Now that Fulham's season has ended, what should we be aiming for next season?

[3rdgenfan]

Seeing as our seasons goals were obviously met last Sunday, will the club aim higher next season or just repeat this season again, get to 40 points, job done. 

I still think we need 43 points as I said weeks ago West Ham could reach 40 themselves which would still see them go down. 

Not sure where those points come from if we play like the last couple of passionless games.

Got to finish above West Ham as I have a Curry Night bet with a mate that Fulham will finish above West Ham this season

[WindyCity]

We should be aiming for Euro play and becoming a top half PL club.  Need to bring in some more talent.

Manager status - Would like to see MS stick, if only for continuity.

TC - Why has he been given another season at FFC?  This is not how you progress.  I love TC and he has been a terrific servant to this team.  But you can't hold on to fan faves forever.  A roster spot wasted in my view. 

Upon reflection - I think most here dreaded the month or so of AFCON, when key players would be missing.  That said, I think the team got great results during that time, and for the most part the reason FFC is currently mid table.

Older players - Reed and Jimenez need to be moved on.  There are probably a few others that could be moved on as well, not necessarily older players, but areas where an upgrade would be welcome.

Upon reflection - This team is not a prolific offensive team.  Don't score a lot of goals.  Whatever players are brought in, hopefully they have an eye for the net.  And we do have a handful of younger, interesting players, in ESR, King, Kevin, Chukwueze, Bobb, all mostly smaller stature but very quick and show talent at times.  Hope we can see some of these players come good, and really start having a nose for the net.  Finishing has been a big shortcoming of FFC over past several seasons, as we can get possession, can get chances, have opportunities in final third, but just can't finish and get job done.  Not sure Muniz is gonna be the answer though he is still quite young, which is a good thing.  If we do obtain a new striker, gotta be a proven goal scorer.

Most important - Staying in the PL.  An aim for Euro play, but keeping sight of most important, staying in this league.

[Pie n Mash]

A player to replace Wilson, as without him we're a mess.

Bet you a tube of smarties he doesn't reach this seasons heights again, either with us or any other club.

History, as with Tete, says Wilson will be better coming off the bench and Tete will miss at least 50% of games.

Our mistake was not getting money for him when we had the chance.

[Matt10]

Bunch of whining brats

We "Fulham" are mid table in the Prem league , the most competitive league in the world

Yeah we lost today, it happens get over it

I've said it before, but the message was the lineup he put out there. The players he put out still dominated possession, didn't make too many bad passes like we did against West Ham - so I'm not upset about the actual performance. Honestly, it was just finishing. We can't rely on Wilson or Iwobi in these moments - and we proved collectively that we have some trouble finishing without them. Muniz, Sess even Bobb, need to look at themselves and spend a lot more time on the training ground.

It may not be the worst idea to set up a friendly behind closed doors to see who can find the back of the net in open play. Light a fire under them because there were moments where that was needed badly in the match. Like Muniz letting the ball go out of bound for a corner, when he could've collected it deep in the opponent's box and kept an attack going. Just too many switch off moments like that - and something other than internal competition needs to hold players accountable.

I'm not sure, Matt. I would argue nearly all our chances were half chances. Eg Sess shooting from a tight angle, Muniz poking it from outside the penalty area just over the bar.

I would argue Southampton had 2 clear goals expected chances before half time alone.


I think it's hiding behind the numbers for Silva to claim 24 chances or what-have-you means we played well and we just need to finish better.

From my perspective, I wonder if the 9 changes were not "disrespecting the opposition" per se but trying to teach his players from the West Ham game a lesson. If so, a further loss yesterday could tip the dressing room against Silva.

Yeah I think there was a point of trying to galvanize the players. I'm not privvy to the dressing room, but Marco doesn't strike me as a manager that punishes or threatens positions. I think he has a forever chip on his shoulder and that probably gets fed into the players.

I'm going through my match review, breaking the game down in 10 minute increments. I may post it later on here, but overall I just can't get on board with any mentality that we weren't the better team. Yes, Southampton had their chances - mainly a product of our own doing, but each chosen player was up for this match and did well in their positions for the most part. I think different player profiles were needed at some points in the match as some had either been fatigued (ESR) or left exposed (Reed) or simply not having the scoring touch (Muniz). For that, I can only think that Marco was preparing for extra time and if a sub for Raul had happened instead of King, maybe ESR wins the header from Lecomte's panic long ball and we never concede. Hindsight is a heck of a thing.

[FFC007]

Angelo Stiller from Stuttgart. A left footed deep lying playmaker.

A replacement Cairney.

Raul and Reed should probably be jettisoned at the very least, and Leno is another who could be heading for the dole queue if his performances don't improve into next season.

