Has Fulham Moved Up A Level?

[White Noise]

The talk in football management speak is always of wanting to take Fulham to 'the next level'. Having secured 3 class managers on the trot and averaged top 10 finishes can we say that the club has definitively moved up a level?
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[finnster01]

Ehrrrrm, we have also lost two of them  089.gif

[WhiteJC]

Ehrrrrm, we have also lost two of them  089.gif

...and before them we had 2 untried managers, surly getting managers like Roy (how many rated him when he first came?) Sparky and now Jol shows that Fulham are now a big(ish) club compared to a few seasons ago

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I think we need to stay at this level (challenging for Europa) for another few seasons.

We have an excellent base to do so from, it is just about consistency.

[Andy_M]

I see on sky sports Tony Gale tipping us for an outside bet for a top 6 .... yes that's right a TOP 6 finish under Jol.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11681_6969196,00.html

[Duncs]

I think we need to win consistently away from home to take the next level.

[ImperialWhite]

Our Premier League seasons:

2001-2002
13th (FA Cup SF)
14th
9th (FA Cup QF)
13th (League Cup QF)
12th
16th
17th
7th
12th (Europa League final)
8th

You could argue that our level, even when we were first promoted, was of a lower-middle midtable side - and that our two major relegation scares were a Coleman/Sanchez related blip.

As AFC says, a couple more seasons in the top half (a Europa League final + 12th can be considered an honorary top half finish) and that's half a decade of solid Premier League football.

However, I think it's impossible to answer this question without reference to finances. We're a midtable club in terms of revenue [9th highest, 77mill in 09/10], but we still require regular injections of cash to maintain our squad so are not yet profitable. A large chunk of our revenue comes from TV money (63%) - a blip in our league performance means a massive knock in our finances. Thus, we're still basically dependent on MAF for top flight football. In the case of relegation, post-MAF, and post-parachute money, we'd struggle to get back up again - our revenue would shrink massively. This isn't the case for other European-spot challengers: most of them have nearly double our (non-TV) revenue, so are more 'solid'.

[Ghost of Michael Mison]

I think the last two seasons are the only ones where I have not gone into them with the fear of a relegation battle, so I would say that we have moved up to join the Aston Villas and Evertons of the Premier League.

[Burt]

Our Premier League seasons:

2001-2002
13th (FA Cup SF)
14th
9th (FA Cup QF)
13th (League Cup QF)
12th
16th
17th
7th
12th (Europa League final)
8th

However, I think it's impossible to answer this question without reference to finances. We're a midtable club in terms of revenue [9th highest, 77mill in 09/10], but we still require regular injections of cash to maintain our squad so are not yet profitable. A large chunk of our revenue comes from TV money (63%) - a blip in our league performance means a massive knock in our finances. Thus, we're still basically dependent on MAF for top flight football. In the case of relegation, post-MAF, and post-parachute money, we'd struggle to get back up again - our revenue would shrink massively. This isn't the case for other European-spot challengers: most of them have nearly double our (non-TV) revenue, so are more 'solid'.

This is an important consideration.

As is the ability to start picking up wins away from home.

[Alternative]

We are in a similar position to Charlton were before it all went pear-shaped and they plummeted through the divisions.

Never take anything for granted. I do hope that new European rules regarding debt will eventually curb overall spending in the Premier League. I am sure the American owners will sit tight and wait for that to happen. Only Abramovitch and Manchester City will continue with silly money practices.

If Fulham survive till sanity returns our long term future might be less fraught.

[SWwhite]

I see on sky sports Tony Gale tipping us for an outside bet for a top 6 .... yes that's right a TOP 6 finish under Jol.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11681_6969196,00.html

I'm not surprised, especially if the season is as open as last year's.  If we hadn't had our run up to Christmas like it was then i reckon 6th was a possibility.  And, with the last two away results considerable influencing this, i'm gonna say our away results will be much better next year, i.e. at least top half in away points.