Wednesday Fulham Stuff (07/12/16)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham Duo In Team Of The Week (6/12/16)

Fulham are represented in the latest Football League team of the week that has been selected after this week's action.

The performances by Ryan Fredericks and Chris Martin in the five nil victory over Reading at the weekend at Craven Cottage was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other most impressive performers in the Football League pyramid.

I think we'll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why the duo was selected as part of the team but explaining the choice - the FL blurb read.

Fredericks:

'Fredericks was a key player for Fulham in their emphatic 5-0 rout of Reading. The full-back's teasing cross forced an own goal to kick things off, and he made a vital challenge to deny Reading a potential equaliser before the Cottagers pulled away.'

Martin:

'Another man to get himself on the scoresheet twice was Martin, who helped Fulham put Reading to the sword. The Scot's fierce effort doubled the Cottagers' lead, and rounded off the scoring with a low free-kick.'

It's always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to both for their recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the win.

Full Team:

Karl Darlow (Newcastle United), Andy Butler (Doncaster Rovers), Alex Pearce (Derby County), Ryan Fredericks (Fulham), Souleymane Doukara (Leeds United), Conor Hourihane (Barnsley), Alex Pritchard (Norwich City), Jacob Murphy (Norwich City), Sam Winnall (Barnsley), Otis Khan (Yeovil Town), Chris Martin (Fulham).

Manager - Darren Way (Yeovil Town).



Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=470916#ixzz4S8RKu1Nu

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham FC 5-0 Reading FC: Video Highlights
Ouch.

Why are you here? Why would you want to relive that game? Are you feeling ok?

Since you're here, you may as well put yourself through it all again...

The video

The thoughts
0:00–0:19
Okay, Fulham away. It's all going to be okay. There won't be a repeat of last season. We've got Stam.

Oh balls. What was that?

Alright, chaps, you can stop celebrating an own goal like you've won the league. Chill.

0:20–0:39
"I have a great idea. We stop goals going in by standing off them!" – the defence, probably.

0:40–0:55
WELL THAT'S JUST BRILLIANT. WELL DONE, DANNY.

0:56–1:24
Surely nothing will come of this. Two men on him, right touchline, no worries.

WHAT.

FOUL! REF! He tripped him?!

Get. Out.

No goal?

Goal. Balls.

1:25–1:44
I'm going to write the manual on 'How Not To Defend' with this performance.

And maybe another manual on 'How To Score With A Lovely Finish'.

1:45–2:07
Okay, that's not even funny.

Notice how not a single highlight was a Reading attack. They were that bad.



http://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2016/12/6/13841404/fulham-fc-5-0-reading-fc-video-highlights-15-thoughts-efl-championship

[WhiteJC]

 
Tomas Kalas sees his future away from Stamford Bridge



Tomas Kalas will always have a special place in Chelsea fans hearts, despite having only one league appearance for the club. It just happened that that game was the Steven Gerrard "slip" game, where Chelsea managed to keep a clean sheet against a Liverpool team lead by Luis Suarez and effectively stop the Reds winning a title.

Despite that great moment, Kalas has been loaned out twice since, to Koln and now to Fulham, and the quotes the Czech defender gave GetWestLondon today seem to indicate that he is tired of being shuttled around from club to club as an appreciating asset, and has accepted that his future is probably not at Stamford Bridge.

"Chelsea are trying to build a big team; there's nothing wrong in that. We loan players are trying to get into the first team, but it's very difficult... I'm playing for more than just building a CV."

Kalas's contract runs out at the end of next season, and it doesn't seem like he would be interested in a new deal, so the Blues will have to try and sell him this summer to avoid seeing him leave on a free transfer in 2018.


http://www.chelsea-news.co/2016/12/tomas-kalas-sees-future-away-stamford-bridge/

[WhiteJC]

 
Manchester City battling Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United for 16-year-old Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon
The teenage left-back is an England youth international and is about to spark a bidding war among the Premier League's elite


Ryan Sessegnon has starred for England at youth levels (Photo: Getty)

Big spending Manchester City are trying to rush through a deal for Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon.

Teenage whizzkid Sessegnon, 16, is seen as one of the best prospects since Gareth Bale with City, Liverpool and Manchester United all on his trail.

