Saturday Fulham Stuff (05/12/15)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Jack Hobbs banned for Forest against Fulham

Nottingham Forest defender Jack Hobbs is suspended for the visit of Fulham after his sending-off in last weekend's win over Reading.

Michael Mancienne or Kelvin Wilson, who both came off the bench on Saturday, are vying to replace the centre-back.

Midfielder Jamie Ward missed last week's match with a stiff back but is expected to come back into the squad.

Robert Tesche could be in contention for a return after recovering from a foot injury which has sidelined him since the first match of the season while Kyle Ebecilio is being eased back after a hamstring problem.

Fulham caretaker manager Peter Grant has a number of injury doubts to deal with at Forest.

Richard Stearman is a doubt having only returned to training on Thursday, while Tom Cairney was another player back towards the latter part of the week.

Moussa Dembele did not train on Thursday after complaining of tightness so will need assessing before the trip to the City Ground, as will Sakari Mattila after pulling up just before kick-off against Preston last week.

Lasse Vigen Christensen is carrying a knock sustained with Denmark Under-21s, while Jazz Richards is set to remains absent.


Read more at: https://www.clubcall.com/nottingham-forest/jack-hobbs-banned-for-forest-against-fulham-1791022.html?

[WhiteJC]

 
Steve Clarke sacked by Reading - just two weeks after he snubbed Fulham job to stay with Royals

The Royals were beaten 1-0 by QPR on Thursday night in Clarke's final game in charge - under-21s boss Martin Kuhl will take temporary charge of first team affairs

Steve Clarke has been sacked by Reading, only two weeks after he turned down the manager's job at Championship rivals Fulham to remain with the Royals.

The Berkshire sidfe were beaten 1-0 on Thursday night by Queens Park Rangers to leave them ninth in the table - just one point off a play-off spot.

Meanwhile Fulham are still looking for a new manager but it is unclear if Clarke would still be considered for the role.

Reading confirmed the news in an official statement this morning:

"The board of Reading Football Club have this morning relieved Manager Steve Clarke of his duties.

"The club met with Steve in person earlier today and we would like to place on permanent record our thanks to him for his hard work and diligence since his appointment in December 2014.

"Following Thursday night's defeat at home to QPR, added to a recent run of poor form which has seen the team pick up just one win in the last eight Sky Bet Championship fixtures, the board feel that a change in manager is now necessary.

"During his time in charge of the Royals, Clarke presided over a total of 53 games, winning 19, drawing 14 and losing 20.

"As part of this process, Assistant Manager Kevin Keen will also be leaving the club, and we would like to thank him for his efforts.

"The board of Reading Football Club are committed to taking this club forward and will immediately begin the recruitment process in search of a new manager.

"In the interim period, Under-21s Manager Martin Kuhl will take temporary charge of first team affairs and will lead training at Hogwood Park this morning.

"The club will make a further announcement to our supporters in due course."


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/steve-clarke-sacked-reading-just-6951291?

[WhiteJC]

 
Steve Clarke installed as second favourite for Fulham job after Reading dismissal

Steve Clarke has been installed as the second favourite to take over at Fulham after he was sacked by Reading on Friday morning.

The Scotsman previously spoke to the west London club about their vacant managerial position in November but eventually opted to stay with the Royals.

The 52-year-old received a frosty reception on his return to the Madejski Stadium and, after just one win in eight games, has been relieved of his duties.

Bet Victor are now offering odds of 5/2 that Clarke will take the job that he turned down only weeks ago.

"Clarke spoke to Fulham last month about the vacancy at Craven Cottage following the departure of Kit Symons but suggested Reading was the better option.

"He no longer has that choice but will Fulham want to go back to the Scot?" said spokesperson Charlie McCann.

Fulham's search for a replacement has lasted almost a month and the other two central candidates in the frame are former Brentford boss Mark Warburton and surprise favourite Stuart Gray, who has been out of work since he left Sheffield Wednesday in June.

