Saturday Fulham Stuff (02/05/15)...

[WhiteJC]

 
The difference between Fulham and Norwich? Kit Symons explains gulf between the sides

Whites manager says Championship experience is a must


Let go: Brede Hangeland celebrates with Steve Sidwell
Fulham boss Kit Symons reckons the major difference between his team and the one he faces tomorrow is that Norwich kept their players last summer - and the Whites didn't.

There was a single point separating the two when they took the Premier League plunge last season.

Fulham were even neck-and-neck with Canaries at the bookies before a ball was kicked in August - and then it all went horribly wrong.

The best Symons and co can hope for is 16th spot, while the Canaries hope to return to the top flight via the Championship play-offs next week.

In the summer, stalwarts like Steve Sidwell, Kieran Richardson, and Brede Hangeland were shown the Cottage door when all made it plain they were happy to stay.

The manager reckoned it was a massive mistake.

"Norwich kept a lot of their players, and it makes a huge difference," Symons added. "We started the season with a very, very little Championship experience. They started with a lot of Championship experience."

The silver lining is the gaffer who replaced Felix Magath, sacked in September after a dreadful start, has brought on a number of youngsters including Sean Kavanagh, who scored the winner against Norwich at the Cottage in October.

"If Sean's selected," said his manager," I'll be reminding him about that."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/difference-between-fulham-norwich-kit-9157529?

[WhiteJC]

 
Ross' Goal Target

Ross McCormack is keen to surpass the 20-goal mark when Fulham take on Norwich City at Carrow Road.

The forward has enjoyed an excellent maiden campaign with the Whites, taking his tally for the season to 19 with his treble against Middlesbrough last time out, and he's targeting at least one more in Saturday's finale.

Catching up with fulhamfc.com, McCormack said: "Kit spoke to me after training [on Thursday] and he was asking me if I'm okay with the injury that I've been playing with.

"I told him I was and he said 'I thought you'd say that after the hat-trick.' I just need one to get to 20 but a few more on top of that wouldn't go amiss either."

Fulham have taken nine points from their previous five outings, having not lost a match since the start of April, and McCormack wants to extend that run to a sixth game in Norfolk.

"You can't argue with that," the 28-year-old said of his side's form. "I think we would have taken that with the position we were in. We've shown a little bit of fighting spirit, a little bit of desire to get over the line and stay safe.

"It would definitely be nice to go out on a high. We're a few games unbeaten now, even though a few of them were draws.

"I don't think there's many teams in this league that are that much better than each other, so we go into the game positive and looking to get a win to sign off in style."

The Canaries have the Play-Off Semi-Finals to look forward to as they aim to return to the Barclays Premier League at the first attempt, but McCormack doesn't believe they'll be shirking any 50-50 tackles on Saturday.

"I don't think there's many players in this league who would do that," he said. "Everyone puts in a shift.

"The team has got guys such as Nathan Redmond and the likes, so it's going to be a difficult game."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/may/01/ross-goal-target?

[WhiteJC]

 
Symons appointment can't be dismissed

After a game with more twists and turns than Scott Parker against Middlesbrough last weekend, Fulham now find themselves in danger of flirting with mid-table obscurity if we get a decent result against Norwich on the final day of the season.

Only a few weeks ago there were very real concerns around our ability to stay in the league, but given the assurance that we would not suffer the same fate as Wigan and experience consecuitive relegations, we can now turn to focus on next season and hopefully a few steps towards recovery.

Speak to most Fulham fans and they will tell you that Kit Symons is not the man to take us forward. His lack of managerial experience and questionable decision-making has certainly been evident since the turn of the year, and despite a bright start the team really failed to kick on or ever really get to grips with the diamond in midfield. While I initially felt compelled to give him the benefit of the doubt and some time to implement new ideas, it has to be said that as the season went on we actually appeared to go backwards. I never felt we would suffer relegation as the quality in the squad would always counteract the lack of experience in the dugout, but it was certainly a lot closer than expected.

Symons is definitely a likeable individual and the wave of support around his appointment in the first place was no accident. Alongside being an ex-Fulham player, he was influential in the success of the youth teams and seemed to be a refreshing choice following a number of previous appointments that left fans questioning the appreciation of the club's traditions alongside the direction we were being taken in. Much like John Carver at Newcastle, Fulham fans may now though have renewed appreciation for managers with attributes outside of knowing the club inside out.

