Monday Fulham Stuff (11/09/17)...

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U23s Travel to Reading

Fulham take on Reading at Adams Park on Monday evening in the PL2 Division 2. It hasn't been the easiest start to the season for the Whites, as they lost their three opening league matches.

Last time out the Whites were defeated in a close 3-2 match against Aston Villa at Craven Cottage.

After going behind early, Elijah Adebayo brought the game level instantaneously in the fifth minute of the match.

Fulham went behind again, and a deflected shot from Mikolaj Kwietniewski saw the Whites come from behind for a second time, before the Villains capitalised on a wayward pass to claim all three points.

Reading are in a similar position to Fulham in the PL2, sitting 10th in the table, one place above the Whites.

The Royals' only win came against Brighton and Hove Albion, a team that Fulham lost 4-2 to last month.

In their last match they drew 2-2 in the Checkatrade Trophy against Colchester United, similarly Fulham drew 3-3 in their Checkatrade outing at Fratton Park.

Follow live updates of the match from Fulham's official Twitter account, @FulhamFC.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/september/10/u23s-travel-to-reading

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Fulham 1-1 Cardiff City: Talking points from the Cottage as Slavisa Jokanovic's side fail to win at home again

Fulham dropped points at home once again as a late leveller ensured Cardiff remained top of the pile - here's what we learnt from the game

Fulham suffered another late equaliser at the Cottage as they drew 1-1 with Cardiff City - a result that means the side are still without a home win this season.

They looked good at times and deserved a goal, which came through Ryan Sessegnon after Floyd Ayite's shot was parried into the 17-year-old's path to tuck home.

The equaliser came courtesy of a man who looked solid all game, Tomas Kalas, as his rushed clearance from a free kick fell to the opposition, and three passes later that ball was on the head of Danny Ward and in the back of the net.

Here's what we took from the game.

Ibrahima Cisse struggled with the physicality of the game
Jokanovic decided to go with Cisse instead of Oliver Norwood to replace Tom Cairney, but it proved to be the wrong choice with the 23-year-old really struggling with the physicality of the game - something he was brought in to try and deal with.

Cardiff are a strong side - they play tough football and they are very good at it.

Cisse was brought in to try and deal with some of the physicality that they possessed in the midfield through Aron Gunnarsson and Joe Ralls, but it didn't work for Cisse who was on his backside far too often.

He was hauled off in the second half for Norwood who looked a lot more comfortable in the midfield and produced the passes from midfield that the side were lacking somewhat.

Whether it's a need to adapt to the Championship or something else, Cisse needs to build on his performance and ensure he's not so easily pushed off the ball when faced with a combative opponent - Junior Hoilett should not be shoulder barging anyone to the ground, let alone Cisse.


Need for physicality: Ibrahima Cisse (Image: Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com)

The defence look good but a single mistake came back to bite Fulham
For the most part, Fulham's defence looked strong as a unit with David Button having very little in terms of saves to do.

But again, a single mistake and lapse in concentration has come round to bite Fulham.

Kalas was immense yesterday - he won everything in the air, he was physical and he got the timings of his tackles spot on, but one mistake from the Czech meant Fulham had to share the points instead of take all three.

I've enjoyed watching Kalas and Tim Ream play together at centre back this season, they look like they're on the same page now and look a very solid partnership which was lacking before the latter part of the previous season.

But this is the second time at the Cottage this season that Fulham have conceded late after going a goal up, and they need to cut it out sharpish as they look to charge up the table.

I've said it before - Championship titles are built on defence and Jokanovic's side need to figure out how top leaking these late goals.


In possession: Tomas Kalas (Image: Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com)

Aboubakar Kamara looks raw but has a lot to learn
Kamara was Fulham's only fit striker, but Jokanovic opted for the false nine formation with Ayite playing up top, flanked by Sessegnon and new boy Yohan Mollo.

He came on late in the second half as Fulham pushed for a goal, and despite showing a willingness to use himself as a sort of battering ram to run at Sol Bamba he didn't have the bests of games.

Kamara has tonnes of pace and he's a raw striker who needs to adapt and learn about Championship football, but his touch was poor yesterday while his crossing was even worse.

He excited the crowd when he got on the ball and knocked it past Bamba, but in my view it was more about the race than any actual hope of something happening afterwards, and more often than not nothing did happen after,

He's only 22 however, so things can only improve for Kamara as he gets used to England and the pace of the Championship.


Lots to learn: Aboubakar Kamara (Image: Paul Burgman/Press-Photos.com)

There were glimpses of how good Fulham can be
Despite the side not yet reaching the same level of performance as last season, there are signs that they can still play at that level.

