Thursday Fulham Stuff - 06/11/25...

[WhiteJC]

'In life, sometimes you have to move on' - Fulham ace Iwobi says ahead of return to Everton
Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi has opened up about his emotions ahead of facing his former club Everton in the Premier League this weekend, expressing both fondness and focus ahead of his first visit to Hill Dickinson Stadium since leaving the Toffees.

Iwobi, who joined Everton from Arsenal in 2019, said that he still carries good memories from his time at Goodison Park but is now determined to create new ones in Fulham colours.

"In life, sometimes you have to move on," Iwobi said, as quoted by Everton News.

"I have some good memories of Goodison Park, but now I am looking to create new memories playing against them, and hopefully we can get a win."

The 29-year-old Nigeria international admitted that returning to face his former club brings a special feeling, but he remains committed to approaching the match with professionalism and composure.

"It always feels special to face a former team, but I will look to treat it like any other team. I try to treat all opponents the same way," he added.

Iwobi departed Everton in 2023 after making 123 Premier League appearances and has since flourished under Marco Silva at Fulham.

Despite his gratitude for his time on Merseyside, Iwobi made it clear that his focus is now firmly on contributing to Fulham's success.

Iwobi's move to Everton was supposed to give him a starring first-team role after being in and out of the Arsenal side.

Ultimately, Iwobi's move to Merseyside didn't quite work out as anybody planned.

Iwobi left Everton for Fulham in 2023, and he has been exceptional ever since.

Playing under Marco Silva, his former Everton boss, Iwobi has racked up 15 goals in just 78 Premier League games for Fulham.

Iwobi averaged around one goal every 20 games for Everton, compared to around one in five for Fulham.

The Nigeria international scored just six Premier League goals in 123 games and never broke past two league goals in any Everton campaign.

The former Arsenal star is expected to be named by Eric Chelle for the Super Eagles' crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffs squad for the game against Gabon on November 13 in Morocco.

Wale Adejumo



https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=57684

[WhiteJC]

Board election – nominations open
We are pleased to confirm that the nomination period for the 2025 Fulham Supporters' Trust Board Election is open from today, Wednesday 5 November until Wednesday 19 November.

Whilst our Constitution allows for up to 13 Board Members (plus up to 5 co-opted), we currently operate with a Board of 9 which is felt appropriate for an organisation of our size. There are therefore two board positions to be filled. These are currently held by board members standing down by rotation, each of whom may seek re-election should they so choose.

Any person elected to the Trust Board will be expected to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Please see below for a reminder of the process and how to submit nominations.

Yours, on behalf of the current Trust Board

Steve Nicholson
Secretary

ELECTION PROCESS AND RULES

The election will be held in accordance with the election rules and the process will be overseen by an Independent Scrutineer, Marisa Cardoni, who is a Trust member but is neither a candidate nor nominating or seconding a candidate.

To be eligible to stand for election, the only requirements are that

    you are a paid-up Trust member as at 1 October 2025
    you remain a Trust member throughout the process
    you are nominated and seconded by paid-up Trust members as at 1 October 2025.

Information required

You will need to supply contact information for yourself and those nominating and seconding you and a 200 word election statement that will be sent out with the electronic voting forms if there are more nominations than places available for election. The election statements of all successful candidates will be made available at the conclusion of the process.

Please supply the following information by email to the Independent Scrutineer by Wednesday 19 November 2025 using the following email address

election@fulhamsupporterstrust.com

Candidate

    Name
    email address
    Telephone
    Social media

Proposed by

    Member name
    email address
    Telephone

Seconded by

    Member name
    email address
    Telephone

Statement

    A maximum of 200 words to support your candidacy. Any additional words will be truncated.

Election timetable

Nominations

    Wednesday 5 November 2025  – Nominations open
    Wednesday 19 November 2025 – Nominations close

If no ballot required (two or fewer candidates)

    Thursday 20 November 2025 – Announcement of new board at AGM

If ballot required (more than two candidates)

    Thursday 20 November 2025 – Announcement of ballot at AGM
    Saturday 22 November 2025 – Electronic ballot and candidate statements circulated to Trust members
    Saturday 6 December 2025 – Close of voting
    Monday 8 December 2025 – Announcement of election results
    Tuesday 9 December 2025 – December board meeting



https://www.fulhamsupporterstrust.com/news/2025/11/board-election-nominations-open-3/

[WhiteJC]

'It's hard to speak about Marco' Aleksandar Mitrovic reveals Fulham guilt and Newcastle United regret
Aleksandar Mitrovic is best remembered in England for his goalscoring exploits with Fulham, but arrived on Premier League shores as a highly-rated youngster from Belgium's top flight

Mitrovic signed for Newcastle at the age of 20 having spent the previous 18 months scoring regularly for RSC Anderlecht, but could not prevent the Magpies' relegation to the Championship during his first season at St. James' Park.

