Premier League preview: Fulham
These football managers are a glutton for punishment, aren’t they?
Months after being harshly sacked by Manchester City, Mark Hughes is back to take over at Fulham. The Welshman has huge boots to fill after replacing Roy Hodgson this summer and will be under immense pressure to maintain Fulham’s progress after two tremendous campaigns under the new Liverpool manager.
Last season will certainly rank as one of the most famous in Fulham’s history after they reached the final of the Europa League. Thousands of the club’s fans travelled to Hamburg for the final against Atlético Madrid in May, and even though they lost 2-1, it was a superb achievement for the west Londoners to even be there.
Fulham punched well above their weight: victories over the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk, Wolfsburg and Juventus were testament to that. But this season, the supporters at Craven Cottage will demand similarly passionate performances from their team, and that will stem from the new manager.
Hughes returned to football management with the Cottagers this summer, eight months after being dismissed as Manchester City manager. It was a significant coup for the club, despite the fact that Ajax’s Martin Jol was their No.1 target.
Immediately on arrival, speculation was rife that Hughes would raid City for one or two of their fringe players. Both Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy were unsurprisingly linked with a move down south, but with the start of the new Premier League season now upon us, only Jonathan Greening and Philippe Senderos have made the move to Craven Cottage.
However, Senderos is expected to be out for as long as the entire season after suffering a ruptured Achilles in training.
Fortunately for Fulham, they’ve managed to keep hold of their star performers from last season. Mark Schwarzer, Brede Hangeland, Danny Murphy, Zoltan Gera, Clint Dempsey, Simon Davies and Bobby Zamora were all content to stay at the club this season, despite Hodgson’s departure, and will each play a key role in how the forthcoming season pans out.
With these players and others at his disposal, a top-10 finish must be the aim for Hughes. Anything less would be deemed a failure by the Fulham board and the club’s supporters. It won’t be an easy task, though, with competition around mid-table in the Premier League as ferocious as ever.
In preparation, Hughes has brought several of his Manchester City backroom staff with him to SW6, while Fulham’s former assistant manager Ray Lewington is now the club’s first-team coach.
However the season unravels for Fulham, one thing’s for sure: there will be no repeat of last year’s exploits in Europe as Fulham only finished 12th last season. On the flipside, this will allow Hughes to fully focus on the league campaign - and perhaps a decent run in either the League Cup or the FA Cup will follow.
It’s the start of a new era at Craven Cottage, and there is optimism in the air again after Hughes’ appointment. With the same squad of players, it’s unlikely that Fulham will drastically improve or deteriorate, even with a new manager at the helm.
Hughes was tough as a player, and these past few years in management have thickened his skin as a coach. He won’t be fazed by the challenges that await, and as a result, Fulham are set for another season of steady progress.
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