Saturday Fulham Stuff (07/04/18)...

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Fulham ace Ryan Fredericks shares his belief behind Sheffield Wednesday's struggles this season

Sheffield Wednesday have failed to live up to pre-season expectations.

Fulham defender Ryan Fredericks believes a long list of injuries have hindered Sheffield Wednesday this season and with a fully fit squad they would be much higher up the league, the club's official website report.

The two teams reached the playoffs last season, both faltering at the semi-final stage as Huddersfield Town and Reading went on to contest the final at Wembley for a place in the Premier League.

While Fulham are looking to go one better this term as they current battle Cardiff City for the second automatic promotion spot, Wednesday in contrast find themselves languishing in the lower half of the table.

Ahead of their meeting on Saturday, Fredericks believes the Owls would be much higher up in the Championship table had they not overseen numerous injuries to key first-team players earlier on in the campaign.

"It will be another tough game, but they all are. I think they've had bad injuries this season which is probably the reason why they're down there," the right-back told Fulhamfc.com.

"If they'd kept the team they had back-end of last season then I expect they'd be higher up the table."

The Owls have suffered a horrific run of injuries this season, with key players such as Fernando Forestieri, Sam Hutchinson, Kieran Lee, Keiren Westwood and Barry Bannan missing huge chunks on the side-lines.

In fact, only one Wednesday player has managed to make more than 26 starts this term, and that's winger Adam Reach who has appeared in every game either as a starter or coming off the bench.

Injuries may have caused Carlos Carvalhal to lose his job, yet his replacement Jos Luhukay has made the side less reliant on key individuals and performances have improved of late.

The Owls won both of their Easter games in impressive fashion, yet they come up against a Fulham side who are 18 games unbeaten and have the bit between their teeth in the race for promotion.



http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/04/06/tt-fulham-ace-ryan-fredericks-shares-his-belief-behind-wednesday/

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Improving Owls face tough test at Hillsborough

Wednesday Vs Fulham: Team news & preview

Jos Luhukay's Sheffield Wednesday side face a stern test of their recent good form when promotion chasing Fulham make the trip to S6 on Saturday.

Wednesday will be without Morgan Fox after the left-sided defender picked up an injury at Sunderland on Easter Monday but Daniel Pudil is likely to be able to return to replace him. Barry Bannan will be expected to continue in midfield following his recent comeback from injury will Lucas Joao and Atdhe Nuhiu look set to continue their recent fruitful partnership in attack. Fernando Forestieri should feature at some point but he is unlikely to start the game.

The Owls remain without many injured players including Westwood, Lee, Van Aken, Hooper, Wallace, Clare, Hutchinson and Fletcher.

Fulham travel north with the hope of an automatic promotion place still to play for. They have no fresh injury concerns to worry them and welcomed back Tom Kalas in their victory over Leeds United last time out. On-loan Newcastle striker Aleksander Mitrovic has 10 goals in his last 9 games.

Wednesday have won their last 3 games and it would have been 4 in a row were it not for Bolton's late leveller at Hillsborough last month. Fulham are unbeaten in 18 league matches and have won 14 of those games. The Londoners are 5 points behind 2nd-placed Cardiff with 6 games to go.

The Owls enjoyed a 1-0 at Craven Cottage back in August thanks to a Steven Fletcher goal. Fulham won on their last visit to Hillsborough on the final day of last season, though Wednesday fielded a much-changed side that day ahead of what proved to be a disappointing play-off campaign for both teams. None of the 33 league meetings at Hillsborough to date between the two teams have ended 0-0.



http://www.footymad.com/sheffield-wednesday/news/tmnw/improving_owls_face_tough_test_at_hillsborough_916010/index.shtml

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Rafa Benitez reaches out to Newcastle's Aleksandar Mitrovic after Fulham heroics

Rafa Benitez has been in contact with Aleksandar Mitrovic – to congratulate him on his scoring exploits.