Next Fulham manager odds:

Stuart Gray - 6/4

Steve Clarke - 5/2

Mark Warburton - 10/1


http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/steve-clarke-installed-as-second-favourite-for-fulham-job-after-reading-dismissal-a3129791.html?

[WhiteJC]

 
Nottingham Forest Factfile

Fulham travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday (3pm) looking for the win that could move them to within three points of the Play-Off spots.


The opposition

The 2015/16 campaign has been an inconsistent one for Forest, demonstrated by them following up consecutive wins in September with an eight-game run that yielded just three points.

It was form that left them sitting 19th in the Sky Bet Championship table, but their fans will hope they've turned a corner now, as they go into Saturday's fixture having won twice in their last three outings.

A 1-0 success over fierce rivals Derby County was followed up by a 2-1 defeat at Brentford, but they returned to winning ways when they came from behind to beat Reading 3-1 at the City Ground last time out.

Team news

Jack Hobbs was sent off for two bookable offences in that match against the Royals so he'll sit out at the weekend, with Michael Mancienne or Kelvin Wilson the candidates to replace him in the centre of defence. Forest boss Dougie Freedman could have Jamie Ward available after he recovered from a bad back, whilst former Hamburg midfielder Robert Tesche is also in contention. Long-term absentees Andy Reid, Matty Fryatt and Britt Assombalonga remain sidelined.

Tickets

Tickets will be available for supporters to purchase from the City Ground on the day of the game from the Visitors Ticket Office, priced at £28 for adults, £20 for over-65s, £16 for under-18s, and £9 for under-12s. Cash sales only.

How to get there

Trains to Nottingham from St Pancras take as little as one hour, 40 minutes. The stadium is then a mile away from the station.

Weather

The forecast is overcast but dry in Nottingham on Saturday, with temperatures of 11 degrees throughout the day.

Pre-match

The pub at Notts County's stadium, which is en route to the City Ground, specialises in looking after away fans.

Coral match odds

Nottingham Forest: 19/20

Draw: 13/5

Fulham: 27/10

Last time we met

Ross McCormack hit a hat-trick inside the opening 35 minutes, but a Forest fightback left the Craven Cottage faithful waiting nervously for the final whistle as we claimed a 3-2 win back in January.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/december/04/nottingham-forest-factfile?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham will not talk to Steve Clarke about manager's job - Sky sources

Fulham will not be talking to Steve Clarke again about the vacant manager's position at Craven Cottage, Sky sources understand.

Clarke held talks with Fulham last month - while he was manager of Reading - about taking over as the new boss.

Clarke opted to stay with Reading and returned to the Madejski. But on Friday morning Reading sacked the former West Brom boss, and Sky sources understand his talks with Fulham contributed to the club's decision to end his tenure.

Fulham have still not replaced Kit Symons, who they sacked last month, but Sky Sports News HQ understands they will not be calling Clarke back, and are now looking elsewhere.


http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11681/10088575/fulham-will-not-talk-to-steve-clarke-about-managers-job-sky-sources?

[WhiteJC]

 
#FFCRadio

#FFCRadio will be live from 2.30pm on Saturday on fulhamfc.com and via the official App, with an exclusive Scott Parker interview the main feature.

Our Club Captain discusses his return to the First Team after making his maiden appearance of the season last Saturday against Preston, and thanks the fans for the excellent reception he received.

We also hear from Caretaker Head Coach Peter Grant who looks ahead to the match at the City Ground, while Nottingham Forest fan Matt Dyson assesses his team's season so far.

Alex Ewing will be standing in for regular matchday presenter Sammy James at the weekend, before handing over to Gentleman Jim for live commentary of the game.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/december/04/ffcradio?

