Saturday Fulham Stuff - 08/04/23...

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West Ham United Starting XI Prediction at Fulham

The bad news for West Ham United is that they looked absolutely dismal last night and they have very little time to prepare for their next match.

The good news for the Hammers is that a quick turnaround makes sure they can't dwell on their disaster class versus Newcastle United. They are also catching their opponent, Fulham FC, at exactly the right time.

West Ham United at Fulham FC FYIs
Kick Off:  Sat. Apr 8, 2023, at 3 pm UK, Craven Cottage

Google Result Probability: West Ham 36%    Draw 29%    Fulham 35%

PL Position, Form Guide: West Ham 15th, 7pts  LWDLW Fulham 10th, 11pts LLLDW

The Craven Cottagers have lost their last three, and enter this clash winless in their last four. They have fallen out of Europa League contention, and if they don't course correct soon, they will be a non-factor in the Europa League Conference race as well.

Laugh at UECL all you want, but for Fulham that would actually be nice.

Team News for Both Sides
There is no real team news here. The song remains the same. For Fulham, Aleksandar Mitrovic (suspended), Layvin Kurzawa (knee), and Neeskens Kebano (Achilles) remain sidelined. The same goes for Gianluca Scamacca (knee) and West Ham. And there is nothing else to report on this front.

So without further ado, let's just get to our projection of what David Moyes' starting lineup could be.

West Ham United Starting XI Prediction at Fulham FC
Fabianski; Johnson, Kehrer, Aguerd, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek, Paqueta; Benrahma, Ings, Bowen



https://www.thesportsbank.net/football/west-ham/xi-predict-at-fulham-2/

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Bernd Leno delivers verdict on Willian after his struggles at Arsenal

Bernd Leno saw Willian really struggle at Arsenal when they were teammates at the Emirates, but the German is now seeing his class at Fulham.

Mikel Arteta signed the Brazilian from Chelsea on a free transfer in the summer of 2020. Bringing in an experienced player like him to help Arsenal's young squad made a lot of sense, but things just didn't go to plan.

Willian terminated his contract at Arsenal in 2021 and left the club for free.

Bernd Leno hails old Arsenal teammate Willian
Willian, who is paid £40,000-a-week (Spotrac) now at Fulham, earned six times that at Arsenal, but when things didn't work out, he gave the rest of his contract up and agreed to walk away for free. That earned him a lot of praise from Gunners fans when he left.

The Brazilian's career at the top level was deemed by many to be over after his spell at the Emirates, but Willian, as he has done many times before, has proven people wrong.

The now 34-year-old is at Fulham and he is having a very good season. He has three goals and three assists to his name in 17 Premier League starts, and has given Marco Silva's side a big lift.

Leno, who has known Willian since his Arsenal days, is in awe of him.

The German told Goal: "Willian is the best. He's 34 years old, but he looks like 25 years old and everything. And he's still very sharp.

"He understands the game and he had a great career, but he's still working hard every day to perform at the weekend. And that's very impressive."

TBR View:
It really is strange that things did not work out for Willian at Arsenal.

He knew the Premier League very well, had tons of experience under his belt and played alongside very good players at the Emirates. All signs pointed towards success when the Gunners signed him for free, but it was a disaster.

Willian scored just one goal for Arsenal that season. He just didn't look like his usual self, and that infuriated everyone who supported the Gunners.

It was the best thing for all parties to part ways in 2021, and both Arsenal and Willian are flying now.



https://tbrfootball.com/bernd-leno-delivers-verdict-on-willian-after-his-struggles-at-arsenal/

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Leeds United lead Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham in transfer chase for Championship striker

Latest news regarding this reported Premier League transfer target in the Championship emerges ahead of the summer

Leeds United are reportedly leading the race to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Coventry City this summer. The striker is a man in-demand ahead of the next transfer window after catching the eye in the Championship.

According to a report by Football Insider, the Whites not 'lead' the race for his signature ahead of Everton and Fulham. The same publication has also claimed West Ham, Brentford and Crystal Palace are keen as well.

Gyokeres, 24, is under contract at Coventry until June 2024 and they face a battle to keep hold of him. He has been on the books of the Sky Blues since 2021 and has since been a key player for Mark Robins' side, scoring 37 goals in 87 outings in all competitions.

Prior to his move there, he spent four years with Brighton and Hove Albion but struggled to break into their first-team. He had loan spells away from the Seagulls at St. Pauli and Swansea City to gain experience.

London clubs such as Fulham, West Ham, Brentford and Crystal Palace could all see Gyokeres as someone to add more firepower to their respective attacking departments. He has proven himself in the second tier now and will be eager to show what he can do. However, it appears Leeds are the frontrunners at the moment.



https://www.londonworld.com/sport/football/leeds-united-lead-fulham-crystal-palace-and-west-ham-in-transfer-chase-for-striker-4096175

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Match Preview: Fulham v West Ham

In his Fulham preview, Dan Coker looks back at a 3-0 win in 1967 and profiles an inside-right who had two spells with the Hammers before playing for the Cottagers...

Blast from the past
23rd September 1967 – Engelbert Humperdinck was number one with 'The Last Waltz' and the Hammers certainly led their fellow Londoners on a merry dance in this particular match in front of 29,234 at Craven Cottage. The Dirty Dozen was in UK cinemas, the QE2 was launched at Clydebank three days earlier and The Prisoner was first broadcast on ITV six days after this match.

The Hammers recorded a 3-0 away win courtesy of goals from future Fulham defender Bobby Moore (pictured below), Johnny Sissons and Geoff Hurst. Moore was voted Hammer of the Year, with Trevor Brooking runner-up. Hurst would go on to be the Irons' top goalscorer for the campaign with 25 goals from 44 matches.

The Hammers would finish the 1967/68 season in 12th place, with the Cottagers ending up being relegated after finishing bottom. Manchester United recorded their first European Cup triumph, Manchester City won the First Division title and West Brom won the FA Cup.

West Ham United: Bobby Ferguson, Eddie Bovington, Bobby Moore, John Cushley, John Charles, Harry Redknapp, Martin Peters, Ronnie Boyce, John Sissons, Peter Brabrook, Geoff Hurst.

Club Connections
Alphonse Areola travels to his former club, while Issa Diop welcomes the team he departed last summer. A decent number of players join the pair in representing West Ham United and Fulham over the years. These include:

Goalkeepers: Bill Biggar, Jan Lastuvka, Tony Parks.

Defenders: Paul Kelly, Bobby Moore, Tony Gale, George Redwood, Ryan Fredericks, George Horler, Kevin Lock, Jack Hebden, Rufus Brevett, John Paintsil, Paul Konchesky, Ian Pearce, Wayne Bridge, Jon Harley, Alan Stephenson, Andy Melville.

Midfielders: Luis Boa Morte, Dick Richards, George Carter, Papa Bouba Diop, Ray Houghton, Fergus Hunt.

Strikers: Johnny 'Budgie' Byrne, Brian Dear, Alf Harwood, Jack Fletcher, Roger Cross, Iain Dowie, Fred Harrison, Billy Brown, Archie Macaulay, Bill Davidson, Kenny McKay, Leroy Rosenior, Bobby Zamora, Mladen Petric.

Scott Parker played for both clubs and managed Fulham.

