25 Years

[CFuller]

On 12/01/2024 at 13:59, oche balboa said:

I'm surprised you have not kicked on with Fulham. Perhaps a look abroad is what you need to refresh your career 

Perhaps. I've always said that I want to go manage abroad at some point rather than spend the entire 25 years in England. I'm almost certain that I will look for a European job when I leave Fulham - whether that's years, months, or even weeks away.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2012

Despite having some of the most talented attackers in Division 1, our goalscoring record was abysmal. 15 goals in 15 league matches will not get you promoted... and we only had our defence to thank for the fact we weren't fighting relegation. Yet.

 

That said, each of our next three games really were must-win affairs. Bristol City, Aston Villa and Swindon all started the month in the bottom three - and if we couldn't sharpen up our act against that terrible trio, our future would be looking very bleak.

 

That run began at Ashton Gate, against a glamorous Bristol City team. The Robins had celebrated their latest return to Division 1 by signing a trio of attack-minded Premiership veterans in James Beattie, Matt Jansen... and some fella named David Beckham. Despite that, the Robins were down in 23rd, with just three wins to their credit.

 

We had a couple of untimely injury setbacks before our trip to the south-west. Centre-back Unai had twisted his knee and was out for three weeks, essentially making his upcoming one-match suspension moot. Meanwhile, captain Wayne Hudson's hopes of regaining his place in goal were scuppered by an ankle injury.

 

3 NOVEMBER 2012: Bristol City vs Fulham

After 12 minutes, Bristol City took the lead... thanks to an assist from a certain former Manchester United midfielder. Richie Wellens squared the ball across our penalty area, and it was driven into the net by the Robins' 20-year-old winger Paul Voss.

 

City piled on the pressure in the 21st minute. Fulham captain Florian Schneider somehow managed to clear Kristjan Sigurðsson's header off the line and put it behind for a corner... but it was from that set-piece that the hosts doubled their advantage. 34-year-old James Beattie was the scorer, heading in an excellent delivery from left-back Mike Holland.

 

It had been a miserable afternoon for our full-backs, both of whom were booked. Right-back Luke Liddle was replaced with Arnar Guðmundsson at the break, but left-back Terry Simpson stayed on... only to be skinned by David Beckham in the 47th minute. The 37-year-old England legend's cross was then converted by New Zealand striker Rory Fallon to give Bristol City a 3-0 lead!

 

We finally got our act together after that. Peter Devlin had two chances to pull a goal back on 55 minutes - and after his first shot was parried by City goalie Greg Dermott, the Irishman converted the rebound. Though Devlin wasted an opportunity to score again four minutes later, we began to believe that an epic comeback was possible.

 

Then, after 81 minutes, a miracle happened at Ashton Gate. Wayne Cable took the ball up the left flank and floated it into the Bristol City box, where Alan Stewart - yes, ALAN STEWART - nodded it home! After 16 games, Stewart had FINALLY scored a league goal in a Fulham jersey!

 

Teenager Derek McIntyre then came on to try and complete a comeback. His big chance came deep into stoppage time. Vicente Núñez chipped a lovely ball to the talented Scot, whose header... was tipped wide by McDermott. The final score remained 3-2, and our great second-half efforts were for nothing.

 

Bristol City - 3 (Voss 12, Beattie 21, Fallon 47)

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 55, Stewart 81)

Division 1, Attendance 12,662 - POSITIONS: Bristol City 23rd, Fulham 17th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Liddle (Guðmundsson), Ifil, Mitchell (Heikkinen), Simpson; Núñez, Schneider; Stewart, Mølby (McIntyre), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Liddle, Simpson.

 

With this latest defeat, we were now eight points off the play-off places... and I was losing my patience with this team.

 

While we were sleepwalking into a relegation battle, reserve centre-back Stephen Richardson sought refuge in the middle of the Conference. He went on loan to Harrow Borough - who had already loaned in full-back Dave Taylor - until the end of the season.

 

Next up... we were at home to Aston Villa, who had jumped into the safety zone by beating Huddersfield last time out. Since then, however, Villans boss Chris Perry had controversially crossed the Midlands to replace Lawrie Sanchez as West Brom manager. That left his former assistant Robbie Fowler in charge for what was sure to be a nail-biting match.

 

10 NOVEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Aston Villa

Aston Villa striker Phil Morgan kept John Forde busy in the opening stages. The Irishman justified his continued presence in the Fulham goal by saving two shots in the first seven minutes from the promising 21-year-old. He also pushed away a 29th-minute header from Morgan's strike partner Peter Crouch, who apparently had never stopped growing.

 

I wish I could be so positive about our attackers. Peter Devlin missed the target twice, and none of his team-mates were any better. In a match that we quite simply had to win, we suffered the indignity of failing to register a single shot on target at home.

 

In truth, any chance of us winning this game disappeared in the 62nd minute. After being cynically hacked down by Villa's versatile right-back Danny Shelton, Vicente Núñez completely lost his mind - and pushed Shelton to the ground while the referee was speaking to him! The ref immediately brought out the red card for Núñez, meaning we had to cling on for the last half-hour with 10 men. Goodness knows how we pulled it off.

 

Fulham - 0

Aston Villa - 0

Division 1, Attendance 14,517 - POSITIONS: Fulham 17th, Aston Villa 20th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Ifil, Mitchell, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Núñez, Schneider; Stewart, Mølby (Disler), Cable (McIntyre); Devlin. BOOKED: Devlin, Schneider. SENT OFF: Núñez.

 

Vicente Núñez had consistently let me down, and that red card was the last straw. I confronted the young Spaniard in the dressing room and fined him a fortnight's wages - a decision which had several players up in arms, not least Núñez himself.

 

A few days later, once things had calmed down, Vicente was back in my office to discuss his future. We mutually agreed that things were not working out at Fulham, and that his contract should be terminated, so that he could find another club more easily. After 53 matches, his time with the Cottagers was over.

 

I then had an unexpected phone call from Aston Villa's chairman Kevin McCann… who wanted me to become the new manager at Villa Park! He offered me a substantial pay rise from what I was earning at Fulham, not to mention a £5million transfer budget.

 

But I said no. I knew full well that... but jumping from one underachieving mid-sized club in Division 1 to another felt like a pointless sideways step. If I was to leave Fulham in the near-future, it would be to a fresher challenge - probably overseas.

 

The last match in our 'must-win run-in' was against the team who now sat in last place. Swindon had recently poached Ian Holloway from Millwall, who incidentally had also offered me their vacant manager's job. Following a 3-1 loss at Notts County the previous weekend, this was Holloway's first home game at the County Ground... and potentially my last away game with Fulham.

 

And what do I do when the pressure is on and fancy football is not working? That's right, folks - we went back to good, old-fashioned 4-4-2!

 

17 NOVEMBER 2012: Swindon Town vs Fulham

Our misery continued after 13 minutes, and Swindon were revelling in it. Captain Alex Revell brought a smile to his new manager's face when he headed in a floated cross from Lee Naylor. You've got me on my knees, Naylor. I'm begging, darling, please...

 

...Johnny, would you ease my worried mind? To be fair, John Forde did his best to stop Swindon running riot later in the first half. A couple of strong saves from the dependable Irish goalkeeper compensated for our centre-backs' inability to win headers.

 

At the other end, we were better than we were against Villa... in the sense that we registered one shot on target. A 19th-minute drive from Swiss midfielder Adrian Disler was stopped by the Robins' Swedish keeper Calle Nyman, who might as well have spent the rest of the match doing the Caramelldansen.

 

Swindon then coasted through the second half before striking the fatal blow in the penultimate finish. Derek McIntyre's careless challenge on Town substitute winger Carles Romero gave away a free-kick, which Leon Knight blasted in from 20 yards.

 

Swindon Town - 2 (Revell 13, Knight 89)

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 11,099 - POSITIONS: Swindon 21st, Fulham 18th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Heikkinen, Simpson (Guðmundsson); C Edwards (Iversen), Disler, Schneider, Cable (McIntyre); Devlin, Stewart.

 

I was speechless. We had played each of the three teams who began November in the bottom three... and all we had to show for our efforts were one point and two measly goals.

 

And now we would finish November with two home games... against the top two. God help us.

 

There was at least some good injury news before we welcomed league leaders Notts County to Craven Cottage on Friday night. Hudson and Unai had both resumed full training and could take their places on the bench.

 

23 NOVEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Notts County

The first half began as a dire affair... but that all changed after 22 minutes. Notts County skipper Gary Caldwell tried to snuff out a Fulham attack when he intercepted a pass from his counterpart Florian Schneider. However, he couldn't quite control the ball well enough, allowing Adrian Disler to retake it and then unleash an unstoppable swerving shot.

 

Our lead would last just four minutes, as Caldwell atoned for his earlier mistake. The Scotland defender received a corner from Magpies left-back Nicky Shorey, and his shot went into the net off our centre-back Jerel Ifil.

 

But it turned out Caldwell wouldn't be the only defender to quickly redeem himself after giving away a goal. Ifil went from zero to hero just before half-time, when his long ball from just inside our half was driven into the County net by Peter Devlin! Peter's 9th goal in 20 matches this season sent us into the break with a 2-1 lead!

 

However, just two minutes into the second half, Ifil made his biggest mistake yet. Unable to keep up with County's pacey young French striker Jean Leroy, the 30-year-old decided to hack him down from behind with both feet! Jerel was instantly given his marching orders - and for the second home game in a row, we were down to 10 men!

 

A weakened Fulham defence held on for a while - and Schneidi and Devlin even had chances to put us 3-1 up. But with 16 minutes to go, the Magpies managed to steal a point. A foul on David Livermore from our substitute defender Halldór Magnusson gave away a free-kick, which County's captain Caldwell confidently scored to make it 2-2. Thanks a lot, Jerel.

 

Fulham - 2 (Disler 22, Devlin 45)

Notts County - 2 (Ifil og26, Caldwell 74)

Division 1, Attendance 12,455 - POSITIONS: Fulham 18th, Notts County 1st

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Guðmundsson, Mitchell (Magnusson), Ifil, Simpson; Disler, Schneider; C Edwards, Iversen (Unai), Cable; Devlin (Stewart). BOOKED: Mitchell, Magnusson. SENT OFF: Ifil.

 

A good result, sure, but it could have been better if it wasn't for that clueless maniac Jerel Ifil! After one of the most bizarre performances I'd ever seen from a central defender, Ifil was fined two weeks' wages and put up for sale.

 

To try and give us some extra defensive cover ahead of Ifil's three-match ban, I brought in another old friend - 28-year-old centre-back Simon Bell - on a four-month loan from Kidderminster. As he was also with me at Dagenham & Redbridge, Simon would become the first player to play under me at three different clubs.

 

Bell's Cottagers debut came against Newcastle, who were themselves on a four-game losing run that had knocked them from 1st to 3rd. Even out of form, the Magpies would still be formidable opponents - especially as we would be missing the suspended Florian Schneider, who'd recently collected his fifth yellow card of the season.

 

28 NOVEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Newcastle United

Reading the Newcastle teamsheet before kick-off, I was amused to see that they had a youngster called James James in their defence! In the 32nd minute, though, it was the Magpies' goalkeeper Sven Winter who was seeing double. The German initially made a great save to thwart Peter Devlin, but he didn't anticipate that Markus Heikkinen would poke in the rebound for his first Fulham goal!

 

At this point, you would probably expect one of our defensive players to get sent off for trying to decapitate Newcastle's playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura. You'd be wrong, though, as it was a surprisingly quiet night for our defence. United boss Billy Davies must have felt like tearing his hair out, as his team's direct passing game was so inept that John Forde didn't have to face a single shot all game long!

 

Winter was much busier, with a string of impressive saves restricting us to just a solitary goal. But while Winter took home the 'man of the match' award, it was his former backup Forde who claimed a clean sheet - and Fulham a first win in nine matches!

 

Fulham - 1 (Heikkinen 32)

Newcastle United - 0

Division 1, Attendance 14,316 - POSITIONS: Fulham 19th, Newcastle 3rd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell (Unai), Bell, Guðmundsson; Disler, Heikkinen; C Edwards, Stewart (Mølby), Cable (McIntyre); Devlin.

 

Can I be honest with you? If we had lost that game, I'm pretty sure I would have been sacked. Either that, or I would have jumped before being pushed.

 

Markus Heikkinen might have done more than just save my job, though. Shutting out and defeating a team of Newcastle's quality has given the whole squad a huge boost in confidence - and a renewed belief that we can finally turn our season around. After all, we only need to overcome a nine-point deficit, and then we'll be in the top six!

 

Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Edited March 30 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of November 2012)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Notts Co                        19   7    1    1    18   7    6    3    1    20   12   43   
2nd     Gillingham                      20   8    1    1    21   7    3    2    5    14   17   36   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Newcastle                       20   6    2    2    18   7    4    3    3    15   13   35   
4th     Rochdale                        20   7    1    2    22   11   2    5    3    8    11   33   
5th     Sunderland                      20   6    4    0    19   6    2    4    4    15   17   32   
6th     Tottenham                       20   5    2    3    19   15   4    3    3    20   17   32   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Birmingham                      20   6    2    2    23   15   2    4    4    12   15   30   
8th     Norwich                         20   5    2    3    15   12   3    3    4    18   18   29   
9th     Sheff Utd                       20   7    0    3    19   10   2    2    6    11   19   29   
10th    West Ham                        20   2    4    4    8    11   6    0    4    16   12   28   
11th    Charlton                        19   5    4    1    15   7    1    5    3    12   16   27   
12th    Chesterfield                    20   3    4    3    15   15   2    7    1    16   15   26   
13th    Bradford                        19   5    2    3    12   8    2    3    4    6    10   26   
14th    Preston                         19   5    3    2    16   9    1    4    4    9    14   25   
15th    Aston Villa                     20   4    5    1    18   14   2    2    6    5    11   25   
16th    Man City                        19   2    5    2    15   16   4    2    4    12   16   25   
17th    Huddersfield                    20   5    4    1    18   14   2    0    8    10   22   25   
18th    Carlisle                        19   5    1    3    19   12   2    1    7    12   22   23   
19th    Fulham                          20   5    4    1    10   7    0    4    6    10   19   23   
20th    Swindon                         20   6    1    3    18   13   0    3    7    9    26   22   
21st    W.B.A.                          20   2    4    4    15   20   3    1    6    12   17   20   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Bristol City                    20   2    3    5    12   18   3    0    7    10   19   18   
23rd    Blackpool                       20   3    4    3    18   19   0    4    6    12   20   17   
24th    Coventry                        20   3    2    5    19   20   2    0    8    9    24   17   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Everton boss Héctor Raúl Cúper goes on a huge shopping spree after a shock UEFA Cup defeat to Brann. The Argentine spends £29million on SEVEN players, including Leeds midfielder Kevin Nolan and Kidderminster's Dutch sensation Albert Mulder. Bill Kenwright and the Toffees board are so shocked with Cúper's extravagance that they fire him on the spot.
• Celtic's Champions League dreams are dashed in the first phase, as Reinaldo's late equaliser for Parma in the Bhoys' final group game drops them into the UEFA Cup. However, debutants Aberdeen do make it to the second round after finishing 2nd in their group behind Benfica - and ahead of Real Madrid!
• Mateja Kezman's hat-trick sees Barcelona recover from 1-0 down to beat strugglers Zaragoza 4-2 - and start their La Liga season with TEN straight wins! The only team who are even close to Barca are fellow unbeatables Betis, who win EIGHT games in a row after drawing their first two. Real Madrid fans can only watch on in horror from 5th place.
• Marseille take control of the Ligue 1 title race with a winning streak of their own, including a 2-1 triumph at fellow contenders Lyon. The architect of Les Phocéens' success is 36-year-old ex-Barcelona midfielder Patrick Vieira, who looks better than ever... until he tears a groin muscle against Austria Wien in the UEFA Cup.
• Primeira Liga giants Sporting are on the look-out for yet another new manager, as Nam-Pyo Kim leaves after barely nine months to take charge at Bundesliga strugglers Schalke 04. The Leões decide to hire another South Korean coach, recruiting ex-Pusan boss Dong-Keun Lee. They must really love "Gangnam Style" in Lisbon...

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Democrat Barack Obama is re-elected President of the United States for another four years. Republican rival Mitt Romney concedes defeat, and the devout Mormon returns to Utah to spend more time with his wives.
• After devastating the Caribbean and the north-eastern United States for about a week, Hurricane Sandy dissipates. The superstorm leaves behind 233 fatalities and nearly $70billion worth of damage.
• George Entwistle steps down as Director-General of the BBC after a disastrous two-month tenure. Entwistle's role becomes untenable when he admits he didn't know about a report on "Newsnight" that falsely accused the former Conservative politician Lord McAlpine of being a paedophile.
• Teenage fans of vampire sex flock to the cinemas for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2”. It is the fifth and final installment of the romantic fantasy film series, based on Stephenie Meyer’s novels. In unrelated news, “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri becomes one of the most popular songs at millennial weddings.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2012

It wasn't hard to see where things had gone wrong for Fulham this season. Yes, we were struggling to score goals. Yes, we had only won half of our home league games. But our form away from Craven Cottage was even worse - 10 matches played, 0 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses.

 

Naturally, I was thrilled to see that the next three matches on our schedule were all road trips - against Blackpool (23rd), Tottenham (6th) and Rochdale (4th). We would surely need to win at least one of them, otherwise the nine-point gap between us and the play-offs would become an insurmountable chasm.

 

Beating a very strong Newcastle team in our most recent home fixture had raised spirits across the dressing room. Now we had to follow that up at Bloomfield Road - against a Blackpool side who failed to win a single match last month. After back-to-back promotions, the Seasiders' fairytale was apparently turning sour.

 

1 DECEMBER 2012: Blackpool vs Fulham

The 13th minute wasn't very lucky for Tom Mølby, who fired a promising shot against the Blackpool crossbar. Moments later, though, the young Dane had the ball in their penalty area. This time around, he flicked Florian Schneider's cross to a wide-open Peter Devlin, who did fire us into the lead!

 

It was a lead that lasted just seven minutes. After Pool goalkeeper John Reed saved a couple more shots from Devlin, the Seasiders went up the other end and equalised. 21-year-old left-back Darren Fletcher scored his first ever senior goal (naturally) after driving in a flick-on from Danny Roberts - yes, that IS the former Dagenham & Redbridge striker who always kept getting injured!

