Monday Fulham Stuff (28/04/14)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham defender creates Premier League history

Fernando Amorebieta scored for Fulham against Hull City (Action Images)

Fernando Amorebieta has become the first Venezuelan footballer to score in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old defender wrote himself into the history books on Saturday when he scored during Fulham's league clash against Hull City at Craven Cottage.

The centre-back found the net on 58 minutes when he headed home Kieran Richardson's cross into the far corner.

Ashkan Dejagah had given hosts Fulham the lead just three minutes earlier, and the Cottagers looked good for a 2-0 victory.

However, Hull staged a comeback in the final 15 minutes of the contest to pick up a point from their trip to London.

Nikica Jelavic halved the deficit for the Tigers on 15 minutes and Shane Long made it 2-2 three minutes before half time.

The result leaves Fulham third from bottom in the Premier League table with 31 points from 36 matches, while Hull are 13th with 37 points from 35 games.


http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/47623-fulham-defender-creates-premier-league-history.php

[WhiteJC]

 
"A problem of the mind" – Magath beomans mental weakness of Fulham players after Hull draw

Fulham surrendered a two-goal lead against Hull City this afternoon that would've seen them leap out of the relegation zone to the detriment of Norwich City.

Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long struck late in the second half for the visitors to make it 2-2, following goals from Ashkan Dejagah and Fernando Amorebieta.

In light of his side's collapse, Magath cut a dejected figure in his post-match interviews, attributing the missed opportunity to mental weakness.

"It was very disappointing how the second half went. Things went as we hoped and we had the 0-0 at half-time which wasn't bad, and then we wanted to go more forward and take more situations, and it worked very well.

"We scored twice and and it seemed as if everything was alright, but unfortunately we are taking more or less an own goal, and that brought pressure for us.

"It is not a problem of physical ability, it is a problem of the mind. They were well in the second half, things were good and now we have to take the result from today and stand up for Stoke and try to win.

"A victory would have pushed us to the next game, but we have to take the situation as it is; to stand up and show we can play as well away as at home."

Hull City boss Steve Bruce, on the other hand, was in high spirits, extolling The Tigers' never say die attitude that has led them to Premier League safety and an Fa Cup final.

"We thought it wasn't going to be our day – we hit the bar twice, we hit the post – but there's a reason why we're 13th and in a cup final, and you witnessed it again. They just don't give up. They kept going and rightly got their rewards.

"If we hadn't have got [a draw] we might still have been in [the relegation battle]. 37 [points] might be enough, it usually is, but we've got three games to go.

"We've had a remarkable year. To be around 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th since last September, and get to a cup final and be – hopefully – safe with three games to go is a remarkable achievement."


http://www.squawka.com/news/2014/04/26/magath-beomans-mental-weakness-of-fulham-players/20140426102274?

[WhiteJC]

 
DURHAM DOSSIER: Fulham players were out on their feet after 70 minutes against Hull... and Steve Bruce has a tactical dilemma in the FA Cup final

My latest trip took me to Craven Cottage where Fulham looked like they were going to take all 3 points. But then they ran out of steam...

Fulham players looked shattered after 70 minutes...Felix Magath anecdotes are as plentiful as Bratwurst and Lederhosen in Germany. He was known as 'the last dictator in Europe' mainly because his training regimes were brutally punishing.

The stories go that he ran one squad so hard pre-season that a player collapsed on a beach and the bus back to base left without him; another player collapsed halfway through a 4 hour walk up a mountain; at Bayern Munich a run through the Bavarian pine forests had the players gasping upon their return – so Magath allegedly hid their water bottles.


Exhausted:The Fulham players were shattered by the final whistle on Saturday

As one of his former players at Eintracht Frankfurt, Jan Aage Fjortoft, commented: 'Whether Felix Magath would have saved the Titanic, I do not know. But the survivors would have been in top shape.'

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against making these highly-paid players earn their money. Quite the opposite! But Fulham were out on their feet after 70 minutes.

Magath had made some brilliant tactical changes to swing the game Fulham's way – Dejagah's introduction after the break was crucial, and then going with 2 strikers when Darren Bent arrived on 53 minutes to join Hugo Rodallega, had Hull chasing shadows and within 5 minutes of that change Fulham had scored twice.

