Thursday Fulham Stuff (06/04/17)...

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Fulham star issues rallying cry after damaging Derby defeat
The 28-year-old scored twice but his performance was overshadowed by Derby's Dave Nugent who bagged himself the match ball

Floyd Ayite thinks it is imperative that Fulham 'keep going' in their push for the play-offs, despite hitting a snag at Pride Park.

The 28-year-old scored twice but his performance was overshadowed by Derby's Dave Nugent who bagged himself the match ball courtesy of his three goals in his side's 4-2 victory.

Ayite impressed in the game and was a constant threat for Slavisa Jokanovic's side as his skill down the left wing ensured Fulham had some fight.

But the Togo international was disappointed with the result, but hopes when his side 'check the bill' at the end of the season it will have play-offs written on it.

He said: "I'm disappointed today, we paid for our mistakes so we have to keep going for the rest of the season


Floyd Ayite battles for possession against Wolves (Photo: Getty Images)

"The next game will be Ipswich and we hope to win so we can continue to fight to be in the top six.

"I don't know what's wrong with us but we were confident in the first half, so too many mistakes and we have to stay focus during the game so we have to clear our minds and keep going.

"We played well and our style is move and pass in the sixteen yards but we have to take our chances sometimes to try and score the goals so we are disappointed but must keep going.

"Every game we learn and when we lose you learn from mistakes and we must keep going and clear our minds to see what is wrong with us

"We have six games left and we have to win and at the end of the season we're going to check the bill and if we are in the top six everyone will be happy, so we just have to keep going."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-star-issues-rallying-cry-12847316

[WhiteJC]

 
Ayité: Regain Focus

Floyd Ayité wants Fulham to put the loss against Derby behind them and focus everything on the clash with Ipswich on Saturday.

After returning to the starting XI on Tuesday evening Floyd Ayité was left bitterly disappointed by the 4-2 loss against Derby County at Pride Park.

After battling their way into the top six following the victory against Rotherham on Saturday the Whites were unable to solidify their position and endured a night to forget in the Midlands.

Despite grabbing two goals Ayité expressed his determination and desire to get back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon at Craven Cottage.

"I scored two goals tonight," Ayité told the Club's Official website. "Obviously I am happy to score goals but the team lost and we are all very disappointed.

"It is a big disappointment for us to come here and lose tonight but we have to keep going.

"We have six games in front of us and I hope we can get back and win the next game against Ipswich this Saturday.

"It is important for us to get back and win."

After fighting back to level just prior to the intermission, David Nugent grabbed his second of the game to give the Rams a slim lead at the interval.

The Togo forward admitted that despite trailing at half-time the Whites felt confident that they could still get something from the game and lamented the mistakes that the side made in order to enable the hosts to extend their lead.

"We were confident at half-time," he reflected. "We were behind but we were confident.

"We paid for our mistakes and that is it.

"We have to try to clear our mind and a get going for the rest of the season.

"As I said there are still 6 games left and we have to be ready.

"For me personally I feel good, I am fit and I hope I can remain fit and positive for the rest of the season.

The Whites have the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways when they host Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon and look to break back into the top 6.

"This Saturday is a big game," the Togo International insisted. "We have to win every game that is in front of us.

"What is now is the game against Ipswich.

"We have to keep battling and fighting for our place in the top six.

"We believe in ourselves and we have to put tonight in the past."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/april/05/ayite-reaction

[WhiteJC]

 
Derby County player issues warning to Play-Off contenders

Speaking to Derby County's official website, David Nugent has admitted there is still hope the Rams can reach the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs, after closing the gap with victory over Fulham.

Nugent scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 triumph over Fulham, which followed up an impressive victory over QPR last weekend and gave Derby back-to-back victories for the first time since December.

Gary Rowett's side are now ninth in the Championship table and moved within seven-points of the top-six following last night's victory.

Speaking in the aftermath of the Fulham victory, Nugent briefly mentioned the Rams' Play-Off chances, he said: "We have closed the gap just a little bit more. Sheffield Wednesday obviously won (2-0 against Rotherham United), but we have still got to play them.

"All we can is win our games and hopefully the teams continue to lose a few."

Derby have six fixtures of the regular season remaining, and face a trip to Birmingham City in their next league outing, where Rowett will come up against his former club.