 

It seemed miraculous that Roberts - the man with a longer injury list than Darren Anderton - was still playing second-tier football at the age of 27. Even more amazingly, the 'bionic man' found the net after 35 minutes! Fortunately for us, Roberts had just strayed offside when Stephen McPhail played the through-ball to him, and so the scoreline remained 1-1 at half-time.

 

13 minutes into a cagey first half, Fletcher hit another career milestone - his first ever red card. A reckless two-footed lunge on Alan Stewart in the Blackpool penalty area meant he was sent to the dressing room, where he would presumably be badgered by Steve McManaman. Back on the pitch, centre-back Simon Bell scored his first Fulham goal from the spot to effectively secure us the points!

 

Blackpool - 1 (Fletcher 20)

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 13, Bell pen58)

Division 1, Attendance 6,092 - POSITIONS: Blackpool 23rd, Fulham 17th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Liddle), Bell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen (Disler), Schneider; Stewart, Mølby (Numme), Cable; Devlin.

 

That was not a very good performance against a not-very-good team - but in our situation, I was happy to take a win, no matter what.

 

Our best performer was once again John Forde, who was now established as our first-choice goalkeeper. This meant Wayne Hudson's days as club captain were now over.

 

Having assessed Arnar Guðmundsson's and Florian Schneider's performances as skippers over the past two-and-a-bit months, I decided to give the armband to Schneider full-time. Florian's consistency in the heart of our midfield had made the German an integral part of our team, and he was now almost undroppable as far as I was concerned.

 

Next up were Tottenham, who looked a very different team to the one we had beaten 2-1 on the opening day of the season. After nearly getting relegated last term, Steve McClaren's Spurs had propelled themselves into the promotion picture with four wins from their last five games.

 

8 DECEMBER 2012: Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham

Tottenham's Finnish front two each had chances to break the deadlock midway through the first half. Mikael Forssell's 22nd-minute header was tipped away by John Forde, but Matti Santahuhta went one better one minute later. 'Santa' delivered Spurs fans an early Christmas present when he headed in a corner from one-time Wales winger Stuart Roberts.

 

One man who wouldn't be having a 'Feliz Navidad' was our Spanish centre-back Unai. He went on Santa's naughty list nine minutes before half-time with a clumsy professional foul on the 31-year-old striker. The only card he would receive was a red one from the referee.

 

Surprisingly, we posed more of an attacking threat with 10 men than we had with all 11. Alan Stewart and Peter Devlin had three shots at goal apiece, but neither marksman could quite outsmart John O'Dowd in the Tottenham goal. For once, John Forde had been upstaged by another Irish keeper, as Spurs came away with all three points.

 

Tottenham Hotspur - 1 (Santahuhta 23)

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 34,783 - POSITIONS: Tottenham 5th, Fulham 17th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Bell, Unai, Simpson; Heikkinen (Numme), Schneider; Stewart (C Edwards), Mølby (Guðmundsson), Cable; Devlin. SENT OFF: Unai.

 

Unai's red card was our THIRD in six matches. If we cannot get a grip on our disciplinary issues, we will fall even further off the play-off pace!

 

The gap to 6th place was now at 11 points, and I could sense that the supporters - and the board - were getting impatient. If results didn't improve, my only Christmas present would be a P45... and I certainly wouldn't be around for our FA Cup Round 3 tie at Bristol Rovers in the new year.

 

Neil Danns' time at Fulham was definitely up. The Guyana midfielder had been a reliable servant to the Cottagers cause during my first two seasons, but after his form nosedived, I decided to sell him to Division 2 strugglers Tranmere for £250,000. Neil's a nice guy, and I have no hard feelings towards him, but he's just not a Division 1 player anymore.

 

Meanwhile, we needed to be spotless in Spotland, where surprise packages Rochdale were immediately challenging for another promotion after coming up from Division 2 last term. This was Dale's first match under the management of former Coventry boss Steve Bruce, who'd taken the reins after previous gaffer Garry Hill was poached by... er, Coventry.

 

15 DECEMBER 2012: Rochdale vs Fulham

Peter Devlin was in devilish form for Fulham during the first 15 minutes, when he drew yellow-card fouls out of Rochdale defenders Gary MacDonald and Emmerson Boyce. He also fired us into the lead after 12 minutes, finishing a square ball from 18-year-old defensive midfielder Henning Numme.

 

By the 23rd minute, though, Rochdale had equalised through two of their most experienced midfielders. Ex-Southampton and Crystal Palace stalwart Matthew Oakley delivered an excellent corner to Steven Thompson, and the Northern Irishman outjumped Simon Bell to apply the headed finish.

 

Devlin almost single-handedly tried to get us back in front before half-time, but his efforts bore no fruit. Indeed, it was Dale who scored the third and ultimately decisive goal early in the second half. It was Thompson again - this time after an unintentional assist from Fulham winger Wayne Cable, who couldn't quite clear David Clarke's corner out of our box.

 

Thompson's pursuit of a hat-trick ended in the 74th minute, when he twisted his knee. Steve Bruce replaced him with the veteran French left-back Didier Domi, who helped the hosts to see the match out - not that they had to work particularly hard to do so.

 

Rochdale - 2 (Thompson 23,47)

Fulham - 1 (Devlin 12)

Division 1, Attendance 7,465 - POSITIONS: Rochdale 5th, Fulham 18th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Bell, Guðmundsson; Schneider; C Edwards, Numme, Disler (Mølby), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Devlin.

 

"Sack the boss! Sack the boss! Sack the boss!" That was all I heard as the team coach left Spotland after yet another pathetic away defeat.

 

The Fulham fans had turned against me, and I knew I was running out of time to win them over.

 

Three days before Christmas, I entered the last chance saloon and led us into a home game against Carlisle - the team directly above us in the Division 1 standings. After just one goal in 20 league games, I left our highest-paid player Alan Stewart out of the squad completely - and prayed that Peter Devlin could keep up his own excellent form in front of goal.

 

22 DECEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Carlisle United

With just six minutes on the clock, Peter Devlin gave us the perfect start. 18-year-old Wayne Cable once again demonstrated his exceptional dribbling abilities before his cross was volleyed in by Devlin, giving the Irishman his third goal in four games!

 

Things didn't go so well for another young wideman. 20-year-old right-back Thomas Friberg's game was cut short after only 17 minutes by a thigh injury. On came the out-of-form Arnar Guðmundsson, who almost returned to his best in the 45th minute. An excellent cross by the Icelander almost gave Devlin another goal, but Carlisle goalie Dimitris Konstantopoulos just about saved it.

 

Cable was complaining about a hamstring problem at half-time, so he was subbed off as a precaution. Meanwhile, Carlisle had their own problems going forward. On-loan Liverpool striker Christian Mathisen - who scored a hat-trick on his Cumbrians debut against Swindon - was unable to replicate that form here. His partner Jimmy Davis had two shots that were both comfortably saved by John Forde.

 

An injury to attacking midfielder Danny Schofield in the 58th minute left Carlisle's attack in a further state of disarray. Seven minutes later, we finished them off. Konstantopoulos pushed away a header from Devlin, but he couldn't reach a well-struck follow-up from Carlos Edwards, who sealed a 2-0 Cottagers victory!

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 6, C Edwards 65)

Carlisle United - 0

Division 1, Attendance 13,512 - POSITIONS: Fulham 17th, Carlisle 18th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Guðmundsson), Bell, Mitchell, Simpson; Schneider (Ryan), Heikkinen, C Edwards, Mølby, Cable (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider.

 

With that result, I knew that I could enjoy Christmas knowing that I was still in a job... but was this merely a stay of execution?

 

The knockout blow could yet come on Boxing Day. Manchester City arrived at the Cottage in a very unfestive mood, having slumped to 14th since replacing Graeme Souness with the equally cuddly Sam Allardyce. I made two changes to my starting XI, with Guðmundsson replacing the injured Thomas Friberg, and Stewart coming back in for Tom Mølby.

 

26 DECEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Manchester City

If ever we needed a fast start, it was right here. Of course, Manchester City stormed into the lead before we even had the chance to touch the ball. The Citizens attacked us immediately from the kick-off, and Yossi Benayoun's cross from the right wing was headed home by 36-year-old Jon Dahl Tomasson - back in English football for the first time since a brief spell at Newcastle in the late 1990s.

 

Four minutes later, we launched our first counter-attack. Peter Devlin chipped the ball into City's penalty area ahead of Alan Stewart, who thought he was finally going to score his first league goal at Craven Cottage... until Bogdan Lobont tipped his shot wide.

 

That would be a running theme in this game, where we absolutely battered the Citizens defence with shots - and consistently failed to take them. Devlin and Florian Schneider each had multiple shots saved by Lobont, but Stewart was by far the worst offender - four shots saved, another four off target, no goals! This is the same guy who won the Golden Boot in Scotland, right?

 

Then, to quote Sheriff John Bunnell in "World's Wildest Police Videos", things went from bad... to worse. After starting our last 10 matches on the left wing, Wayne Cable's hamstring gave way nine minutes into the second half. The young Welshman was wincing in clear pain as he was helped off the pitch, to be replaced by Jordan Hall.

 

When Devlin headed an Arnar Guðmundsson cross over the bar in the 81st minute, I began drafting a resignation letter on my notepad. Two minutes later, a huge roar led me to look back towards the City penalty area. Lobont had just parried a fierce shot from Hall, but Devlin drove in the rebound - and not even the Romanian Superman could keep that one out!

 

Incredibly, that wasn't the end of the drama. The Citizens retaliated in the 85th minute, when left-back Darren Tilley found Benayoun in space in our penalty area. The athletic Israeli let fly with his left foot... and clipped the outside of the post. That was as close as City came to the ultimate smash-and-grab victory.

 

Fulham - 1 (Devlin 83)

Manchester City - 1 (Tomasson 1)

Division 1, Attendance 16,521 - POSITIONS: Fulham 17th, Man City 15th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Guðmundsson, Bell, Mitchell, Simpson (Magnusson); Heikkinen (Disler), Schneider; C Edwards, Stewart, Cable (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider.

 

21 shots, 12 on target... and it took us 83 minutes to score. If that doesn't sum up this Fulham team...

 

And what's more, Wayne Cable - one of our most creative outlets - was now out for a month with a hamstring injury. Wayne would be a very dangerous player if he didn't keep getting hurt all the time.

 

Before our final match of the year, I decided to make one last roll of the dice in the transfer market - and sign West Ham's 22-year-old attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke on loan until the end of the season. Cooke is skilful, has great vision, and loves a great long shot.

 

Cooke went straight into the line-up when we visited Norwich, who were just inside the top half. Devlin was unfortunately suspended after picking up five yellow cards, so rising Derek McIntyre went up front on his 18th birthday.

 

29 DECEMBER 2012: Norwich City vs Fulham

The away fans were all excited to see Daniel Cooke make his Fulham debut... but the talented youngster wasn't on the pitch for long. A thigh strain after just eight minutes meant that he was very swiftly replaced by Adrian Disler.

 

The rest of the first half was pretty scrappy, and also included Alan Stewart picking up a yellow card. However, it would end on a much brighter note for the much-maligned Scotsman. Stewart skilfully controlled the ball on the right wing just outside Norwich's penalty area, and he then skimmed it across the box for birthday box Derek McIntyre to drive in the opener!

 

McIntyre's third goal in 10 games would actually be our only shot on target in this match. He did actually find the net again in the 79th minute, but his strike from Disler's assist was ruled out because Adrian had committed a foul in the build-up.

 

Otherwise, the second half was all about Norwich, who had THREE golden opportunities to score. Midfielder Phil Porter's fierce drive in the 53rd minute was met by an outstanding save from John Forde - and two minutes later, midfielders Danny Pugh and Dean Gregory each hit the crossbar in quick succession! Pugh would later pick up a couple of bookings, leading to his dismissal in the 88th minute - and ending any hopes the Canaries had of denying us the win.

 

Norwich City - 0

Fulham - 1 (McIntyre 44)

Division 1, Attendance 19,170 - POSITIONS: Norwich 13th, Fulham 15th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Guðmundsson, Bell, Mitchell, Simpson (Magnusson); Heikkinen (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (Disler), Hall; McIntyre. BOOKED: Stewart, Magnusson.

 

And still we cling on! We're up to 15th place now after three wins from six games... but there's still a significant gulf between us and where we want to be. There's still a lot of work to do.

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of December 2012)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Notts Co                        25   9    1    1    23   8    8    4    2    24   15   56   
2nd     Newcastle                       26   9    2    2    27   8    6    3    4    18   15   50   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Gillingham                      26   11   2    1    25   7    3    3    6    14   19   47   
4th     Tottenham                       26   8    3    3    23   15   5    3    4    24   21   45   
5th     Sunderland                      26   7    4    1    22   9    5    4    5    25   25   44   
6th     Rochdale                        26   9    3    2    30   17   3    5    4    14   16   44   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Bradford                        25   7    3    4    16   12   4    3    4    10   10   39   
8th     Aston Villa                     26   5    6    2    24   17   5    2    6    15   14   38   
9th     Sheff Utd                       26   9    0    3    22   10   2    5    7    15   24   38   
10th    Birmingham                      26   8    3    2    32   17   2    4    7    13   21   37   
11th    West Ham                        26   4    4    6    15   16   7    0    5    19   15   37   
12th    Preston                         25   7    3    3    20   15   2    5    5    14   17   35   
13th    Norwich                         26   5    5    4    18   16   4    3    5    19   21   35   
14th    Charlton                        25   6    5    3    20   12   2    5    4    18   21   34   
15th    Fulham                          26   6    5    1    13   8    2    4    8    14   23   33   
16th    Man City                        25   3    6    4    24   24   4    4    4    13   17   31   
17th    Chesterfield                    26   3    4    5    17   21   3    8    3    20   21   30   
18th    Huddersfield                    26   5    5    2    18   15   3    0    11   15   30   29   
19th    Carlisle                        25   6    1    5    25   20   2    2    9    16   32   27   
20th    Swindon                         26   6    1    5    20   22   1    4    9    17   34   26   
21st    W.B.A.                          26   3    4    5    19   24   3    3    8    16   28   25   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Coventry                        26   5    2    7    28   29   2    1    9    10   27   24   
23rd    Bristol City                    26   3    3    6    17   23   4    0    10   14   30   24   
24th    Blackpool                       26   3    5    5    22   25   0    5    8    13   24   19   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• While just five points separate the top six teams in the Premiership, Everton are just concerned with trying to stay up. Former Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro arrives at Kings Dock as the Toffees' new manager... and promptly loses four of his first five matches, including a 4-1 reverse at Burnley.
• An incredible League Cup Quarter Final between Leeds and Division 2 minnows Shrewsbury finishes 5-5, with Paul Gozzard scoring all FIVE goals for the Shrews! It goes all the way to a penalty shoot-out, which finally ends when Jason Cole misses Shrewsbury's 10th penalty to give Leeds a 10-9 win. Another Division 2 team - Millwall - do make it to the Semi Finals after knocking out Burnley 3-2.
• Borussia Mönchengladbach mount a great comeback to beat Bayern München 3-2 and take top spot in the Bundesliga. As defending champions VfB Stuttgart drop to 6th place, long-time boss Felix Magath finally has enough and storms off to Alavés. Danish coach Jens Bangsbo Andersen arrives in Stuttgart to pick up the pieces.
• After making a promising start to his managerial career at Heerenveen, former Holland striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's services are poached by their Eredivisie rivals Vitesse. Ex-Everton chief Héctor Raúl Cúper quickly resurfaces as the new manager at Ligue 1 strugglers Monaco - and his first big signing is Nantes' in-form striker Richard Labrujère.
• HSV and England midfielder Joe Cole continues his tour of Germany, joining Dortmund for £14million after they sell Tomas Rosicky to Real Madrid for £9million. Leverkusen's long-serving strike partnership is broken up, as Landon Donovan moves to Bayern, and Dimitar Berbatov seeks a new challenge in Italy with sleeping giants Juventus. Parma stay top of Serie A, despite losing their unbeaten record to Lazio.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• British TV mourns a couple of greats. Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore passes away aged 89, ending his record-breaking 55-year stint as presenter of BBC's "The Sky At Night". A few weeks later, pioneering puppeteer Gerry Anderson - who produced "Stingray", "Thunderbirds" and "Captain Scarlet" in the 1960s - dies aged 83.
• “Gangnam Style” by the Seoul-born singer, rapper and horse-rider Psy reaches 1 billion views on YouTube - the first video to do so. Americans soon decide that they’re sick of K-pop and never want to listen to any more South Korean music.
• The world doesn't end on 21 December. Those pesky Mayans...

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2013

A new year is always a great time to make resolutions... which inevitably get broken before you even enter February. But as we go into 2013, I'm going to make a couple of resolutions that I will vow to stick to.

 

During our slide down the Division 1 table at the back end of 2012, some of my players started complaining about my managerial methods. As our results had worsened, I'd become much more consistent in handing out fines for poor performances - sometimes as much as two weeks' wages.

 

There were also concerns about the high turnover of players. I had already signed a dozen senior players since June, meaning that around half of my first-team squad were newcomers. Only a select few players - Wayne Cable, Wayne Hudson and Tom Mølby, plus a bunch of reserves - remained from the side I inherited from Garry Hill a little over two years ago. That's a lot of change in so little time.

 

Issues with squad discipline and constant chopping and changing were not new to me. They were arguably the main reasons why my Dagenham & Redbridge tenure ended the way it did. Now it seemed like history was repeating at Fulham, and I was getting a reputation as a manager with a pretty short fuse.

 

So, my new year's resolutions are to: 1) be more patient with my players and stop fining them for poor performances, and 2) show more loyalty and faith in my squad. On paper, we clearly have a talented squad; it just needs a bit more time to gel together.

 

Because of this, I would now be open to staying at Fulham for at least one more season - even if we can't get back into the play-off conversation. I still believe that, given time, I can help this team realise its potential.

 

Of course, the Fulham fans would have other ideas unless we could build on the promising form we'd shown in December. I still needed to convince them that I was still the right man for the job.

 

Our first match of the year was at home to 11th-placed West Ham - another team that was struggling to live up to expectations. Unfortunately, our captain Florian Schneider twisted his knee on the eve of this London derby, depriving us of a key asset for the next three weeks.

 

1 JANUARY 2013: Fulham vs West Ham United

Fulham pretty much bossed the first half - but West Ham goalkeeper George Forsyth consistently played his cards right. He saved a couple of efforts from Peter Devlin, while stand-in Cottagers captain Arnar Guðmundsson was also kept off the scoresheet.