Cardiff weren't able to live with Fulham when they got their act together and produced what we all know they can do - Sessegnon was unlucky not to score earlier when a intricate piece of play saw the ball go from Stefan Johansen to Ayite to Sessegnon all with one touch and all in the space of a few seconds.

Neil Warnock was complimentary after the game once again about Fulham's style - once a full strength Fulham get it going again I get the feeling someone is in for a battering.



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-1-1-cardiff-city-13597789

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Winning run ends, but still unbeaten after good draw at Fulham.

It's strange how teams react to certain grounds. For example, good City sides (including the one that won this division five seasons ago) seem to turn to jelly whenever they pitch up at London Road, Peterborough.

Although the matter as to why teams can go decades racking up the losses at some grounds (like we did at Ashton Gate, Bristol from 1970 to 2010) when you have different generations of players going there and performing abjectly has always been a mystery to me, I suppose there are times when teams that have been together for a few seasons can develop a complex over going to certain stadiums and a "we never do well here" mentality develops.

However, if a side's poor record at some grounds can be explained to some extent, in the short to medium term at least, it's hard to understand why it is that managers have bogey grounds.

As this piece shows, Neil Warnock is a superstitious man and I suspect that he will have been aware of the stat which surfaced in the build up to Cardiff City's game at Craven Cottage, Fulham yesterday – it is a ground that he has never won at during his thirty seven year managerial career.

Now, with Fulham having been in the Premier League for a fair amount of that time and most of Warnock's career having been spent in the three divisions which now comprise the Football League, it may be that he has not taken as many teams to the ground that lies on the banks of the Thames in south west London as he has done to some of the other ones that he'll be returning to in the next eight months. However, the sheer longevity of his career in management has to mean that he will have had plenty of chances to record that elusive first win at one of my favourite grounds.

Despite his superstitious nature, I cannot see our manager being the type to allow any reservations he may have had beforehand regarding a visit to a ground where he has such a poor record as a manager, to be transmitted to his players in the build up to his latest attempt to record that elusive first win there.

However, did his true feelings reveal themselves when our manager said after the match that he would have "snapped your hand off", if you'd have offered him a point beforehand?

Alternatively, and I suspect correctly, you could conclude that Neil Warnock regarded our 1-1 draw as a very acceptable outcome on purely footballing terms even if it did mean that the club record breaking run of consecutive league wins to begin a season had come to an end.

As Warnock remarked, no one else in the Championship plays like Fulham and our manager has remarked previously that they were his tip to go up at the start of the promotion Play Offs last season.

For my part, I didn't see another Championship team to rival Fulham when they were really on their game in 16/17 and, as I believe I've mentioned before on here, the 2-2 draw at Cardiff City Stadium last February was the most entertaining match I've watched live in years.

In that game, there were long periods, particularly in the second half, when it felt like Fulham were on the brink of overwhelming us such was their domination both in terms of possession and territory, but then City would hit them with a pacy and direct counter attack, almost always involving the superb Kenneth Zohore, and you were reminded that we had it in us to put the ball in their net in a matter of seconds when we got things right going forward.

It really was a fascinating contrast in styles when the teams last met, but, by the end, you could make a decent chance for saying that we deserved the win such was the number of incidents and scoring chances around the Fulham goal compared to the number around ours.

The difference yesterday was that, with Zohore not as influential, (in fact, the front three who have been so effective this season probably had their quietest game up to now in terms of attacking impact), City were never the attacking influence that they had been seven months earlier.

Warnock said the point was a deserved one in the end and Danny Gabbidon was in agreement with him in his role as Radio Wales summariser, but I would say that, just as in February, while the draw was probably a just outcome, if one of the teams did deserve to win, it was the one playing at home.

City needed to be resilient and organised to claim their point yesterday. They also needed their goalkeeper to make some good saves, while the home keeper was, largely, unemployed – the only time Neil Etheridge blundered, when he missed his kick after rushing from his goal line to hack clear, he was grateful to the covering Joe Bennett, playing against the team he could have joined last month, for getting back to clear Johansen's effort off the line.

We also had luck on our side when Ayite's shot hit an upright in the second half, but then it was the home team's turn to enjoy the rub of the green when the ball fell kindly to Ryan Sessegnon after Bennett's great tackle on Ayite following a typically fluent Fulham move.

The seventeen year old was easily able to tuck away his third goal in the last four meetings between the clubs and so City found themselves staring at defeat with fifteen minutes remaining.

Given the attacking potency we've acquired as 2017 has gone on, there are always grounds for genuine hope that we can get back into a game when we fall a single goal behind, but, as mentioned earlier, our front three were not at their best yesterday – indeed, Zohore had already been withdrawn when Fulham scored and Junior Hoilett was to follow him four minutes after the goal.

I mentioned our record of being the side with the best stats for gaining points from losing position in last season's Championship from the date of Neil Warnock's appointment in my piece on our last game before the international break and the QPR encounter offered a case in point on how we managed to do that.