The Newcastle United striker collected the Championship Player of the Month award for March after netting five goals last month.

Mitrovic, 23, has scored eight goals in total for loan club Fulham, who are third in the league. United manager Benitez has also been in contact with Adam Armstrong and Matz Sels, who are on loan at Blackburn Rovers and Anderlecht respectively. "I was congratulating him and Armstrong, and I was in contact with Sels," said Benitez."You're in contact with these players, because we follow them. "We are working on that. We follow our players on loan and have a report every week to know if they were playing, if they were doing well or not.

"But we have to wait and after, it will be easier to talk with them (about their futures at Newcastle)." Armstrong won League One's Player of the Month award for February after scoring four goals for Blackburn.



Read more at: https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/rafa-benitez-reaches-out-to-newcastle-s-aleksandar-mitrovic-after-fulham-heroics-1-9102994

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Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham: 'We have a way to go and must not shy away from that,' says Tom Lees

There is a growing sense among the Sheffield Wednesday faithful that if only the season was starting now.

A well-documented injury crisis that has plagued the club all season is finally abating and has given way to three successive wins which has helped lift the gloom that has shrouded S6 for much of the year.

With players like Fernando Forestieri back in the fold and Atdhe Nuhiu elevating his performance to hitherto unprecedented levels, Wednesday are beginning to show flashes of the side that reached the play-offs in back-to-back campaigns. But amid the green shoots of recovery comes a cautionary note from one of Wednesday's most reliable campaigners in the previous two seasons, and most notable absentees this term.

Tom Lees, as plain-speaking as it gets in a multi-cultural Owls dressing room, acknowledges that while encouragement can be taken from recent form there remains a long way to go before Wednesday can become a Championship force again. "It's always difficult when a team loses that momentum and that feelgood factor; it can be quite difficult to turn around," said the 27-year-old central defender.

"But if you look at what we did after we lost the play-off final, that wasn't an easy thing to do but we came back the next season and got ourselves back into the play-offs and then had the disappointment again. "This season we haven't coped as well, so it will be interesting to see how we respond next season.

"We have got a way to go in terms of improving, that's clear, the stats and the figures don't lie, we need to be better because everybody will improve again and the teams coming down will make the league stronger. "So we need to be honest and realise we do have a way to go and not shy away from that.

"We've had a tough year, so I'm sure everyone will be wanting to end it well and end it on a positive note and do what they can so that the people who have the decisions to make at the end of the season go away knowing which players deserve to be here next time." What will hearten Wednesday fans is how personal Lees appears to have taken Wednesday's sudden fall from grace.

Such a positive influence on the pitch and in the dressing room during their two seasons at the sharp end of the promotion race, he has cut a frustrated figure sitting in the stands nursing a groin injury back to full health. Now he is back in the first team – and in the goals after his strike at Sunderland on Easter Monday – he is keen to make up for lost time.

"I've been really hurt by what's happened this season, and that's been made even harder by the fact that I've been injured," said the former Leeds United defender. "I hate going to watch games on a Saturday when I'm injured, it makes it worse, it reminds you of what you're not doing. "It's difficult to watch especially when things are going wrong in terms of performances and results.

"I want to help the club improve and I want us to play at that top level and do everything I can to make that happen. "Now I'm back in the team I'm doing everything I can to try to pull us out of this situation we're in. I don't really want the season to end. I think that's the case for a lot of players who are just coming back, they're out on the training pitch enjoying it and they just want to get back out there and put what has gone wrong, right. "Unfortunately, the season will come to a close pretty soon and we'll all have to wait a good few months now until the start of next season. "I think a lot of us are hurting. Now we're getting back fit we want to do something about it."

