Saturday Fulham Stuff (19.02.2011)

[White Noise]

http://blogs.soccernet.com/fulham/archives/2011/02/the_ball_remains_the_same.php


The Ball Remains the Same

Posted by Phil Mison 4 hours, 1 minute ago


It's what you do with it that makes life interesting. Too many people who've never kicked one are culpable in forgetting what the game is all about.

I have been back into the past this last few days. Researching material for a feature on the Spurs double winning side of 1961, 50th anniversary thereof being celebrated this May, has caused me to look again at the origins of the Football League and the history of the FA Cup, the world's oldest organised football competition.

For those unaware of Spurs feat 50 years ago, they were the first side in 64 years to emulate Aston Villa's achievement back in 1897 of lifting the Cup and League trophies in the same season. In those far off days Villa played just 26 league fixtures, Spurs faced 42. Led by the incomparable Danny Blanchflower, the Irishman was legendary for his take on the game.

"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind...Football is not really about winning, or goals, or saves or supporters — it's about glory. It's about doing things in style, doing them with a flourish; it's about going out to beat the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom; it's about dreaming of the glory that the Double brought."

You can tell from that how Danny's career saw him viewed with suspicion by club chairmen and managers. He so nearly never made it as far as the double season. In the late 50's he took it upon himself to change tactics in the heat of a Cup semi-final. Spurs lost, Blanchflower was stripped of the captaincy - he demanded a transfer, the board just ignored him.

In the context of this week's magnificent exhibition of football at the Emirates, I was reminded of another famous Blanchlower story. Danny would surely have approved of Wednesday's game in the Champions League.

Beginning his career in England at Barnsley in 1949 coincided with the Belfast boy winning his first caps. Returning from international duty to Oakwell Danny had noticed how continental players seemed more comfortable on the ball. At Barnsley training sessions concentrated more on physical fitness and endless lapping of the ground, so he sought out the manager, traditionalist long-serving Angus Seed. Danny wanted to come back in the afternoons to 'work more with the ball.' Seed didn't like it. "With my methods you'll be hungrier for it come Saturday," he growled. "With your methods by then I'll have forgotten what it looks like," came the reply.

You could never level that charge against the players of Barcelona. Their pass and move rate mid-week was simply phenomenal, other-worldly almost, fully 50% above the average for a Premiership game. But all credit to Arsenal for not buckling, and keeping to their own principles of trying to play in the same vein. In the end they got their rewards, but the away leg will still be daunting. Did you know the Nou Camp is deliberately marked out to the maximum dimensions allowed in football. While the groundsman has strict instructions the grass must always be a precise 3 millimetres?

From the past to the present, Wednesday's game was a true classic. So how uplifting it is to read that Hughes wants Fulham to play the Barcelona way. This from one who knows in Eidur Gudjohnsen, while Hughes of course himself wore the famous azulgrana stripes in a previous era. Not a bad template is it, even if Danny's a bit long in the tooth to become the new Iniesta. Let's hope for another win with flair this Sunday in the FA Cup. A repeat of the scoreline from Rd 4 may be asking too much, but Bolton have forgotten how to beat us (one win from the last 12) and with home advantage I see only a Whites win come Sunday.





© Getty Images



We've had two days longer than Bolton to rest up, our defence, magnificent on Monday, are simply not conceding at the Cottage, and surely with the side commited to attack we'll generate more openings than we saw against Chelsea. I won't be at all surprised to see Clint bounce back with a goal, he's having that kind of season. Big question though, might we see Bobby on the bench? How great would that be, even if he's not pushed on. With strong competition for places, expect to see both Eidur and Gael getting some game time.

To conclude, I turn my pen to matters non-Fulham related and refer to my opening. UEFA this week announced sky high ticket prices for this May's Champions League Final at Wembley. Disgraceful. Please don't let me read any more twaddle from their web site about 'it's the fans who count.' A £26 pound handling charge (!) per order demands people vote with their feet and boycott this blatant profiteering. Ticketmaster have a lot to answer for, having pioneered this scam across the industry. It is the bane of my concert going calendar and I do all in my power to avoid their operation.

