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Wednesday Fulham Stuff (06/12/17)...

Started by WhiteJC, December 05, 2017, 06:56:39 PM

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WhiteJC

 
Fulham fans predict an 'end to end' FA Cup game as they react to Southampton tie

Fulham fans were, by and large, uninspired by their FA Cup draw with Southampton.

The Whites will take on the Saints for the first time since their relegation from the Premier League in 2014. The south coast club claimed a 3-0 win at Craven Cottage in February that year.

While it was not a draw many would have wanted, with some fans wanting a crack at the Premier League big boys, the fact that it's at home was a comfort to some fans.

And, given Southampton's style of football, it should make for a contest that, at the very least, is pleasing on the eye.

However, the over-riding emotion was one of indifference to the tie.



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-fans-predict-end-end-13994707

WhiteJC

 
Ipswich Town & Burton Albion Tickets

Tickets for Fulham's home matches in January are now available for all supporters to purchase on General Sale.

The Whites kick-off 2018 against Ipswich Town on Tuesday 2nd January (7:45pm) with tickets starting from £25 for adults and £15 for juniors.

Just under three weeks later we welcome Burton Albion to SW6 on Saturday 20th January (3pm).

Tickets for this match are priced at £20 for adults and just £1 for juniors, with supporters able to purchase up to 6 tickets per person for each match.

Get behind the boys and secure your seats online today, by phone on 0203 871 0810 (opt. 1) or in person from the Fulham Ticket Office.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/december/05/jan-home-games-on-sale

WhiteJC

 
Birmingham defender ruled out of Fulham clash

The centre back was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 1-0 defeat to league leaders Wolves on Monday night

Birmingham will be without former Brentford defender Harlee Dean for their trip to Fulham on Saturday.

The centre back was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 1-0 defeat to league leaders Wolves on Monday night.

And he will automatically miss Saturday's game at Craven Cottage through his mandatory one-match ban.

The Blues have struggled so far this campaign and sit in the relegation zone, level on points with Bolton but below the Trotters on goal difference.

Indeed, since the ridiculous decision to part company with Gary Rowett on December 14 last year, Birmingham have picked up 35 points from 45 games; which would have seen them finish second bottom last season.

Dean has history against Fulham, scoring the equaliser for Brentford in November 2014 before Jota, who was hauled off at half-time by Birmingham on Monday night, scored a last minute winner.



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-defender-ruled-out-fulham-13995409


WhiteJC

 
Grosvenor Casinos brings the festive season to Fulham


UK-based casino chain Grosvenor Casinos have agreed to donate this weekend's Fulham FC shirt sponsorship to the Fulham Football Club Foundation (FFCF), ahead of a charity match this weekend.

The initiative is part of FFCF's Official Charity Match Day on 9 December v. Birmingham City, for which Fulham FC supporters are asked to bring £1 to the ground to donate to the Foundation.

As part of the day, fans can bid for match-worn shirts, which will be signed and donated following the fixture, with all funds going directly to FFCF's disability provision in the community.

Aaron O'Sullivan, Head of Marketing (Digital) at Grosvenorcasinos.com, said: "We're thrilled to be involved in supporting Fulham's Official Charity Match Day by donating our shirt sponsorship. The FFC Foundation do so much fantastic work in the community and it will hopefully be a great day for all involved."

Grosvenor Casinos have been Fulham's main shirt sponsor since July when they signed a two-year deal to sponsor Fulham FC, who currently are 15th in the EFL Championship.

In a statement on the clubs website, Aaron O'Sullivan, Head of Marketing (Digital) at grosvenorcasinos.com, said: "We're thrilled to be involved in supporting Fulham's Official Charity Match Day by donating our shirt sponsorship. The FFC Foundation do so much fantastic work in the community and it will hopefully be a great day for all involved."

Amy O'Brien, Head of Development at Fulham Football Club Foundation added: "This illustrates perfectly the level of collaboration between FFC and its partners. It's exceptional that Grosvenorcasinos.com have chosen to gift their sponsorship to FFCF and in doing so, provide a new platform to promote the Foundation and its work."



https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/4623/grosvenor-casinos-brings-the-festive-season-to-fulham

WhiteJC

 
Bad news for travelling Brentford, QPR and Fulham fans

The increase is the biggest since 2013 and is above the rate of inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index

Football fans travelling by train have been dealt a major blow to their pocket with train fares in Britain to increase by an average of 3.4 per cent from January 2.

The increase is the biggest since 2013 and is above the rate of inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index.

Brentford, QPR and Fulham fans all regularly travel to away games by train; preferring it to driving or using the official club coach.

