Monday Fulham Stuff - 28/02/02...

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Cardiff City 0-1 Fulham: Player ratings

Olly reviews another successful Fulham away day ...

Marek Rodak: Cardiff's efforts on target were weak for the most part but Rodak was assured and did really well to close down Collins after he got through one on one, he made himself big and stayed on his feet to ensure he could deflect away Collins' attempted chip, a big save at 0-0. 7

Neco Williams: Another solid display from Neco but my concerns which I've voiced in previous games are still there. Like many full backs in the game these days he looks brilliant going forward but slightly suspect at the back. It's something I've noticed almost every game so far, he is taken on too easily and I have no doubt it's something he'll be working on. Ultimately I think that's what led Silva to replace him with Tete towards the end. 6

Tosin Adarabioyo and Tim Ream: Little between these two here, I thought they both did really well with the ball at their feat after a few suspect moments in recent matches and they stood firm against a physical Cardiff side who threatened to find a leveller in the closing stages of the game. Both put in some good challenges and won their 50/50's. Tosin did have a worrying moment as the ball bounced straight over his head to provide Collins with his one on one opportunity but he also showed off his passing range with a delightful ball over the top to Wilson who couldn't quite sort his feet out. 7

Joe Bryan: Many people including myself have been wanting to see a bit more of Bryan this season. After his play off heroics against Brentford it's a shame that he's faded away slightly but he had a chance here to prove his worth. I felt he played it safe at times when there could have been opportunities to push forward instead but this is probably why he didn't find himself out of position on too many occasions, something that we see regularly with Robinson. I personally believe Robinson is our best option but this is mainly down to his pace, aside from that I don't think there's a lot in it. 6

Nathaniel Chalobah: I was very surprised to see Chalobah return to the starting line up after Seri's dominant display on Wednesday night and whilst we'll never know if we still would've won with Seri instead of Chalobah, I do feel we lacked a creativity throughout the entire game which Seri would have provided. Especially in Cairney's absence. His physicality is most likely why he got the nod and it did help us in the middle of the park but he struggled to kickstart any decent attacking opportunities and found himself losing possession on a number of occasions. 5

Harrison Reed: The type of player you don't always notice but you'd notice if he wasn't there. He's had a bit more freedom again in the last couple of games with Cairney out injured and Seri or Chalobah playing the deep role but the way Cardiff played meant he couldn't really find his way into advanced areas, either because they had so many men behind the ball in the first half or because they pegged us back for large parts of the second. He was there to link up play and get his challenges in throughout. 7

Fabio Carvalho: Always looking to make things happen and this was no different even if it didn't quite come off for him. Every time he picks up the ball he looks to turn and progress with it which is so refreshing. He's not afraid to get stuck in either which was especially important against a feisty Cardiff outfit. 7

Harry Wilson: Provider once again, after a barren spell Wilson grabbed his 12th assist of the campaign. He still wasn't in the form we saw him in earlier in the season but he played fairly well and there were large parts of both halves where all our attacking play was coming through him linking with Williams, Mitrovic and Carvalho down the right. It was a great cross towards the back post which Mitrovic gladly nodded past Smithies in the Cardiff net. 7

Aleksandar Mitrovic: Another game, another goal. That's 34 for Mitrovic now as he works his way ever closer to Wittingham's tally of 42. It seemed inevitable that he would score yesterday, he now has six goals in seven games against the bluebirds. He was handled well by the Cardiff backline and wasn't given a decent chance on goal aside from this one. Once again he played deeper and even wide at times to link up the play and he'll to create promising moments for others. 7

Bobby Decordova-Reid: Decordova-Reid struggled yesterday and looked tired from quite early on. He's played a lot of football in the past few weeks and after a lack of playing time prior to the Stoke game it seems as though his recent run could be catching up with him. A week with no midweek game will hopefully allow some much needed recovery time for the entire squad. 5

Substitutes:

Josh Onomah: Sadly there was no work of art from the paintbrush of Josh Onomah on this occasion, he wasn't given much time to make that happen and he struggled to make an impact yesterday when he came on. 5

Kenny Tete: His first appearance since the signing of Williams, partly due to injury but also due to Williams' good performances. It was good to have him back and he shored up the right back position where Williams had been successfully taken on progressively more throughout the game. 6

Ivan Cavaleiro: He was Silva's final sub yesterday which didn't given him too much time to contribute, I'd have liked to see him earlier after an impressive performance off the bench on Wednesday and with Decordova-Reid struggling to make an impact I felt Cavaleiro could have done just that. 5



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2022/02/cardiff-city-0-1-fulham-player-ratings/

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Who were Slavisa Jokanovic's first 5 Fulham signings and where are they now?

