Premiership Preview--16. Fulham

Fulham's "Great Escape" was one of the best stories of the '07-'08 Premiership season. The Cottagers looked down and out so many times, so close to the end of the year, but a shocking 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Manchester City was the first of three consecutive triumphs and the second of four in five games that vaulted Fulham from certain relegation to safety for another year. Master midfield playmaker and set-piece taker extraordinare Jimmy Bullard, American target man Brian McBride, and manager Roy Hodgson worked their magic in West London, and while McBride has come home to Chicago to play in MLS, the other two remain.

No Premiership club has been as active this summer as Fulham. Eight players have come to Craven Cottage so far while 14 others have packed their bags and headed elsewhere, either through release or transfer. The player movement has been overwhelmingly positive for Fulham; they've acquired no fewer than three starters -- goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from Middlesbrough and striker Bobby Zamora will certainly feature, and either John Paintsil (West Ham) or Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg) will play right back -- and lost just one in McBride. They've also added some quality midfield depth in Andranik Teymourian from Bolton and Zoltán Gera from West Brom just in case the injury-prone Bullard goes down again. When I say no one of importance or Premiership ability has left (except McBride and perhaps Kasey Keller), I mean no one. Hodgson has gotten rid of the dead weight to make this a more complete, sturdy team.

The midfield group carried Fulham to safety on its collective back. The previously-mentioned Bullard is the team's on and off-field leader, even though center back Brede Hangeland wears the captain's armband, as well as a terrific player right in the center of the pitch. Clint Dempsey has the highest work rate on the team and can run all day from any midfield position or up front, Simon Davies brings much-needed pace and crossing ability to the right wing, and Danny Murphy's high-level experience from his days at Liverpool, cool demeanor, and propensity for clutch play can't be undervalued. There is solid depth here now too; not just Andranik and Gera, but Leon Andreasen and Alexey Smertin when the latter is healthy. The only thing lacking is an out-and-out left winger, and the group as a whole doesn't have much speed.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Schwarzer

RB: Paintsil
CB: Hangeland (captain)
CB: Aaron Hughes
LB: Paul Konchesky

RMF: Davies
CMF: Bullard
CMF: Murphy
LMF: Dempsey

ST: Zamora
ST: Andy Johnson

Last year was a disppointing one for Fulham at home, where they went just 5-5-9 after a 7-7-5 campaign in '06-'07 and an impressive 13-2-4 the year before. Craven Cottage is a more difficult environment to play in for visitors than that 5-5-9 shows, so especially with a better team this go-around, expect Fulham to be closer to somewhere in between those other two records. Even if they don't play well at all on the road, a better mark at home will keep Fulham in the Premiership for another year.

The first month of the season brings back-to-back games against Arsenal and at Manchester United, but before those fixtures lies opening day at Hull City. We saw lowly Derby outplay Portsmouth and be unfortunate to only get a draw when those two squared off at Pride Park to kickoff the '07-'08 season, so Fulham will need to be wary against Hull.

October is a manageable month; the Cottagers should take six points against Sunderland and Wigan at home and possibly steal another victory at West Brom or Portsouth.

November brings the most difficult run of games of the season with Everton, Liverpool, and Aston Villa all away, with Newcastle and Spurs at home after the Everton match.

Christmas and New Year's will be celebrated in style in London as Fulham hosts Chelsea in the West London Derby on December 28, just two days after a trip to North London rivals Tottenham.

To finish out the year, Fulham has four difficult games and would love to have secured safety already. They're not going to get much, if anything, at Chelsea or Newcastle, and it'll be just as tough against Villa and Everton at home.

Bottom Line: It's no secret that Roy Hodgson is not a master tactician or specialist with the X's and O's, but he's a good motivator and the players love working for him. He should be able to coax enough out of this roster, one that he's clearly strengthened this summer, to stay in the Premiership, and it wouldn't surprise me if Fulham was able to sneak up a spot or two in the table. After the way they finished last year, nothing is impossible.

John Collins Set to Take Over at Fulham

According to the Times Online, and you can read it for yourself at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3701789.ece, former Hibernian manager and Everton and Fulham (amongst others) player John Collins will begin talks with ownership later this week, with a formal announcement to be made if/when Fulham get relegated.

Current boss Roy Hodgson would head upstairs to become director of football. The Cottagers would like to keep him around for his experience in the game and could benefit from the contacts he's made across Europe during his managerial career.

Collins did a good job at Hibs, leading them to their first trophy in 16 years after beating Kilmarnock to win the Scottish League Cup in March of last year. There were strong rumors and talk about dressing room mutinies and uneasiness in the relationship between Collins and his players, but he was 23-15-16 in his 54-game SPL tenure and that's a solid record in a league annually dominated by Rangers and Celtic.

If you’ll remember, he also was in the running to take over at Craven Cottage when Lawrie Sanchez was fired right around Christmastime, but chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed believed that the club needed a battle-tested manager to guide his team out of the drop zone and into safety.

At 40 years of age, Collins is relatively young for a manager and marks a stark contrast to the calm, stoic figure that has been Roy Hodgson. If Fulham were to be relegated, Collins' energy and passion would really need to be harnessed and used in a positive way; as I recently wrote, the 24-team Championship is built on parity and there isn't much between clubs. Every game is a fight and each point is crucial in the race for promotion.

On the surface, this seems like it would be a good move for Fulham. They're a team that I have a soft spot for and if Collins is the man to bring them back up, that'd be a great story.

Fulham Hires Roy Hodgson

Fulham hired well-traveled English manager Roy Hodgson today to what the club described only as a "long-term contract", and the former Inter Milan boss will take over after the Cottagers' match against Birmingham City tomorrow.

Hodgson's last stop as manager was with the Finland national team from January 2006 to November 2007, and the 60-year-old nearly led the Scandinavian team to a place in Euro 2008 next summer. Among others, Hodgson has been in charge at Inter Milan, Udinese, Blackburn, Malmö FF, Grasshoppers, and F.C. Copenhagen on the domestic scene, as well as the UAE and Switzerland internationally. He was considered to be a long shot candidate for the England job as well this winter before Fabio Capello was hired.

Hodgson should command immediate respect with his background and experience as a manager. He's inheriting a team that's had more than their share of tough breaks this season but has the talent, at least in my opinion, to stay in the Premiership. Captain Brian McBride and Jimmy Bullard should return to the lineup within the next few weeks and that will really be a majoy boost for the Cottagers.