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Monday Fulham Stuff - 20/04/20...

Started by WhiteJC, April 20, 2020, 07:30:30 AM

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WhiteJC

Matthew Briggs opens up on his early struggles at Fulham

Ex-Fulham starlet Matthew Briggs has opened up on his battles with anxiety during his early days at Fulham, and detailed his journey from Premier League record-breaker, to building site labourer.

Briggs' story is a fascinating one. Identified as the 'next best thing' from such a young age, and flung into the big bad world of Premier League football weeks after his 16th birthday – Briggs is a victim of football clubs' greed when it comes to spotting young talent.

He opened up about his footballing career with ex-Fulham captain Danny Murphy, in a feature length interview in the Daily Mail:

"I joined at 10," began Briggs, now 29-years-old. "I always played above my age and was in the reserves at 14. Everyone was raving about me. I was thinking my career was going to take off. Instead it turned out to be a negative turning point."

In 2007, Lawrie Sanchez handed Briggs his Premier League debut at the age of 16 years and 65 days – a record that stood until last year when Harvey Elliot broke the record, also with Fulham.

"I'd always played football freely, suddenly I had all these expectations placed on me," Briggs continued.

"When I wasn't in the first team for the next two seasons, I was like: 'Hang on a minute'. I didn't understand it and maybe became a bit arrogant to begin with. More likely, I lost my focus."

Briggs spent seven years in the Fulham first-team between 2007 and 2014, making 30 appearances in that time. His time at Craven Cottage was besieged by loan-spells, before he along with eight other Fulham first-team players were released.

"I went into a shell and gradually lost confidence," said Briggs. "It wasn't until 2010 I started to play and the gap affected me massively, particularly as I wasn't allowed to go and get games on loan either.

"I'd be quiet before games, over-thinking. My mindset was: 'I don't want to mess up.' If I had a bad first touch, it would stick in my brain, sometimes for 90 minutes. If I did something good on the ball, the worry would go.

"I'd started to play well under Martin Jol who was my favourite manager. He believed in young players and had time for me.

"He offered me a three-year contract but then I got injured and he was sacked. Felix Magath came in and wouldn't let me sign until I got fit. In the end, Fulham were relegated."

From Fulham, Briggs started his descent down the Football League, first signing for Millwall, then Colchester United and Chesterfield in 2017.

Since then, Briggs has featured in the Isthmian League, the Danish 1st Division, and is today playing in the National League South with Dartford.

"I hit rock bottom after Colchester and Chesterfield," he explained. "In 2018, I wasn't even playing any more. I ended up working on a building site, my uncle's firm.

"I remember one day carrying a breeze block and thinking: 'What has happened to me. What am I doing?' I was in a bad way. Complete darkness. My missus saved me. She brought me back home. It was a turning point to sort myself out."

The verdict

Football can be a cruel mistress. Footballers are thrown into situations way beyond their mental capacity and without second thought to the long-term effect it might have.

Briggs is a perfect example of that – hailed as one of the best young footballers of his generation, and playing in the Fulham reserves at just 14-years-old was always going to take it's mental toll, but his journey isn't over just yet, and a return to the Football League would be a huge achievement for Briggs.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/matthew-briggs-opens-up-on-his-early-struggles-at-fulham/

WhiteJC

When John Bond turned to Viv Busby to fill Ted MacDougall's (big) boots


Viv Busby in action for the Canaries Picture: Archant

Viv Busby had an unenviable task when he was signed by John Bond as a 'replacement' for Ted Macdougall – Ed Couzens-Lake recalls Busby's days at Carrow Road

It's considered 'good PR' these days to bury bad news with a slightly more palatable alternative that helps to soften the initial upset felt.

John Bond knew enough how to handle a bad story back in 1976 - and he needed to. There was never going to be any way of extracting positives out of Ted MacDougall's imminent departure from Carrow Road.

After 134 first team appearances and 62 goals, MacDougall found himself pining for Hampshire, so when Southampton waved a cheque for £40,000 in the direction of the Carrow Road boardroom, it was a case of "so long, and thanks for all the goals".

The man given the singularly unenviable task of replacing MacDougall in the hearts and minds of Norwich supporters was 26-year-old Busby Busby, who joined the Canaries from Fulham for just £40,000, the same amount Norwich had received from Southampton for MacDougall.


Viv Busby

Busby had hardly been aching to get away from Fulham. Far from it; he was very happy where he was. His mentor at Luton was manager Alec Stock, who rated Busby enough to take him to Fulham with him so, after 16 league goals in 77 league games for the Hatters, Busby headed off to the bright lights of London and Craven Cottage in time for the start of the 1973/74 season.

