Fulham v Ipswich Town
Saturday 8th April 2017 – 15:00
Craven Cottage
Opening Thought – Jamma
Well thank Bart for that! Even the most blue-tinted of Town supporters (and I include myself in that) were starting to contemplate the unimaginable after we had gone a worrying eight matches without victory. It was therefore a very opportune time for us to record our joint biggest win of the season, and first double of 2016/17, against Wigan. But it was by no means the stroll in the park that the 3-0 scoreline might suggest, with the Latics seeing plenty of the ball and working some more-than-presentable chances before finding their route to goal blocked by our irrepressible Pole. For our part, we had to rely on some calamitous defending for our openings, which were nevertheless well taken by David McGoldrick and Freddie Sears. The two strikers deservedly drew admiring praise from Mick McCarthy after both ended their respective goal droughts. It may have been a good solid team performance first and foremost, but Bialkowski was another who earnt individual plaudits for his latest inspired display between the sticks. I am starting to run out of adjectives to describe his saves. It isn’t just his agility and reactions but also his reflexes to get up and often make another, equally awe-inspiring save in quick succession which set him apart, and have prompted McCarthy to repeatedly label him as the best goalkeeper in the Championship. I found it interesting to listen to the manager’s response when asked whether ‘we’, as a club, would be able to hold on to our number 1 in the close season. It was revealing how he seemed, if not quite resigned to losing him, ready to accept that eventuality. But, beyond that, I thought there was ever such a slight hint of Mick answering the question as if the outcome would not directly affect him… Going back to the present, though, he was quick to point out that, had it not been for Bart’s most impressive intervention – his double-save from Callum Connolly and Craig Morgan – we might have been looking at a very different picture. We have seen it enough times when the Blues have had a gilt-edged chance before the opposition immediately goes up the other end and scores. It made a pleasant change to be on the other side for once, but this let-off should also serve as a reminder that we are not out of the woods just yet.
On top of our own long-awaited win on Tuesday night, the vast majority of other results also went our way, as all of the sides below us in the table lost. As pointed out by Mick Mills on the radio, the rest of our rivals to avoid 22nd spot faced considerably tougher fixtures than our two home matches against Birmingham and Wigan, with trips to Newcastle, Brighton, Huddersfield, Reading and Preston for the likes of Blackburn, Burton, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City over the two games this week. Those four relegation-threatened teams managed a grand total of four points between them from their combined eight fixtures, edging us closer to safety. But in case there was a chance of complacency creeping in, the boot will be on the other foot now, as we face our own two tricky-looking away matches, before Newcastle on Easter Monday rounds off a busy period. It is therefore vital that we take the confidence and rare positivity gleaned from the Wigan game into these clashes, starting with a visit to the banks of the Thames on Saturday. Up until recently, the battle for 6th was looking as much of a two-horse contest as the Boat Race, which passed Craven Cottage last weekend, with Fulham appearing to be the only challengers to Sheffield Wednesday for that coveted last play-off place. Indeed, prior to the midweek round of fixtures, the Cottagers had been the form side in the league, amassing 21 points from a possible 30. They will also point to the fact that their destiny is still very much in their own hands, with a mouth-watering final-day showdown at Hillsborough potentially season-defining. But there are signs that the pressure is perhaps starting to tell, as the Londoners have lost two of their last three, and they have also won fewer home games than any other club in the top half. With the shackles loosened somewhat for the Blues, and Fulham’s attractive style well in evidence in the return fixture, we could be in for an entertaining 90 minutes…
The Opposition - Fulham
Fulham Football Club, based in London, was founded in 1879. They were the oldest established football team from London playing in the Premier League until their relegation ahead of the 2014/15 season.
The club has spent twenty-four seasons in English football's top division, the majority of that in two spells during the 1960s and 2000s.
Fulham have never won a major honour, although they have reached two major finals. In 1975, as a Second Division team, they contested the FA Cup final for the only time in their history, losing 2–0 to West Ham United. Fulham reached the 2010 Europa League final, which they contested with Atlético Madrid in Hamburg, losing 2–1 after extra time.