Today's focus though is on a player who had two spells with West Ham before joining Fulham. Danny Shea was born in Wapping on 5th October 1887, the youngest of five children born to parents Richard and Mary. His father was a dock labourer and they lived at 14 Rygate Street in St George in the East before moving to nearby 9 Agatha Street. Shea was spotted by West Ham's assistant manager Charlie Paynter whilst playing for the Builders' Arms pub in Stratford; he also played Sunday morning football for Pearl United and Manor Park Albion.

The 20-year-old Shea, predominantly an inside-right, made his Hammers debut in the Southern League on 7th December 1907 in a 1-1 draw at Norwich. His first goal for the club came in another 1-1 draw, this time at Upton Park against Plymouth on 28th December 1907. He scored three goals in 15 appearances in 1907/08 as Syd King's Irons finished tenth in the Southern League First Division.

A superb ball-player who was hard to dispossess, Shea scored 20 goals in 41 matches in 1908/09. He bagged all four goals in a 4-0 home win a year to the day after his first goal for the Hammers, ironically against the same opposition in the form of Plymouth. He also hit a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Swindon at the Boleyn Ground on 8th March 1909. Despite his goalscoring exploits, the Hammers finished in a lowly 17th place. Shea scored 31 goals in 43 matches in 1909/10, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Brentford at Upton Park on 11th September 1909 – by now the leading light in West Ham's attack, he also bagged seven braces during this campaign, which saw the Irons finish ninth. Danny married Julia Slade in Stepney in December 1909.

Shea, who stood at 5'7, scored four in a 6-0 win at Southend on New Year's Eve 1910 – he scored 28 goals in 39 games as the Hammers climbed to fifth in 1910/11. He scored twice in a 2-1 FA Cup first round win over Nottingham Forest on 14th January 1911, although he admitted afterwards that he had taken full advantage of the dense fog, saying, "I punched both goals into the net in full view of several opponents". By 1911, Danny was working as a commercial clerk and he and Julia had welcomed a son, Daniel Junior.

Nicknamed 'The Artful Dodger', Shea made 41 appearances in 1911/12, scoring 24 goals, but the Hammers dropped to 13th. He scored two hat-tricks during the season, both at Upton Park – the first came in a 7-4 win over Brentford on 21st October 1911 and the other in a 4-0 win over Norwich on 5th April 1912. Shea scored 15 goals in 22 games in the first half of 1912/13 before the Football League finally came calling – he moved to First Division Blackburn early in 1913 for a record fee of £2,000. Shea bagged £550 as his part of the fee. His last appearance had been in a 2-0 home win over Watford on 4th January 1913, a match in which he scored – Shea had scored 118 goals in 201 appearances during his first spell with West Ham United and had also been the club's top scorer in four consecutive campaigns.

Shea's time at Ewood Park was interrupted by World War One but he did play a significant role in Rovers winning the league title in 1913/14. He won two England caps, the first in a 3-0 defeat to Ireland at Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park on 14th February 1914 and the other in a 2-0 win over Wales in Cardiff on 16th March of the same year. Shea guested for West Ham during the conflict, making 73 appearances in the London Combination and scoring 64 goals.

Shea stayed at Blackburn until 1920 when, aged 32, he returned to West Ham for a second spell with the fee set at £1,000. The Hammers were now a Football League side themselves, playing in the Second Division. He made his second league debut for the club in a 1-1 home draw with Hull on 28th August 1920 and scored the only goal of his second spell in another 1-1 draw at Upton Park, this time against Cardiff on 2nd October 1920. He made 16 appearances in 1920/21, with his final match in claret and blue coming in a 2-0 defeat at Stockport on 20th November 1920. Only a few months after returning to the Hammers, and following a difference of opinion with the club's management, Shea was on the move again – he had taken his totals to 119 goals in 217 appearances (or 183 goals in 290 games if wartime fixtures are taken into account).

Shea signed for fellow Second Division side Fulham at the end of November 1920 and scored 24 goals in 107 appearances during his two and a half years in west London, finishing ninth, seventh and tenth during his seasons there. His team-mate at Craven Cottage, outside-right Peter Gavigan, once said of him: "At Fulham, I had as my inside-right one of the greatest ball artists who has ever played for England – Danny Shea. His manipulation was bewildering. He was the Prince of Partners, the intellectual footballer." By 1921, Shea had two more children, Margaret and Julia, and the family lived with Shea's mother-in-law at 7 Watts Street in Wapping.

The 35-year-old Shea moved to another Second Division team, Coventry, in August 1923. He signed for Clapton Orient, also of the Second Division, in March 1925 before moving to Kent League club Sheppey United in October 1926, with whom he finished his playing career the following year.  

After his retirement, Shea worked as a docker and, in 1927, was working as a publican with his sister in Wapping. He joined Swiss club Winterthur as coach in August 1928, before returning to England to join Woking as a trainer in September 1929. He later ran a sub-post office in West Ham in the 1930s. In 1939, Shea was working as a dock labourer again and the family had moved to 20 Frobisher House in Stepney. An occasional visitor to Upton Park in later years, Danny Shea died in Wapping on Christmas Day 1960, at the age of 73. He was described as being "an artful schemer and delicate dribbler at inside-right for many seasons" and as having "the knack of wheeling suddenly when near goal and unleashing a thunderbolt shot".

Referee
Saturday's referee will be Jarred Gillett, who will be taking charge of his fourth match involving West Ham United. An Australian who began his refereeing career Down Under in the A-League, Gillett joined the Select Group 2 in 2019 after taking up a post-doctoral research position at Liverpool John Moores University; he was promoted to the Select Group 1 last summer and has since become the first non-British or Irish referee to take charge of a Premier League game.

Born on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Gillett's first appointment refereeing West Ham was for our 2-1 home victory over Aston Villa in March 2022. He also refereed the Irons for our 2-0 home defeat to Leicester in November and, most recently, for our 4-0 home win over Nottingham Forest in February. He has been the man in the middle for 12 Premier League games so far this season, as well as refereeing three matches in the League Cup, three in the Championship and two in the FA Cup. He has issued 59 yellow and two red cards in those 20 games, as well as awarding five penalties.

The VAR Official is Andre Marriner.

Possible line-ups
Fulham are without the injured Layvin Kurzawa and Neeskens Kebano, as well as the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic. Willian is available after a ban though.

West Ham United will be without Gianluca Scamacca.

Possible Fulham XI: Leno; Tete, Ream, Diop, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; De Cordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Vinicius.

Possible West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Paqueta, Rice; Bowen, Ings, Cornet.

Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!



https://www.westhamtillidie.com/posts/match-preview-fulham-v-west-ham-089892e7-2e30-4b2f-927c-8a86a3470131

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New leader emerges in chase for Coventry City standout amid Leeds United, Everton, Fulham interest

Leeds United are now at the front of the pack in the chase for Coventry City talisman Viktor Gyokeres, as per a report from Football Insider.

Coventry City star Gyokeres' situation has been well documented over the course of the season, with a series of high-profile clubs persistently linked with the Swede. A January move never transpired with the Sky Blues standing firm, but it seems inevitable that they will be in for a fight to keep him this summer.

Now, new claims from Football Insider have said Leeds United are now leading the race for Gyokeres.

They state that Everton are dropping back in battle to sign the former Brighton and Hove Albion youngster amid their financial issues. That could open the door for Javi Gracia's Leeds to swoop in, but Fulham are also keen on the striker and could provide competition.