Moving to Fulham was a step up for Busby in no end of ways, not least the calibre of player he now found himself playing alongside.

"John Lacy, John Cutbush, Alan Mullery, Jimmy Conway... ". A long pause follows before Busby speaks again. "... and Bobby Moore, of course".

Busby played and scored in one of Fulham's pre-season matches prior to the 1976/77 season. It was in the old Anglo Scottish Cup tournament at Craven Cottage, a 1-1 draw against the Canaries.

"I went around Duncan Forbes and Roger Hansbury to score that one. Believe me, not many people got around Duncan, bless him."

Busby thought nothing more of it but, a little over a month after that game, he was summoned to Stock's office.

"I wondered what I'd done wrong. Alec didn't mess about, he said that Bondy (John Bond) had been on to him and that Norwich were interested in signing me as they needed a striker to replace Ted MacDougall.

"I wasn't interested in moving and said so. I was happy at Fulham and didn't feel as if I wanted to go anywhere else. But Alec wouldn't listen, he went on to say that things were starting to happen at Fulham, new people were getting involved at the club and he thought that meant he probably wouldn't be there himself for very much longer. He summed it all up by saying, 'personally speaking, Viv, I think you should go'.

"What could I do? I went up to Norwich to have a chat with Bondy and he sold the club to me. No problem. He was quite a character, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. But I could tell he wanted me at Norwich and that he was a manager who looked out for his players. So after not wanting to leave Fulham, it became an easy decision to do so in the end.

"I moved into a place near Long Stratton. There was a stud farm near us in the village which was really peaceful. We loved the country life we had up there, it was perfect as far as we were concerned, for bringing up our daughter."

Busby's best performance of that first season came in the New Year's Day game at home to Leicester City when he became a member of that special breed of players who have scored a top-flight hat-trick for the Canaries. Norwich won 3-2 with one report of the game describing Busby as 'rampant'.

The 1976/77 season was the only full campaign Busby had with Norwich – he ended it with 11 goals from 17 appearances, scoring stats that would unquestionably have been better had his season not been interrupted by a series of niggling injuries.

Norwich finished the season in 16th place. A little disappointing, perhaps, but there were grounds for optimism at the start of the following campaign which started with a 3-1 win at West Ham, the Canaries first away win in the league for nearly 18 months. Busby started the game in attack with Kevin Reeves and, despite a 4-0 defeat at Manchester City on September 3, a late Roger Gibbins goal against Bristol City a week later meant Norwich were ninth and looking more than capable of holding their own in the top flight for another year.

That game against the Robins turned out, however, to be Viv's last for Norwich, with his sudden demise from the first team in the wake of that match as much a surprise to him as it was the club's support, especially as the Canaries start to that season, if not spectacular, had certainly been a promising one.

Plenty of crossed words and a move to West Brom that fell through didn't help Busby's mood.

He had played in the game against Bristol City where, in front of a crowd of just 13,940 at Carrow Road, he didn't even play the full 90 minutes after being substituted and replaced by Gibbins.

It seemed a case of 'the King is dead, long live the King'.

"Sure enough, just after that game, another summons from Bondy who said, 'Stoke are in for you, get up there and meet George Eastham'. He was an ex-player of theirs, a lovely man. Maybe too nice to be a manager, the complete opposite of Bondy"

"Stoke, of course, were in Division Two. So he wasn't worried about selling me to them".

Busby signed for Stoke and spent four years at the club.

John Bond was a larger than life football manager. But then Viv Busby was a larger than life professional footballer.

Which meant the sparks were always going to fly, both on and off the pitch.



https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/viv-busby-replaces-ted-macdougall-at-norwich-1-6612798

WhiteJC

West Ham may have found their right back solution which spells trouble for Ryan Fredericks

The Hammers have struggled with right backs in recent years but with two academy graduates emerging, have they found their solution?


Ryan Fredericks came off the bench against Newcastle - belatedly (Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

When Ryan Fredericks joined West Ham on a free transfer from Fulham in the summer of 2018, the Hammers were supposed to have found their solution at right back.

Pablo Zabaleta was ageing, Alvaro Arbeloa was a complete failure, Sam Byram had been sold to Norwich City and Michail Antonio couldn't defend.

West Ham have arguably struggled in the position since the days of Sebastien Schemmel. Carl Jenkinson had a good season on loan at the club, Julien Faubert filled in admirably too before that stunning and bonkers move to Real Madrid, but right back has always been a problem.

Fredericks had earned promotion to the Premier League with Fulham the summer he joined West Ham, but had developed as one of the most exciting full backs in the country.