[sunburywhite]

I would keep Raul

He is still amazingly fit and far more of a trhreat than Muniz

We should have taken the 50m for Muniz

[jayffc]

Fulham are 3 points off possible European place.

The season is long from over. Win the next 2 and we're right back in it no doubt with all to play for.

Outside of that we should be aiming for a top 10 finish to show some improvement in that regard ideally this year

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it. Otherwise a slightly improved squad can get us right into European fight again

[KentFulham]

Fulham are 3 points off possible European place.

The season is long from over. Win the next 2 and we're right back in it no doubt with all to play for.

Outside of that we should be aiming for a top 10 finish to show some improvement in that regard ideally this year

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it. Otherwise a slightly improved squad can get us right into European fight again

Not sure Chuk or JKA have proved a transfer in, particually JKA. Also need to get rid of Cairny and Reed.

[Angus Telford]

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it.

I would bite your hand off if offered that as our business this summer but even the priority 5 you've listed would be another net spend of £100m minimum and multiple big deals. Can you really see us doing all that?

[SuperFreeman]

Seeing as our seasons goals were obviously met last Sunday, will the club aim higher next season or just repeat this season again, get to 40 points, job done. 

Bit of a strange question for an obvious answer.

A trophy?? You have to go back to 2002 when the club last won any silverware.

I have already said it's time for a new manager after Silva gave up on Fulham trying to progress to the quarter finals of the FA Cup with crazy, ridiculous changes (9) for the Southampton match. Even Southampton's manager and their fans couldn't believe it.

And trying to keep Harry Wilson, whose out of contract in June, is not the answer.

[KentFulham]

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it.

I would bite your hand off if offered that as our business this summer but even the priority 5 you've listed would be another net spend of £100m minimum and multiple big deals. Can you really see us doing all that?

Partly down to our shocking ability to buy and sell, rare do we have players with resell value and then we miss the boat when we do, AR and Muniz being two examples.

Our transfer in and out stratagy is dull, and hamstrings us with playing of little value

[The Rational Fan]

Fulham is a professional squad now playing for the millions of money that can be got by getting a better league position and this money is needed for next seasons squad.

For the last 9 games this season, the difference between getting 8 points vs 14 points is estimated to be £15 million more for FFC and £15m less for everyone else.

If we get 8 points we can buy two starters next season.
If we get 14 points we can buy three starters next season. The difference between two, three or four starters could be a lower table relegation battle (eg 14th -17th)  vs trying to make Europe (7th - 11th)

[Pavel Dempsey]

Fulham are 3 points off possible European place.

The season is long from over. Win the next 2 and we're right back in it no doubt with all to play for.

Outside of that we should be aiming for a top 10 finish to show some improvement in that regard ideally this year

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it. Otherwise a slightly improved squad can get us right into European fight again

JayFFC speaks common sense unlike some others on this topic.

[Jim©]

I still think we need 43 points as I said weeks ago West Ham could reach 40 themselves which would still see them go down. 

Not sure where those points come from if we play like the last couple of passionless games.

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not?
We're 1000-1 to get relegated with almost all bookies. If I were you I'd stick a tenner on.

[S.F.Sorrow]

A player to replace Wilson, as without him we're a mess.

I can't disagree with you on Wilson's importance for us this season. He has been our best player by quite some distance. But has it not occured to anyone that the club may have signed Oscar Bobb as part of a long term strategy to replace Wilson next season? I keep seeing comments about the need to replace Wilson, but my first thought when we signed Bobb was, ok so that's Wilson gone in the summer then.

Of course, we will still need another RW, but I suspect Bobb will be our first choice at RW next season, unless of course Wilson extends his contract and keeps performing at his current level.

Another thing about Wilson, I think it's often overlooked that this is the first season his performances have been consistenly good for us in the Premier League. He always seems to step up when he has something to play for personally, like when he has been benched for a while... OR perhaps when he's putting himself in the shop window for a move or a better contract? If (and that's a big if) he signs a new contract, will he keep performing at his current level, or will he revert to the old diving, moaning and very inconsistent version of Wilson?

[JimmyConway]

I hope but not convinced he will that Marco brings back Ridgeon to first team squad and gives him a taste of premier league football as we head towards the end of the season. He made the bench when Afcon was on and to keep our promising youngsters thinking their future is at Fulham then I do not see why we can't find some game time for at least him. Midfield is an area we need to strengthen next season so let's see if he is ready to be involved in that campaign.

[jayffc]

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it.

I would bite your hand off if offered that as our business this summer but even the priority 5 you've listed would be another net spend of £100m minimum and multiple big deals. Can you really see us doing all that?

Yeh I wouldn't be surprised if we could make that sort of room with FFP especially if a top ten finish.