It is added that while Coventry are hopeful of extending Gyokeres' contract, a summer move 'is the more likely outcome'.

Gyokeres has netted 19 goals in 40 games across all competitions this season, chipping in with eight assists too.

Destined for the top?
Coventry City are still in the fight for the play-offs despite their defeat to Stoke City last weekend and you feel that promotion is the only way they can hold onto Gyokeres.

The striker is destined for higher leagues and with such interest in his services, it could be hard for the Sky Blues to turn down good bids for a player heading into the final 12 months of his contract.

They can try to hold on of course in the hope of securing a new deal, but this summer could be the club's last chance to get a really good fee for his services. There's no doubt that this saga could continue across the coming months though, with interest sure to persist.



https://the72.co.uk/2023/04/07/new-leader-emerges-in-chase-for-coventry-city-standout-amid-leeds-united-everton-fulham-interest/

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Sessegnon's stunner shortlisted for March award!

Steven Sessegnon's stunner against Accrington Stanley has been shortlisted for Sky Bet League One's Goal of the Month for March.

Fans can vote for Sessegnon's wonderstrike here and have until 5pm on Monday, April 10th to do so - with the winner set to be announced on Friday, April 14th.

Supporters' votes will be combined with the choices from a panel to determine the winners. The judging panel comprises Sky Sports' EFL experts Don Goodman and David Prutton.

Ryan Hardie's solo goal against Charlton is also included, along with Haydon Roberts' strike against Shrewsbury Town and Alfie May's astonishing volley at Peterborough United.



https://www.charltonafc.com/news/sessegnons-stunner-shortlisted-march-award

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Fulham loanee up for League One Goal of the Month after stunning strike for Charlton Athletic

Steven Sessegnon's stunning goal against Accrington Stanley has been shortlisted for March's League One Goal of the Month.

The Fulham full-back, on a season-long loan with Charlton Athletic, struck from 35 yards out.

Other contenders for the accolade are Plymouth's Ryan Hardie for his dinked finish against the Addicks at the start of the month, Derby County's Haydon Robers (versus Shrewsbury Town) and Cheltenham's Alfie May (versus Peterborough).

"I'm hoping there is a lot more to come," said Sessegnon after the Accrington match. "I know I have started late, but better late than never. Hopefully, there is many more to come before the end of the season.

"This is the most games I have played in a season, so I'm very proud of the achievement.

"There are still many games to play until the end of the season. Hopefully, I can keep racking up appearances for this wonderful club."

Fans are invited to vote for their favourite goal on EFL.com before 5pm on Monday April 10.



https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/fulham-loanee-up-for-league-one-goal-of-the-month-after-stunning-strike-for-charlton-athletic/

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Moyes: Fulham, dealing with pressure and showing character

David Moyes believes his West Ham United squad possess the requisite character to bounce back from the midweek defeat to Newcastle United.

The Hammers travel to Fulham on Saturday looking for three vital points as they aim to steer a path away from the bottom end of the Premier League table.

While the heavy defeat to the Magpies might have stalled the momentum gained from victory over Southampton last weekend, Moyes is keen to get moving in the right direction again when they head to Craven Cottage.

He spoke to the media in his regular pre-match press conference ahead of training on Friday.
 
We'll know more about the squad today once we've seen the players train.

All the players had was a recovery session yesterday (Thursday) so we'll get them back together today.
 
The group of players we have are fantastic lads.

They're really honest, committed and have done a brilliant job over the last few seasons for us with the way they've worked and how the results have gone.

We expect the same from them – it doesn't change, they haven't suddenly become bad players. You can make individual mistakes but we have to get past it now.
 
People said Everton was must not lose and we went and won that one, then people said Forest was must not lose and we went and won that one too.

It was the same for Southampton, so when you've put that title on us we've stood up to be counted and if you give me that title again [for Fulham] then I hope we can stand up and be counted this time.

Of course I need this [the pressure which comes with the job].

What a job it is. This is why we see Roy Hodgson coming back and he's 75. Neil Warnock has come back and so many people in the game, the journey they're on, they continue to stay on it because they have a great love of the game and want to stay in it.

Part of being a football manager is that you don't always win all the time. Sometimes you have to lose and you have to deal with it. When you lose you have to learn how to bounce back, so we're looking forward to trying to bounce back in the next game.
 
A manager's job is to raise expectations.

I think we've raised expectations, and then you have to live with the raised expectations.

We've not lived with the raised expectations this year as well as we should have done, and I can totally understand the supporters. No problem at all. Wednesday was a night where we made mistakes and I think they recognised that as well. Any football supporters at the game would have recognised that individual mistakes were the biggest cause towards us losing the game.
 
The players set really good standards and they have done over the years.

They've been really good to me, and I hope in some way that I've been good to them as well.

We've got to build on it, Aaron Cresswell is a boy who sets really good examples. He learned a lot from Mark Noble, and we've got a lot of players here who are telling the others what the expectations are and what we're trying to do.
The group of players we have are fantastic lads. They're really honest, committed and have done a brilliant job over the last few seasons for us

David Moyes

We're really enjoying being in Europe.

It's a great thing and an achievement to finish seventh last year and sixth the year before to get us into European competitions.

Last year we reached the semi-finals and I hope we can get to a final. But we've always got big games, and in the last couple of years we've been in strong league positions with no problem at the bottom of the league.

This year we have got a problem at the bottom of the league and that does have an effect on our thinking. The teams who are going to qualify for Europe this year, they'll find it next year with the Thursday-Sunday schedule. You'll see the difference with them as well, it's very difficult to play in Europe in midweek and go back to the Premier League games, so ideally we would get some good results which would make those Thursday games a lot easier to handle.
 
It was a fantastic night at London Stadium on Thursday.

The young players got to the FA Youth Cup final, which for anybody who has been a footballer will tell you how prestigious it is.

The boys are doing really well and it shows there's a development programme in place and we hope to build on it, and in fact make it much bigger in the future.

This side of London has great potential with lots of boys and girls who play football and I hope we can continue that.

It's great for the boys last night and it was great there was a really good crowd here to watch it as well.

Marco Silva won't be on the touchline on Saturday, but I don't think that will have a big change on how he prepares.

The managers are getting sent-off a bit more often, for different reasons. Whether they don't think the refereeing is good enough, or whether we're too exuberant, whatever it may be.

He'll probably be upstairs, mic-ed up and can speak to people, so I don't think it's a huge problem nowadays and we take the game as it is.
 
Mitrović has done amazingly for Fulham.

The goals he scored in the Championship last season were incredible and to be fair I think he had a season in the Premier League before that when he didn't get quite as much, but he hasn't half gone on [this year] and shown he can do it in the Premier League.

So I think him being suspended will be a huge blow to Fulham and if it was us, we'd be saying it's a huge blow to us. But it's more of a question for Marco Silva than it is for me really.



https://www.whufc.com/news/moyes-fulham-dealing-pressure-and-showing-character

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How do Fulham get out of their rut against West Ham?

Jack Stroudley previews Fulham's game against the Hammers at Craven Cottage.

