Wednesday Fulham Stuff 02/11/2026...

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Newcastle United hit with fresh Premier League ban as trio ruled out v Fulham - two doubts

Newcastle United team news v Fulham: Matthias Jaissle will be without at least three players on Saturday, with two more fitness doubts.
Newcastle United have several players at risk of suspension in the Premier League and one player set to serve a ban against Fulham this weekend.

Jacob Ramsey will miss the trip to Craven Cottage following his stoppage-time red card in the 1-0 defeat to Everton at St James' Park on Monday night. As the sending off was a result of two yellow cards, Ramsey will be suspended for one match.

He is the first Newcastle player to be suspended so far this season and was also the last Newcastle player to be sent off having also received two bookings in the 2-1 win over Manchester United back in March.

Ramsey will return to contention after the international break as Newcastle host Arsenal.

Newcastle will be looking for a reaction to the Everton defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage this weekend. Jaissle's side have no other suspension concerns for the match, though Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Lewis Miley remain doubts after missing the last three matches.

Tino Livramento and Ewen Jaouen remain out due to respective knee and hamstring injuries.

Newcastle still have several players walking disciplinary tightropes in the Premier League due to accumulating yellow cards. As Ramsey picked up two yellow cards and was sent off, it only counts as a red card in the Premier League's tally so his yellow card tally remains at one.

Premier League rules state that any player who accumulates five bookings inside the opening 19 Premier League matches must serve a one-match ban.

Jacob Murphy, Yoane Wissa and Nico Gonzalez have all been booked three times in the Premier League so far this season.

As a result, the trio will need to avoid picking up a further two bookings in Newcastle's next 10 matches before the 19-game cut-off point or else they will face a one-match ban for accumulating five Premier League bookings.

Joelinton, Sven Botman and Fabian Schar have been booked twice in the Premier League while Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Anthony Elanga, Lukas Hornicek, Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley, William Osula and Ramsey all have one booking each.

Any player who receives 10 bookings inside 32 games receives a two-match ban, a punishment handed out to Newcastle midfielder Joelinton last season.

After the 10-booking, 32-game threshold is passed, any player shown 15 bookings over the course of the season is handed a three-match ban. To date, no player has ever been cautioned that many times during a single Premier League campaign.

Bookings picked up in cup competitions do not transfer into the Premier League matches, but red card suspensions apply to all domestic fixtures.

https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-united-team-news-fulham-ramsey-9326633

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Javi Rodríguez: Everton, Newcastle United and Fulham transfer update

Newcastle, Everton and Fulham were all sniffing around Javi Rodríguez in the past few months. Now even Bournemouth joined the picture. But getting him out of Celta Vigo looks a rather tricky task.

The three Premier League clubs made enquiries about the 23-year-old towards the end of August, as we covered at the time. Bournemouth have apparently since joined the list of interested sides, although none of them have gone as far as making a formal offer.

And while the English clubs have been keeping an eye on him, Celta have been busy making sure their defender isn't going anywhere easily.

Rodríguez signed a new contract in October, and the message coming out of Spain is that the Galician club have absolutely no appetite for selling him in January.

Celta Vigo have no plans to make things easy

On October 8th, Celta announced that Rodríguez had signed a new deal running until June 2030, adding another two years to his previous contract.

Interestingly, his €40m release clause isn't new. That figure was already in place when he renewed back in October 2024, and Celta didn't announce any changes to it this time around.

The thing is, according to Galicia Press, Celta have no intention of selling their key players in January. Rodríguez is very much in that category, and the suggestion is that anyone wanting him would have to come up with the full €40m.

The timing isn't ideal for his admirers, either. The boy has been enjoying himself under manager Claudio Giráldez, with three goals and an assist in his first ten competitive appearances this season.

He's become an important part of Celta's back three, can also play at right-back, and is increasingly making his presence felt at the other end of the pitch.

Not exactly someone the Spanish side will be desperate to wave goodbye to halfway through the campaign.

Rodríguez sounds pretty happy where he is

And then there's the player himself. Speaking to Mundo Deportivo a couple of weeks ago, on October 20th, Rodríguez discussed his new contract and made it sound like one of the easiest negotiations imaginable.

"There was complete understanding between the club, myself and my agents," he said.

He also explained that he wanted everything sorted during the international break, so he could get back to concentrating on football without the contract situation hanging over him.

There was an even stronger indication of how he feels about the club after the recent match against Alavés. "I'm at the club of my life," Rodríguez declared.

You'd struggle to find a much clearer expression of affection for Celta, particularly from someone who has been there since he was seven.

What happens next

Newcastle United, Everton and Fulham have already made their interest known, and Bournemouth are now in the picture too.

In fact, there's a nice little coincidence coming up. Celta host Bournemouth in the Europa League on November 26th, giving the English club a chance to see Rodríguez up close, assuming he plays.

For now, Celta have tied their defender down until 2030, don't want to sell in January, and have a player who seems more than happy to stay.

Unless one of his Premier League admirers is prepared to put €40m on the table, it's difficult to see much happening this winter. And even then, they'd still have to convince the boy that leaving the club of his life is a good idea.

https://sportwitness.co.uk/javi-rodriguez-everton-newcastle-united-and-fulham-transfer-update/

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Gordon Davies exclusive: 'Why Fulham fans must be patient with Gonzalo Garcia - as they were with me'

Gordon Davies tells Standard Sport that Fulham supporters should remain patient with the Spanish striker

Fulham all-time record goalscorer has some advice for their young, misfiring striker.

Seven points from a possible nine across their last three games has seen Alvaro Arbeloa and Fulham turn a corner in a season that was beginning to look very bleak indeed — but one huge problem remains.

