Thursday Fulham Stuff - 30/04/20...

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Knockaert wins Albion's World Cup of Goals

Albion midfielder's Selhurst stunner takes the crown.

Anthony Knockaert's stunning effort in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park last March has won the tournament of Albion's World Cup of Goals.

The Frenchman saw off competition from the likes of David Lopez, Jose Izquierdo, Florin Andone and Sebastien Pocognoli in the final to claim the accolade.

Knockaert got 75% of your vote, while Pocognoli's memorable free-kick against QPR at Loftus Road in April 2017 was runner-up with 25%.

Fans can remind themselves of how the tournament unfolded below.

https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/news/1662619/knockaert-wins-albions-world-cup-of-goals

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Roy's Hamburg Reaction

A proud Roy Hodgson acknowledged the "outstanding achievement" of his Fulham side in reaching the Europa League Final.

The Whites were up against it having conceded Mladen Petrić's away goal, but a second half rally brought strikes from Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera to set up a showdown with Atletico Madrid.

"After going a goal down against the run of play I think we made a major piece of history here in a very special atmosphere," Hodgson said. "I think lots of teams would have lost their discipline and shape, but we stayed strong.

"To have reached a Europa League Final - and I do not care if you are Fulham or one of the top four - is an outstanding achievement. That will be recognised by everyone.

"Football is an emotional game, so in a Semi-Final the players could be excused for losing their heads or discipline, but they did not do it tonight. It was a great performance because it would have been so easy for us to lose our heads after the great goal they scored.

"I thought we were good value for our victory and the character of this team has been proved time and time again.

"It's been an amazingly long season, yet watching the players run around in the second half it didn't look as though we'd played 59 games this season.

"We're in the Final because we've played very, very well throughout and knocked out some very difficult teams, not least Hamburg. It's been a wonderful journey that I'm really proud of."

Bobby Zamora passed a late fitness test to start the game, but he was clearly in some discomfort and was eventually withdrawn in the 58th minute.

There is the better part of a fortnight until the Final, and Hodgson hopes that will be enough time to get his talisman fit enough to feature.

"The injection we gave him worked quite well but he was beginning to feel the effects in the second half," he said.

"The problem will exist until he gets more treatment on it. But if I rest him for one or two of the league matches, perhaps he will be fit for the Final."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/april/29/roy-hodgson-hamburg-reaction

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Matches at original venues 'present challenges' to emergency services

There are 92 fixtures to be played in the Premier League, and 341 remaining in the EFL

Playing all remaining Premier League and EFL fixtures at their original venues would "present challenges" to the emergency services, says the national lead for football policing.

Deputy chief constable Mark Roberts says "options" need to be looked at.

The Premier League has told its clubs only "approved venues" will be used, raising the possibility of matches being played at neutral grounds.

Further details will be provided to clubs at a meeting on Friday.

There are 92 fixtures in the current campaign left to be played in the Premier League, and 341 remaining across the Championship and Leagues One and Two.

"Playing all those fixtures [in the original venues] would present challenges," said Roberts. "That's an awful lot of people moving around the country.

"I think we all need to look at options about what games absolutely need to be played.

"Let's look at how they can be managed, potentially at their own stadiums, but equally whether we can see benefits of playing at a neutral, controlled venue, both from the health aspects of it but also minimising any disruption to the police, the ambulance service and all those other functions that are going to be stretched as we go back to normality.

"There's common sense and I think any group of football fans can probably highlight now the fixtures that are probably likely to generate attention.

"One of the things that the Premier League and the Football League are acutely aware of is that clubs would have to get the message out that if matches are taking place they need the continued buy-in of supporters and the public.

"There might be a fair deal that if people start gathering and causing public health or public order issues then that might mean that games can't actually go on."

Earlier in April, culture secretary Oliver Dowden said the Premier League was considering making some behind-closed-doors fixtures available free-to-air when the season restarts.

Plans to resume the Premier League season stepped up this week in what has been labelled 'Project Restart', with Arsenal, Brighton and West Ham opening their training grounds to players for individual work on Monday.

The league is hopeful of a potential 8 June restart and finishing at the end of July to fit in with Uefa's European competition plans. This would require full training to begin by 18 May.

The EFL is also expected this week to further develop its contingency plans before the potential resumption.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52478598