Friends of Fulham

When the fixtures came out in June it was widely acknowledged that we had one of the hardest starts to the season,
But now looking back at our start maybe we had one of the easiest,
Chelsea aren't great and we should have got something out of that,
Sunderland are bottom and our performances up there was diabolical,
Crystal Palace are awful this season but still to good for us,
Liverpool away, was a very good performance and a very good point,
Manchester United are absolutely terrible, how did we not beat them !
Then we had the three promoted clubs, terrible game management by Arbeloa at Ipswich meant we threw three points away,
Followed by two one nil wins against two very poor sides,
So an easy start, but only 8 points and now things get tougher,
Our next 8
Villa A
Newcastle H
Manchester City A
Bournemouth H
Spurs A
Everton A
Brentford H
Leeds A
**These 8 are followed by Brighton and Arsenal!
This run of fixtures will determine whether or not we've turned a corner or whether it's just a false dawn,
If we're not in the bottom 3 eight games from now then Arbeloa and the boys have done an incredible job 👏🏻
How many points do you see us picking up from the next 8 ?

I think this is hindsight. Sometimes it's a few games for poor form to set in. Palace have had a habit of being outplayed and beating us for some years. Chelsea are a match for anyone on their day, they're just inconsistent. The draw against Utd was an ok result, they are underperforming now but still have a lot of talent in their team.

Just about everybody concurred that on paper Man Utd had the easiest start to the season but as we see paper predictions mean nothing and look at them now.

Yes are next ten games are not easy but fully expect a few surprises in there.

This team has performed well, but most teams, including United, have put up the block, and conceded possession to us. I think the next few games will see us play teams who will want the ball as much as we do. Should be more open, more exciting, and,I think, we'll do ok. If you include Coventry, we have 5 away games, ouf of 7, so its tough, but I remain optimistic that we can compete with anyone.

Completely agree - I think the real test now awaits Arbeloa.

Going into the 3 games against promoted sides, I think most of us would have put the expectation at 6 points or more, and we got it.

We've started to look a lot better, and still have room for improvement. So against the more established PL clubs in the next 8-9 games it's really going to show just how good we are.

I wrote about it in more depth here if you fancy a lunch-time read: https://thecravencorner.wordpress.com/2026/10/26/fulham-are-winning-again-but-now-the-real-test-awaits/ (https://thecravencorner.wordpress.com/2026/10/26/fulham-are-winning-again-but-now-the-real-test-awaits/)

I think this thread managed to take the most negative possible view of our start, loaded with hindsight and one sidedness. We have played well for most part. Absolutely bossed both Palace and Ipswich, for example, and still got zero points, since that sometimes happen. Small sample size, but based on the eye test, and perhaps without an inherent pessimistic outlook, I don't think we should fear any of those teams (except City, because for some reason that always seem to go bad even if we perform well). Don't think we will be near bottom three in 8 (or 10) games time.

I also think that the goal posts are always moving with some. If we do well for a couple of more games it will be because reason x, but NOW the real test comes.

But that is my opinion.

Totally agree with the OP. We are yet to play an in form side

I never thought at beginning of season FFC had a very 'difficult' schedule, one of the most difficult in the league, and said so in some early threads on this topic.  I didn't see it as all that problematic.  Not sure how that line of thought ever came to be.....

It's interesting that we tend to always worry about the next 6/7/8/9 games.
There was a post about the same thing at this exact time last year, when we'd just lost to Newcastle 2-1.
The games we had were:
Wolves (H)
Everton (A)
Sunderland (H)
Tottenham (A)
Man City (H)
Palace (H)
Burnley (A)
Forest (H)
Westham (A)
Palace (A)
Results went WLWWLLW(Burnley!!!)WWD- 19 points from 10. There was little reason for optimism at this point last season as we were on the same amount of points and had just lost 4 on the bounce.
Is there any reason we should be feeling more pessimistic this season?

glass half full says we won the last two games playing really well against Hull and pretty well against Cov with difficult conditions including a very heavy pitch. Also we have only lost one in the last five games. Also two consecutive clean sheets.

The big issue using that type of analysis is the lack of goals, four in the last five.

I think the next two or three games will be a better test of how we are doing. Personally if we give Man City a game, a proper game, that will count positive for me.

I think we've done ok. Yes it was a mixed bag of who we played and the form they found themselves in, but each team had their merits. We didn't do well in terms of results, but we did better in terms of play (minus the final third).

The game we had vs Chelsea was a belter and let down by poor defending.

I'm going to be less harsh on us on our opening two games, because they were Arbeloa's first two, with a lot of new faces and changes in the squad/team, and also we've since only lost 1 in our last 5 games now, so there's clearly signs of improvement.

Two wins vs two promoted sides was a must and at least shows us that we can get results against teams in the league and can do better than two teams - we only need to best three to stay up, which shouldn't be the goal, but is enough in the first season if we had to.

