When Fulham signed Damien Duff just over a month ago, I was a bit skeptical of it. I was not sure if Duff could regain the magic that made him one of the more feared left wingers in the Premier League. My skepticism in Duff is now officially over as the Irishman scored a cracker of a goal in the 79th minute to help earn the Cottagers a hard fought 2-1 come from behind win over Everton at Craven Cottage.

Duff's first goal in a Fulham uniform was one that most Cottager fan will remember for quite some time. He picked up the ball about 40 yards out, eluded a defender and unleashed a shot past Tim Howard into the left hand side of the goal. Howard had no chance and Fulham had three points. It was a stellar goal by Duff and a hugely important goal for Fulham in getting the team the win and on track in the Premier League.

The match did not start so well as Fulham fell behind 1-0 in the 33rd minute via a Tim Cahill strike. However, in the second half, the Cottagers took control and leveled the match in the 57th minute through Paul Konchesky. Danny Murphy's free kick was rebounded by Konchesky whose shot deflected off Sylvain Distin and into the goal past a hopeless Tim Howard.

Fulham continued the positive momentum by tormenting Everton through Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora. While neither scored a goal, both gave Everton fits all afternoon long. The aforementioned Damien Duff gave the home fans even more to cheer about with his electric strike to give Fulham a win and move them up to 10th in the table heading into Thursday's Europa League group stage opener in Bulgaria against CSKA Sofia.

So as we stand, Fulham is 10th in the table as I just mentioned and are in the group stage of the Europa League. I would say it has been a great start to the season for the Whites. The losses to Aston Villa and Chelsea were not good. Not just because of the result, but the way in which the Cottagers played. While the first half on Sunday looked like more of the same, Roy Hodgson must have lit a fire in his players at halftime to wake them up as the team looked solid in the second half in coming back against a strong Everton team.

It was nice to see Andy Johnson and Danny Murphy back in the squad as well. Johnson, who was originally expected to be out 4-6 weeks, only missed three weeks and played a solid role Sunday. Both Murphy and Johnson are key elements to this team. These two were big absences recently and their returns are a big boost for the Cottagers heading into Bulgaria on Thursday and on Sunday when Fulham takes on Wolves.

After the Wolves match, things will get difficult for Fulham as they will be involved in three competitions. The Carling Cup 3rd round will have the Cottagers facing newly rich Manchester City at Eastlands on September 23rd followed by a league match at the Cottage against Arsenal. Then October brings another Europa League match against FC Basle at home followed by a trip to Upton Park to take on West Ham. So as you can see, the fixture list over the next month is loaded and not easy. It is not a make or break month of the season, but it will go a long way in showing us how good this team can be.

So, with a month of the season now over, how do you feel about Fulham thus far? Are you happy with where the team is right now? Have they overachieved, underachieved or are they where you expected them to be? Also, what do you expect out Fulham over the next month?
What are your expectations in the league, Carling Cup and the Europa League?