Will we ever see FFC back in the Premiership?

[Wearethewhites]

As it stands now, I can honestly say no, and if we did intend to, I feel that we only have a small window of opportunity, with next season being the most important. I share Kahn's vision for FFC, I really do, but the longer we stay in the Chmapionship, the harder it will be to get out. This season, for me, we have felt like another Ipswich or Blackburn, and if things don't change, or Kahn doesn't inject something special into the Club, I can see us knocking around the Championship for many years to come.

Part of me finds it hard to envision us celebrating another Championship, Championship again if that makes sense, well not the way Fayed and Tigana did it anyway, football has changed to much since then. I know people say they don't care about going back up, but as long as I live, I will always want to see FFC competing with the very best.     

[Blanco]

I think we'll eventually be back in the prem. It might take 10 years but we'll be back. I will relish that day.

[HatterDon]

Historically, we are pretty much EXACTLY where we should be -- mid-table in the second tier. The fact is, though, that this doesn't mean that we'll never be in the top tier again. Palace left the Prem and dropped like a stone. They're back, and they've basically replaced us as the "small homey London club" that likes to slap the big boys around.

We WILL be back in the Prem, but it doesn't have to be an immediate thing. It wasn't for Southampton, Palace, Swansea, and Stoke City.

We will also probably -- at some point -- drop down into the third tier. That's our history and history is always the best predictor of future performance. Personally, though, I think our current setup will more likely lead us up rather than down.

[Zendra]

Some of us can remember Fulham second to bottom in the 3rd tier and losing to the first to  bottom. So if we have to stay in the 2nd tier for a while it would not be a disaster .   Its all relative.

[ron]

We have had three spells in the top tier, and one day we will be there for the fourth. It will come with short notice when some future combination of playing staff clicks, such as Crawford and Phillips did all those years ago in Ipswich.....
.....but of course being in my own mid 'sixties, it doesn't need to take as long to achieve as it did last time !

[Wearethewhites]

Some of us can remember Fulham second to bottom in the 3rd tier and losing to the first to  bottom. So if we have to stay in the 2nd tier for a while it would not be a disaster .   Its all relative.

I was at Torquay.

[H4usuallysitting]

Maybe in the next 5-10 years......and probably when we least expect it

[Woolly Mammoth]

Attendances will continue to fall, whilst Fulham serve up mediocre Football,  by a mediocre manager, and a mediocre chairman, and supporters with mediocre ambitions, so we end up with mediocre gates, for a club with mediocre ambitions.
So we have reach our level second tier. That's mediocrity.
The longer we are away from the top flight, the harder it will be to come back.
Even at this stage, despite poor leadership, we could bounce back this season via the playoffs. If a concerted effort was made. But I don't think the club appears to care that much. Otherwise they would have a proper manager, there is an air of Doom about the place, the club certainly wouldn't win any prizes for Marketing and PR. Maybe Mark Hughes was right after all regarding his comments about Fulhams lack of real ambition.
Doesn't the club understand there is a reason why gates are falling.

[Forever Fulham]

 I sure hope so.  It's always more enjoyable to watch a sport you like played at the highest level.  I'd rather see Fulham tie or lose to Arsenal than to watch us win against Derby.  Plus, I'm not getting any younger.  Soon I'll have to think twice before buying any green bananas. :021:

[St Eve]

I always said it would be a disaster for us to go down. A lot of people thought going down would be good for us. It was important we bounced right back but we just escaped relegation. We have now turned into a mediocre championship team with a rookie manager, poor GM and nieve owner. I waited 30 years for us to get in the top tier and unless something changes it will take another 30 years. So let's hope something changes quickly

[mikestrand]

There seems to be a complete lack of football knowledge within the club
Rigg is no more than a half decent chief scout if he was more the coaching at the club would be sorted out and Kit wouldnt still be here.
If Khan wants to entrust someone to run the club in his absence the he should get people in with the necessary experience.
Sorry WATW the answer to your question is I think were going nowhere and if we dont genuinely aim for promotion we eventually end up getting relegated.

[bobbo]

I've genuinely worried since the moment we went down that at 70 would I ever see us back, I'm still just as worried. Maybe I'm over-reacting but I feel like the bunch at the clubs helm are a bit like FIFA were until recently - not meaning sculdugary but feel they aren't answerable to anyone.

