Claret & Blue Army's Views: #1

Our Fulham encounter is just two sleeps away and as the excitement and tension reaches it's climax, I thought I'd do something a little different; interviews! Guys from twitter have thrown themselves in for me to rip there heads off. So this is the first of many I hope.

My first interview is with Phil Russell, you can follow him on twitter; @philrussell88. http://twitter.com/#!/philrussell88

1) How did/do you feel about the appointment of Alex McLeish?
I've always liked him as a person, even when he was at Blues, but I was bitterly dissapointed with his appointment. I thought we would have shown more ambition.

2) Where do you think we'll finish in the table?

12th. We have a weaker squad and a weaker manager than last season, I think there will be a few scares along the way but I think we'll stay up.

3) What do you make of our summer, pre-season and transfers?

I don't take much notice of pre-season but it's been a bit of a mixed bag really. Very happy with Given & N'Zogbia but disappointed to have lost Young & Reo-Coker, not too fussed about Downing because N'Zogbia is a better player. I would have liked a few more additions but it doesn't look like it will happen.

4) Who do you think will stand out this season? For good or bad.

I expect Makoun and N'Zogbia to impress. I think Albrighton could potentially be a key man this season if he can cut out the mistakes in his game. I also expect Dunne to be exposed this season, we need to replace him.

5) Looking ahead to the Fulham game, what do you expect to see?

A tight performance defensively, I dont believe we will create much in attack as this has been highlighted during pre-season.

6) Do you think that is because of McLeish's philosophy?

Yes definetly, he claimed that we would be more attacking but it isnt in his make-up. He's ultra-defensive and he isn't going to change now.

7) To finish, as a fan, are you backing the manager?
Yeah. I'm backing him 100% but if we're in the bottom 3 at Christmas I think my patience will be tested!

Thank you to Phil and hopefully this will be one of many more to come.