WhiteJC – Page 12 – Friends of Fulham

August 11, 2021October 12, 2021

Games for the Weekend 14/08

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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August 4, 2021October 12, 2021

Games for the Weekend 06/08

And the Championship kicks off…

New season, new manager, new players, new kit.

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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September 25, 2020January 17, 2021

Games for the Weekend 26/09

Well we’re playing on Monday evening rather than the weekend but we welcome Aston Villa to the Cottage for a 17:45 kick-off.

It’s just as well that we’re not allowed to attend this game, first it was 3 o’clock Saturday, then 2 o’clock Sunday, then 6 o’clock Monday and finally 5:45 Monday to allow the later Monday evening game to be shown in pubs before the 10 o’clock curfew. How considerate of the League to look after pubs, when have they shown the same consideration for the fans who actually attend games?

Anyhow back to the game, it’s far too early to say that this is a 6 pointer however I think it’s a game that we really need to win. If we win then we’ll have 3 points from 3 games, if we kept that up we should have just enough to stay up?

Villa stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season but have strengthened their squad, notably with Brentford’s Watkins, Birmingham’s Hogan, Martinez and Traore.

I’m sure that Scotty Parker would have this down as a “probable win” game, our record against Villa is reasonable with 10 wins, 6 defeats and 8 draws.

COYW’s

Games of interest..

Saturday 26th
Brighton v Man Utd
Palace v Everton
West Brom v Chelsea
Burnley v Southampton

Sunday 27th
Sheff Utd v Leeds
Spurs v Newcastle
West Ham v Wolves

Monday 28th
Fulham v Villa
Liverpool v Arsenal

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September 22, 2020January 19, 2021

Games for mid-week 23/09

Another Carabao Cup game, this time against Sheffield Wednesday at the Cottage

So we get to play Wednesday this Wednesday evening in the nest round of the Carabao Cup.

I think that this is a “must win” game, if only for team confidence, loosing both of our first league games needs to be countered, a cup run could be just the ticket!
Wednesday won’t be a push-over, Gary Monk’s team has a good record playing Fulham with 4 wins, 2 defeats and a draw.

COYW’s

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September 17, 2020January 18, 2021

Games for the Weekend 19/09

Our first “away” game of the season see’s us travel to Elland Road to take on Leeds United.

This should be an interesting game. We both lost our opening games, both conceded 3 goals, fair enough Leeds scored 2 and we didn’t, both teams have added to their squads and I’m certain both teams will have marked this fixture as a winnable one.
Wednesday’s Carabao Cup game saw our new signings get a run out, all had good games but probably the stand out performance was Kenny Tete who could well get to play against Leeds.

Last season each team won their home games and recent games have been fairly even with 3 wins, 2 lost and 5 draws.

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 19th
Everton v West Brom
Leeds v Fulham
Man Utd v Palace
Arsenal v West Ham

Sunday 20th
Southampton v Spurs
Newcastle v Brighton
Chelsea v Liverpool
Leicester v Burnley

Monday 21st
Villa v Sheff Utd

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September 13, 2020January 17, 2021

Games for mid-week 16/09

We travel to Ipswich for a Carabao Cup game.

Following on from our first game back in the Premiership we get the distraction of a League Cup game.

Perhaps we’ll get to see some of the “new” boys, Areola, Robinson, Lemina? could be useful as a competitive development game.

Ipswich will be looking for a Premier scalp, so it should be a good game.

COYW’s

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September 8, 2020January 17, 2021

Games for the Weekend 12/09

We’re back in the Premiership!, and for our first game we welcome Arsenal to the Cottage for a 12:30 kick off.

My very first Fulham game was against Arsenal, New Years Day 1966, we won that 1-0 and I was hooked!
Now we’re back in the Premiership, let’s hope that we’ve learned some of the lessons from last time?, and this season we prove to be more of a contest, 80+ goals against can’t be repeated.
So far we’ve not gone overboard with the spending, the “window” remains open until October so there’s still time?
It’ll be interesting to see if any of the “new” players will either start or even be on the team sheet, Antonee Robinson, Mario Lemina, Harrison Reed, so glad he signed, and who they’ll replace? I wonder if Anguissa will get a game now that he’s returned from loan?, there’s been no mention of Seri returning.
With little time “pre-season” I just hope that they’ll have had enough time to adapt to Fulham. If we do sign anyone else before the end of the week I can’t see them starting against Arsenal.

Our record against Arsenal isn’t too good, 8 wins, 10 draws and 39 losses, Arsenal have won the last 5 scoring 15 and conceding only 3…
time to put that right!

