Saturday Fulham Stuff (18/11/17)...

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Sky Sports pundit predicts Derby County's Chris Martin will haunt former club Fulham

David Prutton believes the striker will score on his return to Craven Cottage

David Prutton has said Derby County will take a point from their trip to Fulham this evening (5.30pm).

The Sky Sports' Football expert and columnist believes Chris Martin will be the first goal-scorer as the Rams head to the capital to face the club Martin spent last season on loan at.

SkyBet are offering odds of 40/1 for that to be the case.

Ex-Nottingham Forest midfielder Prutton thinks that Gary Rowett and Slavisa Jokanvoic will have to make do with sharing the points in a 1-1 draw.

Derby have drawn both of their previous two visits to Craven Cottage and Fulham have drawn five of their eight home games so far this season.

"If there's anything that sums up the unpredictability of this league it's Derby winning four in a row and then getting turned over at home by Reading," said the 36-year-old. " I know I didn't see that coming!

"This should be a great game under the lights at Craven Cottage between two sides who like to attack, and while it could swing either way I'm going to have to go for a draw."



http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sky-sports-pundit-predicts-derby-794456

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham boss among Championship managers to replace Pulis at West Brom

Could West Brom turn to the Championship and these Brentford, Fulham and Sheffield United bosses to potentially replace Tony Pulis as manager?

The pressure is really mounting on Tony Pulis at West Bromwich Albion, with the Daily Star claiming the Welshman has two games to save his job as manager.

Under Pulis, the Baggies have not won in the Premier League since August 19 and currently sit just one point outside the relegation zone in 16th position ahead of their clash with Chelsea this weekend.

If the 59 year old is sacked, here are three Championship bosses that West Brom could perhaps turn to.

Slavisa Jokanovic

After guiding Watford to promotion in 2015 and Fulham to sixth and the playoffs last season, Jokanovic has been linked with positions in the English top flight before.

With the West Londoners currently 17th it may seem a little odd to suggest the 49 year old would be a good fit, but that is perhaps more to do with the system he is working within at Craven Cottage - something he complained about to Sky Sports over the summer - rather than the Serbian's talents as a coach.

Dean Smith

Since being appointed by Brentford in 2015, Smith has led a team with a much lower budget and expectations than those around them to finishes of ninth and tenth.

This time around the Bees are 12th and under the guidance of the 46 year old have built a great reputation for identifying talent in the lower leagues before other clubs do. Smith also comes from West Bromwich.

Chris Wilder

Less than two years ago Wilder was working in League Two with Northampton Town. Since then he has won successive titles, first in the fourth tier with the Cobblers and then League One with Sheffield United.

After 16 matches the Blades are currently second in the Championship and playing an exciting brand of football that relies on a solid defence, but also emphasises pace and technique going forwards.


http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/11/17/fulham-boss-among-championship-managers-to-replace-pulis-at-west/

[WhiteJC]

 
Slavisa Jokanovic insists Fulham are always working on set pieces but admits they aren't dangerous enough

Fulham have been undone by set pieces in recent months but the boss insists the side are always working on set pieces

Fulham have been working on set pieces ahead of the Derby game, but Slavisa Jokanovic admits they've only had a full squad for the past couple of days after the international break.

The Whites fell to a 2-0 defeat in their previous game before the international break against Wolves and were undone by two set pieces, while another set piece was their undoing at Aston Villa.

Jokanovic said that they side were always working on set pieces, but they had found it difficult over the break as a result of the number of players that were absent from the squad as a result of international call-ups.

However, they have been working to improve in the days they have been together and Jokanovic insists his side are prepared for the visit of Derby.

He said: "Yes, we are working always about penalties, set pieces and offensive set pieces where we weren't dangerous enough and at the end this is question about the break, we know we are only had a complete team the past two days but we are working to prepare for the game and focused in this situation.

"We weren't strong or good enough against Wolves, they deserved to win the game, but on one side we stopped three of the more dangerous offensive players in the Championship and we didn't find a problem with them.

"The defensive line played well but they punished us after their offensive set pieces, to be honest when someone scores a goal you can't avoid this situation, you are disappointed and dissatisfied but in both situations they were delivered very well and attacked very well.

"I cannot blame my players, we are not the strongest team in this situation, in the same way against Aston Villa they opened the game after this kind of situation.

"We must be available to improve and we must be available to be solid and stronger in this situation and on the other side, understand our characteristic of this team too."