Largely, but not quite exclusively, our good record for turning losing causes into winning ones or draws was achieved with the players we had on the field at the time – it was a common refrain from Mr Warnock in the second half of 16/17 that we didn't have enough depth to our squad, there weren't enough "game changers" on the bench.

Against QPR, it was the eleven who started the game that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead and eventual win, but, for the first time, yesterday offered tangible evidence of the stronger hand our manager has this season when compared to last in terms of what he has available if the starting eleven don't look like turning things around.

A good way of illustrating this is to think of the players who were available yesterday, but weren't even substitutes. There was no place on the bench for City Player of the Year in 14/15, Matt Connolly, Greg Halford, brought in to paper over the cracks in our small squad through his versatility last January, was also missing, as was Anthony Pilkington, our top scorer two seasons ago, and our new striker Omar Bogle was another absentee.

With Lee Camp pencilled to make his City bow in a Development team game soon and Callum Paterson possibly getting some game time when they face Hull at Cardiff City Stadium tomorrow, the competition for places should get even hotter soon, as the consequences of all of the summer recruiting becomes ever clearer.

Yet, our manager was quick to point out at Friday's pre match press conference that, essentially, our one hundred per cent winning record after five games had been achieved with eight of last season's team and three free transfer signings from Walsall, Rochdale and Football Bourg-en-Bresse Péronnas 01!

The point Warnock was making was that the players that we spent, relatively modest, transfer fees on during the summer had not figured too much so far and it was not the one who cost the most, Lee Tomlin, that he turned to yesterday.

Now would be a good time to, belatedly, mention what was a busier final day to the transfer window than had been expected by most City supporters. There were four departures, Declan John got a great season long loan move to Rangers, while Stuart O'Keefe and Matt Kennedy secured temporary moves to Portsmouth for 17/18 and Craig Noone's contract was cancelled to enable him to move to embargo hit Bolton as a free agent – kudos and good wishes to Nooney as well for his classy farewell message.

In the days leading up to deadline day, speculation had grown that Joe Ledley would be returning to City as our manager talked about bringing in one more midfield player, but it would appear that this did not happen because Warnock's number one target, Derby's Craig Bryson, had become available late in the day as his club found it harder than expected to move out the players they had marked down for departure.

So it was, that Bryson was able to complete a season long loan move about ten minutes before the window closed and it was much the same for winger who arrived from Blackburn on a loan deal which lasts until January.

Just as with all Warnock signings it seems, it's quite easy to come up with reasons as to why these two will not be successes at Cardiff. Bryson will be thirty one in November, which is, generally, not a good age for someone who describes themselves as box to box midfielder and there were quite a few Derby fans who said that his form in the past two seasons has not matched what he came up with in 14/15 – one of two seasons in which he won the Derby player of the year award. It seems Warnock has complete faith in the player though and it was Bryson he turned to just past the hour mark yesterday when he came on for Loic Damour.

I must say that, more than any other player he's signed, I found it hard to get too enthusiastic about Feeney's arrival. Again, the aging process should dictate that a winger for whom pace is a big asset, is likely to be less effective when he reaches thirty (as Feeney did in January), but, more than that, it was the fact that he was not getting games at League One Blackburn (a Blackburn based journalist friend of Radio Wales' Rob Phillips had recently described Feeney as having been "abysmal" in his latter appearances for the Ewood Park team), that left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed by his arrival.

Yet it was Feeney who Warnock replaced Hoilett with as the last ten minutes approached and, yet again, I was reminded about the description of Warnock's transfer dealings on the day we appointed him by a supporter of another team he had managed, about him bringing in unexciting signings that end up working.

Even if Feeney never does another thing else for us (which I suspect won't be the case under this manager), he's got an assist to his name and he almost had a winning goal as well – albeit a lucky one as misdirected centre came back off the crossbar.

Feeney looks like someone who tends to get his crosses in early and, when he was fed by Mendez-Laing, his quick delivery was met by one of those players we paid a decent transfer fee for in the summer who have not had much chance yet, we had the goal that would earn us a third draw in our last four visits to Craven Cottage.

Danny Ward had done some good things in his fairly fleeting appearances off the bench in our league matches before yesterday, but his close range downward header that found the net in front of the 3,000 plus travelling army of supporters was the first time he'd had a major influence on proceedings – it won't surprise me if it earns Ward a first league start at Preston on Tuesday.

I'll finish with a couple of stats which offer completely contrasting viewpoints on how we'll fare over the rest of the season. The glass half full one is that each of the last five sides to have a one hundred per cent winning record after five matches in this league have been promoted, but the glass half empty one is that the side which has led the Championship at the end of August in each of the previous six seasons has not been promoted.

