Hello! It's another Preview and with just 4 games standing between us and the end of the season you can practically taste the few months without worries, anger and crushing disappointment. We're currently 9 Points Clear of the Relegation Zone, but Millwall have a game in hand- the game tonight between Millwall and Wigan will relegate one of, or both teams depending on the outcome in my opinion; and while I'm not going to say we're safe until we are mathematically safe I think we can cautiously start planning for next season.
I've got a bad feeling that Kit is going to get the Summer, which would pretty much kill us for next season in my opinion; similar to "him" doing us in with naive tactics in the first games of the season- and making any kind of push for promotion a long-shot.
I've seen some people talk about Tigana, but I don't want him- yes he did do a great job for us; but the Championship is a completely different animal to the one it was when Tigana got us up; and since his stint with us he's had spells in China, France and Turkey where he hasn't been very successful; in contrast to the expectations surrounding the clubs he was at. I think it's pretty clear Allardyce's contract isn't going to be renewed at West Ham; and there's general displeasure directed from the West Ham fans toward Big Sam. As such if I were Khan/Rigg or whoever is in charge now I'd have Big Sam as #1 on the Speed Dial list and as soon as the Final Whistle goes against Norwich I'd be dialing it. I have seen some people's arguments over Allardyce and his "brand of football"- but we've seen in this division that possession football only gets you so far; and since Matt Smith's came in we've been launching the ball up-field a lot anyway- and let's put it this way we can't get more negative and route one than we did against Wigan last Friday. Allardyce is someone who's got a prove track record of getting teams up and keeping them up- and although West Ham are on a bad run of form at present the fact West Ham fans are getting pissed with Allardyce while they're in 9th after Allardyce took them over while they were fresh off a Relegation sums up why I want him.
There are 3 other names I'd expect to see in and around the job this summer, the first of which is Mark Warburton. I'll preface this by saying I respect what he's done at Brentford- but similar to Eddie Howe once he stepped out from under the Bournemouth umbrella I'm not sure how Mark Warburton will fit in a system he hasn't had a hand in building; and I think it'd be a bigger risk than some people realise to appoint him. If we wanted a "young" Manager who will play "attractive" football I'd go after Karl Robinson- he's someone who I wanted after the initial sacking of "him" in September and I sighted Dele Alli as a Exhibit A when I made the argument on Twitter. Since then Alli has gone on to sign for Spurs and be nominated for the Football League Young Player of the Year as of today. Robinson wouldn't necessarily be an "immediate return" manager but if we wanted to have a 2-3 year Plan with Robinson working in conjunction with Rigg to develop a team capable of not just getting up but staying up. The other name I've seen banded around is Mick McCarthy, but I'm not going to talk about him as a viable candidate yet- because McCarthy could still be managing in the Premier League with Ipswich next season.
Now onto the game tomorrow- and with the potential Rotherham points deduction Relegation suddenly looks a lot more likely for Rotherham tomorrow so they'll have extra motivation to win in tomrorows game that they might not have had.
Bettinelli'll continue in goal of course- Wigan was another game where although we conceded Bettinelli couldn't do much for either goal, and he wasn't really tested. In the Summer I'd make it a fairly high priority to have a Keeper who can challenge Bettinelli in a sort of Courtois/Cech dynamic- because when Bettinelli was making a few mistakes I'd have taken him out of the firing line for a few weeks, but we didn't have a capable replacement in order to do so- whether that is Stekelenburg or a new signing is a debate to be had once the season is over.
The news over the last couple of days from a defensive standpoint has been Swansea potentially recalling Jazz Richards because of their injury concerns. I'm not that bothered if they do recall him because Grimmer has grown back into the role he vacated for Richards and with the limited games between now and the end of the season I'd like to see us give our players more time. Burn & Turner is a partnership that hasn't been properly tested yet in my book, Charlton were alright- but Tony Watt, Vetokele etc. are hardly the pinnacle of Championship forward lines, and then Fortune and later on Waghorn hardly tested them at all. I'm not discrediting Burn & Turner- and I'd continue with them tomorrow, but I'm still not sold on Burn as a long-term Starter for us; Turner is someone I'd love to see us sign this Summer on a 2 Year Deal (no more) because he's been our most capable defender by quite a long way- or if we wanted to go a bit more long-term I'd love to see us go after Aden Flint who I really rate as a Centre-Back, and if you haven't seen Bristol City play you only have to look at his statistics both in terms of goals etc. as well as his disciplinary record to see why I want him. James Husband is another who I wouldn't mind signing in the Summer he's proven to be a very capable player since he came in, and if we could do a swap deal and get Amorebieta's wages off the books at the same time then I'd be even more for it.
The Midfield is another area that needs a lot if improvement this Summer- Kit hasn't had a Presser today, but I've said for the last few weeks that Christensen is out for the season even if it hasn't been said yet- and I don't want us to rush Christensen back for the sake of our last few games. The midfield tomorrow is pretty straightforward in my book, We need Tunnicliffe and Parker without a doubt because Rotherham will try and bully the midfield and we need both guys' work-rates to prevent us from getting overrun. We need to go more attacking tomorrow- and I think we can afford to go a bit more attacking tomorrow as such I'd go for Kacaniklic taking up one of the Wide Spots. Bryan Ruiz is someone who needs to start, he's someone who most likely won't be here next season- but while he's still under contract we can't afford not to play him in my opinion.
The Striking situation is relatively straightforward with McCormack and Smith carrying on after their goals on Friday, these two along with Woodrow would be the foundation for our goals next season hopefully- and then if we can add someone who's capable of scoring at this level, but wouldn't necessarily play every week (and be content with that role) it'd be a perfect fit for us- because the Smith/McCormack partnership could very well be the difference maker next season.
Team for Rotherham
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Turner, Burn, Husband
Kacaniklic, Parker, Tunnicliffe
Ruiz
Smith McCormack
As I said, I'm not saying we're safe yet- but I do think we can cautiously start planning for next season- I'll be going into a lot more detail with new signings etc. once the seasons over and we can properly start looking ahead. I as I'm sure all of you will be keeping an eye out for the Millwall/Wigan score and as I've said I think whoever loses that is down- and if they draw I think both teams are down- and we'll have taken a giant step toward safety without even playing.
Thanks for reading as always, I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on the Managerial Situation- specifically Allardyce and Warburton- or if you have your own suggestion feel free to share it. Anyway, there's going to be a barrage of Fulham blogs coming up this week- with the Review tomorrow and Blackpool Preview on Thursday because I'm making a weekend of the Blackpool game and I'll be headed up to Blackpool on Friday when I'm usually writing. Anyway- Thanks again, and lets hope the Review tomorrow is a good one.
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