So, what are we left with?

[Classic94]

Now the dust has started to settle on another miserable top-flight campaign under the Khan's 'custodianship', surely it's time to face facts. Whatever the club has (or hasn't done) in recent years evidently fails to produce teams capable of competing in the big time. We're simply a yo-yo club drifting aimlessly between divisions. As Parker aptly put, it's a rollercoaster that we must step off from. It's not sustainable nor doing our blood pressure any good.

We need to avoid making the same mistakes - how does that famous quote from Einstein go again? After all, this coming summer could be defining. It feels like something of a crossroads. The club either continues down the same path of amateurish mediocrity, apathy, complacency and short-termism or puts in place a revised model that'll lay some long-term foundations. One that can be used as a springboard. At the time of writing, we're in limbo. Personally, I've never felt so disconnected with Fulham. But anyway, that's kind of a different subject...

Let's turn attention to 'who stays' and 'who goes'. I know this topic has been pondered already and, in truth, any suggestions are little more than guesswork right now. Still, talking of crossroads, many players have reached the end of the road with us. If the club plans to stick with the core of previous promotion winning sides, it simply won't do. The end goal is to be a sustainable Premier League team and these players have been deemed inadequate at the highest level. Would they even want to stay just to be discarded again? Hardly a formula for success. No. Time for a clean slate. So, in my opinion, here's what we're left with:

Must-keep - build the team around these players. They have the potential to take us up AND keep us there:

Rodak, Tete, Tosin, Reed, TC

I was reluctant to include TC, but he probably remains crucial to the way we want to play. Without him, there's no creative spark to speak of. Rodak, Tosin and Reed fit the profile of player we should be aiming to attract. Young-ish with high ceilings. Tete's an international class full-back.

Keep - solid if unspectacular. Likely serviceable if we were to win promotion (a big if):

Robinson, Bryan, Sessegnon, Kongolo, Hector, Onomah, BDR, Cavaleiro

Enough said. Cavaleiro, although wayward, is a decent rotational option on the wing - but never a CF. I hope that experiment is at an end. Ream doesn't really fall into this category, but will probably stick around as defensive backup.

Promote - youngsters who should be in and around the squad. No point in having an excellent academy without providing a route into the first team:

Wickens, Ashby-Hammond, Opoku, Francois, Carvalho, Jasper, Stansfield

Outgoings:

Fabri, Bettinelli, Christie, Odoi, MLM, Mawson, Johansen, Anguissa, Seri, Knockaert, Kebano, Kamara, Mitrovic

Lots of deadwood here. Without being too disrespectful, I really don't want to see Ream and Odoi starting in our backline next season. One has to go. Anguissa and Mitrovic will leave, especially if Parker remains in Mitrovic's case. We owe it to Johansen and Kebano to let them find new clubs. Seri's a wage vacuum but might be easier to offload now there's only one year remaining on his contract.

Just my thoughts. Quite a rebuild needed...