I must admit these are both stats I came across in the media in the past week and have been unable to confirm them in my research, but, assuming the second one is true, it does tend to back up a fear I have that our start to this season is comparable to the blistering one we made in 06/07 when we enjoyed a five point lead at the top of the table at the end of October, but then fell away so badly that we were in the bottom half of the table come season's end.

Given our fixtures between now and Halloween, it's hard to see us being five points clear come the end of October, but Neil Warnock has said that if we can be top four going into November, then he believes we can be up there challenging for promotion come the spring and it shouldn't be forgotten that this is a man who knows better than most what it takes to get out of this division in an upwards direction.

It might be that the day we drew 1-1 at Fulham will be seen as the day it all began to go wrong for us as far as promotion was concerned in 17/18, but the preparatory work put in during the summer in terms of acquiring the squad depth we needed and the spirit this squad has makes me hopeful this won't be the case.

We've played three sides that were heavily tipped to finish in the top two before  a ball was kicked in our first six games and have taken seven points off them to help establish a two point lead at the top of the table – you won't catch me saying we are going to hold on to that position, or the one below it, but I'm increasingly confident that we won't see a repeat of what occurred in 06/07 either.



http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/winning-run-ends-but-still-unbeaten-after-good-draw-at-fulham/

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Grant: Building Performance

Under-23s Head Coach Peter Grant spoke about his team's trip to Adam's Park on Monday to face Reading in the PL2, and touched on last week's 3-2 loss at the Cottage to Aston Villa.

"It was disappointing," reflected Grant. "The biggest disappointment for me however, is the fact of how sloppily we were giving the goals away.

We looked disjointed as a team, we didn't do the things we worked on in the build up to the game and I thought too many players were out of position too often.

"So we adjusted it a little at half time, changed it up a little bit and we dominated the ball, but we are still not playing well enough without the ball.

"I know that sounds crazy. We have good enough players when we are in possession, but they've got to realised that there are two sides to the game, and it tells you that with the amount of goals we have conceded.

"We are scoring goals, but we are conceding a lot and we have to fix that very, very quickly. All good teams are built on the amount of clean sheets they have and we are no different.

"In modern day football 75 percent of your performance is based off the ball so we have to make sure that counts for us. In recent weeks since the start of the season that has not been the case.

"We have a lot of injuries in the defensive area and we are playing midfielders back at the back, but I think the players I put there are more than capable so we can't make excuses.

Looking towards the upcoming game on Monday evening at Adams Park, Grant said, "it will be a very difficult game, we have one of the youngest teams available to play in this league, but it's good for us as it stretches us in every match.

"It's tough, we have to defend against stronger guys than us, the younger ones have handled that very well. I think there is a benefit to it for us as well, as every game we play in we have to be at our maximum and play very well to get something from it.

"We know Reading will be very tough, they will be well organised, they've already beaten Brighton this year, whereas we lost four goals to Brighton when we played them, and they played very similar teams in both games so we know it will be a tough game

"We are looking to improve our performance against the ball for us, that's definitely one thing we will be looking for over anything else.

"We know we have individuals that can win us matches but success is always built on conceding less than the opposition and that's what we've got to get back to trying to do.

"It's a game we are looking forward to, and probably couldn't come quicker after the Villa result. You lose games of football and you want one right away so this has been sitting in our stomachs for a couple of weeks now and we can try put that right on Monday.

"The boys that went away on international duty have done very well. We are delighted with the likes of Mattias Kait getting the winner for Estonia.

"Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson came off the bench for Iceland's Under-21s, and Mikolaj Kwietniewski got back to international football after a period of injury, so its been a very good week for us.

"Luckily they've come back to us fit and well, that's always the big thing when players return from internationals.

"A few boys have been out injured are coming back now, so hopefully we will be stronger all over the pitch and every one of them can challenge to get into the team and then stay in it. We can run it like the 1st team, with your performances keeping you in the side."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/september/10/grant-building-performance

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Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic doesn't want to compare last season's Play-off side to this season's team

The Fulham boss also believes that they cannot be satisfied with their performances so far this season and that they need to find a new level

Slavisa Jokanovic doesn't want people to compare his current Fulham side to that of last season and insists they must find something different in order to improve their position in the Championship.

Fulham added 11 players over the summer while losing Scott Malone and Sone Aluko to Huddersfield and Reading respectively from the side that finished in the Play-offs last season.

The side have struggled at the start of this campaign and haven't won at home yet - the latest game at the Cottage finished in a 1-1 draw with league leaders Cardiff, but the boss insists people must understand that it wasn't the strongest side playing as a result of injuries, but that they cannot be satisfied at how they've started the season.

He also believes that there aren't comparisons to draw from last season's team and this season's because they are in the process of bedding new players into the side.

