Could Silva be our Wenger?

[General]

Whilst I know the comparisons may be slightly off, I just saw that Highbury when Arsenal left to move into the Emirates had a capacity of 38,500, circa 8.5k more than what Fulham's will be next season when the whole ground has opened up.

How does that look relative to teams today where stadiums have got markedly bigger across the board? Do we need a stadium with a larger size to what Arsenal had to compete at the level they did back then and build on to become what they are now?

Wondering, with that in mind, what it'd take to see Fulham transform from being a loveable friendly club that has yo-yod to one which can start taking the progressive steps to compete at a higher level now stadium capacity has started to increase and investment can be made.

Any thoughts? part of me, as alluded to in another post, see us have a transformational manager now (either in Silva and how he's supported and the longevity of his career with us and what he builds, or with another manager who has the capacity to do it).

Do you think it's possible?

[ChesterTheTabby]

If Silva stays with us for the long haul, he'll probably go down as our greatest ever gaffer. That's assuming his career here doesn't end in abject failure - but honestly, two seasons in doing what he's done, he's already in my top managers list, next only to Roy and perhaps ahead of Tigana

[Somerset Fulham]

Lets not get ahead of ourselves here.  Its' only been two season and he has previous for not letting the grass grow beneath him.

Just enjoy it whilst it is all working.

[H4usuallysitting]

No... he's not French

[cookieg]

Would fans agree to move away from CC if we were to be that big we'd need a new ground? I doubt we have the fan base to fill a 60k/70k/80k capacity stadium but there is only so much that can be done to CC to increase the capacity, could we squeeze in another 10k supporters by developing the ends.

[Nick Bateman]

The compliment from the OP is noteable. Wenger revolutionised Arsenal to play some of the most effective and attractive football challenging Man.United's dominance under Fergie.

I feel Marco Silva is one of the best managers in the Premier League after Pep Guardiola and nobody else IMO. He is only hampered by the referees Fulham receive and ignorance from the media who seem more enamoured by Brighton & Brentford than Fulham FC.

[Cambridge Away]

Would fans agree to move away from CC if we were to be that big we'd need a new ground? I doubt we have the fan base to fill a 60k/70k/80k capacity stadium but there is only so much that can be done to CC to increase the capacity, could we squeeze in another 10k supporters by developing the ends.

I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but i'm pretty sure having a massive stadium is not the most major factor in us being a huge club. Look at Luton and Brentford. Both made the premier league with grounds half the size of ours.

[Cambridge Away]

I really don't see how our fans don't see us doing bigger things. Marco and Mitro would have left by now otherwise. I kind of liked it when they kicked off at Old Trafford. It showed big club mentality, even if they were given small club punishment. All the fans writing like we will be selling all our best players this summer are real doom mongers. "We sell when we waaaaant!... We're Fulham FC, We sell when we want!".

[Eton White]

Would fans agree to move away from CC if we were to be that big we'd need a new ground? I doubt we have the fan base to fill a 60k/70k/80k capacity stadium but there is only so much that can be done to CC to increase the capacity, could we squeeze in another 10k supporters by developing the ends.

Personally I wouldn't want us to move from Craven Cottage and as you say, I suspect by updating the Putney and Hammersmith ends, we could get up towards 40,000 or so.

We certainly don't have the fan base to need any more than that for the foreseeable future, but if we get some success, who knows? As we all know, there are a huge number of glory hunters out there who I'm sure would jump on the Fulham bandwagon if we started winning things!

I don't think we've got to worry about that too much just yet though!

[LC]

Would fans agree to move away from CC if we were to be that big we'd need a new ground? I doubt we have the fan base to fill a 60k/70k/80k capacity stadium but there is only so much that can be done to CC to increase the capacity, could we squeeze in another 10k supporters by developing the ends.

Personally I wouldn't want us to move from Craven Cottage and as you say, I suspect by updating the Putney and Hammersmith ends, we could get up towards 40,000 or so.

We certainly don't have the fan base to need any more than that for the foreseeable future, but if we get some success, who knows? As we all know, there are a huge number of glory hunters out there who I'm sure would jump on the Fulham bandwagon if we started winning things!

I don't think we've got to worry about that too much just yet though!

Yes, I think we can get to 40,000 at Craven Cottage. I think the main source of revenue will come from hospitality. Fulham is unique, there will be super expensive packages that the wealthy in the area will always pay- especially now we're a PL club again. And if we end up getting the Pier built that will be something else that is truly unique. We have to be one of the few  clubs in the country that has legitimate ways of generating revenue when no football is on, now that the walkway has opened. I think we will be fine. Craven Cottage is a proper football ground and and you can feel it's presence / it's history when you are there- unlike many other clubs