Slaviša Jokanović spent just under three years in charge of Fulham from December 2015 to November 2018.

Fulham appointed him as boss following the departure of Kit Symons and he managed to turn their disappointing form around and achieved a top six finish in his first full season at the club.

A year later he would help guide the London club to the Premier League with a play-off final victory win against Aston Villa but was questionably sacked just five months later.

Since his departure, he has spent two years in Qatar with Al-Gharafa SC and most recently had a stint with Sheffield United. He was appointed manager with the South Yorkshire club following their relegation but only lasted 19 games before being released from his role.

Jokanović oversaw 144 games for Fulham and made some excellent acquisitions. But who were his first five signings at the club? Here we take a look at who they were and where they are now...

1. Michael Madl
Austrian defender Madl was Jokanović's first signing at Fulham, brought into Craven Cottage on loan from Strum Graz in January 2016. He played 13 times for the club that season and scored his only goal in a 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic. The deal was made permanent later that summer but Madl failed to keep his place in the starting 11, falling behind Tim Ream, Tomáš Kalas and Ragnar Sigurðsson.

Madl re-signed for his first club Austria Wien in January 2018 and appeared 74 times before retiring in the most recent summer.

2. Rohan Ince
The holding midfielder joined the club in the same window as Madl, arriving on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion for the season. Ince played 10 games for Fulham and scored one goal before returning to his parent club at the end of the campaign. He was loaned out to Swindon Town and Bury the following seasons.

After that, he signed for Cheltenham Town in 2019 before plying his trade in the National League for Maidenhead United and most recently Woking. He has played 25 games for the latter and his side currently sit in 15th place.

3. Zakaria Labyad
A lot of Fulham fans would not remember who Labyad is and would be unaware he played for the club. Arriving on deadline day from Sporting Lisbon, the Moroccan featured twice for Fulham in what could be argued a forgettable time at the club.

He returned to his parent club in the summer and a year later joined Dutch side FC Utrecht. Impressing in his second season he joined Ajax and has featured 57 times since 2018.

4. Chris Baird
Baird joined the club on loan for the remainder of the season in February 2016 from Derby County. The Northern Ireland defender failed to live up to his previous time at the club and only featured seven times as Fulham finished in 20th place.

He returned to the Rams in the summer and would play 61 times in two seasons before retiring in 2018.

5. Floyd Ayité
The only permanent signing in the list, Ayité was Jokanović's first business in the summer of 2016. The winger became a real hit scoring nine goal in his debut season. He featured 29 times the season later and was an unused sub in the play-off final win against Aston Villa.

Ayité struggled for game time in the Premier League and departed the club the following summer. He joined Turkish side Gençlerbirliği S.K. in 2019 and has most recently signed for French second division side Valenciennes.



https://the72.co.uk/263962/who-were-slavisa-jokanovics-first-5-fulham-signings-and-where-are-they-now/

[WhiteJC]

Silva serves up another set piece special

It may seem churlish to grumble following such a magnificent season but Fulham aren't exactly blowing away the opposition any more. They have established a commanding position atop the Championship through free-flowing attacking football, but recent results have owed more to fortitude and organisation than brilliance in the final third. Take yesterday's win at Cardiff, for instance, which extended the Londoners' unbeaten run on the road to nine league matches. It was secured by Aleksandar Mitrovic's 34th goal of the season – although the soft concession from a set piece will have frustrated Steve Morison.

The interim Bluebirds boss insisted in the build up to this weekend's fixture that it was probably impossible to stop Mitrovic, so in form was the Serbian striker. The best they could do was limit his effectiveness by cutting off the service. The Welsh outfit did they very effectively in the first half – restricting Fulham's number nine to just fourteen touches – but the most telling of them resulted in the game's decisive moment. Finding new ways to feed Mitrovic has been vital as Championship defences have sought to shackle him and this is where Silva and his coaching staff have excelled. The winner in south Wales was the 22nd goal the Whites have scored from a set play this season.