In that promotion season, Fredericks bagged nine assists in 44 Championship appearances for the Cottagers as they went up via the play-offs, beating Aston Villa in the final at Wembley.

After swapping west for east London, the defender made just 18 appearances. He started the 4-0 thumping at Liverpool on opening weekend, dropped for the next game against Bournemouth, before returning for losses against Arsenal and Wolves.

But it wasn't enough as he wouldn't appear again until a substitute outing on October 11 in a draw at Huddersfield Town, when he injured his ankle and wouldn't play again until February 4.

Fredericks got his place back but never really convinced in the position, though he did bag a goal on the penultimate day of the campaign as the Hammers saw off Southampton in Stratford.

Renewed optimism heading into 2019/20 swept across the club, which quickly evaporated and eventually led to the sacking of Manuel Pellegrini. Fredericks has started 20 of the 29 games this season before football ground to a halt amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two injuries have stalled his campaign however. After a solid if unspectacular first half of the season, a hamstring problem suffered in the FA Cup win at Gillingham and then a shoulder issue picked up in defeat to Man City have restricted Fredericks.

Now he is contending with the emergence of Jeremy Ngakia who has burst onto the scene from the academy with some fine displays for someone so young. Ben Johnson, who has had his own injury struggles this season, could have usurped him too had he been fit. That can't be ruled out either, with Johnson's versatility on either side a huge asset in his favour.

Hammers fans have been impressed with Ngakia, who gets forward with purpose and arguably has a better final ball than Fredericks. The more senior player is blessed with jet-heeled pace down the wing but far too often, his delivery lets him down. He can breeze past a player with consummate ease, he used to be a 100m sprinter, but the end product can be hit or miss.

Johnson impressed on pre-season tour in China, both at left back and right back, and was seen as the future under Pellegrini. The Chilean's dismissal and Moyes needing experience has helped Fredericks, but his most recent injury could be costly. Johnson will be sniffing around the first team again this summer, most certainly alongisde Ngakia.

When football does eventually return to our lives in the future, Fredericks should be fit after his shoulder problem caused by being barged to floor by Man City's tactical foul machine Rodri, to start.

But beyond the season, the future is certainly unclear for him. With Ngakia and Johnson waiting in the wings, plus the Hammers having a bid for Nottingham Forest full back Matty Cash rejected in January, Fredericks is on borrowed time.

He needs a big end of the season to convince Moyes he is still the player for the job at right back. With two years remaining on his contract come the end of his current campaign, the club might look to cash in.



https://www.football.london/west-ham-united-fc/players/west-ham-found-right-back-18114080


WhiteJC

Anthony Knockaert issues two-word message that Fulham fans are likely to agree with


It's a frustrating time to be a football fan in the UK at the moment, with recent off-the-field events calling an abrupt halt to fixtures across the country.

Fulham will be hoping that they can hit the ground running when fixtures are to return later this year, although no scheduled return date has been confirmed as of yet.

Scott Parker's side are currently sat third in the Championship table, and are six points adrift of the automatic promotion places with nine games remaining in this year's campaign.

The break from competitive action would have come at a frustrating time for Fulham, as they had won their last two matches against play-off chasing Preston North End and Swansea City.

One player that has been key to their impressive season to date is Anthony Knockaert, with the winger hitting four goals and being on hand to provide five assists in his 34 appearances for the Cottagers this term.

Knockaert took to Instagram to reveal that he was missing football, which is a view that plenty of the Craven Cottage faithful are likely to agree with.



This is Fulham's first season back in the Championship after being relegated from the top-flight last season, after having only on-year in the Premier League.

The Verdict:

I think we all share Knockaert's views here!

The winger has been hugely impressive for Fulham this season, and Scott Parker will be hoping that he's at his best heading into the final nine games of this year's campaign.

The Cottagers look as though they're going to have to make do with a spot in the Championship play-off places, as the top-two are starting to run away with it in the race for promotion.

If he can stay fit, then Fulham will have a real chance of winning promotion back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/anthony-knockaert-issues-two-word-message-that-fulham-fans-are-likely-to-agree-with/

WhiteJC

The FST and COVID-19


During the lockdown, some members of the Fulham Supporters Trust board are giving their thoughts on Fulham, the current situation with football and what they are missing most during the crisis. First up, it's Trust secretary Gerry Pimm.