Platini and his featherbedded cronies in tax-sheltered Nyon might like to follow reports into the current state of English football, where one witness after another has testified the power and intransigence of the Premier League hinders reform at every turn. And that the game is heading inexorably for financial meltdown - a theme on this blog long since.

And talking of money. I have no issues with Olympic mandarins giving West Ham the green light to relocate after the 2012 Games (even though the venue will be massively under-utilised for all those Championship fixtures against the like of Coventry and Hull). What I do find staggering is that Newham Council, smack in the heart of London's most deprived community, is going to put up £60 million pounds in loans to help the Hammers move in!

This in the teeth of the most crippling economic cuts announced by any government in the past 50 years is the cruellest of burdens to be landed on one of the most miserable boroughs in the UK. Right matron, time for a lie down before Sunday's cup tie.

It's only £20, so get on down there and cheer on the Whites. Recall the same week a year ago? We started with a 4-0 romp over Notts County in the Cup (Davies, BZ, Duff and Okaka) and then had that daunting 1st leg with Shakhtar when they threatened to pass us off the pitch. It was our own 'Barcelona test.' We held firm, sneaked past them...and look where that led. 2010 Hamburg...2011 Wembley? Just don't charge me an arm and a leg for the ticket!

COYW Twitter@fulhamphil

[White Noise]

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2011/02/next-up-bolton-h-in-the-fa-cup/


Next up: Bolton (h) in the FA Cup


by Tor on February 19, 2011

I'm quite surprised I'm writing this. When we were drawn against Spurs, I thought it'd be a repeat of last season; a home draw followed by a defeat at White Hart Lane. I'm not naturally a pessimistic person but I do like to manage my expectations. So much so that I actually made plans for this weekend which have had to be hastily rearranged to accommodate tomorrow's match. That'll learn me.

Our opponents for tomorrow were decided late on Wednesday evening when the rest of the world was fawning over the frankly beautiful football being played at the Emirates. Despite my best intentions to watch Bolton fight Wigan for the right to come to Craven Cottage, the internet scuppered my plans. By the sounds of things I didn't miss much. Wigan had few chances and Bolton struggled to convert most of theirs. A solitary goal from Klasnic in the second half was all it took to decide the tie. So it's Bolton, minus injured ex-Fulham defender Zat Knight (anybody see that injury against Everton? It looked AWFUL) and the cup-tied goal-machine Daniel Sturridge (phew), standing between us and the quarter final.

I'd imagine most Fulham fans wanted Wigan. I know I did. We've already beaten them at our place this season and they're lower in the league than us, so there'd be a greater air of confidence going into the match which would hopefully translate to a good, winning performance from "the boys". Instead, we play a team who have yet to visit the important team in SW6 – our home league game against Bolton isn't for another 2 months – so they are somewhat of an unknown force on our turf, and the away tie at the start of the season yielded no goals for either team. They're a good side playing good football and their league position of 8th confirms that. Fortunately for us their away form isn't great, in fact it's only marginally better than ours with two away wins. There are some injury concerns as well. I've already mentioned Big Zat who is out for around 6 weeks with knee ligament damage, but another defender, Sam Ricketts, is out for the rest of the season after suffering an Achilles injury. I seem to remember Ricketts playing well against us at the Reebok last year so that's a big loss for boss Owen Coyle, who will now need to bring two possibly less experienced squad members to join stalwarts Gary Cahill and Paul Robinson. Arguably there was a potential issue with the defence before it was hit by injury as suggested by a stat from OptaJoe – Jussi Jaaskalainen made the most saves (135) in 2010. Lucky he's a decent 'keeper. They've still got some good attacking options though, in the form of captain Kevin Davies and Johann Elmander, and their midfield certainly isn't too shy to convert the odd opportunity with Muamba, Holden and Petrov all finding the net this season.