Arsenal tried to sign the England under-17s left back last January but had a bid of around £3m turned down.

It has prompted City to step up their efforts to try and beat off stiff competition who has already become the youngest goal scorer in the Championship.

Fulham are battling to keep Sessegnon with a senior contract but they are braced for more bids in January.


Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham is in demand (Photo: Rex)

Sessegnon in action for Fulham

City regard him as a future first team prospect and are trying to do a deal as they look to strengthen their full back positions as a priority.

Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov are all 30-somethings and City are looking to the future.

Sessegnon is one of the most sought-after English kids in the country and City and Liverpool are desperate to get him.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/manchester-city-battling-arsenal-liverpool-9400790

[WhiteJC]

 
Manchester City Threat To Fulham Deal

According to the Mirror anyway, who report Arsenal's apparent interest in Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon could be scuppered by Manchester City.

Liverpool and Manchester United are also linked with is claimed a bidding war could be on the card.

The 16-year-old has been labelled the best prospect since Gareth Bale, which doesn't make it a surprise the left back is being courted by a plethora (I do like that word) of Premier League clubs.

Arsenal's interest dates back to January this year with the report claiming we had £3m offer turned down, which is now seeing Man City looking to 'rush through' a deal to take him to the Etihad Stadium in the New Year.

Fulham aren't looking to sell the England U17 international by all accounts but are preparing for offers to come in during the January sales. Will one of them come from Arsenal though?



Read more: http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=575023#ixzz4S8U7NF9y

[WhiteJC]

 
Revealed: How Fulham boss leaves no stone unturned before a game
Preparations get ramped up for Whites off the field in all areas to make sure things are right on it


Changes: Slavisa Jokanovic

Fulham players know where they will be the night before a game - it's a hotel - and that's both away AND at home.

It's standard practice in Europe for sides to bed down at a camp or some posh hostelry the night before a match.

But only since Slavisa Jokanovic turned up had the Whites squad bivouacked for both trips to Wolves on Friday, and for the next two home games against Rotherham and Derby.

It also used to be that academy and senior players all ate together in the club's training ground canteen during the week - not any more.

There are now segregated sittings, along with other improvements the manager deemed necessary to enhance chances of success.

Jokanovic added: "We made many changes starting with our training pitches, the medical department and we try to make us more serious, important and competitive.

"I am happy with the people around me.

"We all need to push harder. It's about the process of building the team. We're in a situation where we can't be satisfied. At the end, all of us know what is our final target."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/revealed-how-fulham-boss-leaves-12280008

[WhiteJC]

 
Preparation makes perfect for Jokanovic
by DAN on DECEMBER 6, 2016

Slavisa Jokanovic has made sweeping changes to the way Fulham prepare for fixtures – and his new arrangements seem to be having the desired effect.

The Serbian head coach has insisted that his players travel together the night before a match and spend the evening at a hotel – something which also happens when Fulham are in action at Craven Cottage. The arrangements, which are commonplace on the continent where Jokanovic had managed extensively before arriving in London, might be one of the reasons why Fulham's away record has improved so remarkably during this season.

Jokanovic has also instituted minor changes at Fulham's Motspur Park training ground as well. Whereas previously first team squad members and academy players mixed freely and ate together in the club canteen, there are now defined seating areas for different teams. Fulham have also upgraded the training pitches and facilities at Motspur Park, with the new extension to the training ground unveiled by leading Premier League officials earlier this month.

The Fulham head coach is quoted by GetWestLondon as saying:

We made many changes starting with our training pitches, the medical department and we try to make us more serious, important and competitive. I am happy with the people around me.

We all need to push harder. It's about the process of building the team. We're in a situation where we can't be satisfied. At the end, all of us know what is our final target.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2016/12/prepartion-makes-perfect-for-jokanovic/

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham join Championship race for Bogle
by DAN on DECEMBER 6, 2016

Fulham are one of a host of Championship clubs considering a January move for in-form Grimsby Town forward Omar Bogle, according to press reports.

