Sunday Fulham Stuff (08/02/15)...

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Big Plans And High Hopes

Speaking ahead of the Birmingham City game at Craven Cottage on Saturday (3pm), Kit Symons says the motivation amongst his players could not be higher as he looks to progress with Fulham.

"I've got big plans and high hopes for taking this Club forward," said Symons. "There's still an awful lot to play for. It's not hard to motivate a good group of players who have that pride and that passion for their job and in their football club. It's not really hard."

He continued: "I'm positive and optimistic. I know the work we do here and I'm very pleased with it. We give ourselves an opportunity in every game because of the way we do it."

Following the loss to Blackburn Rovers in the Sky Bet Championship last weekend, Symons was impressed with the way the team rallied together.

"After the Blackburn game it was a real disappointment because I thought we played quite well," he said. "After I finished speaking to the team, Scott Parker spoke really well to the players and said, 'listen, we've got to believe this is going in the right direction, and it is.'

"You can clearly see huge amounts of progress at the football club. People just have to keep the faith and we'll keep working hard and doing the right things. If you do the work, you earn the right to be successful and win games of football. We'll continue to do the work and give ourselves a good chance."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/february/07/big-plans-and-high-hopes?

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Fulham boss admits 'honeymoon' period is over

Whites manager reveals 'big plans' for club

Kit Symons admits his honeymoon period as Fulham boss is over - and it's now down to his skills as a coach to take the club forward.

The former academy head came to the rescue in September after a disastrous start from Felix Magath that briefly plunged Whites to the bottom of the Championship.

Like most new voices calling the shots, there has been a resurgence in form that inched Fulham to a comfortable mid-table berth. In fact, Symons' first win in charge was a 2-1 away win at today's visitors Birmingham.

They too received a welcome jolt when Gary Rowett took the reins to replace former Whites hero Lee Clark.

Symons is under no illusion about the task ahead.

He said: "I think there is definitely a honeymoon period - and we've had that. Now it's about doing the right things on a consistent basis.

"And it's what I've always tried to do, anyway. We're going to be judged on what we do and I would expect any favours.

I've been around long enough to know that, and I want to be judged on how I'm doing and whether the club is progressing.

"I have big plans for Fulham."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-admits-honeymoon-period-8598031?

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Result: Fulham, Birmingham City share the spoils

Birmingham City fought back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Championship this afternoon.

Hugo Rodallega gave the home side the lead inside the first five minutes when he raced on to Lasse Christensen's pass before finishing the chance.

However, Fulham's lead was short lived, and it was David Cotterill who restored parity with a free kick.

Lloyd Dyer almost gave the visitors the lead but his header could only fly just over the bar shortly after the equaliser.

Ross McCormack, who captained the side in the absence of Scott Parker, went close with a header from Kostas Stafylidis but Darren Randolph was alert to save.

McCormack almost matched Cotterill with a free kick of his own on the half-hour mark, but his 35-yard effort went just wide.

Clayton Donaldson then spurned a great opportunity up the other end after going through one-v-one with Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.

Seko Fofana almost regained the lead for Fulham with a fierce effort from 25 yards that flew narrowly wide 11 minutes into the second period.

Kacaniklic was next to try his luck for Kit Symons's side, but the Swede's left-footed effort went wide before Fofana's curling strike from range also narrowly missed.


http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/birmingham-city/result/result-fulham-birmingham-share-the-spoils_204036.html

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Fulham held to frustrating draw by Birmingham City

Hugo Rodallega's first-half goal not enough for Cottagers

Fulham 1-1 Birmingham City

Fulham's faint play-off hopes suffered another blow after they were held to a frustrating draw against Birmingham.

Hugo Rodallega gave the Cottagers an early lead, only for David Cotterill to haul the Blues level to leave both sides well off the pace.

Fulham made a storming start and were ahead inside five minutes. Lasse Vigen Christensen played in Rodallega, who slotted the ball past Darren Randolph.

Birmingham hit back and Marcus Bettinelli did well to claw away David Cotterill's fizzing drive at his near post.

However, the Blues midfielder found a way through on 15 minutes when his curling free-kick looped over Bettinelli into the far corner.

Clayton Donaldson wasted two gilt-edged chances to give the visitors the lead, while Bettinelli denied Cotterill and Lloyd Dyer.

Fulham improved after the restart and came close to getting their noses back in front, but Randolph pushed Rodallega's drive around the post.

Alex Kacaniklic steered a shot just wide, while Seko Fofana's long-range effort was just off target for the Cottagers.

Kit Symons brought on young gun Patrick Roberts as they searched for a winner, and they almost found it in stoppage-time, but Randolph thwarted Rodallega.