My whole argument with the appointment of Kit in the first place was that he was someone capable of overseeing a rocky period with a view to establishing some sort of base in which to move the club forward. Never did I think he was the man to take us up again but as a young and inexperienced manager there is always a relatively small chance we could develop a better coach than we could attract from elsewhere. Admittedly this season was too close for comfort but let's just remember the situation he inherited was far from ideal. He will evidently be judged on some questionable decisions and persisting with the diamond formation, but when you have a squad boasting, at most, two wide players then you have to use what you have at your disposal. The lack of investment in January will hopefully not be replicated over the summer and may allow Symons to inject some quality in the right areas.

We all know the role is only on an interim basis until the end of the season and whether it will be extended remains to be seen. A number of names are being thrown around but what is for sure is that a decision prior to pre-season would be beneficial for all involved to allow solid preparation for next term. For me Symons should not be immediately dismissed as an option in the short-term. Another appointment for the sake of it will cause more harm in the long term but to have Kit keep things ticking over while we wait for the right man would be the sensible step.

Roll on next season and, as always, COYW!


http://www.shoot.co.uk/category/news/symons-appointment-cant-be-dismissed/

[WhiteJC]

 
Next Up: Norwich City

Fulham travel to East Anglia on Saturday for our final fixture of the season, as we take on a Norwich City side preparing for the Play-Offs. The Whites will wear black armbands in memory of John O'Brien, the Club's Head of London Recruitment, who recently passed away.


The opposition

Following relegation from the Premier League, Norwich were amongst the favourites to bounce back at the first attempt, having kept most of the squad together and spent money on new additions.

Despite an opening day defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Canaries started the season strongly under Neil Adams, going unbeaten for eight games after that loss. That run included 3-0 victories over Watford and Brentford to put them top of the pile, although their form would suffer a horrendous dip after reaching the summit.

Five games without a win would follow, which included a home defeat to Charlton Athletic and a 1-0 loss at the Cottage.  November didn't get much better, as they were thrashed 4-0 at Middlesbrough and beaten at home to Reading.

The festive period would prove slightly more fruitful with big wins over Huddersfield Town (5-0) and Millwall (6-1) but defeat at Reading and an FA Cup loss against Preston North End would spell the end for Adams, who resigned as the club sat 11th in the table.

Hamilton Academical boss Alex Neil was appointed as the new manager at the turn of the year, and he had an immediate impact on the Norfolk outfit. In his first match in charge he led the side to a win at Bournemouth, despite being down to 10 men.

The Canaries went on record six straight wins in February and the start of March, including a 3-0 triumph at Vicarage Road and an East Anglian derby win over Ipswich, before slipping up at home to Wigan.

That defeat did not faze them, as they continued their charge to automatic promotion by going eight without defeat, before losing a crunch match with Middlesbrough two weeks ago. A draw at Rotherham United last week ended their automatic promotion hopes.

Team news

Norwich will be without striker Lewis Grabban after he was sent off last time out at Rotherham and faces a three-match ban. Alex Neil could have Alex Tettey and Steven Whittaker available again after the pair missed out on the draw with the Millers.

Inside the camp

Alex Neil insists Saturday's game is far from a dead rubber, and wants Norwich to go into the Play-Offs full of momentum.

Speaking to Norwich City TV, he said: "The disappointment of not getting it automatically is done with now so we need to refocus and kick on.

"We want to go and win the game, which is how we approach every game. You always want to finish the season on a high, and it's important the players go into the play-offs with good confidence.

"We're fully prepared and hopefully we can put a good performance in with it being our last home league game."

"If you look at Fulham they've got a lot of technical players, and are very good middle-to-front, so we're going to have our work cut out. However, if we play to our full potential there's no reason why we can't win the game."

Player to watch

Wes Hoolahan: The Dublin-born midfielder started his youth career with local side Belvedere before moving to Shelbourne in 2001. Hoolahan spent five years with the Irish outfit, winning three League of Ireland titles and collecting the PFAI Young Player of the Year award in the 2002/03 season. He then had a brief spell north of the border with Livingston in 2006/07 before joining Blackpool on a season-long loan for the following campaign. The Tangerines would go on to win promotion from League One and escaped the drop the following season in the Championship by two points. By this point Hoolahan was impressing a number of clubs with his performances and in the summer of 2008 Norwich swooped for the playmaker for an undisclosed fee. Norwich suffered relegation to League One in his first season but bounced back at the first attempt with Hoolahan scoring 13 times during the campaign. The Canaries made it back-to-back promotions as they made it to the Premier League, with the Irishman impressing at the tip of the diamond formation. He signed a new deal with the club on the eve of this season and was recently named in The Football League Team of the Decade. He has made over 200 appearances for Norwich and has also appeared 18 times for the Republic of Ireland. A technically gifted player who likes to find space in between the lines to pick defences apart, Hoolahan also has a keen eye for goal.

