Wednesday Fulham Stuff (08/04/15)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Why Fulham fans should be confident of beating the drop

Cottagers have one of the simplest sets of closing Championship fixtures on paper

Fulham appear to have one of the simplest sets of closing fixtures of any of the sides at the bottom end of the Championship table.

The average current league position of the Cottagers' next six opponents is 14th, lower than most of the other sides fighting against relegation.

Games against fellow strugglers Wigan, Rotherham and Blackpool could prove crucial in Kit Smyons' quest for survival.

Wigan's remaining opponents have an average league position of 14.8, while for Millwall the average is as high as 10th.

Millwall have tough games against the likes of Watford, Derby and Wolves.

Rotherham's opponents' average league position is 12th, while Reading's opponents have an average of 11.7 and Brighton's average 9.6.

The toughest run-ins in the Championship on paper are those of Sheffield Wednesday and Bolton.

The Owls and the Trotters' remaining opponents have an average league position of 7.2, the highest in the league.

Bolton face games against sides including Norwich, Brentford and Bournemouth, whilst Wednesday face Brentford, Bournemouth and Watford.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-fans-should-confident-beating-8997670?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham U-21s hit back to beat Liverpool

Moussa Dembele and Tayo Edun scored for Fulham's youngsters as they beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Under-21 Premier League.

Jose Enrique featured for the Reds in the game at Chester FC's Swansway Stadium and set up the opening goal for Alex O'Hanlon.

Fulham responded by scoring twice in the space of four minutes to lead by the interval.

Solomon Sambou created an opening for Dembele, who finished coolly and then turned provider for Edun's well taken goal.

Josh Smile went close to making it 3-1 in the second half when his shot hit the bar.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/football-wls-jose-enrique-features-as-fulham-youngsters-hit-back-to-beat-liverpool

[WhiteJC]

 
Highway to Fulham's Danger Zone, Part Deux

About this time last year I wrote about Fulham's terrible defense, honing in on how many shots in the "Danger Zone" they were conceding.

A refresher: not all shots are created equal, and thus attempting or conceding shots closer to the net is easier for your/their offense to score. Shots further away are more difficult to score. Shots conceded in Zones 1-3 are dubbed the "Danger Zone". You want to shoot there. You dont want to concede shots there.

(courtesy of Michael Caley)

Well guess what, that's where Fulham concede a metric shitload of shots!

Note part 1: this data is dated March 20, so it's slightly out of date, but more importantly it's courtesy of Ben's wonderful Stats and Snakeoil Blog. (Thanks Ben!)

Note part 2: I took Ben's data, and modified it to fit the provided shot locations with Michael Caley's Shot Matrix zone map. Apologies if I violated a few scientific laws; I'm only a dilettante. Full data can be seen here.