[HatterDon]

Attendances will continue to fall, whilst Fulham serve up mediocre Football,  by a mediocre manager, and a mediocre chairman, and supporters with mediocre ambitions, so we end up with mediocre gates, for a club with mediocre ambitions.
So we have reach our level second tier. That's mediocrity.
The longer we are away from the top flight, the harder it will be to come back.
Even at this stage, despite poor leadership, we could bounce back this season via the playoffs. If a concerted effort was made. But I don't think the club appears to care that much. Otherwise they would have a proper manager, there is an air of Doom about the place, the club certainly wouldn't win any prizes for Marketing and PR. Maybe Mark Hughes was right after all regarding his comments about Fulhams lack of real ambition.
Doesn't the club understand there is a reason why gates are falling.

I think the club understands this well. Our attendances were what they were because of tourists and people who wanted to watch the Premier League in a beautiful and iconic ground. We haven't lost attendance because we are "mediocre." Our attendances are where they are because we've lost the tourists -- you know, that group of folks that the "real Fulham supporters" used to complain about when we were in the Prem.

The fact is, there's about 11,000 core Fulham supporters -- and some of them will be just as happy to stay home and watch whenever we're on television. A big match might swell the home support to 13,000, and with a good visiting following, we might even get to 18,000 total, but the truth is that a huge segment of those filling "home" seats weren't the sort of folks to follow Fulham in the Championship regardless of their position in that league.

The idea that crowds are down because of Kit and Khan is a joke. When will we fill the Cottage again? When we get promoted. Until then? There's always other Premier League football in London for the dreaded tourists to watch.

[Oakeshott]

"I share Kahn's vision for FFC"

But do we really know what that vision is?

There is talking, and there is doing, and the two are often very different. If we judge Khan by what he has done, rather than by what he says, it is clear that he is content for us to be a middle of the table Championship club, where success is measured by avoiding relegation and where making the top six would be a welcome (but essentially fortunate) bonus.

There are of course two "doings" that could lead to a different view. To see a start to the Riverside development would certainly suggest Khan is in for the longer term and anticipates a return to the Premiership, because such a development would surely not make sense were we to be a Championship (or lower) club for ever. But the easier and more important short term option would be to replace Kit with a manager who has the competence to weld the squad we have, augmented as necessary, into one which will make the top six.

[RaySmith]

Attendances will continue to fall, whilst Fulham serve up mediocre Football,  by a mediocre manager, and a mediocre chairman, and supporters with mediocre ambitions, so we end up with mediocre gates, for a club with mediocre ambitions.
So we have reach our level second tier. That's mediocrity.
The longer we are away from the top flight, the harder it will be to come back.
Even at this stage, despite poor leadership, we could bounce back this season via the playoffs. If a concerted effort was made. But I don't think the club appears to care that much. Otherwise they would have a proper manager, there is an air of Doom about the place, the club certainly wouldn't win any prizes for Marketing and PR. Maybe Mark Hughes was right after all regarding his comments about Fulhams lack of real ambition.
Doesn't the club understand there is a reason why gates are falling.

I think the club understands this well. Our attendances were what they were because of tourists and people who wanted to watch the Premier League in a beautiful and iconic ground. We haven't lost attendance because we are "mediocre." Our attendances are where they are because we've lost the tourists -- you know, that group of folks that the "real Fulham supporters" used to complain about when we were in the Prem.

The fact is, there's about 11,000 core Fulham supporters -- and some of them will be just as happy to stay home and watch whenever we're on television. A big match might swell the home support to 13,000, and with a good visiting following, we might even get to 18,000 total, but the truth is that a huge segment of those filling "home" seats weren't the sort of folks to follow Fulham in the Championship regardless of their position in that league.

The idea that crowds are down because of Kit and Khan is a joke. When will we fill the Cottage again? When we get promoted. Until then? There's always other Premier League football in London for the dreaded tourists to watch.

Good post HD.

Our attendances are bound to decline the longer we are out of the Prem. This happened last time we exited the top division, but now the attraction of the Prem is  even greater to tourists of all kinds, and Fulham was a good game to go to catch a Prem game. But such people are far less likely to attend a Championship game, though the  matches are  usually exciting and of a high standard - and still in the idyllic setting of the Cottage.