He said: "People want to compare the team to last season - but no comparison exists, actually right now we bring new element into our team.



"We try and teach them what we want to do during the game, I used Yohan Mollo after only four training sessions with us because I didn't have another option.

"At the end, we are not strong like last season in the position of full back and we lost some important players for this match and we must understand that this is not our best level but I don't like comparisons to last season.

"We built some identity and some style but that season is behind us now and this is a new season and we must find something different and we are going to try improve ourselves and we cannot be satisfied with this performance at the beginning of the Championship."



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-slavisa-jokanovic-doesnt-13597944

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Kevin McDonald feels 'honoured' to captain Fulham and would be delighted to remain as club's vice captain

The 28-year-old pulled on the captain's armband in the absence of club captain Tom Cairney and has said he'd be happy to do the job while the midfielder is missing

Kevin McDonald felt 'honoured' to captain Fulham in the side's 1-1 draw with Cardiff City in the absence of Tom Cairney.

Cairney missed the game as he continues to struggle to knock off a knee injury that has plagued him from the start of the season, with his countryman McDonald taking over armband duties.

Slavisa Jokanovic had previously named Sone Aluko as the vice-captain as he took the armband whilst Tom Cairney was missing against Reading, but he has since moved to the Madejski Stadium leaving the role free.

And now it seems that the Fulham boss has rewarded the midfielder with the armband, something he is more than happy to do.

When asked about whether he is the new vice skipper, McDonald joked: "It seems that way, maybe not after today but when we win I might be next in line!


The stand-in skipper: Kevin McDonald (Image: Olly Greenwood/PA Wire)

"It was good yeah, I enjoyed it - I like taking a lead as such and it's an honour to be captain for the game and will until Tom Cairney is back.

"It was really good and I was proud of the boys today, I thought we battled well and there was a lot of encouraging signs but at the end of the day it was two points dropped.

"If he's called upon me to be the captain then I'm more than happy to be the captain but if not I'm happy to be on that pitch to play for this team."



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/kevin-mcdonald-feels-honoured-captain-13598666

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Sessegnon: Points Dropped

Fulham were left with mixed emotions following the 1-1 draw with Cardiff City according to Ryan Sessegnon.

The Bluebirds came into the game on the back of five wins from five games while Fulham were missing a number of key players including captain Tom Cairney.

However Sessegnon opened the scoring with 15-minutes to go but Danny Ward's header snatched a point for the visitors eight minutes later.

"I thought we dominated the game and probably should've won," Sessegnon told fulhamfc.com. "But we will take a point and move on from there.

"We knew going into the game that Cardiff were going to be physical and we were working throughout the week on their game-plan and I think we showed today that we frustrated them for the most part of the game, up until their goal.

"Kenneth Zohore is one of their target men, and we were working in training to stop that threat and I thought we did well."

Having played a key role in the win over Ipswich Town at left-back, Sessegnon was shunted further forward in an attacking wide role which he occupied for England under-19s over the summer, and he was pleased with his display at the Cottage.

"It was good today playing left wing, it was good to get a goal and I thought I did alright, I tried my best to help the team and wherever the gaffer asks me to play I am comfortable playing," he said.

Sessegnon opened his account for the season against Cardiff and was in the right place at the right time to send Fulham ahead.

"Kamara played the ball in behind, into Floyd [Ayité], and then Floyd wriggled his way through and tried to get a shot off, but it just fell to me and I just hit it.

"I was just waiting for anything to drop off, a little bounce on the ball or just anything to hit the ball and thankfully it fell to me and it went in."

With injuries to Cairney, Neeskens Kebano, Rui Fonte and Sheyi Ojo, deadline day signing Yohan Mollo was given a start and impressed the Fulham faithful before being substituted in the 58th minute.

"A lot of new players came into the side today and everyone is trying to impress the Head Coach to get a starting place in the team but I thought the new boys did well.

"Mollo is a very good player I think, he's very skilful, someone who likes to beat players one-on-one and he showed his class today.

"I think with all new players you have to give them time but today he [Mollo] showed you don't need to give him that much time to fit in to our team," said Sessegnon.

Fulham will once again run out at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night when we face Hull City, and Sessegnon is cautious of the wounded Tigers coming off a 5-0 defeat to Derby County on Friday night.

"Hull pose an attacking threat, they have a lot of attacking players in their team but again we must focus on ourselves and hopefully get the win.

"Whenever you get beat like that you want to show that it was just a one off day so they will be coming for us."




http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/september/10/sessegnon-cardiff-reaction

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McDonald honoured to lead Fulham
by Dan on September 10, 2017

Kevin McDonald has described captaining Fulham in yesterday's draw with Cardiff as an 'honour' – even though his side were ultimately underwhelmed with their point against the Championship leaders.

