Tuesday Fulham Stuff (21/02/17)...

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Official Charity Match 2016/17

The Fulham vs Preston North End fixture on Saturday 4th March is this season's official Charity Match, benefitting Fulham FC Foundation's adult health programmes.

Amongst these are Fulham Legends Walking Football, fanActiv, and Fulham Memories: the dementia support programme championed by George Cohen himself and backed by both FFC Chairman, Mr. Khan, and Fulham FC supporters.

We all need a little help as we age. From inactivity to social isolation, the burdens of growing older are best addressed with support from family and friends. The Official Charity Match is an opportunity for FFC fans to show their support for the matriarchs and patriarchs of our Fulham Family.   

There will be several ways to donate to the cause, with details released nearer the time. All of the proceeds will benefit:

Fulham Legends Walking Football – The same great game, but walking. For those aged 50+ who want to stay involved in football and connect with fellow fans. The team enjoy local fixtures, tournaments, and weekly training sessions at Fulham FC's Motspur Park Training Ground.

Fulham Memories – Made possible through the generous donations of Fulham FC fans and Chairman Shahid Khan, during the Cohen66 campaign. Fulham Memories uses sport as a reminiscence tool for those living with dementia. Since its launch in December 2016, the Foundation has engaged some of the White's most long-standing fans, including those with dementia, their carers, and the wider community. Increasing connections and enjoying fond memories of Fulham's past, the Fulham Memories sessions take place each week at Craven Cottage.

fanActiv – Converting existing rivalries between football fans to get men moving more. The programme challenges fans to 'walk, run, cycle, move their way to the top of the league table'. Backed by Fitbit UK, phase 2 of fanActiv is now underway across 9 clubs in London.



Can't make it to the match? You can donate online here:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?charityId=1006869



About Fulham FC Foundation:

Fulham Foundation is the charitable arm of Fulham Football Club, working in South and South West London to build better lives through sport. We deliver an expansive range of community development programmes, from social inclusion to participation, to education and health. In 2016, the Foundation launched a range of new programmes in response to local need, engaging 181,779 children, young people and adults - more than 11,000 of whom were unique participants.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/february/20/official-charity-match-201617

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Bristol City have a long history with Fulham and here are SEVEN reasons why they could get a result

Bristol City have a long history with their next Championship opponents Fulham, having met 57 times over the years.

Earlier this season, the Robins were victorious at Craven Cottage twice in four days, handing out a 4-0 hammering in the Championship to go with a 2-1 EFL Cup win.

With City at home to the Lilywhites this time round, we look at seven reasons why they could continue their fine run of results against Fulham.

1: Bristol City have strengthened considerably up front since the last meeting, with the acquisitions of Matty Taylor and Milan Duric adding firepower up front and providing Tammy Abraham with some competition.



2: Home advantage. Although Craven Cottage has been a happy hunting ground for Bristol City with three wins out of three in 2016, the Ashton Gate factor shouldn't be ignored. Seven of the Robins nine league victories this season have come at home, showing they are a different proposition with the Ashton Gate faithful roaring them on.



3: Bristol City's form is slowly starting to pick up - despite the loss last week to Leeds United - after the terrible run of eight consecutive defeats left them fearful of the drop. A win over Rotherham and creditable draws with Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday mean that Fulham's visit could be coming at just the right time for the resurgent Robins, despite there being a chance of City being in the relegation zone come Wednesday.



4: The January transfer window also saw the captures of Jens Hegeler, Bailey Wright and David Cotterill. Hegeler, signed from Hertha Berlin for £255,000, and central defender Wright, acquired from Preston, have added quality and assurance to the spine of the side, and Cotterill, signed on loan from Birmingham until the end of the season, will provide experience and strength in depth in the Robins midfield.



5: Fulham's inconsistency looks like it will end up costing them a place in the playoffs this season, and too often this season it has been a case of two steps forward, one step back for the Cottagers. Should the Robins catch them on a bad day, Bristol City will be well placed to emerge with three precious points.



