Two Words That Will Shape Fulham's Season - 'Clint Dempsey'

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Two Words That Will Shape Fulham's Season - 'Clint Dempsey'

A top 10 finish beckons for Fulham, according to our predictions.

Where will your side finish in 2012-13? With the season just one week away, our pundits have put our heads together to give you a comprehensive set of predictions.

Opinions and analysis on all 20 Premier League clubs are given here by 12 of our writers and pundits here at HITC Sport. On the basis of the predictions from our 'daring dozen' we have calculated how the table will look come next May.


How does it work? All the predictions are totalled together, the team with the lowest score will finish 1st, and the highest will finish 20th. Here are the predictions for your club.

Verdict- Fulham will finish in: 9th

Highest prediction: 7th, Lowest prediction: 17th.

Dan Coombs: 12th; Martin Jol has bought well this summer, especially in attack. Mladen Petric looks like an excellent buy, and Hugo Rodallega will be a useful goalscorer too. They have so far resisted offers for Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey, and if the pair remain the Cottagers will be a force to be reckoned with, but as it stands, I can see at least one departing before the transfer window closes. A top 10 finish would be a great achievement for the club, but for this season at least, expect them to fall narrowly short.

Vic Daniels: 8th; Home form will ensure another top half finish for the Craven Cottage side.

Mathew Nash: 9th; Star Player – Brede Hangeland. Top Scorer – Clint Dempsey (if he stays) or Bryan Ruiz. Again, another run of the mill season at the Cottage, but a lot does depend on keeping hold of Dempsey and Dembele. If they do of course those two will star but Brede Hangeland recaptured great form toward the end of last season and this is crucial if the West London side are to maintain consistency.

Tomo Taka: 7th; The club have been progressively rising up the tables since Roy Hodgson's time at the club and Martin Jol will continue to do so following last year's 9 place finish. Jol has acquired 31-year-old Mladen Petric on a free transfer from Hamburg and Huga Rodallega likewise from Wigan. Defensive midfielder Sascha Rietha was brought in on loan from FC Cologne but it remains to be seen if these additions will be regulars or provide support. Nevertheless there is depth to the squad and Fulham should cope regardless of whether Clint Dempsey stays or goes. Best player will be Moussa Dembélé. The player's form has caught the eye of the Premier League's best clubs with Manchester United being linked to the player. The player should likely stay at the club and will again impress but a strong performance from the player would come at a price of seeing him move away the following season. Biggest challenge will be away form. Fulham have always struggled away from home but will have to improve that record for them to finish higher than 9th. They only lost four at home but lost 10 games away.

Jake Lane: 11th; Clint Dempsey. Two words which in the next month will shape Fulham's season. Hard to see them doing much better or much worse than last year – lose Dempsey however and it will much worse than just the two places dropped.

Nigel Owen: 7th; My prediction of a seventh place finish is based on Clint Dempsey remaining at the Cottage. The American's goal record of a goal every three games was invaluable to Martin Jol's team matching Liverpool's points haul last season, and that was after playing eight Europa League games before the end of August, including trips to Ukraine, Croatia and Iceland. A less tiring start to this season will see Fulham stay on stronger through the season this year, and cause more headaches for the Merseyside teams, despite spending a fraction of what Liverpool have in recent seasons. Mladen Petric looks built for English football - 6ft1 tall, and capable of mixing his game up. If he can translate his 51 goals in 127 games in the Bundesliga, then Fulham will have made full use of a free transfer, and ease some of the burden on Dempsey, should he stay.

Surya Solanki: 10th; Martin Jol has been busy this summer, bringing in some exciting attacking options like Mladen Petric and Hugo Rodallega. The club should do well, but the departure of Clint Demsey could severely affect the club's hopes of a top-half finish.

Paul Moore: 17th; I can't see Dempsey starting the season as a Fulham player. Players are leaving but I can't see their replacements? Investment needed.

