Category: Fulham FC

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Games for the weekend 12/08

We get to kick-off the new season with an away trip to Goodison Park to take on Everton

Everton v Fulham

I’m writing this on Wednesday so “in theory” we could have some new team members, or lost some of the current squad?, however I’m going to assume that the squad is “as is” at least until after the weekend.
Callum Hudson-Odoi saga has been ongoing, “rumour” has it that we’re haggling with Chelsea over the fee although “personal terms” have been agreed, it would be good to get him before Saturday.
Demarai Gray, is another that appears to be very close, I don’t believe that Everton would release him before we play them this weekend, so perhaps he could sign next week?
Fred is another one that has re-emerged, apparently we were put off by the initial asking price, I’m not sure what’s changed but the rumours about him joining Fulham have remerged.

As for players leaving, Tosin “wants” to go to Monaco, not Spurs, I’d imagine that we’d get a better price from Spurs?
West Ham, Liverpool, Uncle Tom Cobley and all have been quoted as being interested in Palhinha, West Ham got really upset with our valuation (£90 million) and effectively wanted to swap him for some of last seasons unwanted track suits. Surprisingly Liverpool didn’t sound too put off by the price but his shoulder injury in the Stateside friendly games looks as if any interested has stopped for now?
Willian has also been offered the chance to play in Saudi, what puzzles me is why didn’t they “go for him” before he signed for Fulham?
Mitro, hmmm, Mitro, I find it hard to believe that Mitro said he’d never play for Fulham again, he has anyway even if it was a sub’ appearance in the pre-season friendly against Hoffenheim. I can believe he wants to earn £20 million a year, who wouldn’t? but would he really want to risk playing for his country and building on the number of goals he’s scored?
With both the Willian, Mitro & Palhinha offers it makes a very refreshing change for the club to “stand their ground” and not appear to give in straight away, we may well still loose one or more of these players before the transfer window closes but for now their still our players.

Our two new boys, Raúl and Calvin Bassey, both scored in the Hoffenheim game, I wonder if two new signings have scored for Fulham on their debuts?

Everton struggled for most of last season, appointing Sean Dyche will have his work cut out if they don’t want to battle against relegation for a third season in a row?
They’ve also, at tie of writing, only signed two players, Arnaut Danjuma, a forward signed on loan from Villarreal and Ashley Young on a free transfer from Villa.

Our record against Everton isn’t that good, especially at Goodison, we’ve 5 wins, 11 losses and 3 draws, having said that we’ve won the last 2 at their place.

I don’t think that Palhinha, Pereira or Ream will be fit enough to be starters, therefor my team for the season opener (assuming no new players or further departures) would be…

squad to face Everton 23/24

COYW’s

Games of Interest..

Friday 11
Burnley v Man City

Saturday 12
Arsenal v Forest
Bournemouth v West Ham
Everton v Fulham
Sheff Utd v Palace

Sunday 13
Brentford v Spurs
Chelsea v Liverpool

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Week-end 28/05

We get to travel to Manchester for our last game of the season to take on Utd at Old Trafford for a 16:30 kickoff

Man Utd v Fulham

So a draw against Palace was probably a fair result, if Mitro had got his hat-trick it would have been different however, we’ve never beaten Roy and at least we’ve now broken our goals scored Premier League record.
It was good to see Mitro get a brace, shame he didn’t get a hat-trick as that would have set him up nicely for the Man Utd game!?
Will Mitro get some measure of revenge for what happened at the cup game? perhaps the ridiculously long suspension helped with his ankle knock thats affected most of his season?
It was also a shame we couldn’t finish with a win for our last home game, but what a fantastic season its been!, how many “pundits” will be feasting on humble pie following their “nailed on for relegation” predictions before a ball was kicked?

As long as Man Utd don’t lose to Chelsea on Thursday then they will have secured a Champions League spot by the time we play them.