[WhiteJC]

 
Forget the logic, Clarke won't be going to Fulham

Sky Sports understands that recently sacked Reading manager Steve Clarke will not be in contention to become the next boss of Fulham. The Scot rejected the opportunity to take over at the Craven Cottage club, whilst he was still employed by the Royals.

Last month Clarke turned down the chance to become the successor to Kit Symons, instead preferring to remain at Madejski Stadium, as he felt it was essentially a better job. However the out of work coach isn't set to be invited back for a second interview, with the club on the Thames now focusing their attentions elsewhere.

As soon as the news broke this morning that Reading had made the managerial change, all eyes were immediately drawn to the capital, where the vacancy at Fulham remains open. It is certainly understandable that Fulham won't turn to Clarke now, especially as he turned them down once, plus Fulham were more than prepared to pay compensation to lure him to their own project.

However as the 52-year-old prepares himself for a spell out of the game, certainly for the immediate future at least, Fulham themselves continue to look for a new manager and Reading also look for their own next man. It remains to be seen who will be granted the opportunity to take over these attractive propositions with two highly-respected Championship football clubs.

Last night's 1-0 home defeat to Queens Park Rangers proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Clarke. It was clear that a large bulk players at Reading were extremely disappointed and angry that Clarke elected to speak to Fulham about their job in the first place. That certainly seemed to be the beginning of the end for Clarke, even though prior to this he could do no wrong with the Berkshire club. It is further proof that fan power does also have a say in the game still, but essentially Clarke controlled his own destiny.


http://the72.co.uk/41195/forget-the-logic-clarke-wont-be-going-to-fulham/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Reports: Jaap Stam linked with Fulham job

Former Manchester United centre-back Jaap Stam has been linked with the vacant managerial role at Fulham, according to the Telegraaf.

The Cottagers have been without a manager for nearly a month after sacking Kit Symons in the aftermath of an ignominious 5-2 defeat to Birmingham City.

Peter Grant has been put in temporary charge but is yet to oversee a victory, drawing both of his two Championship fixtures at the helm.

But it is now believed the club are hoping to land former Premier League defender Stam, who is currently assistant coach of Ajax's reserve team.

A number of men have been linked with the position over the past few weeks, with the Whites failing to land Reading boss Steve Clarke, as well as missing out on Birmingham's Gary Rowett, as reported by Sky Sports.

Mark Warburton's name was also thrown into the ring this week, but the incumbent Rangers manager deemed the speculation as "incorrect" and "disrespectful", effectively ruling himself out of the running, via Sky Sports.

It would be a first proper managerial job for Stam, who has worked as an assistant at both Ajax and FC Twolle over the past few years.

He enjoyed a fruitful three-year stint in the Premier League with Manchester United, lifting three titles and a Champions League before departing in 2001.

The Dutchman expressed his desires earlier this season to hopefully return to England one day, telling the Mirror: "Coming back to England and seeing Ronald (Koeman) at Southampton has really opened my heart again.

"It was wonderful to be back in England – all my fantastic memories came flooding back to me," before going on to say that he is "ready to get a job with a club on my own."

Fulham currently sit 13th in the Championship table some six points off a playoff place with a trip to Nottingham Forest on the horizon this weekend.


http://www.squawka.com/news/reports-jaap-stam-linked-with-fulham-job/537366?

[WhiteJC]

 
Nottm Forest v Fulham

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
Venue: City Ground Date: Saturday, 5 December Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website

TEAM NEWS
Nottingham Forest defender Jack Hobbs is suspended after his sending off against Reading.

Jamie Ward is expected to return to the Forest squad after last week's absence with a stiff back, and Robert Tesche could return from injury.

Fulham's Richard Stearman and Tom Cairney only returned to training at the end of the week so are both doubts.

Cottagers midfielder Moussa Dembele did not train on Thursday after experiencing tightness.

