17th. Fulham
If I was a Fulham fan I would be very worried going into this season. Fulham have been playing a dangerous game for a couple of years now; selling their best players without really ever replacing them. When they sold
Clint Dempsey and
Mousa Dembele last summer I was sure they would be relegated until
they signed Dimitar Berbatov. And Berbatov is just about the sole reason I am placing Fulham just outside the bottom three. Berbatov scored 15 league goals last year and the nearest player to him was Bryan Ruiz with five. Theyve yet to really strengthen during this window and if Berbatov was to get injured for any length of time then I think Fulham would be doomed. Fulham have an ageing squad with 11 players 30 or over. They do have some other good players like Ruiz, Taarabt and Kacaniklic but they need more. For me, this is a make or break season for Fulham. They really need to go and strengthen their squad by making a number signings for good money instead of just frees. Ive put Fulham just out of the relegation places because Berbatov is a great player and Martin Jol is a good manager but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were relegated. They are in big trouble, especially if Cardiff continue to buy good players.
Key Player: Berbatov.
Transfers In So Far:Maarten Stekelenburg from Roma for £3 million.
Sascha Riether from FC Cologne for £1.3 million.
Fernando Amorebieta from Athletic Club Bilbao on a free transfer.
Derek Boateng from Dnipro on a free transfer.
Adel Taarabt from Queens Park Rangers on loan. Possible team to face Sunderland in their first fixture: GK: Stekelenburg RB: Riether CB: Amorebieta CB: Hangeland LB: Briggs RM: Duff CM: Boateng CM: Richardson LM: Kacaniklic AM: Ruiz ST: Berbatov