To all intents and purposes it looked like Magath had outcoached Steve Bruce. But the changes had nasty side-effects: Dejagah and Bent coming on saw the midfield depleted – Holtby and Sidwell were sacrificed.


Taskmaster: Magath has a reputation for pushing his players to their limits
So when Fulham tried to defend their lead they failed to adapt. Both the ageing Scott Parker and the not necessarily 100 per cent match-fit Mahamadou Diarra were left with too much to do and in the end it was the woodwork which saved the home side from defeat.

There's no excuse for the substitutes obviously, but were the rest just too tired because Magath's burning desire to run players into the ground in training has struck again?

Hard running all week won't help Parker and Diarra last 90 minutes of helter-skelter, thud and blunder relegation action in the Barclays Premier League every weekend.

Fulham have improved beyond measure... since I saw them wiped out in a 45-minute horror show against Manchester United at Craven Cottage in November.

Martin Jol's team were a shambles that day and they played like strangers.

Not long after that Fulham suffered their worst ever defeat in the top flight – battered 6-0 at Hull City.

Against Hull City for long periods of the game they looked organised and they played some great football – take a look at Dejagah's goal.


Fulham players celebrate after Fernando Amorebieta put the hosts 2-0 up

Scott Parker put in a typically combative performance in the Fulham midfield
They have clearly improved but I'm left wondering what might have been for Fulham.

Let me explain: Hugo Rodallega has scored 2 goals in 4 Premier League games this month for

Fulham – he hadn't scored for 14 months before those strikes - and all of a sudden he's being talked about as the Cottagers' saviour. Maybe he will be.

But during Rene Meulensteen's brief spell in charge he allowed 3 players to leave the club: Bryan Ruiz is scoring goals at PSV Eindhoven, Dimitar Berbatov is doing the same at Monaco – both want to stay with their new clubs. As does Adel Taarabt who is like a player reborn at AC Milan where he is more than holding his own in Serie A, and was among the key players for Clarence Seedorf's side during a recent 5-match winning run.


Ashkah Dejegah opened the scoring for Fulham with a curling shot in the 55th minute
It makes you wonder whether Magath would have got them scoring and playing well in his Fulham side. Instead he has been left with £12m striker Kostas Mitroglou, apparently still not ready to play against Hull City.

Having said all of that, the 3 who left Fulham in January all played in that shocker against Manchester United, and to be honest I can't see Berbatov being happy if Magath had asked him to run for 10 miles can you?


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2614247/DURHAM-DOSSIER-Fulham-players-feet-70-minutes-against-Hull-Steve-Bruce-tactical-dilemma-FA-Cup-final.html#ixzz309uUqTXD
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[WhiteJC]

 
Premier League: Brede Hangeland says Fulham need two wins to beat drop

Brede Hangeland: Says Fulham need to win their remaining games

Fulham must take six points from their two remaining Barclays Premier League games to avoid relegation, according to captain Brede Hangeland.

Fulham were 2-0 up with 15 minutes left to play at home to Hull on Saturday but the visitors snatched a point with late goals from Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long.

Hangeland says everyone at the club knows it is a crucial moment in Fulham's season, but he remains confident they can retain their Premier League status next year with victories against Stoke and Crystal Palace.

"I think we need to win the last two," he said.

"That is clear for everyone to see. Is that impossible? No, it is far from impossible. Of course we can do it.

"It is all about doing the business next week and then the week after and hoping that will be enough. It is a massive game next week and we have to win that."

A share of the spoils means Hull are now virtually safe and can focus their attention on the FA Cup final, according to Long.

"I think it was a massive point for us," he said.

"It keeps them six points behind us with two games left, but with a worse goal difference, so we can look at Fulham as finishing behind us at least.

"It was a big point for us, it was a big thing not letting them get three points - 36 on the table with Fulham on 33 behind us would have been a bit more scary.

"I thought we were fully deserving of a least a point, but after they went 2-0 you get to thinking it isn't going to be our day. We can go to Aston Villa, not switching off, but quietly confident that we are fairly safe."

Hull splashed out over £14m on bringing strike-duo Jelavic and Long to the club in January and the Ireland international is keen to repay the faith manager Steve Bruce has shown in the pair.

"The gaffer went out on a limb and spent a bit of money getting me and Jelavic in and hopefully I can reward him with goals on the pitch," he added.