Fulham's invention from set pieces was the talk of the early season, with plenty of pundits and opposing managers drawing a link with the NBA and suggesting they skirted the line between being clever and illegal. Blocking off markers at set plays have been commonplace for years. Italian defenders didn't exactly try to hide their manhandling from officials and Fulham's efforts this term were also particularly brazen. The first time we saw it was when Tosin Adarabioyo screened Mitrovic's marker, Jacob Greaves, against Hull – allowing the centre forward to run challenged and head in the opening goal in August. Adarabioyo literally stood stock still, Greaves fell to the turf and Fulham took the lead.

There are countless other examples. The now departed Denis Odoi prevents Joe Worrall from getting touch tight with Mitrovic at Nottingham Forest, leading to Fulham's opening goal at the City Ground. At Birmingham, Nathaniel Chalobah gets in the way of Jeremie Bela allowing Odoi the time and space to connect with Harry Wilson's corner. Fulham's use of these tactics mirrors the way England were successful at the 2018 World Cup, but Silva's set piece approach is constantly evolving.

Mitrovic, an understandable dead ball target given his ability in the air, had his two best openings in the first half yesterday from corners. Normally stationed in the middle of the penalty area to maximise his chances of directing an effort on the goal, the Fulham forward drifted unhindered well outside the far post to connect with a deep delivery from Harrison Reed. He probably didn't get the cleanest of contacts in diverting the ball back across goal and Tim Ream also miscued his subsequent attempt to force the ball home at the near post, but it was a clear plan on Fulham's part.

The winner also came from a clever routine, although – as Harry Wilson revealed afterwards there was change to what had been practised at Motspur Park. Reed took the short corner himself, with Wilson on the end of an elaborate set of short passes, to whip in a dangerous delivery. The presence of three white shirts over on the right flank gave Fulham an overload and should have made Mitrovic easier to mark in the middle. The Serbian's movement took him away from Aiden Flint in the blink of an eye and he made the subsequent header from an acute angle look easy. The ball in from Wilson was superb but the swiftness of the interplay between the winger, Reed and Bobby Decordova-Reid caught Cardiff cold.

The telling moment came on the Fulham bench where Silva and his coaching staff exchanged happy high fives. Much of the concern upon the Portuguese taking the job at Craven Cottage centred on whether he could conquer the set piece frailties that ultimately undermined his last spell in English football at Everton. Fulham haven't looked all that vulnerable from defensive dead balls – with Tim Ream throwing himself in the way of several in stoppage time yesterday and everyone appearing to have a clearly defined role – and are still coming up with new ways to befuddle the opposition at the other end of the field. 'Marginal gains' to use that famous Clive Woodward phrase are still making the difference.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2022/02/silva-serves-up-another-set-piece-special/

[WhiteJC]

Cardiff City's Steve Morison Defends Perry Ng Over Fulham Elbow Accusation

Cardiff City manager Steve Morison accused his Fulham counterpart Marco Silva of "kicking off" over an alleged elbow incident involving Bluebirds defender Perry Ng.

The clash between the players came near the end of Cardiff's 1-0 home defeat to the Championship leaders.

Morison praised his players for their resolve and determination against a background of seven players falling ill with a sickness bug, but was irritated by Silva's actions.

The Fulham boss gestured with a flying elbow towards the fourth official after Ng had bumped into Fulham substitute Ivan Cavaleiro.

"Their manager was kicking off," said Morison.

"Come one! Let's get it right. I have watched it back 10 times and Perry Ng has brushed him. It's pathetic.

"It was handbags. We were on the attack on the halfway line and they pulled it back for a player who was in danger, apparently. That decision was just ridiculous."

Aleksandar Mitrovic showed once again that if you give the Serb an inch, he will take away your smile.

If I had to play for Cardiff, I'd be trying to get banned too. Naughty Perry NG. #ffc pic.twitter.com/izm0XGIBLn

— FulhamBone (@FulHambone) February 27, 2022

The Fulham striker scored his 34th league goal of an all-conquering season to extend his club's lead at the top of the Championship.