6: The match will come just three days after Fulham's huge FA Cup fifth round derby at home to Tottenham. Bristol City could well catch the Cottagers cold and take full advantage of any FA Cup hangover. They suffered a 3-0 defeat at the weekend.



7: Finally, the referee for the match will be Tim Robinson, which will be the fifth time he's taken charge of a game involving the Robins. After two defeats and two draws in the previous four, surely it's Bristol City's turn to get a win?! What do you mean, tenuous?

However.....



Tammy Abraham was on the score sheet against Fulham back in September but is set to miss the game after injuring his groin last week in the midweek defeat to Leeds United.


Read more at http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/bristol-city-have-a-long-history-with-fulham-and-here-are-seven-reasons-why-they-could-get-a-result/story-30149005-detail/story.html#op1fpVtuMDMQQLXE.99

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Fulham may not face injured Abraham

The on-loan Chelsea striker limped out of City's defeat at Leeds last Tuesday after injuring his thigh.

The 19-year-old has returned to Stamford Bridge temporarily to be assessed by the Blues' medical staff.

Abraham has scored 21 goals in 35 games for Bristol City this season, two of them against Fulham.

The Robins will definitely be without full-back Mark Little, who is out for a month with a hamstring injury.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/youngster-returns-chelsea-treatment-may-miss-fulham-game

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The Craven Corner: Cup Exit, But There's Still Plenty To Play For
Fulham Columnist, Adam Brons-Smith reflects on Fulham's exit from the cup and the near future.

It's safe to say Fulham are entering a very strange part of their season. After a disappointing performance at home to Tottenham this weekend, what does the future hold for Jokanovic's men?

I don't think anyone was truly expecting Neeskens Kebano to start as the lone forward against Spurs, and in fairness it was a massive ask considering he has rarely featured all season. The game plan was obvious from the opening fifteen minutes with the midfield hitting long-balls hoping to get the Congolese attacker in behind Alderweireld and Vertonghen, but it didn't have much luck. With the side lacking much creativity in the final third, Spurs began to dominate the game and time after time the left-hand side of the defence in Scott Malone and Tim Ream looked vulnerable. While, I'm a big fan of the style of football Slavisa Jokanovic has brought to the team, we still suffer defensively. Our full-backs aren't good enough going back, and even though Malone has scored plenty of goals this season, he's in the side to keep clean sheets more than anything and needs to make sure he does the basics right. Although, Denis Odoi didn't have the best of games, he was the better performing full-back for Fulham on this afternoon.

But this is where we need to look towards a 'Plan B', something that Jokanovic has struggled to do implement all season. Even though we have the level of quality to out-pass teams in this division, there has been too many times this season where we have simply got to the final third and passed the ball sideways. Without, Chris Martin in the side we lack a focal point, and when Fulham get to the opposition's area, they are trying to play too cute between the lines rather than getting it wide and delivering the ball for the forward in the box. Against Spurs this happened time after time, and our attacks were easily snuffed out and Spurs regained their tempo. On the upside, we'll never face a team as good as Spurs unless we get promoted, but it was a learning curve for all involved on how to play 'stylish football with attacking full-backs'. But, we shouldn't be afraid to adopt an 'ugly' approach if things aren't going our way. If that means we have to play more structured and direct football then so be it, teams don't get awarded points for style, and if we want to improve, sometimes we have to win a game by trying something new.