 

Though the Hammers tried to unsettle us further with some aggressive tackling, we remained unbowed - and eventually broke through eight minutes into the second half. Henning Numme played a killer ball over the top of the West Ham defence and ahead of Devlin, who raced away before half-volleying in the opening goal.

 

The visitors struggled to hit the target as they sought an equaliser, with Dave Nugent perhaps going closest in the 75th minute. Their hopes of a comeback were effectively snuffed out in the 81st minute, when Jordan Hall came off the bench to cross in the assist for Devlin's second goal.

 

And then, two minutes later, another Fulham sub made absolutely sure of all three points. Adrian Disler outjumped his Hammers midfield counterpart Chris Lewington to head in a Carlos Edwards corner, completing a 3-0 home win!

 

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 53,81, Disler 83)

West Ham United - 0

Division 1, Attendance 23,896 - POSITIONS: Fulham 15th, West Ham 13th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Guðmundsson, Bell (Magnusson), Mitchell, Simpson; Heikkinen, Numme; C Edwards, Mølby (Hall), McIntyre (Disler); Devlin. BOOKED: Bell.

 

A truly outstanding second-half performance! That might well be the turning point of our season!

 

A few days later, we went to the Memorial Stadium to face Bristol Rovers in Round 3 of the FA Cup. The Pirates were 14th in Division 2, but their home form wasn't great, so perhaps we would fancy our chances of avoiding an upset?

 

5 JANUARY 2013: Bristol Rovers vs Fulham

Things started brightly enough, with Alan Stewart playing Carlos Edwards through on goal after just three minutes. Sadly, Carlos' shot went well wide... and by the time we launched another attack, the whole complexion of the match had changed.

 

Though Ian Green hit the crossbar in the 12th minute, Bristol Rovers' confidence on the attack grew as time went on. Come the 25th minute, the Gasheads were high as kites. Midfielder Adam Cole put a low cross to the near post, where it was tidily tapped in by Chris Powell. (This Chris Powell is a Welsh striker, by the way. The former England defender must be in his mid-40s now.)

 

After surviving another wayward Edwards shot, the hosts struck again in the 45th minute. A promising strike from Guyanese winger Ashley Letchford was parried by Wayne Hudson, who left Powell with an easy finish from the follow-up. If Wayne wants to be our first-choice goalkeeper again, I'm afraid he'll have to do much better than that...

 

And that was essentially the end of our FA Cup run, which was barely even a walk this time around. Pirates goalkeeper Richard Action hardly saw any in the second half against an incompetent Cottagers attack. Our misery - and Powell's hat-trick - was completed in the 87th minute, when the Welshman swept in a Letchford cross to send Rovers safely into Round 4.

 

Bristol Rovers - 3 (Powell 25,45,87)

Fulham - 0

FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 11,760

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg (Liddle), Bell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Numme; C Edwards (Devlin), Disler, McIntyre (Mølby); Stewart. BOOKED: Devlin, Heikkinen.

 

And just as I'm bigging up this team, we have our traditional cup meltdown. I might struggle to stick to my New Year's resolutions if we have more results like this, lads...

 

Meanwhile, 18-year-old forward Douglas McNeil was attracting interest from Premiership giants Liverpool, who offered us £190,000 to sign him. I turned it down, but perhaps his recent good form for the reserves would soon earn himself a promotion...

 

Next up was a potentially defining Sunday afternoon in Bradford, whose Bantams were punching just outside that all-important top six. Because of results elsewhere the previous day, we knew that victory at Valley Parade would move us to within five points of the play-off places. If we lost, the gap would be 10 points.

 

13 JANUARY 2013: Bradford City vs Fulham

After Wayne Hudson's latest horror show, John Forde's place as our regular goalkeeper was now safer than ever. But despite resisting a number of early Bradford attacks, the Irishman was beaten after just 15 minutes. Former Liverpool and Coventry winger David Thompson's corner delivery was flicked in at the near post by Wales midfielder Andrew Crofts.

 

Ten minutes later, the Bantams took another big step towards the top six by doubling their lead. Fulham's Finnish anchor man Markus Heikkinen was unable to contain Bradford's Danish winger Jacob Larsen, who brushed him aside and made it 2-0.

 

We had everything to do at half-time, and we needed a major shake-up. Wideman Derek McIntyre and playmaker Tom Mølby both looked ineffectual on the attack, so I replaced them with Jordan Hall and Adrian Disler respectively.

 

I would later sub off Heikkinen as well, giving a senior debut to 19-year-old Chris McDonald. That said, Heikkinen stayed on the pitch long enough to help us turn the tide with an excellent assist. His through-ball was finished by his defensive midfield colleague Henning Numme, who celebrated his first Football League goal like only he could! "Ma-ya-hi, ma-ya-hoo..."

 

On the minus side, leading striker Peter Devlin was struggling to make an impact. His first shot at goal didn't come until the 67th minute, when he struck Alan Stewart's corner against the bar. Devlin tried again 10 minutes later... and this time, he volleyed Numme's cross sweetly into the net to save a 2-2 draw!

 

Bradford City - 2 (Crofts 15, Larsen 25)

Fulham - 2 (Numme 63, Devlin 77)

Division 1, Attendance 15,938 - POSITIONS: Bradford 8th, Fulham 15th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Guðmundsson, Mitchell, Magnusson, Simpson; Heikkinen (McDonald), Numme; Stewart, Mølby (Disler), McIntyre (Hall); Devlin.

 

Ah yes, a draw! That makes it a 7-point gap between us and the top six.

 

Peter Devlin's equaliser was his 16th goal already the season - two more than our leading scorer Anestis Agritis managed in the whole of last term! In fact, only Charlton's Graeme McCulloch and Chesterfield's Lars Iver Strand were now ahead of Devlin in the Division 1 goal charts!

 

Coincidentally, McCulloch would await us in our fourth (and final) match of the month. Charlton arrived at Craven Cottage sitting just one point ahead of us in 13th, thanks partly to defensive issues and an injury crisis.

 

Loanee attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke returned from injury to make his second Fulham appearance, which hopefully would last longer than the eight minutes he managed at Norwich. Schneider was also back in the squad but not yet fit to start, which meant left-back Arnar Guðmundsson retained the captaincy. At right-back, Luke Liddle made his first start in over two months.

 

19 JANUARY 2013: Fulham vs Charlton Athletic

Graeme McCulloch showed his marksmanship for Charlton after just three minutes. Addicks winger Diego Fernando Gavilán dribbled clear of Cottagers captain Arnar Guðmundsson and floated a cross to the Scottish striker, who headed in his 20th goal in all competitions this season.

 

McCulloch was also proving to be a nemesis at the other end. Charlton's goalkeeper David McCulloch (no relation) saved several Fulham efforts throughout the first half. The only one he couldn't came in the 16th minute, as Daniel Cooke marked his Fulham home debut with an excellent equalising finish! Peter Devlin also found the net in the 30th minute but was flagged offside.

 

I tried to freshen up our attack at half-time, replacing winger Jordan Hall with 18-year-old debutant Douglas McNeil. Sure enough, after 63 minutes, Douglas scored... for Charlton. The Addicks had subbed on a talented Scottish forward of their own in Chris Harvey, whose through-ball was blasted in by former Aston Villa midfielder Scott Douglas.

 

At 2-1 down, we tried everything we could to get back in the game. I switched to a narrow 4-3-1-2, with McNeil playing just behind Alan Stewart and Peter Devlin. Captain Florian Schneider came on for the final 20 minutes - his knee still heavily bandaged. Cooke tried an audacious bicycle kick that went well wide. Stewart even began shooting wildly from anywhere he could, prompting me to cry out, "What's wrong with you, Al? Why are we paying you over 20 grand a week?!"

 

With eight minutes remaining, Stewart had the ball in Charlton's penalty area, after receiving an incisive pass from Cooke. But instead of having another instant pop at goal, he spotted an unmarked Peter Devlin, and rolled the ball across for the Irishman to hammer in our second equaliser!

 

Then, in the 90th minute, came a glimpse of Scottish magic I'd been waiting to see for so long. Upon receiving the ball from McNeil on the left wing, Stewart effortlessly dribbled past first Gavilán and then Scott Douglas before smashing in a shot that triggered a mini-earthquake in SW6! A HUGE roar went up across Craven Cottage as we completed another great Fulham fightback!

 

Fulham - 3 (Cooke 16, Devlin 82, Stewart 90)

Charlton Athletic - 2 (G McCulloch 3, Douglas 63)

Division 1, Attendance 31,477 - POSITIONS: Fulham 14th, Charlton 15th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Liddle, Mitchell, Bell, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Numme (Schneider); Stewart, Cooke, Hall (McNeil); Devlin.

 

THAT is why we're paying Alan Stewart over 20 grand a week!

 

And did you notice the attendance? Craven Cottage usually isn't even half-full for matches, but this was the first time we'd got over 30,000 people through the gate since 2004!

 

Hopefully those new (or returning) fans will stick around for the rest of the season and spur us up the table. Believe me, we're going to need their support!

 

Despite the early FA Cup defeat, it had been another encouraging month on the league front. 18-year-old defensive midfielder Henning Numme had started all our matches, and the Norwegian's consistently good performances saw him named as Division 1's Young Player of the Month. Long may that good form continue, Henning!

Edited March 30 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of January 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Notts Co                        29   9    3    2    26   12   8    4    3    24   16   58   
2nd     Gillingham                      29   12   2    1    28   8    4    3    7    16   21   53   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Newcastle                       29   9    3    2    28   9    6    3    6    19   18   51   
4th     Tottenham                       29   9    3    3    27   15   5    3    6    25   24   48   
5th     Sunderland                      29   8    4    2    25   12   5    4    6    25   26   47   
6th     Sheff Utd                       29   11   0    3    28   14   3    5    7    19   26   47   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Rochdale                        29   9    4    2    31   18   3    6    5    18   21   46   
8th     Aston Villa                     29   7    6    2    26   17   5    3    6    16   15   45   
9th     Bradford                        29   7    4    4    18   14   5    4    5    14   13   44   
10th    Preston                         29   8    3    3    25   17   3    7    5    18   20   43   
11th    Birmingham                      29   9    3    2    34   18   2    5    8    18   27   41   
12th    Norwich                         29   5    5    5    20   19   6    3    5    23   23   41   
13th    West Ham                        29   5    4    6    16   16   7    0    7    19   19   40   
14th    Fulham                          29   8    5    1    19   10   2    5    8    16   25   40   
15th    Charlton                        29   6    6    3    24   16   3    5    6    24   28   38   
16th    Man City                        29   4    6    5    26   27   5    4    5    17   20   37   
17th    Chesterfield                    29   4    4    6    21   26   4    8    3    23   23   36   
18th    Carlisle                        29   8    2    5    32   23   2    2    10   17   35   34   
19th    Swindon                         29   8    1    5    24   24   1    4    10   17   38   32   
20th    Huddersfield                    29   5    6    3    19   17   3    1    11   19   34   31   
21st    Bristol City                    29   5    3    6    23   26   4    0    11   16   35   30   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    W.B.A.                          29   3    5    6    21   27   3    3    9    17   31   26   
23rd    Coventry                        29   5    2    8    30   33   2    2    10   12   31   25   
24th    Blackpool                       29   3    6    6    24   29   0    6    8    15   26   21   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Liverpool's bid to win a first league championship since 1990 suffer two major blows. Craig Bellamy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribéry all score in a 3-0 defeat by Premiership leaders Chelsea. A few days later, Falcao's 87th-minute header saves 2nd-placed Arsenal a 2-2 draw with the Reds at Highbury. Falcao clearly doesn't miss his former strike partner Francis Jeffers, who leaves the Gunners after 11-and-a-half years to join Rangers.
• Following Martin O'Neill's departure just before Christmas, Sheffield Wednesday are pulled away from the Premiership relegation zone by their new Brazilian manager Fabrício Nogueira. The former PSV assistant manager's first major signing at Hillsborough is the similarly exotic Gareth Barry from Sunderland.
• As Barcelona suffer a rare La Liga defeat at Celta, one of their main rivals is going through more serious problems. Star striker Fernando Torres begins inexplicably missing sitters, and a 2-1 home loss to Valencia leaves Atlético down in 9th place. Barely nine months into his tenure, head coach John Collins is sacked by Los Colchoneros.
• Brazil striker Wellington da Rosa also struggles for goals as Nürnberg slip towards the Bundesliga relegation zone. Their latest loss comes at Dortmund, who return to the summit with a David Villa penalty. Villa's 15th goal of the season moves the Spaniard four clear of his nearest challenger for 'Der Goldene Stiefel' - Freiburg striker Emanuel Villa (no relation).
• A string of 2-0 wins takes Milan back to the top of Serie A, as frontrunners Parma fall to a shock defeat at Gualdo. Juventus continue their battle against relegation by signing former Italy full-backs Aimo Diana and Cristian Zaccardo... and Inter's Brazilian striker Afonso Alves.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• After years of denials, American cyclist Lance Armstrong confesses in a TV interview with Oprah Winfrey that he doped during all seven of his Tour de France victories. Armstrong was stripped of his titles last August after a United States Anti-Doping Agency report concluded he was the ringleader of “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen”.
• Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor makes more history by winning a sweet 16th World Darts Championship. He survives a major scare and wins 7-4 against Dutch youngster Michael van Gerwen - the most-feared bald man in sport since Stig Tøfting.
• Calm down, dear; it's only an obituary! The British film director, producer and car insurance salesman Michael Winner passes away from cancer aged 77.
• After building stores in every square mile of Great Britain, supermarket giant Tesco invades Denmark on 21 January. The war lasts for just five hours, and Copenhagen is left in ruins.

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2013

February began with the news that two of our most exciting attacking talents had signed new contracts. After showing plenty of promise in his first 13 senior games, 18-year-old Derek McIntyre was rewarded with a long-term deal running until 2016.

 

And after weeks of tough negotiations, Wayne Cable - also 18 - finally signed a four-and-a-half-year contract worth £6,500 per week. The main sticking point was that Cable's agent insisted on a minimum-fee release clause of just £1.3million - a ridiculously low fee for such a gifted winger. Mr 10% eventually backed down, and a deal was soon agreed.

 

The Welsh wizard had missed the whole of January due to a hamstring injury, but he was back in action as we kicked off February with a tough game at Priestfield. Peter Reid's Gillingham had gradually climbed the Division 1 standings over recent months and were now in 2nd place.

 

1 FEBRUARY 2013: Gillingham vs Fulham

It was a rough start to the match for Peter Devlin, who fired two shots wide before being floored by Gillingham captain Curtis Woodhouse. The 32-year-old midfielder somehow escaped with only a yellow card, but the punishment didn't end there. Our midfield captain Florian Schneider drove in an excellent set-piece from 25 yards, and we were already 1-0 up!

 

Devlin's luck continued to desert him later in the first half. His best chance in the 40th minute was pushed behind by Gills goalkeeper Simon Mason, but that did win us a corner... and give Schneider another chance to show his prowess from dead balls. The German whipped a corner towards our centre-back Simon Bell, who was too strong for Gills left-back Mark Armstrong and headed us into a 2-0 lead!

 

The hosts' hopes of getting back in the game appeared to take a serious blow in the 57th minute, when winger Ivan Guerrero twisted his knee. Two minutes later, though, they did strike back. Substitute Leslie Hughes put an excellent cross into the danger zone for Woodhouse, who floated like a butterfly before stinging like a bee!

 

If the Priestfield faithful were expecting their team to kick on in the final half-hour, though, they were very disappointed. Schneider didn't put a foot wrong in defensive midfield, denying the Gills any further scoring opportunities as we held onto our 2-1 lead. In truth, we should have won by more goals, but Mason made several excellent saves for our opponents.

 

Gillingham - 1 (Woodhouse 59)

Fulham - 2 (Schneider 17, Bell 40)

Division 1, Attendance 5,033 - POSITIONS: Gillingham 2nd, Fulham 11th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Liddle, Mitchell (Magnusson), Bell, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (Mølby), Cable (McNeil); Devlin. BOOKED: Mitchell.

 

A few months ago, we would never have won that match. But win it we had - and we were now just four points behind the top six!

 

We had to wait until the following Sunday before our next home game against relegation-battling Coventry - by which point the gap had grown back to seven points. We had to keep up the momentum here, otherwise that great win in Kent would have been for nothing.

 

10 FEBRUARY 2013: Fulham vs Coventry City

Peter Devlin might not have had much good fortune at Priestfield - but back at Craven Cottage, he looked back to his best. The Irish hotshot struck after 18 minutes, scoring a magnificent header from an even better cross by vice-captain Arnar Guðmundsson.

 

21-year-old right-back Ian Ferguson looked like the weakest link in this shaky Coventry defence, and we exposed him again just six minutes later. This time, it was Wayne Cable who terrorised Ferguson out wide, before his byline cross brought Devlin another goal.

 

Shola Ameobi headed over a chance to pull one goal back for City just before half-time. Three minutes into the second period, though, the outcome was put beyond any doubt. The Sky Blues might as well have put Jimmy Hill in goal rather than Michael Hill, as the young Crystal Palace loanee dropped a Cable shot right in front of Devlin. You can probably guess what happened next.

 

Devlin celebrated his first competitive hat-trick for Fulham (he also scored three in a pre-season friendly against Southampton) and was then subbed off to a standing ovation. His replacement Jordan Hall couldn't add to our haul, and neither could the famously goal-shy Alan Stewart, but I was more than happy with a 3-0 win.

 

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 18,24,48)

Coventry City - 0

Division 1, Attendance 15,112 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Coventry 22nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Liddle), Ifil, Bell, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (Mølby), Cable; Devlin (Hall).

 

That made it five victories in six league games - and Peter Devlin was the first player in Division 1 to hit 20 goals this season! Who could have imagined a year ago that the top scorer in the division would be playing for Fulham?

 

If I told you that our next opponents' previous match ended in a 5-3 away win at Sunderland, you could probably guess that I was talking about Birmingham. The division's top scorers might have dropped to 12th place, but Paul Lambert's Blues would still pose us an almighty challenge - particularly at St Andrew's, where they'd scored 35 goals in 15 games.

 

16 FEBRUARY 2013: Birmingham City vs Fulham

My record against Birmingham was not great, but we almost took the lead within the first 10 minutes. Markus Heikkinen was unlucky to head Florian Schneider's corner against the bar, before our central attacking duo of Daniel Cooke and Peter Devlin each had shots saved by City goalkeeper Matt Bates.

 

By the 25th minute, though, Brum were up and running. Fabio Campese was fast turning into a Cottagers nemesis, so I cannot explain why the Italian marksman was left unmarked when strike partner Jimmy Bradley played an excellent through-ball for him to open the scoring.