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/slavisa-jokanovic-insists-fulham-always-13918262

[WhiteJC]

 
'George Darwin was one of Derby County's most successful signings'

Our Rams columnist uses this weekend's clash with Fulham to reminisce about one of Derby's former players

Whenever Derby County meet Fulham, I think about George Darwin. It is 60 years ago now, a raw December day, but the memory is just as fresh, the image still as sharp.

After the brilliant 1956-57 season, when Derby scored 111 goals on their way to lifting the Third Division North title, the Rams made a disastrous start to their first season back in Division Two. They lost at Fulham on the opening day, then 5-2 at Bristol Rovers in midweek, and 4-1 to Barnsley – managed by former Rams star Tim Ward – in their first home game.

On that first Saturday, in football terms I was a million miles from Craven Cottage. I was at the back of the Black Swan in Spalding, watching Spalding United Reserves and Grimsby Borough Police in the Lincolnshire League.

My summer visit almost at an end, my second year at Bemrose School beckoning, I made my way back to my grandmother's house by way of Spalding Railway Station in order to buy a copy of the Lincolnshire Echo. There it was in the stop press: "Fulham 2 Derby 0."

Things got worse still. Clearly, manager Harry Storer had to make changes for the return match with Bristol Rovers. Out went record scorer Ray Straw, and in came little George Darwin, signed from Mansfield Town the previous May.

Rugged Martin McDonnell switched to replace the polished local product Ray Young at centre-half and the Rams recorded their first win. Jack Parry and Darwin scored in the 2-1 victory.

So fortunes improved and when Fulham came to the Baseball Ground for the return fixture, just before Christmas, although the Rams were still struggling to find their feet – "We had too many old legs in the side," Reg Ryan, the Ireland international who had skippered the Rams to the Northern Section title, told me years later – it seemed that we might survive. Particularly now that we had George Darwin.

Of course, when Fulham came to town, everyone wanted to see Johnny Haynes. The Cottagers had Tony Medco in goal, George Cohen and Jim Langley at full-back; Roy Bentley and Eddie Lowe in midfield; Jimmy Hill, Roy Dwight and Tosh Chamberlain up front. All well-known football names.

But most of all they had Johnny Haynes, Fulham's most famous son, one of the outstanding inside-forwards in British football, without doubt the dominant figure in the Cottagers' history. Before his 20 birthday Haynes had played for England at every level, from schoolboy to full international.

On this day, however, it was little George Darwin who ran the show. The game ended 3-3 – Ryan, Parry and Darwin for the Rams; Dwight (two) and Bentley for Fulham – as the great Johnny Haynes was overshadowed by the performance of the little inside-forward who had cost the Rams £4,000 plus reserve full-back Keith Savin.

With his tight control, he scuttled over the Baseball Ground mud, not just on that day but in every home game. He was worth the admission money in his own right. His contribution that season was the key to avoiding relegation, although it was not until the 1-0 Easter Monday win over Swansea Town that survival was assured. It was Darwin who scored the only goal of that game.

It was as well that he did. The following day, Ivor Allchurch's hat-trick helped the Swans, still in deep trouble themselves, to crush the Rams 7-0 at Vetch Field. Derby's attitude was all wrong and complacency at having survived for another season in Division Two cost them their heaviest defeat for years. In the last home match of the season, Ryan scored the goal in the 1-0 win over Grimsby, and a 2-1 defeat at Stoke left Derby in 16th position. Ryan (14), Parry (12) and Darwin (10) headed the scorers.

The following season Darwin weighed in with 11 goals as the Rams' climb continued and they finished in seventh place. But he never touched those heights again. His wife found it difficult to settle in Derby, and in October 1960, Storer transferred him to Rotherham United for £5,000. George Darwin was one of the Rams' most successful signings. Fulham's Johnny Haynes would have vouched for that.



http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/george-darwin-one-derby-countys-789228

[WhiteJC]

Up next: Derby County (h)
by Dan on November 18, 2017

Slavisa Jokanovic's search for some impetus to inject into Fulham's faltering seasons comes up against familiar foes this evening in the shape of Derby County and Gary Rowett. While the Rams visit to SW6 tonight is most notable for the return of Chris Martin to Craven Cottage – a place where he didn't seem to want to be at times last year – the more worrying factor should be Rowett's presence in the Derby dugout. The manager's only defeat by Fulham came on penalties at Burton Albion after the then League Two side took Martin Jol's second string all the way in an August League Cup tie back in 2013 – and three of Rowett's league wins over the Whites have been commanding, including the 5-2 thumping by Birmingham that did for Kit Symons.