It was not the deadly marksman's best performance of the campaign, but it was good enough because Cardiff must have had their fingers in their ears in the days beforehand.

Mitrovic had been given plenty of praise on every airwave for setting a new record for goals in a single Championship season, with 14 matches still to go.

But the amount of space given to the forward at the back post four minutes before the break was unforgivable – although Cardiff boss Morison claimed his defenders had been blocked off the ball.

Mitrovic headed home from Harry Wilson's cross and that was enough to give Marco Silva's men their eighth league victory in their last 10 matches.

Cardiff managed to raise a late assault and they did spurn an early opportunity when striker James Collins shot straight at Fulham keeper Marek Rodak.

But with a sickness bug having ruled out seven players and left others feeling below par, they lacked the cohesion to make the most of their moments of pressure.

Mitrovic was subdued for much of the game, but he sprang to life just before the interval to provide the game's decisive moment.

He escaped the attention of Aden Flint at the far post and was picked out perfectly by a cross from Wilson.

That must have hurt the Bluebirds – not just conceding but the fact that creator Wilson was a player they had once wanted to buy, but could not afford, after a loan spell from Liverpool.

Silva said: "As we expected it was tough, it is always hard to come here and play.

"We knew what type of game it would be. We always expect first and second balls and balls in our box.

"Apart from one moment when we slept completely, we dealt really well with the situation.

"We controlled big parts of the match and although were a bit slower than I wanted but we created enough, we were the best team and deserved the three points."

Morison, whose team have stalled again and are without a win in their last three games, was pleased given the circumstances of the bug.

"I couldn't be prouder of my players, I thought we were fantastic," said Morison.

"We went toe-to toe with the best team in the league and we limited them to the least amount of shots they have managed this season.

"Mitrovic got free from a well-worked corner, he had one moment and he scored. That's why he's a goal scorer and why he's top of the league."



https://www.dai-sport.com/cardiff-citys-steve-morison-defends-perry-ng-over-fulham-elbow-accusation/

[WhiteJC]

Marco Silva makes numerous Championship title claims amid potential Fulham and AFC Bournemouth battle

Fulham manager Marco Silva believes his side deserve to be at the top of the Championship table as things stand but says they haven't won anything yet, issuing caution as he spoke to his side's media team.

The Cottagers have been the most consistent team in the second tier so far this season, enduring a five-game winless run between November and December last year but managing to recover well since then as they have stolen a march on the likes of AFC Bournemouth and Blackburn Rovers.

This comes as no real surprise with the west London outfit investing a considerable amount of summer in their squad during the summer despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on finances, with Harry Wilson arriving permanently from Liverpool in a £12m deal.

Not only did they recruit Wilson, but also the likes of Nathaniel Chalobah and Paulo Gazzaniga, both of whom have Premier League experience at their disposal with the former playing an integral part in the second-tier side's first team recently.

They also have the league's top goalscorer at their disposal in Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has scored 34 goals in 31 league appearances this season and has been a big reason why the current league leaders currently have the best attacking record in the division.

But despite all the factors in their favour and the fact they currently have a nine-point lead over Bournemouth, who have two games in hand over Silva's side, the Portuguese boss has stressed the fact there's still a long way to go.

Speaking after yesterday afternoon's 1-0 victory away at Cardiff City, he said: "We are playing well and as a group we are fighting when we should fight, playing well when we should play well.

"We are playing with quality. This is the main thing for me. Not just a matter of winning football matches, but when we play well, we can play well.

"Other times we have to play the ugly side of the match, which we are doing in certain moments as well.

"Nothing is finished. Nobody can achieve anything by the end of February. We didn't achieve nothing yet."

The Verdict:

There's still a very long way to go and after suffering something of a blip, Bournemouth now seem to be back on track under Scott Parker and this is something they will need to be wary of.

The Cottagers' defeat against Huddersfield Town last week will serve as a reminder that there are no easy games in the second tier and although they are currently dominant at this stage, inconsistency could set them on a wobbly path going into the final couple of months of the season.

The reason why they are in their current position is the fact they have been able to minimise winless runs, now is the time for them to continue in the same vein and if they can, it would be difficult to see anyone beating them to the title.

