It’s been a few years since my last post, as I needed a break to sort some things out and begin new chapters in my life. But, as we return to the Premier League, I found myself wanting to note down all my thoughts in one place.



Will this become a regular thing again? I’m not too sure, but it will still remain a place for me to voice my thoughts and feelings around Fulham. But, I’ll gauge the response and if I get the urge to write again maybe, there will be a follow-up to this post.



If you’ve been a subscriber to the Craven Corner over the years, then welcome back and thank you for your support. If this is the first time you’ve visited the blog, then I thank you for your time in advance.

So, let’s get down to it. Where shall we begin?

Antonee Robinson

£1.9m for an in-demand, 23 year old. A fee you don’t hear anymore, especially for a player that nearly joined Italian giants, Milan in January for £10m.

The signing of Robinson is huge for Fulham. It’s much needed competition for Joe Bryan, and with interest mounting in Bryan over the years, Robinson provides us with a long-term replacement should the former depart Craven Cottage in the next year or two.

For less than £2m, we are already down to make a profit on Robinson, regardless of how much success he has – these are just fees that are unheard of nowadays.

Even though he still has a lot to improve on, Robinson is a great addition to Parker’s squad. An athletic, marauding full-back is always going to be a problem, and with natural pace he should be able to adapt to the top-tier of English football without any hesitation. Expect him to feature gradually over the season, as it’s going to be hard to push Bryan out of the side. But, don’t be surprised if we see Robinson and Bryan starting together on the left-side of the eleven in some fixtures.

New boy Antonee Robinson!

Harrison Reed & Mario Lemina

The duo from Southampton, one here permanently and the other on loan until the end of the season with an option to sign, should we wish.

Firstly, we can celebrate the return of Harrison Reed. A tenacious midfielder that brings much needed energy and legs to our midfield three.

While he’ll never top the charts for goals or assists, he will arguably be our most important midfielder at the club for the next few years.



He is the long term replacement of Kevin McDonald in that holding role and will bring the much needed discipline to our side, to allow the partnering midfielders the freedom they require.

Again, it’s another player coming into the best years of his career and signed for a bargain price of £8m. It’s a great bit of business by the board. Reed knows the side, the manager and will be ready to go from day one. At that price, there’s an opportunity to make a big profit in the future, and reminder that the summer budget will be spent more sensibly this time around.

While we already know what we are going to get with Harrison Reed, Mario Lemina is the complete opposite. A Jekyll and Hyde midfielder, who has been at the top clubs, and still not demonstrated what he is capable of on a consistent basis. A tremendously gifted midfielder who will control games on his day, should be a big improvement on what we already have. But, his inconsistency has let him down over the years, so it’s a risk-free gamble with the loan deal we’ve secured.



Should it all work out, there’s an option to sign him on a permanent basis for just £6m. A smart piece of business and a player I’ll be keeping a close eye on this season.

Tenacious, Reliable and always gives it 100% – Mr.Harrison Reed is here to stay!

Now let’s talk goalkeepers… Rodak & Areola?

This is a topic that has exploded overnight on Twitter, and it’s a topic that I could have spent hours tweeting about, but decided this would be the best place to discuss it.

First of all, I think Marek Rodak is the best goalkeeper we have had at Fulham since Mark Schwarzer.



Sure, he’s not the most orthadox goalkeeper, but he is an incredible shot-stopper, has a commanding presence and controls the back four to the best of his ability.



Yes, he got sent-off at the start at the start of his Fulham career, but that’s his only fault. He’s experienced in English football and over the last few years he’s been working incredibly hard to win the number one shirt.

Last time we were in the Premier League, we had a bit of a nightmare with goalkeepers, with Bettinelli, Fabri and Sergio Rico all getting game-time and that inconsistency in goal became one of the major factors in our relegation.

Yes, Sergio Rico has now had some success elsewhere, but that’s because he’s managed to get regular game-time with a settled defence, and that’s a key point to make here.

Areola is a top-class talent, and has played for Real Madrid and PSG, two clubs anyone would want on a CV, but it would be too soon to introduce a new goalkeeper to an already questionable defence. It takes time to build relationships at a club, and that plays a massive part in results. Defenders and Goalkeepers need to be able to trust eachother, and that often gets overlooked. Rodak has finally got the chance to work with Hector, Ream, Bryan, and the rest of the defenders we have, and his constant communication and respect from the other players catapulted us into promotion. For many fans he was also our Player of the Year, and it was hard to decide between him, Mitro & Hector for the award.