Slavisa Jokanovic has been kept appraised of the 24 year-old's progress after Fulham made initial enquiries to sign the former non-league striker during the summer transfer window – and Bogle's stock has only risen since then. He is currently the highest scorer in English football having netted sixteen times in 22 appearances for the League Two side, which includes a current run of seven in his last four matches.

Bogle shot to prominence in non-league football through his sensational scoring record for Solihull Moors. He scored 66 goals in 116 games for the Moors, including 29 in 42 appearances in his final season with the Conference North outfit, which earned him the league's Golden Boot and Player of the Year award in 2014-2015. His goalscoring exploits continued at Blundell Park as he notched nineteen times as Grimsby earned promotion to the Football League via the play-offs and his potency in League Two, which has seen him named as the division's player of the month twice, has only heightened the interest in his services.

Bogle, who began his career as a trainee at West Bromwich Albion, has also attracted the attention of Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Norwich City and Brentford. Grimsby, who are hoping to win a second successive promotion, are keen to hold onto Bogle's talent – at the very least for the duration of the three year contract he signed in 2015 – but are braced for more bids to arrive in the new year.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2016/12/fulham-join-championship-race-for-bogle/

[WhiteJC]

 
Fredericks: Fulham put lessons of Brighton defeat into practice
by DAN on DECEMBER 6, 2016

Ryan Fredericks says Fulham used the frustration of a painful defeat in Brighton and the lessons they took on board from their second half collapse to keep their composure and put Reading to the sword in such impressive fashion on Saturday.

Slavisa Jokanovic's side were so clearly on top during the first half against their promotion rivals that it was slightly baffling that they only had the slenderest of leads going into the half-time break. Fredericks, who made the opening goal with a devilish cross that Chris Gunter contrived to inexplicably head into his own net, told the Fulham official website that the dangers of sitting back on a narrow lead were reiterated during the half-time team talk.

Although we were winning, it was so frustrating at half-time, the same scenario as the last week. But we took that experience from Brighton and how we felt after the game. Coming in at half-time and only being 1-0 up despite dominating, we knew that Reading were still dangerous, they're third in the league for a reason.

So we knew we had to up the tempo even more in the second half, and once we got goals two and three we knew the game was as good as over. We've outplayed pretty much everyone we've come up against this season, and we know we're millimetres off doing good things this year and finishing up in a good position.

The right back, now enjoying a regular run in the side after a frustrating three month spell on the sidelines with injury at the start of the season, says that the confidence is now high at Motspur Park.

We're 10th in the table, but that's only a few points off fourth place, so as long as we keep playing like that then we're going to be up there.

He says the seeds of the eye-catching demolition of the Royals were sown on the Motspur Park training pitches, where Jokanovic and his coaching staff drilled the Fulham players on the specifics of a high pressing game and playing high-tempo adventurous football.

We worked on it all week, to be fair. he Gaffer set us up really well. They said we'd get chances from it and that's exactly what happened. From Tuesday morning we were working on it and we put it into practice. All the lads, from the goalkeeper to the strikers, put the gameplan into place perfectly.

Reading sort of played into our hands a bit. If you come here and try and play it's going to be tough for you because we've got such good players that we're going to keep possession of the ball for most of the game.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2016/12/fredericks-fulham-put-lessons-of-brighton-defeat-into-practice/

[WhiteJC]

 
Aluko Tips Fulham For Play-Offs After Reading Rout

Nigerian forward Sone Aluko has played down Fulham's current position in the English Championship league table, stressing that how they finish the season is what matters.



Fulham  who are on 28 points, currently occupy the 10th position after 19 games and are four points off the play-off spot (sixth position).



"It's all about the points," he told fulhamfc.com.



"The positions right now don't really matter, it's where we finish at the end of the season. But to collect another three points is huge, I think we're just four points off fourth, so we're not too far away.



"It doesn't matter who we play in this league now, we've proved that we don't fear anyone. On our day we can beat the top teams, as we showed on Saturday. We beat Newcastle, we did well against Brighton.



"We're more concerned about how we play and how we finish moves, rather than the form of the other team. Reading had won five in a row and we've gone and beaten them comfortably, so we don't fear anybody," Aluko boasted.



