Do you think a finish in...

[OldBrownShoe]

say 12th-15th position this season would persuade/encourage MAF/'The Board'/CEO to splash out (sorry "invest wisely") at the next transfer window or do you think they would be happy with such modest achievement, given the impossible number of injuries we have had? :-\

My own view is that we will finish 11th ;D and the squad will remain largely unchanged with some loans turned into permanent deals.

[The Equalizer]

Chairman Mo is still trying to balance the books and get the club making money, so I doubt he'll splash out any serious wonga. If the team's doing well at the end of the season and the younger players are starting to shine through the ranks he'll keep things largely unchanged. Maybe 2 or 3 signings, a bit of strength at right-back and another striking option is all he'll do unless some of the injuries get really nasty.

I wonder if he'll be prepared to splash out a little more if we win Europa and the FA cup though...

[blingo]

7th or 8th  ;)

[finnster01]

I said 12th before the season started and a deep cup run and I am sticking with that

[White Noise]

When you look who is below us at the moment I just can't see any of those clubs getting together more momentum than us over the remainder of the season. I could quite easily see this being what the table looks like at the end of the season.



  | Home       | Away           
  Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Chelsea 24 11 1 0 37 8 6 3 3 21 12 38 55
2 Man Utd 24 10 1 1 31 8 7 1 4 25 12 36 53
3 Arsenal 24 9 1 2 35 14 6 3 3 25 14 32 49
4 Tottenham 24 8 1 3 28 8 4 5 3 17 17 20 42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5 Liverpool 24 8 2 2 30 11 4 3 5 12 15 16 41

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Man City 22 8 3 0 28 14 3 5 3 16 16 14 41
7 Aston Villa 23 6 4 2 17 7 5 3 3 14 11 13 40
8 Birmingham 23 5 5 2 10 7 4 2 5 12 16 -1 34
9 Everton 23 5 5 2 18 15 3 3 5 15 19 -1 32
10 Fulham 24 7 2 3 16 8 1 4 7 11 20 -1 30
11 Blackburn 24 6 4 2 17 12 1 3 8 8 28 -15 28
12 Stoke 22 5 3 3 15 13 1 5 5 4 13 -7 26
13 Sunderland 23 5 4 2 18 13 1 2 9 12 27 -10 24
14 Wigan 22 3 3 4 10 14 3 1 8 14 33 -23 22
15 West Ham 23 3 4 4 18 20 1 5 6 11 18 -9 21
16 Bolton 22 3 4 5 17 23 2 2 6 12 21 -15 21
17 Wolverhampton 23 3 3 6 9 17 2 3 6 10 23 -21 21

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18 Hull 24 4 5 3 16 19 0 4 8 7 30 -26 21
19 Burnley 23 5 4 2 15 11 0 1 11 8 35 -23 20
20 Portsmouth 23 3 1 7 14 17 1 2 9 5 19 -17 15

[finnster01]

I can see Sunderland catching us and I wouldn't write off West Ham either.

[OldBrownShoe]

Sorry chaps, perhaps it was the clumsy way I framed my posting. It wasn't so much about where do you think we will finish but rather about the squad NEXT season and do you think any 'investment' in it will depend on where we finish this season.   

Thanks for your suggestion Equaliser which seems bang on the money (as it were)!

[The Equalizer]

Cheers OBS, I hope I'm bang on the money when I do the Euromillions tonight...

[cebu]

Cheers OBS, I hope I'm bang on the money when I do the Euromillions tonight...

Na, my wife tells me the lolly's coming our way!

[FatFreddysCat]

Like Finny says i can see Westham,Sunderland plus Blackburn have really moved up the table recently. I still think that Pants being out will hit us hard.

[Scrumpy]

Good question OBS.

I think Fulham's whole business plan is based around us staying in the Premiership, while sticking to a sensible wage structure. I am sure that Mo and Alistair Mac realise that a 'sensible' wage structure restricts the talent you attract, and therefore the position you finish in the table. I think they budget for a finsih of about 12th - 14th. I suspect we won't see any cash splashed unless we have a really tight scrape with relegation (which with our Manager, is not going to happen).

If I remember rightly, the only time we have really spent serious money (once we were in the Prem) was when we had very near misses. Sanchez managed to get a hell of a war chest following our 'near death experience' the previous season and Roy also splashed big money on AJ and BZ after our Great Escape.

So to answer your question (without waffle), I think the Board will be perfectly happy with a 12th-15th finish and will keep tight hold of the purse strings..........which, I have to say, I am not altogether unhappy about.

[FatFreddysCat]

It's quite possible that if we only spend a few million each season  and balance the books , then in a few seasons (if we dont get relegated) we might well be one of the better teams in the league by default through other teams going bust and going into administration. Much as i want to see good players brought in, you only have to look at Pompey/Leeds to see what overspending can do.

[Dugliss]

When you look at the two big money signings in the prem, Marlet and AJ, you can certainly understand why Mo would be reluctant to spend big again

[FFCOutpostCommander]

Very good point Dugliss, if those two weren't evidence enough one only has to look at Man City. While they have improved this season after spending hugh I'm sure that their owners expected them to be challenging for the title and not just fourth place. Right now it looks like  they may not hit that mark and could likely just get a Europa spot. That either makes Fulham look really competent or, more likely, it makes Man City look very incompetent.

[Rambling_Syd_Rumpo]

I think 10th to 14th is what MAF would be happy with and 14th is I think where we will be
I don't think he will splash the cash but the tactic of buying youngsters,training them, then selling them on for a large profit is a good on as long as that money is available to the manager to strengthen the 1st team ;)

[FatFreddysCat]

The one thing that really worries me is the average age of the first team, it seems Woy dosen't like to gamble to much with young uns, but all our first team seem to be at least 28, in a couple of years time it could cost a fortune having to replace a whole creaking boned first team. I'd like to see one or two young uns getting a run out, or at least buy a few in to do the older players running for them. Anyone know how Fulham's average age (first team) compares to the rest of the Prem? i'm sure we would be top or at least in a Champions league place.

[Jimpav]

I think that the degree of funding will depend on if Woy is still with us and how much he thinks he realistically needs. He was given a very generous budget after the Great Escape but has been backed in the last two windows also. The fact that we were being linked with Crouch speaks volumes. That would have been a massive signing for us and highlights the faith Big mom and the board have in him.

I'm sure that if we did finish in 12-15th he would still be backed to the hilt. This is because we have over achieved in Europe (without burning out the 1st team) and are on the verge if reaching the 1/4 finals again in the FA cup. Pretty impressive given that out first team has been ravished by injury.

As Fredster mentioned we also have an aging squad which is going to need to be topped up.

Lastly we have done some great business with Smalling and Bullard. If this is a sign of things to come then I could see BZ going for a profit and possibly Schwarzer if the price was right. Sales like these would well and truly loosen the purse strings.   

[Scrumpy]

Fair comment about the age of the squad. That's crept up on us (a bit like old age).

[Lighthouse]

If we escape relegation by a whisker than Big Al will invest more money. But we need players replacing more than positions strengthening. We were willing to spend big on Crouch. AJ was doing fine until the injury(s), (yes I know open to debate). So he may spend big again. But anything higher than the bottom three, whatever we have achieved in the past, is still success for a club like ours. Sad but true.