Rowett knows just how Jokanovic's side will operate – and was a convincing winner in the duel between the two at the IPro in April, even if David Button's error-strewn display between the sticks was a contributing factor. Even after a home humbling by Reading a fortnight ago, Rowett has reestablished the Rams as serious contenders for a promotion place after a few seasons when Derby's disregard of the Financial Fair Play regulations left them with an unbalanced squad and burning through a succession of managers. The former Derby full-back, ridiculously sacked by Birmingham after the sensational salvage job he had done with the Blues, has instilled both organisation and belief into his side – with County having won four of their last five, including excellent away wins at Leeds and Norwich City.

County have coped well with the loss of two of their outstanding performers in recent years, Will Hughes and Tom Ince, to the top flight – recruiting the well-travelled Tom Huddlestone, who began his career at Pride Park, Welsh international Tom Lawrence and Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom to add Premier League quality. The September snaring of Joe Ledley on a free transfer looks like an outstanding acquisition to supplement a squad that brims full of both experience and creative talent. Jokanovic won't need reminding of the need to shackle both Martin, who bagged a goal off the bench last time out against the Royals, and David Nugent, whose hat-trick punished Fulham back in the spring.

Rowett has an abundance of riches to chose from in the forward options. Alongside the Scottish international and Nugent are the likes of Johnny Russell, who has shaken off a dead leg to be available tonight, Sam Winnall, Andi Weimann, Mason Bennett, Darren Bent and Matej Vydra, who helped fire Watford to promotion when Jokanovic was in charge at Vicarage Road. Derby have usually operated in a fluid 4-2-3-1 this year, with Nugent playing a little deeper than the main striker, and are defensively diligent with Richard Keogh, expected to return after injuring his groin against Reading, alongside Curtis Davies at the heart of the back four.

The visitors, with the industrious Huddlestone and energetic Bradley Johnson – one of the best midfielders in this division – to the fore, will be difficult to break down and dangerous in the final third. They will represent a serious test of whether Fulham's possession-based football can flourish for a second season at this level or, if, Jokanovic's brand of pretty passing is too predictable to trouble the best opponents. Derby sit just a point outside the play-offs after the end of the sort of run the Serbian must be hoping his men can embark on.

For once an international break might have arrived at just the right time. Fulham looked lethargic and alarmingly sloppy at Wolves, badly below par even accounting for the home side's flying start to this campaign. Jokanovic and his coaching staff have spoken about how the gap between domestic fixtures has allowed for some hard work down at Motspur Park and the head coach offered encouraging news about Tom Cairney's knee, as well as a return to training for Sheyi Ojo, during yesterday's pre-match press conference. The captain has been a massive miss for much of this campaign, although just the Whites can perform in the absence of their most consistent performer this term – Kevin McDonald, who is suspended tonight, remains to be seen.

The Carnoustie-born midfielder has been head and shoulders above his team-mates in what has ultimately been an underwhelming first quarter of the campaign and Fulham don't have a ready-made replacement either for his leadership or reading of the game. Ibrahima Cisse looked raw in his only league start against Sheffield Wednesday back in August and it will probably be left to Ollie Norwood, who produced another excellent display for Northern Ireland in Basel in midweek, to fill the anchor role. With worries about Stefan Johansen's form and fitness, Fulham could sorely miss McDonald's influence in the engine room tonight.

Jokanovic also has conundrums to solve at either end of the field. Rafa Soares' two cameos as a substitute in the defeats by Bristol City and Wolves were encouraging enough to give Ryan Sessegnon the licence to roam further forward and the Portuguese full-back's inclusion might help to shackle the Rams' own attacking threat out wide. It will be interesting to see whether Jokanovic lines up that way as well as who wins the vote on the opposite flank with Yohan Mollo clearly out of favour and both Floyd Ayite and Neeskens Kebano well below the standards they set at the tail-end of last season.

There's also a pressing issue of who leads the line. Rui Fonte has struggled for form since the injury that curtailed his excellent display at Portman Road back in August and his acclimatisation to life in the Championship can only have been hindered by being asked to play out wide and as a number 10 rather than as a fully-fledged forward. Squeezing both Fonte and Aboubakar Kamara into the same starting line-up hasn't worked yet – so Jokanovic has to decide who to start with should he stick to his favoured 4-3-3 formation.

MY FULHAM XI (4-3-3): Bettinelli; Fredericks, Soares, Kalas, Ream; Norwood, Johansen, Cairney; Mollo, R. Sessegnon, Fonte. Subs: Button, Madl, Edun, Cisse, Kebano, Ayite, Kamara.



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/11/up-next-derby-county-h/