The interesting thing is, it's far too early to make any concrete judgements.. Firstly there are 3 points between us on 8 points and in 15th, and 6th place. The PL has been tight for a number of years and this season is no different. If you look at the table, we're one of just 5 teams that have managed to get two wins in their last two. The others include Spurs and Bournemouth who were both in a similar position to us beforehand and are in the two spots above us in the table, Villa who are in 9th (who've got 10 out of their 11 points in their last four games), and Arsenal and Liverpool (who we drew against) who are in 2nd and 4th.

Palace beat Forest 3-1, drew to Leeds 0-0 who are 7th currently, and got beaten 3-2 to Ipswich though were down to ten men for 60 minutes of the game. The result would suggest Ipswich did well, but they only just beat a ten man Palace.

I think Palace may be struggling with playing PL, alongside European and cup games, it's a lot, not to forget the new manager they've also brought in.

There are a lot of clubs adjusting to new managers, almost half the league changed their managers over the summer in some way or other.

Interestingly last season under Marco we were on the exact same number of points after 8 games and in the exact same league position, which given how much change happened over the summer and to our starting 11, is actually a positive sign in my book - especially given the teething problems we had in our first two games and the fact we've got games out of the way against Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd already. Say what you like about their form currently, but they have talent and also have the ability to turn it on at any point during the season, which if they do/did would mean we wouldn't have to worry about it (see Villa as an example).

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/formtabelle/wettbewerb/GB1?saison_id=2025&min=1&max=8

After 9 games we were down in 17th last season too and still on 8 points.

Newcastle are completely hot and cold at the moment having won two and lost three of their last 5. Their ability to climb the table is not necessarily in their ability to consistently play well, but just get wins instead of draws when they do.

Man City are potentially getting relegated as they've got their pending cheating scandal to get through and recently lost two nil to a Spurs team who had been playing incredible poorly and have, like us, picked up both their wins of the season in their last two games too (new squad for spurs!).

Main point is essentially the league has been a slow to start one this season, there's been a lot of changes in squads and players throughout the league and it's affecting form of teams, though signs are starting to show that they're starting to find their feet, and perhaps we're one of those two.

It's not panic stations yet. There's still a lot of football to be played.

I've noticed posters saying how bad ManU is/was, and how could we not have beaten them.  I think it's fair to say that ManU is off to a very poor start, no question about that.  That said, that team is loaded with talent.  Lots of great players.  In the game we played them, Rashford had an off night, a poor game, and we were lucky he did.  He had several grade A scoring chances which he fluffed.  I think FFC did well to at least take a point in that game.  That is a good team, struggling right now...

I will try to actually answer the OP's question. I see us getting 8 points form the next 8 games. I'd like to predict c. 12 but I just cannot see where the goals are going to come from. sdly if I'm right (and I fervently hope not to be) then that will be a point a game which is relegation form.  It's weird because I don't think this is a relegation team at all, but when I'm confronted with where we are going tp pick up the wins for 3 points? I struggle a bit.

Quote from: Twig on October 26, 2026, 03:44:36 PMI will try to actually answer the OP's question. I see us getting 8 points form the next 8 games. I'd like to predict c. 12 but I just cannot see where the goals are going to come from. sdly if I'm right (and I fervently hope not to be) then that will be a point a game which is relegation form.  It's weird because I don't think this is a relegation team at all, but when I'm confronted with where we are going tp pick up the wins for 3 points? I struggle a bit.

You could argue that we could have won 4 in a row- being just minutes from getting 6 points from Man Utd and Ipswich.

Also a point per game is almost always fine to stay up and isn't relegation form (35.33 has been the average).

Quote from: Jim© on October 26, 2026, 02:33:26 PMIt's interesting that we tend to always worry about the next 6/7/8/9 games.
There was a post about the same thing at this exact time last year, when we'd just lost to Newcastle 2-1.
The games we had were:
Wolves (H)
Everton (A)
Sunderland (H)
Tottenham (A)
Man City (H)
Palace (H)
Burnley (A)
Forest (H)
Westham (A)
Palace (A)
Results went WLWWLLW(Burnley!!!)WWD- 19 points from 10. There was little reason for optimism at this point last season as we were on the same amount of points and had just lost 4 on the bounce.
Is there any reason we should be feeling more pessimistic this season?

I personally was very concerned last season after that everton away game. But what made me more optimistic was 1) marco 2) wolves 3) burnley 4) raul 5) wilson

Opta are predicting 43 points will be needed to stay up this season and the absence of those five things makes me more pessimistic now than I was then

Quote from: ffcthereligion on October 26, 2026, 01:58:55 PMTotally agree with the OP. We are yet to play an in form side

Liverpool are 4th in the league...

Our next 8
Villa A 1 point
Newcastle H 3 points
Manchester City A 0 points
Bournemouth H 3 points
Spurs A 1 point
Everton A 1 point
Brentford H 3 points
Leeds A 1 point

13 points...

Sat on 21 points and 8th position.

