Friends of Fulham – Page 4 – created by Fulham fans, for Fulham fans.

January 25, 2023February 26, 2023

Games for the Week-end 24/02

Another game under lights at the Cottage where we welcome Wolves for a Friday evening 20:00 kick-off

“Smash and Grab” is the consensus of our result at Brighton, they were clearly “on top” for most of the game yet we managed to get a “last minute” winner, in the past how often has that happened to us?
With Mitro unavailable it was strange that Vinicius didn’t start?, however his contribution to Solomon’s goal was outstanding and if Mitro is out for the rest of the month I think he’ll start every game.
Solomon has 2 goals in 2 games, he also must be close to getting a start, but who would he replace? I can’t see either Bobby, Pereira or Harrison being dropped?
Yet another outstanding display from our back four and we’ve also good replacements “on the bench” in Duffy, Cédric and Kurzawa if needed.
Following on from the Forest “double” we added a “double” against Brighton, we can’t have made many doubles in the top flight and surly none two games in a row?

Wolves had been in really good really good form prior to their last game, they’d won 3 of the previous 4, and will have been frustrated by loosing at home to Bournemouth keeping them just 3 points above the relegation zone.

After August’s 0-0 draw at their place, I’m hoping for a better result from this game.

Current Form:
Fulham – LLDWW
Wolves – WLWWL

our record against Wolves isn’t that good with 4 wins, 11 losses and 6 draws.

I’m assuming that Mitro will be unavailable along with Tom and Kebano, so my team would be…

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Friday 24th
Fulham v Wolves

Saturday 25th
Leicester v Arsenal
West Ham v Forest
Bournemouth v Man City
Palace v Liverpool

Sunday 26th
Man Utd v Brentford
Spurs v Chelsea

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 25, 2023February 26, 2023

Games for the Week-end 18/02

We get to go to the seaside to take on Brighton at their place this weekend

Our performance against Forest was one of the best I’ve seen this season, we could have scored two or three more than we did and apart from a 10 minute spell in the second half, I believe we completely controlled the game.
Forest were very unlucky loosing both centre backs early in the game, in truth I don’t think it made a great difference.
Willian’s goal must be up there with some of the greatest goals scored at the Cottage?, Manor Solomon getting his first, in front of the Hammersmith End, was also a very special moment.
Mitro wasn’t at his best however if not for an inspired Keylor Navas, would have scored yet another outstanding effort, I hope that he was subbed for tactical reasons rather than injury.
Tim Ream, once again, proved that age is just a number with some perfectly timed interceptions, he just “reads the game” so well.
It was good for the two new boys to get a run out, I’m guessing that we’ll see far more of them in future games, I can’t wait to see Mitro and Lukic link up on a regular basis.

For the longest time that I can remember, beating Forest on Saturday gave us “the double” over a Premier League team, we have another opportunity for a “double” against this weekends opponents.

Brighton are also having a fantastic season, ahead of us only on goal difference, and will feel a little hard done by only getting a draw against Palace?

How many of us would have thought that this game would have been between 6th and 7th?

Current Form:
Brighton – WWDWD
Fulham – WLLDW

Our recent record against Brighton is quite close with 3 wins, 5 losses and 3 draws, we won the home tie 2-1 last August.

Assuming no further injuries my team would be…

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 18th
Villa v Arsenal
Brentford v Palace
Brighton v Fulham
Chelsea v Southampton
Forest v Man City
Wolves v Bournemouth

Sunday 19th
Spurs v West Ham

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 25, 2023February 26, 2023

Games for the Week-end 11/02

We welcome fellow promotees Nottingham Forest to the Cottage for a “traditional” 15:00 Saturday afternoon kick-off

Isn’t it strange that as a Fulham fan I can be disappointed with only taking 4 points from Chelsea this season!? Much has been said of Chelsea’s spending over both transfer windows, how have they got away with spending so much, FFP and all that?, anyhow the way that Marco has made Fulham such a cohesive unit, every player playing for the “team”, really fluent in possession, well drilled off the ball, very difficult to break down and full of confidence, shows that you don’t have to spend a large fortune to gain success.

Forest have also spent a fortune in both transfer windows, they’ve bought around 30 players and currently sit in 13th, 6 points off of 18, i think that their still in the mist of the relegation battle and will be desperate for any points.
The 2-3 scoreline from September’s reverse fixture didn’t really tell the story of the game. Fulham found themselves a goal down early in the game only to score 3 times in five minutes in the second half, Forest, against the run of play, scored a consolation late on in a largely comfortable game for Fulham.

