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Friday Fulham Stuff - 24/07/20...

Started by WhiteJC, July 24, 2020, 07:54:17 AM

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WhiteJC

Scott Parker claims Fulham have the 'form and momentum' heading into Cardiff City play-off clash

The Bluebirds will play the Cottagers next week in the play-off semi-final


Scott Parker, manager of Fulham, believes his side have momentum heading into play-off tie with Cardiff City (Image: Getty Images)

Fulham boss Scott Parker believes that it will be his side who have the momentum over Cardiff City heading into the play-off semi-final.

The Bluebirds romped to victory against Hull City last night with a 3-0 win and, in doing so, secured fifth place.

Fulham, meanwhile, limped to a draw against relegation-battling Wigan Athletic, meaning they missed their chance to seal an automatic promotion spot and will now face Cardiff next week.

Asked how he was feeling after the draw against the Latics, Parker said after the game: "Positive, a real positive because we were realistic and certainly the way we framed it was realistic.

"We knew what we had to do tonight and to bring the season to the last game was a massive positive for us. We took it to the wire, it's not happened for us, we knew it was well out of our hands tonight.

"We all understood it was likely we were going to the playoffs. We lost two games out of lockdown and since then we've been in very good form, that's seven unbeaten now. When you're close there's an element of 'can we do it' but you're relying on other teams to slip up.

"We move on. You'd expect me to say what I'm saying, but it is a big positive, that's where we are and we go in in good form with momentum with us. A good performance tonight, second half we had a real bit about us against a team needing to get a result. We move on from this now.

"It wasn't meant to be for us, we'll be focused. We'll push in a tough game against Cardiff and we'll go from there."

With Fulham having won only one of their last three matches, however, that might not necessarily be a view to which many Cardiff City fans subscribe.

Indeed, it is arguably the Bluebirds who have the greater momentum going into the play-off semi-final, having recorded three wins out of three in their most recent outings, scoring eight goals in doing so.

In fact, City boss Neil Harris said after last night's triumph over Hull that Fulham should in fact already be in the Premier League, given the money they have spent, and all the pressure is now on them.

"There is a bit of pressure on us, but there is huge pressure on Fulham playing against us - a team that should be in the Premier League, given the money they have spent and are now spending," Harris said.

"We will go and enjoy it."



https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/scott-parker-claims-fulham-form-18647020

WhiteJC


Cottage Talk Full Time: Wigan vs. Fulham

Take a listen to a podcast that focuses on Fulham Football Club.

This show is our initial reactions to Fulham's 1-1 draw with Wigan, and we also looked forward to the playoffs against Cardiff City.


You can also listen to the show by following this link...
https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2020/7/23/21335356/cottage-talk-full-time-wigan-vs-fulham

WhiteJC

'Market will decree' Fulham man's future – Club see him as chance to 'fill-up the accounts'

Villarreal are yet to decide what to do with midfielder Franck Zambo Anguissa this summer, should they sign him permanently from Fulham.

Anguissa has been on loan with the Spanish side since last year after a disastrous first campaign at Craven Cottage following a move in 2018.

He has rebuilt his reputation in La Liga with a series of impressive performances in defensive midfield earning him rave reviews and if reports are to be believed, plenty of admirers.

It looks likely his future will be away from Fulham this summer but, as yet, it is unclear what will happen with him.

Super Deporte cover the situation today and explain what is happening behind the scenes at Villarreal in regards to the midfielder.

They report that while the club 'discarded to accept' their option of signing Anguissa permanently for €25m, they are still interested in signing him, as reports elsewhere have indicated.

That's because their incoming coach Unai Emery 'likes him' and believes that he would be a 'resource to take advantage of' if he had him in his team.

However, those in charge at Villarreal are eyeing up another route and are considering that it may be worth buying Anguissa just to sell him on this summer.

They believe that they can 'make a profit' after signing him, with reports in Italy claiming that PSG, Juventus and Real Madrid are all interested in his signature.

Therefore, their idea is to buy from Fulham and then sell at a higher price, making an easy profit.

As such, Super Deporte explain that the 'market will decree' what happens with Anguissa this summer.

While his efforts this season mean he has earned a long-term stay at Villarreal, if there is a market for him, they will more than likely look to sell and earn themselves easy money

Either way, it looks an ideal situation for Fulham, who may be able to make their money back on a transfer that really didn't work out for them.



http://sportwitness.co.uk/fulham-zambo-anguissa-villarreal-transfer/


WhiteJC

Club turn down €10m offer from Fulham for forward – Looking to get at least double that, in no hurry to sell

Fulham had their first bid for Jovane Cabral rejected by Sporting, according to reports from the Portuguese media today.

Newspaper A Bola says the Championship side placed an offer of €10m for the winger, but that wasn't enough to convince the Lions.

It's claimed that Sporting really trust Jovane's potential, and even though they may not receive huge bids due to the economic crisis, they're not taking less than €20m for the player.

The Lisbon side are in no hurry to sell, so in case there are no good offers this summer, they're willing to keep him for one more season and then sell for more next year.

Fulham were the first club to move as they try to avoid the competition for the 22-year-old. A Bola writes that there are other English and French clubs interested in him, including the likes of Nice and Rennes.