The Scottish defensive midfielder took over the captain's armband in the absence of injured compatriot Tom Cairney, who missed the clash with Neil Warnock's side after suffering a setback in his ongoing recovery from a knee complaint, and says he would be very happy to continue in the role should he be asked. McDonald is a leading contender to replace Sone Aluko as Fulham's permanent vice-captain after the Nigerian forward left to join Reading at the end of August.

McDonald told GetWestLondon's Ryan O'Donovan after the final whistle against Cardiff:

It was good yeah, I enjoyed it – I like taking a lead as such and it's an honour to be captain for the game and will until Tom Cairney is back. It was really good and I was proud of the boys today, I thought we battled well and there was a lot of encouraging signs but at the end of the day it was two points dropped. If he's called upon me to be the captain then I'm more than happy to be the captain but if not I'm happy to be on that pitch to play for this team.



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/09/mcdonald-honoured-to-lead-fulham/

[WhiteJC]

Sessegnon reflects on two dropped points
by Dan on September 10, 2017

Ryan Sessegnon felt Fulham should have beaten Cardiff once he had put the Whites ahead against the Championship leaders – but the teenager believes there were plenty of positive signs for Slavisa Jokanovic's side despite the disappointing finish.

The 17 year-old, who was deployed as a left winger due to a number of injuries in the build up to the game, slotted home his first goal of the season past former Fulham goalkeeper Neil Etheridge after Floyd Ayite's effort was blocked but familiar frailties returned to haunt the home side when substitute Danny Ward headed in an equaliser eight minutes from time. Speaking to Fulham's official website, Sessegnon was in no doubt that the hosts should have seized all three points:

    I thought we dominated the game and probably should've won. But we will take a point and move on from there.

    We knew going into the game that Cardiff were going to be physical and we were working throughout the week on their game-plan and I think we showed today that we frustrated them for the most part of the game, up until their goal. Kenneth Zohore is one of their target men, and we were working in training to stop that threat and I thought we did well.

He was quite happy to fulfill a more offensive role for Fulham, given that it is a position where he has starred for the England youth sides:

    It was good today playing left wing, it was good to get a goal and I thought I did alright, I tried my best to help the team and wherever the gaffer asks me to play I am comfortable playing.

Sessegnon was characteristically modest and understated about his crucial role in giving Fulham the lead:

    Kamara played the ball in behind, into Floyd [Ayité], and then Floyd wriggled his way through and tried to get a shot off, but it just fell to me and I just hit it. I was just waiting for anything to drop off, a little bounce on the ball or just anything to hit the ball and thankfully it fell to me and it went in.

The youngster was full of praise for French winger Yohan Mollo, who enjoyed a lively debut after arriving on a free transfer on deadline day:

    A lot of new players came into the side today and everyone is trying to impress the head coach to get a starting place in the team but I thought the new boys did well. Mollo is a very good player I think, he's very skilful, someone who likes to beat players one-on-one and he showed his class today. I think with all new players you have to give them time but today he [Mollo] showed you don't need to give him that much time to fit in to our team.

Fulham will be looking to record their first home win of the season against Hull City at Craven Cottage on Wednesday evening, although Sessegnon isn't taking anything for granted – even after Leonid Slutsky's side slumped to an embarrassing defeat at Derby on Friday night.

    Hull pose an attacking threat, they have a lot of attacking players in their team but again we must focus on ourselves and hopefully get the win. Whenever you get beat like that you want to show that it was just a one off day so they will be coming for us.




http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/09/sessegnon-reflects-on-two-dropped-points/

[WhiteJC]

 
"Foundation History of The Fulham Football Club"

"Foundation History of The Fulham Football Club"

by H.D. Shrimpton (ex Fulham F.C. player and secretary)

LBNo11

During the 1969-70 season Fulham FC published in it's programme a serialisation of a booklet from a former player and club secretary Mr H.D.Shrimpton entitled "Foundation History of Fulham Football Club". The first part appeared on December 27th 1969 for the game against Barrow. The editor added this postscript to the serialisation:-

"Mr. E.W. Alexander, who lives in Birmingham yet supports Fulham with an inspiring tenacity, has sent us a copy of a booklet he bought recently. We found it fascinating. It is a great opportunity to set the record right on a number of things, so we will be reproducing parts of it from time to time.

We are not sure of the date but assume it is from before the first (world) war."

In the spring of 1997 the same booklet was re-published for £1.00 to help with the funding of Fulham 2000 campaign.