"I'm really enjoying it. Jelavic is a handful and puts himself up front which surprised me a bit before I came in.

"I think we complement each other well, but we are still learning off each other and hopefully we can add to our goal tally before the end of the season and then have a full pre-season together."


http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11681/9286133?

[WhiteJC]

 
Hull City manager Steve Bruce hails newcomers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic for forcing Fulham to face drop
Hull City manager Steve Bruce proves transfer nous as January signings Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic panic frail Fulham into letting slip three crucial points and their pass out of relegation zone

While searching for reasons why Premier League newcomers Hull City are safe for another season while Fulham look doomed, Steve Bruce pretty much hit the nail on the head when he identified the signings in January of Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic.

"You are only as good as your strikers, and with those two we've got as good as anyone else in the bottom half of the division," he said after the pair's late goals won a point to keep Hull effectively safe and nudge Fulham closer to relegation.

Assem Allam, the Hull owner, is much-maligned over his proposal to change the club's name but he has backed Bruce's nous in the transfer market to great effect. Long and Jelavic were signed in January for around £13 million, barely £1 million more than Fulham's fee for Konstantinos Mitroglou, who has played twice for them and not scored.

In contrast, Long and Jelavic are proven scorers in the Premier League and the eight goals they have scored for Hull have all come in games where the Tigers have gained points.

"There's been a lot written about Hull Tigers and all the rest of it," Bruce said. "It's fitting that the two strikers we brought in at the right time have made the difference, and that is what a good owner or chairman is about. We were in a comfortable position, and we went and spent a lot of money. I'm very pleased they got the two goals today."

Shaheed Khan, Fulham's American owner, has not spent so wisely. The superstitious billionaire watched a tepid first half before leaving for the airport, having done the same during a previous Fulham victory. This time it was different. After Fulham raced into a two-goal lead early in the second half through goals from Ashkan Dejagah and Fernando Amorebieta, Jelavic headed one back in the 75th minute before Long headed another to equalise in the closing stages.

"They scored against Sunderland, Tottenham,Cardiff and West Bromwich Albion, " Bruce said. "The two of them are a handful. I've also got to give credit to the others we've brought in. Curtis Davies, Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, the goalkeeper [Steve Harper] – they've all made a fist of it."

However, he stressed: "It would be wrong to single out individuals. Players make managers, and the group I have are a delight to work with. Sometimes you speak to other managers and they have horror stories from dressing rooms.

"I have a bunch who are doing their best to be Premier League players, and they are a fantastic group. I had the privilege when I was at Birmingham to have a fantastic group to work with, and this lot are on a par with them. All of them have something to prove, a bit of hunger about them which was there for all to see again today. It would have been easy to choke, but they showed what they are about."

Fulham by contrast, did 'choke' and the way they let slip the three points that would have taken them out of the relegation zone led to Felix Magath's concerns about the mental frailty of his players. "It is not a problem of physical ability, it is a problem of the mind," he said.

"It's difficult to explain because it has been going wrong all season. There is not one reason for it, but many things. When I came here (in February) we were bottom so if I thought only of defending.

"I said: 'We are fine if we concede no goals,' but we needed to win some games to stay up. We need to find the balance between defending and attacking. It works very well until our first goal, but the team is not strong enough to stand up. It has been the same all season. Often we have had a good first half but in the second the game has gone. The first game against Hull [in December] ended 6-0 but it was 0-0 at half-time. It's from the whole team."

To have any chance of surviving, Fulham must now get points against Stoke and Crystal Palace and hope for teams above them to drop points. Defender Brede Hangeland conceded "It's do or die now." "We've given ourselves a mountain to climb from those last two games but I still believe it is possible we can do it."

Hull, meanwhile, have an FA Cup final against Arsenal to prepare for, although Bruce says his side will not ease up. "The biggest concern I had when we got to the Cup final was that it's just human nature to do that. Half of them had not been to Wembley before, nor played in a cup final. There's a clamour for tickets and the rest of it, so it was important to make sure they kept their focus."