Jovane Cabral has six goals and three assists in 29 appearances for Sporting this season. He's protected by a release clause of €60m.



http://sportwitness.co.uk/club-turn-e10m-offer-fulham-forward-looking-get-least-double-no-hurry-sell/

WhiteJC

Talking Points: Wigan

There's plenty to talk about following a dramatic season finale throughout the Championship on Wednesday evening.

1. The harshest of relegations

It would be remiss of us not to commiserate with Wigan after their relegation was confirmed at full-time, subject to appeal. The Latics have been one of the form teams in the Championship in 2020, with Neeskens Kebano's goal the first they've conceded at the DW Stadium since early February. But having fallen victim to some awful ownership issues, they were placed in administration and had 12 points deducted which dragged them down into 23rd position. Everyone at Fulham wishes all those associated with Wigan the very best in the future.

2. Free-kick King

Wigan had clearly done their homework on Fulham from the weekend, as it was clear they were fully expecting Kebano to try and hit his free-kick under the wall again. (They even had Nathan Byrne knelt behind the wall to add some extra protection). But Kebano has plenty in his locker and this time curled a stunning free-kick over the defenders and into the top left corner. Three goals in two games now for the winger, exactly the sort of form you want heading into the Play-Offs.


3. A mad final night

Anyone whose team has spent time in the Championship knows exactly how competitive a league it is. It turned out that Fulham could never have won automatic promotion on Wednesday, but Brentford will be ruing another missed opportunity after West Bromwich Albion could only draw with Queens Park Rangers, who put up an admirable fight at the Hawthorns. Huge credit must also go to Barnsley and Luton Town who stayed up against all the odds, and Swansea City who snuck into the Play-Offs at the death.

4. Kamara's comeback

Aboubakar Kamara was unfortunate to pick up an injury in the build-up to our first post-lockdown match against Brentford, and so his return to action ahead of the Play-Offs was very welcome indeed. Scott Parker knew the importance of easing the forward in after his layoff and so he waited until the 83rd minute to introduce him, but even in his brief cameo Kamara showed plenty of the powerful running and positive play that makes him such an asset to this team.

5. Finishing the season strong

The importance of taking momentum into the Play-Offs cannot be understated, and so hopefully Fulham's run of five wins and two draws will stand us in good stead as we go into our two-legged Semi-Final with Cardiff City. It's an impressive response to the disappointment of the Brentford and Leeds United defeats, and now all focus is on keeping that run going across what we hope will be three more matches this season.




http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/july/23/talking-points-wigan-athletic

WhiteJC

A closer look at the teams involved in the Championship play-offs

The line-up for the Sky Bet Championship play-offs has been confirmed following Wednesday's dramatic final round of regular fixtures.

Brentford face Swansea and Fulham play Cardiff in the semi-finals, with those two-legged ties taking place across five days from July 26 to 30. The final is then at Wembley on August 4.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the sides involved.

Brentford
Securing a first promotion to the Premier League this summer would end a 73-year wait for top-flight football for the third-placed Bees. After a superb eight-match winning streak, Thomas Frank's team missed the chance to replace West Brom in the automatic promotion spots on Saturday as they lost 1-0 at Stoke, and it was a similar tale on Wednesday – Albion being held 2-2 by QPR meant a victory would have given Brentford second place, but they were beaten 2-1 by Barnsley.

How they respond to that blow remains to be seen, but certainly they are a force to be reckoned with when on-song – attacking trio Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma and Bryan Mbeumo have netted 57 league goals between them this term. Also, with the club leaving Griffin Park at the end of the campaign, they will be particularly eager to make the semi-final second leg at home against Swansea – who they have beaten twice this term – a joyous occasion.

Fulham
Scott Parker's Cottagers, aiming to bounce back to the top table at the first attempt, head into the play-offs in pretty decent shape, unbeaten in seven matches, with five of those having been victories. They drew 1-1 at Wigan on Wednesday, and it turned out that even if they had won that match, barring an unrealistic boost to their goal difference, it would not have been enough to see them move up from fourth to second.

Fulham are another side with notable fire power – in Aleksandar Mitrovic, they have the division's top-scorer for 2019-20. The Serbian has registered 26 goals, one more than Watkins. With regard to facing Cardiff, they previously did so only earlier this month, triumphing 2-0 at Craven Cottage.

Cardiff
The Bluebirds are also looking to make an immediate return to the Premier League after one season away. Following boss Neil Warnock's departure in November with the club lying 14th in the table, things have gone well under his replacement Neil Harris and Cardiff are entering the play-offs in good form.

The recent loss to Fulham was one of only two defeats in their last 11 outings, and Wednesday's 3-0 win over Hull was a third successive victory. Earlier in the season, under Warnock, they drew with Fulham 1-1 at Cardiff City Stadium. Their goals are very much shared around – while Lee Tomlin is their top-scorer in the league with eight, four players have contributed seven.

Swansea
The Swans, who were last in the Premier League in 2017-18, moved into the play-off places in memorable fashion on Wednesday as their 4-1 win at Reading, combined with Nottingham Forest's loss by the same scoreline at home against Stoke, saw Steve Cooper's men claim sixth spot on goal difference.

That was among four victories in their last six games. Andre Ayew has scored 15 league goals this season, and Rhian Brewster – the 20-year-old striker who joined on loan from Liverpool in January – has really caught the eye since the restart, netting six times to take his tally for the Welsh outfit to 10.



https://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/a-closer-look-at-the-teams-involved-in-the-championship-play-offs-1012110.html