Thursday Fulham Stuff - 26/09/19...

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Cottage To Madejski Walk

A group of Fulham and Reading supporters will be walking from Craven Cottage to the Madejski Stadium next week, all in the name of mental health.

On Monday, fans of both sides will make the 48 mile walk – the fourth time they have done so – in order to raise both money and awareness for Mind. Departing at 9pm and walking through the night and Tuesday, arriving prior to our Sky Bet Championship encounter that evening.

The biggest killer of men under 45 is suicide. Every two hours a male takes his own life in the UK, that's 12 a day, 84 a week, and the figures are rising.

The #WalkAndTalkMMH movement aims to bring opposing football fans together, walking from one stadium to the other ahead of a matchday between the sides, talking about whatever they want along the way.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2019/september/25/cottage-to-madejski-walk

[WhiteJC]

Matchday Hospitality With Chris Coleman & Kit Symons

Matchday Hospitality is available for our home fixture against Charlton Athletic next weekend, and there'll be a special appearance from Chris Coleman & Kit Symons!

Fulham take on Charlton Athletic on Saturday 5th October, kick-off 12:30pm, and former players & managers Chris Coleman and Kit Symons will be in attendance at Fulham Palace to take part in a pre-match Q&A, sharing stories from their time as both players and managers of the club.

Chris Coleman made 162 appearances for the club and was in charge as Manager from 2003-2007, whilst Kit Symons made 129 appearances and was in charge from 2014-2015.

A range of packages are available, with supporters able to choose from our Buffet option at the special price of £109 +VAT or our A La Carte option at £129+VAT. More information on these packages can be found here.

To enquire or to secure your space please email [email protected] or call 020 8336 7555.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2019/september/25/matchday-hospitality-with-chris-coleman-and-kit-symons

[WhiteJC]

Games for the Weekend 27/09
We've yet another Friday evening game, this time we welcome Wigan to the Cottage.

Well after another last gasp equaliser, they do feel like loses rather than draws, I'm hoping for a better result this time.

I know that it's still "early days" but we really do need to start winning games if we want to be serious contenders for promotion. Fingers crossed Friday evening will be the first of many.

COYWs

Games of Interest
Friday 27th
Fulham v Wigan

Saturday 28th
QPR v West Brom
Blackburn v Luton
Charlton v Leeds
Derby v Birmingham
Huddersfield v Millwall

Sunday 29th
Barnsley v Brentford

come on over to the forum and join in the discussion...
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=1.0



https://www.friendsoffulham.com/wordpress/?p=934

[WhiteJC]

Michael Hector reveals unflattering nickname for Sheffield Wednesday defender

Former Sheffield Wednesday defender Michael Hector has given his former teammate Jordan Thornilley a rather unflattering nickname.

It came after the current Wednesday man shared an Instagram post following the Owls' exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Everton and Hector was quick to reply.

Sharing a photograph of himself from the match, Thorniley was met with a blunt comment from Hector, who simply said: "Meat head."

A brace from Dominic Calvert Lewin was enough to condemn Garry Monk to his first defeat as Wednesday manager ahead of this weekend's trip to Middlesbrough.

Last season, Hector played a huge part in the Steel City side's campaign, racking up 37 Championship appearances during his loan spell from Chelsea as well as winning the club's player of the season award.

However, they were unable to land him on a permanent deal in the summer, with second-tier rivals Fulham instead pouncing to agree a deal to bring him in during the January window.

Wednesday currently sit in ninth place with eight matches played and a win against Boro could see them break into the top-six.

The verdict

It is good to see that Hector has managed to maintain his bond with members of the Wednesday squad despite the disappointment from the summer.

It looked inevitable that he would move to Wednesday permanently but it wasn't to be.