Curent Form:
Man Utd – WLLWW
Fulham – LLWWD

Our recent record against Man Utd is dire with only 2 wins, 15 losses and 3 draws

For my team I’d keep the same eleven that started against Palace…

team to face Man Utd at Old Trafford

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Sunday 28th
Arsenal v Wolves
Brentford v Man City
Chelsea v Newcastle
Palace v Forest
Everton v Bournemouth
Leeds v Spurs
Leicester v West Ham
Man Utd v Fulham

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Week-end 20/05

We welcome back Roy Hodgson and his Crystal Palace team for a 3 o’clock Saturday kickoff at the Cottage

Fulham v Crystal Palace

Wining at Southampton, for the first time since 1935!, several Premier League records were created during the game, Mitro most goals, most away wins(7), most away points(23), most away goals(23), most wins (15) in a season, equalled highest number of goals scored in a season(52) and most doubles in a season, 5 so far.
With both Vinícius and Mitro scoring Marco will have a difficult decision who to start against Palace? Harrison Reed had yet another outstanding game, like many of last seasons players they’ve made the Premier League their home proving many wrong about their capabilities.

Palace had a comfortable win over Bournemouth last time out, Eberechi Eze scored both goals, with Zaha sustaining a hamstring injury in the second half so he’ll probably be unavailable on Saturday?

FoF statsman Ludlow Richard, over on the forum, once again provided an interesting stat about playing against teams managed by Roy Hodgson:
We have come up against teams managed by Roy on seven occasions: once in the 1981/82 season against Bristol City, twice in the 2011/12 season against WBA, and four times against Crystal Palace in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons. We have not won any of these seven games, drawing four (three of those 0-0) and losing the other three. All three defeats have been against Palace. We have scored two goals in these seven games.

Current Form:
Fulham – LLLWW
Palace – DLWLW

Our recent record against Palace is very close 2 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws

I’ve decided to try both Mitro and Vinícius in my team as I’m interested to see how they’d work as a partnership…

team to face Palace at the Cottage

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 20th
Spurs v Brentford
Bournemouth v Man Utd
Fulham v Palace
Forest v Arsenal

Sunday 21st
West Ham v Leeds
Man City v Chelsea

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Week-end 13/05

We get to travel to the south coast to take on Southampton at St Marys for a 3 o’clock kick-off

Southampton v Fulham

Beating Leicester equalled the club record of 14 wins for a Premier League season, I convinced we’ll surpass that this season even with only 3 games left. Wasn’t it good to see Tom back to full fitness, that was the best game he’s had for quite some time, and 2 goals, one with his right foot! Leno saved a penalty, hasn’t he been outstanding, Palhinha must be “one of the buys” of the season, Willian continues to turn back the years and Harry is playing as well as he did last season. Vinícius scored another beauty and his play for the “team” has shown that he’s not as bad as some fans would have you believe, lets face it he’s not Mitro, who is?, but he’s played with confidence the last few games, scored a couple of goals and been “in the right place” more often than not.

Mitro’s ban has finished and I imagine that he’ll be the first name on the team sheet even though Vinícius has had some decent performances.

The 4-3 defeat against relegation rivals Forest on Monday all but sealed Southamptons fate. We would confirm Southampton’s relegation with a win, a draw probably still wouldn’t be enough either, so they’ll be fighting for their lives.

Current Form:
Southampton – LDLLL
Fulham – WLLLW

Our recent record against Southampton is quite poor with 2 wins, 6 losses and 3 draws

With Mitro available having completed his ban my team would be…

team to face Southampton at St Marys

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 13th
Villa v Spurs
Chelsea v Forest
Palace v Bournemouth
Southampton v Fulham

Sunday 14th
Brentford v West Ham
Arsenal v Brighton

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Weekend 06/05

We welcome Leicester City for a 3 o’clock Monday afternoon kickoff at the Cottage

Fulham v Leicester City

We played really well against Liverpool but once again we came away empty handed, when are these “iffy” decisions going to even out? “On paper” we’ve not performed well against any of the “top 6”, so far we’ve only gained a point from the opening day draw against Liverpool, and with only Man Utd to play at their place on the last day all the usual pundits will tell you that we’ve not played as well as we have. When you consider that most of the defeats were by the odd goal and more than one of those goals were from dubious penalties!
Vinicius had another good game, I’m sure he’ll get another start against Leicester and the Diop Tosin pairing worked really well which is promising for the future.