Marathonbet match odds

Norwich: 1/2

Draw: 17/5

Fulham: 69/10


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/may/01/next-up-norwich-city?

[WhiteJC]

 
Norwich City boss Alex Neil adopts a no risks strategy ahead of Fulham visit

Alex Neil will take no risks with any of his Norwich City squad, but the Scot promises there will be no slacking off ahead of Saturday's Championship finale against Fulham.

City's play-off place has already been confirmed but Neil wants to go into those end-of-season tussles with a win over the Cottagers.

Neil, speaking on Friday lunchtime at Colney, reported no fresh injury concerns from last weekend's 1-1 league draw at Rotherham, but Steven Whittaker (hamstring) and Alex Tettey (knee) continue to be monitored after missing the trip to the New York Stadium.

"Steven wasn't quite ready last week, and Alex was in the same boat, but they're both doing okay," said Neil. "We just had to be careful with them, and if they're fine to play tomorrow I'm sure they'll be involved at some stage. There are no new knocks. Just the lads who had been struggling for Rotherham who we have been monitoring this week. We'll make a final decision on them on Saturday.

"The disappointment of not getting it automatically is done with now so we need to refocus and kick on. We want to go and win the game, which is how we approach every game. You always want to finish the season on a high, and it's important the players go into the play-offs with good confidence.

"We're fully prepared and hopefully we can put a good performance in with it being our last home league game. We've got to take care of ourselves, so we'll try to win our last home league game of the season and see what happens from there. Hopefully we'll play as well as we possibly can then carry that into the play-offs.

"If you look at Fulham they've got a lot of technical players, and are very good middle-to-front, so we're going to have our work cut out. However, if we play to our full potential there's no reason why we can't win the game."


http://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/norwich_city_boss_alex_neil_adopts_a_no_risks_strategy_ahead_of_fulham_visit_1_4057614?

[WhiteJC]

 
Norwich v Fulham preview

Norwich will be without suspended striker Lewis Grabban for their final Championship encounter of the season against Fulham at Carrow Road.

Grabban begins a three-match ban after being dismissed for violent conduct in the 26th minute of the 1-1 draw at Rotherham which ended their top-two aspirations.

Gary Hooper has been used off the bench in the last six matches and could now earn a start, particularly after his stunning strike at the New York Stadium last Saturday.

Steven Whittaker (hamstring) and Alex Tettey (knee) missed the trip to Yorkshire but should be back in contention while other changes may be made with the play-offs in mind.

Fulham are set to be without skipper Scott Parker, who is struggling to shake off the ankle knock which meant he missed the 4-3 win over Middlesbrough last weekend.

Kostas Stafylidis is fit following a back injury while fellow full-back James Husband will be assessed after a hamstring strain.

Husband was ineligible to face Boro anyway as he is on loan from the Teessiders, and centre-half Michael Turner is ruled out at Carrow Road under the terms of his loan deal from Norwich.

Midfielders Lasse Vigen Christensen (hamstring), Emerson Hyndman (collarbone) and George Williams (knee) will miss out again.


http://www.teamtalk.com/match/preview/978/9831303/-?

[WhiteJC]

 
NATHAN REDMOND: FOCUS ON FULHAM

Winger eyeing positive result against Cottagers

NATHAN Redmond is determined to use Saturday's game against Fulham at Carrow Road (12:15pm) as the launchpad for Norwich City's Sky Bet Championship play-off challenge.

The final match of the regular season sees the Canaries host Kit Symons' Cottagers, with results elsewhere determining who Alex Neil's side will face in the first stage of the end-of-season format.

Despite City's place in the top six already being confirmed, Redmond told the media at Colney on Friday afternoon: "We'll treat the game like any other because we want to win.

"I'm sure that the eleven put out there will be strong enough to do that. The whole squad will be pulling together to try and get that win.

"That's the main aim this week. We'll play the game on Saturday then after that we'll find out who we're playing."

Having missed out in their pursuit of automatic promotion to Watford and Bournemouth, Redmond is adamant any lingering disappointment has already been dispelled.

The 21-year-old winger, who was nominated for the Football League Player of the Year Award last month, commented: "It's sunk into the boys that this is where we're at, but the season's not done yet.

"There's three places in the Premier League up for grabs, and we're all working towards our one aim. Everyone has got to pull together and deal with it now.