We're doing alright though, aren't we? Hughes and Hangeland continue to be the best centre-back pairing in the Barclays Premier League and Baird is putting in some great shifts at both left and right back. Not at the same time obviously. He's not that good. The match against Chelsea suggested that Salcido may have shaken off his wobbly patch so could well make another start tomorrow. That leaves Pantsil on the bench, perhaps with Kelly who was recalled to the squad on Monday. Dickson Etuhu is back in training but won't be fit enough to make an appearance, and Dempsey is a doubt with a "sore toe". That should give us a midfield of Captain Dan, in-form Damien Duff, the excellent Steve Sidwell and... dare I say it.... Zoltan Gera with perhaps Greening on the bench. We're still a little limited upfront so it's probably safe to assume that Andy Johnson and Moussa Dembele will both start. They seem to complement each other well, although those of you who follow my (excellent) Twitter commentary during matches will know that I sometimes worry that Dembele plays more like a midfielder than a striker. He does tend to sit quite far back leaving AJ on his own. When we have a reasonably attacking-minded midfield such as we have, I don't feel there's a need for Dembele to go and join them. To be fair though, I'm neither a professional footballer nor a qualified coach so I'll trust him to do what he needs to. For now.

I can't see this being the most exciting game ever but I don't think it'll be a draw. We'll possibly just do it, but only by one goal. Lawro predicts a 2-1 home win and, for a change, I'll agree with him. I'll be wearing my lucky earrings just in case though.

Do you agree? Or do you think it'll be another thriller?

[White Noise]

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/bolton/a-slice-of-cottage-loaf

A slice of Cottage Loaf.


Date: Saturday 19th February 2011


Another trip to the land of equal opportunity.

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Who exactly are the real Mighty Whites? Tottenham think they are, and Fulham also claim the title. Let's put the record straight then: There's only one team of Mighty Whites and it's Bolton Wanderers. All the more reason then to beat any pretenders and show them who the title truly belongs to. Rather unfortunately our warriors won't be able to wear our battle surplices with pride this weekend as the home shirts rule means the opposition get to do it. That said, after the match our lads will still be the Mighty Whites regardless of any soft southerners who claim differently. Thus, the Mighty Whites even in black are still the one and only Whites. Sorted.That fact out of the way, we follow the south-eastern compass needle and head into that land of make believe; the land of level pegging, Craven Cottage. With a hint of respect surrounding the ground and the local parishioners not exactly having Neanderthal tags despite where they live, football should be the order of the day. To battle then:

Bolton and Fulham associate with drawn results the way fish associate with chips and West Ham fans associate with delusion. An Ivan Klasnic special against Wigan - a cup match as well supported by the home fans as a pair of crotch-hanger jeans on a style conscious student- sees the Whites on their travels to the land of the Cottagers on the Sabbath, by which time such extravaganzas as United facing the might of the Crawley minnows will be all done and dusted. This one won't be any joyride, if past encounters are any benchmark to go by, and a tasty fixture should be on the cards at this stage of the F.A.Cup jousting match.

With a rather sad scenario facing us in our rear ranks due to the injuries of Zat Knight ( a view not shared by all since Sam Wheater looks a promising substitution) and Sam Rickets, OC is now faced with a right back dilemma and a wing and a prayer that central defence remains intact from further assault. Will he move our resident bulldog over to his unfamiliar side and let young Alonso loose at left rear, as against Wigan, or will he opt for attempting to slot somebody in at right back ? It's a problem he could no doubt well do without right now, indeed anytime. My own (disputed) view is that we could let Muamba the mauler loose there due to his ability to tackle and a fair infusion of pace. His crossing ablilities however, are seen by some to be on a par with with a geriatric walking across the M6. We await breathlessly.

Fulham are not to be scoffed at and, after having beaten Newcastle and the mighty Scousers, drawn with Villa and Wigan, and somehow kept a rampant Chelsea attack at bay they may well see our front runners as less of a challenge. Our three-in-three current local hero can't play due to being cup-tied, thus reducing our strike threat to Elmo, KD and Ivan the terrible, with probably Robbie Blake in abeyance. With frontal assault for the homers almost certainly carried out by the likes of Clint Dempsey, Andy Johnson, Simon Davies and possibly the ex-Whites hero, Eidur Gudjonson , ably backed by Danny Murphy, Duff and Zoltan Gera, twill be nothing less than a hard encounter. One source had Dempsey as doubtful, Davies too, yesterday,with Dembele up front, but with managerial pre-match information usually being as genuine as an Anne Robinson wink, sure enough, this morning's news has them both able to play. Surprise, surprise. Subs are listed as from: Etheridge, Stockdale, Kelly, Briggs, Halliche, Greening, Gudjohnsen, Gera, Davies, Kamara, Kakuta.