MATCH FACTS
Forest have only lost once in 10 home league meetings with the Cottagers (W6 D3 L1).
Ross McCormack netted five goals of the six goals Fulham scored against Forest last season.
McCormack has scored seven goals in 11 league appearances against Nottingham Forest, and has only scored more against Charlton (8).
Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last four Championship games at the City Ground (W2 D2), scoring exactly once on three occasions.
Fulham's last six Championship fixtures have seen 26 goals (4.3 goals per game) - with Fulham scoring half of these.
Forest have gained 10 points from losing positions so far in the league this season - a Championship high.
Fulham have conceded more goals in the last 15 minutes of Championship football in this campaign than any other team (10).


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34951381

[WhiteJC]

 
The Terminal
by CHRIS GILBERTSON on DECEMBER 4, 2015

Have you ever seen the film The Terminal?

If you have, do you think Mike Rigg really likes it?

26 days we've been sat in this managerless purgatory, let's hope when we finally get to the other side it isn't an anti-climax.

For those of you that haven't seen it, seeing as there's no meaningful Fulham news to talk about why don't you have a movie night.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2015/12/the-terminal/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Nottingham Forest boss experiencing what Fulham boss had at Celtic during his playing career in ambitious dreams

Tricky Trees manager  Dougie Freedman has been under pressure in recent weeks with the club not living up to their pre-season expectations


Under pressure: Dougie Freedman

Fulham interim boss Peter Grant paid tribute to Nottingham Forest counterpart Dougie Freedman ahead of the two sides meeting on Saturday.

The Tricky Trees boss has been under pressure in recent weeks with the club not living up to their pre-season expectations.

Forest's history and pedigree is second to none and any manager since Brian Clough's era has to try and work with Old Big 'Ed's achievements being the defining point in the club's history.

However, Grant understands the pressure Freedman is under from his playing days at Glasgow Celtic as Fulham make the trip to the City Ground.

He said: "The modern day game tells you. You probably have a contract probably for about six games; not six months or six years.


Past history: The jubilant Nottingham Forest team, managed by Brian Clough, celebrate their victory over Malmo to win the European Cup

"That's the way it is now because everyone wants to tell you you're good at your job or you're poor at it.

"When you go on a great run, everyone says you're fantastic. When you have a couple of bad results, everyone says you're rubbish.

"What you have to do is remain focused. Dougie has got good experience now. There's no doubt about that but we can't live in the past.

"There are 18, 19 clubs in this division who have been in the Premier League and they wall want to be back there.

"I played at a club that won the European Cup in 1967 and everyone thinks they should win the European Cup.

"It's not possible. Everything changes. The environment changes. It's all about Saturday. He knows he's at a big club with great supporters and we're going there to try and win a game of football and we'll have to play exceptionally well.

"In every game you're judged on no matter who you are. Whether you're a player or a coach."

Fulham have injury issues ahead of the game, while Alex Kacaniklic and Dan Burn will be hoping to earn a recall.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nottingham-forest-boss-experiencing-what-10552794?

[WhiteJC]

 
The Sean Davis Column

It will be a tough game at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, you don't need me to tell you that. Any away match in the Championship is going to be difficult, but we've had some good results on our travels this season so hopefully that can continue. It's getting our home form right – I've said all along that if you can win your home games and try and nick something away you'd be up there or thereabouts. But I'm always quite confident when we go away from home. I remember us going to the City Ground and losing 5-3 last season, so if we can turn up and score three goals again but keep a clean sheet that would be great!

We may not be on a good run of form, but the crazy thing about the Championship is that if we win at Forest we could be just three points off the Play-Offs. Getting three, four, five wins on the bounce in this league can do so much for you. Anyone can beat anyone in this division, there's no stand-out team for me. We can beat anyone on our day, we've proven that, we just need it to be our day more often. We seem to be having one good half of football in our matches and one bad half, so it's just a case of putting the complete performance together and the players keeping that consistency and pushing us up the table.