The chief executive of passenger watchdog Transport Focus, Anthony Smith, said: "While substantial, welcome investment in new trains and improved track and signals is continuing, passengers are still seeing the basic promises made by the rail industry broken on too many days."

One in nine trains (12%) failed to meet the rail industry's punctuality target in the past 12 months.

That means they arrived at terminating stations more than five minutes late for commuter services or 10 minutes late for long-distance journeys.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union described the fares announcement as "another kick in the teeth" for passengers.

General secretary Mick Cash said: "For public sector workers and many others in our communities who have had their pay and benefits capped or frozen by this Government, these fare increases are another twist of the economic knife.

"The private train companies are laughing all the way to the bank."

Fewer than half (47%) of passengers are satisfied with the value for money of train tickets, according to Transport Focus.

The Government uses the previous July's Retail Prices Index measure of inflation to determine increases in regulated fares, which was 3.6%.

These are around half of all tickets and include season tickets on most commuter routes and some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys.

Train operating companies set the prices of other tickets but are bound by competition rules.

The RDG said more than 97p in every pound from fares goes back into improving and running the railway.

Chief executive Paul Plummer noted that the Government controls increases to almost half of fares while the rest are "heavily influenced" by the payments train companies make as part of contracts to run franchises.

He said: "Alongside investment from the public and private sectors, money from fares is underpinning the partnership railway's long-term plan to change and improve."

It has been the policy of successive governments to reduce the funding of the railways by taxpayers and increase the relative contribution of passengers.



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bad-news-travelling-brentford-qpr-13996811

WhiteJC

 
The film student who took up video analysis and ended up coaching Norway

Martin Foyston's course in film studies helped him secure a job at Fulham, where he met Roy Hodgson and was inspired to take a risk and become a coach


Martin Foyston talks to Morten Gamst Pedersen in his role as Norway's assistant manager. Photograph: Trond Tandberg/Getty Images

Martin Foyston walked away from a secure job in the analysis department at Fulham to embark on his dream of becoming a football coach. Four years on and the 35-year-old from Hull is assistant coach at Stromsgodset in Norway via stints with Swedish club Djurgarden and Norway's national team.

"When you're doing analysis, you're so close with the first-team coaches and management," explains Foyston. "You're trying to paint their picture and if you do it for long enough you learn something. It's a tough job and you work long hours but when Roy Hodgson became manager at Fulham in late 2007 I started to get interested in the coaching side of things. He just made everything a lot clearer. For two and a half years, the best coach in England, as far as I'm concerned, was able to make football simple in the most effective way. Everything he said over that period just made sense.

"That's when I knew I wanted to become a coach. I worked closely with Roy and his coaches, Billy McKinlay, Ray Lewington and Mike Kelly, and it was like a football degree every day. Ray was the nicest guy in the world. He's able to tell a footballer he's done something wrong but the player is uplifted by it rather than feeling he's having a finger pointed at him. When I'm at work now I still think to myself: 'What would Roy and Ray do?'"

Foyston had joined Fulham straight from university in 2005 after studying for a career in the big screen. "When I was younger all I'd ever wanted to do was be a footballer," he says. "I played football all the way up to youth level with Hull City but didn't get a professional contract. I ended up going to college and university and doing a film studies and media production course. I liked the technology part more than the creative part.

"When I saw the Fulham analysis job advertised, I saw I could do everything they were asking. Analysis in football was still in its early stages. When I went for my interview, there were still VHS tapes and recorders dotted around the room. It was a very laboured system back then. I was more enthusiastic than fully qualified but I got the job.

"I was initially in charge of pre-match and putting clips from the scout reports on the opposition into a video for the manager. Then I also took on post-match duties. The gaffer would come in and say: 'I want this, I want that, because of this and because of that.' As you develop, you become more of the instigator and you have the clips ready before they ask for them."

By this stage Fulham were an established Premier League side. But, in early 2013, Foyston made the decision to leave Craven Cottage and head overseas in search of his first coaching role. "I'd been at Fulham for a good few years. On top of my day job, I'd done my B Licence and was about to start my A Licence, but I just felt that nothing was going to fall into my lap to get a job as a coach. I had too much ambition to continue doing the same role. It was a fantastic job but I wanted to do something else.

"One day I said: 'Right, that's it, I'm going to go to Sweden.' I'm quite an impulsive person. My girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, was fine with it as she's Swedish so she was going home. And she knew I wasn't going to change my mind. I also knew Sweden would be a good level for me to go into. I felt the experience I had with Fulham would give me a chance to find a job in that country.