30m Pepi
25m CM
22m Chuk
12m JKA
18m Van Ewijk
Wilson replacement - Loan move with option (so 5m loan fee?)

-£112m

Castagne out + 9m
Reed out + 5m
Amissah tribunal (+4m maybe? given multiple big clubs rumoured and as an England youth international)

Then, as ever,there might be some other Academy sales here and there:
Tanton
Dibley Dias
Sanderson
Araujo
Works
+ any of the other under-21s

Lets say you pick up 2m between any such moves of pure profit.

Total
+ £20m

That would be around £92m net spend.

However it's of course not the full story as up-front cost of those transfers wont be as high, about 12-20m of that will likely be in potential add-ons.

So up front more likely around 72-80m
plus the likelihood of us making at least 1 other of those deals loans with options, means even lower up front cost. (takes maybe 15m off the summer cost)

You could also look to cash in on the likes of Luc DF for £5-10m as a Canadian mens international at his age. Or move Diop on for £10-15m and replace with Luc (I wouldn't do this personally as think he's one of our best performing CBs at the moment) But let's say we sell one of them and count it as 7m for the sake of this convo.

So when you consider all that, perhaps those 5 main targets could be for more like 50-70m net up front cost this summer with the rest in possible addons or deferred fees, depending on which options we chose.

Seems there's a way it could be feasible to me, but admittedly I don't have the books so going purely off of guess work.

[Twig]

Fulham are 3 points off possible European place.

The season is long from over. Win the next 2 and we're right back in it no doubt with all to play for.

Outside of that we should be aiming for a top 10 finish to show some improvement in that regard ideally this year

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it. Otherwise a slightly improved squad can get us right into European fight again

JayFFC speaks common sense unlike some others on this topic.

Not entirely. He's rather conveniently ignoring the salaries side of the equation. We have become used to thinking about transfer affordability in terms of the net cost of transfers in and out. However from next year we will need to consider salaries and related costs and in that context I cannot see how we can afford Chuck.

[jayffc]

Fulham are 3 points off possible European place.

The season is long from over. Win the next 2 and we're right back in it no doubt with all to play for.

Outside of that we should be aiming for a top 10 finish to show some improvement in that regard ideally this year

Then it's about minor adjustments to the squad

Pepi in
CM in
JKA and Chuk in
Winger to replace Wilson unless he wants to re sign
van ewijk in Castagne out

Those as priority

If we have room to upgrade GK and maybe even CB go for it. Otherwise a slightly improved squad can get us right into European fight again

JayFFC speaks common sense unlike some others on this topic.

Not entirely. He's rather conveniently ignoring the salaries side of the equation. We have become used to thinking about transfer affordability in terms of the net cost of transfers in and out. However from next year we will need to consider salaries and related costs and in that context I cannot see how we can afford Chuck.

I assure you I haven't "rather conveniently" done anything of the sort. This has all been through through.

Reported wages (100% accept wage websites aren't entirely accurate, they could be more or less, but thats all we can work with)

Raul out = 100k+
Wilson out = 55k+
Adama out = allegedly 100k+ (bobb in allegedly £65k range) so net 35k saving
Harrison Reed = 50k
Castagne = 65k

Between:
Luc DF
Dibley Dias
Tanton
Luke Harris
+ any others
You lose around 10k off wage bill (sell diop rather than Luc and of course it's  way more but that would be a gamble)

so £315k in wages less on our wage bill from the start of this year.

Chuk and JKA are already on our books and wages being paid so no difference there, evidently we can afford the wages as we're paying them already.

Pepi - 70k
CM - 70k could be marginally more or less depending on who it is
Loan winger - depends who it is, go younger like kevin and ya could be 50k, go for a Chukwueze level and double it (you don't need to as we have chuk, bobb and kev already) but lets say 75k for now which is more than wilsons on.
Van Ewijk - 45k (massive wage increase from current championship wage, unproven at top level)

Total: 260k

So in such a scenario - a saving of £55k from where our books were in start of Jan.

That's for the core signings.

So if you wanted to then add the GK and CB
Then it's like for like
Incoming GK takes departing Leno's High wages
Incoming CB takes departing Diop or Anderson's wage, depending on which you sell.

Seems perfectly feasible to me that with the right signings there you could even shave more off the bill as Leno's one of the highest earners at the club.

[St Eve]

It was terribly disappointing to get knocked out of the FA Cup, but our season is far from over. We were unlikely to win the cup and probably would have been knocked out by Arsenal. Qualifying for Europe is a real target. We have the backbone of a decent team without major surgery. Start by keeping Marco and Wilson and as I said before is we make Europe try to keep Raul. Yes we need a forward, but I think our real weakness is midfield. A certain Mr. Palhinha comes to mind