Since Brighton away, the performances and results on the pitch have been disappointing as a whole. However, this weekend presents itself as a good opportunity for Fulham to get back on track facing a West Ham side who are really struggling at the moment. Despite a lack of Mitrovic and Willian as well as suspended Marco Silva, Luis Boa Morte will feel our squad has enough to take the game to West Ham and come out victorious, but how do we do it?

The opposition
If you were to pick a side to face to get out of a tough run of form, you'd probably pick this current West Ham side. Despite being predicted to finish in the top half following last season's Europa League semi-final, David Moyes's side find themselves outside the relegation zone on goal difference and following their 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United in midweek, the Scottish manager now finds himself at risk of the sack.

It's pretty hard to pinpoint where things have gone wrong for West Ham; their squad has quality in abundance with the likes of Declan Rice, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Gianluca Scammaca, but they have really struggled to find consistency over the course of the season.

That being said, Moyes has made some questionable choices with squad selection with former Fulham man Alphonse Areola being kept out of the squad by Lukasz Fabianski, who was extremely disappointing in midweek. Fulham should focus their exploits in the middle of the park this weekend and aim their attention on Tomas Soucek who has been poor throughout the season and despite having Declan Rice as a partner, has struggled to match the Englishman's performances.

How do we prepare?
Despite our disappointing performance against Bournemouth, I would go into this one unchanged, save for bringing Willian back into the fold. The Brazilian returns from a one-match ban. The second half on the south coast was extremely frustrating and usually, you would call for a few more changes, but unfortunately, we aren't in a position to rotate too much. Aleksandar Mitrovic is still out of course, and there isn't anyone else off the bench who I feel deserves a place in the starting line-up.

The final verdict
Despite our form in recent weeks, I am quite confident going into the game this weekend. West Ham have really struggled over the course of the season and following their 5-1 defeat in midweek, heads will more than likely drop and an early Fulham goal could see the floodgates open. I think we win this game 3-1.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/post/2023-04-07-how-do-fulham-get-out-of-their-rut-against-west-ham/

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'I'm no different from anybody': West Ham boss David Moyes admits he is still AT RISK of losing his job despite earning yet another vote of confidence from the board... and insists being a manager is 'like a drug'

    The Hammers travel to Fulham for a Saturday showdown at Craven Cottage
    That trip is significant for Moyes who said he is well aware of the pressure on him
    Unlike other Premier League clubs, West Ham have resisted sacking Moyes, 59

David Moyes admits he is at risk of losing his job as West Ham travel to Fulham for a Saturday showdown at Craven Cottage.

That trip is significant for Moyes, who said he is well aware of the pressure on him at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.

Unlike other Premier League clubs, West Ham have resisted sacking Moyes in the hope that he can guide them to safety and Europa Conference League triumph.

West Ham face Gent away this Thursday in the first leg of that competition's quarter finals but first, Moyes needs a result at Fulham to buy him time.

'We're in an industry where you can quite easily lose your job and if you're not winning, it's possible,' Moyes said. 'I'm no different from anybody honest.'

Turning his attention to Fulham - which has been billed as a 'must not lose' game - Moyes said: 'When you've put that title on us, we've stood up and been counted.

West Ham lost 5-1 to Newcastle on Wednesday after the defence made several major mistakes.

It is testament to Moyes' relationship with West Ham's co-owner David Sullivan that he has survived this long.

On being a manager, Moyes continued: 'This is like a drug. This is why you see Roy Hodgson coming back and Neil Warnock coming back.

'The journey they're on, they continue to stay on it. But part of being a football manager is you can't win all the time. We're looking forward to trying to bounce back in the next game.

'I'll tell you one thing about the group – they are fantastic lads, honest, committed. The way they've worked and results they've got, I expect the same from them.'



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11949041/David-Moyes-admits-hes-RISK-losing-job-despite-earning-vote-confidence.html

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David Moyes makes utterly bizarre comments ahead of Fulham vs West Ham, as his arrogance shines through

David Moyes has made some strange comments ahead of the Fulham vs West Ham clash tomorrow.

Fulham play host to West Ham in the Premier League at Craven Cottage tomorrow, and David Moyes desperately needs a result.

The Hammers are currently sitting outside of the Premier League relegation zone purely because of a superior goal difference to those inside the bottom three.

West Ham have been absolutely awful in the league this season. Nothing less than a win against Fulham will do tomorrow.

And with that in mind, Moyes's pre-game comments came as somewhat of a surprise to me...

David Moyes makes baffling comments ahead of Fulham vs West Ham
Fulham are without the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic – their best player, for tomorrow's clash with the Hammers.

The Serbian missing out is great news for West Ham.

However, when asked about Mitrovic missing the game, Moyes's response beggared belief, as quoted by Football.London:

"I couldn't tell you much about Fulham as a squad. Mitrovic as a player, the goals he scored in the Championship was amazing. It's maybe a huge blow to Fulham."

I find it totally unacceptable that our manager does not know much about the team that we are playing tomorrow, in a must win game.

The lack of homework that Moyes has done on Fulham is just unacceptable in my eyes, and it's evidence of the absolute arrogance of the man.

He just can't help himself sometimes can he. It's like he thinks we should all be unconditionally grateful to him for getting us back-to-back top seven finishes.

Is there another Premier League manager out there who would be so stubborn as to not even do research on their opponents? I think not.

All we can hope is that the Scot is playing it down, and he has done his due diligence on tomorrow's opponents.

The Fulham vs West Ham game is the biggest one of our Premier League season so far. it would be nice if our manager knew their strengths and weaknesses inside out. That's surely not too much to ask is it?



https://www.hammers.news/news/david-moyes-makes-utterly-bizarre-comments-ahead-of-fulham-vs-west-ham-as-his-arrogance-shines-through/

[WhiteJC]

Fulham v West Ham United

Aleksandar Mitrovic has been banned for eight matches for pushing a referee

TEAM NEWS
Fulham have no reported new injury problems, with midfielder Harrison Reed expected to be fit despite limping off last weekend.

Aleksandar Mitrovic is serving an eight-match ban but Willian is available again after completing a two-game suspension.

West Ham also have no new reported injuries for the trip across London.

Gianluca Scamacca, who hasn't played for the Hammers since mid-March, remains sidelined with a knee injury.

CHRIS SUTTON'S PREDICTION
This is difficult to call because we don't know where Fulham will go from here.

They have lost three games in a row in the league, are one of the few top-flight teams who don't really have much to play for, and they are also going to be without their top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic for the next few weeks because of his long ban.

West Ham's away results have been poor all season - along with Forest, they have the joint-worst record on the road of one win and three draws from 13 games so far, and their game in hand is at Manchester City, which is hardly going to help them much.

So this feels enormous for them, particularly because they are one of four teams on 27 points. At the moment, the Hammers' goal difference is better than the teams below them but losing heavily to Newcastle took a big chunk out of that, and obviously City could do even more damage.

David Moyes' side really need to get something here but I am not convinced they will manage a win.

Fulham capitulated against Bournemouth last weekend, so they need a reaction in front of their own fans to show their season is not going to just drift from here.

Prediction: 1-1

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head

    West Ham are unbeaten in five meetings with Fulham, winning four of those games.
    The Hammers have won seven of their 12 Premier League away fixtures against Fulham - the most they've managed against another Premier League team.

