From the cheesy new club hymn which declares 'We're not Real Madrid, we're not
Barcelona, we are Fulham FC' to the half-joking way in which the home fans have
begun disparaging Manchester United ahead of next month's FA Cup tie, the sense
is of a Premier-ship club in waiting.
Saturday's comprehensive 3-1 home win over Tranmere merely emphasised that
Fulham, despite a pedigree which wouldn't frighten Real Oviedo, never mind the
Madridistas, are slumming it in the Nationwide League.
These less trophied Whites remain happy to play the
nouveau riche upstarts
ready to rock the establishment.
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Luis Boa Morte believes Fulham is ready for Premiership
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And on-loan striker Luis Boa Morte, who scored his 10th and 11th goals of the
season at the weekend, believes his adopted club have nothing to fear from a
step up in class.
'I think we are ready to compete in the Premier League, ' said the former Arsenal
forward, whose loan from current employers Southampton expires at the end of
the season.
'We beat Derby here 3-2 in the Worthington Cup, then played out a draw against
Liverpool for 90 minutes at Anfield in the midweek semi-final. We didn't deserve
to lose that 3-0 after extra time. I think everybody can see our qualities.'
The Portuguese player, reluctant to commit himself beyond the end of the season,
seems to have taken to the less exalted surroundings of this division, though
his double would have graced a bigger stage.
In fact, all four goals were straight out of the drawer marked monthly competition
entries.
The Fulham players were off on their Christmas night out after this victory
and, though the intention wasn't to go wild, it appeared that reports of a booze
ban imposed by manager Jean Tigana were slightly off centre.