Leicester will be looking for revenge from the 0-1 game at their place earlier in the season and as their currently out of the relegation zone only on gaol difference they’ll be fighting for every point.

Our recent record against Leicester is very close 2 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw

Current Form:
Fulham – WWLLL
Leicester – LLWDD

my team would be…

team to face Leicester

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 6th
Bournemouth v Chelsea
Spurs v Palace
Liverpool v Brentford

Sunday 7th
Newcastle v Arsenal
West Ham v Man Utd

Monday 8th
Fulham v Leicester
Forest v Southampton

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for Mid-week 03/05

We’re on our travels again, this time we visit Anfield for the rearranged fixture

Liverpool v Fulham

Yet another spirited performance with no points for our effort, it would appear that we were wearing the wrong colours as white shirts = “not a penalty” for a couple of clear cut occasions?
Loosing both Ream and Pereira, with suspected broken arm and leg respectively, was a blow, both for the game and remainder of the season. Marco said that Tim will be unavailable for the remainder of the season and Pereira will need to be assessed, if he has broken or fractured his leg then he’ll obviously also miss the remaining games.
When Tom came on he, once again, showed that he can make a significant difference, Marco has improved Tom’s game although we’ve only seen brief appearances this season, I think he’ll get a couple of starts for the remaining games.
Vinicius had probably is best game for us, what a cracking goal he scored, hopefully he can do the same against Liverpool.
Another “plus” was how well Diop and Tosin played together, assuming both are fit and stay, this partnership could be our new “Thames Barrier”.

Current Form:
Liverpool – DWWWW
Fulham – WWLLL

Our record against Liverpool isn’t as good as I thought with 4 wins, 9 losses and 3 draws.

With Willian, Ream, Pereira and Mitro unavailable my team would be…

team to face Liverpool

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Wednesday 3rd
Liverpool v Fulham
Man City v West Ham

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Week-end 29/04

We welcome Man City to the Cottage for a 2 o’clock Sunday kick-off

Fulham v Man City

Loosing both Willian and Harry Wilson so early in the game didn’t help our cause against Villa however we now face one of the toughest games of the season.
We did OK against them in the reverse fixture last November, albeit against 10 men, and were unlucky not to come away with a draw.

The way that Man City took Arsenal apart in their last game was frightening, 4-1 actually flattered Arsenal, they could easily have been down 8-0 by halftime.

Our recent record against Man City is dire, 1 win, 16 losses and 3 draws however that game against them in the “Great Escape” season will live long in Fulham folk-law.

Current Form:
Fulham – LLWWL
Man City – WWWWW

I’m assuming that neither Willian or Harry will be available so my team would be…

team to face Man City at home

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 29th
Palace v West Ham
Brentford v Forest
Brighton v Wolves
Arsenal v Chelsea

Sunday 30th
Bournemouth v Leeds
Fulham v Man City
Liverpool v Spurs

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for Mid-week 25/04

We get to visit the second city to take on Aston Villa at their place for an evening kick-off

Aston Villa v Fulham

Two wins on the bounce, and the double, treble with the FA Cup game, over Leeds saw Fulham back to winning ways.
Dan James was unavailable, as Leeds is his parent club, Bobby De Cordova-Reid replaced him to reasonable effect, Bobby is such a versatile player having this season played in defence, midfield and attack!
Willian really has rolled back the years and virtually ran the game from start until he was substituted 4 minutes into injury time. Talking of substitutions it was fantastic to see Neeskens Kebano get a cameo at the end of the game.

Villa are one of the “in form” teams, only Man City are on a better run of results closely followed by Newcastle and are currently sitting in 6th.
They look a completely different team from the one we beat 3-0 earlier in the season, Unai Emery has done an outstanding job since taking over from Stevie Gerrard.
This will be another chance to “do the double” over one of our rivals and a win would set us up nicely for Sundays clash with Man City.