Fulham

    Fulham have suffered three straight Premier League defeats, the longest current losing streak in the division.
    They have lost four games in a row in all competitions, twice as many defeats as in their first 14 matches after the World Cup break (W9, D3, L2).
    The Cottagers' two most recent losses have come despite them taking the lead in both fixtures.
    All four of their home league defeats this season were against teams currently in the top five of the table.
    Marco Silva's side have conceded 20 league goals at home this season. Only bottom side Southampton have let in more home goals in 2022-23.
    They are vying to win four top-flight London derbies in a season for the first time.
    Fulham's next defeat will be their 500th in the top flight.

West Ham United

    The Hammers are winless and without a clean sheet in 11 Premier League away games since beating Aston Villa in August (D3, L8).
    They have lost their last six Premier League away London derbies, equalling the club's top-flight record.
    West Ham have scored just seven goals in 13 Premier League away fixtures this season, compared to 16 goals in eight away games in all other competitions.
    They are the only team not to have scored in the opening 15 minutes of a Premier League match this season.
    David Moyes is unbeaten in 12 Premier League fixtures as a manager versus Fulham since his Everton side were beaten 2-1 at Craven Cottage in September 2009 (W8, D4).
    Michail Antonio is one short of 100 goals in the top four English divisions. He has scored in four of his six league appearances versus Fulham.
    Jarrod Bowen is currently on a run of 18 consecutive Premier League away games without a goal.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65145675

[WhiteJC]

West Ham target 65-year-old former manager if Moyes fails to win against Fulham

It's said that desperate times call for desperate measures, and that certainly seems to be something occurring at the London Stadium with West Ham said to be considering bringing back one of their former managers as an interim measure to save them from relegation.

With nine games left of the season, the Hammers are right in the dog fight at the bottom of the table, sat in 15th position but with the same amount of points as Bournemouth (27) who are third from bottom.

Indeed, David Moyes' side are only four points away from bottom club Southampton, and it's believed with that in mind, if the east Londoners fail to beat Fulham at the weekend, the club will look elsewhere.

Back in the 2006/07 season, West Ham looked marooned at the bottom of the table, with the club's official website recalling that with nine games left of that season, the Hammers were 10 points adrift.

They somehow survived thanks to an unbelievable late run of six wins in eight matches to take them to the final day at Manchester United where, thanks to a Carlos Tevez goal, they stayed up.

Their manager was none other than Alan Curbishley, and, according to Claret and Hugh, he's one of the names in the frame again should Moyes fail to mastermind three points at Craven Cottage.

Given his experience, it's not such a bad shout, but he's long been out of the game, and so, as The Guardian suggest, perhaps a move for Rafael Benitez, or even a promotion for Mark Warburton might be more sensible.



https://www.caughtoffside.com/2023/04/07/west-ham-target-65-year-old-former-manager-if-moyes-fails-to-win-against-fulham/

[WhiteJC]

David Moyes could be next Premier League manager to be sacked if West Ham lose at Fulham
Hammers will give serious consideration to making a change if they lose at the weekend

David Moyes is on the brink of being fired by West Ham, who will give serious consideration to making a change if they lose at Fulham and plunge deeper into relegation trouble on Saturday.

Moyes is expected to be safe if he picks up at least a draw but he is running out of time to save his job. West Ham are out of the bottom three on goal difference and there is major alarm at board level after the humiliating 5-1 home defeat by Newcastle on Wednesday.

The club have been keen to keep faith with Moyes, in part because they have not been able to identify a suitable replacement. The former Everton and Manchester United manager insisted he retained the hierarchy's support after the Newcastle game. Moyes can argue he has done a decent job since returning to West Ham in December 2019 and he has successfully made it through at least two make-or-break fixtures this season.

West Ham have remained patient and, along with Nottingham Forest, are one of only two clubs in the bottom half of the Premier League not to have sacked their manager. Sources close to the board have previously insisted that David Sullivan, the largest shareholder, was determined to stick with Moyes. Those assurances disappeared after the defeat by Newcastle.

However there is no guarantee that Moyes will go if Fulham beat West Ham, who have won only one away game in the league. It has been stressed that a lack of candidates could drag out the issue. It is understood there is a slim chance of Brendan Rodgers taking over after his departure from Leicester. Graham Potter wants to wait until the summer for his next job after his sacking by Chelsea.

West Ham are aware that Rafael Benítez would be willing to step in but they do not want to give the Spaniard a long-term deal. Another possibility is placing Mark Warburton, part of Moyes's backroom staff, in interim charge.

West Ham have hoped that Moyes, who led them into Europe in consecutive seasons, can revive his fortunes. The season could yet end in European glory – West Ham play the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final away to Gent next Thursday and are favourites to win the competition.

But their awful defending against Newcastle raised questions over whether Moyes's message is getting through. – Guardian



https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2023/04/07/david-moyes-could-be-next-premier-league-manager-to-be-sacked-if-west-ham-lose-at-fulham/

[WhiteJC]

Loyalty – what's the point?

How loyal are you? Board member Ian Clarke discusses a ticketing issue that rumbles on continually, and the debate around any changes that could possibly be made.

Been to every home game for the last 20 years? That sounds loyal. Every away game this season? Also, loyal. Sunderland away on a cold Wednesday night for a Cup replay? Well, that's just bonkers, but loyal too.

As Fulham fans we take our loyalty very seriously, especially as once we've picked our team, it's ours for life. And when it comes to getting a ticket for a crunch away game that loyalty really matters because Fulham, like many clubs, measures your loyalty by allocating Loyalty Points. But how loyal do you have to be to snag one of those sought-after tickets, and is your loyalty worth more or less than somebody else's?

Let's take a look at Fulham's Loyalty Point scheme which has been running since 2010, see how it works and how it might be improved to better reflect our fan base in 2023.

BEFORE LOYALTY POINTS
Loyalty Points were introduced by Fulham in the summer of 2010, following our epic run to the Europa League final. Up until that point, the limited number of tickets for big away games in places like Turin, Wolfsburg and Hamburg (and Carlisle) were sold to season ticket holders on a first come, first served basis. This led to long queues down Stevenage Road, jammed phone lines and disappointed fans when the limited number of tickets sold out quickly. Nobody was particularly happy with that system, but everybody thought they deserved a ticket.

The idea behind Loyalty Points was to differentiate in some way between fans so that the difficult-to-get tickets found their way to those who were most loyal. The intention was and remains a good one – to get scarce tickets for important games into the hands of the "right" supporters in as "fair" a way as possible. The twin problems were then, and remain now, how to determine the "right" people and what constituted "fair".

Here's some key parts of the announcement from June 2010.

"The Loyalty Points scheme will be a means of tracking supporters' dedication to following Fulham to all their matches both home and away. Points will be awarded to fans who attend any matches both home and away."

"As a Season Ticket Holder you will automatically receive all loyalty points for all Premier League Home matches. [...] You will only receive points for home cup matches if you bought a ticket for the match under your client reference number and the match has been played."

"When tickets go on sale for popular games or cup fixtures supporters with the most loyalty points will be able to purchase tickets first. Therefore attending more matches home and away means greater chance to attend the games with a limited allocation."

"The ticket office will decide in advance how many points are required to apply, not all matches will be subject to a minimum point level it will depend on the anticipated demand."

Put simply, those who attend the most matches will get the best chance of a ticket for the popular games, typically important or local away fixtures with smallish allocations.

