Can Michael Turner save Fulham's defense?

Fulham have conceded 64 goals this year. Let me repeat that, Fulham have let their opponents score 64 times. That is unacceptable. They have gotten slightly better under Kit Symons, but as the 5-1 drubbing against Bournemouth shows, there's still a lot of improvement than can be had. Fans have been suggesting many things to improve the defense: switching to a flat four midfield, bringing back Dan Burn, playing more stay at home fullbacks. Each of those solutions has other problems however.

A flat four in the midfield means that one of the two best players Fulham has will either be on the bench or played out of position. It's very hard to see both Bryan Ruiz and Ross McCormack fitting into that sort of formation.

Dan Burn could help, or he could not. I don't see these players in training every day, but Kit Symons does. If he doesn't think Dan Burn is worth playing, he probably is doing so with much more information than any of us.

Playing stay at home fullbacks could work, but it also kills what little width Fulham have had in the diamond formation. And if the Bournemouth match shows it isn't necessarily a fix. Both Hoogland and Amorebieta are much more stay at home than the fullbacks that have generally plaid, and they couldn't stop that debacle from happening.

So, if the players you have aren't good enough, and you can't change your formation to help them, what do you do? You bring in someone better. The question though remains, is Michael Turner better?

He's played 22 games for Norwich this year. That squad has only give up 39 goals. If he can be a large part of one of the best teams in the division, shouldn't he be able to improve the worst defense on one of the worst teams? You would have to think so. He also has much more experience at the top levels having spent the last six years in the Premier League. Just his leadership and experience at the back should be a big help.

The one big pause behind all of this is his age. Central defenders can usually play longer than other positions, but he is 31 years old. I think we all remember the cliff Brede Hangleand fell off in his last two years at Fulham. I'd be worried about a similar fall if Turner were to become a permanent move.

With that one caveat aside, it's hard not to like this move. Even if he isn't the answer can he possibly make the defense worse? It's hard to see how.