TEAM   SHOTS FOR   DZ SHOTS FOR   DZ FOR %
Birmingham City   479   143   29.9%
Blackburn Rovers   548   243   44.3%
Blackpool   396   129   32.6%
Bolton Wanderers   454   186   41.0%
Bournemouth   593   226   38.1%
Brentford   530   188   35.5%
Brighton and Hove Albion   541   207   38.3%
Cardiff City   449   179   39.9%
Charlton Athletic   377   135   35.8%
Derby County   486   179   36.8%
Fulham   468   161   34.4%
Huddersfield Town   521   176   33.8%
Ipswich Town   536   259   48.3%
Leeds United   406   116   28.6%
Middlesbrough   545   216   39.6%
Millwall   467   159   34.0%
Norwich City   583   204   35.0%
Nottingham Forest   531   217   40.9%
Reading   465   185   39.8%
Rotherham United   496   200   40.3%
Sheffield Wednesday   483   193   40.0%
Watford   521   189   36.3%
Wigan Athletic   439   152   34.6%
Wolverhampton Wanderers   472   175   37.1%
TEAM   SHOTS AGAINST   DZ SHOTS AGAINST   DZ AGAINST %
Birmingham City   569   224   39.4%
Blackburn Rovers   494   195   39.5%
Blackpool   607   218   35.9%
Bolton Wanderers   551   199   36.1%
Bournemouth   435   151   34.7%
Brentford   518   184   35.5%
Brighton and Hove Albion   456   180   39.5%
Cardiff City   500   169   33.8%
Charlton Athletic   560   201   35.9%
Derby County   454   164   36.1%
Fulham   558   234   41.9%
Huddersfield Town   516   192   37.2%
Ipswich Town   475   191   40.2%
Leeds United   554   204   36.8%
Middlesbrough   399   157   39.3%
Millwall   479   192   40.1%
Norwich City   354   122   34.5%
Nottingham Forest   482   160   33.2%
Reading   460   179   38.9%
Rotherham United   503   205   40.8%
Sheffield Wednesday   440   180   40.9%
Watford   510   187   36.7%
Wigan Athletic   423   152   35.9%
Wolverhampton Wanderers   489   177   36.2%
TEAM   DZR   DZ SHOTS +/-
Birmingham City   0.390   -81
Blackburn Rovers   0.555   48
Blackpool   0.372   -89
Bolton Wanderers   0.483   -13
Bournemouth   0.599   75
Brentford   0.505   4
Brighton and Hove Albion   0.535   27
Cardiff City   0.514   10
Charlton Athletic   0.402   -66
Derby County   0.522   15
Fulham   0.408   -73
Huddersfield Town   0.478   -16
Ipswich Town   0.576   68
Leeds United   0.363   -88
Middlesbrough   0.579   59
Millwall   0.453   -33
Norwich City   0.626   82
Nottingham Forest   0.576   57
Reading   0.508   6
Rotherham United   0.494   -5
Sheffield Wednesday   0.517   13
Watford   0.503   2
Wigan Athletic   0.500   0
Wolverhampton Wanderers   0.497   -2

There's a lot of data, but for this post we're only going to look at the second table. If you were to sort it by the DZ Shots Against metric you'd see that Fulham have actually conceded the most shots in the Danger Zone in the entire Championship (and on par to eclipse last season)!.

Additionally, whereas just 34% of our shots taken are from the Danger Zone, about 42% of our shots conceded is from the Danger Zone. So nearly half of all shots our opponents are taking are almost from point-blank. As of now there's not a way to deduct DZ Shots on Target from the overall DZ Shots Against, but regardless that statistic is damning.

In a few hours Fulham travel to Charlton, who boast the worst shot totals, nearly worst DZ Shot totals, 6th worst DZ Shots Against totals, and a worst DZ Ratio that us. Should be a terrible, terrible game.



https://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/highway-to-fulhams-danger-zone-part-deux/?

[WhiteJC]

 
The lowdown on Fulham wonderkid Patrick Roberts 'who is wanted by the Premier League's big six clubs'

Patrick Roberts (left) is reportedly wanted by several clubs (Picture: Getty Images)

Fulham's highly-rated prospect Patrick Roberts has reportedly attracted the interest of some of the Premier League's top clubs ahead of the summer transfer window with his impressive performances for the Championship side.

The Telegraph have claimed the 18-year-old is wanted by Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, with England's big six teams having enquired about the £15million-rated England Under-19 wonderkid last summer.

Roberts has just one year left on his current deal at Craven Cottage and, with Fulham believed to be highly unlikely to be able to hold onto one of their prized youngsters, Metro Sport brings you the lowdown on the club's exciting forward...

Who is Roberts?

Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Roberts joined Fulham from Wimbledon aged 13 before making his way up the club's ranks and eventually being handed his first-team debut against Manchester City four years later.

Roberts played a huge role in Fulham's U-18 side reaching their first-ever FA Youth Cup Final in the 2013/14 season – which they lost – but has since started just three games for the team so far this term.