Their striker, Gonzalo Garcia, is not delivering the goods. This weekend's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa saw the signing from Real Madrid jump from second in the list of the Premier League's biggest xG underperformers to outright top. Stats from Opta show he should have 2.98 goals more than the one he has scored so far.

But Gordon Davies, the chipper Welshman whose 178 Fulham goals is a club record, sees "a lot of similarities between himself and myself when I came to the club".

Though Fulham are squandering an awful lot of chances, Davies is not worried.

"Gonzalo Garcia is 22 years of age, started life off as a winger, and has now been pushed into the centre-forward position," Davies tells Standard Sport. "All of those details relate to myself. I was 22 when I joined Fulham; I used to be a winger; I was moved to centre-forward. I didn't do badly, even though I started off very similar to him.

"Fulham fans must keep giving him the applause, keep behind him even if he misses chances. I'd always had the ability to score goals, and I look at Garcia and he is the nearest thing that I've seen to my playing style and position."

I'd always had the ability to score goals, and I look at Garcia and he is the nearest thing that I've seen to my playing style and position.

Gordon continues: "I think he is a natural goalscorer. He will score goals. He's got the pace to beat players, as well.

"Here's what advice I would give to him if I was sitting down with him. It happened in the Villa game: he gets out wide or is drawn out wide to receive a ball, will play a short pass or two or three, still be involved when the ball is wide, and then when the ball comes into the box he's not in the box. I would turn round to him and say: get the ball wide to another white shirt, then forget about the ball.

"Make the run, get into the box, and then you're there when the ball finally comes in. I think he will do well for us, but we need to get him in the danger areas and get him the service."

Fulham's record scorer, now 71, insists the similarities do not end there.

"Garcia scored on his Premier League debut — the nice header against Chelsea — and I scored on his full league debut away at Blackpool. But for at least my first six months at Fulham, I was missing a lot of chances. Scoring a few, but I was missing a lot.

"And fair play to the Fulham crowd — they stuck with me. They could see I was a willing runner, chasing lost causes. They could see the potential; at least I was getting those chances. I owe everything I achieved in my career to Fulham. They could have easily turned on me. If it wasn't for the Fulham faithful, my Fulham career could have been very short-lived.

"They can see that Garcia works his socks off, not only going forward but tracking back. He's got a very big heart, is willing to work, but what I would say to him: work harder in the danger area.

"The pressure is on him and unfortunately [Rodrigo] Muniz isn't playing at the standard Fulham want, so it's as if it is all down to him. But I think Garcia will score quite a few goals for us this season. We are going to give somebody a good hiding in the next month."

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-gordon-davies-exclusive-interview-gonzalo-garcia-b1303342.html

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Fulham striker admits he nearly left – Muniz exit talk starts building again

Fulham may have another saga on their hands. Rodrigo Muniz has admitted he came close to returning home, and his family situation could soon bring the subject back into focus.

The striker has endured a difficult spell in England, and a recent conversation with a Brazilian journalist suggests there is more to his future than his performances on the pitch.

His wife is pregnant, her family lives in Brazil, and Muniz has already considered leaving Fulham. None of that means a transfer is imminent, of course. But the ingredients for another transfer story are certainly there.

The striker played the full 90 minutes and missed an opportunity to score. Marra noticed he was looking rather downbeat afterwards.

"An elderly gentleman went over, gave him a hug and told him to have faith and patience, that things would get better," the journalist explained.

"It was a very important day for Muniz. He came on, had an opportunity, didn't strike the ball well and didn't score."

"He was looking down. You could see that. But when he saw Brazilians, he lit up, he wanted to talk."

That conversation eventually turned to his future. Marra mentioned the interest previously shown by Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro, two clubs from Minas Gerais state. And Muniz's response was revealing.

"Yes, I know. I almost went, but my wife said we should stay a little longer to fulfil the dream," the striker reportedly told him.

So a return to Brazil was apparently much closer than previously understood. The decision to stay in England also seems to have been a family one.

His numbers tell another story

Muniz's performances have also become part of the discussion. After two productive Premier League seasons, his goalscoring return dropped sharply in 2025/26.

He scored just once in 25 appearances, having managed 21 goals across the previous two campaigns. And his playing time has fallen considerably, too.


Season   Appearances   Minutes   Goals   Assists
2023/24   33   2,032   10   1
2024/25   36   1,370   11   2
2025/26   25   1,193   1   1
2026/27*   10   313   2   0

*2026/27 season ongoing


The Brazilian has already scored twice this season, although he has played just 313 league minutes.

That makes his frustration understandable. He's shown he can score regularly at this level, but getting back to that form has proved difficult.

Family situation could change the picture

So Marra revealed that Muniz's wife is pregnant, and the couple discussed the importance of having a support network around them.

The Brazilian explained that they already have support in England, including through the church he attends. However, his wife's family lives in the city of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais state).

Marra finished his account with a rather pointed "here's a tip!", seemingly encouraging Atlético and Cruzeiro to pay attention.

That was the journalist's suggestion, though. Muniz did not announce plans to leave Fulham, and there is no indication either Brazilian club has opened negotiations.

Still, the timing is interesting. Reports linking Muniz with a Flamengo return have also circulated recently, although several Brazilian journalists subsequently dismissed those claims.

Now comes an account of the player himself acknowledging that he nearly went back to Brazil.

For Fulham, there is no concrete new approach to deal with here. Yet the conversation around Muniz's future is beginning to gather pace again.

His desire to continue his European career kept him in London before. With a baby on the way and family ties pulling towards Brazil, it is easy to see why the subject might not go away quite so quickly this time.

https://sportwitness.co.uk/fulham-striker-admits-he-nearly-left-muniz-exit-talk-starts-building-again/