 

Neither Simon Bell nor Jerel Ifil in the centre of our defence seemed to know who should be marking Campese, and who should be taking care of Bradley. Amid the confusion, they lost Fabio again in the 36th minute, as he poked Tom Youngs' square ball past a helpless John Forde to give Birmingham a 2-0 half-time lead.

 

We looked unusually disorganised at the back, but our goalscoring issues were not new. By the end of the match, we had mustered 16 shots at goal, only half of which tested Bates in the home goal. Only one of those found the net - and even that was a penalty, which Jordan Hall converted in the 58th minute after Devlin was fouled in the area by Claude Davis.

 

By contrast, Birmingham were ruthless, and they sealed the win with a third goal just before full-time. No, it wasn't captain Lewis Buxton who scored it. Instead, it was 25-year-old defensive midfielder Danny Patterson who rounded off a magnificent Blues performance by converting Benedict Vilakazi's assist.

 

Birmingham City - 3 (Campese 25,36, Patterson 85)

Fulham - 1 (Hall pen58)

Division 1, Attendance 25,794 - POSITIONS: Birmingham 9th, Fulham 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Ifil, Bell, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Heikkinen (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (Disler), Hall; Devlin.

 

I cannot give any excuses for that performance. You HAVE to be clinical when you're up against a team with Birmingham's attacking threat, otherwise they will destroy you.

 

Let's hope that was just a hiccup, rather than the start of a terminal downward spiral. We'd lost just one home league game so far this season (against Birmingham, as it happens), but 5th-placed Sheffield United were looking to change when they arrived at the Cottage on Tuesday.

 

19 FEBRUARY 2013: Fulham vs Sheffield United

After conceding three goals from four shots on target against Birmingham, John Forde was much more alert here. The Irish shotstopper pushed away a 4th-minute drive from Sheffield United winger Raffaele Mazzocco, before catching a couple of headers from striker Delroy Facey.

 

The Blades' goalkeeper Gordon Ross was also looking sharp. Carlos Edwards was odds-on to give us the lead in the 27th minute, but Ross somehow got a glove to not only the winger's shot, but also the rebound from attacking midfielder Tom Mølby. Other than that, though, we created almost nothing going forward, and the ineffective Mølby was subbed at half-time.

 

Our fortunes didn't improve much after the break. The only other save Ross needed to make was in the 54th minute, from a rather weak header by Alan '2 Goals In 30 League Games' Stewart. Meanwhile, Peter Devlin didn't even have so much as a sniff at goal. No wonder, then, that this match ended in a stalemate.

 

Fulham - 0

Sheffield United - 0

Division 1, Attendance 12,841 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Sheff Utd 5th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Liddle, Mitchell, Bell, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Numme, Schneider; C Edwards (Cable), Mølby (Stewart), Hall; Devlin. BOOKED: Mølby.

 

One of my New Year's resolutions was to be more patient with my players, but I could no longer stay patient with Tom Mølby. Another lacklustre display told me that the Danish attacking midfielder's limited off-the-ball awareness was stifling our attacks - and that keeping him in the team was doing us more harm than good. I reluctantly put Tom up for sale, with an asking price of around £500,000.

 

Another player who tested my patience was goalkeeper John Forde. When the Irishman turned up for training on Thursday morning, I could tell straight away he was hungover. When I heard he'd gone against team orders and gone out drinking on Wednesday night, I was furious.

 

I frogmarched Forde to my office and gave him an official warning for unprofessional conduct. Not a fine, just a warning. John went apoplectic - and asked for a transfer!

 

I said no, and Forde again asked to leave - another FIVE times, in fact. Only then did I fine John a fortnight's wages... and order him to train with the reserve team until he apologised.

 

Naturally, Forde wouldn't take this lying down, and he took his complaints into the dressing room. Several players - most notably Cable, Jerel Ifil and Henning Numme - argued against my treatment of Forde and threatened to leave as well.

 

Instead of backing down, I doubled down... and banished those players to the reserves as well! I don't care if you're a star player; nobody gets away with undermining my authority!

 

With Fulham in a state of civil war once again, we headed off to the north-east for a huge match against 3rd-placed Newcastle. This was Wayne Hudson's first league game between the posts since his horror show against Birmingham five months ago - but with his rival on the naughty step, now would be a great time for Wayne to rediscover his best form.

 

23 FEBRUARY 2013: Newcastle United vs Fulham

This match pitted us against one of our former loanees. Austrian youth international Markus Saler was a failure at Fulham, but the ex-Manchester City youngster had emerged as one of the league's top right-backs since his summer transfer to Newcastle. Mind you, Saler still managed to sail a shot over the bar in the 16th minute of a dreadful first half.

 

Though centre-back Peter Mitchell was doing a fine job of shutting the Magpies out, our hosts looked rather more threatening in the second half. Luckily, our number 1 Wayne Hudson was back to his old reliable self, saving two shots from Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and another from local left-winger Jay Collins.

 

At the other end, our attacking threat was almost non-existent, thanks largely to the robust tackling of one particular Geordie central defender. The 'man of the match' for this 0-0 draw at St James' Park was... James James. No, really. Try saying that after a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale!

 

Newcastle United - 0

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 44,939 - POSITIONS: Newcastle 3rd, Fulham 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Bell, Simpson (Magnusson); Heikkinen (Disler), Schneider; Stewart (McIntyre), Cooke, Hall; Devlin. BOOKED: Mitchell.

 

A draw at St James' Park wasn't a terrible result, but this was now three games without a win. Just as it seemed that we we were about to propel ourselves back into play-off contention, we would finish February with an eight-point deficit on 6th-placed Bradford.

 

I hope you're pleased with yourself, John Forde. Your stupidity and arrogance has probably cost your team a shot at promotion.

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of February 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Notts Co                        34   10   4    2    28   13   9    4    5    27   20   65   
2nd     Tottenham                       34   11   3    3    31   16   8    3    6    32   25   63   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Newcastle                       34   11   4    2    33   11   6    5    6    21   20   60   
4th     Gillingham                      34   14   2    2    34   11   4    4    8    17   23   60   
5th     Sheff Utd                       34   14   0    3    37   16   4    6    7    20   26   60   
6th     Bradford                        34   10   4    4    26   16   6    4    6    17   15   56   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Aston Villa                     34   9    6    2    31   19   6    4    7    22   21   55   
8th     Rochdale                        34   10   5    2    41   23   4    6    7    22   27   53   
9th     Sunderland                      34   9    4    3    30   17   6    4    8    30   31   53   
10th    Birmingham                      34   11   3    3    39   22   3    5    9    24   33   50   
11th    Preston                         34   10   3    4    29   22   3    8    6    20   24   50   
12th    Fulham                          34   9    6    1    22   10   3    6    9    19   29   48   
13th    Charlton                        34   7    6    5    28   21   4    6    6    31   34   45   
14th    Norwich                         34   6    6    6    24   23   6    3    7    24   26   45   
15th    West Ham                        34   5    5    8    20   22   8    1    7    22   21   45   
16th    Chesterfield                    34   6    4    6    26   28   5    8    5    28   30   45   
17th    Carlisle                        34   8    3    6    33   26   4    3    10   23   39   42   
18th    Man City                        34   4    8    6    29   33   5    4    7    19   30   39   
19th    Huddersfield                    34   6    7    3    22   18   3    1    14   24   42   35   
20th    Coventry                        34   7    2    9    37   39   3    2    11   14   35   34   
21st    Swindon                         34   8    2    6    28   29   1    4    13   19   44   33   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Bristol City                    34   6    3    7    25   29   4    0    14   16   44   33   
23rd    W.B.A.                          34   5    5    7    27   28   3    3    11   17   35   32   
24th    Blackpool                       34   3    6    8    25   32   0    7    10   16   31   22   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Manchester United set up a League Cup Final showdown with rivals Leeds after making light work of Division 2 underdogs Millwall in the Semis. Things don't go so well for Hélio dos Anjos in the Premiership, as the Red Devils slip to 4th... and ex-United midfielder Darren Fletcher gets FOUR goal contributions in a 5-1 win for Ipswich!
• Arsenal cruise into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League with two group games to spare, as Falcao scores twice in a 3-0 trouncing of Toulouse. However, Chelsea's dreams are dashed as they suffer back-to-back defeats against VfB Stuttgart. Also going straight through to the last eight are Serie A giants Parma and Roma.
• HSV's proud record as Bundesliga ever-presents is under threat after a 3-0 loss to leaders Dortmund. Under-pressure boss Mustafa Denizli legs it to Atlético Madrid, and Eric Gerets becomes the ninth manager in a decade to have a taste of 'Der Hamburgers'. Meanwhile, Stuttgart stay in the title hunt with a 6-0 demolition of Bayern München, whose rookie goalkeeper Michael Barth is sent for an early bath after upending Argentine midfielder Martín Franco.
• After a surprise defeat in Nîmes, Edgardo Bauza takes Marseille back to the top of Ligue 1 with a much more convincing 5-2 win over Bordeaux. 48 hours later, Bauza stuns Les Phocéens by taking over at Málaga, who are fighting relegation from La Liga... but they do have Josep Guardiola as their assistant manager, so there's that...
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic tears the Scottish Premier League apart as Rangers romp to a seven-point lead over Celtic... and a 22-point lead on last season's shock champions Hibernian. Hibs fans put the blame on 35-year-old former England and Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, who confesses that he is allergic to league titles.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Pope Benedict XVI gets tired of poping around in ridiculously large headwear - and steps down as head of the Catholic Church. The 85-year-old is the first Pope to resign for nearly 600 years.
• “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Antipodean singers Gotye and Kimbra is named Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards. Gotye then inexplicably cuts himself off from the pop music scene.
• Netflix releases the first season of its new political thriller “House of Cards”, starring Kevin Spacey as an amoral Democrat congressman named Frank Underwood. It is essentially an American adaptation of the 1990 BBC series of the same name.
• 29-year-old South African model Reeva Steenkamp is shot dead in her bathroom. On Valentine's Day. By her boyfriend - seven-time Paralymic sprinting champion Oscar Pistorius. Oscar claims he had mistaken Reeva for an intruder but is charged with her murder.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2013

The aftershocks of my bust-up with goalkeeper John Forde were still being felt across Craven Cottage as we moved into March.

 

Forde was still sulking in the reserves, having been banished from the first-team until he said sorry for his unprofessional behaviour off the pitch. His dressing-room allies - including Wayne Cable and Jerel Ifil - were also frozen out, though young defensive midfielder Henning Numme had since apologised and returned to the fold.

 

Some people might say that I'm over-reacting, or that I'm taking a huge risk by dropping key players when Fulham are in the middle of a play-off battle. I say that I'm putting the team first by only selecting players who are fully committed to the Cottagers cause - and excluding anyone who might be a bad influence.

 

It was now more important than ever that we pulled together. Having taken just two points and one goal from our last three matches, we now found ourselves eight points off the play-off places. We really couldn't afford to lose much more ground, otherwise our promotion dreams would be dead for another year... and I would potentially be out of a job.

 

We kicked off March at home to a team in a similar predicament to ours. David Moyes' Preston were just above us in 11th, and another season of mid-table mediocrity beckoned for the Lilywhites unless they could find some consistency quickly.

 

2 MARCH 2013: Fulham vs Preston North End

We had a Liddle problem after just 10 minutes, when right-back Luke Liddle was booked for a clumsy challenge on young Preston midfielder John Murray. Six minutes later, the Lilywhites gave us an even bigger problem. David Healy's fierce shot was too hot for Wayne Hudson to handle, and 20-year-old Murray drove in the rebound.

 

After taking an early lead, David Moyes instructed his team to slow play down and frustrate us. Goalkeeper Rob Thomas certainly looked smooth in the 42nd minute, tipping away a Peter Devlin shot that could have pulled us back level before half-time.

 

Sadly, we just couldn't get going in the second half. Preston not only consolidated their advantage, but they almost strengthened it in the 77th minute, when striker Jamie Berry unluckily hit the woodwork. At the other end, Thomas showed why he was one of the highest-rated keepers in Division 1, producing an excellent shutout performance to inflict our second home league defeat of the season. Or to put it another way, our 3-0 loss to Birmingham in September was lonely no more.

 

Fulham - 0

Preston North End - 1 (Murray 16)

Division 1, Attendance 13,852 - POSITIONS: Fulham 13th, Preston 10th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle (Guðmundsson), Mitchell, Bell, Simpson; Heikkinen (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Cooke, Hall (McNeil); Devlin. BOOKED: Liddle.

 

That's four games without a win, and three games without scoring. We were choking, pure and simple.

 

We now simply HAD to win our midweek match at West Brom, who were second-from-bottom and facing relegation to Division 2. Peter Devlin had gone completely off the boil since scoring his 20th league goal of the season, so I dropped him to the bench and replaced him up front with Alan Stewart. Yes, that's the same Alan Stewart who'd scored two league goals this term.

 

6 MARCH 2013: West Bromwich Albion vs Fulham

After just nine minutes, we were already off to a flyer. After Alan Stewart's dribbling ability snookered the West Brom defender Barry O'Sullivan, our Scottish forward selflessly squared the ball for attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke to finish.

 

The Baggies thought they'd equalised in the 14th minute, but Neil Mellor's diving header was ruled out for offside. We then recovered from that scare to score another goal almost instantly. Stewart went from provider to goalscorer, volleying in a lob from captain Florian Schneider to make it 2-0 Fulham.

 

After that, though, we lost a bit of focus. Mellor headed the ball into Wayne Hudson's net again in the 17th minute - and this time, there was no offside flag to rule out his finish from teenager David Eaton's cross. Albion then threatened an equaliser on 29 minutes, when left-winger Thomas Holt smashed in a shot that Hudson managed to push away just in time.

 

We went into half-time with a narrow (and somewhat shaky) 2-1 lead... but even the cagey opening stages of the second half didn't predict what was to come. After gradually increasing our attacking efforts, we bagged a third goal on 67 minutes, as Stewart doubled his tally from Simon Bell's cheeky lofted ball.

 

And then the floodgates burst wide open. First, Norwegian teenager Atle Iversen came off the bench to blast in our fourth goal after 76 minutes. Six minutes after that, Schneider was the next game on the scoresheet - the German floating a free-kick into the top corner after substitute Peter Devlin was shoved by Holt.

 

Devlin had not scored in four games, but this was the perfect game for our leading scorer to snap out of his rut. Fittingly, he completed the scoring in stoppage time, with a diving header from Iversen's flick-on! That made it a remarkable 6-1 win for Fulham - the Cottagers' most comprehensive victory since beating Watford 5-0 on Boxing Day 2000!

 

West Bromwich Albion - 1 (Mellor 17)

Fulham - 6 (Cooke 9, Stewart 15,67, Iversen 76, Schneider 82, Devlin 90)

Division 1, Attendance 19,221 - POSITIONS: West Brom 23rd, Fulham 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Guðmundsson (Liddle), Mitchell, Bell, Simpson; Numme, Schneider; C Edwards (Iversen), Cooke, Hall; Stewart (Devlin). BOOKED: Stewart.

 

Okay, who had 6-1 away win on their bingo card? We had started the night as the lowest scorers in Division 1... and now we were only the sixth-lowest scorers!

 

Was that yet another false dawn, though, or had we genuinely found a winning formula? We would get a better idea when we returned to Craven Cottage to take on Huddersfield, who were in 18th. In other words, their defence probably wasn't going to fold like West Brom's.

 

9 MARCH 2013: Fulham vs Huddersfield Town

Peter Devlin was back in the starting XI after his goalscoring cameo... and after barely three minutes, the Irishman was already firing. He applied an expert finish to a first-time cross from 18-year-old left-forward Derek McIntyre, who after scoring three goals earlier this season now had his first senior assist!

 

Wayne Hudson did his best to stave off an early Huddersfield attack in the 11th minute, saving Halldór Helgason's free-kick as well as Steven Caldwell's follow-up strike. Six minutes after almost losing our advantage, though, Alan Stewart enhanced it with a pinpoint header from Florian Schneider's corner. 2-0 to the Cottagers!

 

But then, in the 28th minute, came a reminder that a 2-0 lead is a dangerous one. Fulham midfielder Henning Numme tried to snuff out a Terriers counter-attack with a robust challenge on David Pounder, only to see John-Joseph Melligan retake possession and blast home from distance. Melligan never found the net during a brief loan spell he had with my Dagenham & Redbridge team several years ago - but naturally, that was his first goal for Huddersfield this season.

 

Melligan haunted me again four minutes later, when his right-wing cross was headed home by young left-winger Danny Ashford. I'm sure Ashford's goal would have thrilled Simpson (not Terry), but our lead was certainly not "solid as a rock" anymore! It was now 2-2, and we were back to square one!

 

I made my feelings perfectly clear to the players at half-time, and subbed off the hapless right-back Luke Liddle in favour of Arnar Guðmundsson. Arnar restored some stability to our defence, while another key player took it upon himself to get us back ahead. Devlin made on a devilish run at goal in the 59th minute, gliding past Terriers captain Caldwell before driving in his second goal of the afternoon!

 

Devlin couldn't make it a hat-trick in the 65th minute, volleying McIntyre's flick-on well over the bar. McIntyre then hit the post before Huddersfield had their best opportunity to steal a point. Three minutes from full-time, Spanish sub Xavier Rivero was at full stretch to try and reach Ashford's cross... but he didn't quite get it on target, and we lived to take all three points.

 

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 3,59, Stewart 17)

Huddersfield Town - 2 (Melligan 28, Ashford 32)

Division 1, Attendance 12,691 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Huddersfield 18th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle (Guðmundsson), Mitchell, Bell, Simpson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart (Iversen), Cooke (Disler), McIntyre; Devlin.

 

Those back-to-back wins had propelled us up to 11th - just five points off the top six.

 

Meanwhile, Simon Bell's latest solid display at the back convinced me that I should make the central defender's loan deal from Kidderminster permanent. We agreed a £200,000 deal with the Daggers, and Bell agreed a long-term contract... but we now needed to raise the funds to complete the transfers.

 

For starters, I sold 17-year-old winger Justin Clark to Millwall for £350,000, plus 15% of his next transfer fee. Clark was undoubtedly a fine prospect, but he was also one of the reserve players who complained about my treatment of Forde, so I didn't mind letting him go.

 

Speaking of Forde, he was still in a huff... but Cable and Ifil had both calmed down, so they were back in the squad for the home match against relegation candidates Bristol City. Swedish right-back Thomas Friberg also returned, having missed the last few games with a shoulder injury.

