Not looking good

[The Swan]

Not looking good in the friendlies  two defeats and no goals scored.

[Sir Alec of good Stock]

Almost exactly a year ago Chelsea 8 Fulham 2 and last season didn't turn out too badly.

[filham]

The players we are using are not those that we are going to field against Palace, are they.

[paulbrookersmazydribbles]

I'm always amazed at how seriously people take the pre-season games. I've seen us play some great stuff in pre-season and then get relegated. Think we've got a lot of work ahead to bring in new players and we can see how we are looking in the first few games of the season before making judgements about how well the team is performing.

[S.F.Sorrow]

Almost exactly a year ago Chelsea 8 Fulham 2 and last season didn't turn out too badly.

But it did turn out pretty badly for the first half of the season. In November we were 17th and looked like we were heading for League One. The squad was ridiculously thin. No quality behind the starting 11. We were poor when Cairney was injured because we didn't have the quality to replace him. Johansen played a large part of the season semi-injured for a lack of options. No proper striker or LB until the January window. No cover for Kalas when he was injured, just a stroke of luck that one of our full backs adapted fast to CB.

We can't afford to have a similar start in the PL. If we do we will be down by Christmas. And he squad is even thinner now... A LOT thinner!!!

[jarv]

Early days.

[Marcel_Gecov]

Almost exactly a year ago Chelsea 8 Fulham 2 and last season didn't turn out too badly.

But it did turn out pretty badly for the first half of the season. In November we were 17th and looked like we were heading for League One. The squad was ridiculously thin. No quality behind the starting 11. We were poor when Cairney was injured because we didn't have the quality to replace him. Johansen played a large part of the season semi-injured for a lack of options. No proper striker or LB until the January window. No cover for Kalas when he was injured, just a stroke of luck that one of our full backs adapted fast to CB.

We can't afford to have a similar start in the PL. If we do we will be down by Christmas. And he squad is even thinner now... A LOT thinner!!!

Exactly

It turned out in us relying on some Sone Aluko-style finishing from Jack Grealish, whilst Cardiff finished above us and were essentially promoted by April

I'm sure every poster on here believes we were a better team than Cardiff last year, and we'll be a better team than them this year, but what will it mean if we repeat what we did last year and finish below them due to a crap August?

Answer: the R word

How were they essentially promoted by April when, if we'd beaten Brum on the last day of the season, we'd have gone up instead???

[Twig]

Early days.

But these are not early days are they?  The window opened on May 17th, 66 days ago.  It closes on Aug 9th in 17 days time.

Our pre-season preparations are well and truly in hand and despite some who claim to the contrary, we are missing the chance to; incorporate new players, build team cohesion, ensure match sharpness, build familiarity with SJ's preferred tactics and playing style etc etc.

I am not suggesting that the Fulham staff are not trying hard and I do anticipate that the majority of the required signings will eventually happen. But I am very concerned that it is all so very, very, last minute.

[Marcel_Gecov]

Early days.

But these are not early days are they?  The window opened on May 17th, 66 days ago.  It closes on Aug 9th in 17 days time.

Our pre-season preparations are well and truly in hand and despite some who claim to the contrary, we are missing the chance to; incorporate new players, build team cohesion, ensure match sharpness, build familiarity with SJ's preferred tactics and playing style etc etc.

I am not suggesting that the Fulham staff are not trying hard and I do anticipate that the majority of the required signings will eventually happen. But I am very concerned that it is all so very, very, last minute.

In previous players have joined us after the season began so no matter what we'll be better prepared this season  not worrying about Cairney being poached on deadline day...

[colinwhite]

Dont know where Lyon are in there pre season but we are still doing lots of physical work . It is what it is ,and wins can be nice but that can be very dtrimental too. We were starting to look in control when they got their first goal . There were afew positives in how we played despite the result i thought.

[SuffolkWhite]

It is a shame we don't have more players signed by now. The likes of Mitro coming in late is not such a problem but new players do need a couple of weeks I think. If we can get them in by the end of this week then Joka will have just enough time I think.

[filham]

Early days.

But these are not early days are they?  The window opened on May 17th, 66 days ago.  It closes on Aug 9th in 17 days time.

Our pre-season preparations are well and truly in hand and despite some who claim to the contrary, we are missing the chance to; incorporate new players, build team cohesion, ensure match sharpness, build familiarity with SJ's preferred tactics and playing style etc etc.

I am not suggesting that the Fulham staff are not trying hard and I do anticipate that the majority of the required signings will eventually happen. But I am very concerned that it is all so very, very, last minute.

In previous players have joined us after the season began so no matter what we'll be better prepared this season  not worrying about Cairney being poached on deadline day...

True the fact that the window closes before the season starts is a much better arrangement, but only if you take advantage of it.

[MJG]

How were they essentially promoted by April when, if we'd beaten Brum on the last day of the season, we'd have gone up instead???