At this stage, it looks as though it will be a head-to-head battle between Fulham and Bournemouth – but they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas at this stage with a Premier League return not yet mathematically guaranteed.

In fairness though, it would be tempting for the club's board to fully focus on the summer with Silva's men now firm favourites for promotion and the need to ensure they aren't relegated back to the Championship straight away again if they did secure a top-tier return.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/marco-silva-makes-numerous-championship-title-claims-amid-potential-fulham-and-afc-bournemouth-battle/

[WhiteJC]

Fulham's formidable away form powers promotion push

Cast your mind back to early October and Coventry. Sheltering from the rain in Coventry Building Society Arena, a seething Marco Silva castigates his side for unforgiveable errors and immediately apologises to a sizeable travelling support that had just seen Fulham surrender a half-time lead to lose 4-1 in a shambolic second half. Questions were asked about whether Fulham were flat track bullies and if this team had the stomach to sustain a promotion push.

It seems incredible to think that saw that shocking second half, Fulham are unbeaten away from home. Seven of those nine fixtures have finished with victories and there have been two draws – against Preston and Luton Town. Some have been sparkling performances – the seven-goal thrashings handed out at Blackburn Rovers and Reading spring to mind – but a few more have been the sort of gritty successes upon which promotion is built. Silva insisted his side needed to go back to basics after the Coventry debacle and his side responded with three consecutive clean sheets on the road.

A dependable defence is vital in any division and, although Fulham's new boss has placed the accent on adventurous football, they have been able to keep things tight at the back. Marek Rodak replaced Paulo Gazzaniga after the Argentine's horror ball from the back sparked the collapse at Coventry and the Slovakian academy graduate put together a run of three shut outs away from home. Helped by the strong understanding between Tosin Adarabioyo and Tim Ream in front of him, Rodak's return restored a sense of serenity between the posts and stiffened Fulham's spine at a time when steel was called for.

In those tight and nervy encounters some experience of what is needed in a promotion race can come in handy. Rodak was one of the unsung heroes of Fulham's 2019/20 campaign, when he delivered a string of steady displays having stepped up to replace Marcus Bettinelli, whilst the veteran Ream knows all about winning his way out of the second tier – as the American is now bidding for his third promotion to the Premier League. Tom Cairney's return to fitness has served to make the engine room a little more streetwise, as well as sprinkling some class and creativity, whilst Neeskens Kebano has been rewarded with his longest run in the Fulham first team following some fine outings along the left flank.

Some of Fulham's football has been sensational – and with the wizardry of Harry Wilson, a proven performer at this level, alongside the exuberance of Fabio Carvalho – who already looks a cut above the Championship at the tender age of nineteen – it is been no surprise that the goalscorer extraordinaire Aleksandar Mitrovic looks set to smash most of the records in a superb season of goalscoring. Perhaps the most impressive of Fulham's wins came when they were without Wilson and Mitrovic and fought their way back from the worst possible start at Stoke with Brazilian striker Rodrigo Muniz bagging a brace.

Where Fulham haven't been able to simply outscore the opposition, they have had to rely on both patience and resilience. There's no doubt that teams have adopted a more cautious and cagey approach to facing Fulham at home – fully aware of what the Whites can do if they are given the space in which to operate. Edgy victories like the one in south Wales yesterday followed a blueprint we had already seen at Hull City – where the visitors had to weather a few periods of pressure from their hosts and be clinical when the moment presented itself.

That might yet be the way Silva's ambitious gameplan evolves in the Premier League – where the swashbuckling style of Slavisa Jokanovic was just too gung-ho. Despite Fulham's stranglehold on the top spot, the Portuguese head coach would doubtless caution that this is no time to be getting carried away. As he implied yesterday, nothing is won in February – unless you are Steve Wigley's under 23s. It seems a while since the Whites have hit top gear on the road, but they are still picking up precious points. That in itself is the hallmark of champions.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2022/02/fulhams-formidable-away-form-powers-promotion-push/

[WhiteJC]

Positives and negatives: Cardiff City 0-1 Fulham
Saturday afternoon satisfaction across the border. Cam Ramsey has Fulham's tense triumph covered for your viewing pleasure. Stick that kettle on.