Despite his club's struggles in the Championship this season, though, the 18-year-old has enjoyed a productive time in England's U-19 side with five goals in eight appearances to his name.

The 18-year-old also won the European U-17 Championship with the Three Lions last summer – a competition in which he created the highest number of goals (four) and ended as joint top scorer with his three strikes in Malta.

What's his style of play?

Roberts normally plays on the right wing, but is known to drift in behind the striker and work his magic in the playmaker role.

The 18-year-old is a confident dribbler and can often be seen bamboozling opposition players with his quick feet.

He is also known to be a clinical finisher to add to his array of other impressive skills.

Is he likely to still be at Fulham next season?

According to The Telegraph, the club will find it difficult to keep hold of Roberts past the summer even if they avoid relegation from the Championship.

With several big names after his signature, it is believed that Fulham will have to lower their asking price of £15million to strike a good deal for a player who is making waves for both his club side and his national team.


http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/07/the-lowdown-on-fulham-wonderkid-patrick-roberts-who-is-wanted-by-the-premier-leagues-big-six-clubs-5138732/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Wigan Athletic offer free away travel to fans for Fulham game

After the sacking of manager Malky Mackay, Wigan Athletic are offering free coach travel for their next game which is away at Fulham, the club have confirmed.

Similar to Wigan, Fulham are also struggling towards the wrong end of the table and this game is a real six pointer for both clubs.

Fulham currently sit in 21st place in the Sky Bet Championship, while Wigan occupy one of the three relegation places.

However, a win for the away side would make the last few games very interesting and club chairman David Sharpe said to the official site: "We have a huge five games ahead of us and we will keep fighting to stay in this division, starting on Friday."

"We need the supporters to come to London and back the team. This is when we need to stick together as a football club, on and off the field, starting on Friday."

Despite losing to Middlesbrough on Good Friday, Wigan have won four of their last five away games which surely puts them in the driving seat for this crucial relegation game.

The club now without a manager, sit in 23rd spot and are eight points away from safety with just five games remaining.

One of the main reasons that Wigan have struggled this season is because they have not been performing well at the DW Stadium.

Their last win in front of their home crowd was a 4-0 hammering of Birmingham City. Since that win, Wigan have only managed to pick up seven points at home which is definitely relegation form.

At home this season, they have also only managed to score 16 goals which once again is relegation form and just highlights the problems that the club have had this year.

Wigan Athletic supporters who are wanting to take advantage of the free offer must contact the club before 14:00 on Wednesday the 8th of April.


http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/wigan-athletic-offer-free-away-travel-to-fans-for-fulham-game/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham ease drop fears with draw against Charlton

Fulham eased their relegation worries with a 1-1 draw against Charlton which puts them eight points clear of the drop zone.

Ross McCormack headed the Cottagers in front after just eight minutes at The Valley, but Johann Gudmundsson levelled the scores just nine minutes later with an emphatic finish from close range despite suggestions of offside.

Fulham had the better chances to win in the second half, but they will be buoyed by a point which puts them well clear of Millwall, who currently occupy 22nd place.

Charlton, meanwhile, missed an opportunity to go level on points with 10th-placed Blackburn Rovers.

McCormack's 14th goal of the season arrived after Charlton were undone by a routine long ball down the middle. The unchallenged Matt Smith nodded it on to his former Leeds team-mate, who looped his header over the advancing Stephen Henderson and into the net.

Charlton were under the cosh and McCormack almost made it two when he sprang the home side's offside trap and sent a deflected effort into the side netting. The Addicks' defence was a mess, but Tal Ben Haim did well to get back and block the shot.

Fulham right-back Tim Hoogland was next to go close after more ponderous Charlton defending, but Henderson kept out his close-range effort after the hosts had failed to clear their lines.

The Cottagers were good value for their lead, but it didn't last long. Frederic Bulot appeared to be in an offside position when he failed to connect with Morgan Fox's inviting cross, but the linesman didn't flag and Gudmundsson was on hand to finish at the far post.