What hasn't gone unnoticed in our recent fixtures is the lack of Chris Martin and although I've mentioned his presence in the paragraph above, he still has a vital role to play in this side. Yes, he has been a controversial character since Christmas, but considering the club allowed Cauley Woodrow and Matt Smith to leave this winter, Martin is our only viable target man in the squad – He gives us another dimension in attack. Martin has the ability to hold the ball up and bring our attacking midfielders into play, and it's this system that brings the best out of our midfield. This dimension to our attack is lost, if we play with a smaller forward or an attacking midfielder as our number 9. While, the likes of Floyd Ayite, Neeskens Kebano and Cyriac may be talented athletes, they are a complete different style of forward to Martin, and love him or hate him, we're a better side with the Scot leading the line. When Martin is playing with his back to goal, we're much more efficient and if that isn't working, then Jokanovic should look at switching to a two forward formation to help provide some support upfront. With a more diminutive forward playing alone, we are forced to try and turn centre-halves or hit the ball to too long, which in all honesty, hasn't worked whenever it has been tried. With Fulham crying out for a 'Plan B', the club need to come together surrounding the situation with Martin, and forget about it as we have a very good chance of being promoted, if we accept the qualities of what we've got. Martin was the best option on the bench in recent games and has gone unused. Yes, we've won our last 2 league games 3-2, but they are both fixtures we should have won by a more comfortable margin.

In the last few entries of this blog, I've stressed the importance of the next 4-6 months at the club. We have an incredibly tough set of fixtures between now and the end of the season and a lot could change depending on where the club finishes this year. If we are promoted, then we'll have to go on an impressive run and luck must be on our side. Even then, if we got promoted, a host of new contracts would have to be offered to key figures and at least £30-50m would have to be invested into the side.

But, at the start of the year I stated that if we finished in the top 10 it would have been a successful season. Now, many of the readers may think I'm being pessimistic or they make think differently, but we are a club in transition. We must remember that Slavisa Jokanovic joined us just over a year ago, and we've had to completely change personnel from the squads built by Felix Magath & Kit Symons, so we are still settling.

Development of Motspur Park has been completed and the plans for a stadium expansion are still underway with Shahid Khan continuing to improve the club's assets. While we didn't 'splash the cash' in January, it will be an incredibly important summer should we remain in the Championship. Slavisa Jokanovic still has a lot to prove, despite the upturn in performances this season, but with contract talks ongoing with himself and the board, sorting his future sooner rather than later will be a great boost to everyone involved. It will also allow more time for the board to prepare for the summer business, working with the manager to highlight targets and where the squad can be improved depending on our finish.

More importantly, there are a host of players we need make sure stay at this club for the next 2-3 years. The likes of Tomas Kalas (albeit on loan), Tom Cairney, Ryan Sessegnon, Stefan Johansen, Kevin McDonald & Ryan Fredericks to name a few who are probably our most valuable assets and fixtures of our team's core and spine. If we can keep the majority of this squad together for at least the next 18 months, there's no reason why we can't get promoted from the Championship and return to the Premier League. We are blessed right now we some outstanding talent and with the right managerial setup and backing from the board, Fulham could have a very bright future on the horizon.

After being knocked out of the cup by Tottenham, Fulham have to make sure that they bounce back with an away victory at Bristol City on Wednesday. With Bristol City possessing the likes of Tammy Abraham, a goal machine at this level, Fulham need to record their third straight league win and put pressure on the chasing pack for promotion. Despite our cup exit, there's still plenty to be optimistic and excited about at Craven Cottage. So keep the faith and let's see if we can make something special from this season.


http://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2017/2/20/14665080/the-craven-corner-cup-exit-but-theres-still-plenty-to-play-for

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Fulham's on loan Chelsea defender: 'We have to admit Tottenham were too good for us'
The Whites huffed and puffed but a Harry Kane hat-trick was enough to book Spurs' place in the FA Cup quarter finals


Tomas Kalas (Photo: GetWestLondon)

Chelsea youngster Tomas Kalas has admitted that Tottenham were too good for Fulham during their FA Cup game.

The Whites huffed and puffed but a Harry Kane hat-trick was enough to book Spurs' place in the FA Cup quarter finals where they will host League One side Millwall.

And the Czech defender believes it has shown the squad how far away they are from the highest level.

"We have to admit Tottenham were too good for us," Kalas said. "We can see where the level is to play in the Premier League and in a team like Tottenham who are third in the league.

