After an impressive 13 years in the Premier League, Fulham's time at the top ended a year ago and they did not adapt well to life back in the Championship in 2014-15.
They took just one point out of a possible 24 to start the season in dreadful fashion. Understandably, Felix Magath did not last long and his interim replacement Kit Symons soon secured the full-time post.
There were some impressive results, but Symons struggled to build an extended run of good form and Fulham spent all season languishing in the bottom half.
This summer they have focused on clearing some of the club's biggest earners and making more astute signings with proven Championship quality.
In
Andy Lonergan (Bolton Wanderers), Ben Pringle (Rotherham United), Tom Cairney (Blackburn Rovers), Jazz Richards (Swansea City), Jamie O'Hara (Blackpool), Andrew Dawber (Accrington Stanley), Luke Garbutt (Everton, season-long loan), Sakari Mattila (Aalesund)
Out
Tom Richards (Aldershot Town), Hugo Rodallega, Tim Hoogland (Bochum), Gabor Kiraly (Szombathelyi Haladas), Chris David, Adil Chihi, Josh Passley (Dagenham & Redbridge), Solomon Sambou, Jonathan Buatu Mananga (Waasland-Beveren), Noe Baba, Bryan Ruiz (Sporting CP), Patrick Roberts (Manchester City), Lyle Della-Verde (Fleetwood Town), Ryan Williams (Barnsley), Maarten Stekelenburg (Southampton, season-long loan), Stephen Arthurworrey (Yeovil Town, season-long loan), Liam Donnelly (Crawley Town, one-month loan)
Last season - 17th
Manager - Kit Symons
After Magath's woeful start, Symons managed to move Fulham away from the foot of the table and after a run of five wins in nine games was given the full-time manager's job. In the end, they finished 11 points clear of the drop zone and it can be considered a decent job given how bad they were at the start.
Symons juggled the Fulham job with a role alongside former Fulham boss Chris Coleman at ever-improving Wales, but he has now left that position to fully focus on getting the Cottagers back in the Premier League. One thing he must sort out is the defence - only troubled club Blackpool let in more goals last term.
Key Player - Ross McCormack
McCormack scored 28 goals in the 2013-14 season for Leeds and that persuaded Fulham to part with a whopping £11m to sign the man they thought would fire them straight back to the Premier League. Although Fulham's season last year was a disappointing one, McCormack still delivered a decent haul with 17 goals.
Maybe not worth the huge outlay, but McCormack also provided nine assists - only one forward had more - and he should dovetail well with the returning Matt Smith, who he also played with at Leeds.
Possible starting lineup
Bettinelli; Richards, Hutchinson, Amorebieta, Garbutt; Cairney, Parker, Tunnicliffe, Pringle; Smith, McCormack
First game: Cardiff City (A), Full fixture list
Sports Mole says
It will be considered a major failure if Fulham do not improve on last season's bottom-half finish. When you look up and down their squad, the Cottagers do seem to have a team capable of pushing for the playoff places and perhaps better.
McCormack will get goals and the service should also be better thanks to the captures of Cairney and Pringle, while Garbutt is an impressive loan signing given his England Under-21 pedigree. Losing young talent Roberts to Manchester City is a blow, but the 18-year-old only made two league starts last year so getting around £12m is a good piece of business.
Richards and Garbutt are strong captures at full-back, but central defence still looks leaky. If that area can be shored up, then there is little reason why Fulham should not be making a top-six push.
