League Cup action under the lights at the Cottage against Leeds
This could be an interesting match. In truth I don’t think that either manager will be taking the League Cup too seriously at this point however, a “cup run” is a “cup run” and will be good for some of the “fringe” players to get a run out.
Leeds will look to repeat a similar result as the league game last season, their first win in the Capital in donkeys, Fulham will want to test themselves against a Premiership team.
Kick-off is 19:45
COYW’s
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Our first Cup game of the season see’s us travel to Birmingham’s St. Andrews ground for a 19:45 kick-off.
Anyone fancy a cup run? I must admit I’m not sure how we should approach this game. On one hand, winning becomes a habit, on the other could a cup run detract from the league with additional fatigue and injuries? With Tim Ream, Tete and Carvalho all going off injured on Saturday, added to the long term injuries of Tom, Kongolo and Reed, Harrison looks to be the closest to returning, Tuesday would be an ideal game to give some of the youngsters a run out alongside the players who are close to the starting eleven for every game. Rodak should get a start, he’d be starting every game if I was picking the team, Hector, Sessegnon, Christie, Knockaert and Bryan are obvious candidates and I’d give players like Francois, Fossey, Stansfield and Kieron Bowie the opportunity of first team action. We have a good squad and I’d like to see it used if only to give “game time” to players who might be needed sooner or later. If Rodrigo Muniz had arrived a few days earlier, I think he’s due in from his quarantine period in Spain sometime Tuesday, then I’m sure this game would have been his debut, perhaps he’ll be introduced against Stoke on Saturday?
Another interesting aspect of this game is that we go back to Birmingham on the 15th September for a “proper” league game, and it would be good going into that game knowing that we’d had a good result, or would we be better looking for revenge?
COYW’s
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Back to the Cottage to welcome Reading for another Saturday 3 o’clock kick-off!
After the disappointment of the Blackpool game we certainly came back with a bang against Birmingham, before Wednesday Birmingham had only conceded 3 goals! Chalobah had a very good debut, Bryan and Reed gave the sort of performances we’ve come to expect from them even though they’ve not been getting regular starts. Jean Michael Seri has been a revelation, he’s finally living up to the promise and expectations from when he signed, and perhaps more surprisingly he’s doing it in the Championship, I was convinced that he’d have gone back out on loan this season, hopefully he’s enjoying this time and can continue. I was pleased for Mitro’ scoring the penalty, that will settle his nerves for the next one. His second, our fourth on the night, was a fantastic effort, Mitro’ stole the ball from a Birmingham player near the half-way line, ran into the box and then played a sublime one-two with Seri before slotting it past the goalie, it’s the sort of goal that will have opposition defences worried and Fulham fans wondering why he didn’t get many chances last season?
Our record against Reading is fairly even, 7 wins, 6 losses and 4 draws. Reading had a good result against Peterborough on Tuesday and a draw against QPR on Saturday, StefJo getting an injury-time equaliser for the haha’s, so Reading’s 18th place might not truly reflect how good a team they are? A point to note is that Reading’s John Swift has scored 7 goals so far this season, Mitro’ (who’s on fire) has 6, I can see Mitro’ wanting to rectify that!
I’m assuming that Cairney, Kongolo, Tete and Carvalho will not be available, I would still like to see Rodak back in goal although as Gazzaniga keeps on having good games I can’t see him being swapped. That said this would be my team for the Reading game…
COYW’s
Games of Interest…
Saturday 18th Hull v Sheff Utd Cardiff v Bournemouth Fulham v Reading Millwall v Blackpool Preston NE v West Brom QPR v Bristol City
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Another away game as we travel to Birmingham for a Wednesday evening kick-off.
Well Saturday didn’t go quite to plan did it. I’m sure there were plenty of reasons, curse of the Manager of the Month award, international break, missing players, 3 games in 8 days, extended travel etc. but the result shows that anyone can beat anyone in this league. Blackpool out played us when we weren’t quite on our game, had to happen some time and, if you needed reminding, this is Fulham we’re talking about, so for long time supporters it’ll not come as too much of a surprise.
It seems like only two of three weeks ago we played Birmingham in the League Cup, different circumstances I know but let’s see how this game will go.