More importantly there is Premier League prize money at stake. "We won't be stopping. If we can stay where we are, then the budgets could mean another player next year. That is what we have to do. We're in 13th, and we budgeted to finish 20th. It is about a million quid a place so all of those things are huge to a club like ours."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/hull-city/10791396/Hull-City-manager-Steve-Bruce-hails-newcomers-Shane-Long-and-Nikica-Jelavic-for-forcing-Fulham-to-face-drop.html

[Steven Ageroad]

Fulham defender creates Premier League history

Fernando Amorebieta scored for Fulham against Hull City (Action Images)

Fernando Amorebieta has become the first Venezuelan footballer to score in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old defender wrote himself into the history books on Saturday when he scored during Fulham’s league clash against Hull City at Craven Cottage.

The centre-back found the net on 58 minutes when he headed home Kieran Richardson’s cross into the far corner.

Ashkan Dejagah had given hosts Fulham the lead just three minutes earlier, and the Cottagers looked good for a 2-0 victory.

However, Hull staged a comeback in the final 15 minutes of the contest to pick up a point from their trip to London.

Nikica Jelavic halved the deficit for the Tigers on 15 minutes and Shane Long made it 2-2 three minutes before half time.

The result leaves Fulham third from bottom in the Premier League table with 31 points from 36 matches, while Hull are 13th with 37 points from 35 games.


http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/47623-fulham-defender-creates-premier-league-history.php

You forgot to add that it was Amorebietas mistake that allowed Shane Long to score the equaliser.

[HatterDon]

Fulham defender creates Premier League history

Fernando Amorebieta scored for Fulham against Hull City (Action Images)

Fernando Amorebieta has become the first Venezuelan footballer to score in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old defender wrote himself into the history books on Saturday when he scored during Fulham's league clash against Hull City at Craven Cottage.

The centre-back found the net on 58 minutes when he headed home Kieran Richardson's cross into the far corner.

Ashkan Dejagah had given hosts Fulham the lead just three minutes earlier, and the Cottagers looked good for a 2-0 victory.

However, Hull staged a comeback in the final 15 minutes of the contest to pick up a point from their trip to London.

Nikica Jelavic halved the deficit for the Tigers on 15 minutes and Shane Long made it 2-2 three minutes before half time.

The result leaves Fulham third from bottom in the Premier League table with 31 points from 36 matches, while Hull are 13th with 37 points from 35 games.


http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/47623-fulham-defender-creates-premier-league-history.php

You forgot to add that it was Amorebietas mistake that allowed Shane Long to score the equaliser.

He doesn't add or subtract. He just provides us with a single thread filled with Fulham related news of the day. You'd want to relate that comment to www.footballdirectnews.com. Somebody there might benefit from your insight.

[terryr]

I never miss the daily "Fulham stuff" posts.
The highlight of my rather featureless day.

[HatterDon]

I never miss the daily "Fulham stuff" posts.
The highlight of my rather featureless day.

Same here. when I'm on one of my self-enforced exiles, this page keeps me in the know about everything Fulham. Good man, that WhiteJC

[tslyon]

I never miss the daily "Fulham stuff" posts.
The highlight of my rather featureless day.

Same here. when I'm on one of my self-enforced exiles, this page keeps me in the know about everything Fulham. Good man, that WhiteJC

Speaking of, has anyone heard from him today?  Missed my Tuesday Fulham stuff and am all out of sorts...

[alfie]

Fulham defender creates Premier League history

Fernando Amorebieta scored for Fulham against Hull City (Action Images)

Fernando Amorebieta has become the first Venezuelan footballer to score in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old defender wrote himself into the history books on Saturday when he scored during Fulham's league clash against Hull City at Craven Cottage.

The centre-back found the net on 58 minutes when he headed home Kieran Richardson's cross into the far corner.

Ashkan Dejagah had given hosts Fulham the lead just three minutes earlier, and the Cottagers looked good for a 2-0 victory.

However, Hull staged a comeback in the final 15 minutes of the contest to pick up a point from their trip to London.

Nikica Jelavic halved the deficit for the Tigers on 15 minutes and Shane Long made it 2-2 three minutes before half time.

The result leaves Fulham third from bottom in the Premier League table with 31 points from 36 matches, while Hull are 13th with 37 points from 35 games.


http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/47623-fulham-defender-creates-premier-league-history.php

You forgot to add that it was Amorebietas mistake that allowed Shane Long to score the equaliser.

Disagree with you there Amore was marking Jelovic he can't mark Long as well. someone else should have pick up Long.