Monday Fulham Stuff (07/03/16)...

[WhiteJC]

 
#Cohen66

In recognition of George Cohen's contributions to club and country, Fulham FC is raising money to erect a statue of George at Craven Cottage, and to help fund a cause close to George's heart in the care of dementia sufferers.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/march/06/cohen-push?

[WhiteJC]

 
Slavisa`s View - Reading (a)

Following the 2-2 draw away to Reading, it was once again a case of reflecting on the errors made that continue to haunt us in the Championship.

Although the relegation places are too close for comfort, there is the feeling that unless we have an absolute disastrous run between now and the end of the season we`ll not be going down.

After the draw against Reading, Slavisa Jokanovic had this to say about the result,

'We opened the game very well but, after they scored their goals, we showed some character to come back to score the equaliser.

'We are suffering in this competition by making mistakes. We need to be more solid and Reading pushed us hard during the last 15 minutes.

'When we created half-chances, we weren't clinical enough in the moment. But if we can't get three points, it's better to get one.'

Indeed it is and Fulham, it has to be said, did well to weather the late Reading surge that could have seen us return to London empty-handed.



Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=438002#ixzz42C36YgPn

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham injury update - the very latest on Marcus Bettinelli and Lasse Vigen Christensen

The last two out of three Whites on the injury table each have different return dates in front of them - one much quicker than the other


One of these is not injured: Lasse Vigen Christensen, Marcus Bettinelli and club mascot, Billy the Badger

Fulham Head coach Slavisa Jokanovic reckons Marcus Bettinelli could be knocking on the door of a sub's place by the time take on Bristol City on Saturday.

The Fulham number one choice keeper at the beginning of the season played another 90 minutes comeback for the U21s last Wednesday in a 1-1 draw with Stoke City, and Joka also insists Lasse Vigen Christensen can recuperate from a latest hamstring problem without resorting to surgery.

The Danish U21 has been plagues by a host of problems over the last 18 months, and was forced to sit down on the pitch and await treatment just five minutes into the 3-1 win over QPR on February 13.

His gaffer says regular physio will fix the problem by the middle of April.

He said: "Marcus is very close to a first team return, and at this stage, But Lasse is five or more weeks (away).

"It's true he's been many times injured, and we're going to recuperate him here, but we're not thinking about steps towards an operation now.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-injury-update-very-latest-10998418?

[WhiteJC]

 
Royals Denied Victory Despite Robson-Kanu Brace

"We were trying to win the game late on but we take the point, we go up the table one more place, we're unbeaten again and that's about the gist of it."
- Reading Manager Brian McDermott

"We are suffering in this competition by making mistakes. We need to be more solid and Reading pushed us hard during the last 15 minutes."
- Fulham Manager Slavisa Jokanovic

After the 4-2 away defeat against Fulham earlier in the season, Reading had something to prove on Saturday. Having let a lead slip at Craven Cottage, however, it was a repeat performance for the Royals as a clumsy penalty cost them the win. After taking the lead through Moussa Dembele, Fulham were soon behind thanks to a Hal Robson-Kanu brace. A second-half Ross McCormack penalty, however, was enough to earn Fulham a point.

Brian McDermott made a single enforced change going into the game, with Paul McShane out through injury and Anton Ferdinand coming in to the starting eleven. As a result, the Reading manager opted with five in midfield and Yann Kermorgant up front as the target man.

It was Fulham who started the brighter of the two sides and it took only a matter of minutes for them to take the lead. Moussa Dembele was a thorn in Reading's side for the duration, and it was him that was on hand to stroke the ball in following a corner. McCormack's corner picked out Michael Madl at the far post who headed it into Dembele's path. It was defensively poor from Reading and they were made to pay for their errors early on.

Reading were somewhat lucky not to be 2-0 down when a long range Tom Cairney shot was parried into the path of an awaiting Fulham player. Kermorgant was on hand, however, to win the ball fairly according to referee Simon Hooper. With twenty minutes of the game gone, the home side were to even the score thanks to some poor defending from Fulham.

After initially winning the ball, Robson-Kanu played a nice one two with Kermorgant. The Welshman was first to the return and an ill advised push from defender Fernando Amorebieta earned the home side a penalty. It was the midfielder who took the penalty himself and he casually stroked the ball into Andy Lonergan's net with ease.

Reading were to take the lead just before the break, thanks to some neat play from the impressive Ola John. After winning the ball back out on the left, Michael Hector found John on the edge of the box. Allowed to run into the area, John's inch perfect chipped cross found Robson-Kanu in the centre whose diving header handed Reading the 2-1 lead.

The Welshman was impressive for the home side in the first half, but an achilles injury meant that he needed to be replaced by Garath McCleary at half time. This was arguably a turning point for the Royals as the Welshman was definitely one of their strongest players in the opening period.

Despite the enforced change, Reading had the first opportunity to increase their lead and put the game beyond doubt. Oliver Norwood found Kermorgant in space and after some nice touches his effort across goal narrowly went wide of the post. While the home side started the half well, it was the away side who were to get the next goal.

After witnessing the defensive error at the other end of the pitch in the first half, centre-back Jake Cooper was to commit his own to hand Fulham a lifeline. It was clumsy from the Reading defender as he unnecessarily felled Ryan Fredericks in the area. Up stepped McCormack, who drilled the ball into Al-Habsi's net to level the score.