The club has been in the Football League playing in various divisions since 1907.
In modern times, Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the freehold of the club for £6.25 million in summer 1997. Micky Adams was fired by Al-Fayed in the aftermath of a poor start. He installed a two-tier management "dream team" of Ray Wilkins as First Team Manager and Kevin Keegan as Chief Operating Officer, pledging that the club would reach the Premier League within five years. After an argument over team selection, Wilkins left the club in May 1998, handing over the full managerial duties to Keegan, who steered the club to promotion the following season, winning 101 points out of a possible 138. They paid West Bromwich Albion £1.1 million to sign Paul Peschisolido, who finished the season as top scorer, with the team captained by Chris Coleman – then the most expensive footballer outside the top two divisions of the English league.
In 1999, Keegan left Fulham to become manager of the England team, and Paul Bracewell was put in charge. Bracewell was sacked in March 2000, as Fulham's promising early season form dwindled away to a mid-table finish. Frenchman Jean Tigana was put in charge and, having signed a number of young stars (including French striker Louis Saha), he guided Fulham to their third promotion in five seasons in the 2000–01 season, giving Fulham top-flight status for the first time since 1968. Fulham once again amassed 101 points out of a possible 138 in their scintillating title run, which was crowned with an open-top bus parade down Fulham Palace Road.
They are the only team to have twice reached 100 points in a season.
For the following 7 seasons, they mainly achieved lower mid-table positions in the Premier League.
Roy Hodgson was named as the new manager of Fulham on 28 December 2007, and took up his contractual duties on 30 December.
In the 2008–09 season, Fulham finished seventh, their highest ever league placing, earning qualification for the inaugural UEFA Europa League, the second time that the club had entered a UEFA competition.
2009–10 was arguably the most successful season in the club's history. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the quarter-finals for the second year running, and finished twelfth in the Premier League. In the inaugural UEFA Europa League, however, Fulham reached the final, meeting Spanish club Atlético Madrid at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. In their first European cup final, the Cottagers were beaten 2–1 after extra time, having drawn 1–1 over the 90 minutes. The achievement of taking Fulham so unexpectedly far, beating famous teams like Hamburg, Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk and Basel in the competition, led to Roy Hodgson being voted the LMA Manager of the Year by the widest margin in the history of the award. The home match in the round of 16 was arguably Fulham's greatest result in the history of the club. Despite losing 3–1 in the first leg at Italian giants Juventus and falling behind minutes into the second leg at Craven Cottage, Fulham scored four goals with no reply from Juventus.
At the end of the season, Hodgson left Fulham to manage Liverpool.
On 29 July 2010, Mark Hughes was named the successor to Roy Hodgson, signing a two-year contract with the club. Hughes resigned as manager of Fulham on 2 June 2011, having spent fewer than eleven months at the club. The Whites had an encouraging 8th place finish and qualified for the Europa League via Fairplay.
On 7 June 2011, Martin Jol signed a two-year contract with Fulham, becoming the successor of Hughes. Fulham's Premier League form in the 2011–12 season was mixed, with the continuing awa record hangover of previous seasons dragging on.
Clint Dempsey scored a club-record 50 Premier League goals for Fulham between 2007 and 2012.
In the 2012–13 season, Fulham ended a seven-match winless run by beating Swansea City 3–0 away at the Liberty Stadium on the final game of the season, on 19 May 2013. Fulham finished the season in 12th place.
Shahid Khan took over as chairman in July 2013 but, after a poor start to the 2013-14 season, having only amassed 10 points from 13 games, Martin Jol was sacked as manager on 1 December 2013, with Rene Meulensteen taking charge as Head Coach. Meulensteen was subsequently replaced by Felix Magath on 14 February 2014, but remained under contract with Fulham until four days later, when Fulham confirmed his sacking along with that of coaches Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley. They were eventually relegated after a 4-1 defeat to Stoke City on 3 May.[/color]
Magath lasted in the manager’s role until 18 September 2014, when he was dismissed due to poor early season results, and Kit Symons took over as Caretaker Manager until his appointment was made permanent on 29 October 2014.