The players are still playing to impress because the Head Coach who comes in will look back at the last few games. The players will know that, so they'll be wanting to do their best, and they're also playing for the Club. I appreciate that the people upstairs want to make the right decision but hopefully that happens before too long and the fans can have a new man to get behind, the players can buy into what he wants to do, and the Club can achieve Play-Offs this season. That has to be the aim.

We drew 1-1 with Preston in our last game, and it was a really bad first half, if I'm honest. I think they outnumbered us in the middle of the park which we found difficult and it was a good spot by the coaching staff to fix that, change formation, go three at the back and get wing-backs on. I really do like us with wing-backs, I think James Husband and Ryan Fredericks give us great outlets, and that freed Tom Cairney up to move into the middle of the park, where he was excellent. He's got great feet, loads of energy, and being central really suited his game. He was my Man of the Match just for his second-half performance.

We can't not talk about the equaliser because it was an absolutely superb free-kick from Ross McCormack, but we don't expect anything less from him when he's got the ball 20-25 yards out now do we? The angle favoured a left-footer so I don't think the goalie was expecting him to get it up and over the wall, which was fantastic. So in the circumstances it was good to get a point but there's disappointment in the last two results in that we didn't win either of them. It's good to stay unbeaten, though, while it's still up in the air about the manager.

Ross' goal took his tally for the season to 12, and to reach that mark before we've even hit December is a fantastic return. His ability on dead-ball situations has been great and if we can get more service into his feet in and around the box then I'm sure he'll score even more. He's definitely got Premier League qualities and he'll be trying his hardest to push us up and try and get us in the Play-Offs, because his skills alone deserve to be in the top flight.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/december/04/the-sean-davis-column

[WhiteJC]

 
Grant's Nottingham Forest Preview

Peter Grant knows his compatriot Dougie Freedman will have Nottingham Forest well drilled for the visit of Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

After a patchy start to the season, Forest go into the weekend having won their last two outings at the City Ground, and Scotsman Grant is anticipating a stern test of his team's credentials.

"They're a very well organised side, they've got good individual players within that who work really, really hard," he explained. "You can see how Dougie gets his team organised to make it very, very difficult for you.

"As I said, they've got a fantastic work ethic and I think that's something that they've been brought up with and that Dougie demands from them. But we've got good players as well and that's what we've got to be conscious of.

"I've been to the City Ground many times and obviously worked there [under Alex McLeish], and I'm really looking forward to getting back. It's a proper football stadium and it will be a proper game.

"We have to match their work ethic, because we know they have quality, but we also have quality in our ranks as well. Hopefully we can get a first victory for a few weeks, and that would be good for us."

A win in Nottingham could put Fulham within three points of the top-six, and when asked if the Play-Offs were still reachable, our Caretaker Head Coach replied: "Absolutely. That's what everybody's striving for.


"If you're six points off it you'd be absolutely stupid if you thought you weren't in it. A couple of results in this division, we know how difficult they are to get, if you do that you can be in the Play-Offs, but if you go on a run of two or three defeats you can be nearer the relegation mire.

"And that's the way the Championship's always been since I've been involved in it. Six points off it? Absolutely no doubt we can get there, and we have the quality to get there as well, but to go with that you need a little bit of luck and you need your top players performing all the time."

One thing Fulham need to improve on is the number of goals conceded.

Only Rotherham United have shipped more in the league this season, and Grant acknowledged that the Whites need to tighten up as a unit.

"We know we're the top goal scorers in the league but we've lost too many [goals] at the back," he admitted. "But people have got to make sure that it's not just defenders and goalkeepers who should be taking the responsibility for that.

"There's two parts of the job I've always said, and that's defending when you've not got it and working hard to make angles and receive possession and go forward [when you've got the ball], but you've got to do that as a group both ways.

"Once we get that right I know we're more than capable of going all the way and getting at least into the Play-Offs."

Tickets for Saturday's game at Nottingham Forest are still available for fans to buy.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/december/03/grants-forest-preview