With Tom Lees and Julian Borner forming a brilliant partnership as well, it has made the outcome of the saga much more easy to stomach, as well.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/michael-hector-reveals-unflattering-nickname-for-sheffield-wednesday-defender/

[WhiteJC]

The Transfer Record: Allan Clarke

On 11 June 1968, Leicester City signed Fulham's Allan Clarke for a British record of £150,000, nine months after the Club had first tried to sign him.

Clarke chose Leicester in preference to Manchester United. The fee involved City's cult hero, Frank Large, valued at £50,000, being transferred to Fulham in part exchange.

This fee not only eclipsed the Club's previous transfer record by £70,000, it also broke the existing British record of £135,000, paid by Tottenham Hotspur for World Cup winner Martin Peters.

Clarke made his debut as a 16-year-old for Third Division Walsall in 1963 and his goalscoring feats at Fellows Park resulted in a transfer to top-flight Fulham in March 1966.

Clarke's next two seasons at Craven Cottage saw him score 44 league goals, but he couldn't prevent the Cottagers from being relegated in 1968.

Whilst at Fulham, he became an England Under-23s international and represented the Football League. Over six foot tall, he was a clever, fast moving and skilful footballer who was also good with his head.

Signing Clarke was a huge statement of ambition by Leicester City, but he was only at Filbert Street for one season.

In his second home game, he scored a hat-trick against Manchester City, but the Club became mired in a relegation struggle, even though the new manager Frank O'Farrell led the Foxes to that season's FA Cup Final.

Clarke scored City's winning goal in the semi-final against West Bromwich Albion and he was the Man of the Match in the final against Manchester City despite his side losing 1-0.

Two months later, with Leicester's relegation confirmed, Don Revie, the Leeds United manager, paid £165,000 for Clarke's services.

In his nine seasons at Elland Road, his goalscoring instincts earned him the nickname 'Sniffer', and Clarke played for England 19 times while also winning the Football League title, the FA Cup and the Inter Cities Fairs Cup (the forerunner of the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Europa League). He was also a finalist in the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League).

He finished his playing career at Barnsley, where he was player-manager before going on to manage Leeds, Scunthorpe United, Barnsley again and Lincoln City. As a footnote, his younger brother Wayne briefly played for David Pleat's Leicester City in 1989.



https://www.lcfc.com/news/1357998/the-transfer-record-allan-clarke

[WhiteJC]

Calum Chambers' revival and how he became Unai Emery's all-purpose Arsenal defender

Arsenal news | The defender has been in outstanding form when he has featured this season

Arsenal may well have expected to get back any of a multitude of different players when they agreed to send Calum Chambers to Fulham on loan at the start of the 2018/19 season. What they probably didn't see coming was a rampaging full-back who can fizz in deadly assists from either flank all whilst holding a defence together.

Even Unai Emery could not quite believe what he was seeing as Chambers bounded through the driving rain on Tuesday night, rollicking beyond Bukayo Saka before putting the ball on a plate for Reiss Nelson to hammer home Arsenal's fourth goal in a 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

Squint a little and you might have assumed Hector Bellerin had gotten his wish to start in the EFL Cup so bombarding was Chambers. Each of the three dribbles he attempted were successful, starting with some elegant footwork down the right flank which earned him the space to slip a pass to Gabriel Martinelli on the edge of the six yard box.

Come the second and the man whose pace and movement down the flank has always been doubted was beating Albert Adomah on his own byline before breaking out the stepovers to beat another defender. It was as though someone had downloaded the complete works of Joshua Kimmich and uploaded them onto Chambers' CPU.

Meanwhile crosses were fizzing in from the right flank, just begging for a team-mate to get a touch. Though Gabriel Martinelli did sterling work to reach the delivery from which he scored the opener all he needed to do when he got there was get a head on Chambers' volleyed delivery to fire it into the net.

So much for keeping it simple, for playing with discipline and leaving the attacking to Bellerin and Kieran Tierney.