 

20 MARCH 2013: Fulham vs Bristol City

Last season, Fulham made a habit of scoring decisive goals in the late stages... but now we were gaining a reputation for striking early! Wayne Cable marked his return to the line-up in style, skilfully flicking the ball onto Peter Devlin deep in the Bristol City area. Devlin did the rest, and we were 1-0 up after just 10 minutes!

 

Eight minutes, City manager Jimmy Quinn's decision to play 35-year-old Matt Jansen in midfield and 37-year-old David Beckham as an anchor man backfired spectacularly. Cable laid on another assist for Devlin, whose pace proved too much for the Robins' geriatric midfielders as he scored his 25th goal this season!

 

We could have completely blown our opponents away later in the first half. Cable's acceleration and creativity was tearing their young right-back Gary Moran to pieces, and he almost notched up a third assist just before the break. Unfortunately, Markus Heikkinen could only fire it against the woodwork, and we had to settle for 'just' a 2-0 lead at the interval.

 

Early in the second half, Quinn finally realised his mistake, subbing Beckham off for a midfielder who actually had the pace and strength to defend properly. Things were going better for another of the Robins' experienced internationals, mind. Captain Rory Fallon led his team back into contention on 54 minutes, as the former New Zealand striker poked in Mike Holland's square ball to halve our advantage.

 

Our younger players could have let their heads drop after that setback... but Cable certainly didn't. The Welsh wonder completed his hat-trick of assists just two minutes later, setting up a volley for Daniel Cooke. Cable then came off to rapturous applause from the Fulham fans in the 63rd minute, after getting his own name on the scoresheet with a header from Alan Stewart's cross.

 

While our dangerman was getting a well-earned rest, Bristol City's troubles weren't completely over. Italian forward Andrea Di Napoli was already on a yellow card when a frustrated trip on Simon Bell in the 69th minute earned him another. The Robins would have to finish the game with 10 men...

 

...but so would Fulham! For reasons only Wayne Hudson knows, our goalkeeper decided to get himself an early shower by wiping Richie Wellens out in our penalty area in the 84th minute. That meant 18-year-old rookie Craig Price had to come off the bench and go in goal! Incredibly, Craig's first act in senior football was to tip away a penalty from former England star Jansen - and keep our winning scoreline at 4-1!

 

Fulham - 4 (Devlin 10,18, Cooke 56, Cable 63)

Bristol City - 1 (Fallon 54)

Division 1, Attendance 13,750 - POSITIONS: Fulham 10th, Bristol City 22nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg, Mitchell, Bell, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Schneider; Stewart, Cooke, Cable (Disler); Devlin (Price). SENT OFF: Hudson.

 

The play-offs were almost within reach. With eight matches to go, just two points now separated us from Rochdale in 6th.

 

However, Wayne Hudson's red card - and his forthcoming three-match ban - had given me a headache in goal? Do I kiss and make up with John Forde and rehabilitate him into the team? Or would that penalty save from 18-year-old Craig Price convince me to give him a run-out at the most intense stage of the season?

 

It wasn't a decision I would have to make immediately. Hudson was still available for our next away game, against a wildly inconsistent Chesterfield team.

 

Sadly, Bell was not in the squad, as he had been forced to return to Kidderminster after his four-month loan deal had expired. Despite raising some more funds for a permanent transfer by selling another player, we couldn't get his registration through to the FA before the transfer deadline. Bloody fax machines. Who's still using those in 2013?

 

That sale was 19-year-old striker Michael Butler, who was poached by Liverpool for £500,000 plus an attractive 20% sell-on fee. The hot prospect was also wanted by Bolton, Ipswich and Manchester United... but as a lifelong Reds supporter, he jumped at the opportunity to move to Anfield. Butler might have only scored 3 goals in 41 competitive games for Fulham, but it's always sad to see one of our fledglings leave the nest.

 

Bell's exit meant that Ifil made his first start at centre-back for over a month when we travelled to Derbyshire. 20-year-old right-back Graham Edwards also returned to the first-team, as I had been very impressed by the rapid improvements he'd made in training.

 

30 MARCH 2013: Chesterfield vs Fulham

Unfortunately, we got a very early taste of our own medicine from Bryan Robson's Spireites. Chesterfield wing-back Chong-Goog Song took the ball to our byline and then crossed to striker John Miles, who outjumped Graham Edwards to head home.

 

By the 16th minute, I really was wishing we still had Simon Bell in defence. It was his namesake Leon Bell who doubled the hosts' lead, blasting home a skilful chip from Danish playmaker Matthew Christensen.

 

After wasting a host of goalscoring chances, it took us until three minutes from half-time to peg one back. Alan Stewart continued his hot streak with a fourth goal in as many matches, heading a Peter Devlin cross in at the near post! Long gone were the days where Stewart couldn't even hit a cow's rear end with a banjo!

 

Also long gone were the days where Wayne Hudson was an ultra-reliable goalkeeper. Wayne didn't try any kamikaze attacks this time, but his positioning when Chris Carruthers fired a long-range shot goalwards in the 49th minute was almost suicidal. Suffice to say, Chesterfield were now 3-1 up and cruising.

 

In fairness, Henning Numme's introduction in midfield for Markus Heikkinen did give us some extra counter-attacking impetus during the second half. Numme's incisive direct passing created several scoring opportunities... but only one of them found a way into the Spireites goal. Florian Schneider's strike in the 88th minute would ultimately be just a consolation, and we left Saltergate feeling particularly salty.

 

Chesterfield - 3 (Miles 1, Bell 16, Carruthers 49)

Fulham - 2 (Stewart 42, Schneider 88)

Division 1, Attendance 5,979 - POSITIONS: Chesterfield 16th, Fulham 11th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; G Edwards (Friberg), Mitchell, Ifil, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (Disler), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Devlin.

 

Well, that was unfortunate. We had to catch Chesterfield on a good day, didn't we?

 

So here's the situation: with seven games to go, the gap between us and the play-offs is three points. Four of our remaining fixtures are at home.

 

I honestly believe we can still pull this off, you know...

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of March 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Sheff Utd                       39   16   1    3    41   17   6    6    7    27   31   73   
2nd     Notts Co                        39   11   5    2    32   14   10   4    7    28   24   72   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Newcastle                       39   13   5    2    39   14   7    6    6    26   23   71   
4th     Tottenham                       39   13   3    3    34   17   8    4    8    37   33   70   
5th     Gillingham                      39   14   4    3    37   15   4    5    9    18   25   63   
6th     Rochdale                        39   11   5    3    44   28   5    7    8    25   31   60   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Birmingham                      39   12   5    3    45   26   4    6    9    27   34   59   
8th     Sunderland                      39   10   5    5    36   22   6    5    8    30   31   58   
9th     Aston Villa                     39   9    7    3    33   23   6    6    8    24   24   58   
10th    Preston                         39   11   5    4    37   26   4    8    7    21   25   58   
11th    Fulham                          39   11   6    2    29   14   4    6    10   27   33   57   
12th    Bradford                        39   10   4    5    27   19   6    5    9    19   22   57   
13th    West Ham                        39   5    6    8    20   22   11   2    7    29   23   56   
14th    Charlton                        39   9    6    6    35   27   5    7    6    36   37   55   
15th    Norwich                         39   7    6    7    27   25   8    3    8    33   33   54   
16th    Chesterfield                    39   9    4    7    38   36   5    8    6    28   33   54   
17th    Carlisle                        39   9    3    7    36   30   4    4    12   25   46   46   
18th    Huddersfield                    39   8    9    3    26   18   3    1    15   26   45   43   
19th    Coventry                        39   10   2    9    46   42   3    2    13   15   39   43   
20th    Man City                        39   4    8    7    30   36   5    5    10   25   41   40   
21st    Bristol City                    39   7    3    8    28   32   5    0    16   21   53   39   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Swindon                         39   9    2    7    33   33   1    4    16   23   53   36   
23rd    W.B.A.                          39   6    5    9    33   38   3    3    13   17   40   35   
24th    Blackpool                       39   4    7    8    28   34   1    9    10   21   35   31   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Manchester United win their first trophy for nearly four years, defeating Leeds 3-0 to lift the League Cup at Wembley. Gilles Borbiconi opens the scoring in the 19th minute before a Frank Lampard penalty doubles the Red Devils' lead. 35-year-old Thierry Henry then sets up a 77th-minute winner for Germany midfielder Sebastian Deisler, who moved to Old Trafford from Lazio for a cut-price £4.3million in November.
• Manchester United thrash Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 to reach the FA Cup Semi Finals, but crash out of the Champions League at the second group phase. The Red Devils might not even qualify for next season's CL, as they sit in 4th place - just ahead of Burnley, whose new Vietnamese striker Van Linh Tô scores 15 goals in his first 14 PL games.
• Arsenal are the last Brits standing in the Champions League Quarter Finals, as Chelsea, Leeds and debutants Aberdeen also fail to get past the second phase. All four Italian clubs survive - Roma and Parma are drawn against each other in the Quarters, while Lazio and Milan will take on Nürnberg and Arsenal respectively.
• Could Greece be the word in this season's UEFA Cup? A hat-trick from James Joseph Moga against Ajax helps fire Panathinaikos into a Semi Final against Marseille, who bring an end to Dundee United's run in the competition. Holders HSV will take on Bundesliga rivals SC Freiburg in the other last-four clash.
• Lazio keep the pressure on Parma at the top of Serie A, as Adrian Mutu races off the bench to score a derby winner that knocks Roma out of the title race. Juventus are no longer in relegation danger but still decide to replace unpopular manager Alberto Malesani with São Paulo boss Kazuki Harada. Meanwhile, Clyde manager Oliver Kahn is axed after six miserable months in Scotland, but successor Alan Shearer cannot save the Bully Wee from SPL relegation.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio quits as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, after being elected to a higher office at St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The first Pope from the Americas names himself after Francis Benali of Southampton.
• Hugo Chávez - the madcap socialist President of Venezuela since 1999 - dies in Caracas aged 58. He had suffered a heart attack after battling cancer for the past two years. Vice President Nicolás Maduro takes over the presidency.
• Liberal Democrat politician Chris Huhne and his ex-wife - economist Vicky Pryce - are jailed for perverting the course of justice. Pryce had accepted three speeding points on Huhne's behalf so the latter could avoid losing his driving licence. Huhne was a cabinet minister in the UK coalition government before pleading guilty.
• ITV tries its hand at ‘Nordic noir’ with its new crime drama “Broadchurch”. David Tennant stares blankly into the distance as he and Olivia Colman (aka Bev from the old AA adverts) investigate the death of an 11-year-old boy in Dorset.

Edited March 30 by CFuller

[CFuller]

APRIL 2013

In each of the past two seasons, Fulham had thrown away a potential Division 1 play-off place by collapsing in the last 10 or so games. This time around, we were determined to end the season strongly and give ourselves a genuine shot at promotion.

 

Sheffield United, Notts County, Newcastle and Tottenham were all squabbling over the two automatic tickets to the Premiership. That effectively left two play-off spots up for grabs - and incredibly, with seven games to go, there were a dozen teams still in contention! We were slap bang in the middle of the pack, sitting in 11th place - three points off 6th-placed Rochdale.

 

Our run-in wasn't the easiest, but with our excellent home record, we still had high hopes for our remaining four matches at Craven Cottage. If we could pull off some surprises on the road too, we would surely be up there come the final whistle:

 

3 April: vs Sunderland (H, 8th)

6 April: vs Notts County (A, 2nd)

13 April: vs Swindon (H, 22nd)

15 April: vs Aston Villa (A, 9th)

20 April: vs Blackpool (H, 24th)

27 April: vs Carlisle (A, 17th)

5 May: vs Rochdale (H, 6th)

 

Unfortunately, we would be without number 1 Wayne Hudson for the next three games through suspension. Rather than risk putting 18-year-old Craig Price in goal before he was ready to handle the pressure, I decided to mend fences with John Forde.

 

It had been six weeks since Forde was banished from the first-team, having reacted angrily to being disciplined for his unprofessional conduct off the pitch. The Irishman was still in a huff and asking to leave the club, but I told him, "It's time to leave that in the past. All I care about is the future. We need you to help us make it a bright one."

 

And so Forde reluctantly went back between the sticks for a crucial home game against one of our play-off rivals. Sunderland had spent most of the season inside the top six, but they were now on the outside looking in after winning one of their last five games.

 

3 APRIL 2013: Fulham vs Sunderland

Alan Stewart had two chances to give us the lead on five minutes. After his dipping shot was tipped behind by Sunderland keeper Derek Bruce, Stewart could only head Florian Schneider's header wide. At least Peter Devlin had no such issues with finding the net in the 21st minute, dribbling past Mackems midfielder Tim Cahill before opening the scoring.

 

Seven minutes later, we really were cooking on gas. A long ball from rising star Henning Numme into the Sunderland box was volleyed home by attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke. We were 2-0 up, and our visitors felt like Black Cats on a hot tin roof.

 

Though we remained two goals up at the break, we suffered a serious blow just before half-time. Cooke had injured his calf and couldn't play on, which meant winger Carlos Edwards had to be subbed on - and Stewart was shifted into attacking midfield. Alan had usually been less effective in that role than he was on the right wing or up front, so it was far from ideal.

 

Early in the second half, all the momentum swung Sunderland's way. Centre-back Andrew Henry and attacking midfielder Daniel Sjölund each missed the target before Richard Hill's side eventually levelled on 60 minutes. It was a moment to forget for our returning ex-Geordie John Forde, who made a hash of substitute Darren Ross' header and easily conceded the follow-up.

 

Seven minutes later, our lead was gone completely. After Cottagers left-back Arnar Guðmundsson gave away a free-kick close to our goal, Mackems right-back Danny Wells drove it through our wall and beyond Forde's reach.

 

I was so frustrated with Arnar that I subbed him off straight away, but we almost redeemed ourselves with an 89th-minute winner. Jerel Ifil played a long ball from defence and picked out Devlin, whose half-volley was brilliantly turned away by Bruce.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 21, Cooke 28)

Sunderland - 2 (Ross 60, Wells 67)

Division 1, Attendance 17,192 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Sunderland 8th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Ifil, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (C Edwards), Hall (Cable); Devlin. BOOKED: Mitchell.

 

We got away with throwing away a 2-0 lead against Huddersfield. Not this time. We were still only three points off the play-off places, but a big opportunity had been blown.

 

Even worse was the news that attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke had strained his calf and was unlikely to play again this season. The 22-year-old had been a huge influence on making us a more potent team since arriving on loan from West Ham, so losing him was a huge setback.

 

At the PFA Awards night later that week, Peter Devlin was named amongst the substitutes for the Division 1 Players' Select XI. Frankly, with 26 goals in 39 matches, Devlin should have been in the starting line-up - but they instead chose Graham Marchant, who'd scored a poxy 15 goals for Manchester City. Bloody corruption.

 

Our toughest match of the run-in was at Meadow Lane against Notts County, who had just moved to the top of the table. Imagine if we could throw a spanner in the Magpies' works?

 

6 APRIL 2013: Notts County vs Fulham

Our usually watertight defence had sprung a few leaks in recent games, and Notts County had clearly noticed. In just the second minute, French forward Doudou skipped past Florian Schneider like our captain wasn't even there. Once he beat Peter Mitchell and Arnar Guðmundsson to leave John Forde as the last line of defence, there was no doubt that Doudou would do the business.

 

And there was more punishment to come six minutes before half-time. After we wasted a host of opportunities to equalise, Doudou's dribbling skills mesmerised our defenders again as he gave Notts County a 2-0 lead. Now we really were in the s-

 

As the weakest link in our defence, Jerel Ifil was sacrificed at half-time. Halldór Magnusson didn't fare much better in the second half - he was more a left-back than a centre-half - but County coasted through that without exerting much energy. With Mark Heath producing an excellent goalkeeping performance, they never needed to worry about improving on that two-goal advantage.

 

Heath saved our first seven shots on target, but a sloppy goal kick in the 89th minute gave us one more chance. Peter Devlin intercepted the clearance and raced through to score his 27th goal of the season. It didn't change the overall outcome, but at least we would take something home from Nottingham...

 

Notts County - 2 (Doudou 2,39)

Fulham - 1 (Devlin 89)

Division 1, Attendance 10,578 - POSITIONS: Notts County 1st, Fulham 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Ifil (Magnusson), Guðmundsson; Heikkinen (Numme), Schneider; C Edwards, Iversen, Hall (Cable); Devlin.

 

Do we want to get promoted or not? If we do, we have to be much tighter at the back than this!

 

This looked like turning into yet another late-season collapse. We HAD to win our next match - at home to third-from-bottom Swindon. Our last meeting with the Robins back in September was one of our worst performances of the season, but I'd like to think we'd come a long way since then.

 

After his latest defensive disaster, Jerel Ifil was dropped again - probably for good. This meant an unexpected recall for Spanish veteran Unai, who started for the first time since our shock FA Cup exit to Bristol Rovers over three months ago.

 

13 APRIL 2013: Fulham vs Swindon Town

Unai's return didn't exactly go to plan. The 36-year-old was pressured into conceding a corner after just 12 minutes, and Swindon made the most of it. Left-back Alan Shaw's outswinging corner found midfielder Matt Francis, who escaped his marker and volleyed in the opener.

 

Our first scoring opportunity also came from a corner, in the 26th minute. Sadly, Wayne Cable could not quite head Arnar Guðmundsson's delivery beyond the reach of Swindon keeper Calle Nyman. Things then got worse a quarter-hour later, as Unai's afternoon came to an abrupt end after he strained the ligaments in his left knee. Markus Heikkinen had to take his place for the second half, and what little remained of the first.

 

My Fulham players were fired up by a half-time dressing-down - and within four minutes, we were back on level terms. Cable's low-cross to the near post was telegraphed perfectly to Peter Devlin, whose savage strike got him on the scoresheet for the third match in succession!

 

That should have inspired us to a full-on Fulham fightback, but we could only muster one more chance in the 65th minute. Substitute winger Carlos Edwards' square ball found Devlin, who was denied a second goal by a fingertip save from Nyman. We had dropped two more points in the play-off race.

 

Fulham - 1 (Devlin 49)

Swindon Town - 1 (Francis 12)

Division 1, Attendance 12,433 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Swindon 22nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; G Edwards, Mitchell, Unai (Heikkinen), Guðmundsson (Simpson); Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Disler (C Edwards), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Devlin.

 

Four games without a win, and now we were five points adrift. CHOKERS.