His spell on Tyneside was a mixed one, not always trusted to lead the line by manager Rafael Benitez, and he subsequently joined Fulham, initially on loan.

At Craven Cottage, he scored 12 in 20 appearances during his loan spell, making his switch permanent in the summer of 2018.

Aleksandar Mitrovic: 'I felt guilty after Newcastle and Fulham relegations
He added a further 99 goals for the West Londoners, most notably during the 2021/22 campaign under Marco Silva in which he netted a staggering 43 times in 46 appearances.

"It's hard to speak about Marco, because we have a really good connection," Mitrovic told FlashScore.

"He wasn't just my coach; I consider him a friend as well. We talk often, every few weeks we have a chat about football and life. For me, he's one of the best managers I've ever had the privilege to work with.

"There is not just one thing to pinpoint, I think he is amazing in every aspect - tactics, man-management, he sees football really well. He's an amazing guy, and I honestly don't know how he's not in a top club yet."

The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

Silva has been Fulham boss since 2021, leading the team back to the Premier League and keeping them there ever since.

Mitrovic, 31, believes the Portuguese coach deserves a crack at a 'bigger' job.

"Nothing against Fulham, it's a great club that I really love, but I think he should manage a team like Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester United, a side that should fight for the Champions League. I think he's done a great job at Fulham and hopefully he will soon reach even greater heights."

These days, Mitrovic plies his trade for Qatar Stars League club Al-Rayyan. It follows two seasons in Saudi Arabia where Mitrovic represented Al-Hilal, scoring 68 goals in 79 appearances.

The striker is now used to challenging for top division titles in the Middle East, which wasn't the case in England, instead suffering the ignominy of relegation on three occasions.

"When you get relegated, you feel kind of guilty. Doesn't matter how much you play; you're a part of the squad that got relegated. I always wanted to make it right and bring Newcastle and then Fulham back. Both these clubs are amazing, and I think they should compete in Europe.

"I'm glad they're doing well now. Newcastle has had a few really good seasons, reached the Champions League, and Fulham wasn't far away from European places either, and I hope in the future they will get there.

"You can see I love both clubs, and still follow and support them. So at the times of the relegations, I didn't want to leave them because I felt good and loved there, even at times when we were in the second division, I felt the fans wanted me to stay.

"I went there [Newcastle] a little bit young and experienced. I was 20, 21 years old and playing the best league in the world; I didn't have a lot of time to adapt."

Joe joined FourFourTwo as senior digital writer in July 2025 after five years covering Leeds United in the Championship and Premier League. Joe's 'Mastermind' specialist subject is 2000s-era Newcastle United having had a season ticket at St. James' Park for 10 years before relocating to Leeds and later London. Joe takes a keen interest in youth football, covering PL2, U21 Euros, as well as U20 and U17 World Cups in the past, in addition to hosting the industry-leading football recruitment-focused SCOUTED podcast. He is also one of the lucky few to have 'hit top bins' as a contestant on Soccer AM. It wasn't a shin-roller.



https://www.fourfourtwo.com/person/player/its-hard-to-speak-about-marco-aleksandar-mitrovic-reveals-fulham-guilt-and-newcastle-united-regret

[WhiteJC]

Four questions ahead of Fulham's trip to Everton
With our losing streak over, what can we expect as the Whites visit the Hill Dickinson?

For years, travelling to Merseyside was a fruitless pursuit for the Whites. We'd more often than not get gubbed at Anfield - standard - but we could not get a result at Goodison Park either, no matter how hard we tried.

That changed in the old ground's final few years. We won four and drew one of our final five games there in league and cup. If we want to continue to turn our season around, we'll have to get off to a strong start at the Toffees' new home, the Hill Dickinson Stadium, on the weekend.

Here are four questions ahead of our trip north.

1. Can Iwobi haunt his old club?
Despite Marco's apparent consternation that anyone would suggest Alex Iwobi might be an effective eight (I'm looking at you, Dan Cooke), he decided to play the Nigerian there against Wolves, and I think we can all agree it worked.

Silva - and Cookie - aren't the real trailblazers here, of course. Iwobi played that role with aplomb while at Everton.

It's still up for debate whether Alex will remain in the middle against the Toffees; there are strong arguments to vary the midfield make-up depending on the opponent. But if he does, he'd be well-placed to pull the strings on the docks and cause his old employers no end of headaches.

2. Who will partner the Nigerian in the middle?
If Iwobi gets the nod, then who will sit just behind him will be super interesting. It was Sander Berge against Wolves, with Sasa Lukic not even getting the chance to remove his tracksuit.

Against an Everton side that will be confident and will demand a lot of the ball, it might be a good idea to slot the Serbian in alongside Iwobi, to give an extra robustness to the centre of the park and enable Alex to be freer and really get forward more.