If we win our games in hand, we will be 16 points clear of third place. AFC Bournemouth have two games in hand, they're 9 points behind and with 13 games to go, the challenge for the title is seriously heating up and this is what we're here for.

Accompanied by the Wealdstone Raider, Fulham's support were in fine voice and they shoved Marco Silva's men over the line to guarantee a victory and, as we'll appreciate during this article, this result is one that is highly pleasing and profitable. Mission complete, moving onto Blackburn Rovers, and we'll be prepared to cut them out of the automatic promotion picture for good.

Positives
Mitro's lethal tutorial

We all know how the song goes. Harry Wilson was enabled to lift his head from a tempting crossing position, unmarked, and the Wales international duly feathered a sumptuous ball into Aleksandar Mitrovic's territory at the back stick. Inch-perfect, Mitro ghosted from his man and butted past a sprawling Alex Smithies and that, ladies and gentleman, is all the sensational Serb required to alter proceedings in customary fashion. One clear-cut opportunity, one victory-assuring goal to take his ridiculous overall tally to 34 goals in 31 games. Incidentally, it was also Wilson's first assist in six games, and he's now sitting pretty with 12 assists to date. If Wilson is allowed the time and space to wrap his wand around the ball, he'll inevitably cause havoc and having a striker like Mitro to accommodate with tantalising crosses must be an absolute pleasure.

Our inspired Serb isn't graced with searing pace, he may not be the most nimble of ball carriers, either, but his movement and positioning in simply elite, and when perceptiveness is bolstered by indomitable strength, a lethal No.9 is born and in world football, there are only a handful of would-be record breakers that fit the same or similar mould as our 27-year-old hitman. He operates as an auxiliary midfield option when possession has to be tempered, he distracts and occupies both sitting central defenders and in the 18-yard box, his enlivened instincts peril opposing goal mouths. Aleksandar exhibited each of these peerless qualities accordingly against the Bluebirds, a goal-getter's tutorial that demonstrated the importance of remaining active in every given instance.

Harrison Reed
Involved in Mitro's goal, conscious of Cardiff's reluctance to squeeze and clear their danger area, Harrison Reed's accomplished outing in the middle of the park kept Fulham ticking over dynamically, and the special one Iniesta's animation until he was replaced by Josh Onomah in the 75th minute was tirelessly beneficial to our control. Inclined to retrieve, Reed distributed with a punchy purpose and and off the ball, his boundless energy obstructed inroads to constrict the hosts' listless creativity, and he refused to relent.

We'll explore our midfield selection in greater depth soon, however for me, as his vitality's unrivalled, Reed is the first name I'd include within our midfield triangle. The 27-year-old stimulator established a balance within the Whites' central operations, he's now a vigorous box-to-box instigator that cooperates with our forwards and defenders transitionally and he's another that makes simplicity appear intricately instrumental. Determined to leave his mark, ambitiously and robustly, Harrison shadowed the Bluebirds' creative options intently and he supervised our spells in possession responsively, taking cut and thrust matters into his own hands when order had to be restored.

Tosin and Tim
They both have their fair share of howling moments when they're humbled and humiliated but in Cardiff, Tosin Adarabioyo and Tim Ream were rock-solid despots of authority. Safeguarding the Whites towards a victory and a coveted clean sheet is a bonus for our central defensive pairing, but if we dig a little deeper into their collaborative performance, we'll recognise the value in their hardened, do-or-die deeds that denied the hosts a route back into a fiery encounter that was delicately poised in the closing stages.

Communication is paramount, players have to understand one another in order to maintain organisation and between them, Tosin and Tim functioned with compliance and command, hurling themselves into the tick of the action to suppress and protect at all necessary costs. Aerially imperious, measured on the deck, full-blooded in their individual challenges, our centre-back partnership prevented the hosts from staking a claim, their bodies morphed into makeshift battering rams to blockade and beleaguer, and as Fulham discharged their borderline dominance, they continued to endorse a shared judgement and implementation of their forceful commitments.

