FULHAM ended last season as runaway leaders of the First Division and, although the gap between The Premiership and Division One is considerable, as Bradford and Manchester City have found out, Jean Tigana will be optimistic that his team's attractive passing game can hold its own with the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool.
Club chairman Mohamed Al Fayed has bankrolled Fulham's rise to The Premiership thus far and the close season recruitment of Edwin van der Sar, Steed Malbranque and Jon Harley demonstrate that the Harrods supremo has no intention of allowing his beloved team return to the Nationwide League.
The Cottagers have disproved the theory that money cannot buy success, taking the Blackburn route into The Premier League, and Al Fayed will no doubt continue spending until the Premiership crown is in the Craven Cottage trophy cabinet.
Tigana has a strong squad at his disposal for the coming season and will be hopeful that the prolific strike pair of Barry Hayles and Louis Saha can score as many goals as they did last year and have a similar impact to that of Marcus Stewart at Ipswich.
Many football pundits are tipping The Cottagers for a place in Europe next season, with Tigana at the helm and the expensive summer signings in place, but this might be asking too much of a side that was in the Second Division not so long ago.
The presence of experienced Premier League players such as Lee Clark, Kit Symons and John Collins at Craven Cottage is sure to help the team adapt to life with the big boys and, with Dutch international van der Sar between the sticks, Fulham fans should be able to look towards mid-table rather than face the agony of watching other teams' results come May 11.
Fulham and Tigana will be able to gauge how far the team has come when they meet defending champions Manchester United at Old Trafford on the opening Sunday of the season.
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PREDICTED POSITION: |
7th |
| KEY MAN: |
Louis Saha |
| ONE TO WATCH: |
Sean Davis |
| INS: |
Harley (Chelsea), Van der Sar (Juventus), Malbranque (Lyon), Boa Morte (Southampton), Ouaddou (Nancy)
|
| OUTS: |
Phelan and Peschisolido (Both Sheff Utd), Morgan (Brighton), W.Collins (Crewe) |
| SURREY ODDS: |
100/1 |