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We're in a false position say the players and perceived wisdom across the message boards suggests we'll be fine when it comes to the final reckoning next May. The table however deals in cold hard facts, not emotion nor hypothesis. Having proved unbeatable at the Cottage since last Boxing Day - barring the night we bizarrely handed Liverpool a three goal start, in the last month we have given up three points at home to sides less talented Fulham teams were managing to best on a regular basis five years ago.
The programme resumes with a long trip to Sunderland, and the harsh facts to date are as we enter a somewhat testing six week run up to the end of the year, Fulham's team of internationals has just two wins to its name from eleven games. Should Bolton get a result this weekend and the Whites lose, we will be in the bottom three, with Arsenal away and Liverpool at home our next two fixtures. A scenario as we move into December that may leave even Jol spluttering to continue putting a positive spin to everything.
Two big figures in the dug outs for Saturday's match up might consider it's a time for tin hats and the trenches. Both badly need a win to keep the home fires burning and get the fans off their back. Bruce and Jol have known headier times and strike me as proud individuals who seem almost affrronted to find themselves mired in a relegation scrap.
With American money behind him and bigger home crowds than Fulham ever see, Bruce has been throwing money at a team that continues to be remarkable only for its ordinariness. Bent has never been replaced and if Gyan prefers football on sand pitches for petro-dollars rather than the Premier League, then something must be seriously awry on Wearside. Personally I think Bruce has lost the plot and I would be surprised were he still to be in charge come 2012. But both teams will feel this game is very winnable.
And why indeed should the Black Cats not be favourites to edge out the Whites and put daylight between us? Lest we forget, the psychological hobbling that afflicts Fulham whenever that team bus trundles away from the capital has shown no sign of dissipating under Jol. We may have stolen the points at Wigan three weeks ago but the overall performance from what was pretty much our first team was truly awful.
I'm collecting Jol's sound bytes as the shortest route into the mind of the Dutchman. He may be the man Fulham wanted for over a year to build on Roy's legacy, but might I suggest it's time to start delivering? Experimentation with tactics and the team set-up must be sorted by now, with almost a third of the season gone. His comment this week that the side was 'lacking a little when Bobby was unavailable in away games,' was the understatement of the year!
The next six weeks will define the rate of progress. Maybe we won''t win at Arsenal - we literally never do - it might be a big ask to beat United or Liverpool, but elsewhere we have to be garnering points - and the Stadium of Light is the perfect place to start, but it needs a whole new mind-set and a team that plays to its potential from the first whistle, and not just for 45 minutes.
On team selection, well, we know where the weak spots are. I shall continue to chew my nails from the minute the team sheet is released and Riise remains the first-choice left-back. Grygera is a big loss. What was this 32-year old contributing to games? He could read the play, he knew how to defend, mark, tackle and do the unfussy things necessary. And he could play in more than one position. I'm not sure JAR is now up to anything like the same. But we have options at RB - Bairdinho if necessary, Kelly when fit, with Hughes and Senderos also back in contention to cover. Also good to hear Simon Davies returns to full training next week.
Roy's methods remain ingrained throughout our defensive stalwarts. They can play the system in their sleep, while Mark remains one of the best shot stoppers in the Prem, even if his hoofed clearances are getting dangerously weaker by the month. It's the areas where Jol has hinted at change that have so far proved resistant to the Dutch renaissance - in midfield and up front. We could have had a hatful against Spurs, yet even our one goal went in off one of their men. Where is the clinical finisher that kills off opponents? How does Ruiz fit into the team?
Let's all applaud Bobby for finally getting that first start in an England shirt. I thought he did well shouldering the lone striker role, as he himself said, it was a "hard shift." But I don't want to see Fulham on the road playing him in the same way. Our big man aint gonna score when having to roam out wide looking for decent ball. I personally think Zamo's got more to his game than both Darren Bent and Carroll, but see how much of the game those two spend menacing defenders in and around the box compared to our big striker. We need to get the hustle on the opposition at times, and, if I'm honest start developing a different approach to away games.
Well, we won easily here last Spring with Sunderland really in a tailspin at the time. 3-0 to the Whites that day, though recent fixtures between us have barely seen a goal. Which Fulham will we see at the Stadium of Light? I haven't got a clue, but I would appreciate seeing commitment and some sort of game plan. Delighted to see their top scorer Larsson is suspended too.
Clint's next goal will be a milestone by the way, as I'm sure we all know.
As ever, COYW! Twitter@fulhamphil
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