So far so good and most seasons since there haven't been too many games that have fallen into this category. But there are always some, for example Brentford and Bournemouth away this season, Luton last season, and by definition they're the games that bring the Loyalty Point debate back into focus.

HOW TO EARN LOYALTY POINTS
Each season since 2010, season ticket holders and members have been accumulating Loyalty Points at a rate determined by the ticket office by buying tickets and attending matches home and away. How many points, exactly?

In the early days, Loyalty Point allocations seemed a bit haphazard, with some pre-season friendlies attracting disproportionately high numbers compared with regular season games. However, once the system bedded in a more predictable points allocation method seemed to emerge. The Fulham ticketing team have confirmed that the current system is as follows:

At the beginning of every season, a seasonal points allocation is made to all season ticket holders and members:

Seasonal allocation	LPs
Season ticket holder	50
Member	25

On top of these allocations, points are allocated for match attendance, whether as a season ticket holder or match ticket buyer with a One Fulham account, as follows:

Home matches	LPs	Away matches	LPs
League – Saturday	2	League – London	2
League – midweek	3	League – Midlands / South	3
League – televised	4	League – North	5
Cups – any day	2	Cups – any location	3

Of course, there's plenty of scope for argument as to whether going to, say, Chelsea at home (televised home game, 4 points) is more "loyal" than Leicester away (Tuesday night in the Midlands with no trains home, 3 points) or whether Sunderland away (Wednesday night in the Cup, 280 miles, 3 points) is worth the same as Crawley away (Tuesday night in the Cup, 40 miles, 3 points).

A lot will depend on your point of view. Loyalty to most fans will entail a degree of difficulty in attending (it's certainly way harder, more expensive and time consuming to get to Sunderland than Crawley, unless you live in Sunderland) but the Club will gain more benefit from you buying a ticket for a home game that you could otherwise watch on TV.

What does this add up to?
Let's do a simple calculation to see how many points a supporter might have accumulated by buying a season ticket every season since Loyalty Points began in 2010/11 and attending every home league match up until the World Cup Break this year.

For simplicity we'll assume all the games were played on a Saturday and not televised, thus being awarded 2 LPs each under the current system. This is only an approximation, because of course there were many midweek and televised games in this period and historic Loyalty Point allocations were a little different. However, it helps us get to a baseline without checking back through 12 seasons of televised and midweek fixtures and, since Fulham changed their ticketing software provider to SecuTix from Ticketmaster, we no longer have a game-by-game Loyalty Point history.

Category	Calculation	Points
Seasonal allocations	12 seasons x 50 LPs	600
Complete Premier League seasons	5 seasons x 19 games x 2 LPs	190
Complete Championship seasons	5 seasons x 23 games x 2 LPs	230
Partial Premier League season (2022/23)	1 season x 8 games x 2 LPs	16
Partial Championship season (2019/20)	1 season x 19 games x 2 LPs	38
Total		1,074

All of this adds up to 1,074 LPs, even before we factor in midweek, televised or Cup games which would make the total higher.

Cross-checking this with supporters who have held their season tickets consistently for this period and mostly attended home games, it is a little high with the actual total nearer to 1,000 LPs which means that fewer points must have been allocated at some time in the past. Nonetheless it does indicate that to be in the top tier of Loyalty Points for a popular away game like Chelsea or Brentford, you don't really need to have been to many away games in the last 12 years.

What does it look like per season?
All of the calculations above ignore away games. Let's look at our last completed season (2021/22 in the Championship) to see how many Loyalty Points were on offer for that single season.

Home matches		LPs	Away matches	LPs
League – Saturday	x7	14	League – London	x2	4
League – midweek	x6	18	League – Midlands / South	x12	36
League – televised	x10	40	League – North	x9	45
Cups – any day	x1	2	Cups – any location	x3	9
Total		74	Total		94

So, 74 LPs for attending all competitive home games, 94 for away games and another 50 for a season ticket (25 for membership) makes a grand total of 218 LPs last season, excluding any friendlies. In other words, slightly under half of last season's Loyalty Points were awarded for attending away fixtures despite the fact that the points are solely used to prioritise attendance at those popular away games.

HOW ARE LOYALTY POINTS USED?
As we've seen, there's a reasonable amount of complexity behind the Loyalty Point system and the accumulation of points, but what's it like to use them?

Despite the name perhaps implying a scheme similar to a supermarket "club card" with associated discounts and special offers, Loyalty Points have only ever been used to allocate away tickets, and only then a relatively small number of times per season for particularly popular games or low allocations. The ticket office decides on an appropriate allocation method for each fixture based on expected demand and away capacity, but the model doesn't change very much.

Here's the allocation scheme for Chelsea away, which had an away capacity of 2,986. Tickets were released on a one per person basis to season ticket holders according to Loyalty Points, starting at 1,000 and dropping by 100 each week-day of sale. Access to non-season ticket holders was only provided at the end of this process, subject to availability.

Release date	Supporter Criteria
Mon 9th January	STH with 1,000 points or more
Tue 10th January	STH with 900 points or more
Wed 11th January	STH with 800 points or more
Thu 12th January	STH with 700 points or more
Fri 13th January	STH with 600 points or more
Mon 16th January	STH with 500 points or more
Tue 17th January	STH with 400 points or more
Wed 18th January	STH with 300 points or more
Thu 19th January	STH with 200 points or more
Fri 20th January	STH with 100 points or more
Mon 23rd January	All 2022/23 STH
Tue 24th January	All 2022/23 Members
Wed 25th January	Previous Booking History

It's a simple enough model on the face of it, but presents problems for some supporters.

Newer but regular home and away supporters are disadvantaged.
Anyone holding a season ticket since Loyalty Points were introduced in 2010/11 and attending only home games will already have in the region of 1,000 LPs, meaning that they will usually qualify for a popular away ticket on the first day of release. Conversely newer (often younger) fans attending every game home and away but perhaps only for three years would have significantly fewer than 600 LPs and be unable to buy until day six at the earliest. Chelsea tickets sold out early on day six (500 LPs or more) and so many would have missed out.

This problem is significantly worse for any games which have particularly small away allocations – Brentford and Bournemouth this season. These fixtures used the same Loyalty Points model as for Chelsea, starting at 1,000 Loyalty Points, but sold out early on day three (800 LPs or more) and day four (700 LPs) of sales respectively.

Difficult for families and groups to buy together
Many groups of supporters, particularly families, naturally want to buy tickets to sit together but have different numbers of Loyalty Points. This means that they either have to wait until the release day corresponding to the lowest number of Loyalty Points in the group, which means they risk missing out altogether if tickets sell out, or buy on different days and sit separately. This decision is particularly difficult because there is no information from day to day during the sale window to indicate how many tickets remain unsold and how many supporters will become eligible on subsequent days.

The ticket office has always been very helpful in trying to reallocate tickets after purchase to seat split families together, but this is not always possible at sold out away games.

Loyalty Points are not well supported by the ticketing system
With increasing numbers of sell-outs for away games, the days of "sit where you want" are largely over. This means that groups who want to sit together need to buy together which, as mentioned above, is tricky with different numbers of Loyalty Points. However, two aspects of the current ticketing system make this harder: the lack of information about the Loyalty Points held by 'friends and family' and the inability of a supporter who has already bought a ticket using their own allocation to buy additional tickets for friends and family on subsequent days. In this latter case, the ticketing system seems to indicate that the game is no longer on sale when that isn't the case.