Current Form:
Fulham – WWLLD
Forest – LDWWW

Our recent record against Forest is reasonably even with 7 wins, 5 losses and a draw

Following the injuries to Tom and Harrison in the Sunderland game, Tom looked more serious than Harrison, however I think that Lukic will get a start in Harrison’s place, so my team would be…

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 11th
West Ham v Chelsea
Arsenal v Brentford
Palace v Brighton
Fulham v Forest
Leicester v Spurs
Bournemouth v Newcastle

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 23, 2023February 4, 2023

Games for the Week-end 03/02

We make the short trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea for the second time in 3 weeks

What a night at the Cottage the last game was!, Carlos Vinicius wrote his name in Fulham’s Hall of Fame scoring the winner against our closest rivals.
I’m sure this game will be different from the last, Chelsea will be looking for revenge, a win will see them leapfrog us, they’ll have a number of their injured players return. However we’ll have Mitro’ available, it’s about time he got back on the score-sheet! and this game would be the perfect time for yet another Mitro’ winner?
At this point, Fulham haven’t announced any new signings, two or three are imminent?, so I don’t think we’ll see any of the new players for this game, perhaps the Sunderland FA Cup replay?

Interestingly Chelsea, to date, are the biggest global spenders on transfers having spent £489million on 15 players, with more to follow in the last days of this window? Chelsea have, so far, managed to circumnavigate Financial Fair Play rules by signing players on extended contracts enabling them to spread the transfer fee over the life of the deal, for example the £89 million for Mykhailo Mudryk will be valued at £11 million a year. UEFA has said that it will change the rules, starting in the summer window, to limit the length a fee can be spread to 5 years.

Current Form:
Chelsea – DLLWD
Fulham – WWWLL

Our recent record against Chelsea, got a little better after the last game, is still woful with 2 wins, 12 losses and 4 draws, wouldn’t it wonderful to do the double over them?

Assuming no further injuries would be…

COYW’s

An important reminder for any Fulham fans attending Stamford Bridge, please remember to wipe your feet on the way out of the stadium.

Games of Interest…

Friday 3rd
Chelsea v Fulham

Saturday 4th
Everton v Arsenal
Brentford v Southampton
Brighton v Bournemouth
Man Utd v Palace
Newcastle v West Ham

Sunday 5th
Forest v Leeds
Spurs v Man City

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 9, 2023January 30, 2023

FA CUP Saturday 28th January

We welcome Sunderland to the Cottage for the fourth round FA Cup tie..

This will be the first FA Cup meeting between Fulham and Sunderland since a previous fourth round tie in the 2014-15 campaign, Sunderland won 3-1 after a replay.
Our last game against Sunderland was in April 2018, we won that game 2-1 however, Sunderland have won three of their last four visits to the Cottage.
The fourth round is a “tricky” tie for Fulham having been eliminated from seven of our last eight fourth round ties, our only win was, at home, against Hull in 2016-17 when the result was 4-1.
This will be Sunderland’s first appearance in the fourth round since they beat us in 2014-15, interestingly Sunderland haven’t reached the fifth round since they’ve been outside the Premier League since 2003-04.
Tony Mowbray has faced Premier League teams in five FA Cup ties while he was the manager at West Brom, Middlesborough and Blackburn, he lost all five games.
Tony Mowbray has lost his last four games against Fulham with an aggregate score of 12-0.

Overall our recent record against Sunderland is remarkably even with 5 wins, 5 losses and 5 draws.

I would rest most of the first team and give other squad players some valuable game time, my team would be…

team to play Sunderland in the FA Cup 4th round

COYW’s

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https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 1, 2023January 25, 2023

Games for the Week-end 23/01

We welcome Spurs to the Cottage for an 8 o’clock Monday evening kick-off

Well I guess the winning streak had to end at some time, if only Mitro had kicked the ball correctly I’m sure we’d have, at least, come away with a draw? It was a far closer game than October’s, having 11 players on the pitch helped no end.
Considering we played Thursday night a Sunday early afternoon kick-off its hardly surprising we didn’t play at 100mph for the full game, not an excuse but it was painful to loose another game in the last five minutes.

I think this will be the first time that Ryan Sess’ will play at the Cottage since he left? I know that he’ll get a very good reception, I still think of him as “one of us”.

Spurs currently sit one place above us on 33 points and a goal difference of +10, if we beat them we’ll leapfrog them into 5th, giddy heights indeed!

Our record against them is much the same as against Chelsea with 2 wins, 14 losses and 3 draws.