Our record against Birmingham is 6 wins, 5 losses and 4 draws, Birmingham will be desperate to get back into the playoff places so we should be in for a good game.
Saturday saw debuts for Quina and Muniz, will we see Chalobah in the squad against Birmingham? I’m going to assume that Wilson will be unavailable but that Carvalho will be back, and once again I prefer Rodak to Gazzaniga, here’s my team.
COYW’s
Games of Interest…
Tuesday 14th Bournemouth v QPR Sheff Utd v Preston NE West Brom v Derby
Wednesday 15th Birmingham v Fulham Swansea v Millwall
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We’re on our travels again, this time we’re off to the seaside to play Blackpool.
We’re top of the table, can you believe it? Marco Silva certainly appears to have got the players off to a flying start and Mitro’, penalty miss aside, actually a really good save from Bursik, is back on fire for both club and country. Wilson looks to have slotted in as if he’s always been part of the team, Cavaleiro is playing with confidence, Seri is like a new signing and we really need to get young Carvalho to sign a contract extension. All of the players, every single one of them, who have played, substitutes or cover for injuries and suspensions, have given a really good account of themselves. So far we appear to have a team spirit that was missing for the majority of last season. I’m sure that each team selection, with the current form of all players, has proved a headache for Silva, nice problems to have?
Our record against Blackpool is a good one with 3 wins and 3 draws without loss. Blackpool are currently on 2 points, 22nd, having had a couple of draws against Bristol (A) & Bournemouth (A), they’ve lost to Cardiff (H), Coventry (H) & Millwall (A)
I’m not sure that any of the latest additions, Muniz, Quina or Chalobah will be fully integrated just yet however, I hope that some of them will be on the bench and get a runout later in the game. I’d have Rodák in goal, harsh on Gazzinga after 3 clean sheets but I like Rodák, so my team would be…
COYW’s
Games of Interest…
Saturday 11th Blackpool v Fulham Bournemouth v Barnsley Reading v QPR Sheff Utd v Peterborough West Brom v Millwall
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Another 3 o’clock Saturday start at the Cottage, this weekend we welcome Stoke City.
I must admit to not believing much of the hype before the start of the season, about how good Fulham are and how they’re favourites to get automatic promotion however, after four games we’re top of the league! It’s far too early to get carried away but I really like the unexpected, for a life-long Fulham fan, feeling of winning, and winning with style, long may it continue!
We’ve finally signed the young Brazilian, Rodrigo Muniz, I’d be surprised if we get to see him this game, after all he only arrived in the country Tuesday? also he’ll need time to acclimatise to both new surroundings and team mates. It would appear that, unlike some previous additions, the manager specifically wanted this player, so I do expect to see him take to the field sooner rather than later.
We’ll have to see if the injuries to Ream, Tete and Carvalho prevent them from playing this weekend, we’ve got quite a list of injured players, if it continues it could become more of an issue, however once everyones fit and available for selection then Marco will have some difficult choices, a “nice headache”.
This should be a good game, as Stoke are also in a good run of form, they have the same number of points as us, we’re ahead on goal difference, Mitro’s back on fire! So far this season we’ve both played 5 games (including EFL Cup), won 4 and drawn 1, we’ve scored 3 more than Stoke, fingers crossed we can increase that margin this weekend.
Stoke also won their EFL Cup game 2-0 earlier in the week but I’m not sure if the results will have any influence on this league game? “B” teams playing and all that.
Our record against Stoke is remarkably even, 8 wins and losses with 1 draw, and with both teams in good form it should be a close game.
For my team selection I’ve assumed that none of the injured players, nor Muniz, are available…
COYW’s
Games of interest…
Saturday 28th Fulham v Stoke City Hull v Bournemouth Luton v Sheff Utd Millwall v Blackpool QPR v Coventry
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Back to the Cottage this weekend to welcome one of Marco Silva’s ex’s Hull City.
Another good away win, albeit a bit nervy towards the end, against Millwall gave us our best start to a season in years. Mitro’ didn’t need a fluke this time, it’s so good to see him playing with a smile, long may it continue. What about Fabio Carvalho, we’ve been blessed in recent years developing some exceptional young talent, Patrick Roberts, Mousa Dembele and not least Ryan Sessegnon, the youth academy must be doing something right! Once again it was a really good “team effort”, Cavaleiro looks like a completely different player while both Seri and Anguissa played their part, neither downing tools or sulking as some reports would have you believe. Tim Ream’s “Cruyff turn” showed a level of confidence that would have been unbelievable last season, so unlike Fulham, in truth everyone had a good game.
