Hello! We're finally there- the last game on what's been a truly dreadful season; and we're off to Carrow Road for the already guaranteed of Playoffs Norwich, and not only are they guaranteed Playoffs they're guaranteed at the very least 4th- giving them the advantage over whomever they end up playing from whether it be Ipswich, Derby, Brentford or Wolves. It's for this reason that I think we could end the season on a high note. I don't often look at the odds for our games because chances are if we're favourites it pretty much guarantees we won't win, but PaddyPower having us at 6/1 with the circumstances surrounding the game- and of course the supposed "Fulham Curse" when it comes to us and Norwich I'd say that's pretty good value.
There were a couple of points made in Kit's Press Conference yesterday that I'd like to discuss for different reasons. I suppose the main one in terms of our Long-Term future is that Kit said he'd be here next season- and then clarified that later on saying he was planning for next season already. I like Kit as a person- but as a Manager he simply isn't good enough to take us where we need to be going in mine- and I'm sure many others opinions. I doubt Kit would have made such a statement without some sort of reassurance from Khan that he will actually be here next season, and while I'll wait for the dust to settle on the season and some sort of statement hopefully from Khan one way or the other- with viable options like Sam Allardyce, or even Mark Warburton- and Mick McCarthy (if Ipswich don't go up) I don't think we can afford to give Kit a certain number of games in the season and then realise it wasn't a good idea and have to make a change and once again give a New Manager someone else's squad and bring us back to Square One yet again- especially when you consider the fact next season is our last year of Parachute Payments, and once those run out and with FFP we could well end up stranded in the Championship for quite a few years. The other point was Kit wants to "end the season on a high", and as such won't be playing our young players in favour of our "established" first teamers- which to be sends the exact opposite message of Kit "planning for next season" and thinking to the future. Anyway, with that in mind I'm going to name two teams yet again, the team I think we'll see- and the team I want to see.
One player who's the constant in both- and deservedly so is Bettinelli. He didn't have his best game against Boro, but he's without a doubt been one of- if not the player of the season for us, and it's something I'll discuss pretty soon in my End of Season Awards which'll be up in the next couple of weeks.
With Michael Turner ineligible it opens up a Centre-Back spot, and from Kit's Press Conference Bodurov is once again fit after his injury- so we go back to the old Centre-Back debate of which combination of Bodurov, Hutchinson and Burn should we be using. With last weeks selection in mind I'd use Bodurov and Burn tomorrow- that way we'll have given all 4 of our Centre-Backs a game to prove themselves and to an extent establish a pecking order for next season, although I would of course love us to sign at least one Centre-Back namely Aden Flint. We can go a number of ways for the Full-Backs, I don't want us to use Loan Players for this game- but we most likely will, and the Loan Players in this case will be Husband and Richards, I don't mind us giving Husband a game because he was ineligible for last week- but I don't really see why we wouldn't give Grimmer a game at this stage.
One Midfielder who I don't think we'll see again in a Fulham shirt is Bryan Ruiz, he's generally not been played in Away Games since around March- and I think last weeks game was his big send off, and him apparently kissing the badge when he leaving the pitch all but confirms that. As with the Full-Backs I don't want to see Danny Guthrie in particular start tomorrow, that isn't anything against him- he had his best game in a Fulham shirt without a doubt last week- but I don't want us to sign him permanently (or on Loan again) next season and for me even if we aren't going to play some more Youth Players we surely can't be that short-term when aside from protecting our unbeaten record there's nothing riding on this game. One player who I do want to see next season is Seko Fofana, I've said it a few times that he shows signs of being a proper player- and exceeding the perceived "Championship" level- he just hasn't put all the pieces together yet, and with a full season he could very well put those pieces together- and I think it would benefit us, Fofana and City to get him here next season because he won't have to do the usual Loan thing of finding his feet in a new system and environment. With Scott Parker out (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) I think it's a fair assumption that Tunnicliffe will continue his spot in midfield- I've officially given up on my "Play Hoogland as a DM" campaign- it's a sad day for us all. This is where I could well get annoyed come the team selection at approximately 11:15 tomorrow- Kit hasn't said anything about a Kacaniklic injury in his Press Conference citing Christensen and Hyndman along with Parker as the injury concerns for tomorrow- meaning Kacaniklic isn't struggling with an injury- and while he was always a next season player in that we can build up a system (hopefully) over the Summer where we properly utilise wingers, I don't see a reason why we wouldn't play him tomorrow- because while he is sometimes frustrating he's still a good player. Kaca has usually taken up the Right-Sided Midfield role, so the most likely person to occupy the other wing is Kavanagh much to my chagrin.
As with Bryan, I think last weeks game was a send off for Hugo- and although there's more of chance of us seeing Hugo in a Fulham shirt next season than there is Bryan- it's still a tiny chance. That means the Striking situation is pretty straightforward- Smith may not have been fully fit last week- but he was still fit enough to make the bench and indeed come on, so with another week under his belt he should be fit to start. McCormack is a special player, the fact he's managed to do as well as he has both this season with us and last season with Leeds in pretty bad teams speaks volumes for him- his main target tomorrow will of course be to get to 20 Goals for the season, and it's an interesting one because without being in any way ITK I would at least guess that one of the add-ons in the McCormack deal would have been if he scored 20 Goals in a Season we'd have to pay one of the installments- but given the Interview with McCormack that came out today I think we will play him tomorrow, and rightfully so because it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when players aren't played because it'll activate an extension in their contracts or whatever as there has been stories about in the past.
Team for Norwich (1)
Bettinelli
Richards, Bodurov, Burn, Husband
Kacaniklic, Tunnicliffe, Fofana, Kavanagh
McCormack, Smith
Team for Norwich (2)
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Donnelly, Burn, Evans
Kacaniklic, Sambou, Kait, Roberts
Woodrow, Dembele
The game tomorrow is pretty low on the importance scale, but given the fact we're not going to go full youth like I would want in an ideal world I'll still want to see a relatively good performance- and as I've already said, with Norwich having one eye on the Playoffs- and with respect to Brighton most likely having to settle for 4th tomorrow is reasonably winnable in my book- of nothing else than I want us to extend the supposed "Fulham Curse" Norwich have when it comes to us.
Thanks for reading as always, this is of course the Last Preview of the Season- so thanks for the support across all of them, and of course stay tuned for the Review tomorrow evening. These Fulham posts won't be completely stopping- but they'll of course be slowing down after tomorrow- and I hope the Topics I choose to pick will be of interest and you keep coming back over the Summer Months for them. Anyway thanks for reading- and let's hope we end the season on a high note.
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