It was the Icelander's 10th goal of an impressive debut campaign in English football, but he was guilty of a woeful miss from almost exactly the same position 10 minutes later after good work from Tony Watt and Igor Vetokele.

Both sides had further chances to take the lead before the break, including a shot wide from Fulham's Smith after a suicidal pass across goal from veteran Addicks defender Roger Johnson.

The Cottagers were immediately on the front foot in the second half, with Joe Gomez forced to clear a scuffed effort off the line after McCormack had turned Ryan Tunnicliffe's cut-back into the danger zone.

Watt was at the heart of Charlton's forward play, and the former Celtic man sent one diagonal effort narrowly wide after a powerful run on the left-hand side in the 63rd minute.

McCormack then drew a diving save from Henderson with a curling shot from 20 yards at the other end.

Fulham looked more likely to steal the three points, and they should have had a winning goal when Smith smashed a wild shot wastefully over form inside the box in the final minute of normal time.

There was still time for McCormack to send a free kick wide, but in the end the draw was probably a fair result.


http://www.london24.com/sport/football/clubs/charlton/fulham_ease_drop_fears_with_draw_against_charlton_1_4025468

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham boss Kit Symons: 'Charlton Athletic's goal was blatantly offside'

Fulham manager Kit Symons has insisted that his side were denied maximum points in their 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic because of a refereeing error.

The Whites boss was adamant that Johann Berg Gudmundsson's equaliser for the Addicks was "blatantly offside", accusing referee Andy Madley of making a "horrific decision" against his team.

"I'd say it was a good point, although I'd have liked all three. But I think you take what you can at this moment in time," BBC Sport quotes Symons as saying.

"Their goal was blatantly offside. It was a horrific decision and it cost us dearly."

The former Wales international went on to say that it was his side that looked the more likely to win the match, and bemoan a late miss by Matt Smith.

"We were the team pushing. We had double their shots but couldn't quite get that second goal.

"Matty Smith was out on his feet at the end when he put that right-foot effort over the bar. If he was a little bit more lively he would have finished that."

The result leave Fulham in 20th place in the Championship, eight points clear of the drop zone.


http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/fulham/news/symons-charltons-goal-was-offside_215852.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Championship round-up: Ross McCormack earns vital point to ease Fulham's relegation fears

Fulham have edged another point closer to safety in the Championship after a 1-1 draw at London rivals Charlton Athletic.

Ross McCormack's 14th goal of the season put them ahead before Johann Gudmundsson equalised for the hosts.

It means Fulham are now eight points clear of third-bottom Millwall with five games left as they continue to limp towards the end of a season everyone at the club would probably rather forget.

McCormack gave Fulham the lead in the eighth minute, scoring with a close-range header from strike partner Matt Smith's flick.

Gudmundsson equalised  for the home side eight minutes later, ghosting in at the far post to convert Wales Under-21 defender Morgan Fox's cross from the left.

Fulham were carved open again just before the half-hour. When Igor Vetokele's cross reached Gudmundsson he was five yards out with half an empty goal to aim at, but he somehow planted his shot into the side-netting.

Fulham searched for a winner, with Smith firing just wide from the edge of the area before seeing a header cleared off the line by Joe Gomez.Tony Watt twice went close for Charlton before Smith missed a golden opportunity to win it for the visitors when he blazed over in the last minute.

Many Blackpool fans boycotted their 1-1 home draw with Reading, 24 hours after their relegation was confirmed, and protested against chairman Karl Oyston outside Bloomfield Road instead. Flares, eggs and a smoke bomb were thrown as supporters chanted "Oyston out" and "We're relegated because of your greed".

On the pitch, Jamie O'Hara's early penalty was cancelled out by Grant Hall's unfortunate own goal just 20 seconds into the second half.


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/championship-roundup-ross-mccormack-earns-vital-point-to-ease-fulhams-relegation-fears-10161127.html