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 12th
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds
Spurs v Everton
West Ham v Newcastle

Monday 14th
Brighton v Chelsea

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August 2, 2020January 17, 2021

Championship Play-off Final.

Fulham face Brentford at Wembley on Tuesday evening to decide who gets to play in the Premiership next Season.

I’m guessing that it’s the final that most of us would have predicted from the four teams contesting the semi-finals? Swansea certainly gave Brentford a scare and Cardiff very nearly fought back against Fulham, but both of the London teams triumphed in the end.

Brentford appear to have the upper-hand, as far as playing Fulham is concerned, with 5 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws, they won both of this season’s league games 1-0 & 0-2, so I’m sure they’ll be going into this full of confidence.
However, both teams finished the season on 81 points, Brentford had a superior goal difference, also both teams won one and lost one of their semi-finals both going through 3-2 on aggregate. So I’m sure that it’ll be a tighter game despite what some “pundits” are predicting?
26 goals gave Mitro the golden boot for this season, Brentford’s Ollie Watkins wasn’t too far behind although he played 540 more minutes than Mitro, due to injuries and suspension, so I imagine that both of them will want to add to their tally for this season, lets just hope Mitro comes out on top and that he gets on the pitch after his recent injury.

Experience of the “big day” will definitely be in Fulham’s favour with most of our current squad taking part in the final a couple of seasons ago.
Fulham players who took part in the 2018 final include Bettinelli, Odoi, Christie, Ream, Cairney, McDonald, Johansen, Kamara(AK47) and Mitrovic, all of these can rightly say…

“been there, done that, WON IT!”

Beating us twice, being the “more attacking” team will probably make Brentford the favourites however with Fulham’s recent experience don’t write us off too soon.

Playing in an empty Wembley Stadium will be different for everyone, we can only provide a ‘virtual white-wall’ and listen to Gentleman Jim and Jamie with our fingers crossed and hope for revenge for the two games earlier in the season.

Whatever happens on Tuesday evening, whichever league we’re playing in next season, doesn’t matter all that much to me, we are FULHAM the oldest team in London and will be wearing the famous ‘black and white’ with pride whoever the opposition.

COYWs

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July 30, 2020January 17, 2021

GAME ON play-off semi-final 2nd leg.

So we now know that Brentford have made it through to the play-off final.

Going into the game with a 2-0 aggregate lead surely make us favourites to face Brentford in the final? apparently no team has ever overcome a 2 goal deficit in the 2nd leg, sounds far too Fulhamish to me.
There’s good news with both Mitro’ and Cavaleiro joining in training, decisions on if they’re in the match day squad will be made later today. If we play like we did in the first leg then it shouldn’t really matter if one or both of them are rested with a view to keeping them fully fit for a potential appearance in the final?
Another good omen is Neil Harris’ managerial record against us…

	won	0
	drawn	0
	lost	6
	goals scored	1
	goals conceded	15

…so on paper we’ve got this in the bag, however being Fulham…

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July 28, 2020January 24, 2021

Play-off Semi-finals 2nd leg…

Who’ll get to the final? still all to play for.

So after Swansea’s win in the first round they must be looking forward to Wednesday’s game. Brentford will be encouraged with getting Rico Henry’s red card rescinded and being “at home” should give them some advantage?
Having lost 3 on the bounce Brentford will have something to prove and will be looking to recapture their form from after lock-down. They’ve not lost 3 in a row all season, the last time they lost 2 in a row was at the start of the season, both away games, to Leeds and Charlton.

Brentford’s form since restart WWWWWWWLLL
Swansea’s form, since restart WLDWWLDWWW

Fulham played some of the best football they’ve played all season against Cardiff in the first leg.
There was a danger of Fulham being all out of sorts for the first leg after missing out on automatic promotion, although it was a ‘slim chance’ as we needed West Brom to loose (they didn’t), Brentford to loose or draw (they lost) and we needed to win, we drew. Then we got the news that Mitro’, winner of this season’s Golden Boot, had been injured in training and would miss the game however, he could be back for the game Thursday evening, or will he be rested/protected again? keeping him safe with a potential final in the offing.
Cardiff will surly be looking for revenge, they’ve been on a really good run since the re-start added to the possibility of a Wembley final against their South Wales rivals, I’m certain they’ll make a game of it Thursday.

Cardiff have only lost 2 in a row once this season in February against Stoke and Forest.

Fulham’s form since restart LLWWWWDWDW
Cardiff’s form since restart WWDWLWWWWL

COYWs

Play-off Semi-finals 2nd leg…

Wednesday 29th
Brentford v Swansea

Thursday 30th
Fulham v Cardiff

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