Rowett's side will face a difficult task of breaking into the Play-Offs, but do stand a chance, particularly with upcoming fixtures against Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday- two of the current top-six.


https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/derby-county-player-issues-warning-to-play-off-contenders/

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Prostate Cancer UK Awareness Fixture

Saturday's match against Ipswich Town at Craven Cottage has been designated as Fulham's 2016/17 Prostate Cancer UK awareness and fundraising fixture.

Members of the Fulham2Amsterdam team, who are cycling to the Dutch capital in the summer, will be putting in the miles on exercise bikes outside the ground prior to kick-off, so please give generously if you spot a Whites fan in their FFC Prostate Cancer UK training gear!

Whatever money is raised on Saturday will be matched by both Fulham Football Club and the Jacksonville Jaguars, so many thanks to both for their generosity!

Any change you can spare would be hugely appreciated, but if you aren't one for carrying loose money around you can still donate to this worthy cause through our text service. Simply text FULH99 and the amount (£1-5) you would like to donate to 70070. See picture for an example.

Half-time on Saturday will see Sean Davis and members of the Fulham2Amsterdam team take to the pitch to take part in further fundraising activities, and discuss with Ivan the importance of raising money for Prostate Cancer UK.

Sean is leading the Fulham team of riders cycling the 145 miles to Amsterdam from East London in June, and you can help them reach their £10k target by donating here: justgiving.com/fulham2amsterdam.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/april/05/prostate-cancer-awareness-fixture

[WhiteJC]

 
U23s Friendly v USA

Fulham hosted the U20 CONCACAF Champions, the USA on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Motspur Park. It was a well contested match where the Americans ran out 1-0 winners.

The USA kicked off the match started with an attack down the right hand side, running at Dan Martin. Magnus Norman in goal for the Whites extinguished the first attack in return to the PL2 side since his loan to Southport FC.

15 minutes into the match and both teams were trying to work each other out. The Stars and Stripes won the first corner of the game. They bundled a Fulham defender over in the box and poked the ball into the back of the net, the ref blew his whistle for a Fulham free kick.

George Williams was the next to have a chance, the ball was slotted through to the Welshman and he managed a shot but a defender in blue was quick to react and block his effort. Fulham started to get a grip on the game.

Five minutes later and Marlon Fossey was finding joy down the right of the pitch, a long ball from Ryheem Sheckleford gave Fossey time and space to whip a teasing ball across the face of goal, but Adebayo was flagged for starting his run early.

The deadlock was broken in the 20th minute by the USA. Their number 9 struck a pinpoint shot from the edge of the area into the bottom right corner, beating Norman.

Both teams traded attacks and possession, and 35 minutes in the USA came close to a second, splitting the Fulham defenders but Sheckleford did well to block the shot for a corner.

Tayo Edun, who worked tirelessly in midfield for the whole 90 minutes sprayed a ball out wide to Fossey, who was playing against his national side for the afternoon.

Fossey attempted a cross but it was sent out for a corner. The ball was curled to the back post and bounced awkwardly for Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson as he headed on target but without the power needed to put it away.

Thornsteinsson before the break got on the ball a lot more, he chose to shoot from far, and that effort sailed over the bar. Moments later in the same position he sold his defender with a turn before letting lose, this time an America defender got there to block his effort.

The first 15 minutes of the second half was a mirror image. The USA were using rolling subs and the team was ever changing, both teams were trying to work each other out once more.

Edun managed to steal the ball high up the pitch and pass to Adebayo in the box, but he was quickly closed down.

The Whites gained a free kick 30 yards out, left of goal and Thorsteinsson stood over the ball. He sent a cross into the box, aiming for Adebayo but had a little too much on the ball and the keeper managed to take it first.

With Michael Elstone's introduction in the 70th minute, he didn't have to wait long before getting involved. He made a good run down the left and then put a ball in for Edun, who was tackled out of play for a corner.

The best chance of the match was created with just over ten minutes to go. Josh Smile broke down the left into the box and pulled a clever ball back to Williams, who smashed his effort into the right post.

The Whites regained possession and attacked this time from the right and lofted a ball backpost to Elstone, who was unmarked yet couldn't get a proper connection and sent his effort wide.

Fulham were in control of the last quarter of an hour but couldn't find the breakthrough, with Williams getting onto the ball high up once more. He tried to create himself some space before hooking a shot just wide of the right post once again.