Grinding out dubs
Single-goal leads are the toughest to preserve away from home, and this particular triumph on the road, as it was on Humberside, Peterborough and beyond, is exactly why this team is designed to reign supreme come the end of the campaign. For average, run-of-the-mill sides like Cardiff, games such as Saturday offer them an opportunity to express a ruggedness against an outright promotion favourite, and if we were to quell the hosts' enthusiasm to discourage, we had to expel complacency from our approach. Cardiff embody the Championship perfectly, they're physical, cynical, and they aren't fazed by an opponent's reputation. They are anti-football to the bone and Fulham, amid compelling passing phases and devastating counter attacks which are staple factors of the club's reformed DNA, had to snarl defiantly to grind out an intensely-fought dub.

To a man, the Whites refused to be overpowered and we eventually ratified our confrontational conviction as a combative unit. As the minutes passed, Cardiff expectantly regrouped and late on, they set siege on out penalty area, pushing Aden Flint-shaped lumps into the mix and bombarding the penalty spot with hopeful long balls that had to be banished without hesitation. It was unpleasant, unattractive, a repulsive advertisement to Sky Bet football but we had to adapt to Cardiff's underhand policies and our resistance under pressure furthers our league-winning credentials. Saturday's win represents Fulham's adjustable doggedness, and it will resound as a massive, massive three points once the season's settled.

Negatives
Thugs with tempers

When thugs can't play football properly, they resort to senseless violence. Cardiff are an irrelevant sporting embarrassment, and they employ brain-dead scumbags that can't handle being horrendously shite at a game they shouldn't be participating in. Will Vaulks attempted to snap Fabio Carvalho in half at every given opportunity, Aden Flint's a stud-wielding goon with a javelin for a nose and Perry Ng confused a grass pitch with an MMA octagon. Ivan Cavaleiro was assaulted, Ng knew exactly what he was doing when he slammed his forearm into our winger's face and what's worrying is that Cardiff's weirdo fan base are condoning their idiotic defender's indiscreet act of viciousness.

The occasion was stained by the Bluebirds' hacking misconduct, they intended to inflict harm upon our boys and retrospectively, Ng should be banned until further notice because he is an actual danger. Tempers may flare, blood may boil over by thrusting limbs into the faces of oncoming players is despicable. All rivalries aside, I hope Cardiff get relegated, and I sincerely hope we don't play them again for at least another decade unless it's in the 3rd-round of the League Cup. Bunch of bogans.

Midfield went missing
With 15 minutes of regulated game time to scale, Reed made way for Onomah, as we know, and our midfield department subsequently went AWOL. Our midfield options have split opinion, we have a diverse range of styles to pick and choose from but I saw no sense in partnering Josh with Nathanial Chalobah, simply because they're both as horizontally languid as one another. Now, cutting a relaxed figure isn't a defect, so to speak, but when we have to up the ante with expedience, neither are equipped to carry momentum and in actual fact, they both stifled our stability to the point where the middle of the park was completely bypassed.

Perhaps Reed was exhausted, it wouldn't be a surprise, but I was less than impressed when he was subbed off to spare Chalobah. I thought Chalobah was ineffective in possession, his touches were heavy and once he's spun by an attacker, he's hopeless in retreat. Chasing the run of play, especially on the back foot, is not his specialty. Onomah, for that matter, is no better. With both in contention for the closing stages, the Whites were unsteady, we opted to hoof balls clear, rather than employ the middle third, because Nat' and Josh aren't bold enough to withhold and restrain with urgency. Singularly, their leisurely methods can be effective if they're complimented by a Reed or Jean Michael Seri but together, it's a recipe distress. You've tried it out, Marco. Don't do it again.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/post/2022-02-27-positives-and-negatives-cardiff-city-0-1-fulham/

[WhiteJC]

Jasper scoops man of the match award

Fulham winger Sylvester Jasper was voted Hibernian's man of the match as he starred in a scoreless draw against Celtic this afternoon.

The Bulgarian under-21 international seems to be settling into his Scottish loan spell making his third successive start for Shaun Maloney's side. The 20 year old, who spent the first half of the season with Colchester United, was a lively presence throughout for Hibs, showing some superb skills – including one brilliant piece of play to wrongfoot Cameron Carter-Vickers – and came close to opening the scoring with a deflected shot.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2022/02/jasper-scoops-man-of-the-match-award/