Current Form:
Fulham: WWWWL
Spurs: DLWLL

Assuming no injuries my team would be…

COYW’s

Games of Interest

Saturday 21st
Liverpool v Chelsea
Bournemouth v Forest
West Ham v Everton
Palace v Newcastle

Sunday 22nd
Leeds v Brentford
Arsenal v Man Utd

Monday 23rd
Fulham v Spurs

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 1, 2023January 13, 2023

Games for the Week-end 15/01

We travel up to St. James’ Park for a 14:00 Sunday kick-off

Wow, we’re up to 6th on 31 points, I know that’ll change over the weekend but we’re 6th!, above Liverpool and Chelsea, I wonder what odds the bookies would have given at the start of the season?
Winning against our nearest rivals, especially as it doesn’t happen too often, made Thursday evening very, very special.
I’m so pleased for Carlos Vinicius, it can’t be easy being Mitro’s understudy but hopefully scoring the winner against Chelsea will have brought him some “browny points”? Once again it was a “team” performance, every player appears to be playing for his team mates, this must be largely down to Marco, Boa and the rest of the backroom staff?, long may it continue!

Our opponents also are defying expectations this season? They’ve not really spent huge amounts, compared to the “normal” big 6, but Eddie Howe has got them playing really well. A draw against league leaders Arsenal last game, following 4 wins on the bounce shows the form we’ll be up against.
The only game this season that we were defiantly second best, was against Newcastle at home back at the beginning of October, however we were down to 10 men after Chalobah’s VAR awarded red card 8 minutes into the game, not the first and won’t be the last time “unusual” decisions go against us.
I truly believe this Sunday’s game will be a very different affair, bring it on!

Our recent record against Newcastle is quite even with 7 wins, 6 losses and 3 draws.

Current Form:
Newcastle: WWWWD
Fulham: LWWWW

With Robinson unavailable due to suspension, my team would be…

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 14th
Forest v Leicester
Wolves v West Ham
Brentford v Bournemouth

Sunday 15th
Chelsea v Palace
Newcastle v Fulham
Spurs v Arsenal

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 1, 2023January 9, 2023

Games for Mid-week 12/01

This is our rescheduled game from the one that was cancelled when the Queen died

After the weekend’s FA Cup win against Hull, we’ve now won the last 4 games, fingers crossed for 5 on the bounce! This game is the one I looked forward to once promotion was assured last season.
If Mitro had been available I’d have been far more confident, wouldn’t this be a great game for Vinicius to show us all that he’s a “top class” striker?, if he can step up he’d become an instant fan legend. I’m sure that Willian will have a point to prove against his former employers, hopefully Bobby and Harrison will be back to top form.
Our players must be full of confidence sitting 3 places above Chelsea and having scored 10 more goals than them, unfortunately we’ve conceded 8 more than them, thats a stat we need to improve.

By their standards, Chelsea are having a dreadful run in the league, L L L W D and of course loosing 0-4 to Man City on Sunday in the cup!, they’ll be looking for, if not expecting, all 3 points! However, they have a string of players unavailable through injury including Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic, Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Wesley Fofana, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Edouard Mendy.

Our record against Chelsea is truly dreadful, 1 win, 12 losses and 4 draws, it’s about time we increased that win column!

With Mitro unavailable my team would be…

COYW’s

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https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

January 1, 2023January 9, 2023

Games for the Week-end 07/01

We get to travel to Hull for a FA Cup game

Marco Silver gets to revisit one of his previous clubs, didn’t Tom Cairney also spend some time at Hull? I’m sure we’ll see Seri who’ll have a point to prove?

For some of us “older” fans the FA Cup is still something special, is it for “younger” fans?, anyway I’m torn between wanting a “cup run” and cementing our position in the Premier League. We’re doing really well in the league however we don’t have the deepest squad I think we need to give some of the “squad” players game time to get them “match fit” so I can see quite a rotation for the match-day squad.

I think we’ll see a very different Fulham, my squad would be…

COYW’s

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https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

December 20, 2022January 1, 2023

Games for Mid-week 03/01

After so long without a game we now have our 3rd competitive game in just over a week, this time we travel up to Leicester for an evening game

So after 6 weeks without Fulham we get 3 games in quick succession!, so just three days after the Southampton game we face Leicester at the King Power Stadium.

Saturday’s game was something of an off-day for us, the mark of a good team is getting something from a game even when we don’t play that well, so “in theory” we all should be happy? Booby and Harrison didn’t have their best game, and although Tom “hit the ground running” I didn’t think Dan James should have been picked over Harry Wilson, Marko obviously knows what injuries the players have so I’ll trust his judgement, I’d have chosen Wilson.
If Mitro had scored the penalty the scoreline would have flattered us, we obviously did enough to win the game but it was a lot closer that I’d hoped.

For their last game Leicester lost away to Liverpool on Friday evening, no shame or surprise there however, they’re currently in 17 place and will be looking to move up that table as soon as they can, they’ll be looking for all 3 points.

Our recent record against Leicester in quite even with 2 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw

Assuming no additional injuries my team would be…

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Monday 2nd
Brentford v Liverpool

Tuesday 3rd
Arsenal v Newcastle
Leicester v Fulham
Man Utd v Bournemouth

Wednesday 4th
Southampton v Forest
Leeds v West Ham
Palace v Spurs

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0