Might our own bench throw up any surprises? Our recent form is somewhat encouraging and if we can just shore up the last third we may well emerge victorious. Then again....we may not. For certain we could well do without any replays or extra time at this bare-bones stage of our season. We may just manage to get some favourable media mention should we win, although that isn't worth mortgaging the house on in any way at all.

Fulham showed highlights of the Chelsea game on their club website and it wasn't exactly flattering to them as it was just wave after wave of Chelsea attacks and missed chances. This might give rise to hope that we can cut their defence to bits the way the Blues did. One thing is for sure; what chances we create we'll have to take and hope our defence hasn't been too weakened by recent disasters. Will the real Mighty Whites please stand up.

Prediction: The usual 0-0's and 1-1's will finally disappear in a flurry of goals, preferably at least two more to us than them. 4-1 the lads, with my supposed, sudden attack of arthritis actually being due to all the crossed fingers and toes.

[White Noise]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11681_6764560,00.html

Hughes targets cup run

Fulham boss making Bolton clash a priority


Last updated: 19th February 2011
   


Hughes: Cup ambition

Mark Hughes is determined to go a long way in the FA Cup to continue his own record in the competition and help Fulham's league form.

While the FA Cup has lost some of its lustre to the Premier League and Champions League, it remains special to Hughes.

The Welshman enjoyed great success in the competition as a player, picking up four winners' medals, and he would love to experience the same glory as a manager.

The Cottagers, buoyed by an encouraging recent run in the league, entertain Bolton on Sunday in a match that Hughes will be treating as seriously as any this season.

"The competition has been very good to me in the past. It's always featured highly at different stages of my career," he said.

"I had success at Manchester United. I left and the feeling was that would be the end of my opportunity to win trophies, but I was able to go to Chelsea and win the cup there as well.

"As a manager I've reached a couple of semi-finals as well and it would be great to make that extra step this year and possibly get to the final.

Focus

"Everybody enjoyed the experience of the Europa League final last year and if we can replicate that with a Wembley final, we'd be delighted.

"It's important for us because I've always believed a good cup run helps your league form.

"We're on a good run and we want to keep that confidence high and maintain our performance levels.

"If we do that by winning another home game, which we've been doing of late, that will help us.

"We're really looking forward to the game. We want to progress.

"It's about priorities and maybe certain managers and clubs have different priorities in terms of going for Europe or trying to stay in the Premier League.

"That has changed the focus on the FA Cup from what it was years ago, but I feel if you're in a competition why not go as far as you can."


In the pictures

Hughes also revealed that he had learned a lesson from his first FA Cup final victory with Manchester United in 1985.

"You're always told when you're younger that when you get to a cup final, enjoy every moment. That's impossible, I did try," he said.

"In the first cup final against Everton in 1985 I was walking up the steps when we lifted the trophy.

"I thought that if we win it again, I'll make sure I'm on the top step when the trophy is lifted.

"If you look at every cup final since, it was always the captain, goalkeeper and me!

"I made sure I was right up there, that way I'd get in all the pictures."

Hughes added: "Three of my medals are in Manchester United's museum and the other one's in a drawer."

[White Noise]

http://mobile.mkdons.com/runtime/mkdons/article?articleId=2296460

MATCH PREVIEW: HARTLEPOOL AWAY

Posted on: Fri 18 Feb 2011


On Saturday 19th February the Dons travel to Hartlepool United looking to bounce straight back from two home games that yielded just one point.

However, they will make the long trip to the north-east knowing having enjoyed a sharp up-turn in away form, having collected two wins and three draws from their last five outings away from stadiummk, correcting a start to the season that saw them win just once from their first seven games on the road.