I have always wanted to have such an important historical document available for a wider audience and with the advent of the cyber age this is now possible. I managed to trace (thanks to Geoffrey the cabbie on the official message board, and Jenny Gower at Fulham FC) Henry Shrimpton's grandson, the former Fulham FC director David Shrimpton, whose family still support Fulham, and he very kindly gave me permission to reproduce the booklet exclusively for Friends Of Fulham, TOOFIF and Fulham USA. It must be noted that the writing is in the vernacular of that period, and that although at times the information appears disjointed it is nonetheless enthusiastic and interesting. I have deliberately not changed the wording of the publication in any way, and have left the original programme editors notes from 1970 in italics.

In the original accompanying notes with the series, there was a foreword from G.H.T Shrimpton, CBE., TD. The father of David Shrimpton. "My father published the booklet in 1950 and it is pleasant to learn there is still interest in his account of the origins of the club. My family still takes some pride in its association with Fulham. The record of four brothers playing for it, three of them regularly, seems unlikely to be equalled and is enhanced by the fact that one of them, Tom Shrimpton, captained the first Fulham team to play at Craven Cottage. My father and brother were in the side.

When his employers required my father to reduce his commitment to football, he turned out for Fulham under the name of S.D. Henry. However he was always known locally as 'Mo', a name he acquired as a young full back for Fulham against Dartford in an away Cup tie. Fulham who were not expected to win, took a 1 – 0 lead in the second half and thereafter my father put so many clearances in the river that the name of the boatman who was called each time to retrieve it remained with my father until he died in 1956, aged 81.

I was weaned on Fulham football and although I played rugby football for Kent and London Counties and was for fifteen years chairman of the Old Blues R.F.C., I used to return with my father to Craven Cottage when I was injured or the ground too hard for rugby.

Now my early conditioning has re-asserted itself. My sons, fourth generation Fulham supporters, and I rarely miss a first or reserves game there"

David Shrimpton has written a further postscript to accompany this 'electronic' serialisation.

"The family connection with Fulham is a genetic defect, but this applies to many long-standing Fulham supporters!

Our family involvement in Fulham goes through four generations. My grandfather, Henry, captained Fulham and claimed to be the first person to kick a football at Craven Cottage when on 10th October 1896 he led the team out to play Minerva, the opening game at the new ground.

Three of his brothers also played for Fulham; he then became Company Secretary, and the registered office of the Club was at the family home in Fulham, so he was well qualified to write the 'Foundation History of Fulham Football Club'.

My father, George Shrimpton, was a life long supporter and a Vice President, and he and his father took me to my first match in 1949. I became a Director of the Club in 1991, worked with the Muddyman family to rescue the Club, developed the Dream Scheme to find someone seriously rich to take over the Club (instead of the terminal plan to reduce capacity down to 12,000 by building flats on three sides of the ground) and through an unplanned act of fate was responsible for introducing MAF to Fulham – and the rest is history".

Fulham FC began it's life 130 years ago this year (2009), and so to commemorate this – we bring you:-




http://www.friendsoffulham.com/wordpress/?p=53

[WhiteJC]

 
Forward thinking only serves to underline potential of Fulham's 17-year-old star Ryan Sessegnon 

Ryan Sessegnon slots home for Fulham to further increase the hype surrounding the 17-year-old  Credit: Olly Greenwood/PA

Ryan Sessegnon, Fulham's 17-year-old prodigy, is already a target of Premier League heavyweights - and his team captain, Kevin McDonald, predicted that the teenager can go right to the top of the game after this latest impressive display.

Tottenham Hotspur were close to breaking the record transfer fee for an English teenage footballer last month, when they bid up to £25m for Sessegnon, which was rejected by Fulham. That clearly has not affected the mindset of the teenager, who scored here on his first appearance since the end of the transfer window, slotting in from 10 yards then kicking a corner flag in celebration.

The versatile player, known for being a left back, is being moulded into a more attacking player and featured in one of the forward roles in Fulham's fluent formation on Saturday.

McDonald, leading the side in the absence of injured Tom Cairney, said: "Every time we attack, I always feel like Sess looks the most likely to score. And he's composed. When he gets a chance, he normally takes a good amount of his chances.

"Of course I can see why there's such a fuss about him. You can see it from a mile off. He's a proper bright spark. He's a nice kid as well. He's got everything it takes. If he keeps his feet on the ground, there's no doubt that he'll play at the top.


Danny Ward heads in Cardiff's equaliser with seven minutes to go at Craven Cottage Credit: Harry Hubbard/Getty Images

"I can't explain to you how confident he is. When I was 16, 17, I'm sure I was mental but he's a really quiet kid.

"If he needs advice, he'll ask advice. He'll come and pull you for a one-on-one. He knows what he's doing for that age. He's a really clever kid.

"He'll contribute a lot of goals and I think he'll get a few. He did well last season and it looks like he's going to kick on straight away."

Sessegnon had been threatening to score even before his 75th-minute strike, when he pounced after Floyd Ayite's initial effort was blocked. It was not the winner though, as Danny Ward headed in to rescue leaders Cardiff, who remain unbeaten.