Fulham: Bettinelli, Richards, Bodurov, Hutchinson, Stafylidis, Tunnicliffe, Fofana, Christensen (Roberts 77), Kacaniklic, McCormack, Rodallega.

Subs (not used): Kiraly, Woodrow, Dembele, Williams, Burn, Grimmer.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/match-reports/fulham-held-frustrating-draw-birmingham-8600178?

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Manager Reaction

Fulham Manager Kit Symons was disappointed that his team didn't build on their positive start against Birmingham City.

Hugo Rodallega put the Whites in front with less than five minutes played, but Blues grabbed an equaliser through David Cotterill's free-kick after Jazz Richards was penalised.

Both sides had chances to win the game thereafter but no more goals were forthcoming as the teams had to settle for a 1-1 stalemate.

"We started very, very brightly," Symons stated in his post match press-conference. "Even before the goal we had some good passages of play and some good opportunities.

"It's almost a case of scoring too soon, maybe. It was a very good goal but we sat back a little bit then and they got more into the game, but most of it was from our mistakes in the first half.

"Most of their opportunities and things, chances that they had, were from our cheap giveaways or poor decisions. We actually started the second half slow, but then dominated from there, so in the end it's disappointing not to have gone and won it to be honest.

"We'll aim to finish as high as we can and do as well as we can and keep progressing, that's all we can do so we're fully focused on that. Tuesday away at Bolton now is another big one for us and we're looking forward to that."

The majority inside Craven Cottage thought Fulham should have been awarded at least one penalty in the second half.

Firstly, Ross McCormack found himself barged to the ground in the area, before Alexander Kačaniklić's delivery was handled in stoppage time, and it's the latter which Symons feels most aggrieved about.

"The McCormack one, I've not seen it properly again," he admitted. "I saw it very quickly again and I think their lad might have got a little bit of the ball so I've got no problems with that.

"With the Kača handball, the boy [David] Davis has raised his hands – he's quite close to him, but he definitely put his hands up and stopped the ball, so I thought it was a stonewall penalty, and it was right in front of the referee, that one. So it was disappointing not to get that one."

With Birmingham playing three attacking midfielders behind a lone striker, they often looked to play wide in order to fire balls into the box, but Symons was pleased with how his team dealt with the threat.

"A big part of the gameplan was to get up to the ball quickly because they put a lot of crosses in," he explained. "Cotts [Cotterill] especially has got very good quality and he doesn't need to beat a man, he'll just put a ball in if you give him a yard, so you need to get out there and close him down quickly, and I thought Kostas [Stafylidis] did very well with that today.

"They still put crosses in but we put them under quite a bit of pressure and I thought we dealt well with their wide players – I was quite pleased with that."

Having not scored for 10 matches, Rodallega now has two goals in five days following his strike against Sunderland in midweek, and Symons is delighted to see the Colombian finding the net again.

"When I first took over he was scoring for fun," he said. "Then he had a little spell where he didn't, but he's on form now so that's great for us.

"It was a case, when I first took over, that Ross was assisting Hugo for a lot of his goals, then we went through a little stage where Hugo was helping Ross out. I don't really mind who scores the goals as long as we are scoring."

Much was made by external media of Marcus Bettinelli's own goal in Tuesday's FA Cup defeat, but the Fulham goalkeeper put in an assured display against Birmingham, pulling off several key saves.

It didn't come as a surprise to his Manager who, when asked if it was difficult for him to recover from the incident, replied: "Not really, because he's such a strong, good character.

"A mistake was made against Sunderland and he put it behind him straight away because, like I say, he is a really strong character like that, and that's full testament to him and he had a good game for us today and made some great saves in the first half."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/february/07/manager-reaction

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Fulham share points with Birmingham

Two goals early in the first half saw Fulham and Birmingham share the spoils in an evenly-matched 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

Fulham striker Hugo Rodallega opened the scoring after four minutes with a well-taken strike to claim his 11th goal of the season.

Birmingham, who were beaten 2-1 by Fulham at St Andrews in September, soon hit back to level the scores when winger David Cotterill curled in a 15th-minute free-kick wide from the left that deceived everyone and nestled into the top corner.

The point will do little for either teams' outside chances of reaching the play-offs. Gary Rowett's Birmingham remain in 11th place on 38 points while Fulham are three points behind in 16th, a distant 15 points off Watford who currently occupy the final play-off spot.

Fulham had won three of the last four meetings between the two sides and it took just four minutes for them to take the lead.

Skipper Ross McCormack, an B£11million signing from Watford, found Lasse Vigen Christensen with a clever pass. The Danish Under-21 international threaded an accurate through ball to Rodallega, who expertly fired a low shot beyond Birmingham's Darren Randolph.

Birmingham's last defeat on the road was a 1-0 loss at Blackpool in the Championship on December and they soon looked to force their way back in the game.