Saturday's hosts currently in twelfth position in the League 1 table, five points behind the ninth-placed Dons but with two games in hand.

Having looked back on Tuesday night's defeat to Leyton Orient, Dons boss Karl is now seeing the positives ahead of Saturday's trip to 'Pools.

He said: "On reflection it was a very good performance but there's no point in having that performance without the three points.

"As much as all the statistics were in our favour and we did everything within our power to win the game, we just didn't take our chances.

"When they came along at key parts of the game we could have taken a two goal lead at 1-0 and 2-1 but we didn't and when you're only one goal ahead there's always a chance that the other team can equalise and when you're playing against good teams, if they're level they can always nick one and get all three points.

"I was happy with the response - I've looked at the tape again and after all three goals they've scored, we've had a chance to score almost straight away so our positivity remained very high but at the end of the day silly errors cost us."

Recent weeks have seen the Dons suffer with a number of injuries and suspensions, forcing Karl to have to re-think selection on a number of occasions.

However, with a couple of players now returning in time for Saturday's match, the Dons boss is feeling more positive.

He added: "Preparations for Saturday are getting better - I'm still disappointed that I can't settle the back four in and its hard when you have to keep changing a pivotal part of your team.

"Everyone always says you build good teams on your back four and the rest of it is just putting people into place.

"We're working on a few things, we've got a few players coming back to fitness and a couple of players whose suspensions are now complete.

"Obviously Gary MacKenzie is now back in contention for Saturday and the longer that keeps going, the longer we keep these players fit and not suspended, the better chance we'll have to keep this high level of performance and stop conceding those silly goals that we have these recent weeks.

"Danny Woodards trained today (Thursday), so we're waiting to see how he recovers and then Mathias Doumbe didn't train today as he's been ill.

"It looks like we might have a bit of illness in the camp as Jabo Ibehre had to come off with it on Tuesday night and we're going there still without Sam Baldock and Aneglo Balanta so we'll just have to wait and see how the illnesses come on over the next 24 hours."

Having reduced the size of the squad over the January transfer window, the Dons have worked hard to bring in loan players who can make an impact immediately.

Perhaps the best example of this is Fulham youngster Keanu Marsh-Brown, who has been excellent in his first games for the Dons, something Karl is well aware of.

He continued: "Keanu Marsh-Brown has had a good couple of weeks; everyone knows I just love wingers!

"I just have this burning desire to play with width and keep wingers in the game - players like Daniel Powell, Keanu, Angelo - the Chairman gets so frustrated with me because every time I come to him with a player he says: "Not another winger!" but I want to play with width - with energy and enthusiasm and Keanu is one of them.

"He gives us great width, he gives us great pace - he can get in behind, he can play short or he can come inside and play between the lines. He's a very young player but one who plays with a very experienced head and I'm sure Fulham have got a very bright prospect there and I'm sure he'll play at a very high level and sustain it as well because he's got a very good work ethic.

"He's fitted in very well here and he's moved into the club house where he's got the older, more experienced players like Rowan Vine and Stephen Hughes looking after him like father figures and I'm sure with them helping him and feeding him he'll only get better."

And speaking of Rowan Vine, Karl moved quickly to extend the QPR forward's loan at stadiummk, keeping him with the Club until mid-march, giving him more time to continue getting match fit and bringing some undoubted quality to the Dons front line.

Karl said: "Rowan Vine is still getting fitter - he shouldn't have played the full ninety minutes on Tuesday but after losing Jabo I needed to keep strikers on the pitch.

"Viney had nothing left in the tank for the last ten minutes but I didn't want to make a negative substitution by having to bring on a holding midfield player for a forward.

"I want to keep forwards on the pitch, especially when you're chasing games but he showed the quality he's got - he retained the ball really well.

"He is a few steps ahead of people sometimes and he maybe needs to realise sometimes that he needs to play his way into the game a little bit better and he's got to get himself up to the level a bit quicker or sometimes he'll find himself falling a little short but I believe in him.

"He's a very talented player and I'm very pleased to retain him for the next month."