What goes up must come down. Then go back up. Then come down. Then go back up again. That is the law that Fulham seem determined to prove, with Saturday’s peremptory 2-0 win over Blackburn moving them closer to their third promotion from the Championship in five seasons. There is still a way to go, of course, but it looks like they will soon return to the Premier League. Isn’t that exciting?
It is OK to say no. It is fair to venture that the more interesting stories in this season’s Championship are to be found almost everywhere else. Such as at Luton Town, who have earned themselves a whiff of the top flight only eight years after clambering out of non-league; or at Middlesbrough, who have not only beaten Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup since Chris Wilder took charge but who moved back into the play-off places on Saturday at the expense of their manager’s old flame, Sheffield United; or indeed at Blackburn, who are to be admired for also being in contention for a play-off spot in a season in which they have suffered the heaviest home defeat in their history, November’s 7-0 humbling by, yes, Fulham.
Big deal, right? Fulham were supposed to win the league. Several important players left after their relegation from the Premier League in 2021 but they retained a powerful squad and were tagged as pre-season favourites for promotion. But that does not mean their conquest of the second tier was inevitable. The two clubs who went down with them were also expected to challenge hard: Sheffield United are fighting to get back into the play-off places and West Brom, with internal wrangles, are finding it even tougher.
While West Brom’s owner is looking for buyers for the Baggies, Fulham’s owner, Shahid Khan, can start picturing himself watching players such as Mohamed Salah and Jack Grealish in action while he dives into the rooftop swimming pool that is to be part of the Riverside Stand under construction at Craven Cottage. Khan has a similar amenity at his other sports holding, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and people pay thousands of dollars to take a dip while they spectate. So in your face, Tottenham’s notional cheese bar. And up your game, prospective new Chelsea overlords.
At this point it is appropriate to wonder whether the Premier League really needs another London club. Or to lament the number of London clubs that the Premier League can sustain compared with the rest of the country. At any rate, Khan, who was interested in buying Wembley in 2018, plans to make money by making a Craven Cottage a go-to venue for much more than football.
But the football will be worth watching too. Fulham have got that very right this season. Even if you think their topping the table is par for the course, the style with which they have done it under Marco Silva has been above and beyond anything seen under his predecessor, Scott Parker. Twelve of their victories this season have been by three goals or more. Blackburn were not the only side to be blown away 7-0 on their own pitch – Reading endured a similar ordeal – and Fulham have fired six past Birmingham and Bristol City. With 12 matches left, they have scored more goals than seven of the past 10 winners of the Championship and could end up conceding fewer than any of them.
Aleksandar Mitrovic has struck 34 league goals, rifling them in at a rate that has the merit of triggering mention of George Camsell, who holds the record for the highest haul in the second division thanks to his 59 goals for Middlesbrough in the 1926-27 season, a tally he amassed despite abdicating penalty-taking duties out of shame after missing one in a FA Cup tie against lower-league Millwall. Nineteen-year-old Fabio Carvalho has shone in midfield with his wondrous finesse and balance, shape-shifting turns and sharp wit.
Harry Wilson’s dinked finish against Blackburn on Saturday was his latest contribution to a fine personal campaign, while Neco Williams showed he has got into the groove since arriving on loan from Liverpool in January by intercepting a Blackburn pass on the edge of his box, scampering forward and trying to chip the goalkeeper from the halfway line, foiled by the crossbar. With Jean Michaël Seri or Nathaniel Chalobah patrolling in front of a defence in which Tosin Adarabioyo has looked classy all season, Fulham have been thrilling to watch.
They were seldom that under Parker. Before he took them down from the Premier League last season, he took them up from the Championship, through the play-offs, with several of the players Silva now has. They were tidy and boring. A lot like today’s Bournemouth – now there is a team whose prospective promotion really is not exciting.
Parker has been in charge at Bournemouth since leaving Craven Cottage last summer and they have been Fulham’s closest rivals for much of the season. But they were beaten at Preston on Saturday and find themselves third, albeit with matches in hand. They are below Huddersfield, who, under Carlos Corberán, are playing the type of football the club hoped they would see after hiring Marcelo Bielsa’s former assistant.
Bielsa’s recent jilting by Leeds is an obvious reminder that what delights in the Championship may not cut it for long in the Premier League without overhauls or adjustments. The fact that Norwich, winners of the Championship in 2019 and 2021, look doomed to finish bottom of the Premier League again also offers a warning of the growing gulf and of how quickly promoted teams need to get everything right. As, of course, does Fulham’s own recent history. Yo-yoing is practically part of the process. Fans of clubs of a certain size just have to hope to be able to enjoy the ride.
