Martin Jol appointment, so it wasn’t his decision.  But now they are reportedly still trying to make moves for Dembele by trying to woo Jol with his former player Robbie Keane.  Dembele is still incredibly young, but Jol could be tempted by getting Keane in return. I know this would go over really badly with the fans.

-talkSport is reporting that Jol is looking to bring a player or two to Fulham from his old Ajax squad, with his top target being striker Mounir El Hamdaoui.  The Dutch-born Moroccan international is rated around £7 or £8 million according to transfermarkt.co.uk (where I get most of my monetary values from, pretty accurate).  El Hamdaoui has 19 goals in 38 matches this season in all competitions, a pretty darn good ratio.  That includes 13 goals in 26 Dutch League matches.  However, El Hamdaoui was signed by Jol at Tottenham but failed to make it into any Premier League matches. He went on loan to Derby before again being signed by Jol at Ajax.

Edit: Reports are saying El Hamdaoui is going to sign at Fulham for around £4.5 million

Birmingham City 0-2 Fulham: Towards The Finish Line Strong

Brede Hangeland capitalized twice on Jonathan Greening's stellar performance to give Fulham a 2-0 win (courtesy guardian.co.uk)

Fulham thrust themselves into 8th position with the win, and although in the big scheme of things it doesn’t mean too too much, there are a few key things to take from this match.  Some key guys played very well, and although it wasn’t a dominating defensive performance, Fulham came out with the clean sheet.  Also, some key things happened today outside the match that I will get to a bit later.

Also, before I get into the match, Mark Hughes after the match said some things that made me really happy.  He’s clearly got a goal and just because the club is safe doesn’t mean they are letting off the throttle:

“We’ve got targets that we’ve set ourselves and we intend to reach them. We were fully focused and I think you could see that from the way we approached the game and thankfully we were able to get another away win which have been hard to come by. I think that’s our third and back-to-back away wins as well, so we have made a marked improvement in terms of what we can produce on the road.”

It’s great to know the team is really keeping on the pressure.  If we can beat Arsenal at home (who are playing like a League 1 team right now) and Chelsea beats Everton, Fulham could finish in 7th position.  If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we’d lose Bobby Zamora for 2/3 of the season and we’d be playing for 7th at the end of the season, I’d probably still be laughing.  This team has done the things it needs to to win the important games, and we are reaping the rewards at the end.

The good:

Brede Hangeland – He scored 2 goals. Has to be on the list.  It’s kind of hard to defend someone of his size, for sure, but he still does a great job of going up and over guys without fouling them.  I hold that he’d be a very, very good rebounder in basketball.

Jonathan Greening – Wow.  Bench player for the whole season, the guy comes on for an injured Simon Davies, plays out of position (he’s really a center mid) and has the match of his life.  Every single cross and corner he put in the box was spot on and someone had a header opportunity, or it went to someone streaking in who had a chance to finish past a few defenders.  I mean, the guy played out of his mind.  It was great to watch.  You know what’s awesome? When you’re enjoying most of the season watching a guy (Damien Duff) play great, and he goes down with an Achillies injury, and his backup comes in and plays great for a few matches (Simon Davies), and then he gets injured and HIS backup comes in (Jonathan Greening) and even he plays great.  I love it.  The midfield depth on this club is stellar, and the only guy it hurts is Zoltan Gera.  Everyone is able to do their job and it’s a huge asset to the team.  Someone I’m not mentioning on this good list but deserves an honorable mention is Steve Sidwell.  He played great defense and when he had an offensive touch he made each one count.  Loved the midfield play today.

-Bobby Zamora – I didn’t think he’d play after his injury, but Hughes thought he’d be ok to go and he was.  He didn’t score but he played brightly.  It was good to see him back in action.  Unfortunately, he limped off injured.  Hopefully he’s not too badly injured, and he has a week to recover.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if Sparky doesn’t risk him in the last match of the season, especially with a possible Fair Play bid maybe a few weeks on the horizon.

The bad:

-The first half defense – Ok, this is kind of stupid.  I’m putting the defense in the bad section of a clean sheet.  By no means whatsoever was the defense “bad.” They were definitely mediocre in the first half and the innacurate Birmingham City attack couldn’t capitalize on the few openings they got.  I can’t really think of anyone to put here individual wise, because nobody really had a bad game.  But there were a few chances, especially in the 2nd half of the first half, that Birmingham had a few big chances and I was a little scared.  On occasion guys like Aaron Hughes, or Dempsey, or Murphy, or Salcido let their man slip by but the rest of the team did an excellent job rotating and helping each other out, and it kept everyone out for the most part. And after those spells, once it got into the second half, it was lockdown from there.  I’m stretching here, no doubt.

-The yellow cards – 5 yellows today and 10 in the last two matches is not what the club was looking for in the midst of a Fair Play battle, but with Lee Mason last week and Peter Walton officiating today, it was unfortunately to be expected.  Mostly just a bad draw for the Cottagers in this department, but it could all be moot thanks to Spurs today. More on that later.

Man of the match: Jonathan Greening.  The big man had 2 goals, but with the way Greening was crossing and sending corners in, Fulham could have had a lot more goals.  He has to get the honor.

I had 1-0 as my prediction, pretty darn close to 2-0 if you ask me.

Next that deserves note, Tottenham beat Liverpool 2-0, putting them in the drivers seat for the last Europa League spot in the table.  Good job Fulham fans, we did great job supporting them, and it paid off! Now, we have to repeat that cheering performance so they beat Birmingham City next week.  If they do, they take the 5th position and the last Europa League spot, and a very deserving Liverpool side will miss out.  But they had their shot today.  And that all has to do with Fulham because if Tottenham gets their spot, their Fair Play table spot becomes meaningless, and Fulham have no competition for the Fair Play spot.

Do you want a Fair Play spot? Fulham will have to really earn a spot in the later rounds with a flurry of first few round matches, giving them only about 2 weeks off in June before it would start.  It’d be fun as a fan but would be incredibly taxing on the players, and Mark Hughes has in the past expressed his doubts about if that would be a good long term thing for the club.  What do you think? Vote on the new poll on the left.

As far as the final match of the season, Fulham will come home and face me, my dad, my brother, and a few of my frien….I mean Arsenal.  Sorry, kind of hard to tell the difference right now.  They just lost to Aston Villa at home today, putting their 3rd place position in peril after being in 1st a few months ago.  Their freefall has been well documented, and although I have a soft spot for Arsene Wegner’s team, I would like to see nothing more than for Mark Hughes’ side put the icing on the cake for a horrible 2nd half Gunners collapse.  The match will be next Sunday with all the rest.  COME ON YOU WHITES! Finish strong!

For your viewing pleasure, a Twitter follower of mine @ffc2004 was at the match today, and caught Hangeland’s 2nd goal on film.  It’s a bit shakey, but he caught the big guy’s volley perfectly, and then the reaction by the Fulham crowd is something else.  Take a gander: