Wednesday Fulham Stuff (31/12/14)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Symons - Very Few Positives!
   
The boss isn`t happy after what occurred down at the Cottage last night.

Following our second defeat on the bounce, in our festive fixture programme, it was a slightly perplexed Kit Symons that faced the media.

Kit, who will be looking for his side to bounce back after successive 2-0 defeats, appeared bemused by the showing at the Cottage last night, remarking in his post-match interview,

'It was very disappointing, we never really got going. It took them to score to spur us into life but we just weren't good enough.

'The quality wasn't there. There are no excuses really and not too many positives to take.'

Sometimes it`s just better to accept what has happened and move on, last night was one such occasion.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=382058#ixzz3NP6tpluW

[WhiteJC]

 
Hutchinson Hurting

Shaun Hutchinson was left disappointed that Fulham failed to take their opportunity to climb the Sky Bet Championship table on Monday night.

Victory over Brighton & Hove Albion would have put the Whites level on points with 10th-placed Nottingham Forest, but a 2-0 loss at Craven Cottage brought the curtain down on 2014 in frustrating fashion.

"We were really poor," Hutchinson admitted. "We didn't really get on it and move the ball sharp and as quickly as we normally do, we were slow after second balls, and everything in general.

"There was no cutting edge, we were sloppy in possession, losing the ball in bad areas. It wasn't the best night.

"It's just one of those days that's a real kick up the bum because we felt that if we'd gone on a run with the next few fixtures we really could have pushed ourselves up the table, but now we're losing ground on the rest of the teams going forward. So we need to bounce back as soon as possible.

"I keep saying we need to go on a run and we really need to start doing that. We need to get three, four, five wins on the bounce and really get us up that table, and obviously this loss didn't help."

Manager Kit Symons was not happy with the low number of shots his side managed to get on target, and while Hutchinson admits the absence of injured duo Lasse Vigen Christensen and Bryan Ruiz was felt, he believes his team should still have had enough about them to penetrate the Brighton goal.

He stated: "With Bryan pulling out before the game [after a fitness test] and Lasse picking up a knock in the last game, it's never going to help us when we're trying to create things but we've still got players in the team who can create.

"It's just that nothing was falling for us, nothing was going for us and we don't really know why that was. We'll have a look at the videos and see what went wrong, but it was a really disappointing day for us."

Fulham will now take a brief respite from league matters as our FA Cup campaign kicks off on Saturday in the Third Round tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Cottage.

Having spent his entire senior career north of the border prior to joining the Whites, Hutchinson could make his debut in the famous competition at the weekend, and he's hoping his side can forget the AFC Bournemouth and Brighton defeats by getting the new year off to the perfect start.

"It would be nice to go on a cup run," he admitted. "It's another one that's good for the confidence if you can go on a good run in that. It will be another hard game against Wolves but we can't wait to get back in again now after two defeats in a row."

Fulham's FA Cup adventure begins on Saturday when Wolverhampton Wanderers visit Craven Cottage in the Third Round. Tickets for the all-Championship encounter are priced at just £20 adults and £5 juniors in all areas of the ground.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/december/30/hutchinson-hurting?

[WhiteJC]

 
Defender Kay Voser heading for Fulham exit

Swiss star set to leave despite only arriving at Craven Cottage in the summer


Surplus to requirements: Kay Voser
Kay Voser is heading for the exit door at Fulham.

It has all gone south for the 27-year-old Swiss defender since he joined the Whites in July on a two-year deal for a fee of about £400,000.

A return to his own country is on the cards for a player that boss Kit Symons admits is surplus to requirements.

Voser has made only four appearances for Fulham, in which he picked up two yellow cards.

The last was back in September as Whites suffered a 3-0 defeat to Reading and there's no room at the inn – or rather the Cottage.

Symons added: "Kay's back in training with the group now. When I took over the group was too big. We had to make some calls that didn't necessarily suit everyone.

"So he's been left out a little bit, but I'm conscious that players need to go out and play football. If there was a loan option that came up that suited him and suited us, I would look at it and for other players that aren't featuring."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/defender-kay-voser-heading-fulham-8361627?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham show they're creepiest club in football with bizarre flirty tweet to fan



The Twitter feeds of professional football clubs can often be embarrassing places, but if this interaction is anything to go by, then Fulham's is definitely the most cringe-worthy of all.

One fan tweeted the Championship club to tell them how 'Mondays are so much better when @FulhamFC have won', after their victory over Leeds, only for the side's official account to respond in a slightly unusual and also slightly unsettling manner.



http://metro.co.uk/2014/12/30/fulham-show-theyre-creepiest-club-in-football-with-bizarre-flirty-tweet-to-fan-5003914/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Tunnicliffe Deal to Become Permanent?
   