 

Suffice to say, Forde's return had not gone well, so Hudson was back in goal when I took a heavily rotated team to Aston Villa on Easter Monday. Unai's knee injury curtailed his comeback, which meant right-back Thomas Friberg moved into the centre.

 

15 APRIL 2013: Aston Villa vs Fulham

Though Carlos Edwards headed over a chance for Fulham in the 7th minute, it was Aston Villa who bossed the opening stages. They actually found the net in the 11th minute, but striker Phil Morgan's header from Gareth Hughes' left-wing cross was flagged offside.

 

Morgan had a couple more shots saved by Morgan before Villa eventually broke through on 26 minutes. Giraffe-man Peter Crouch outjumped the rather shorter Terry Simpson to head the ball on to Hughes, who set up a simple finish for Norwegian midfielder Gjermund Borger Hansen.

 

Villa's finishing abilities otherwise deserted them either side of half-time, and so the match remained delicately poised... until the 61st minute. Just moments after Morgan hit the post for a 2-0 home lead, Peter Devlin played a key role in making it 1-1. This time, though, our top scorer assisted veteran wingman Carlos Edwards, who stretched to divert his square ball across the line!

 

If we thought that would be enough to at least save us a draw, though, we had to think again. A scrappy match looked like fizzing out until Villans captain John Welsh chipped a Hail Mary into the Fulham penalty area. Attacking midfielder Craig Disley turned well to take the ball past the last defender, and then smashed in a shot that all but ended our play-off challenge. [Sigh]

 

Aston Villa - 2 (Borger Hansen 26, Disley 90)

Fulham - 1 (C Edwards 61)

Division 1, Attendance 37,244 - POSITIONS: Aston Villa 7th, Fulham 14th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; G Edwards (Guðmundsson), Mitchell, Friberg, Simpson; Heikkinen; Mølby (Iversen), Disler; C Edwards, Hall; Devlin (McIntyre).

 

Six points adrift, three games to play. I might just quit this bloody job now...

 

The play-off dream was virtually dead now, but if we could win our penultimate home game against rock-bottom Blackpool, we would at least move onto 62 points - one more than we managed last season. The visitors needed to win, otherwise they would be condemned to an immediate return to Division 2.

 

20 APRIL 2013: Fulham vs Blackpool

Though Peter Devlin hadn't found the net against his former club Aston Villa, he quickly resumed his scoring run against less familiar opposition. It was a real team effort that broke the deadlock after 20 minutes, as Wayne Cable skilfully headed Henning Numme's long ball into the path of Devlin, who did the rest.

 

Four minutes later, we were at it again. Carlos Edwards weaved some magic on the right wing before flicking the ball on to Alan Stewart, whose flick-on was powered home by Devlin. It would have been a magnificent second goal... had Carlos not strayed a fraction offside.

 

Though Jerel Ifil picked up a knee injury in the early stages of the second half, it was an otherwise stress-free afternoon for our defence. Blackpool looked resigned to relegation and only managed two shots of target - both of which were fired well wide by attacking midfielder Orlando Engelaar.

 

With 20 minutes left, we put the Seasiders - and their long-serving manager Steve McMahon - out of their misery. Cable's powerful drive from Florian Schneider's excellent assist completed a comfortable 2-0 win - Fulham's first clean-sheet victory since seeing off Coventry on 10 February.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 20, Cable 70)

Blackpool - 0

Division 1, Attendance 9,503 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Blackpool 24th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg, Mitchell, Ifil (Simpson), Guðmundsson; Numme (Disler), Schneider; C Edwards (McNeil), Stewart, Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Mitchell.

 

Victory kept us in the play-off hunt for another week, if only mathematically. Unfortunately, Ifil's knee injury meant that we really were down to the bare bones in terms of centre-backs.

 

Sadly, any slim hopes we had of promotion were snuffed out on Friday night. Preston's 2-0 win at Charlton took David Moyes' Lilywhites up to 6th place with 71 points. We could only get to 68.

 

That meant there was little to play for when we went to Carlisle, who were six points above the drop zone and not quite safe from relegation. I included a number of youngsters on the bench, including midfielder Colm Ryan, who made his Republic of Ireland Under-21s debut in midweek.

 

27 APRIL 2013: Carlisle United vs Fulham

Peter Devlin needed just one more goal to reach 30 for the season... but he would not get on target here. Instead, our main attacking threat came from Alan Stewart, who broke the deadlock after 29 minutes with a low strike from Florian Schneider's through-ball.

 

Nine minutes later, however, our lead was in jeopardy. Fulham centre-back Peter Mitchell had fouled Carlisle striker Christian Mathisen in the area, giving the Cumbrians a penalty. The man taking it was veteran right-back Richard Cooper, who sent Wayne Hudson the wrong way and made it 1-1.

 

Carlisle surged goalwards again in the 43rd minute, when our goalkeeper suffered the agony of being beaten by his namesake. The Cumbrians' attacking midfielder Danny Hudson got the better of Wayne Hudson, and his team just needed to stay calm to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room.

 

Dimitris Konstantopoulos did not stay calm. As the match entered its 45th minute, the erratic Carlisle goalkeeper wiped out Devlin in the penalty area and picked up a straight red card - his second of the season. Former Manchester City shotstopper Anthony Talbot came off the bench, but he could not keep out Stewart's penalty, which moved Alan onto 10 goals for the season. More importantly, we were back level!

 

During the half-time break, I decided to replace Derek McIntyre with another 18-year-old wide forward. The introduction of Atle Iversen would prove to be an inspired choice. Midway through the second half, the Norwegian right-winger ran onto a lobbed pass from right-back Graham Edwards, took it past Carlisle defender Michael Neville, and then silenced Brunton Park with a great finish! 3-2 to the Cottagers!

 

There were a few edgy moments in the closing stages. Wayne Hudson had to tip away a free-kick from Carlisle captain Jimmy Davis in the 84th minute, while our young midfielders Colm Ryan and Henning Numme each picked up bookings. Thankfully, we did just enough to hold onto that narrow lead.

 

Carlisle United - 2 (Cooper pen38, Hudson 43)

Fulham - 3 (Stewart 29,pen45, Iversen 72)

Division 1, Attendance 15,179 - POSITIONS: Carlisle 17th, Fulham 10th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; G Edwards, Mitchell, Friberg, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart (Ryan), McIntyre (Iversen), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: McIntyre, Ryan, Numme.

 

Back-to-back wins had ensured that Fulham would realistically finish the season no lower than 12th. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the play-offs, I'm sure many Fulham fans would have given their kidneys for a top-half finish back in November. If only it hadn't taken us over half the season to figure out how to score!

 

We can now look ahead to our final game of the season, at home to Rochdale. But the question is... will it be my final game at Craven Cottage?

Edited March 30 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of April 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Sheff Utd                       45   17   2    3    44   19   9    7    7    37   34   87   
2nd  Pl Notts Co                        45   14   5    3    38   16   10   5    8    30   28   82   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  Pl Newcastle                       45   14   6    2    42   16   8    9    6    31   27   81   
4th  Pl Tottenham                       45   15   4    4    40   22   8    6    8    41   37   79   
5th  Pl Gillingham                      45   15   4    4    42   20   7    5    10   24   29   75   
6th     Sunderland                      45   11   5    6    38   24   9    6    8    40   36   71   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Aston Villa                     45   11   8    4    39   26   8    6    8    26   24   71   
8th     Preston                         45   13   5    4    43   28   6    9    8    27   28   71   
9th     Birmingham                      45   13   5    4    49   29   5    7    11   30   40   66   
10th    Fulham                          45   12   8    2    34   17   5    6    12   32   39   65   
11th    West Ham                        45   7    7    9    28   26   11   3    8    30   26   64   
12th    Charlton                        45   10   6    7    39   30   6    8    8    43   46   62   
13th    Bradford                        45   11   6    6    28   20   6    5    11   19   25   62   
14th    Rochdale                        45   11   6    6    46   38   5    7    10   26   36   61   
15th    Norwich                         45   9    6    8    32   28   8    3    11   39   44   60   
16th    Chesterfield                    45   10   4    8    44   40   6    8    9    33   41   60   
17th    Carlisle                        45   10   5    8    44   38   4    5    13   28   50   52   
18th    Huddersfield                    45   8    11   3    30   22   4    2    17   34   54   49   
19th    Man City                        45   7    8    8    40   46   5    5    12   28   46   49   
20th    W.B.A.                          45   8    5    9    37   40   4    5    14   22   43   46   
21st    Coventry                        45   11   2    10   49   46   3    2    17   21   54   46   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Swindon                         45   12   2    8    41   38   1    5    17   24   57   46   
23rd    Bristol City                    45   9    4    9    39   40   5    0    18   21   56   46   
24th R  Blackpool                       45   4    9    10   33   41   2    9    11   24   39   36   

  

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• In a potential Premiership decider, Arsenal have the chance to move two points behind Chelsea with a game in hand. Luciano Martín Galletti and Darren Fletcher (not that one) give the Gunners a 2-0 lead at Highbury before Craig Bellamy pulls a goal back. Arsenal midfielder Craig Ward is so frustrated that he kicks the ball away and picks up a second yellow card. Bellamy takes full advantage, scoring again to secure a 2-2 draw - and preserve the Blues' two-point lead!
• After another title challenge falls apart, Nigel Winterburn ends his four-year reign at Liverpool and signs a deal to manage Hertha BSC next season. Meanwhile, Mark Hughes makes the utterly bizarre decision to quit 6th-placed Crystal Palace for mid-table Southampton, and Nottingham Forest are relegated straight back to Division 1.
• Three Italian clubs advance to the Champions League Semi Finals. Parma outsmart Roma 4-2 on aggregate to set up a last-four clash with Serie A leaders Lazio. Milan overturn a 4-1 first-leg deficit against Arsenal, thrashing the Gunners 4-0 at the San Siro. The Rossoneri will next face Barcelona, who bring VfB Stuttgart's title defence to an end.
• SC Freiburg knock out holders HSV 5-3 in a thrilling UEFA Cup Semi Final to reach their first European Final. They will meet Marseille, who overwhelm Panathinaikos 6-0 to close in on a third UEFA Cup title in five years, though veteran midfielder Patrick Vieira will miss the Final after picking up a red card in Athens. Meanwhile, last year's runners-up Fortuna run out of fortune - and are relegated from the Eredivisie!
• Barça are on course to win La Liga in record time, pulling 18 points clear of Betis with six games remaining. They also secure an incredible 22nd home league win in a row, as Javier Mascherano and Mateja Kezman both score late goals to deny Levante a famous upset at the Nou Camp.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Three people are killed and over 250 others are injured when two bombs are detonated in a terrorist attack at the annual Boston Marathon. Two Chechnyan brothers are identified as the suspects; one is killed and the other detained by police.
• An eight-storey garment factory collapses in Bangladesh's Dhaka District, killing 1,134 people and injuring over 2,000 others. It is the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.
• Margaret Thatcher - the UK's Prime Minister throughout the 1980s - dies aged 87 following a stroke. The former Conservative leader was one of the most divisive British politicians in history (to put it very lightly), and some opponents celebrate her demise with street parties.
• Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates after 33 years on the Dutch throne, and is succeeded by her eldest son - now King Willem-Alexander. Meanwhile in central London, 64-year-old Charlie Windsor begs his mum, “Can I have a go now?”

Edited February 2 by CFuller

[CFuller]

MAY 2013

A lot of people say that the Football League is one of the most exciting leagues in the world, and with good reason. The Division 1 season was building up to another thrilling climax.

 

Three teams battling to secure automatic promotion with champions Sheffield United. Another three were squabbling over the last play-off place. At the bottom, six teams were still fighting relegation - and two of them would be sent down to Division 2 alongside Blackpool.

 

For the second season in a row, Fulham's final game had nothing riding on it. Our play-off challenge had fizzled out after some disappointing results in April, but that wasn't the main reason. Our poor performances earlier in the season - when we were as low as 19th in November - had left us with too much work to do over the second half of the campaign.

 

We took to the Craven Cottage field for the last time this season against surprise packages Rochdale. For a long time, it looked like Dale's first ever season in the second tier would take them to the play-offs - and potentially another promotion. That was until they picked up two points from eight matches, plummeting from 6th place to 14th.

 

Rochdale looked like a team low on confidence, whereas spirits in the Fulham camp were rather higher. Could we now finish the season with a third win in a row?

 

5 MAY 2013: Fulham vs Rochdale

Our send-off didn't exactly get off to a great start. Rochdale were in front after just four minutes, when former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Owen Morrison blasted an excellent strike into the top corner.

 

A little over half an hour later, Dale adopted some rather dubious tactics to double their lead. First, Paul McKenna hypnotised our defender Peter Mitchell into giving away a foul on Morrison. McKenna then put Wayne Hudson in a trance before flighting a 20-yard free-kick past our unwitting goalkeeper.

 

Unfortunately for McKenna, the referee quickly grew tired of his tricks - and booked him in the 39th minute for fouling Thomas Friberg in the Rochdale area. Atle Iversen easily converted the penalty, pulling us back to 2-1 - and giving our fans fresh hope that we could finish the campaign in style.

 

We could not. Rochdale's on-loan Blackburn goalkeeper Nigel Day had clearly saved his best performance of the season for last, as he kept out multiple efforts from Iversen, Wayne Cable, Alan Stewart. The latter two players also hit the woodwork, in the 52nd and 69th minutes respectively.

 

Unsurprisingly, Day got the 'man of the match' award, but Dale's defenders also deserved plenty of credit. Centre-backs Matt Gale and Warren Kenna both did great jobs of marking Peter Devlin out of the game, leaving our Irish striker stuck on 29 goals. And so we finished the campaign with the disappointment of a third league defeat at Craven Cottage.

 

Fulham - 1 (Iversen pen39)

Rochdale - 2 (Morrison 4, McKenna 36)

Division 1, Attendance 13,023 - POSITIONS: Fulham 10th, Rochdale 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; G Edwards, Mitchell, Friberg, Guðmundsson; Disler (Ryan), Numme; Stewart, Iversen, Cable (Davey); Devlin (McIntyre). BOOKED: Mitchell.

 

If you're wondering, Newcastle finished 2nd to join Sheffield United in securing automatic promotion to the Premiership. Notts County made up for their disappointment by winning the Playoff Final 3-2 in extra-time, despite their opponents taking a 2-0 lead after just 15 minutes. Lads, it's Tottenham...

 

Meanwhile, as Swindon and Bristol City were both relegated to Division 2 alongside Blackpool. I'll admit I won't be too sad to see the Robins go (Swindon, that is. Our record against City is actually pretty decent).

 

Fulham finished the season in 10th place, with a respectable 65 points. While it was disappointing that we had rarely even threatened to break into the play-offs, it was at least an improvement of four points and five positions on last season. We also scored one more goal and conceded 14 fewer.

 

For the first three-quarters of the season, we were seriously struggling for goals, though we found our feet late on and struck 26 times in our last 11 games. If we had done that over the whole campaign, we would have cracked the 100-goal mark!

 

It certainly helps that we now have a proper number 9. Though he finished one shy of 30 goals, Peter Devlin still won the Division 1 Golden Boot. He was three ahead of both Charlton's Graeme McCulloch and Chesterfield's Lars Iver Strand.

 

The former Aston Villa striker hasn't simply filled the void left by Paul McVeigh and Brett Ormerod. He has turned out to be even more prolific than either of them were at their peaks! To absolutely nobody's surprise, Peter was overwhelmingly voted as the Fulham Fans' Player of the Year.

 

After a notoriously slow start to his Cottagers career, number 10 Alan Stewart eventually found his feet as an attacking right-winger - finishing on 10 goals and 9 assists in all competitions. No other Fulham player even got to five goals, though winger Wayne Cable and captain Florian Schneider each reached double figures for assists.

 

It may not surprise you that at the same time we started to score more goals, we also began conceding a lot more. Up until March, we had one of the best defensive records in the league - but we finished off with just a single clean sheet in those final 11 games.

 

It's not hard to figure out why we've been leakier at the back. Just before the final quarter of the season, I had a huge falling-out with goalkeeper John Forde over his off-field conduct. Forde was dropped, and Wayne Hudson played in most of our remaining fixtures... with mixed results.

 

Despite having a generally poor season, I still believe Hudson is a quality goalkeeper. I would be happy to keep him around at least as a backup. That said, he is no John Forde.

 

Forde is genuinely the most talented goalkeeper I have ever managed - and probably the most consistently brilliant shotstopper in Division 1 right now. I want to rebuild my bridges with John and really hope he'll calm down over the summer. If he doesn't, we have a big problem.

 

Another problem is Arnar Guðmundsson, who like Hudson has had a huge dip in form over the past 12 months. The Icelander has gone from a rock-solid, devastating wing-back to a lazy, complacent imitation of his former self. At 24 years old, Arnar still has a bright future at the top level... but only if he buckles up and improves his work ethic.

 

On paper, this Fulham team should be good enough to challenge for promotion next season. With more quality depth across the defence, and the addition of an intelligent and creative playmaker, the Cottagers would certainly be among the favourites next season.

 

Unfortunately, my original two-and-a-half-year contract at Craven Cottage is now about to expire. Will the Fulham board allow me to stay for at least another season... or is it time to move on?