"We see how much we have to work hard and now we see that if somebody thinks they are already there then we are nowhere near."

Kalas had the unenviable task of trying to keep Kane quiet and was caught out for the England striker's opener.

And that moment would have taught the defender that the slightest mistake can be punished by a player of his quality.

He added: "It's difficult to say what I've learned. I could see he was playing and how focused you have to be against him.

"He's a very good player and how difficult it is to face him. We weren't good enough to stop him."

Fulham face a bit of a west country tour in the week with a trip to Bristol City on Wednesday followed by Cardiff on Saturday.

Kalas added: "We know what we're playing for and what is ahead of us. We have something to give back because we didn't beat either of them at home so I think we have something to play for."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulhams-loan-chelsea-defender-we-12631739

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Bristol City beat Fulham 4-0 last year but how many from that starting XI will play on Wednesday?

A Good deal has changed at Ashton Gate since Bristol City last met Fulham in a Sky Bet Championship fixture.

Lee Johnson's Robins produced arguably their best performance of the season to destroy the Cottagers 4-0 in West London back on September 24.

That result established City's place among the early play-off contenders and raised hopes among the fan base that the Robins might be able to sustain a promotion challenge.

All such hopes have long since been banished as City, handicapped by an unwanted club-record sequence of eight straight defeats in December and January, have spiralled into decline.

Far from entertaining thoughts of a play-off campaign, City are engaged in an increasingly desperate fight for Championship survival following a meagre return of two wins from 17 outings.

Much has also changed in respect to City's first team personnel as head coach Johnson has sought to check the slide by recourse to the transfer market. The arrival of six new players in January, allied to the absence of others through injury, mean the starting line-up that takes to the field in Wednesday's return fixture at Ashton Gate will bear little resemblance to the one that proved so successful at Craven Cottage five months ago.

Given Johnson's recent selections, it seems reasonable to assume that as few as three of those who lined up on the banks of the Thames last Autumn have a realistic shot at starting this week.

Here we take a look at the 11 men who inspired City's biggest win of the season and chart their fortunes in the intervening months.

Frank Fielding: Has since lost his place to German goalkeeper Fabian Giefer, the 26-year-old former Under-21 international stopped recruited on loan from Bundesliga club Schalke 04 in January. Will almost certainly be on the bench this Wednesday.

Mark Little: Although he has featured regularly in the injury-enforced absence of Adam Matthews, he is himself side-lined after damaging a hamstring in last week's 2-1 defeat at Leeds. Expected to be out of action for at least a month.

Aden Flint: A more or less ever-present in City's starting line-up for three seasons now, the big centre-back is one of the few who played at Craven Cottage who is more or less guaranteed selection for the re-match.

Hordur Magnusson: The Iceland defender's fall from grace has been sudden. Replaced by January signing Bailey Wright at the heart of City's back four, the former Juventus man has not even made the 18-man match-day squad in recent weeks.

Joe Bryan: In and out of the side since playing so well as a left-back at Fulham, the Bristolian has come through a recent loss of form to regain his place and should start the next game, probably on the left side of midfield.

Marlon Pack: a key figure in the side that won 4-0 in West London five months ago, the former Portsmouth and Cheltenham Town midfielder has started just two Championship games for the Robins since the turn of the year after losing his place to new recruit Jens Hegeler, signed from Hertha Berlin.

Bobby Reid: Another who enjoyed outstanding form and earned rave reviews earlier in the season, only to drop down the pecking order as results and performances suffered after October. Has struggled to make City's Championship squad in recent weeks and is unlikely to find his way back into the side any time soon.

Luke Freeman: A regular starter for the Robins during the first half of the season, the versatile midfielder was considered a key player until refusing to sign a new contract in the winter. Dropped from the squad in early January after being linked with QPR, he subsequently joined the West London club a day before the transfer deadline.