Around about this time last year, if my memory serves me correct, or it may have been earlier, Fulham went through a phase when incoming transfers were of a plenty.

One player who arrived and who many thought might have to work very hard to get a taste of the action, was Ryan Tunnicliffe.

Tunnicliffe, who came from Manchester United, having been a trainee there, didn`t set the Cottage alight with his performances when given the chance.

This season the 21 year-old has been plying his trade, at Ewood Park, on loan. It now appears that Blackburn Rovers would like to sign the player on a permanent basis.

Sat in the editorial chair, I can`t see any objections coming from Fulham about a permanent transfer although I suspect there may be some haggling over a fee.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=382086#ixzz3NP8O5FQb

[WhiteJC]

 
Woeful Fulham demolished by Brighton

Interim manager Nathan Jones did his job prospects no harm as Brighton produced an excellent performance to beat Fulham at Craven Cottage.

A second-half penalty from Adrian Colunga and a delightful flicked finish from substitute Solly March ensured that the Seasiders moved out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

Brighton dominated the game with slick passing that belied their position at the foot of the Championship.

Adrian Colunga was a constant menace on the left-hand side but, despite their dominance, they could find no way through Fulham's defence.

At the start of the second half they somehow conjured to miss a golden opportunity when Elliott Bennett saw his first shot blocked and then saved by Marcus Bettinelli, with Colunga putting the rebound just wide of the post.

The first goal came after a clumsy tackle by Konstantinos Stafylidis on Bennett made it an easy decision for referee Graham Scott. Colunga sent Bettinelli the wrong way.

The goal spurred Fulham into life and they briefly threatened. Substitute Sean Kavanagh saw a 25-yard effort tipped over the bar by former Fulham keeper David Scockdale.

The Brighton shot-stopper then produced an even better save for Hugo Rodallega's low effort.

With the clock ticking down Brighton made the game safe with an excellent breakaway goal, substitute March neatly tucking the ball past Bettinelli.

It's been a woeful week for Fulham, who once again must look over their shoulder at the teams below them, as new manager Kit Symons suffers back-to-back defeats for the first time.


http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-15ea-Woeful-Fulham-demolished-by-Brighton#.VKLlGp0DCnY

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham v Albion, 29/12/14

6th November 1993. That's when the Albion last won a game of football at Craven Cottage. When John Major was busy dividing his time between leading Her Majesty's Government and reshuffling Edwina Currie's cabinet, when Meat Loaf was telling us that he'd do anything for love except stop singing that monstrous turd of a song, and when lustrously-coiffed, one-footed enigma Dean "Call me Wendy" Wilkins scored the winner to temporarily ease the pressure on beleaguered boss, Barry Lloyd. That's how long it's been.

And we've missed it. In an era of identikit, flat-pack, self-assembly stadiums, dropped into place around the retail parks of England & Wales, and surrounded by Harvesters, KFCs and PC Worlds, there's something still comfortingly nostalgic about Fulham's ancestral home. The walk to the ground on a cold evening, across Putney Bridge and through Bishops Park, floodlights glinting up ahead through the trees, invoked memories of very different footballing times.

Of course, it's not the same place that we left, back in 1993. No open terrace on the Putney End: instead fans are treated to one of football's better, all-seated away sections. No more Michael Jackson statue either, after the Cottagers' new owner Shahid Khan decided Mohammed al Fayed's creation wasn't in keeping with his ideas for the club (for those concerned about the loss of this iconic piece of football history: don't worry! You can still view it at the National Football Museum in Manchester).

The first hint that events in the Albion's largely dismal season might be starting to take a turn for the better came when a tweet started to circulate around the pubs of Putney, indicating that on-loan midfield maestro Gary Gardner was too sick to play. This being the last match of his loan spell with the club, it seemed to signal the end of one of life's less successful relationships. It's not quite a Den & Angie-style Christmas divorce, more a "Sorry, Gary, it's not you, it's us...we need a new start for the New Year....there's nobody else involved...it's time we both moved on...can we still be friends?".

This, and the Jake Forster-Caskey coming down with a similar malady, meant a significant change to the midfield, with Danny Holla and the returning Rohan Ince given the chance to shine. Ince, under Sami Hyypia this season, has been a shadow of the player who broke into the first team to such effect last year. Perhaps Ince, then, was sending a message to Hyypia with his performance at the Cottage, which, from the first minute, showed the dynamism, strength, accuracy and desire that have so often been lacking across the middle of the park all season.

Further evidence of the Albion's apparent shift in attitude came after only three minutes, when Danny Holla badly miscued a volley wide, from a good position. Yes, he screwed the chance, but the point here is that we had found ourselves In A Good Position. After only THREE minutes. Moments later, Marcus Bettinelli in the home goal saved from an Adrian Colunga header. Seven minutes gone and already two good chances? Could this be the night out we'd all hoped for?

