Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed splashed the cash again this summer, spending £20m and putting his trust in Roy Hodgson to do what Lawrie Sanchez failed to do: turn Fulham into a comfortable mid-table side. With Brian McBride returning to America to finish his career, Hodgson had to replace him and spent no time in doing so. Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson both came in, but at a price. Still, Hodgson feels that they’ll develop a partnership that’llgive most Premier League defences something to worry about. This estimation appears to be correct, judging by their prowess against Bolton.
Despite losing to Hull City on the first day of the season, Roy Hodgson’s men will be relatively happy about their form since then. After two wins from the next two, coming against Arsenal and Bolton, Fulham find themselves in seventh with a game in hand over the rest. Better still, Arsene Wenger and Gary Megson can testify to their fine football.
Story So Far
Fulham dominated proceedings early on against Hull, but somehow come away with nothing. They took the lead through a Seol Ki-Hyeon header and could so easily have been 3-0 after 20 minutes. Hull grabbed an equaliser midway through the first half thanks to Geovanni’s great shot from just outside the area, which left Mark Schwarzer stranded and the Hull faithful ecstatic. Level at the break, the Cottagers fancied edging the rookies. However, it wasn’t to be. Paul Konchesky was robbed of the ball with seven minutes remaining, leading directly to Fagan’s late winner.
However, the Hull defeat was washed away by a classy display against Arsenal. The Cottagers took a deserved lead through Brede Hangeland, arguably Hodgson’s best January signing. Fulham looked comfortable for 65 minutes, keeping Van Persie and Adebayor quiet via their athleticism and midfield muscle. Despite a nervy last 20 minutes, though, the fans were certainly cheered by the promising display and shock win.
Never Say Die
Then came the Carling Cup and with it their knock-out bogey side Leicester City. Hodgson fielder the Gunner-killers, with the exception of Fredrik Stoor, who came in for John Pantsil. Zoltan Gera’s deflected shot gave Fulham a half-time lead and they looked set to ease through to the Third Round. After the break, though, a freak six minutes saw them fall 2-1 behind. Then, they huffed and puffed until the last ten minutes, when Murphy and Bullard put the Championship outfit to the sword.
That man Jimmy Bullard had played 270 minutes in the space of three games, earning him a shock first England call-up. The fans had long known he could cut the mustard, but the fact that a Fulham man caught the eye of Fabio Capello was certainly an indication of progress.
After two wins on the trot, it was time to unleash the fit-again Andy Johnson on Bolton. The AJ-Zamora pairing had captured the imagination of the fans and the team as a whole started brightly. It was Gera, though, who hit a sweet half-volley past Jussi Jaaskelainen to open the scoring. Then came some real brilliance. Zamora took a through-ball, got himself between Shittu and O’Brien and slotted home to cap a wonderful individual effort.
The half-time lead was well deserved and the Cottagers continued to dominate after the interval. However, they couldn’t add to their advantage and Kevin Davies header made for an unnecessarily nervy finish.
They hung on, though, and now have three wins from four games, with the Hull shocker the only blip. Thus, things look promising after a good start.
If this standard of football continues, combined with the never-say-die attitude that kept them in the top-flight last term, a top-ten finish could be a very real target for the would-be relegation candidates.
Next 5 Games:
Blackburn Rovers (Away)
Burnley (Away)
West Ham United (Home)
West Bromwich Albion (Away)
Sunderland (Home)
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