At 23 & 27, Rodak and Areola are at the stage of their careers where they need to be playing regularly. Areola won’t be joining the club to sit on the bench for a season and after his efforts last season, I can’t imagine Rodak will be the happiest of players if he is asked to sit on the bench for a new-face either.

I’m all for developing our own talent and players, especially when they have worked hard for their chance. With Rodak signing a new deal recently, still young, he deserves to be the starting goalkeeper this season. While, Areola’s arrival would provide some high quality competition, it will go one of two ways. Areola’s competition will speed up Rodak’s development even more, and he will become even better. Or, it will put unnecessary pressure on the young Slovakian this year, which could dent his confidence and stall his development. All for the sake of developing another teams player, who may arrive without an option of a permanent deal. (This is unconfirmed at this point).

Now, I’m not saying that we need to sign another Jordan Archer or Richard Lee to fill that bench spot, just in case Rodak does get injured. But there are definitely safer options out there that won’t be demanding to be the first name on the team-sheet. Then again, with the departures of Fabri & Bettinelli imminent, we do need a quality option should Rodak get injured or suspended at some point during that season. Relegation is determined by who can keep the most clean sheets, so adding some quality in this department is needed, but bringing someone in with Areola’s CV may be a potential problem. I have full faith in the Khan’s & Parker’s vision for our club and management, but this will be a tough one to control.

Departures

Finally, I wanted to make a comment or two on the departing players this summer.

I was most surprised by the departure of Alfie Mawson to Bristol City, and I don’t think I will be the only fan to admit that. A £15m signing two years ago, I expected Mawson to challenge for the first team again this season following his return from injury. But, it seems that Parker doesn’t think the former Swansea man is in his plans, and maybe a loan spell is the best move for Alfie right now.

While he was our only competition for Ream, I would have earmarked Mawson for a return to the side against Arsenal but this won’t be the case. Hopefully, a strong and injury free season for Mawson will provide a path back to the team. He’s still young and got a bright future, but knee injuries are hard to bounce back from and he’s had his fair share of those. I really hope it works out for him, as I think he’s a decent ball-playing centre half, who could still turn it around at Craven Cottage.

Seri and Anguissa are two names that have been in the media so far this summer, but I have a feeling we’ll keep both of these unless we receive big offers for either.

Seri was heavily linked with a return to Galatasary, but it seems the Turkish Giants can’t match our valuation right now, and are turning their attention to Stefan Johansen instead. I think it would be a good move for Johansen, and I still think there’s a chance for Seri at Fulham.

Parker’s possession-heavy tactics will benefit both Seri & Anguissa this season, and in the right system they both have something to offer to the side.

With players like Onomah and Reed willing to do a lot of the running for midfield, it would free Seri up to do what he does best; move the ball, create chances from deep and spray the ball around.

While, Anguissa’s season at Villareal was incredible, he returns to the side, injury-free and ready to dominate. If you haven’t seen much of him since his last appearance in a Fulham shirt, dive into the internet archives and watch some footage of the Cameroon midfielder, it’s a pleasure to watch. I can see Anguissa working well alongside Reed in a 4-2-3-1 setup, and Parker was a fan of his in the last Premier League season. So, maybe, just maybe we’ll keep Zambo this summer. All we need to do now is give him the number 5 shirt.

Zambo Number 5 is the song we all want to sing this year.

Big Frank is back in training!

Closing Thoughts..

In closing, I think the window has been fairly positive so far. While, it would have been ideal to start the season with all the new recruits signed and ready to go, it never happens. Clubs rarely want to let their players go early in the window as they want their targets signed first. So as we edge closer to deadline day, expect more announcements.

The other thing, that we should probably think about is that we have already spent quite a bit over the last 6-8 months. We had to delay the Michael Hector deal last summer, due to needing the funds from the Ryan Sessegnon transfer due to FFP boundaries. We’ve then spent £20m+ on Ivan Cavaleiro & Anthony Knockaert, which will have to live up to those price-tags, especially when I think they could have offered more for us last season.

With the rumoured arrivals of Kenny Tete & Ola Aina, I think our struggles at right-back will be solved, as they are both the quality of player we should be looking at. Which should only leave us with the desire for left sided centre-back and backup striker for Mitrovic. I still think we will see 4-5 more faces arrive this summer, so strap yourselves in for a rollercoaster end to the window.

I know this is a bit of a blast from the past from me, and I’ll see if I get the urge to write again in the future. But, I thought it was easier to write a blog post than a series of tweets. Nonetheless, I just hope it’s been fun to read and a break from the new lives we are all living in a pandemic.

Feel free to tweet your thoughts, feedback or feelings to me on Twitter – @ABronsSmith.



Thank you.