On seven minutes Fulham's Marcus Bettinelli reacted sharply to keep out Cotterill's curling effort direct from a corner.

Bettinelli could do nothing, however, to prevent Cotterill's equaliser on 15 minutes. With everyone expecting a cross, the Birmingham winger whipped in a free-kick from the left and the ball flew into the top corner to level the scores at 1-1.

Birmingham are unbeaten in their last five away games and were the brighter team for the remainder of the first half.

Clayton Donaldson missed an absolute sitter from 10 yards while the lively Cotterill forced a fine save from Bettinelli following Lloyd Dyer's low cross from the left.

Striker Donaldson, who has 11 goals this season, was not at his clinical best on his 31st birthday and in first half stoppage time he missed his second clear-cut chance as he nodded a close-range header wide from Cotterill's cross.

Fulham were brighter after the interval and for the first time since their early goal they pressed forward.

On 55 minutes Randolph was down well to divert Rodallega's powerful near-post effort while the impressive Seko Fofana grazed the outside of the post with a powerful low shot from 20 yards.

McCormack narrowly failed to connect to Alexander Kacaniklic's scuffed effort after a swift counter and Fofana was once again inches wide with another drive from the edge of the box.

It proved the closest either side would come to claiming the victory.


http://www.espnfc.co.uk/english-league-championship/match/395204/fulham-birmingham-city/report?

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Gary Rowett believes Birmingham City deserved to beat Fulham

Birmingham City boss feels his side were better than Fulham despite shared spoils at Craven Cottage

Gary Rowett believes Birmingham City were short-changed at Craven Cottage despite extending their unbeaten run to six games.

Blues had to come from behind - which they did through David Cotterill's superb free-kick, but they should have had more.

"I don't think it was a fair result," Rowett said. "We started a little bit slow, conceding a goal, which we were disappointed with.

"But we showed brilliant character getting back into the game with a great piece of quality from Dave Cotterill - which he does so often.

"And from there on in we were by far the better team in the first half.

"We counter-attacked with real verve and pace and quality and I think we have had five clear chances, the best chances of the game - and we really should have scored at least a couple of them and gone in comfortably in the lead.

"The second half was a little bit more even. They changed their shape to counter what we did but we still had one or two good chances. We have had 18 shots, ten on target.

"Yes we are pleased at the end to get the point after a couple of goal-mouth scrambles - but overall on the balance of play we should really have been coming away with the three points.

"Clayton chested one down and put it over the top and he has had a free header in the box, Lloyd's got in and had a shot and there were two or three other excellent chances.

"I would say as an attacking force in the first half that's as well as we have played.

"We played with real quality, really good control, switched the play well and caused them lots of problems in the wide areas."

Rowett also elaborated on his decision to leave Demarai Gray on the bench and persist with Lloyd Dyer.

He admitted a testing week, in which Gray had been the subject of a £5m deadline day bid from Bournemouth, had entered his thinking - but there were also tactical considerations.

"The space to do the damage today was wide and we wanted to keep players wide. I just felt Lloyd as a left footer on the left would naturally stay wider and run at people.

I also felt I needed to give Lloyd at least another game just to see if he could get that little bit more fitness. I thought in the first half he was really good and bright and you can see what he does.

"Then we hoped that maybe Demarai could come on and give us a little bit of impact.

"He probably didn't give us as much impact as we would have hoped in the hole position. But you try those things and see if you can go and win it."


http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gary-rowett-believes-birmingham-city-8600612?

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Kit Symons disappointed Fulham failed to claim all three points
KIT SYMONS is disappointed Fulham failed to claim all three points against Birmingham at Craven Cottage.

The hosts were on the back foot for most of the match, despite taking an early lead, but they built up a late head of steam and could have snatched a winner at the death but for Blues keeper Darren Randolph's excellent save from Hugo Rodallega's acrobatic effort.

Symons said: "We started very brightly and before the goal we had some good passages of play and some good opportunities but it was almost a case of scoring too soon.

"It was a very good goal but we sat back a bit then but most of it was from our mistakes in the first half and most of the opportunities and chances they had were from our cheap giveaways and poor decisions.

"We actually started the second-half slow but then dominated from there so in the end I'm disappointed not to have gone and won it, to be honest."

Winger Alex Kacaniklic saw a late cross connect with Blues midfielder David Davis' arm but referee Fred Graham waved away his penalty appeal.

But Symons believes Graham should have pointed to the spot.

"The boy Davis raised his hands, it's quite close to him but he definitely put his hands up so I thought it was a stonewall penalty right in front of the referee.

"I'm disappointed not to get it."

Birmingham wingers Lloyd Dyer and David Cotterill caused problems all afternoon for the Fulham defence but Symons believes his side dealt with them well.