"We had a couple of chances where we could have been stronger, but that's just how the games have panned out. If we go up through the play-offs then so be it, because it doesn't matter as long as you get there."



Read more at http://www.canaries.co.uk/news/article/norwich-city-fulham-nathan-redmond-preview-2435081.aspx#CdDzJiF2rKuZBold.99

[WhiteJC]

 
There's no coming back from this: why I don't think Fulham can achieve promotion any time soon

Based on the final analysis it looks like Fulham will end with a goal difference of about -20, which means they're something like 5 net goals above the relegation places.

Looking at the table, the promoted clubs had goal differences of 41 and 50, which we'll call 45, and the playoff clubs are 19, 31, 32 and 38, which we'll call 30.

In short, next year Fulham need to be a +30 team for the playoffs and a +45 team for promotion, from a base of -19 (this season).

That's going to be a +50 odd swing for playoffs and a +65 swing for promotion!

The other day we figured that a really good player might be worth 5 net goals to his team.

You might think of footballers on a 10 point scale, ranging from -5 to +5. At one end you have a team that, if comprised of players of this quality, would end with a goal difference of -50, e.g. Blackpool. At the other end you'd have a team romping away with the league at +50, e.g. Bournemouth.

If we think Ross McCormack really is a top quality player, a +5, then his teammates are most likely a bunch of -1 to -3 players. Nothing else adds up. I mean, we can argue that the players are better than they performed, which might be reasonable, but ultimately good players play well. Fulham's players didn't play well, so it's hard to say they're good players.

If I'm going to keep this mathematical, Fulham need to turn the -1 and -2 players into +1 and +2 players. To make the requisite jump you're looking for a 50 goal swing remember, either not conceded or scored.

You're either having to improve players who almost got relegated into a promotion machine (how?), or you have to find the equivalent of 10 more players who can all play at a level that's 4/5 net goals better than the player they replaced. I don't think that's really possible.

In any case there are two possibilities:

1) better coaching can radically transform these players
2) we need a complete overhaul and even then need to spend massively and effectively

Does point 1 work? As best I can tell there aren't many managers who have made a career out of turning water into wine. Most managers achieve what they should with what they have. Now, we come back to this argument that the squad significantly under-achieved, and I'm not completely against this idea, but it seems more likely to me that the players simply weren't very good.  Our eyes might see promise there but the goals against totals suggest that something's up.  That the team was unable to stem the flow at all suggests that either the coaching was awful or the players didn't have it in them, probably both.  Either way, if you want a +50 swing in goal difference it's not going to happen by magic.

Does point 2 work? No. To acquire that many good players, without misjudging any of these acquisitions, is too big an ask.  You can't just buy 9 more Ross McCormacks.  You couldn't afford to even if you could find them all.

As things stand I simply can't see how this squad can become the squad it's meant to be. To believe otherwise seems to me too great concession to wishful thinking.  It's too much.


https://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/theres-no-coming-back-from-this-why-i-dont-think-fulham-can-achieve-promotion-any-time-soon/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Norwich v Fulham

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
Venue: Carrow Road Date: Saturday 2 May Kick-off: 12:15 BST
Coverage: Watch highlights on The Football League Show; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website

Norwich manager Alex Neil will be without striker Lewis Grabban for the visit of Fulham, Grabban is suspended after being sent-off against Rotherham.

Gary Hooper could start in place of Grabban, while Steven Whittaker (hamstring) and Alex Tettey (knee) should be available again.

Fulham skipper Scott Parker is unavailable due to the ankle injury which kept him out last week.

Full-back James Husband will be assessed after a hamstring strain.

Head-to-Head
• Fulham won the earlier meeting this season 1-0 at Craven Cottage in October.
• Fulham are unbeaten in the last 17 meetings in all competitions, winning 13. Norwich's last win was 2-1 at Carrow Road in the old Division Two in March 1986.
• Fulham are unbeaten in the last eight meetings at Carrow Road in all competitions, winning five.

Norwich
• Norwich have lost only one of their last 10 games. Their only defeat since 4 March was 1-0 against Middlesbrough at home on 17 April.
• Norwich's last three defeats have all come at Carrow Road. They also lost 2-1 against Brentford on 24 January and 1-0 against Wigan on 4 March.

Fulham
• Fulham are unbeaten in their last five games, winning the last two. Their last defeat was 4-1 against Brentford at home on 3 April.
• Fulham are unbeaten in their last four away games, winning two. Their last defeat on the road was 1-0 at Watford on 3 March.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32459757