Members, especially lapsed season ticket holders, have low priority
Although the information about memberships states that one of the advantages is "Priority access to buy away league tickets", it carries the rider "after Season Ticket Holders". In the Chelsea example, this means that members don't get access to tickets until day 12 of sale, just one day before those with only "previous booking history" and after season ticket holders with a handful of Loyalty Points. So, although this is a priority, it's a very low one and, for example, members did not get a chance to buy Chelsea tickets as they were sold out by day six.

In some previous seasons, away sales have been handled differently, with tickets on sale at each Loyalty Point level being for season ticket holders and members. This allowed members who had built up substantial Loyalty Point totals over the years by previously holding a season ticket to buy at the same time as season ticket holders with similar totals.

HOW COULD THE FULHAM SYSTEM BE AMENDED?
It's clear that no perfect solution exists to distribute limited away tickets when demand exceeds supply, particularly when the very definition of the word "loyalty" means different things to different people. Any changes made to the existing system are bound to be supported by those who benefit and rejected by those who lose out. That being said, there are a few modifications which could be made if the ticketing system can be configured to allow them. Here's some suggestions which may not all be possible but which form a good basis for discussion and should alleviate some of the problems highlighted above.

Consider recent away attendance as well as Loyalty Points
Many newer, younger supporters just haven't been attending for long enough to build up the same Loyalty Points balances as long-term supporters but still attend as many games as possible. By factoring in recent away attendance as well as long term Loyalty Points, these supporters have a better chance of obtaining tickets for games like Brentford and Bournemouth in particular.

The exact number of recent away games would need to be calculated based on a detailed look at the numbers, but a modification to the Chelsea example might make tickets available on day along the following lines

STH with 1000 points or more, or who have attended more than 45 of the previous 50 away games.

Using this kind of system, newer supporters who are very regular home and away attenders would be treated similarly to less frequent away attenders who have held a season ticket for many years.

Depreciate Loyalty Points over time
An alternative way to shift the balance away from supporters who have held a season ticket for a long time without attending many away games towards those who attend most away games is to depreciate Loyalty Points each season. Loyalty Point totals have been growing every season since 2010/11, but they could be modified to cover, say, just the previous five years. However, this would only be possible if the annual totals are available and we know that when the current SecuTix ticketing system was introduced at the start of the 2021/22 season the only Loyalty Point information migrated across was the total; annual accruals data were not transferred.

This means that by the end of this season, only two full seasons' worth of detailed data will be available.

Modify the Loyalty Point accrual method
The maximum number of Loyalty Points available per match is five, for a long distance away league game, but a popular televised home game has the next highest number of points with four. Whilst everybody will have their own view on which games are most deserving of points, this does seem a little odd. It would make sense to review the accrual method, with a view to creating a bigger gap between long distance/evening away games and home matches.

Reduce number of Loyalty Point tiers, making full allocation available on first day
Although it will always be difficult for large groups with disparate numbers of Loyalty Points to buy together, the situation could be eased by making the day one ticket allocation as large as possible. If the day one Loyalty Point (and away attendance) level was set so that the total number of eligible supporters is equal or close to the maximum allocation, supporters would have the best opportunity to buy tickets together.

Put tickets on sale to members and season ticket holders simultaneously
There are probably not that many members with very high Loyalty Point totals, but there will be some, almost all of whom will have accumulated points through many seasons of holding a season ticket. Modifying the ticket allocation method to include members at every stage would give a better level of priority than at present, and is likely to improve membership sales for the Club. Although it can be argued that season ticket holders should continue to have priority over members, in effect they already do by receiving more Loyalty Points for a season ticket (50) than a membership (25). 

Allow supporters to see Loyalty Point totals for all members of friends and family group
If the ticketing system made the Loyalty Point totals for all 'friends and family' visible, groups would be able to make better decisions about when to apply for away tickets. This would require a modification to the ticketing software.

Provide tickets sold and upcoming eligibility information during the sales process
Buying for groups would be made even easier if better information was available about tickets remaining and likely demand. For example, on day two of sale, if a message said "There are x remaining tickets with y supporters becoming eligible today" then fans would be able to make a sensible decision about when to make a group purchase.

Allow fans to buy for friends and family even after they have bought their own ticket
An additional aid to buying for friends and family would be to allow purchase for the wider group even after a supporter has used their own allocation. This would require a modification to the ticketing software.

Make a small number of away tickets available by ballot
Some clubs reserve a small number of away tickets for a ballot process. This gives supporters who ordinarily would never be able to attend an away game an opportunity to get a ticket. In reality, this is most useful for clubs who sell out every away game very quickly but may still be worth considering for some high-profile games.

WINNERS AND LOSERS
Thanks for reading. If you've made it this far you must be very loyal and we'd reward you with a couple of Loyalty Points if we could. Hopefully you've found some food for thought.

In any area where demand exceeds supply, it's very hard to find a system that everyone thinks is "fair". We are all conditioned to want the best for ourselves, and when changes are implemented, there will be winners and losers.

Additionally, implementation and modification of schemes like the Loyalty Points system takes time and effort that needs to be proportionate with the benefit obtained by both Club and supporters.

The majority of the suggestions made above will have minimal adverse impact on most supporters and should be relatively easy to implement. It's true that by increasing the ticket buying chances of some supporters, others will necessarily have their chances reduced. There's no perfect answer, and you only have to look at the online message boards of other Premier League clubs to see that they have the same or similar challenges.

We would welcome your thoughts.



https://www.fulhamsupporterstrust.com/news/2023/04/loyalty-whats-the-point/

[WhiteJC]

Away Day Guide – Aston Villa

Our trip to Villa Park sees us take on a very different looking Aston Villa from the side that we beat 3-0 back in October last year, which should make for an entertaining return fixture. Here's our away day guide.
TICKETING INFORMATION

At the time of writing, we are awaiting confirmation of the ticketing arrangements for this fixture.
GETTING TO VILLA PARK
BY CAR

Exit the M6 at Junction 6 and take the slip road signposted 'Birmingham (NE)'. Take the fourth exit from the roundabout, towards City Centre/Aston/Star City and follow the signs for Villa Park. At the second set of traffic lights on Lichfield Road turn right on Aston Hall Road, which will take you to the ground.

Fulham fans who are planning to drive should be advised that there is very little parking in the vicinity of Villa Park. The closest available car park is at the Star City Leisure complex, around 30 minutes' walk from the ground.
BY TRAIN

Most Fulham fans will arrive via Birmingham New Street station. Take a connecting train from there to either Aston or Witton train station. Witton is closest to the away fans' entrance. Head left out of the exit of the station towards a roundabout, where you turn left into Witton Lane and the away entrance will appear on your right. It is about a ten minute walk from Aston station to the ground and extra trains serve the entire route on a matchday.
BY COACH

Coach departure times are yet to be confirmed.
AWAY PUBS

The Witton Arms (458 Witton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, B6 6SN) is now the designated away pub at Villa Park and is about two minutes' walk from the away fans' entrance. The pub usually charges a £2 entrance fee.

The Bartons Arms (144 High Street, Birmingham, B6 4UP) offers both CAMRA Beer Guide worthy real ale and excellent Thai food as well as an enthusiastic welcome to away supporters.

