This is the most excited I have been about the start of a Premiership season in a long time, maybe since our first in 2001. I genuinely believe Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has built a squad capable of progressing much further this season, but they will face a difficult test at newly promoted Hull - who will no doubt be up for it.
Roy Hodgson has done a great job this summer at Fulham, bringing in players with Premiership quality and experience. Zoltan Gera and Mark Schwarzer were brought in on free transfers and they are likely to make league debuts for the club. Bobby Zamora, the side’s new number 9, and John Pantsil, brought in from West Ham are also likely to start, meaning four new faces will be on show from the kick off at the KC Stadium for Fulham.
The defence was a problem last season for Fulham, and it appears Hodgson has tried to remedy some of the issues, although I do still feel that we are lacking in the centre of defence. John Pantsil, the Ghanaian international is likely to be given a start at right-back ahead of Fredrik Stoor, another new recruit from Rosenborg. Hangeland and Hughes formed a decent understanding at the end of last season - however I feel both are still prone to errors. Hopefully if Steven Davis is sold to Rangers, the cash will go towards a quality partner for Hangeland.
The new Club Captain, Danny Murphy, has said it is an ‘honour’ to be handed the role and he will no doubt to be keen to pick up from where he left off last season with the crucial winner at Fratton Park. He will be almost certainly partnered in the centre midfield by Jimmy Bullard, who he formed a strong partnership with at the back end of last season. Bullard has vowed to concentrate hard on playing for Fulham, but a new contract will not be offered to him this summer - maybe this will give him some motivation to play well and earn a new deal. Zoltan Gera and Simon Davies will complete the midfield lineup, with Davies likely to play on the right and Gera on the left. Gera has been in great form pre-season with two goals and several assists, lets hope his good start continues.
New boy Andy Johnson is not fit for the clash, so Bobby Zamora is likely to be partnered up front by either Erik Nevland or more surprisingly Seol, who impressed when started upfront against Torino last weekend. Seol who was brought in last summer from Reading failed to impress on the wing last season, but maybe Hodgson has seen something in the Korean International that makes him believe he has a future at the club. Seol was used mainly as a striker for Reading and maybe he can make a bigger impact this season.
Our opposition, Hull City, are widely tipped to be relegated this season, but it is the first game in their history in the top tier of English football and they will definitely want to mark the occasion with a win.
Tigers Boss, Phil Brown, has worked hard to bring in a new look squad for the new campaign. George Boateng and Geovanni, who grabbed the winner in the Manchester Derby last season, will create a strong central midfield partnership. Marlon King, the striker who failed a medical at Craven Cottage last January, will look to make an immediate impact at his new club after signing on loan from Wigan. Other new faces include Anthony Gardener and Bernard Mendy.
Hull could start veteran striker Dean Windass, who scored a great winning goal in the playoff final to secure the club’s promotion. However, Caleb Folan is more likely to partner King after a quick recovery from a muscle strain.
My prediction: Fulham should be the better of the sides, but Hull will buzzing for their first ever Premiership fixture. It’s a tough one to call, but I’m going for a narrow Fulham win. Even though Hull have strengthened their squad, I don’t believe their weak defence will be able to cope with our attacking players, who have impressed in pre-season. 2-1 to the Whites.
A little surprised by your comment about our defence. Could you back that up with a little evidence of how weak it is?
Your judgement is based on what exactly?
If your ‘our’ is referring to Hull City - My assumptions are based on the fact that you have shipped a good few goals in preseason, including 4 at Crewe and that the new players you have brought don’t cut the mustard in my opinion.
The signing of Gardner is not a great prospect as he hasn’t played for almost a year and couldn’t get a kick on loan at Everton where he didn’t play a single game.
As for Mendy - he might look good going forward, but is woeful at the back. He makes some bad decisions , he was third choice at PSG - a team whose defence has played a major part in their demise over the past couple of years. Didn’t he give away silly penalty preseason in one of his first games for the club?
I’m sorry to see last year’s theme - getting ahead early only to drop points late - repeating itself in the opener.
And I don’t like Dempsey on the bench. Fulham needs more punch in the starting XI.