Lee Tomlin: A fans' favourite and a more or less guaranteed starter prior to December, the talismanic attacking midfielder has suffered a worrying loss of form in recent months. As a consequence, he has missed more games than he has played in 2017 and his presence from the start on Wednesday is by no means assured.

Jamie Paterson: Having initially made a good impression following his August move from Nottingham Forest, the winger has produced his best form only fleetingly and is more often than not a substitute these days. If he does not start, expect him to come off the bench in the second half.

Tammy Abraham: Arguably City's most impressive performer this season, the teenage loan signing from Chelsea is usually one of the first names on head coach Johnson's team sheet. But City's 21-goal top-scorer sustained a thigh injury at Leeds United last week and is rated an extreme doubt for the next game.


Read more at http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/bristol-city-beat-fulham-4-0-last-year-but-how-many-from-that-starting-xi-will-play-on-wednesday/story-30149871-detail/story.html#IJPqCeMQSIuBBsoB.99

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Why Klopp must make the signing of unheralded youngster Liverpool's priority this summer

Fulham youngster Ryan Sessegnon could be the ideal summer signing for Liverpool.

Fulham's Ryan Sessegnon in action

Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon's stock continues to rise within the game, amid rumours of a summer move to Tottenham Hotspur (Telegraph).

The 16-year-old has thrilled fans at Craven Cottage with his cavalier displays down the left hand flank for the Cottagers this season, and it is quite clear that he will go on to become a truly top class player as he continues to develop and evolve.

And Jürgen Klopp should seriously consider bringing him to Anfield in the summer, what with the current problems he has at the left side of his defence.

The German has been forced to deploy James Milner as an auxiliary left-back for the majority of his side's campaign, due to his lack of trust in Alberto Moreno, after the Spaniard's shocking performance in the final of the Europa League last year.

And although Spurs are reportedly leading the race to sign the Fulham teenager, according to the Telegraph, Liverpool would be an equally enticing prospect for Sessegnon, and it could be argued that he would be given more first-team opportunities on Merseyside.

Spurs already have Danny Rose and Ben Davies amongst their squad, so any chance of action for the 16-year-old would surely be incredibly limited.

The upcoming summer transfer window will be a vitally important one for Klopp and Liverpool.

And with the German being renowned for his ability to buy young, unpolished gems, and turn them into world beaters, there couldn't be a better way in which to start than with the acquisition of Ryan Sessegnon.


http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/02/20/klopp-must-make-the-signing-of-unheralded-youngster-liverpools-p/

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Neeskens Kebano offers a reason behind his upturn in form at Fulham
Forward came off the bench to score in 3-2 wins over Wigan and Nottingham Forest


Joy! Neeskens Kebano gets that winning feeling

Neeskens Kebano has credited his time at the Africa Cup of Nations as a reason behind his improved form at Fulham.

The DR Congo international failed to score in his first few months at Craven Cottage but, after returning from international duty, has come off the bench to score in 3-2 wins over Wigan and Nottingham Forest.

And he has started to get to grips with the Championship, which is a more intense and physical league that the Belgian top flight.

Kebano said: "When I was in the African Nations Cup I played and I got a bit more experience and I came back with more confidence as I had some time to play.

"I was given an opportunity when I came back and three days after, again. Step by step, I'm trying to earn my place and to bring what I can bring.


Goal! Neeskens Kebano

"When I came here, I found there is a little bit higher rhythm and there is more contact with the teams we play.

"They're the only differences I've found. I can say all the teams work hard with and without the ball."

Kebano was rewarded by being handed a start against Tottenham and, while he had a quiet game against one of the best teams in the country, he always knew it'd be difficult.

"We knew it'd be a tough game and it was and we lost the game. I think they deserved to win this afternoon and there's nothing else to say," he added.

"I'm proud (of my week's work) but I'd be more proud if we had beaten Tottenham. It's nothing. I keep on working and keep on pushing to try and start more games.

"With our team-mates, it's time for a bit of rest and be focused for Bristol City on Wednesday."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neeskens-kebano-offers-reason-behind-12632189