Fulham's own finishing was proving to be as bad as Holla's, with several long range efforts blasted hopefully into the Albion fans massed on the Putney End, as David Stockdale jogged on the spot and rubbed his hands together to keep warm. A couple of appalling crosses from £11 million man Ross McCormack were as good as it got for the home side, unless you count a booking for Greg Halford courtesy of Hugo Rodallega's anguished ankle rubbing following a strong tackle. In the main, however, the Seagulls' defence kept their shape perfectly and protected Stockdale's goal well.

At the other end of the pitch, Lewis Dunk (twice), Colunga, Craig Mackail-Smith, Holla and Joe Bennett all had chances to score as the Albion continued to win possession and use it smartly (does it feel as strange reading this as it does to write it?). Rumbles of discontent could be heard from the snoozing home support, resulting from their team's repeated concession of possession - largely to Ince - and inability to create any meaningful chances. Stockdale's biggest challenge of the half was to fend off the effects of hypothermia. The interval came, and the noisy away support applauded the team off enthusiastically, perhaps sensing that reward for the team's efforts was distinctly possible.

Half time can often be an impediment to a team playing well but, happily, the Albion re-emerged for the second half with the same sense of determination, whilst their opponents continued to toil. Ten minutes in, a game of pinball in the Fulham six yard box saw two Elliott Bennett efforts saved by Bettinelli, and Colunga strike the outside of the post, before the ball was finally cleared. The Seagulls weren't to be denied, however, as Bennett (E) surged into the box before having his legs whipped from underneath him by the floundering Kostas Stafylidis. As penalty decisions go - and both sides tried it on at times during the game - this was an easy one for Graham Scott. Colunga promptly stepped up, convinced Bettinelli to dive to his left, and serenely slotted the ball to the keeper's right, before heading straight for the 3000 travelling fans celebrating behind the goal.

A deserved lead on the balance of play and, for once, the Albion never really looked like giving it up. Fulham roused themselves to a brief flurry of enterprise shortly afterwards, and finally forced Stockdale into his first save of the match in the 70th minute, as he tipped over a curling effort from Sean Kavanagh. The outstanding Halford at centre half was proving to be the biggest obstacle to the home side's efforts, winning a number of crucial headers under pressure, whilst Stockdale was forced into an even better save, down to his right, from Rodallega's low drive. Those two efforts aside, however, the Albion were standing firm, and the back four were by no stretch of the imagination under siege. Instead, they continued to win the ball, and pass it out confidently to team-mates, frustrating the home side and their fans.

Solly March and the returning Chris O'Grady entered the fray, for CMS and Bennett (E) respectively. It seems that not all the Fulham supporters believed in poor Elliott's injury, but fortunately, he was able to demonstrate to them exactly where he was hurting.

O'Grady offered a different presence as soon as he entered the field, impressively winning a series of headers against Fulham's centre halves, and earning himself the honour of Albion fans singing his name for the first time. Perhaps a career as a Johnny Crumplin-style cult hero beckons. A neat chest down to Teixeira with the clock ticking down saw the Portuguese thread a perfect ball through to March, who finished neatly past Bettinelli to seal the points and send the away end into a state of delirium.

A win! An actual WIN! And not a lucky win, rather a controlled, confident, comfortable win against a team who have been on a largely upward trajectory and who won with depressing ease at the Amex in November. Jones in particular showed what it meant to him at the end, and whatever happens with the managerial position over the next week or so, looks sure to have gained himself a few Albion points amongst the doubters within the support.

Highlights of the night, therefore:

- Halford's outstanding defensive performance, particularly a couple of superb headers under pressure

- Ince's return to form, and a strong showing from Teixeira

- Halford managing to boot a second half clearance right out of the stadium (disappointingly, nobody's managed this at the Amex yet)

- CMS's overhead kick in his own penalty area to clear a ball in the first half (the story that he'd actually been trying to control it turned out to be a vicious rumour).

- The singing, bouncing, scarf-twirling, joyful atmosphere in the away end. There aren't many better grounds for an away trip than this.

Barry Lloyd may have won that game at the Cottage back in 1993, but the good run didn't last, and he was finally sacked - after an unthinkable six years in charge - and replaced by Liam Brady before Mr Blobby had hit the Christmas number 1 spot. There isn't space enough on the NSC server to debate all that's happened to both the Albion and Fulham in the twenty-one years since, but it's certainly been one hell of a ride. Another win on Saturday as the team return to London for an FA Cup tie at Brentford would put a very large spring in everybody's step heading into 2015.

Happy New Year to you all


http://www.northstandchat.com/content.php?399-Fulham-v-Albion-29-12-14

[WhiteJC]

 
City wait on Smith availability

Club to request permission from striker's loan club.

