Fulham end the season in the top ten and as a result it is job well done for Mark Hughes in his first full season after that traumatic spell at Manchester City. The Welshman had a big void to fill after the departure of Roy Hodgson and things definitely did not start perfectly for him in the early weeks. A decent enough start of the campaign was thrown into disarray when key striker Bobby Zamora suffered a dreadful ankle injury and that incident in early September had an impact on the team for the next three months. Quality players like Brede Hangeland and Clint Dempsey were struggling to reach the heights of the previous campaign and suddenly there was no one to take the mantle. A number of poor performances followed with a 4:1 loss at home to Manchester City in November really turning up the pressure on Hughes. Another costly home defeat, to West Ham at Boxing Day, meant that the former United legend was on borrowed time but just then he managed to turn it around and Fulham never looked back after winning 2:0 at Stoke - their first away win in the league for 18 months. January was a great month for Fulham who won started to click together again and show the sort of assured home displays that carried them through in the previous campaigns. They embarked on a superb run of form, losing just once in two and a half months in the league and going seven games without conceding at home. The return of Zamora was just one of the reasons for that upturn. Steve Sidwell proved an inspired signing in January while Chris Baird and Aaron Hughes stepped up their game at the back. Therefore, safety was all but assured by early April but this did not stop Fulham finishing strongly with a couple of superb away performances. Overall, it was a good season with Hughes showing the strength to turn things around after a difficult first few months. Hughes resigned as Fulham manager at the end of the season with former Tottenham manager Martin Jol taking charge.