Under Symons, the Cottagers finished 2014/15 with 52 points and in 17th place on the ladder.
Kit Symons was sacked as Fulham manager in November 2015. It took 49 days to find a replacement, the club using Peter Grant and Stuart Gray in the interim, before appointing Slaviša Jokanović on 27 December 2015.
Last season, Fulham finished in 20th place with 51 points.
The Gaffer – Slavisa Jokanovic
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Media Watch - K L Blue
Gerkin Contract extension
http://www.itfc.co.uk/news/article/2016 ... 63194.aspx
Is this linked with the above?
http://www.itfc.co.uk/news/article/2016 ... 62562.aspx
Jordan Spence
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31482/
Taylor could be here next season, But Taylor and Knudsen out for the rest of the season
http://www.itfc.co.uk/news/article/2016 ... 61668.aspx
http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/ip ... 95484.html
MM on Williams
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/31485/
Form Guide
Fulham Last 5 Matches – Currently in 7th place with 64 points
Derby County 4-2 Fulham FC
Rotherham 0-1 Fulham FC
Fulham FC 1-3 Wolverhampton
Fulham FC 2-2 Blackburn Rovers
Newcastle Utd 1-3 Fulham FC
Ipswich Last 5 Matches - Currently in 17th place with 49 points
Ipswich Town 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Ipswich Town 1-1 Birmingham City
Cardiff City 3-1 Ipswich Town
Barnsley 1-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 0-0 Wolverhampton
Fixtures of Interest
Q.P.R. VS BRIGHTON (FRIDAY)
BIRMINGHAM VS DERBY
BRISTOL CITY VS WOLVES
CARDIFF VS BRENTFORD
Marko's Caption Contest- The Don Cup
Bit busy this week so I will score both the Birmingham fixture plus this one next week, chaps.
Match Referee – Geoff Eltringham
Final Thought - Bluemike
Tuesday's comfortable victory over a poor Wigan side put to bed any lingering doubts about what league we will be plying our trade in next season, while mathematically we are still some way from officially being safe we can all rest assure we will be embarking on a 16th consecutive season in the Championship come next August. Yes it was "only Wigan" and yes they were dreadful on the night but there was still a job to be done and the Eleven that took to the field in Blue shirts made no mistake in bringing home the bacon. I find it quite odd how whenever we fail to win it's because we are useless and yet when we do win it is not down to us but because the opposition were useless, clearly when things are not rosy in the garden everything becomes wrong and everything is criticised. I actually thought we played well on the night and lets not forget we could have been Five up before Bart the first of his Three top saves so I am not having any of this nonsense that the big man saved us, he didnt.
What was pleasing was the style of play, definitely better by some distance but still a way to go for sure. We were back to the 3-5-2 which suits us so much better than 4-4-2 and with Two or Three new faces back in the starting line up we were definitely more attack minded. I have predictably seen it said how we dont need Skuse blah blah blah, all down to his exclusion which again for me is not necessarily the case, there is no doubt Tom Lawrence has been our player of the season and without him we would be going down so are we a better side because he was not in the team ? No of course we arent !! It is how we are set up as a team that counts and not always about individuals, either way it was so much easier on the eye and it would be nice to think we can go into the final Six games with the same mentality and formation etc.
Next up it's Fulham, always a great day out and I for one am looking forward to another visit to Craven Cottage, not least because I have seen nothing but Town wins there so a lucky ground for me, let's hope it continues Saturday although I think we will have our work cut, they are without doubt the best team I have seen this season and that includes Newcastle & Brighton so any kind of result will be a great effort. For what it's worth I think Fulham will have a bit too much for us and can see them taking the points quite comfortably.
Fulham 2-0 Town.
FULHAM 1 IPSWICH TOWN 0
Well I'm going for an Ipswich win 2-1 as per last two visits.