Steve Cotterill is hoping to secure permission from Fulham to use loan striker Matt Smith in Saturday's FA Cup tie at Doncaster Rovers.

The City boss had to make do without Smith for the previous round win over AFC Telford United, but with doubts over Kieran Agard (ankle) and Aaron Wilbraham (hip), they could certainly do with the in-form striker being available.

Smith netted three times during the two festive matches against Yeovil Town and Gillingham.

"I need to speak to Fulham about Matt. We'll just have to wait and see what the outcome of that one is," Cotterill told Bristol City Player.

"With Kieran and Aaron, it's too early in the week to know about their availability really. We're just taking that day by day at the moment."

Chelsea loanee Todd Kane will be available, while Joe Bryan and Wade Elliott have now fully shaken off thigh and calf problems respectively.



Read more at http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/city-wait-on-smith-availability-2173698.aspx#fDy7Yerq3spIZEIO.99

[WhiteJC]

 
The Sean Davis Column

We didn't want to sign the year off like that, did we? It was a big game against Brighton on Monday and I thought it was one of those where if we won we'd really be looking up the table. It wasn't one I expected us to lose but now we have it means we're still looking over our shoulder a bit.

I think we missed Lasse Vigen Christensen – he's been a driving force this season and provides a lot of energy – but it was just one of those performances where things went a bit flat. Let's give a bit of credit to them, in the second half they did really well, I thought their centre-halves did a good job, and the goalkeeper, when needed, popped up with two fantastic saves.

Of course, their keeper was a familiar face in David Stockdale, and he'll be pleased with how he did on his return to the Cottage. The shot he saved from Sean Kavanagh was unbelievable – I thought it was in all the way. And then he made another fantastic save from Hugo Rodallega, and those are defining moments in the game. If we score one of those and get it to 1-1, then we're the team in the driving seat and may well go on to win the game.

But obviously the more we attacked, the more susceptible we were on the counter. It's better off losing 2-0 having given it a go, than losing 1-0 without pushing for an equaliser, though. It was a disappointing result but we've got the FA Cup coming up and then more games coming thick and fast so we'll just have to dust ourselves off, like we have done before.

Consistency is the key and I do think we will get that. We haven't actually gone on a run where we've won three or four games on the spin, and I think the team, the squad, and all the staff, are definitely capable of that, it's just a case of doing it sooner rather than later. We don't want to leave it too late.

We've got Wolves at home on Saturday and a good cup run would be a boost for everybody. The FA Cup is special. I've been involved in a great run with Fulham when we reached the Semi-Finals. We played Chelsea (although it was at Villa Park for some strange reason) and despite not reaching the Final, those are strong memories that I have about the FA Cup. I was also at Portsmouth when they won it, so it's a competition that I – as do many players – have a lot of time for.

The New Year is just around the corner, and looking back at 2014 it's clear that it hasn't been a good year for the Club, what with us getting relegated. But I think since the appointment of Kit things have looked up. Everyone around the ground has got a smile on their face so now we just need that consistency thrown into the mix to push us up the league. 2015 needs to be a better year, and hopefully it will be.

If you asked me what my dream for this coming year is, then I'd say to be up in the gantry at Wembley with Gentleman Jim doing the co-commentary in the Play-Off Final. That would be ideal!

Happy New Year to you all!

Sean

Fulham's FA Cup adventure begins on Saturday when Wolverhampton Wanderers visit Craven Cottage in the Third Round. Tickets for the all-Championship encounter are priced at just £20 adults and £5 juniors in all areas of the ground.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/december/30/the-sean-davis-column?

[WhiteJC]

 
Blackburn make Tunnicliffe bid

The former Manchester United midfielder could move to Ewood Park on a permanent basis although Fulham are monitoring his progress and could recall him in January

Blackburn Rovers have made a permanent bid to sign loan star Ryan Tunnicliffe, Goal understands.

However, Rovers must complete any deal for the midfielder by January 1 as their forthcoming transfer embargo will prevent Tunnicliffe from moving to Ewood Park.

And Blackburn are keen to secure the 22-year-old on a permanent basis as Fulham have a recall clause that they can use in January which could cut short his current loan deal which is due to run until the end of the season.

Fulham boss Kit Symons is considering his own squad options and is understood to have been keeping close tabs on Tunnicliffe's form - which has been very impressive in the heart of Gary Bowyer's side.

Tunnicliffe only signed for Fulham in January when he was snapped up by former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen, but following his quick departure from Craven Cottage he has found his chances limited in west London.

It is also understood that other clubs are monitoring Tunnicliffe's form and should Blackburn fail to get the deal done, then Fulham could face competition for his services - making Rovers' need to sign him all the more urgent.


http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2014/12/30/7520082/-?