He said: "A big part of the game plan was to get up to the ball quickly because they put a lot of crosses in.

"Cotts especially has got very good quality and he doesn't need to beat a man, he'll just put the ball in if you give him a yard so you need to get up there and close down quickly and I think Kostas [Stafylidis] did very well with that today.

"They still put quite a few crosses in but we put them under a bit of pressure and I thought we dealt with their wide players. I was quite pleased with that."


http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/424401/Kit-Symons-disappointed-Fulham-failed-claim-all-three-points

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'The play-offs are an awful long way away' Fulham boss gutted as Whites drop more points

Fulham boss Kit Symons admits the play-offs are too far away for his side after they drew at home to Birmingham this afternoon.

In an even encounter at Craven Cottage the two sides were forced to settle for the 1-1 draw to leave both teams hovering in mid-table and off the pace for the play-offs.

Despite falling a goal behind to a fourth minute strike from Hugo Rodallega, Rowett saw his side level thanks to a 15th minute free kick from David Cotterill that deceived home keeper Marcus Bettinelli and flew into the top corner.

After dropping two points at home Fulham manager Kit Symons admitted their play-off hopes look bleak. He said: "The play-offs are an awful long way away and every time we drop points it gets that little bit further. We will aim to finish as high as we can and do as well as we can.

"Tuesday away at Bolton is now a big game for us and we will focus and put together a plan for that. I think this side is capable of going on a run and that could get us closer to the play-offs but I'm sure there are a lot of other sides in this division that feel the same way.

"We started very brightly but it was almost a case of scoring too soon. It was a very good goal but we stepped back a little bit. They got more into the game but most of their opportunities were from our mistakes.

"The second half we started a bit slow but then dominated from there. In the end we are disappointed that we have not gone on and won it."


http://www.london24.com/sport/football/clubs/fulham/the_play_offs_are_an_awful_long_way_away_fulham_boss_gutted_as_whites_drop_more_points_1_3947516

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Fulham to offer Steve Bruce huge £15m contract to guide Cottagers back into the Premier League

The 54-year-old is currently in charge of Hull but could be tempted by a new challenge with the Tigers currently enduring a woeful campaign

Steve Bruce will be offered a £15million summer deal to take Fulham back to the big time, reports Steve Bates in Sunday People Sport.

The Cottagers' Pakistani-American billionaire owner Shahid Khan plans to tempt Bruce away from struggling Hull with a lucrative contract to guide Fulham into the Premier League.

Khan, owner of American NFL side Jacksonville Jaguars, is one of the world's wealthiest businessmen with a net worth of $4.6 billion.

He is desperate to re-energise Fulham and plans to tempt Bruce with a £3m-a-year deal, topped up with a £2m promotion bonus.

After that Bruce would earn £4m-a-year plus a further £1m-a-year bonus for keeping Fulham up.

It's big money but the Fulham owner believes Bruce has all the credentials to turn the Cottagers into promotion candidates after leading Hull and Birmingham into the Premier League with successful Championship campaigns.

After the disaster of Felix Magath's appointment last season, Kit Symons has now steadied the ship.

Fulham are way off the promotion pace in mid-table - and Khan wants them challenging at the top end of the Championship next season.

Bruce, on a rolling one-year contract at the KC Stadium, is enduring a nightmare season at Hull after spending big last summer.

Owner Assem Allam has so far stuck with Bruce despite seeing the side slide into the bottom three but it's been a rocky road.

It's thought Bruce would favour a move to London if it end in tears at Hull - but Khan could turn to West Ham boss Sam Allardyce.

The Hammers boss isn't due to discuss a new contract at Upton Park until near the end of the season but is said to be relaxed about his future at West Ham.

Allardyce and his family love London life and he'd be happy to stay in the capital with Fulham if he can't reach an agreement over a new deal with the Hammers.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fulham-offer-steve-bruce-huge-5124657?

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Steve Bruce's position at Hull in doubt as Fulham monitor former defender's position
Steve Bruce's position remains under threat after a run of poor results
Fulham are monitoring the situation and could look to move for Bruce
Fulham are looking to invest again to mount a promotion challenge 

Fulham are monitoring Steve Bruce's situation at Hull City.

Bruce's position as manager is under threat after a poor run of results despite healthy summer investment in new players from the club's Egyptian owners.

Although Hull drew at champions Manchester City on Saturday, Bruce is still unsure over his future.

Fulham are looking to invest again in a bid to go up and stay in the Premier League and have identified Bruce as a candidate.

They considered an approach prior to appointing Kit Symons and they remain keen.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2944259/Steve-Bruce-position-Hull-doubt-Fulham-monitor-former-defender-s-position.html#ixzz3R8DWCTGP
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