Call me mystic north... 🤣🤣
COYW

OP has made some fair points.  Football fans generally have recency bias and the sun is always shining after a win or 2.
I personally think we've had an awful start, and should have done far better with our winnable games.  We've beaten 2 sides who performed very poorly and are now about to play better teams.

If we can keep up the run rate of a point a game and not be in the relegation zone in 8 games, I'll be delighted. 

Based on the first 8 games, I don't think see evidence that Arbeloa can beat better/mid table teams.

Hope I am wrong.

Quote from: Jim© on October 26, 2026, 02:33:26 PMIt's interesting that we tend to always worry about the next 6/7/8/9 games.
There was a post about the same thing at this exact time last year, when we'd just lost to Newcastle 2-1.
The games we had were:
Wolves (H)
Everton (A)
Sunderland (H)
Tottenham (A)
Man City (H)
Palace (H)
Burnley (A)
Forest (H)
Westham (A)
Palace (A)
Results went WLWWLLW(Burnley!!!)WWD- 19 points from 10. There was little reason for optimism at this point last season as we were on the same amount of points and had just lost 4 on the bounce.
Is there any reason we should be feeling more pessimistic this season?

The next game, and only the next game is the most important.
Look no further than the next game, as it has a habit of biting you on the backside.

I'll be delighted if we can get 40-45 points this season after the slow start.

Apparently we have the 2nd best defensive record over the last 5 games in the league, we've also only lost one league game in that time. Perhaps the narrative is/can start to shift to being more upbeat? Time will tell, but a couple of more solid results and we may need start to be more confident in what this season may bring. Fingers crossed.

Quote from: General on October 27, 2026, 09:30:14 AMApparently we have the 2nd best defensive record over the last 5 games in the league, we've also only lost one league game in that time. Perhaps the narrative is/can start to shift to being more upbeat? Time will tell, but a couple of more solid results and we may need start to be more confident in what this season may bring. Fingers crossed.

Affengruber for £8m may turn out to be signing of the season. Credit to Alvaro for pushing for the signing and Tony and co for negotiating a bargain.

Quote from: Jim© on October 26, 2026, 03:57:06 PM

Quote from: Twig on October 26, 2026, 03:44:36 PMI will try to actually answer the OP's question. I see us getting 8 points form the next 8 games. I'd like to predict c. 12 but I just cannot see where the goals are going to come from. sdly if I'm right (and I fervently hope not to be) then that will be a point a game which is relegation form.  It's weird because I don't think this is a relegation team at all, but when I'm confronted with where we are going tp pick up the wins for 3 points? I struggle a bit.

You could argue that we could have won 4 in a row- being just minutes from getting 6 points from Man Utd and Ipswich.

Also a point per game is almost always fine to stay up and isn't relegation form (35.33 has been the average).

So you are saying you would be perfectly relaxed if we were on target to hit 38 points? Far too risky for my peace of mind!

Quote from: General on October 27, 2026, 09:30:14 AMApparently we have the 2nd best defensive record over the last 5 games in the league, we've also only lost one league game in that time. Perhaps the narrative is/can start to shift to being more upbeat? Time will tell, but a couple of more solid results and we may need start to be more confident in what this season may bring. Fingers crossed.

A point or more at Villa Park would indicate that a significant corner has been turned.

Seriously concerned tonight that we won't pick up 8 points in the next 8 games, we're in serious trouble and in the January transfer window we need a left back, a striker and a winger,
The problem is, as West Ham hi-lighted last season, it's almost impossible to recruit when you're in the relegation zone.
Worrying times ahead.

Quote from: C Block on October 28, 2026, 11:36:56 PMSeriously concerned tonight that we won't pick up 8 points in the next 8 games, we're in serious trouble and in the January transfer window we need a left back, a striker and a winger,
The problem is, as West Ham hi-lighted last season, it's almost impossible to recruit when you're in the relegation zone.
Worrying times ahead.

Unfortunately it is worrying.
I shall try and relax and take one game at a time.

Defence wise affrenbuger and bassey
Centre midfield Charles and Berge is a good quality spine with the rest of the eleven around them and should be safe enough this season .

Quote from: hovewhite on October 29, 2026, 06:44:09 PMDefence wise affrenbuger and bassey
Centre midfield Charles and Berge is a good quality spine with the rest of the eleven around them and should be safe enough this season .

Those 4 can be as good as you like but until we find another Ross McCormack or Mitrovic we will continue to be in or around the relegation places for the remainder of the season.

Quote from: C Block on October 29, 2026, 09:47:52 PM

Quote from: hovewhite on October 29, 2026, 06:44:09 PMDefence wise affrenbuger and bassey
Centre midfield Charles and Berge is a good quality spine with the rest of the eleven around them and should be safe enough this season .

Those 4 can be as good as you like but until we find another Ross McCormack or Mitrovic we will continue to be in or around the relegation places for the remainder of the season.

And the spine isn't just those 4 it starts with the number 9 and goes all the way back to the keeper.