Edited March 30 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of 2012/2013 season)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Sheff Utd                       46   18   2    3    47   21   9    7    7    37   34   90   
2nd  P  Newcastle                       46   15   6    2    43   16   8    9    6    31   27   84   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Tottenham                       46   15   4    4    40   22   9    6    8    45   40   82   
4th  P  Notts Co                        46   14   5    4    39   18   10   5    8    30   28   82   
5th     Gillingham                      46   15   4    4    42   20   7    5    11   24   32   75   
6th     Preston                         46   14   5    4    46   28   6    9    8    27   28   74   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Aston Villa                     46   11   8    4    39   26   9    6    8    29   25   74   
8th     Sunderland                      46   11   5    7    41   28   9    6    8    40   36   71   
9th     Birmingham                      46   13   5    5    49   30   5    7    11   30   40   66   
10th    Fulham                          46   12   8    3    35   19   5    6    12   32   39   65   
11th    West Ham                        46   7    7    9    28   26   11   3    9    31   28   64   
12th    Rochdale                        46   11   6    6    46   38   6    7    10   28   37   64   
13th    Charlton                        46   10   6    7    39   30   6    8    9    43   47   62   
14th    Bradford                        46   11   6    6    28   20   6    5    12   19   26   62   
15th    Chesterfield                    46   10   5    8    46   42   6    8    9    33   41   61   
16th    Norwich                         46   9    6    8    32   28   8    3    12   41   47   60   
17th    Carlisle                        46   10   5    8    44   38   5    5    13   30   51   55   
18th    Huddersfield                    46   9    11   3    31   22   4    2    17   34   54   52   
19th    Man City                        46   7    8    8    40   46   5    6    12   30   48   50   
20th    W.B.A.                          46   9    5    9    39   41   4    5    14   22   43   49   
21st    Coventry                        46   11   2    10   49   46   4    2    17   22   54   49   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd R  Swindon                         46   12   2    9    41   41   1    5    17   24   57   46   
23rd R  Bristol City                    46   9    4    10   40   43   5    0    18   21   56   46   
24th R  Blackpool                       46   4    9    10   33   41   3    9    11   27   39   39   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Lazio heap a double dose of misery on Parma, beating them to the Serie A title on the final day after whitewashing them 4-0 in the Champions League Semi Final. This sets up a Final showdown with La Liga champions Barcelona in Tel-Aviv, where a 79th-minute Kaká penalty secures the Biancocelesti's fourth European Cup.
• After wrapping up another Ligue 1 title, Marseille secure a third UEFA Cup triumph in the last five seasons. The Final against SC Freiburg is nicely poised at 1-1 until a second-half brace from José Luis Fernández Pérez swings it in Les Phocéens' favour. Injured captain Yaya Touré limps back onto the field to lift the trophy, but only after being reassured by manager Victor Zvunka that he will get a cake for his 30th birthday.
• Craig Bellamy scores the decisive goal against Ipswich as Chelsea are crowned Premiership champions once again. Ex-Blues captain John Terry invades the Stamford Bridge pitch and tries to take the trophy from current skipper Cristiano Ronaldo, but Bellamy saves the day again by rugby-tackling the Benfica defender. 2nd-placed Arsenal have to settle for the FA Cup, which Falcao secures with a last-minute strike to beat Stoke at Wembley.
• Liverpool secure 3rd spot on the final day, when a famous 2-1 win at Old Trafford ensures that they take the last Champions League spot away from Manchester United. Grimsby and Wolves both drop back to Division 1... and 13 years after playing in the Premiership, Wimbledon are relegated from the Conference to the Southern League!
• A three-way battle for Bundesliga supremacy ends with Dortmund pipping VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach to the title. Joe Cole scores both goals - and is then sent off - as BVB see off Nürnberg 2-1 to claim a fourth championship since 2008. Rangers regain the Scottish Premier League crown ahead of Celtic... but victorious manager Trond Sollied leaves Ibrox after just one year to accept a new job at 1.FC Köln.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• A British Army soldier is stabbed to death by two men near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. The perpetrators - both British Nigerians who converted to Islam - calmly explain to passers-by that they murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby to avenge the killings of Muslims by the UK military.
• Welsh rock icon Bonnie Tyler represents the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden... but disaster strikes when she doesn't develop a sore throat. Also, her song isn't very good. Danish 20-year-old Emmelie de Forest forgoes footwear and storms to victory with "Only Teardrops".
• Having missed almost the entire 2012/2013 season, snooker superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to action at the World Championship in Sheffield. Of course, ‘The Rocket’ goes all the way - defeating Barry Hawkins to win a FIFTH world title.

[CFuller]

FULHAM PLAYER STATISTICS (2012/2013)

Goalkeepers                    Apps     Con    Asts   Yel    Red    MoM    Av R
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13  Forde, John                30       35     0      0      0      1      7.23   
1   Hudson, Wayne              20       32     0      0      1      0      6.60   
32  Price, Craig               0 (1)    0      0      0      0      0      8.00   

Outfield Players               Apps     Gls    Asts   Yel    Red    MoM    Av R
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*   Bell, Simon                19       2      1      1      0      3      7.21
*   Butler, Michael            2 (3)    0      1      0      0      0      7.00   
21  Cable, Wayne               27 (4)   3      10     1      0      2      7.19   
*   Clark, Justin              0 (2)    0      1      0      0      0      7.00   
8   Cooke, Daniel              12       4      0      0      0      0      7.25   
*   Danns, Neil                5 (1)    0      0      0      0      0      6.17   
27  Davey, Jamie               0 (1)    0      0      0      0      0      7.00   
9   Devlin, Peter              42 (5)   29     6      8      0      5      7.72   
16  Disler, Adrian             12 (17)  3      4      0      0      0      6.90   
7   Edwards, Carlos            21 (4)   4      3      0      0      0      7.08   
30  Edwards, Graham            6        0      1      0      0      0      6.83   
26  Friberg, Thomas            23 (3)   0      1      0      0      1      6.73   
15  Guðmundsson, Arnar         37 (9)   0      2      0      0      1      6.85   
11  Hall, Jordan               14 (12)  4      2      0      0      2      7.08   
4   Heikkinen, Markus          30 (4)   1      1      2      0      1      6.97   
5   Ifil, Jerel                10       0      1      0      1      1      7.00   
35  Iversen, Atle              5 (6)    4      1      0      0      0      7.27   
20  Liddle, Luke               19 (7)   1      0      2      0      0      6.58   
33  Magnusson, Halldór         2 (12)   0      0      3      0      0      6.50   
34  McDonald, Chris            0 (1)    0      0      0      0      0      7.00   
29  McIntyre, Derek            10 (8)   3      1      2      0      0      6.72   
31  McNeil, Douglas            0 (4)    0      1      0      0      0      7.00   
12  Mitchell, Peter            43       0      0      7      0      0      6.98   
18  Mølby, Tom                 17 (8)   1      1      2      0      0      6.32   
19  Numme, Henning             19 (10)  2      5      2      0      2      7.07   
*   Núñez, Vicente             7 (5)    0      0      0      1      0      6.33   
36  Ryan, Colm                 0 (4)    0      0      1      0      0      6.50   
6   Schneider, Florian         42 (1)   4      11     7      0      3      7.51   
3   Simpson, Terry             19 (3)   0      0      2      0      0      6.91   
10  Stewart, Alan              39 (6)   10     9      2      0      5      7.31   
2   Unai                       18 (2)   0      1      5      1      1      7.05   

* [Player not currently at club]

[CFuller]

JUNE 2013

The decision has been made. And that decision is...

 

...I'm not leaving. I'M NOT FRICKING LEAVING! The show goes on! This is MY home! (For one more season, at least.)

 

Though my plan to take Fulham into the Premiership by the end of my initial two-and-a-half-year contract had failed, chairman Richard Bailey was still happy to offer me an extension. Having been encouraged by our upturn in form since December, I was happy to sign it.

 

2013/2014 would be my third full season at Fulham, and it really would be promotion or bust. If we weren't popping champagne corks come May, I would be moving on - no more questions asked.

 

However, one member of my coaching staff will be leaving this summer. After a decade at Craven Cottage, fitness coach Simeon Hodson had been approached by our FA Cup nemeses Bristol Rovers to be their new manager. It would be the 47-year-old's first ever managerial role, and I wished him the best of luck.

 

To fill the hole Hodson left behind, we brought in Éamonn Keane - a 49-year-old Irishman who'd been a fitness and goalkeeping coach at Bohemians since 2001. We also poached 42-year-old physiotherapist Chris Neville from Portsmouth to replace the retired Darren Gibson.

 

On the playing side of things, we didn't have as much deadwood to shift as in previous summers, but there were still a few players who were surplus to requirements. The first of those was Danish playmaker Tom Mølby, who was sold to Millwall for £250,000 plus 15% of his next transfer fee.

 

Mølby had enjoyed a promising start to his professional career at Craven Cottage, but it all fell apart this season, when he managed just two goal contributions in 25 matches. I'm afraid that the 21-year-old was all flair and no trousers - a player who didn't have the intelligence or substance to back up his showmanship. His departure left Wayne Cable and Wayne Hudson as the last remaining first-team regulars who were already at Fulham before I became manager.

 

Right-back Luke Liddle had also endured a disappointing season, and our relationship had deteriorated to the point we were no longer on speaking terms. Just one year after signing Luke from Dagenham & Redbridge for £1.4million, I flogged him off to play-off winners Notts County at a £400,000 loss.

 

Reserve left-back Nigel Proffitt followed Mølby in dropping down to Division 2, as Leyton Orient signed him for £75,000 shortly after he was made available for transfer. Fellow defenders Stephen Richardson and Dave Taylor were also put on the transfer list after disappointing loan spells at Harrow Borough, though they have yet to attract any buyers.

 

Versatile defender Seán Lynch also spent the season on loan in the Conference, but his performances for Runcorn didn't exactly set the league on fire either. That said, the 19-year-old Irishman seemed to have developed reasonably well on Merseyside, and I hope his progress will accelerate next season.

 

Lastly, veteran centre-back Unai packed his bags at the end of his contract. The Spaniard had served me very well for both Kidderminster and Fulham, but at the age of 36, his days of playing at a high level were probably over.

 

I now had a transfer budget of £8.25million to play with, though after all the upheaval of the past two-and-a-half years, I was wary of making more sweeping changes. I decided to focus on making just four major signings - a left-footed centre-back, a right-back, a defensive midfielder, and an attacking midfielder.

 

The first man in was Christian Weber - a 28-year-old Austrian international who arrived from Tirol Innsbruck for £500,000. Weber is a tall and strong presence in defensive midfield, though he's also quick and technical enough to play as a libero. I reckon he'll be a fine addition alongside captain Florian Schneider (who, incidentally, is exactly one day younger than Christian), with Norwegian teenager Henning Numme serving as backup.

 

The right-back slot was also sorted out quickly, as former Fulham youth graduate Grant Gibson made an emotional return to SW6.

 

After playing 63 games for the Cottagers between 2004 and 2009, the Glaswegian has spent the past four seasons playing for his hometown club Clyde, who've just been relegated from the Scottish Premier League. Grant is brave, energetic, has great passing ability... and at age 24, he still has a fair bit of room to improve.

 

Another familiar face will be back at the Cottage next term. Having initially joined us on loan from West Ham just after Christmas, attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke was back - this time on a permanent deal.

 

It's fair to say that the 22-year-old's first spell at the Cottage was a success. He played 12 times for us - scoring four goals and recording a 7.25 average rating - before suffering a season-ending calf strain in early April. Cooke had given some much-needed energy and incisiveness to a previously stale Fulham attack, so as soon as his West Ham contract expired, I had no hesitation in offering him a six-year deal to join us for the long haul.

 

I also brought in a couple of teenage talents from overseas. 17-year-old Kári Hansen is a brave and creative right-back who arrives from HB in the Faroe Islands for an initial £30,000. Meanwhile, 19-year-old José Luis Márquez is a strong target forward from Spain, where he previously played third-division football for Ferrol.

 

Unfortunately, finding a new centre-back - ideally one with a strong left foot - is proving to be rather more difficult. There really aren't many good lefties on the market. My top target right now is 28-year-old Liam Ridgewell, who could be a great signing if Sheffield Wednesday weren't asking for moon money.

 

I did find a much cheaper option in the shape of Nigerian international Tony Alegbe. He would cost us just £200,000 from Fortuna, who reached the UEFA Cup Final last season but have now been relegated from the Dutch Eredivisie. Un-Fortuna-tely, our chances of getting a work permit for Alegbe are quite low. Bloody Theresa May.

 

I'm still hopeful we'll have a new centre-back in place by 10 August, when we're due to open the new Division 1 season at Preston. And what are the board's expectations for the new season, I hear you ask?

 

"The Fulham board expect the club to stay clear of relegation this season."

 

Optimistic as ever. Never change, guys. Never change.

[CFuller]

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Scottish Premier League champions Rangers appoint former Hertha BSC chief Rafa Benítez as their fifth manager in as many years. Star players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Arjen Robben are sick of all the upheaval at Ibrox and ask to leave. Robben moves to Marseille for £13.25million, while Ibrahimovic agrees a £10.75million transfer to Dortmund.
• After 390 appearances in 12 seasons for Bayern München, Germany full-back Philipp Lahm completes an £8.75million transfer to Barcelona. Bayern also lose their 35-year-old Brazilian centre-back Lúcio, who joins Manchester United on a Bosman.
• Sheffield Wednesday smash their transfer record, spending £10.75million to recruit the flamboyant France attacking midfielder Bernard Aristouy from Brazilian giants Corinthians. Meanwhile, David Seaman becomes the new Crystal Palace boss after a trophyless season at Benfica... and after Alan Cork is headhunted by Liverpool, Middlesbrough bring in Phil Neville from Kidderminster to take his place.
• Euro 2012 champions Italy suffer a setback in their bid to qualify for the World Cup, as they are held to a 1-1 home draw by Poland. Atalanta striker Pawel Szewczyk scores the equaliser for the Poles, while Torino's Dariusz Grosz produces an excellent goalkeeping performance. Another surprise sees Scotland secure a famous 1-0 win over France at Hampden Park, with Celtic's Gordon Weir heading the winner past French debutant keeper Guy Narayaninnaiken.
• Despite enjoying a late-career renaissance, Manchester United striker Thierry Henry decides to bow out at age 35. Henry's ex-France team-mate Patrick Vieira also retires aged 37 after winning the double with Marseille. It's also the end of the Club World Championship, as this year's tournament in Brazil is abandoned due to "a lack of interest".

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• A National Security Agency contractor named Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to media outlets such as The Guardian and the Washington Post. The documents reveal that the US government had intercepted phone calls and emails from over a billion people. Snowden is charged with espionage and seeks asylum in Russia.
• James Gandolfini - the Italian-American actor who played Mafia boss Tony Soprano in the hit drama "The Sopranos" - suffers a fatal heart attack in Rome. He is just 51 years old.
• Lorde has never seen a diamond in the flesh… but she and her friends, they’ve cracked the code. The 16-year-old singer from New Zealand becomes music’s newest star with her debut single “Royals”, which is a critique of hip-hop culture and lavish celebrity lifestyles.
• In tennis, Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win the same Grand Slam singles title eight times. The Spaniard defeats compatriot David Ferrer in straight sets to claim an eighth French Open, officially confirming him as the ‘King of Clay’.

[dtown1414]

Glad you got that extension!

[CFuller]

16 minutes ago, dtown1414 said:

Glad you got that extension!

There are no manager contracts in CM01/02, but I'm happy to stay at Fulham for one more year. I feel like this team is very close to promotion material.

[CFuller]

SEASON REVIEW 2012/2013

ENGLAND

NOTE: All goals and assist records relate to league matches only.

 

PREMIERSHIP

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Chelsea                         38   14   3    2    36   10   11   5    3    34   22   83   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd     Arsenal                         38   13   5    1    34   14   10   4    5    32   18   78   
3rd     Liverpool                       38   14   4    1    40   10   8    3    8    24   29   73   
4th     Burnley                         38   12   5    2    47   23   8    6    5    26   25   71   
5th     Man Utd                         38   14   3    2    46   11   5    8    6    22   26   68   
6th     Stoke                           38   11   4    4    29   17   7    2    10   23   37   60   
7th     Leeds                           38   10   9    0    24   6    5    3    11   20   30   57   
8th     Crystal Palace                  38   9    4    6    25   17   6    7    6    19   21   56   
9th     Ipswich                         38   12   3    4    43   22   2    8    9    19   30   53   
10th    Sheff Wed                       38   13   4    2    38   19   2    4    13   15   35   53   
11th    Bolton                          38   9    6    4    26   18   2    8    9    20   34   47   
12th    Blackburn                       38   8    4    7    32   28   4    6    9    18   26   46   
13th    Middlesbrough                   38   6    10   3    22   18   4    5    10   23   34   45   
14th    Crewe                           38   9    3    7    25   24   3    4    12   13   31   43   
15th    Southampton                     38   8    4    7    31   32   2    5    12   17   35   39   
16th    Torquay                         38   9    4    6    33   28   1    4    14   20   46   38   
17th    Everton                         38   6    6    7    24   18   3    4    12   18   36   37   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18th R  Grimsby                         38   8    6    5    25   21   0    5    14   6    33   35   
19th R  Nottm Forest                    38   3    8    8    30   40   2    6    11   21   41   29   
20th R  Wolves                          38   3    5    11   21   37   4    3    12   23   42   29   

 

Top Goalscorer - Van Linh Tô (Burnley): 24.

Most Assists - Uche Aikhomogbe (Burnley): 19.

Highest Average Rating - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea): 8.42.

 

PFA Player of the Year - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea).

PFA Young Player of the Year - Kevin Holmes (Crewe).