AMID this unprecedented, unique and frankly grimmest of times, there is little doubt that the Fulham family would have been affected in many ways. Be it through being infected themselves or knowing family and friends who have been either infected and/or affected. Or even through isolation where visits for the likes of Mother's Day, Easter and birthdays have been curtailed. It is a time like no other. Football, of course, pales into insignificance when faced with such devastating and catastrophic circumstances and yet it can help get spirits up as people take to isolation by trying to distract from the moment and find solace in history and memories. It has given time for people to catch up with the jam-packed TOOFIF book and other books rolled out by the likes of Messrs. Plumb, Coton, Turner and Thompson.

One can wonder what will happen with the season now? It's all guesswork of course.  Rumours persist that the EPL want the season to end in a behind closed door blitz (how handy for the media darlings Liverpool) BUT want no relegation. Of course, this would not go down well with the front runners in the EFL who are eyeing up / need the money; we, of course, being very much in that mix.  There are a plethora of options – just promote the top two as are now (making us the biggest losers) or mirror the EPL and play a similar blitz behind closed doors for example. But then you have to consider all sorts of blockers such as getting the players fit again, the availability of staff, medical priorities, contracts, loans etc. Or indeed expunge the season's results completely and start again. The authorities seem paralysed in making decisions in truly unparalleled times. And actually does it really matter? Well yes, but as long as in context.  The show must eventually go on.

People miss football. And there has been a lot of reminiscing and intuitive thinking to try and keep the game and its endearing appeal forefront in our minds whilst we cannot watch live sport. One daily topic on the infamous Fulham forum "TIFF" nudges us to explore the grey matter and evoke memorable moments from the straightforward "favourite player" through to "the most scared you have been at a game" and all sorts of themes in between. It is a time to chew over memories. Twitter threads ask you who were your most influential footballers when growing up and other such topical sharing of your past. Photos are brought out, shared and memories re-ignited. Even the BBC are at it producing programmes such as looking back on old FA Cup classic matches and World cup tournaments. And yes they even delve into the forgotten football 'BPL' (before the premier league). The good old days perhaps an older generation might feel.

WhatsApp discussions are rampant on all sorts of subjects/memories and many of them Fulham related and also include compassion and offers of help where required.  The Fulham family remains united. The video apps such as Houseparty and Zoom allow an excuse for a beer and discussion. The official site has done its bit, replaying full highlights of key (happy!) games and running a Fulham quiz. The podcasts continue to talk and throw out discussions. Ironically, perhaps we are less isolated than we were before in terms of regular communication. Whilst the virus can tear at the fabric and soul of our society it cannot take away the chat and the memories.

There is little doubt that the fraternity is missed as much as the football and a longing for a beer with mates pre and post-Fulham is forever bubbling beneath the surface. Some are lost souls without their routine of the matchday, some are more reflective on the fact that perhaps it's not the be-all and end-all and conceivably not missing it as much.

The majority I suggest sit in various forms of isolation and think they will never take anything for granted again. Wishful thinking perhaps as one day normality will surely return and we will slip back into our old ways. Or will we? Will this time of reflection strike a chord and a step-change in humanity. Brexit – remember Brexit? – now seems a mere pinprick in a tumultuous World. And yet remember the anger that spawned the falling out of families and friends over what now seems a trivial irrelevance. Is it now time to appreciate what you have, seize each day and live each moment as if it's like your last? It is certainly a time to respect those on the front-line – the brilliant NHS workers of course. But also those keeping a fragile society ticking along and not imploding – from binmen, to shop workers, to delivery drivers and many other selfless individuals. We salute you all.

As contemplation endures, will the previous ever-growing social media anger, the online abuse and indeed, in football terms, the getting wound up by the odd bad result or performance subside? Will people begin to think the unthinkable and adopt the once dismissive tone of partners and the non-sporty types which was always frowned upon: 'It's only a game'. Not to mention we will surely face a recession or worse post virus days. Jobs will be lost (if not already), priorities will change.

Will we begin to see a more 'genuine' game where the money is not always the be-all and end-all. Will the crazy money stop? It seems inevitable that a number of clubs will need a reality check if they are to survive at all. I imagine we will see a number of "AFC" clubs formed as previous proud clubs crumble and fall, the debt finally overcome by a societal game-changer.

For sure, 2020 will be looked back as an annus horribilis whatever happens from here on in. It will also I am sure be looked back on as the year football had to change. For better or for worse.

Stay safe and l look forward to seeing you back at the Cottage and on our travels when we are back and running. A pre-match pint will never taste so sweet.

At the time this article was written, the UK was on lockdown due to COVID-19 with c. 800 deaths a day and no official end of lockdown in sight. April 10th 2020.



https://www.fulhamsupporterstrust.com/news/2020/04/the-fst-and-covid-19-gerry-pimm/