This Saturday we start our 2009/2010 Premier League campaign against Portsmouth, it`s a campaign were all eagerly awaiting, can Fulham kick on from that wonderful season last time around or were we boxing above our weight?
I guess we`ll soon find out!
But, for the purpose of this article, I`d like to take a quick look at how suddenly things can change in football, of how quickly euphoria can turn into despair.
I`m sure you`ll all remember that incredible moment down on the south coast when a Danny Murphy header salvaged our top flight lives, grown men hugging each other knowing that we`d pulled off the improbable and that we`d silenced those critics who thought we`d gone through the relegation trap door.
Since then, we`ve gone from strength to strength under the cagey and astute leadership of Roy Hodgson. Only twelve months after that emotional afternoon we finished in our highest ever top flight position, in stark contrast to our opponents this Saturday.
Whilst we were celebrating Premier League survival that afternoon, our hosts were contemplating an appearance in the FA Cup Final, against Cardiff. It was a final they were to win, it was meant to be a piece of silverware that would enable this proud club to kick on and establish itself amongst the elite.
Plans were afoot for a new ground, a fantastic development on the sea front that would be the envy of all. Instead they now appear to be a club weighed down by those huge expectations and a club sinking fast.
Harry Redknapp has long gone, several of the players that propelled them to FA Cup glory (and European football) have been sold to service a debt. A proposed takeover, a takeover that should have made them rich beyond their wildest dreams appears to be floundering and the season ahead could have worrying consequences for a club whose supporters deserve better.
It just goes to show what a strange game we all have a passion for and how quickly things can change!
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