I think 7th is the very best we can hope for !

[Riversider]

Not for the life of me can I see us finishing above these 6,
Newcastle,
Brighton,
Norwich,
Sheffield Wednesday,
Derby,
Villa,
As strong a top 6 as this division has ever seen, and Wembley certainly won't be big enough to host this season's Play Off Final,
If the £5 million spent on Kebano and Jozabed had been spent on a fox in the box type of pacy striker then we may have had an outside chance but even then it would have been very tough,
You may well have noticed that the following sides are missing,
Reading,
Huddersfield,
Birmingham,
Leeds,
All very decent sides this year and all more than capable of beating us on any given day, but over 46 games I don't see why we can't finish above them,
So is anybody willing to make a case for us finishing above 7th and if so who misses out ?

I must say though that next season will give us a better chance , with the likes of Newcastle, Villa and Brighton set to be replaced by utter garbage like Hull and Burnley.
But Slavisa must find a way to counter the sides (almost every one now) that play a high tempo pressing game at The Cottage, failure to do so could just as easily see us 12th or below.

[H4usuallysitting]

If we're top 12 - then that's a very good season

[Sgt Fulham]

Look at Norwich's form. Leeds? Battered them away, they were lucky to get the last minute draw. Derby...nowhere near what they were. Villa, flattered by recent results. I'm an eternal 'realist' and think we'll finish around 12th but I also see the sides listed above and think they're championship material - nothing special. If we're to return to the big time then we'd brtter be better than most of these teams. Only time will tell but I hope you're wrong.

[Vinnieffc]

I agree with the top 3, but if we get a decent striker and GK (see previous posts  ad-infinitum )  in the January window can't see why we can't be in the mix. Think promotion with this squad  would result in immediate relegation though.

[General]

The thing is we're good against top teams/arguably perform better than them, so why should top six be out of our reach?

Huddersfield/Newcastle etc.. even Sheffield wednesday. They all struggled to win/break us down and are in your top 6, which makes me think we're equal or able to be in the mix. The next few games and Christmas will be key, whilst I'd like to see us bring in another pacey/poacher of a striker come in during the January window to take us up a notch.

[HillingdonFFC]

Really? Top three maybe, why not the rest?

[Riversider]

I would add that Norwich have got a superb squad but a poor manager, once Alex Neil is sacked (as he surely will be) then a better manager will surely get a better return from that group of players,
Derby and Villa look pretty good to me at the moment , it's how you finish the season that counts the most not necessarily how you start it (Huddersfield for example)

I would also add that if we are serious about making the top 6 it's absolutely vital that we strike early in the January window for a striker, if we're still poncing about on deadline day for one then I fear for the worst.

[filham]

Too early to make predictions , wait at least until after the Christmas results and to see if we have a positive or negative window.

At this moment there are signs of promise but really we have not looked like a promotion team except for short spells.

[e4b]

Still believe we are good enough for top 6. I can see us improving after Christmas plus two or three additions in Jan

[ScalleysDad]

We have taxed ourselves on this topic before and although the season has marched on a bit I will stick with 10th/11th/12th. The rebuild has been massive with a mixture of successes and failures and the loans and Martins future still uncertain. This squad still has a lot to learn, we have been beaten up at home too often and too easily, so although I get the optimism, and yes other teams might go into free fall, implode at the last or simply run out of puff we are the quintessential 'work in progress' for at least a couple of years. To hold our own in the Prem we would need to be a consistent and strong top six now and be able to beat any of the this group on any given day.
A way to go yet.

[dannyboi-ffc]

Interesting post. Seems a bold and early call to leave Reading out as they are flying but there's a long way to go.

I agree with Villa, they will be top 6. Brighton might not have enough for 2nd but will defo be top 6. Other than that I'd say you could be right but I'm not as convinced as you seem to be.

On another day we could have Battered Wednesday. And they'd lost the previous 2 going into that game and couldn't see us off throwing it away. On the dsy they were the better side but over 46 games I dont think they are that much better. Norwich imo will miss out unless they panic, sack their manager and appoint another one to replicate the job he did when they appointed him. If you remember Norwich came out of nowhere like Villa will.

Huddersfield are in a false position, I think everyone could see that by the way we dominated them in every department. Birmingham are in the same category as us, maybe but need strengthening in Jan. A striker for us is a must!