Ward said: "I certainly think we have the squad to get in the shake-up if we keep this form up this season."

Fulham (4-3-3): Button - Fredericks, Kalas, Ream, Odoi - Ayite, McDonald, Johansen - Mollo (Kamara 58), Sessegnon, Cisse (Norwood 54); Subs not used: Bettinelli (gk), Madl, Graham, Djalo, O'Riley; Booked: Button, McDonald, Johansen, Mollo.

Cardiff City (4-5-1): Etheridge; Peltier, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett; Mendez-Laing, Gunnarsson, Damour (Bryson 63), Ralls, Hoilett (Feeney 79); Zohore (Ward 73); Subs not used: Murphy (gk), Manga, Richards, Tomlin; Booked: Peltier, Morrison, Bennett.

Referee: T Harrington (Cleveland).

Attendance: 20,984



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/09/10/forward-thinking-serves-underline-potential-fulhams-17-year/

[WhiteJC]

 
Did Fulham Commit An Error By Letting This Versatile Forward Leave For Reading?

Championship outfits Fulham and Reading are unarguably two sides which were desirous and productive last season, although they failed to chisel a promotion at the end. Both of these sides, however, have significantly bolstered their arsenal by manoeuvring some astute names to their ranks and despite the fact that they have had a mediocre start to their new campaign, they would still be deemed as clubs which are capable of getting the uplift this time around.

One of the players Reading prised out of the Craven Cottage during the transfer window was Sone Aluko. The Royals were constantly being linked with Aluko and eventually, a deal worth £7.5million transfer fee was materialized between both these clubs. Jaap Stam was keen to beef up his side's attacking prowess and no wonder why they didn't leave any stone unturned in order to rope him to the Madejski Stadium. But the question that lingers is whether Slavisa Jokanovic should have sanctioned his move?

Aluko emerged through the youth setup of Birmingham City and although he failed to construct a place for himself in the senior side of the Blues, his subsequent moves to Scottish outfits Aberdeen and Rangers proved to be very productive.

During the summer of 2012, the 28-year-old was signed by Hull City and after yet another promising spell, this time with the Tigers, Fulham lured him into their ranks last summer. He banged 8 goals and piled 10 assists to his name during his single season with the London based outfit and proved his mettle once again.

Aluko is a player with a notable calibre and his versatility of plying his trade as a secondary striker, centre-back as well as a left-winger makes him an appealing commodity. Reading wanted to add some pace and directness to their attack this summer and considering that the Nigerian international offers the aforesaid elements and thus, Stam has indeed been able to inject some more quality into his side to help him in bettering his chances of his side's promotion.

Views have emerged after the deal was materialized that Fulham have made a mistake by letting him go, and it does make sense, for they have arguably made a wrong decision of strengthening a team which finished above them last season. Although the transfer fee was slightly bloated, Aluko has truckloads of Championship level experience under his belt and Reading have added an option who would offer them a new dimension up front.



http://the4thofficial.net/2017/09/fulham-commit-error-letting-versatile-forward-leave-reading/

[WhiteJC]

 
Why David Meyler has to start for Hull City at Fulham

Peter Swan says the Tigers need the bite the Irishman brings to the midfield

For all the defensive woes against Derby County in conceding five goals, it was the way Hull City lined up in the middle of the park which left me scratching my head.

Markus Henriksen and Seb Larsson were paired together in the centre of midfield.

First up, Henriksen. It wasn't that long ago I was giving him a man of the match award based around a 30 minute spell where he looked the player we all hoped he would be when coming to the club.

Unfortunately, that spell was about as good as we have seen. In his defence, he keeps being picked out of position and away from home we saw an attack-minded midfielder given that central role and it doesn't suit his game at all.

City's midfield was overrun and Larsson was unable to have any affect either and stem the tide as Derby came forward.

The game was crying out for someone like David Meyler and I was surprised to see him miss out and then equally as surprised to see him left on the bench for so long.

Meyler has to start at Fulham on Wednesday evening. City need the bite that he brings in the middle of the park and if he's have been picked from the start at Derby it may just have brought a different type of performance from the Tigers.

I don't think Leonid Slutsky needs to change much else, though Jackson Irvine is also a possibility to come in.

Having been over to Australia to play, how much that travelling has taken out of him is for the manager to decide and having not had much chance to work with him, Slutsky may see it as a gamble he cannot afford to take after the Derby result.

Whatever side he goes with, the manager will expect to see an improved performance, without the ball in particular.

I watched Fulham recently when they played Leeds and they look a decent side. They ended Cardiff's winning run at the weekend with a home draw and they'll be fancying their chances of a victory this week.



http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/david-meyler-start-hull-city-454760