John Aggrey: 10th; They will be tenth because Martin Jol is just a brilliant manager and with a crop of special players at the Cottage Fulham firmly closes my top ten list. Their star man should be Clint Dempsey; this is hoping he stays. But with his wish of Champions League football maybe finally robbing Jol his prized asset their star man might be gone. So who steps up in his absence?.....Biggest Challenge should be keeping Dempsey at the cottage but on the team note, keeping up with the team tempo and rebuilding especially after Danny Murphy moved to Blackburn and Pavel Pogrebnyak who's moved to Reading. Getting results off big teams when at the Cottage has been a pretty decent achievement for Jol and this should continue even this season.

Naveenan Thanendra: 10th; Jol has slowly added more and more creativity to this side during his tenure at the club and while they weren't able to sign Pogrebnyak on a permanent deal, the additions of Petric and Rodallega will add the much needed firepower up front. The signing of Mahamadou Diarra will also add some steel to their midfield setting them up for what could potentially be a very good season. However, the rumours linking Dempsey away from the club are a threat to their ambitions and keeping him is necessary if they want to finish in the top half.

Keval Shah: 11th; After losing several key players I feel Fulham may not make the top half of the table this season. Murphy has been excellent over the years and regularly combined well with Dempsey – who scored the majority of their goals last season. It still baffles me how they managed to let Pavel Pogrebnyak go, and these three players will leave a huge dent in the Fulham side. However, in Dembele they have a player who can pull the strings from midfield, and can provide that creative spark when needed as well as produce moments of individual brilliance.

Khiam Barry: 16th; If Clint Dempsey leaves Fulham then it'll be a difficult season for Martin Jol's team. With Danny Murphy leaving for Blackburn, they would have lost two influential midfielders. Hangeland is a key player in central defence and his leadership will be key.

Connor Jipps: 13th; The West London outfit have had a transitional summer of transfer activity with the departures of strikers Andy Johnson and Pavel Pogrebnyak. However the signings of Mladen Petric and Hugo Rodallega will have softened the blow slightly. Martin Jol certainly has a job on his hands this season to match the successful 2011/12 season that saw Fulham finish in the top half of the Premier League, and Danny Murphy's move to Blackburn will not make things any easier. The former Liverpool man had been an ever-present in the Fulham midfield since his move from Tottenham, and was a key player in retaining possession and chipping in with assists here and there. Rumours of Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey attracting interest from Manchester United and Liverpool respectively will have Fulham fans worried with the two very much the star players of the fast-growing team. If the two are to leave Fulham may struggle but they are fortunate to have talented young midfielders in their ranks such as Pajtim Kasami, Alex Kačaniklić and in particular Karim Frei. The young Turkish winger showed great trickery and creativity in the latter half of the season to indicate that Fulham have a player ready to step up to the highest level. Fulham's season could go either way as it really does depend on what happens with Dempsey and Dembele's transfer situations but it is hard to imagine them reaching the heights in the league of last year. For that reason I think they'll finish comfortably lower mid table.

Full predicted table: (1) Manchester City, (2) Manchester United, (3) Chelsea, (4) Arsenal, (5) Tottenham, (6) Liverpool, (7) Newcastle, (8) Everton, (9) Fulham, (10) Sunderland, (11) Aston Villa, (12) Stoke, (13) QPR, (14) Swansea, (15) West Ham, (16) West Brom, (17) Norwich, (18) Reading, (19) Wigan, (20) Southampton.



http://hereisthecity.com/2012/08/10/revealed-where-fulham-will-finish-next-season/?

[LordNelson]

If Clint leaves, hopefully we will see Dembele in the "Dempsey" role.  This is assuming that Ruiz has gotten used to the proverbial tempo of the premier league and can produce consistently.  I think with the players we have, we could make up for a Dempsey loss (knock on wood/sign cross/imploring glance toward heavens).  My main worry is we don't have a proven "field general" to replace Danny Murphy. 

[Mr Fulham]

Should be 'Clint Dempsey OR his replacements'.

If we lose Dempsey, which I'm sure we will, it's all about replacements.

[HatterDon]

Should be 'Clint Dempsey OR his replacements'.

If we lose Dempsey, which I'm sure we will, it's all about replacements.

The Replacements Trailer /original/

[Burt]

I was thinking "Danny Murphy".