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The Season Ahead Part Nine : Fulham

Published by Ian John on September 6, 2009

Prospects for 2009 :
Roy Hodgson certainly made an excellent impact at Fulham. The much travelled Englishman certainly put his vast knowledge of European football to good work to steer Fulham to an excellent campaign last time around and the knowledge that key players, like defender Brede Hangeland who is purportedly a target for Arsenal, will still be at the club should give the team confidence that they can continue their improvement of last year, into this season. Any improvement in form will likely be forced to come from an improvement in away performances as the side are notably resilient and hard to beat at Craven Cottage.

2009 is a big season for :
Brede Hangeland. The big Norwegian came to the Premier League as something of an unknown quantity with doubts over his ability to adjust to life in the top flight of English football. However the tall defender proved last season that he has more than enough ability to keep himself at the top of his game for Fulham and his performances were of such quality that it has attracted plenty of interest from top sides, most notably Arsenal. So far Fulham have kept hold of the player and keeping him fit, happy and in the team will be key to Fulham maintaining their defensive stability throughout the new season.

Guaranteed to irritate in 2009 :
There’s really not a lot to dislike about Fulham, unless you are a Chelsea fan of course. Their fans seem to be amongst the most well balanced in the Premier League and while people may only infrequently understand what manager Roy Hodgson is going on about half the time, there is still a healthy respect for his football knowledge and experience, collated from a career spanning several European countries over three decades. Perhaps the most irritating thing about Fulham is their rather quaint (i.e Old fashioned and dilapidated) ground which does now look sorely in need of modernisation and their chairman Mohammed Al Fayed, a man who seems all too keen to get himself and his protests about all and sundry into the mainstream media at every available opportunity.

Things they’ll moan about in 2009 :
After last season’s performances, Fulham fans should be pretty happy with their lot for the new season, especially considering Hangeland has remained at the club. This could all change however if the club fail to get off to a good start or start to drop points at home. Their away form was abysmal last season and this will need to change if they are to keep up the improvement. If it doesn’t then you can bet this will irk certain sections of the home support. It will also be interesting to see if, in the January transfer window, the club can hang onto defender Hangeland. If they can’t then no doubt that will likely raise the hackles of more than a few home fans.

Song that sums up their chances in 2009 : “The Joker” by the Steve Miller Band
Fulham are one of the real “jokers” in the pack of the Premier League. They are good enough at times to consider being a genuine UEFA Cup place contender and by the same token you know a drop off in form, especially at home, could well see them fighting against the drop come the latter stages of the season. It’s a tough one to call, they could be great, or they could be awful.

Image Courtesy of ***Eamon Curry123*** at Flickr.com

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