"Tonight for example I was telling him, when he was playing left back, be calm here, help and support Bukayo, give the ball to Dani Ceballos and he was overlapping a lot of times with Bukayo," Emery said. "He did one very good pass for the goal with Nelson.

"He didn't listen to me!"

Chambers seemed determined to make an impression, to carve out a slot for himself wherever he could. The 24-year-old had understandably been disappointed that his reward for impressing alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos on the opening weekend of the season had been to be dropped in favour of David Luiz.

If right back is the position where he has an opportunity then he is determined to take it.

"Wherever I am put I will give everything I've got," Chambers said after Sunday's win over Aston Villa.

"It is just about giving everything I can for the team and helping where I can, and making the most of the opportunities I get."

Chambers is no less versatile in training, where he is often asked to play out of position in exercises, and Emery made a point of praising his "amazing" attitude.

Similar stories came from Fulham last season, where Chambers' application and discipline stood out in a disastrous season in the Premier League, When he departed for Craven Cottage on loan the view was that Arsenal would either get back a much improved centre-back or a saleable asset. They ended up with something rather different, a player whose season in defensive midfield gave him a versatility that is proving to be hugely valuable to Emery's squad.

That is not to say that Arsenal weren't considering moving Chambers on when he returned this summer. football.london understands that had any club offered the Gunners £25million there was a deal to be done, particularly before Laurent Koscielny forced his way out of north London.

But there are signs that that spell in midfield has made Chambers a far greater all-rounder.

A mark against Chambers' case to be a full-back before he went to Fulham had been how he struggled with the offensive side of the position. In west London both Claudio Ranieri and Scott Parker were impressed by the loanee's passing range and looked to exploit it from deep.

Not only could Chambers be relied on to retain possession neatly but to move Fulham forward and attack with greater incision. According to Wyscout data the Arsenal loanee completed 80% of passes into the final third in Premier League matches with the Cottagers in 2019; their season average was 70%.

Signs of those improved ball skills were clearly apparent against Forest where Chambers was one of Arsenal's most effective offensive weapons, making more progressive passes than Lucas Torreira, Mesut Ozil or Reiss Nelson, winning 60% of his offensive duels and, along with Tierney, making the most key passes in the team.

He had learned plenty from Fulham and is now setting about applying it at Arsenal.

"The plan always was for me to go to Fulham, to come back and play here," Chambers explained.

"I went away, at Fulham it was great. I had a great time there, gained some experience and have come back here and wanted to bring what I learnt last season back here and to help out the team."

Chambers certainly is helping the team even if it might not have been in the way that either he or Arsenal would have expected when he departed for Fulham before last season.



https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/players/calum-chambers-revival-how-became-16981478

[WhiteJC]

Liverpool fans will love what ex-Fulham player Harvey Elliott did after Carabao Cup win

The 16-year-old made his debut for Liverpool in the Carabao Cup victory over MK Dons

Former Fulham winger Harvey Elliott will not forget this night in a hurry.

The 16-year-old made his first senior appearance for his new club Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round victory against League One side Milton Keynes Dons, playing the full 90 minutes of the 2-0 win.

Elliott joined the Premier League leaders in the summer, after becoming the youngest ever player to play for the Cottagers aged just 15 when he came on as a substitute in last season's Carabao Cup tie against Milwall.

The teenager now holds the same record for Liverpool, becoming the club's youngest ever player to start a game for the Reds' at just 16 years and 174 days old

With it being a memorable day for him, the forward would have been forgiven in wanting to keep the shirt that he made his Liverpool debut in. However, in a video that has been posted online, the teenager duly obliges when asked for his shirt by a young fan who ran onto the pitch at the full time whistle.

The boy is shown to go up to several players before approaching Elliot, who has no hesitation in handing over the shirt, which is sure to be a lifelong prized posession.

Elliot received rave reviews for his performance in the match, and it seems that the youngster has a very bright future at Anfield.



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/liverpool-fans-love-what-ex-16983163