Jimmy Bullard said that Hull was a bigger club than Fulham when he joined them and they do appear to have “our number” beating us 7 times, 2 draws, while we’ve won 4 times, time to increase that number!
my team for Saturday…
COYW’s
Games of Interest…
Saturday 21st QPR v Barnsley Bournemouth v Blackpool Cardiff v Millwall Fulham v Hull
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Our first mid-week game of the season takes us to the Den to face local rivals Millwall.
After an eventful weekend we’ve another away game although this time we don’t have to travel too far for our first London derby against Millwall.
The team must be absolutely buzzing after Saturday’s game, I wonder if we’ll contest Wilson’s red card? I thought Mitro’ was close to his old self, a bizarre goal however if your not in the right place you don’t get them!, and it was good to see him with a smile on his face again. Overall it was a very good team performance, Cavaleiro showed just how good he can be when he’s played in the correct position. Bobby Decordova-Reid was my “man of the match”, with 3 assists and I don’t think he stopped running and causing problems all game.
Millwall have given a good account of themselves over the past couple of seasons and look to become an established Championship side. The Den can be an intimidating place to visit however we’ve a good record against Millwall with 1 loss, 4 wins and 2 draws
If we play at the Den like we did a couple of seasons ago, and carry on from Saturday, we could have a very nice visit to the Den, and it would be nice to remain top of the league!
my team against Millwall would be…
COYW’s
Games of Interest…
Tuesday 17th Millwall v Fulham Reading v Bristol City
Wednesday 18th Birmingham v Bournemouth Middlesborough v QPR West Brom v Sheff Utd
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Our first away game of the season takes us to the John Smith’s Stadium the home of Huddersfield Town.
A draw against Middlesborough last weekend wasn’t really a bad result, just not a good one.
It was good to see Harry Wilson get a goal on his debut and overall I think he had a good game, let’s hope he can live up to the potential.
The ongoing draw-out transfer saga’s for Grimes and Muniz are taking the “normal” period we’ve all come to expect from Fulham, i.e. a month of Sundays. Perhaps we need to sell players before we can sign new ones, FFP and all that? There are strong rumours about Anguissa going, also reports that Seri and AK are on the move, I wish them all well, especially AK47, I know many don’t rate him but theres something about his “bull in a china shop” play that brings a smile every time I see him.
Like us, Huddersfield had a 1-1 draw at the weekend, a very good result for them as their team was hit by four positive Covid tests.
We do have a good record against Huddersfield, 1 loss, 7 wins and 2 draws so I’m sure that we’ll approach the game with plenty of confidence.
Games of Interest…
Saturday 14th Huddersfield v Fulham Hull v QPR Millwall v Rovers Forest v Bournemouth Swansea v Sheff Utd
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It’s a shame that we have to wait until Sunday, I’m guessing we’ll have a lot of games moved from Saturdays this season but the Euro games made waiting for the start appear not quite as long? I’m looking forward to seeing how Silva gets us playing, hopefully more exciting that the past couple of seasons. Also I’m interested to see if any of the new additions will get a game, the young lad from Liverpool looks to be an exciting addition but I think it would be harsh on Rodak not to start the season. At the time of writing, Wednesday afternoon, there’s been no further news on the young Brazilian, apparently he tested positive for COVID so it doesn’t look as if he’s going to get a game this month, and the Matt Grimes saga is following a “typical” Fulham transfer pattern?
Having such a seasoned old campaigner in Colin as our first opponent should prove to be an interesting test for Marco and whatever team he sends out, hopefully Mitro will be back on fire and we’ll get a taste of what we can expect for the rest of the season.
Our record against Middlesbrough is consistent with 5 wins, 5 loses and 4 draws, so Sunday would be a good time to tip the balance in our favour.
COYW’s
Games of Interest…
Friday Bournemouth v West Brom
Saturday QPR v Millwall Stoke v Reading Sheff Utd v Birmingham
Sunday Fulham v Middlesborough
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