Other options include The Yew Tree (Brookvale Road, Witton, Birmingham, B6 7AS), the Ruskin Hall Social Club (Victoria Road, Aston, Birmingham, B6 5HP) or, for those intending to remain within the city centre for a while, The Briar Rose (25 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham, B2 5RE), The Square Peg (115 Corporation Street, Birmingham, B4 6PH) and The Shakespeare (Lower Temple Street, Birmingham, B2 4JD).



https://www.fulhamsupporterstrust.com/news/2023/04/away-day-guide-aston-villa/

[WhiteJC]

West Ham Matchday Preview

Fulham v West Ham United | Saturday 8th April 2023 | 3pm | Craven Cottage | #FULWHU

The opposition

    West Ham arrive at the Cottage on the back of three consecutive home matches, in which they had mixed fortunes. After claiming a draw against in-form Aston Villa prior to the international break, they narrowly defeated Southampton last week, before suffering a humbling 5-1 loss at the hands of Newcastle United on Wednesday.
    Only Everton, Nottingham Forest and Southampton have won fewer than their seven this season, though one of them did come against Fulham in the reverse fixture. It's form that leaves them sitting outside of the relegation zone on goal difference alone, but things are so tight in the bottom half that victory on Saturday could move them as high as 12th.
    One competition that has been highly prosperous for the East London outfit this season is the UEFA Europa Conference League. West Ham have won every single one of their 10 fixtures so far, setting up a Quarter-Final tie against KAA Gent next week.

Fulham team news

Willian returns from suspension, but Aleksandar Mitrović continues to serve his ban. Neeskens Kebano and Layvin Kurzawa remain the only injury absentees.

West Ham team news

A knee injury continues to rule out Gianluca Scamacca, but that is David Moyes' only problem on the health front.

Tickets

This match sold out over a week ago. Thank you for your terrific support!

Weather

A pleasant day awaits us in SW6, with temperatures around 14 degrees and sunny intervals.

Player insight

Issa Diop does not want to see his former side West Ham get relegated, but he hopes their revival does not kick in until after their trip to Craven Cottage.

"I still have some friends, I still have some attachment to the club because I played there. Of course I want them to stay up. [But] I want us to win, and then for them to stay up!

"I still speak to most of them often, but when we're on the pitch for the game it's going to be a different story."

Coverage

FFCtv subscribers can listen to live commentary from Gentleman Jim, Sean Davis and Jamie Reid.

Forever Fulham

Simon Davies - who experienced it all during his time at the Club - will receive the Forever Fulham award at half-time.

Seating

Fans are reminded to only sit in their allocated seat, as congregating groups could risk ejection from the ground.

Early bird

Fans can take advantage of discounted food and drink inside the ground up until 2.30pm.

Fulham Flutter

Win prizes while supporting the Foundation by playing the Fulham Flutter!

Form

Fulham: WLLLL

West Ham: WDWWL

Top scorers

Fulham: Aleksandar Mitrović (12)

West Ham: Jarrod Bowen (10)



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2023/april/07/west-ham-matchday-preview/

[WhiteJC]

Press Conference | Marco Silva Pre-West Ham
Marco Silva speaks to the press ahead of Fulham's London derby with West Ham on Saturday.

[WhiteJC]

Marco Silva accepts Fulham have to learn to cope without Aleksandar Mitrovic

Fulham boss Marco Silva accepts his side will just have to learn to do without leading scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic as the striker serves his eight-match ban.

Serbia international Mitrovic was handed the lengthy suspension after being dismissed during the Cottagers' FA Cup defeat at Manchester United last month after grabbing referee Chris Kavanagh.

Mitrovic received a standard three-match ban, but that was extended by three games for violent conduct towards a match official and another two added for using language which was "improper, abusive, insulting and threatening".

Having already missed one game, Mitrovic – Fulham's top scorer with 12 goals this season – will now be unavailable for the next seven matches, starting with the visit of relegation battlers West Ham on Saturday.

The Football Association, though, feels the punishment is too lenient and intends to appeal the decision from an independent regulatory commission.

Silva feels whatever the eventual outcome of the saga, his team just have to get on with it as they look to end a four-game losing run.

"We will keep inside (the club) all of the strange feelings we feel right now," said Silva, whose own dismissal alongside that of midfielder Willian for handball led to Mitrovic's angry reaction following the award of a penalty to United when Fulham were leading.

"About the replacement (for Mitrovic), of course he is an important player for us, we cannot hide our situation."

Silva told a press conference: "When you have such an important player, your top goalscorer, who goes out of the game, you are always facing something.

"But at the same time it is a moment for the player that is going to play in this position – it could be Carlos Vinicius or another player – to show their qualities.

"Always when these type of things happen, it is an opportunity for the other (player) to come in and to show quality, to show why he is here at this level, by being involved in our squad.

"But I cannot lie to you that Mitrovic is really important for us. He did not play the last game, will not be in tomorrow's match and the next games as well."

Midfielder Willian should return to the squad following his own suspension after a red card at Old Trafford, which was given after a VAR review.

Fulham slipped to a 2-1 defeat at relegation battlers Bournemouth last weekend.

Silva – hit with a two-game touchline ban and a fine for his actions at Old Trafford – is expecting a response.

"We know that all of us have to try to get that consistency which made us to be in a good position (in the table)", the Fulham boss said.

"It is difficult to find the reasons why the team dropped in the second half (against Bournemouth).

"After analysing the game, we already found it and we spoke with the players and showed them why these things cannot happen for us."



https://www.irishnews.com/sport/footballsoccer/2023/04/07/news/marco_silva_accepts_fulham_have_to_learn_to_cope_without_aleksandar_mitrovic-3195436/

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Pre-West Ham Press Conference

Marco Silva knows it would be perilous to underestimate West Ham United on Saturday.

Our visitors sit outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone, but our defeat at Bournemouth last week demonstrates the quality throughout the Premier League.

"We're not thinking that they are struggling, because if you are going to think [like that] then I think Bournemouth is a good lesson," Silva said. "They were struggling, and we did so well first half, and with no reason we didn't perform second half.

"I know it is really tough to be in position [West Ham] are in, and probably for a squad, a team like that, they were not even thinking of being where they are right now.

"As you know, they are competing in European competition, which means that last season they finished in a very good spot.

"The money they spent, the signings that they made, showed that they wanted to fight again, so of course for them to be the position they are is not a good feeling inside the dressing room, for their staff, for sure, for David Moyes and their fanbase.

"But that is not important for us really, we look at ourselves, we demand some pressure and put some pressure on ourselves that each game is for us to win and to improve from the last one. That's something that we want, clearly."

For the first time this season, we find ourselves on a three-match losing run in the Premier League, and Silva has called for the fans to give the boys an added edge in the weekend's London derby.

"We are going to play against a very good side," he explained. "They are not in a good moment, but we focus on ourselves because we want to perform well.

"And I would like to mention and make a message for our fans. They know how we are doing so, so well this season. Now we are in a not very, very good moment, and it's a moment for them to play their part as well.

"As I asked them from the first day of the season, and last season, we are going to be all together for the good days and the bad days as well.

"Tomorrow I am really confident that it will be a good day for us, and we need them to be behind the team."



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2023/april/07/pre-west-ham-press-conference/