If it happens and it works, then Marco could have a neat, rotating combination of tools that he can tweak depending on the opposition, which would make us far more dynamic in the coming weeks and months.

3. Will Tete show the Toffees what they're missing?
For weeks in the summer it looked like we were going to lose Kenny Tete for nothing. And as we've seen at times this season when the Dutchman's been injured, that would have left us far weaker.

Kenny made a man-of-the-match-worthy return against Wolves, adding much-missed attacking impetus to our right-hand side, while continuing to instil his brand of defensive calm as if he'd never left.

I'd put money on him putting in a similarly solid shift on Saturday as he looks to show the side that looked set to capture him what it could've won.

4. Could this be Chukwueze's coming out party?
Kevin's taken the headlines since he became our record signing in the summer - and rightly so - but it's safe to say none of us have been sleeping on Samu Chukwueze. It's been a bit stop-start for the Nigerian winger so far; a combination of tardy transfer movement, and an injury sustained on international duty means we've not seen a whole lot of him - yet.

Chukwueze's performance away at Bournemouth hinted at an exciting future, which he duly followed up by an energetic 15-minute cameo on the weekend, punctuated by hitting the woodwork with a chance that, if he wasn't returning from a spell out, you'd imagine he'd have buried.

If he's given longer this weekend, you'd imagine that this could be his "Kevin versus Leeds" moment - or perhaps even more tantalising.

Football is a fickle game - and I'm not above admitting that I'm excited and confident going into this one. Get a result, and you not only set the tone for future visits, but you continue to right the good ship HMS mid-table. COYW.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/p/four-questions-ahead-of-fulhams-trip

[WhiteJC]

Diop: Team player

Issa Diop sits down with Premier League Productions to discuss the season so far, his role within the squad, and taking confidence into Everton.

After four league defeats in a row, how did it feel to get back to winning ways against Wolves?

It's always a good feeling, especially after a hard time like that. But even if we had four losses in a row, it wasn't like they were bad games, or we didn't perform well. We did some good things. We knew that, and the Manager said that we just have to keep working and doing the same things, to get back winning.

How do you assess the season?

Of course, a little bit sad and disappointed, because we could have done better. I think the game that we lost at the beginning of the season was a bit controversial with some of the decisions. But we should have done better, kept more clean sheets and scored more goals. We're working on it, and we hope we're going to get back.

What are the objectives this season?

We always want to do the best, and do better than the previous seasons. We just want to win as many games as we can, and try to do our best.

How do you look at the season, personally?

As a player, you always want to play, but you know me, I'm a team player, so if the team wins, I'm happy. I'm always going to do the maximum I can to help my teammates. I'm a professional, so I'll do what is best for the team.

What can you do to help the group?

I think, first of all, you always have to work hard and train well, and then try to help your teammates – give some advice, help everyone, and all push in the same direction.

Is a top-10 finish the target?

I hope so! I always want to be at the top. We all want to be at the top, so we are going to do our maximum to be in the highest position possible.

How has it been under Marco Silva this season?

Good. We have a good relationship – he knows me, I know him. It's easy to work with a manager that you know, that knows you. It's a very good relationship.

Is there any advice that he gives you?

Yeah, always. He's the coach! He's always giving some advice, even about life. He's always asking how we are in our personal lives, family, everything, so it's easy to have a chat with him. He's our coach, but he's older than us, he knows life better than us, so he can give us some advice.

In terms of football, what are some of the tips he gives you?

He wants the same for all the defenders, because if he puts a defender in, he wants the same football, it doesn't matter the name. It's more technical than that, but he always demands the same things from all the centre-backs.

How has he improved you?

I understand the game better with him, on the ball, off the ball. I think I've improved my football knowledge quite a lot with him, which is a good thing.

Could you win the Carabao Cup?

It's the quickest way to get a trophy, so it's always a target. We're in the Quarter-Final – we have a tough game against Newcastle away, but there's a trophy at the end, so we want to win it and we will do everything to win it.

Do you feel it's attainable?

Yes, of course. There's still eight teams, and all eight teams can win it. We're one of them, so of course we can win it.

Everton at the weekend – are you confident following the Wolves win?

Every game in the Prem is very difficult, especially away. Everton, new stadium, they're a good team, very good players, physical. I know how they play because I had David Moyes [at West Ham], so it's always a tough team to play against.

What do you think the atmosphere will be like?

I think it's going to be great. They always have good fans. It's in the new stadium, so I think it's going to be a good atmosphere.



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2025/november/05/diop-team-player/

[WhiteJC]

Quarter-Final date confirmed
Fulham's Carabao Cup Quarter-Final against Newcastle United will be played on Wednesday 17th December, kicking off at 8.15pm.

The match at St James' Park will be televised live on Sky Sports Main Event and ITV.



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2025/november/03/newcastle-date-confirmed/