Just before the full-time whistle, Williams and Elstone sprung forward but the lineman's flag went up once more and Williams smashed the ball into the back of the net with the goal being disallowed.

The ref blew his whistle to call an end to the friendly, with the USA finishing 1-0 winners.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/april/05/pl2-fulham-v-u20-usa-friendly

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Column: Derby defeat was 'pure Fulham' and shows a well-drilled side can make life difficult
Chris Bishop looks back on last night's 4-2 defeat and raises questions about the side's ability to defend standard corners


Frustration: Slavisa Jokanovic (Photo: Dan Mullan/GettyImages)

How many thousands of Fulham fans thought that's it at the end of a miserable night.

How many thousands more supporters of the Cottagers wondered if there was any other team on earth that could have pulled off such a bizarre performance in front of more 20,000 petulant Derby fans waving two fingers.

This was a night for Fulham to show the rest of the Championship that they are serious about going up. It turned into a comedy of errors and their rivals for the play offs must have been chuckling hard on an evening when they all got the results they needed.

One thing that defeats me every time is how can such a slick passing footballing team such as Fulham gift so much to so many in their division. Blinding football one minute and then a loose pass the next - 1-0.

This game was also a worrying sign that a well drilled and ruthless side like Derby - who aren't even good enough this season to have the hope of a play off place - can make a mess of Fulham and their pretty passing.

Sometimes it's like watching a monster crush a butterfly. What about the other tough nuts lurking in the run to the end of the season?

On this night you wouldn't put money on the Cottagers playing at Wembley in the spring.

Even the strange manner of this defeat was mind blowing. For a start, a has been Premiership striker (still, better to be a has been than a never was) scored a hat trick.

David Nugent - I always preferred the heavy rock singer Ted Nugent when it came to goal scoring - must have been struggling with reality as he took home the match ball.

He hasn't scored a hat trick since Tony Blair was in Number 10 probably and he couldn't believe his luck as Fulham gifted him at least two of them wrapped in a pink ribbon. It could have been four as the referee gave Derby a penalty.

What happened next was pure Fulham. David Button made a world class save.

Then, a corner that most League Two cloggers can fend off in their sleep - wrong, Fulham bungled probably their 50th corner of the season and it was number two.

And then, even more explicable, it looked like the fleet- footed Floyd Ayite, who brought us back to 2-1 with a cracker into the bottom corner was also heading for a night to remember.

He scored again at the death and almost nicked a third - only a Fulham striker could score a hat trick and end up losing.

There's always Ipswich on Saturday at Craven Cottage and a chance to outwit Mick McCarthy - that really shouldn't be that difficult.

Let's hope the visitors don't win too many corners.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/column-derby-defeat-pure-fulham-12849727

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Slavisa Jokanovic says Fulham are struggling to cope with pressure of play-off push

Slavisa Jokanovic says Fulham must learn to deal with pressure after their play-off hopes suffered a blow with a 4-2 defeat at Derby.

The result means Fulham drop out of the top six in the Championship at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday, who won at Rotherham.

Jokanovic said: "We paid a very expensive price because we were not experienced enough in different situations during the game.

"We could have saved all the goals if we had taken different decisions. We are a young team. Like a young wine, we need time to be really quality.

"We need experience, character and personality in these moments where we are under pressure.

"We made mistakes. But we have six games left and we believe in ourselves. We must all stick together and fight until the season ends."

Floyd Ayite cancelled out David Nugent's opener for Derby and he also bagged a late consolation goal.



http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/slavisa-jokanovic-says-fulham-are-struggling-to-cope-with-pressure-of-playoff-push-a3508076.html

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Revealed: Liverpool in pole position to sign English wonderkid ripping up the league

Liverpool remain in pole position to sign Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon despite their transfer ban, Football Insider sources understand.

The Merseyside giants have been working to seal a deal for the highly rated left-back, 16, ahead of Tottenham and a string of other leading Premier League clubs.

A well placed recruitment source has told Football Insider that Liverpool are in the driving seat to secure the signature of the teenager this summer and are confident a deal can be sealed.

The Premier League giants remain confident even though they were slapped with a two-year transfer ban on signing academy players on Wednesday following a breach of Premier League rules.