Bottling that pent-up frustration over the coming months is the big challenge for the summer. Change will inevitably happen, with Lees himself likely to be a target for rivals clubs given his pedigree, but it is clear he is already turning his thoughts to remedying a few ills in the 
2018-19 campaign. "We can't dwell on this season. We can't ignore it, we can't shy away from it, but in football you're always moving forward and always trying to improve," he said. "We've got one chance to get it right for next season and there's plenty to improve upon over the summer ahead of what is a big year for us." The opposition the Owls face today will offer a good barometer.

Fulham were beaten play-off semi-finalists along with Wednesday 11 months ago, and started just as slowly as the South Yorkshire club this term. But how quickly they have turned things around since Christmas – the loan signing of Aleksandar Mitrovic being key – offers Lees a ray of hope. "It takes a strong team to come back from disappointment and this year they've come back from starting the season off poorly on top of last year's failure," said Lees. "They play nice football, it's the style of football everyone at this football club would like to play, so it's a good model. It's an inspiration to us that if you do fail in the play-offs or have a rough patch then it's not the be all and end all. "If you stick to your beliefs and a way of playing and create that competition for places that quality will shine through. "And that's what we've got to do now, try to carry on this momentum and finish off the season well. Against Fulham we get a chance to see where we're at against a top team. If we're miles away then we know, but if we're on the right track then we know we're doing something right."



Read more at: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-wednesday/sheffield-wednesday-v-fulham-we-have-a-way-to-go-and-must-not-shy-away-from-that-says-tom-lees-1-9103044

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Fulham boss issues plea to Sessegnon, Cairney and Fredericks amid Spurs & West Ham links

Latest Spurs transfer news includes comments from Fulham's manager

Slavisa Jokanovic has told Ryan Sessegnon, Tom Cairney and Ryan Fredericks that Fulham is the right place for them, amid interest from Premier League clubs.

The west London outfit are bracing themselves for the opening of the summer transfer window as it's almost certain that all three players will be heavily linked with a move away.

In the case of Fredericks, he's free to talk to other clubs right now due to his contract expiring in June and - alongside captain Cairney - has been heavily linked with a move to West Ham United following David Moyes' trip to Craven Cottage in midweek.

Meanwhile, Sessegnon has reportedly the subject of heavy interest from the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool after impressing this season with 14 goals and five assists in 43 Championship appearances so far.

Sitting third in the table with an outside chance of automatic promotion, the Cottagers face 16th-placed Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon and Jokanovic has a clear message for his in-demand trio.

"I am thinking about Sheffield Wednesday game - everything is not under my control," he told reporters. "Right now, in this moment I don't want to be thinking so much about this situation, some of the rumours or some team is interested in Fulham players.

"It must be good news for the team, for the club, for the players and for the coach, if you want, but I am not thinking so far ahead.

"It's not a question about not caring, I care, but I cannot answer.

"I am sure this is a very good place all these players that have some kind of the offers to play in a different place.

"A different place is a different place, a different place is a different team, a different team is a different coach and can be many different things, like a different city.

"Sometimes, what I am sure, the place where they are right now is best, where we are talking about Tom Cairney, Cairney is captain of the team and is happy here, I am 100% sure.

"The supporters like him, it's not a question of being comfortable or not but he knows this place, I understand he is enjoying his life.

"He's made some steps and in life you must make these steps, they can be in the right direction or not, sometimes it is better to stay than make the wrong steps.

"This is for Tom Cairney, Ryan Sessengon or Fredericks, who in the last few days there exists some news in the newspapers.

"They are in the right place and I will fight for them to stay in the right place where they are now and at the end, everything won't depend on myself, but I know exactly what is my job and which side I will push."



https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/transfer-news/fulham-boss-issues-plea-sessegnon-14501334

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Rafa Pleased About Mitrovic – Congratulates Him On His Goals For Fulham

Since we lost Mitrovic on loan to Fulham Newcastle, have played 6 games and we have 11 points and only one defeat at Liverpool.

So you cannot really say we have missed Aleksandar Mitrovic who has hardly started for Newcastle in the Premier League this season.