Last Saturday, Fulham thrashed an in-form Reading (who are third in the league table) 5-0 with Aluko getting his side's second goal (his fourth goal in 18 league appearances).



Aluko was delighted with the emphatic win, claiming Fulham proved critics wrong with the performance.



"It was a good day," Aluko told fulhamfc.com. "That's the quality we've got. When a lot of people say we're not clinical and that we miss chances, we take it a bit personally because we know what we can do.



"In training we finish goals well and our build-up play is fantastic, so it's just getting the last touch on the ball and finishing the game well, and on Saturday we showed the quality we've got.



"We've been working on being more clinical, finishing off teams. We've been dominating a lot of sides but allowing them back into the game and letting them off the hook.



"But we really stuck it to Reading and finished them off. To win 5-0, and score so many goals again at home, was perfect."


Read more at http://www.completesportsnigeria.com/aluko-tips-fulham-play-offs-reading-rout/#8WAQQpkTxsUr3xSR.99

[WhiteJC]

 
Jokanovic Press Conference: Believe In Our Style
Fulham Head Coach Slavisa Jokanovic, expresses his delight in his sides five star performance against an inform Reading.

Fulham's Head Coach, Slavisa Jokanovic opened his account at the press conference after the five goal romp of Reading, with the following statement; "I can be very happy with this victory. We can be very happy with the performance of the team."

The Serbian continued; "I am very satisfied, because we offer a great afternoon for our supporters."

The Royals came into the match on the back of a impressive five game winning streak.

Reading's attacking style of play would ultimately prove to be the undoing of a well routined Royals team and work to the advantage of Fulham's style of play.

Jokanovic goes on to acknowledge that saying, "We try [to] press them very high."

"This is one of the teams with more possession in [the] Championship."

The Fulham Head Coach expresses his delight in his team and the recent success of the system at the club.

"We can be strong if we believe in ourselves and believe in our style." Slavisa quoted.

When questioned on Chris Martin's contributions to the team as of late, Jokanovic is quick in defending the clubs top scorer; "He's starting to get better, we need to connect with him."

The Serbian continued by suggesting that people have been questioning whether the scotsman has performed up standard expected of him in recent fixtures.

"We did not connect enough times with him [Martin], He was or target, our platform player"

Jokanovic goes to explain the importance of the presence of Martin in the team.

"He offers very good work, press the full back very well. its credit for him, his numbers in the past show that he can a very important player for us."

"I am happy with Chris Martin, The club knows my opinion and it is not in my hands"

When questioned on the similarities between his last managerial bout in England, during his tenure at Watford, which saw The Hornets promoted, in comparison to this season at Fulham, Jokanovic replied with; "I don't want to compare the teams but it is generally Watford were more of a clinical team."

The press then continued with enquiring how after scoring five goals at home, was not portrayed as 'clinical' to the standards of the Serb. "Generally we play very good football, we can score more goals, we missed many chances.", However later clarifying that his previous statement was made in the context over the season in its entirety.

The interview was concluded by a final thought from the Head Coach, indicating that progress is being made in the attempt of moulding the team into the perfect model envisioned by Slavisa Jokanovic, "We try to find our identity, our style, this is more or less our style."

Fulham's next fixture sees The Cottagers on the road at the Molineux Stadium, against a Wolves side that currently sit 20th in the Championship.


http://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2016/12/6/13841160/fulham-slavisa-jokanovic-press-conference-believe-in-our-style

[WhiteJC]

 
Ticket Office Early Closure

Fans are advised that the Ticket Office will close at 2pm on Wednesday 14th December.

Tickets can still be bought over the phone on 0843 208 1234.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/december/06/ticket-office-early-closure

[Bill2]

Some items missed:

Think it was the Sun or another of the red tops. Pat Roberts MOTM performance yesterday may mean a return to Man City next season and depending on appearances, not specified in the paper, it will bring Fulham about 11 mill as they only paid 4 mill cash. Didn't qualify if it was an additional 7 mill or the full 11.

In the Mail a big article on Japp Stam and since his takeover Reading are 8th in Europe for possession with 60.5%. We are 10th with 59.5 %. As we stuffed then with about 65/35 on Saturday won't be long before we are ahead of them.