With all due respect your pedantry and ability to miss a point frustrates me.
They were about 10pts clear of us going into the last 6/7 games. I can't be arsed to look up the exact the numbers because it's immaterial to the point i'm making. They were overwhelmingly likely to finish above us and quelle surprise, despite our herculean efforts, they ultimately did finish above is.
If it makes you happy, if you want to win an argument so much, how about I give you that one? Take it. I retract the statement that they were promoted in April.
But just sticking to the facts, they got 9 pts more than us in August and finished above us - is my original point now wrong?
If Cardiff get 9pts more than us this August and end up finishing above us in 2018/19, are yfou comfortable with that as long as we still have a chance of catching them, albeit incredibly slim and not ultimately achieved?

with six games to go they were 5pts clear  :54:

[Marcel_Gecov]

How were they essentially promoted by April when, if we'd beaten Brum on the last day of the season, we'd have gone up instead???

With all due respect your pedantry and ability to miss a point frustrates me.
They were about 10pts clear of us going into the last 6/7 games. I can't be arsed to look up the exact the numbers because it's immaterial to the point i'm making. They were overwhelmingly likely to finish above us and quelle surprise, despite our herculean efforts, they ultimately did finish above is.
If it makes you happy, if you want to win an argument so much, how about I give you that one? Take it. I retract the statement that they were promoted in April.
But just sticking to the facts, they got 9 pts more than us in August and finished above us - is my original point now wrong?
If Cardiff get 9pts more than us this August and end up finishing above us in 2018/19, are yfou comfortable with that as long as we still have a chance of catching them, albeit incredibly slim and not ultimately achieved?

with six games to go they were 5pts clear  :54:

Doesn't strike me as an overwhelming lead.

[S.F.Sorrow]

How were they essentially promoted by April when, if we'd beaten Brum on the last day of the season, we'd have gone up instead???

With all due respect your pedantry and ability to miss a point frustrates me.
They were about 10pts clear of us going into the last 6/7 games. I can't be arsed to look up the exact the numbers because it's immaterial to the point i'm making. They were overwhelmingly likely to finish above us and quelle surprise, despite our herculean efforts, they ultimately did finish above is.
If it makes you happy, if you want to win an argument so much, how about I give you that one? Take it. I retract the statement that they were promoted in April.
But just sticking to the facts, they got 9 pts more than us in August and finished above us - is my original point now wrong?
If Cardiff get 9pts more than us this August and end up finishing above us in 2018/19, are yfou comfortable with that as long as we still have a chance of catching them, albeit incredibly slim and not ultimately achieved?

with six games to go they were 5pts clear  :54:

Doesn't strike me as an overwhelming lead.

It took a club record unbeaten run of 23 games for us to ALMOST make up for our poor start and catch up with Cardiff. I think the point here is that we can't afford a similarly poor start in the PL. And that we currently have a squad that is  weaker than our CHAMPIONSHIP squad with less than 3 weeks to go.

[Twig]

Early days.

But these are not early days are they?  The window opened on May 17th, 66 days ago.  It closes on Aug 9th in 17 days time.

Our pre-season preparations are well and truly in hand and despite some who claim to the contrary, we are missing the chance to; incorporate new players, build team cohesion, ensure match sharpness, build familiarity with SJ's preferred tactics and playing style etc etc.

I am not suggesting that the Fulham staff are not trying hard and I do anticipate that the majority of the required signings will eventually happen. But I am very concerned that it is all so very, very, last minute.

In previous players have joined us after the season began so no matter what we'll be better prepared this season  not worrying about Cairney being poached on deadline day...

So you think that even if 6 new players join during the week prior to the start of the season this will be fine?  I take your point that in the past we have also been slow to get players in.  However we have never had so many holes in the starting squad due largely to departing loan players and this season is not just another Championship start it's a big step up.  I for one am very concerned.

[aaronmcguigan]

as long as we are going for specific players to fit in a predefined style of play and formation then they can come in anyitime. Apart from the World Cup boys, the rest including any targets we have, are already training, and playing friendlies themselves. That way, the team can still be prepped and set up now surely.

The worst thing to happen would be for us to be sitting with a heap of cash on deadline day, signing knock on transfers just for the fun of it to add to the numbers; and the. give Slav August to try to get a formation out of it.

If we are taking our time, I just hope it's the former situation going on in the background. Best of a not so fantastic situation

[Vinnieffc]

If were after quality not quanitty then I will retain patient and trust in Slave..

[alfie]

Early days.

But these are not early days are they?  The window opened on May 17th, 66 days ago.  It closes on Aug 9th in 17 days time.

Our pre-season preparations are well and truly in hand and despite some who claim to the contrary, we are missing the chance to; incorporate new players, build team cohesion, ensure match sharpness, build familiarity with SJ's preferred tactics and playing style etc etc.

I am not suggesting that the Fulham staff are not trying hard and I do anticipate that the majority of the required signings will eventually happen. But I am very concerned that it is all so very, very, last minute.

Don't always assume that it is Fulham creating the delays, there are other parties involved.

[The Rock]

I don't want to start another tit for tat thread that gets locked, but I speak for many on here that were are leaving it until VERY VERY late on to sign:

2 strikers, 3 defenders, a GK and another in midfield. Unlike other clubs, we lost ~ 8 of our Top ~ 18 players and need to replace them with BETTER players. That leaves 7 better players with no time to gel.

It's looking very poor with ~ 2.5 weeks left.