"When I told Fulham I'd decided to move on, they felt I wasn't telling the whole story and had another job in the Premier League. But the truth was I didn't have anything to go to. I just felt I needed to put myself in an uncomfortable position and force myself to go in search of my goal. I didn't want to have a security blanket and a safety net to fall back into. It was do or die. I knew it was a big risk. Not many people walk away from a Premier League job and I was very close with then-Fulham boss Martin Jol. He was a real father figure to me. But I had to go for it."

Having been at Fulham for a number of years, Foyston was a popular member of the setup and was presented with a parting gift from Damien Duff. "When I was leaving, he gave me a book, The Alchemist. It's a fable about following your dream. He wrote a little passage on the first page saying he felt the book would be important for me as I went on my journey. I'm not much of a reader but I read it on the flight to Stockholm and I thought: 'This can be me.'"

Foyston made a new home in Stockholm but went without work for three months, even turning down an analysis role at Elfsborg. "They had just won the league and the manager at the time, Jorgen Lennartsson, called me and asked if I wanted to be their analyst as they were going into Europe the next season. It was good money and the chance to start afresh but I thought, if I did it I'd be taking the easy option, so I didn't accept it."

An old Fulham contact gave Foyston a helping hand in securing an interview for his first coaching role. "Magnus Pehrsson left Djurgardens in late July and was replaced by Per-Mathias Hogmo," he explains. "I knew Brede Hangeland had played with him for Norway's Under-21s. So I called Brede and asked for his help and he rang Pet-Mathias on my behalf. The next thing I was going for an interview. We talked about my experiences and what I'd come to Sweden to do. By the end of the interview he'd offered me a job as assistant coach.

"The way Djurgardens played was the same way Roy had at Fulham and a system I felt strongly about. I felt comfortable going into the job. We had a fantastic end to the season. I spoke Swedish but most of the players were fluent in English so there was no language barrier. And because we'd done so well, Per-Mathias was offered the Norway job. He said he wanted me to go with him, but I'd only been with Djurgardens for six months.

"I said I'd do the national job on a part-time basis and juggle both roles. It had all come a little bit too quick for me and I wanted to stay at Djurgardens to continue learning. But ambition takes over. A new coach came to Djurgardens [Per Olsson] and we started to play a bit differently. It didn't feel like the same Djurgardens to me and my role became a little bit less. I decided to take the Norway job on a full-time basis in August 2014."

Despite being set a remit of reducing the average age of the Norway team, the country's failure to qualify for Euro 2016 put the pressure on. After a series of defeats in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, Hogmo stepped down in November 2016.

"It was a tough one," reflects Foyston. "We took the direction that we were going to start afresh and bring in a lot of young players. In our last game of Euro qualification, we were playing Italy away in Rome. We were 17 minutes away from winning and finishing top of our group, but football is a game of fine margins. A cross came in around the 73rd minute and, instead of clearing the ball, one of our defenders decides to try to chest it back to the keeper. It falls short, Italy score and we eventually lose 2-1. We ended up finishing third in the group and went into a play-off with Hungary.

"From being underdogs throughout the whole qualification period, suddenly we were expected to kill Hungary. We sold out the national stadium and the expectation changed. That played a big part in regards to the stress and pressure that went into those play-off games. We lost.

"After we were beaten by the Czech Republic in a World Cup qualifier, Per-Mathias decided he was going to quit. I was gutted to see him go; I owe Per-Mathias everything. I still had a job with Norway but I was approached by the manager of Stromsgodset, Tor Ole Skullerud, who I had briefly worked with for Norway when he was assistant coach.

"I was still under contract with Norway until 2017. I could have stayed and been paid for another year but an agreement was reached for me to go to Stromsgodset. We had a difficult start, but since June we really picked up and the last couple of months have been great. One day I'd like to have that ambition of being a manager, but right now I'm concentrating on being the best I can be in the role that I have. If anything comes as a result of that in the next few years, we'll take it from there."



https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-set-pieces-blog/2017/dec/05/martin-foyston-norway-film-student-fulham-video-analyst


WhiteJC

 
Hull City Away Tickets On Sale

Tickets for Fulham's match against Hull City away are now on sale to Season Ticket Holders and Members.

The Whites make the trip to the KCOM Stadium on Saturday 30th December, kick-off 3pm.

Following a 2-1 win at the Cottage back in September, Fulham will be looking make it a double when they play their last game of the calendar year.

Priced from just £18, supporters can secure their tickets today online, by phone on 0203 871 0810 (opt. 1) or in person from the Fulham Ticket Office.

Tickets will then go on general sale to all supporters from 10am on Friday 8th December.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/december/05/hull-city-tickets