Current Form:
Villa – WWWWD
Fulham – LLLWW

Our recent record against Villa is reasonably good with 10 wins, 7 losses and 4 draws.

With Dan James back available for this game and Mitro still serving his ban, my team would be…

team to play Villa away

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Tuesday 25th
Wolves v Palace
Villa v Fulham

Wednesday 26th
Forest v Brighton
Chelsea v Brentford
West Ham v Liverpool
Man City v Arsenal

Thursday 27th
Southampton v Bournemouth
Spurs v Man Utd

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Week-end 22/04

We welcome Leeds to the Cottage for an early 12:30 Saturday kick-off

Fulham v Leeds

Well that was more like it! I really didn’t think that we’d get anything from Goodison Park, having only won 1 league game there previously however, we’ve now won two on the bounce.
Who’d have thought Dan James as a striker would work so well? Plan B, or was it Plan C?, certainly worked a treat and it was certainly Harry’s best performance of the season.

I’d give Pereira a “rest” for the Leeds game, he came to us mid way? through the Brazilian season and has played consistently, World Cup aside, for nearly a year.

Ludlow Richard, FoF’s stats man, mentioned over on the forum that the win against Everton was our most ever away wins in a Premier League season (6) beating the 5 wins in 2003/04.
With 4 away games to go we have a chance of beating the 2003/04 total of 21 away points, we currently have 20, Villa, Liverpool, Southampton and Man Utd await.
The Everton games was our 300th Premier League away game, of those 300 games we’ve won 1-3 just five times. Twice in the 2008/09 season against Bolton and Manchester City; once in the 2004/05 season against Blackburn; once (memorably) against Manchester United in 2003/04; and of course today against Everton. So we tend to win 3-1 away against north western teams.
We have now won two league games in a row at Goodison Park, having not won in the previous 28 league games.
We drew our 100th PL away game (against Villa) and our 200th PL away game (against Norwich).

Leeds have conceded 16 goals in their four Premier League games in April, eight more than any other side and one more than they let in during January, February and March combined (15 in 11 games).
Their last two games, both at home, against Liverpool and Palace they’ve conceded 11 goals, worrying for a team sitting in 16, 2 points above the drop zone.

Current Form:
Fulham – LLLLW
Leeds – WLWLL

With Mitro still on his ban, James being unavailable to play against his parent club I’d give Pereira a “rest” my team would be…

team to play Leeds at the Cottage

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Friday 21st
Arsenal v Southampton

Saturday 22nd
Fulham v Leeds
Brentford v Villa
Palace v Everton
Liverpool v Forest

Sunday 23rd
Bournemouth v West Ham
Newcastle v Spurs

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0

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Games for the Week-end 15/04

We get to travel to a ground where we never win* a league game, Everton away

Everton v Fulham

*I had thought that we’d never won a league game at Goodison however over on the FoF forum Deeping_White reminded me that we did win a couple of season ago thanks to Josh Maja.

So West Ham got away with another hand ball in the buildup to their goal, VAR not interested, not really a surprise, if it happens again I’ll begin to think theres a conspiracy against Fulham.

Having lost the last 4 games, the last time we were on a poorer run in the Premier League was in 2019 when we lost 9, its about time we got back to winning ways, even a draw wouldn’t go amiss.
Marco was a previous manager at Goodison, he was in charge for around 53 games.

With Sean Dyche now in charge of Everton, they’ve picked up 10 points in his first 5 home games in charge, W3 D1 L1, more than their previous 10 home games.

Current Form:
Everton – DWDDL
Fulham – DLLLL

Our record against Everton, especially at Goodison Park, is another poor one with 4 wins, only 1 of them at Goodison, 11 losses and 3 draws.

my team would be…

Team to face Everton

COYW’s

Games of Interest…

Saturday 15th
Chelsea v Brighton
Everton v Fulham
Southampton v Palace
Spurs v Bournemouth
Wolves v Brentford

Sunday 16th
West Ham v Arsenal
Forest v Man Utd

come on over to the forum and join in the conversation…
https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=36.0