Monday Fulham Stuff 27.04.15

[Friendsoffulham]

Saturday Sundae: McCormack is Watford hero, while Cameron trends online

Ross McCormack's hat-trick for Fulham sends Watford up, while David Cameron blames 'brain-fade' after forgetting which team he supports


Ross McCormack scored a hat-trick in Fulham's 4-3 win over Middlesbrough which sent Watford up to the Premier League. Photograph: Ian Tuttle/BPI/Rex Shutterstock

MAN OF THE DAY
Fulham's £11m Ross McCormack made himself a bona fide Watford legend – his hat-trick against Middlesbrough sending the Hornets up.

GOAL OF THE DAY
Stoke's Charlie Adam was up to his old tricks again: finding the top corner with an edge-of-the-area screamer.

FAN OF THE DAY
David Cameron spent the day trending online after forgetting which team he supports during his pro-multiculturalism speech – linking himself to West Ham by mistake. He later blamed "brain-fade ... I'm a Villa fan."

APPEARANCE OF THE DAY
Nikola Zigic turned down a place on the bench for his last home game at Birmingham. He did still show up for the Blues' "lap of appreciation", though.

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY
Annan fans had a fine away day: winning 5-4 at Elgin in Scottish League Two, with players from both teams scoring hat-tricks.

BEST DISTRACTION
Troy Deeney scored Watford's winner then went to watch The Avengers with his son. By the time it was over his side had been promoted to the Premier League.

LOWEST BLOW
Bristol Rovers needed a win, and for Barnet to slip up against Gateshead, to seal a return to League Two. They did themselves proud with a 7-0 mauling of Alfreton – but the Bees won 2-0.

VILLAGE TEAM OF THE DAY
Step forward Brora (population: 1,140), who earned a 1-1 draw at Edinburgh City (population: 500,000) in the first leg of a play-off that could lead to a Scottish league place.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/26/saturday-sundae-mccormack-watford-david-cameron

[Friendsoffulham]

'Rosscodinho' - Former Leeds United forward Matt Smith has a new nickname for Fulham teammate Ross McCormack

Former Leeds United and Rangers attacker Ross McCormack scored a hat-trick for Fulham against Middlesbrough in the Championship on Saturday.

Fulham forward Matt Smith has taken to social networking site Twitter to revel in his side's thrilling win against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

The Cottagers made it two wins out of two in the Championship when they got the better of promotion-chasing Middlesbrough 4-3 at home.

In what proved to be a see-saw encounter at Craven Cottage, Fulham went 3-1 up midway through the second half, thanks to a headed effort from Michael Turner and former Rangers star Ross McCormack's two penalties.

However, 10-man Middlesbrough rallied thereafter, with Daniel Ayala and Kike finding the target to make it 3-3 on 88 minutes.

However, with Boro goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos pushing upfield in the final seconds of the game, former Leeds attacker McCormack scored at the other end.

It proved to be the final goal of the encounter and saw Fulham win it 4-3, leading former Leeds forward Smith to sing his teammate's praises on Twitter.

Fulham are now 17th in the Championship table with 52 points from 45 matches, three points and two points behind Leeds.

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2015/04/26/rosscodinho-former-leeds-united-forward-matt-smith-has-a-new-nic/

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Manchester United 'ready to battle to land £10million transfer of Fulham's Patrick Roberts'



Manchester United are reportedly ready to battle with the Premier League's top clubs to land the £10million transfer of Fulham's Patrick Roberts.

The Red Devils are keen to secure the signing the 18-year-old England youngster, who is tipped to become one of the very best, according to the Express.

Fulham are desperate to keep hold of their hottest prospect but would struggle to turn down a double figure bid.

Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea are also interested but it is Manchester United who are in pole position.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/26/manchester-united-ready-to-battle-to-land-10million-transfer-of-fulhams-patrick-roberts-5167561/

[Friendsoffulham]

McCormack hat-trick delight



Ross McCormack was delighted to be able to serve up a win for the fans with a hat-trick in the Whites' last home game of the 2014/15 season, where they beat Middlesbrough FC 4-3 in an entertaining match at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

"There's a few times this year where we've served up really poor quality for the fans here. Today wasn't really one of them. It was an entertaining game." McCormack told fulhamfc.com after the match.

"We showed strong character. I know they went down to ten men and that probably made it a bit easier for us, but we will enjoy the win."

Fulham went ahead at the end of the first half with a header from Michael Turner in his last game for the Whites on loan from Norwich FC, before two penalties from McCormack and a goal in the final minutes for his hat-trick sealed the win for the Whites.

Well into the five minutes of added time Konstantopoulos went up for a Boro corner, but when Turner cleared the ball McCormack got onto it, running forward to get his third of the afternoon, and the winner for the Whites.

"I think I had the chance to shoot from the half way line but I didn't have any power left in my legs," said McCormack. "I was struggling. I've been playing with a bit of a knee injury the last six or seven weeks. It's pretty sore."



"When I was running through one-on-one, Tunnicliffe was on my right hand side so I was saying you come up and I'll square it and you can get your first goal. But he was like 'no,no, no, no!' He was shouting away while I'm running, 'you get your hat-trick' so that was nice of him. But like I say I was just pleased with a win."

The victory extends Fulham's current undefeated run to five games before the Whites travel up to Carrow Road on Saturday 2nd May for the final game of the 2014/15 season.

"I think when we play well we show we're as good as anyone in the league and we've showed that. But we've not played well enough this season," McCormack stated. "The league position shows that. We are where we are in the league and we deserve to be there over the course of a season."

"However, today shows we can do it against top teams, so it's up to us to go out on a high against Norwich on Saturday and address it from there for next season."

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/april/26/mccormack

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Man City join the race for Fulham's youth prodigy



The latest club to join in the hunt for Patrick Robert's signature are Manchester City, as they look to recruit English talent to adhere to the Premier League's home-grown rules.

With Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool all having already shown interest in the youngster, the 2013-14 Premier League champions will face stiff competition for the diminutive attacker.

Fulham have offered the 18 year-old a new contract, but with such big clubs showing signs of bidding for the forward The Cottagers have put a £10 million price tag on Roberts in the event he chooses not to sign – a price that is unlikely to dissuade Manchester City.

A move for an English player is of great importance to City this summer, with James Milner, Scott Sinclair and Frank Lampard all looking set to leave the Etihad, meaning they would fall under the minimum requirement for home-grown players.

With the season coming to end, Roberts will have to decide whether to sign on the dotted line at Craven Cottage or seek a move higher up the footballing pyramid.

http://the72.co.uk/25806/man-city-join-the-race-for-fulhams-youth-prodigy/

[Friendsoffulham]

City Showing Interest in Fulham`s Roberts

Earlier in the week we reported on how Fulham Football Club were trying to tie down our talented young forward Patrick Roberts.

There was talk in the air of Fulham trying to tie the eighteen-year-old to a long term deal and give him a pay-rise that would befit his stature as one of our most promising youngsters.

However, it appears that other clubs also have their own ideas in relation to Patrick`s future with it being inferred that Manchester City are keen to acquire the services of Roberts knowing that he`d assist in them fulfilling the home-grown quota regulations imposed by the Premier League.

Whilst a move to the Etihad Stadium might be appealing young Patrick should perhaps consider how many home-grown players actually break into a side whereby instant success is the buzz word.

Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=397854#ixzz3YQhq6J3z

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Bump

[HatterDon]

bump

[Fulham1959]

£10 million a "double-figure bid" ?  Just sounds funny !

£10,000,000.