WEEKLY OPINION

Hopefully, like myself, Fulham fans are getting excited as the new season approaches. The Newcastle game has to be seen as an excellent opportunity to get 3 points on the board. No, I am not a deluded optimist. We all know Newcastle are being touted to romp the division with ease, but I think the pundits may be wrong. Having read how many of their fans think they will line up, we can see that they still have some class, but their defence is likely to be newly constructed. We should also look at Rafa, does he have the knowledge of the Championship? Will he try to play his style of football that is more suited to the Prem.? We have seen that the Championship can be very physical and sometimes you have to ditch the idea of pretty football to get results. This could be Rafa's achilles heel, if he sticks to an ideology that won't work in this division. We should also remember that playing the favourites in the first game could work to our advantage, as it is better to play them early before they get into their stride. I seriously believe that we can get a good result, and we won't have to worry about playing one of the favourites for a while. 
I, and many others, I hope, watched the Betis friendly on Betis TV. While friendlies are not the best benchmark, we put in a good performance against a side that finished half way up La Liga. A freak goal and a pen, either side of Cauley's superb strike, was all that separated us, and we shouldn't worry about our first pre-season goals being conceded. I, personally, thought that Odoi and Ayite put in performances that showed excellent potential for the future. We didn't create as many chances as we might have liked, but after a shaky opening 15 minutes, we more than matched them. 
On top of that there were two new signings, in Malone and Mcdonald. This writer knows little of Malone and it seems that even though Cardiff fans call him a donkey, he is probably as good as Richards, anyway. McDonald from Wolves is a better signing, by all accounts. He plays defensive midfield and his pass rate for the first half of the season was the best in the Championship, so he can easily replace Parker or Tunners, or even play alongside one of them. According to Slavisa we need a few more signings, and he knows in what position. We probably need another defender, another creative midfielder, a wide player and a striker, although I think Cauley's time may have come. I suppose it depends on the speculation surrounding Ross McC, and whether he goes or stays. 
In my opinion, things are looking up, and my prediction is that Aluko will be our star player.

© Nic Smith