Mitro has recently said he just had to leave Newcastle to get first-team playing time before the World Cup in Russia this summer.

Rafa obviously was aware of this and finally obliged with a loan deal once he had Islam Slimani signed up on loan.

Rafa has made the point that he's always in contact with the loan players of Newcastle.

That includes  Mitro, and the manager is pleased the Serbian International is scoring goals for the London Championship club.

This is what Rafa has said about that as reported in the Chronicle today:

    "In football, the 'if' questions are always impossible,"

    "I want to congratulate Mitrovic because he's scoring goals, he's doing well and he's happy, and that's good news for him and good news for us."

    "If he had stayed here, what would have happened? 'If' in football is very difficult."

    "So you have to manage the situation that you have and think about the future, that's it."

    "I will go back again to Leicester, win, 40 points and after, we will have plenty of time to talk."

    "I was congratulating him and Armstrong and I was in contact with Sels."

    "You are in contact with these players because we follow them. We are working on that."

    "We follow our players on loan and have a report every week to know if they were playing if they were doing well or not."

Rafa is an excellent man-manager, and he speaks to the players about what's best for them and the club.

If he thinks that's somewhere away from Newcastle then so be it.

Rafa will very likely sell Mitro in the summer but probably only after the World Cup is over.



http://www.nufcblog.com/2018/04/07/rafa-pleased-about-mitrovic-congratulates-him-on-his-goals-for-fulham/

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Fulham would be wise to make a move for this impressive Brentford attacker in the summer

Fulham continue to push for automatic promotion to the Premier League this term, with the Cottagers on an impressive run of form which has seen them close the gap on Cardiff City in second place.

Managed by Slavisa Jokanovic, the London club have been delivering some scintillating attacking performances of late, led by their impressive young winger Ryan Sessegnon, and if they can maintain their form, then there is a huge chance of the club making the leap back into the top flight.

The summer will represent another big transfer window for the club, and Jokanovic will no doubt be drawing up targets for both the Championship and the Premier League.

One such player we at FLW think fits both scenarios is current Brentford attacker Ollie Watkins, who has had a superb season for the Bees since making the step up to the Championship from League Two Exeter City.

The 22-year-old has 11 goals and four assists to his name this season, and has been a standout performer for Dean Smith's men as they have once again sealed a mid-table finish while maintaining something of a playoff push at the same time.

Watkins looks to have all the tools to play at the top level, but even if Fulham don't reach the top flight this term, the chance for Watkins to move across London and become an integral part of the project Jokanovic is leading could be too good to turn down.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/fulham-would-be-wise-to-make-a-move-for-this-impressive-brentford-attacker-in-the-summer/

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Sheffield Wednesday boss believes Ryan Sessegnon's scoring figures 'aren't normal' for a winger

The wonderkid is Fulham's top scorer with 14 goals this season, and Jos Luhukay has hailed him as one of the best in the division

Jos Luhukay has claimed Ryan Sessegnon's scoring figures from left wing 'aren't normal' ahead of Fulham's trip to Sheffield Wednesday.

The 17-year-old has scored 14 goals from a combination of playing from left back and left wing, with the majority coming from the latter position with 10 goals coming in his last 18 appearances.

His performances this season have gained him rave review from the media, pundits and fans alike, while links to some of the biggest clubs in the world, like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, have become more and more common.

And ahead of this afternoon's game, the Wednesday boss has said how he thinks Sessegnon is one of the best players in the division, like so many others.

He said: "Ryan is one of the best players in this position I think in the league," said Luhukay.

"He has scored 14 goals as a left winger. It's not normal.

"He's very high effecient. He has speed and is very good one against one.

"He can give the final pass, cross and can score goals.

"He has a lot of individual quality to give every defence a problem. We must not look alone to him but he is one of the dangerous players for Fulham."



https://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sheffield-wednesday-boss-believes-ryan-14500089