With the majority of the half left still to play, Reading had ample opportunity to take the lead again but squandered all opportunities. Deniss Rakels was once again brought into the fray, in place of Stephen Quinn, and McDermott switched to two up front. The issue was that the Reading players were simply not moving the ball fast enough when Fulham were there for the taking, subsequently letting them off the hook.

John found himself at the centre of all Reading's attacking play, whether that was out on the left wing or more centrally. Picking the ball up in the middle, the midfielder's effort from outside the box forced a save from the Fulham goalkeeper and Kermorgant could not make the most of the rebound. John then found himself out on the left wing and after some nicely executed tricks picked out Cooper in the centre unmarked. Despite having a clear height advantage and being central to the goal, the defender could only head wide.

After being found by Norwood in the area, Rakels had a shout for a penalty after feeling a push from Madl but was deemed to have gone to ground too easily. While this decision was borderline, going to ground was a theme of Rakels day with the striker spending far too much time on the floor. While he has impressed in recent games with his speed and his late goal against Charlton, this is an aspect of his game that he will have to eradicate.

If Reading were to make the breakthrough once more it was clear that it was going to come through John if anywhere. The winger was spending an increasing amount of time on the ball and had the beating of his man on the left wing. After rolling the ball past Kacaniklic, John's effort from a tight angle was on target but could only find the goalkeeper.

Fulham were able to see the game out and despite being willed on by the home crowd, Reading could not find a third goal to win all three points. As a result this would be a case of two points dropped for the Royals and the play-offs remain out of sight.

In terms of performances, Robson-Kanu, John and Hector were the most impressive once again. Hector in particular was strong in midfield and won a number of crunching 50/50 tackles while John was a consistent threat on the left wing. The Royals will be hoping that Robson-Kanu will be back in time for the FA Cup game against Crystal Palace but will surely miss out on the mid-week fixture against Huddersfield.

After being substituted in two of the last three games and missing out on the captain's armband this time around in McShane's absence, Norwood was one that had a poor game. While Hector has stepped up in the central midfield position, Norwood is struggling in recent times and could potentially do with being rested. Al-Habsi, after being voted as the player of the month for February, also had a comparatively poor game with far too many shots being parried back into dangerous positions.

One player that is a concern is McCleary. Since being out through injury, the midfielder has never been quite the same and his threatening runs at defenders have been missing in recent times. While Chris Gunter likes to get forward himself, and it is a requirement of modern full backs, you know that something is wrong when it is Gunter and not McCleary sprinting down the wing into attacking positions.

A brief comment must also be made on McDermott's tactical decisions. In recent games the manager has liked to play with five in midfield with a single striker. It worked against West Brom and for a certain period against Charlton but the sole striker is more often than not an isolated figure. Reading allowed Charlton to get back into the game before bringing on Rakels to partner Kermorgant and it happened again with Fulham.

While a draw was a disappointing result, it is time to look forward with a number of games on the horizon. Huddersfield is up next on Tuesday evening and then the Royals face Crystal Palace on Friday. A number of changes are expected against Huddersfield with Friday in mind but going into the games on the back of an unbeaten run is a great position to be in for Reading.


See more at: http://www.royals.org/news/526/Royals_Denied_Victory_Despite_Robson-Kanu_Brace?#sthash.aWlEC75p.dpuf

[WhiteJC]

 
Fredericks: Pleasing Comeback.

Ryan Fredericks was heartened by the determination shown to battle but bemoaned the inability to hold the lead against Reading.

Ryan Fredericks was left feeling "really disappointing" as the Whites threw away a first half lead against Reading on Saturday. Moussa Dembélé gave Fulham a dream start as he steered a Michael Madl header home in the eighth minute before Hal Robson-Kanu struck twice to give Reading a lead at the half-time interval.

"It was very disappointing," Fredericks said. "They were both very sloppy goals that we shouldn't be giving away.

"We were prepared for set pieces and looked at them before the match. We knew they were one of Reading's strengths.

"So to concede the second one was disappointing. So we were gutted to be going in one down at half-time.

"We felt like we were comfortable when we were one up and we didn't need to go in like that.

The second half saw the Whites fight back to grab the equaliser and solidify to earn a valuable point away from home. The desire, passion and determination to get back into the game pleased the Fulham defender and admitted Head Coach Slaviša Jokanović had voiced his displeasure about the performance.

"We showed great determination to come back," Fredericks said. "He (Jokanović) said that it wasn't good enough. We all knew that. We are all players who have played enough games to know that.

"We shouldn't be cruising at 1-0 and go in 2-1 down. For the first 20 minutes we were cruising and felt comfortable.

"We just said we have to sort ourselves out. This can't be happening every week. We can't concede goals like we did when we were on top."

Fredericks was instrumental in the Fulham fight back. A constant threat to the Reading defenders with his blistering pace and directness. Having beaten Jake Cooper on the outside with ease he was chopped down in the box in the 51st minute, and Fredericks admitted there was only one place he was going when he saw he only had Cooper to beat.

"I feel confident going up against anyone, especially up against a 6 foot 5 centre back," he stated. "I knew I had to be direct and head straight for goal.

"Luckily enough he brought me down and Ross tucked away the pen, which was nice."

The Whites will be back in action on Tuesday night against table-topping Burnley. Despite their stature, Fredericks feels confident going in to the encounter.

"We feel really confident," Fredericks admitted. "We felt confident when we went up there when they were top of the league.

"We are confident going up against anyone. At home, with the fans behind us we can beat anyone.

"With how the results went for us today it is crucial we pick up the three points."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/march/06/fredericks-reaction?