The rule applies to all the best young players at other academies in England – a category to which Sessegnon emphatically belongs – but he will turn 17 before the next transfer window and will be able to sign a professional contract with Liverpool.

Football Insider revealed last month that Sessegnon had signed a pre-contract with Fulham as the club moved to protect themselves from Premier League predators ahead of the summer window.

He is still on a scholarship contract at the Championship outfit and cannot pen a professional deal until he turns 17 in May, but the pre-contract stipulates that he will sign a formal professional agreement at the earliest opportunity, which will be his birthday on 18 May.

This will enable Fulham to hold out for a higher fee for Sessegnon, who has also attracted interest from super clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

But it has neither dampened Liverpool's enthusiasm for the youngster, or dented their confidence that they will sign him during the forthcoming window.

The youngster, who can play at both left-back and on the left wing, has made leading clubs sit up and take notice with his precocious Championship displays this season.

He has scored six goals from 26 first-team matches in the campaign, including two in Fulham's stunning 3-1 win at Newcastle last month, and also weighed in with three assists, remarkable tallies for a player who is not only foremost a defender but also one who is so young.

Football Insider verdict:

There is not so much a queue to sign Sessegnon, as a stampede. Ridiculously talented and precocious, he would be a marvellous signing for any club whose manager is willing to put his faith in youth and hone them on the training pitch. Liverpool and Sessegnon appear an ideal fit. Jurgen Klopp is renowned for his development of outstanding young players, and there appears no limit to what Sessegnon can achieve. Fulham have known for some time they have a remarkable young player on their hands and the big boys have been beating a path to the Cottage to try and persuade the youngster to up sticks. A huge sum could still pass hands to push the deal through, but for a team crying out for a long-term left-back option, this could be a fabulous signing for Liverpool.


http://www.footballinsider247.com/liverpool-still-pole-position-sign-wonderkid-despite-ban/

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Woeful Fulham defence in danger of ruining play-off ambitions

The Whites were punished in a 4-2 defeat at Derby County, which saw them slip out of the play-offs.

As the full time whistle blew at Pride Park and Fulham trudged off the pitch following a 4-2 defeat to Derby County, it became incredibly apparent as to why the Whites had fallen out the top six just days after entering it - their defence.

Derby ruthlessly exposed every glaring hole in Fulham's back line, and but for a penalty miss by David Nugent - who himself scored a hattrick - the deficit could have been a lot worse for the Whites.

While Slavisa Jokanovic's Fulham have played a superb brand of football at times this season, this isn't the first time the Whites have been cut open in the Championship.

Bristol City beat them 4-0 earlier on in the campaign, while Wolverhampton Wanderers very recently put three past Jokanovic's side - and going by last night's action, perhaps teams are clocking onto this.

With tough games to come against Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Brentford and then, crucially on the final day of the season, sixth placed Sheffield Wednesday, Fulham can't allow themselves to be so exposed like they were against Derby.

If they are, then the club will stay in the Championship next season, and there will be no play-offs - it's that simple. It would be little surprise if defending was top of the list of things to do in training this week for Jokanovic's side.


http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/04/05/woeful-fulham-defence-in-danger-of-ruining-play-off-ambitions/

[WhiteJC]

 
Inter Milan plot move for £43.1M-rated Benfica striker who made three appearances during brief stint at Fulham



Inter Milan are interested in signing Benfica, and former Fulham, striker Kostas Mitroglou, report Calciomercato.

Mitroglou signed for Fulham in the winter of 2014 on the back of a 19-goal season for Greek outfit Atromitos. However, he was unable to replicate that sort of form at Craven Cottage. He only ever made three appearances for the West London side, and failed to find the back of the net in any of those.

He joined Benfica in a bid to revive his stuttering career, and the move has had the desired effect. The Greek international is not even two full seasons into his time with the Portuguese giants, but has already scored 50 goals for them in all competitions. His good performances in Portugal appear to be turning heads across Europe.

Calciomercato report that Inter Milan are keen to sign a  striker in the summer transfer window to provide competition for Mauro Icardi, and Mitroglou is high on their wishlist. He will not come cheap, however, as Calciomercato report his release clause stands at a whopping £34.1million.


http://www.caughtoffside.com/2017/04/05/inter-milan-interested-in-34-1m-benfica-star-kostas-mitroglou/