Today, fans expect someone with a magic wand  -ie oodles of cash they are prepared to throw at the club to achieve success-to come in, as has obviously happened to Fulham before with MAF; but we have the somewhat cautious, though very wealthy , Khan.

But things could be a lot  worse for Fulham - look at some of the 'giants' of the game, who haven't prospered at all since leaving the Prem, and we still have a chance of the play-offs - why give up on our ambitions so early?

Last year we looked like  being relegated again, so perhaps we should be thankful for that -onwards and upwards.

[fcfulham55]

When we replace Kit. We have a chance, but do also need to be ready for the premier league too, as I just couldn't stand being a whipping boy team. Our pathetic media coverage, where we get no credit but holes are picked throughout the club week in week out would love us  to be the whipping boys.

[f321ffc]

Some of us can remember Fulham second to bottom in the 3rd tier and losing to the first to  bottom. So if we have to stay in the 2nd tier for a while it would not be a disaster .   Its all relative.

I was at Torquay.
/quote]
Me too horrible night.
And to answer the original question NO not with Kit as manager.

[FPT]

I think the key to our Premier League future doesn't fall in the hands of the older players, but the younger ones. The likes of Tom Cairney, Jazz Richards, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Lasse Vigen Christensen, Moussa Dembele, Cauley Woodrow, George Williams have the mid-to-long term futures of the football club in their hands. Say we're not promoted in two years and the squad is kept the same - the quality is going to be coming from then 26 year olds Tom Cairney and Jazz Richards. Ryan Tunnicliffe will be 24, Christensen 23 years old. Moussa Dembele, though I'd be surprised to still see him here, 21, Woodrow 22 years old as would George Williams. This is without talking about a Ryan Fredericks, a Jack Grimmer, and we've got an excellent new crop of academy talent pending.

The disaster would be financially of course. But we suddenly have a team that can grow together. If we look at 2017/18, which is not next season, but the one after our team is (ages in brackets):

Bettinelli (25)
Richards (26), Stearman (30), Ream (30), Husband (23),
Cairney (26), Tunnicliffe (24), O'Hara (31), G.Williams (21),
McCormack (31), Smith (28).

Others: Grimmer (23), Burn (25), Kacaniklic (26), Pringle (28), Christensen (23), Woodrow (22), Dembele (21). That's excluding potential academy promotions and potential sales/signings from our part too.

However, the point is, that this team doesn't need too much done to it. I think we all know that the players are good enough for promotion, and if you look at promotion winning managers; a lot are people that I guarantee some of you would not want. A Steve Coppell? A Neil Warnock? A Malky Mackay? A Tony Mowbray? Though I'm not saying we wouldn't have a better chance with a better manager, just that some Championship winning managers have been people I certainly wouldn't want to see take over.

Whether you like it or not, this team will need to grow and we are still in the teething stages. Our transfer window has given us a future beyond a potential promotion team, because if we can't - there's sellable assets there to stay afloat. However, I don't think that was the aim of summer business. We will want to be promoted sooner rather than later, my point being that on the pitch - we have time. Off it? So much more frightening.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

If not next season then  2017/18 for sure.

I don't think Mr Khan will settle for any longer in the CS

[Nick Bateman]

Attendances will continue to fall, whilst Fulham serve up mediocre Football,  by a mediocre manager, and a mediocre chairman, and supporters with mediocre ambitions, so we end up with mediocre gates, for a club with mediocre ambitions.
So we have reach our level second tier. That's mediocrity.
The longer we are away from the top flight, the harder it will be to come back.

Succinctly and unequivocally stated in a nutshell by Mammoth!

One is beginning to believe Khan does not want to go up; why would he put up with such incompetence from the CEO and poor management/results from Symons??  By staying in the Championship he can claim, as some have said on this forum, the FL FFP regulations prevent him from investing more from his billions.

Of course, it doesn't add up to the lucrative millions on offer if we did manage promotion, and he could always be as much a "skinflint" in the top tier albeit with less justification (probably will be defended by many saying "we don't want to overspend and have a huge wage bill if we go down", etc, ad nauseum.......).