I'd say top 4 is out of the question but there's 6 clubs fighting for 5th and 6th and I put us in that battle. Whether we win it or not its too early to say but the fact you think 7th is realistic but 6th isn't means we probably aren't far away from feeling the same. I'm just a bit more optimistic coming up to Xmas than you are lol.

Humbug!

[dannyboi-ffc]

I would also add that if we are serious about making the top 6 it's absolutely vital that we strike early in the January window for a striker, if we're still poncing about on deadline day for one then I fear for the worst.

Agree with you on that. We've already made things much harder than they should be by not acting smarter in the summer

Think everyone agrees with that. Against Wednesday they started with Forestieri and Hooper, then brought on Fletcher. We have Martin and that's it!

Quality striker is a must. In fact I'd say we need to....

Sign Martin
Sign quality striker
Loan a better option than Smith and Woodrow

Sell Smith and Woodrow.

Then we will mean business

[davew]

If we're top 12 - then that's a very good season

No it isn't, compared with last year yes it is!!! If only we had signed 1 (more) quality striker or kept 1 that we had, a top 6 place would have been very much on the cards!!

[davew]

I would also add that if we are serious about making the top 6 it's absolutely vital that we strike early in the January window for a striker, if we're still poncing about on deadline day for one then I fear for the worst.

Agree with you on that. We've already made things much harder than they should be by not acting smarter in the summer

Think everyone agrees with that. Against Wednesday they started with Forestieri and Hooper, then brought on Fletcher. We have Martin and that's it!

Quality striker is a must. In fact I'd say we need to....

Sign Martin
Sign quality striker
Loan a better option than Smith and Woodrow

Sell Smith and Woodrow.

Then we will mean business

Agree with all of that except we should also loan 1 other quality striker so we have a bit more choice up front. We need to be able to choose 2 from 3 or 1 from 3, not 1 or 2 from 2, if 1 gets injured we are no further forward!

[dannyboi-ffc]

I would also add that if we are serious about making the top 6 it's absolutely vital that we strike early in the January window for a striker, if we're still poncing about on deadline day for one then I fear for the worst.

Agree with you on that. We've already made things much harder than they should be by not acting smarter in the summer

Think everyone agrees with that. Against Wednesday they started with Forestieri and Hooper, then brought on Fletcher. We have Martin and that's it!

Quality striker is a must. In fact I'd say we need to....

Sign Martin
Sign quality striker
Loan a better option than Smith and Woodrow

Sell Smith and Woodrow.

Then we will mean business

Agree with all of that except we should also loan 1 other quality striker so we have a bit more choice up front. We need to be able to choose 2 from 3 or 1 from 3, not 1 or 2 from 2, if 1 gets injured we are no further forward!

Read it again mate. You are agreeing with me and 3 strikers lol.

1. Sign Martin
2. Sign another quality striker
3. Loan a better option than Smith and Woodrow

[davew]

Just testing Danny (lol), late at night, coupled your comments about signing Martin and sign a quality striker as the same thing, but wouldn't it be good to have 4 strikers on our books?

[dannyboi-ffc]

Just testing Danny (lol), late at night, coupled your comments about signing Martin and sign a quality striker as the same thing, but wouldn't it be good to have 4 strikers on our books?

4? Why not 5. It's a long season as they say!

[colinwhite]

I believe we are going to sign at least one good striker in January and wouldnt be surprised to see us sign a physical central defender of class. 
Lees completely dominated on saturday .
Agree 100 per cent with your list danny!

[JakeFFC]

I agree completely with the points about brining in another striker.

I would like to see a fast striker to run off martin. A bit of ambition and a statement in the signing too.

Jordan Rhodes anyone? doesn't play much in the Prem to my knowledge and was dynamite in the championship. Someone like him would be my ideal candidate to make a statement.

[toshes mate]

I am as certain as I can be that the present side is better than anything FFC have turned out since relegation.  I also believe SJ is a manager who is not going to stop improving the side by his step by step approach to games and the problems they throw up. Even positive results can be flattering to deceive for any team in any league and SJ has not let the apparent negative results deceive him either.  Building character and confidence takes time but you must hold your nerve and I believe Fulham are as close as any other team in the Championship to achieving that mark.  Yes we do need to sign a good striker in the transfer window but there may be other good opportunities to strengthen the squad too.  I will still stick to my belief we will be in the top six by the end of the season.