Where would we be in the table...

[choice_of_ends]

... if Slavisa could have already made "his" signings back in the summer;
Players like e.g. Mitrovic, Targett and Christie;
And maybe Kalas and Piazon not that late?

[filham]

Mitrovic and Target have replaced the lost Aluko and Malone and made us a promotion chasing team again. If we had signed those two in the summer we would have started where we left off last season.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Whats done is done but I think it shows how the "Kline method" of recruitment hurt us at least because of that individuals bullpoo behaviour if not so much the method itself!

[Tabby]

Given that the results started improving two months before they arrived, I think there was more than just their signings going on.

[NJFulham]

Uh, not having Cairney and a tough September fixture list are why we started slow.

[cookieg]

And those players probably weren't available in September.

[Andy S]

Let's be thankful for what we have today. A few weeks ago we were hoping to get into the play offs. Now our ambitions are the automatic spots. Nobody can say they shouldn't be but I have done the predictor on several occasions and tried to be honest but even with a win against villa and wolves it is still only touch and go whether we will make it. We do not have a slump catered for and neither do the others. But who knows. I am just enjoying the fact that we are there

[Denver Fulham]

... if Slavisa could have already made "his" signings back in the summer;
Players like e.g. Mitrovic, Targett and Christie;
And maybe Kalas and Piazon not that late?

In the summer, Slav reportedly was pushing for players like Asamoah Gyan (http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11681/10548585/fulham-boss-slavisa-jokanovic-is-keen-to-land-asamoah-gyan) who has one goal in the Turkish League this season, and Cameron Jerome (https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/slavisa-jokanovic-issued-back-sack-10737256) who has two goals in the Championship this season.

I know this board likes to credit Slav for every good thing that happens, and slate management for every bad thing, but that's not how it works.

Opinions can differ on our summer business and why we started slowly, but the club held on to Tom and Sess, reloaned Kalas and Piazon, spent a reported 14m on strikers, and brought in Norwood and Ojo on loan. Even if some of the fringe guys didn't work out, that's pretty good work when there was a lot of money at stake. Selling Aluko for an incredible 7.5m (along with Malone for good money) helped with those moves and likely helped bring in Mitrovic on loan in January.

No one's perfect. I'm glad Slav and the management team seem more aligned these days, and you can see what product we can produce when they are.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

And those players probably weren't available in September.

and, of course it was too late to sign them

[RaySmith]

So many 'if onlys' in football as in life.
But one thing is for sure - you can't turn back the clock, rewrite history.

We should just appreciate what we've acheived, when not many weeks ago  many here were writing us off, saying  we shold now concentrate on next season.

I was someone who said top six was still a posiibility, but I wasn't that convinced we would actually get there, but, following Fulham, I always try to be optimistic - why not?

And now it sems within our graps. But we shouldn't count our chickens - just focus on the next game., as I'm sure Slavisa and the team will do.

[Mince n Tatties]

Yes "IF" little word with s huge meaning.
If only we hadn't lost to Sunderland and Burton Albion.
How on earth did we manage to do that?

[Grumpy Worthing White]

If, big "If", those players were available for Slavisa to sign we may well have been out of sight along with Wolves.  049:gif 092.gif

[toshes mate]

I know this board likes to credit Slav for every good thing that happens, and slate management for every bad thing, but that's not how it works.

I seem to recall SJ coming in for some fair old stick (e.g. post Brentford) and management being praised for 'a good summer window' on these very pages when SJ was clearly unhappy with summer 'overall'.  I believe the Kline dismissal was also overplayed on these very boards since there is no real and conclusive evidence anything has changed, save for Mitrovic contacting SJ and producing some late business for us.  I do hope that SJ is more involved in recruitment business than before, but I have no way of being sure that is the case, and in any event I do not believe our coach wants to be drawn into yet more work when he enjoys the coaching aspects of his job so much.

The 'where would we be in the table' question could just as easily have been phrased 'what would have happened to Fulham had SJ walked in the summer?'.  I am happy that reality demonstrates we have a hard working team of coaches who appear to be very talented when it comes to getting the best out of the players at their disposal.  I also hope the Khans appreciate how difficult that is to achieve in the modern game for a Club like Fulham with all the idiosyncrasies appended.       

[Stoneleigh Loyalist]

Statto above calls Ream a poor player before he came here.
Seeing that he was Player of the Year two seasons running that hardly seems to be true.
It was more the case of the system and position that he walked into here.

[MJG]

Statto above calls Ream a poor player before he came here.
Seeing that he was Player of the Year two seasons running that hardly seems to be true.
It was more the case of the system and position that he walked into here.

And those he had to play next to?

[MJG]

Statto above calls Ream a poor player before he came here.
Seeing that he was Player of the Year two seasons running that hardly seems to be true.
It was more the case of the system and position that he walked into here.

And those he had to play next to?

He was in an awful team at Bolton. Personally I don't consider being the best player in an awful team a huge achievement. Perhaps I should look forward to us signing Carshalton Athletic's best goalkeeper in the summer. Of course if you want to be kind you might say these players only look bad because they're surrounded by other poor players. But in Ream's case the fact we bought him for only £1m suggests everyone else in football thought he was poor as well. You have to cover one eye and really squint with the other to see Ream's case as anything other than a miracle worked by Jokanovic.

You should know not to judge players by the fee paid or not paid. My comment was more about when he joined us and who was next to him.

[toshes mate]

Statto above calls Ream a poor player before he came here.
Seeing that he was Player of the Year two seasons running that hardly seems to be true.
It was more the case of the system and position that he walked into here.

And those he had to play next to?

He was in an awful team at Bolton. Personally I don't consider being the best player in an awful team a huge achievement. Perhaps I should look forward to us signing Carshalton Athletic's best goalkeeper in the summer. Of course if you want to be kind you might say these players only look bad because they're surrounded by other poor players. But in Ream's case the fact we bought him for only £1m suggests everyone else in football thought he was poor as well. You have to cover one eye and really squint with the other to see Ream's case as anything other than a miracle worked by Jokanovic.

I think it is a bit harsh to hark back to eras when any player goes through difficult times although I do acknowledge that truly good players (whatever may be conjectured from that expression) do have the ability to make positions their own whatever else is around them.  I'd also say a coach, any coach, can work with players who have the ability to learn and the motivation to improve.  Fulham with SJ at the helm have demonstrated that in bucket loads with players who haven't exactly hit the ground running and those who have. 

And if someone had put a valuation of £1m on my skills in whatever trade I aspired to offer I'd have felt pretty good about myself.