 

DIVISION 1

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Sheff Utd                       46   18   2    3    47   21   9    7    7    37   34   90   
2nd  P  Newcastle                       46   15   6    2    43   16   8    9    6    31   27   84   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Tottenham                       46   15   4    4    40   22   9    6    8    45   40   82   
4th  P  Notts Co                        46   14   5    4    39   18   10   5    8    30   28   82   
5th     Gillingham                      46   15   4    4    42   20   7    5    11   24   32   75   
6th     Preston                         46   14   5    4    46   28   6    9    8    27   28   74   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Aston Villa                     46   11   8    4    39   26   9    6    8    29   25   74   
8th     Sunderland                      46   11   5    7    41   28   9    6    8    40   36   71   
9th     Birmingham                      46   13   5    5    49   30   5    7    11   30   40   66   
10th    Fulham                          46   12   8    3    35   19   5    6    12   32   39   65   
11th    West Ham                        46   7    7    9    28   26   11   3    9    31   28   64   
12th    Rochdale                        46   11   6    6    46   38   6    7    10   28   37   64   
13th    Charlton                        46   10   6    7    39   30   6    8    9    43   47   62   
14th    Bradford                        46   11   6    6    28   20   6    5    12   19   26   62   
15th    Chesterfield                    46   10   5    8    46   42   6    8    9    33   41   61   
16th    Norwich                         46   9    6    8    32   28   8    3    12   41   47   60   
17th    Carlisle                        46   10   5    8    44   38   5    5    13   30   51   55   
18th    Huddersfield                    46   9    11   3    31   22   4    2    17   34   54   52   
19th    Man City                        46   7    8    8    40   46   5    6    12   30   48   50   
20th    W.B.A.                          46   9    5    9    39   41   4    5    14   22   43   49   
21st    Coventry                        46   11   2    10   49   46   4    2    17   22   54   49   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd R  Swindon                         46   12   2    9    41   41   1    5    17   24   57   46   
23rd R  Bristol City                    46   9    4    10   40   43   5    0    18   21   56   46   
24th R  Blackpool                       46   4    9    10   33   41   3    9    11   27   39   39   

 

DIVISION 2

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Macclesfield                    46   18   4    1    50   19   7    8    8    23   23   87   
2nd  P  Oldham                          46   11   8    4    31   24   11   5    7    31   25   79   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  P  Reading                         46   16   3    4    55   32   6    9    8    31   33   78   
4th     Bristol Rovers                  46   14   3    6    43   21   9    5    9    29   28   77   
5th     Peterborough                    46   14   6    3    35   21   7    7    9    29   32   76   
6th     Luton                           46   14   5    4    38   17   8    4    11   30   30   75   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Leyton Orient                   46   15   3    5    41   18   7    6    10   32   36   75   
8th     Millwall                        46   15   5    3    49   28   6    4    13   34   51   72   
9th     Darlington                      46   14   6    3    36   18   6    4    13   18   27   70   
10th    Stalybridge                     46   11   5    7    34   29   7    7    9    23   28   66   
11th    Brentford                       46   12   5    6    33   26   5    9    9    22   30   65   
12th    Wigan                           46   12   7    4    40   29   5    7    11   23   36   65   
13th    Kidderminster                   46   13   5    5    36   21   4    8    11   32   43   64   
14th    Doncaster                       46   11   4    8    32   26   7    6    10   20   30   64   
15th    Shrewsbury                      46   10   7    6    33   21   5    6    12   17   23   58   
16th    Cambridge Utd                   46   11   5    7    43   35   4    7    12   27   41   57   
17th    Wrexham                         46   8    8    7    37   35   6    4    13   30   44   54   
18th    Dag & Red                       46   10   4    9    34   37   5    4    14   36   55   53   
19th    Derby                           46   8    6    9    31   28   5    6    12   27   39   51   
20th    Barnsley                        46   7    4    12   28   41   6    7    10   39   47   50   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21st R  Oxford                          46   7    6    10   28   32   6    3    14   26   42   48   
22nd R  Leicester                       46   7    12   4    37   35   3    5    15   27   48   47   
23rd R  Hull                            46   7    7    9    30   27   5    3    15   29   51   46   
24th R  Tranmere                        46   6    9    8    28   32   4    3    16   17   40   42   

 

DIVISION 3

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Morecambe                       46   15   5    3    48   23   13   3    7    34   26   92   
2nd  P  Bury                            46   15   4    4    46   27   13   3    7    45   41   91   
3rd  P  Stockport                       46   17   2    4    45   15   7    9    7    27   26   83   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th     Watford                         46   15   4    4    51   32   9    2    12   36   41   78   
5th  P  Swansea                         46   14   3    6    47   26   6    8    9    27   33   71   
6th     Telford                         46   12   8    3    36   22   7    6    10   25   28   71   
7th     Northampton                     46   11   5    7    37   32   10   2    11   29   35   70   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8th     Portsmouth                      46   12   6    5    34   23   8    3    12   24   35   69   
9th     Scunthorpe                      46   11   4    8    36   28   8    6    9    36   43   67   
10th    Port Vale                       46   14   2    7    42   31   6    5    12   32   44   67   
11th    Plymouth                        46   13   7    3    37   16   4    6    13   21   35   64   
12th    Walsall                         46   10   2    11   33   33   9    5    9    21   21   64   
13th    Colchester                      46   12   7    4    34   24   6    3    14   26   37   64   
14th    Rotherham                       46   12   6    5    31   18   5    7    11   24   38   64   
15th    Q.P.R.                          46   10   9    4    34   26   5    9    9    27   34   63   
16th    Bournemouth                     46   13   3    7    31   19   3    11   9    17   27   62   
17th    Exeter                          46   10   5    8    28   25   5    6    12   15   25   56   
18th    Rushden                         46   10   5    8    32   27   4    5    14   26   42   52   
19th    Cardiff                         46   7    8    8    29   27   5    7    11   21   34   51   
20th    Wycombe                         46   9    7    7    35   31   4    5    14   32   49   51   
21st    Northwich Vics                  46   6    10   7    32   32   6    2    15   29   49   48   
22nd    Mansfield                       46   8    6    9    31   28   3    7    13   24   48   46   
23rd    Hartlepool                      46   7    6    10   33   37   4    5    14   17   38   44   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24th R  Canvey Island                   46   8    5    10   34   36   2    4    17   23   47   39   

 

CONFERENCE

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Bath City                       42   15   4    2    43   17   12   4    5    38   27   89   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd     Lincoln                         42   12   6    3    37   24   11   4    6    39   28   79   
3rd     Barnet                          42   10   6    5    41   30   13   1    7    38   30   76   
4th     Scarborough                     42   10   6    5    34   22   11   5    5    39   20   74   
5th     Hereford                        42   12   6    3    38   25   8    8    5    40   29   74   
6th     Merthyr Tydfil                  42   11   3    7    43   35   11   5    5    30   24   74   
7th     Cheltenham                      42   12   2    7    34   23   6    11   4    31   27   67   
8th     Salisbury                       42   13   3    5    31   24   7    4    10   22   28   67   
9th     Boston Utd                      42   7    8    6    32   31   8    4    9    34   33   57   
10th    Harrow Borough                  42   9    3    9    33   30   7    5    9    31   38   56   
11th    Burton Albion                   42   9    5    7    27   24   5    7    9    23   30   54   
12th    Worksop                         42   7    4    10   35   42   8    5    8    42   44   54   
13th    Slough                          42   8    8    5    29   21   6    3    12   26   41   53   
14th    Dorchester                      42   7    6    8    25   28   6    5    10   28   34   50   
15th    Runcorn                         42   8    4    9    33   37   6    4    11   22   33   50   
16th    Gainsborough                    42   8    2    11   38   43   6    4    11   32   42   48   
17th    Farnborough                     42   9    5    7    29   29   3    5    13   21   40   46   
18th    Nuneaton Borough                42   6    6    9    39   41   6    2    13   31   35   44   
19th    Clevedon                        42   8    5    8    34   30   2    7    12   22   42   42   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20th R  Billericay                      42   5    5    11   30   38   6    3    12   24   33   41   
21st R  Wimbledon                       42   6    7    8    26   32   3    7    11   23   35   41   
22nd R  Brighton                        42   5    5    11   18   33   5    6    10   23   36   41   

 

Promoted to Conference: Burscough, Maidenhead, Tamworth.

 

FA Cup: Arsenal 2-1 Stoke.

League Cup: Man Utd 3-0 Leeds.

Community Shield: Leeds 0-0 Brentford (6-5 penalties)

Football League Trophy: Oldham 1-0 Bristol Rovers.

[CFuller]

OTHER LEAGUES

 

FRANCE

Ligue 1

Top Three: Marseille (1st), Lille (2nd), Toulouse (3rd).

Relegated: Niort (18th), Rennes (19th), Lusitanos (20th).

Promoted from Ligue 2: Strasbourg (1st), Wasquehal (2nd), Lens (3rd).

 

Top Goalscorer - José Luis Fernández Pérez (Marseille): 22.

Most Assists - Claude Bouquet (Auxerre): 16.

Highest Average Rating - José Luis Fernández Pérez (Marseille): 7.89

 

Coupe de France: Nancy 2-1 Le Mans.

Coupe de la Ligue: Sedan 3-1 Monaco.

 

GERMANY

1. Bundesliga

Top Three: Dortmund (1st), VfB Stuttgart (2nd), M'gladbach (3rd).

Relegated: Frankfurt (16th), Bielefeld (17th), Ahlen (18th).

Promoted from 2. Bundesliga: SVW Mannheim (1st), Saarbrücken (2nd), Mainz (3rd).

 

Top Goalscorer - David Villa (Dortmund): 23.

Most Assists - Martín Franco (VfB Stuttgart): 13.

Highest Average Rating - David Villa (Dortmund): 7.78.

 

DFB-Pokal: Werder Bremen 3-0 Nürnberg.

DFB-Liga Pokal: Dortmund 1-0 Werder Bremen.

 

HOLLAND

Eredivisie

Top Three: PSV (1st), Feyenoord (2nd), Ajax (3rd).

Relegated: Fortuna (18th).

Promoted from Eerste Divisie: Volendam (1st).

 

Top Goalscorer - Ibrahima N'Diaye (Willem II): 17.

Most Assists - Marco van Delft (RKC): 15.

Highest Average Rating - Begli Nurmyradow (Feyenoord): 8.24.

 

KNVB Beker: Sparta 3-2 Ajax.

 

ITALY

Serie A

Top Three: Lazio (1st), Parma (2nd), Milan (3rd).

Relegated: Gualdo (15th), Bari (16th), Napoli (17th), Perugia (18th).

Promoted from Serie B: Sampdoria (1st), Palermo (2nd), Chievo (3rd), Alzano (4th, won play-off).

 

Top Goalscorer - Sergio Zani (Roma): 22.

Most Assists - Bruno Da Silva (Fiorenzuola): 14.

Highest Average Rating - Luigi Cattaneo (Brescia), Ton de Vries (Milan): 7.97.

 

Coppa Italia: Parma 2-2 Atalanta (aggregate, Parma win on away goals).

 

PORTUGAL

Primeira Liga

Top Three: Porto (1st), Sporting (2nd), Benfica (3rd).

Relegated: Braga (16th), Alverca (17th), Varzim (18th).

Promoted from Segunda Liga: Belenenses (1st), Sporting Covlhã (2nd), Fanhões (3rd).

 

Top Goalscorer - Mauricio Moreno (Leixões): 26.

Most Assists - Salvatore Annunziata (Porto): 13.

Highest Average Rating - Salvatore Annunziata (Porto): 8.22.

 

Taça de Portugal: Leixões 4-2 Barreirense (aet).

 

SCOTLAND

Premier League

Top Three: Rangers (1st), Celtic (2nd), Aberdeen (3rd).

Relegated: Clyde (12th).

Promoted from Division 1: Forfar (1st).

 

Top Goalscorer - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Rangers): 25.

Most Assists - Arjen Robben (Rangers): 16.

Highest Average Rating - Gordon Weir (Celtic): 8.33.

 

Scottish Cup: Celtic 2-0 Hibs.

League Cup: Hibs 3-0 Kilmarnock.

 

SPAIN

La Liga

Top Three: Barcelona (1st), Real Madrid (2nd), Valencia (3rd).

Relegated: Málaga (18th), Compostela (19th), Toledo (20th).

Promoted from Segunda División: Valladolid (1st), Racing Santander (2nd), Real Sociedad (3rd).

 

Top Goalscorer - Nicolae Moldovan (Celta): 25.

Most Assists - Ronaldinho (Real Madrid): 18.

Highest Average Rating - Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 8.50.

 

Copa del Rey: Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla.

 

CONTINENTAL & INTERNATIONAL

 

CLUB

Champions League: Lazio 1-0 Barcelona - in Tel-Aviv.

UEFA Cup: Marseille 3-1 SC Freiburg - in Roma.

Super Cup: VfB Stuttgart 1-0 HSV.

 

Intercontinental Cup: VfB Stuttgart 1-0 São Paulo.

 

FIFA World Player of the Year - Sergio Zani (Roma & Italy).

World Footballer of the Year - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea & Portugal).

African Player of the Year - Andrew Mukasa (Zaragoza & Uganda).

European Player of the Year - Sergio Zani (Roma & Italy).

South American Player of the Year - Guilherme (Corinthians & Brazil).

Oceania Player of the Year - Brett Emerton (Lazio & Australia).

 

LEADING TRANSFERS (Premiership)

DATE       NAME                        POSITIONS     FROM                TO                  FEE
30/06/13   Bernard Aristouy            AM LC         Corinthians         Sheff Wed           £10.75M
27/08/12   Franck Ribéry               AM RLC        Rangers             Chelsea             £10M
25/07/12   Jan Prochazka               D/M RC        Burnley             Middlesbrough       £8.25M
16/11/12   Albert Mulder               S C           Kidderminster       Everton             £8M
10/08/12   Ryan Larkin                 DM L          Newcastle           Crystal Palace      £7.5M
06/11/12   Marcel Ceccaroni            F RC          Newcastle           Everton             £7.5M
21/08/12   Matt Harvey                 F RLC         Burnley             Man Utd             £6.75M
06/09/12   Sergio Molina               DM RLC        Crystal Palace      Blackburn           £6.75M
30/10/12   Benjamin De Ceulaer         AM/F RC       West Ham            Wolves              £6M
20/11/12   Nuno Coelho                 AM RLC        Notts Co            Everton             £5.75M

 

LEADING TRANSFERS (not including Premiership)

DATE       NAME                        POSITIONS     FROM                TO                  FEE
16/12/12   Joe Cole                    AM RLC        HSV                 Dortmund            £14M
02/06/13   Arjen Robben                AM/F RLC      Rangers             Marseille           £13.25M
31/07/12   Philippe Mexès              SW/D C        VfB Stuttgart       Barcelona           £12.75M
10/07/12   Gabriel Milito              SW/D C        Barcelona           Lazio               £11.5M
01/07/12   Nemanja Vidic               SW/D C        Hertha BSC          Dortmund            £11.25M
01/09/12   Joaquín                     AM R          Celtic              Milan               £11.25M
01/10/12   Hamit Altintop              DM RC         HSV                 Milan               £11M
19/12/12   Richard Labrujère           S C           Nantes              Monaco              £10.5M
22/09/12   Daniele De Rossi            DM C          Atalanta            Lazio               £10.25M
16/09/12   Marcos Roberto Machado      AM RC         Grêmio              Inter               £9.25M

[bigmattb28]

On 09/02/2024 at 11:07, CFuller said:

 

• Despite enjoying a late-career renaissance, Manchester United striker Thierry Henry decides to bow out at age 35. Henry's ex-France team-mate Patrick Vieira also retires aged 37 after winning the double with Marseille. It's also the end of the Club World Championship, as this year's tournament in Brazil is abandoned due to "a lack of interest".

 

This is why I love FM. Random as hell things going on that would never happen in real life.

Keep it up, great read this.

[CFuller]

JULY 2013

I was now into the fourth season of my project with Fulham - and this time, failure to secure promotion from Division 1 was not an option.

 

After finishing 8th, 15th and 10th in my previous three campaigns at Craven Cottage, I now had my sights set on a top-six finish at the absolute minimum. We certainly had a squad capable of securing promotion, and I had a tactical system that could produce great football... but now we had to be more consistent, and more composed under pressure.

 

So far this summer, I had signed three players for the first-team. Attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke was back at the Cottage on a full-time deal after a successful loan at West Ham, while former youth graduate right-back Grant Gibson had returned from a four-year stint in Scotland. Austrian defensive midfielder Christian Weber was the only genuinely new face in the squad.

 

I still had my targets set on one more major signing - a left-footed centre-back. Our scouts were scouring Europe for someone who would fit the mould, but I was still hopeful that our new man would arrive in time for the big kick-off at Preston on 10 August.

 

In the meantime, we headed off for our annual pre-season tour. For the first time, the Fulham board had agreed to fund a training camp overseas, and so we hopped on a plane to our most exotic destination yet... Oslo, in Norway.

 

We would play two matches in Scandinavia. The first of those was against Kjelsås, who were now a part-time team playing in the third division, though they did briefly play in the top-flight Eliteserien in 2004. Our opponents were slap-bang in the middle of the Norwegian league season, so I wouldn't be too alarmed if they looked sharper than us.

 

17 JULY 2013: Kjelsås vs Fulham

As expected, this was a much tougher match than it appeared to be on paper. The Norwegian semi-pros defended doggedly as we struggled to create and convert our chances. The breakthrough eventually came after 69 minutes, when Peter Mitchell headed in a free-kick from Daniel Cooke. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough to get the win.

 

Kjelsås - 0

Fulham - 1 (Mitchell 69)

Friendly, Attendance 1,969

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Hansen), Weber, Mitchell, Guðmundsson (Simpson); Numme (McDonald), Schneider (Ifil); C Edwards (Iversen), Cooke (Disler), Cable (Hall); Stewart (Devlin). BOOKED: Numme, Weber.

 

For a first game against a team that's in peak condition, I suppose that's not a bad result. It would take a while to get up to full speed.

 

Unfortunately, the physical demands were now proving too much for one of our older players. The morning after the Kjelsås match, I saw Carlos Edwards frantically packing his bags in his hotel room. I asked what was up, and he said, "I can't do this anymore, gaffer. My legs have gone. I'm finished."

 

I tried to convince Carlos to carry on, but he was adamant. At the age of 34, and just one year into what would have been a three-year contract, the Trinidadian winger was retiring from professional football. He got seven goal contributions in 25 matches last season, so he wasn't exactly a liability... but clearly he felt otherwise. Such a shame.

 

Despite Edwards' sudden retirement, I didn't need to sign another right-winger to take his place. Alan Stewart was now our established first-choice in that position, while 18-year-old Atle Iversen was developing into a fine backup option. Cooke could also play there if needed.

 

About a week later, we stepped things up a notch by facing top-flight Vålerenga. The four-time Norwegian side were admittedly not the strongest team in the Eliteserien, as they sat in the relegation play-off place.

 

23 JULY 2013: Vålerenga vs Fulham

Two Scottish youngsters had our best chances of the first half. Douglas McNeil's 24th-minute effort was saved, but Derek McIntyre did find the net a minute later with a well-placed header.

 

It then nearly took us the entire second half to grab a second goal. It was left-winger Wayne Cable who eventually got it, killing off a Vålerenga team who'd hardly threatened us at the other end.

 

Vålerenga - 0

Fulham - 2 (McIntyre 25, Cable 83)

Friendly, Attendance 3,637

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson (Forde); Edwards (Hansen), Mitchell, Friberg (Ifil), Guðmundsson (Simpson); Heikkinen (Schneider), Numme; Iversen (Stewart), Disler (Cooke), McIntyre (Cable); McNeil (Davey).

 

An encouraging performance ensured we left Norway with a couple of clean-sheet victories. We returned home to the news that we had been drawn at home to Division 3 Leyton Orient in Round 1 of the League Cup.

 

Meanwhile, 15-year-old goalkeeper John Johnson was promoted to the reserve team after impressing our youth coaches. It's far too early to tell if he will make the grade, but I hope he's a more interesting prospect than his name suggests!

 

The first match at Craven Cottage this season was a huge one - a west London derby against league champions Chelsea. Could this Cottagers team hold its own against Cristiano Ronaldo, Craig Bellamy, Frank Lampard, et al?

 

27 JULY 2013: Fulham vs Chelsea

In truth, this wasn't much of a contest. Denmark midfielder Thomas Kahlenberg opened the scoring for Chelsea after just eight minutes, and a minor shin injury to Peter Devlin shortly afterwards deprived us of our best attacking threat. Incidentally, Kahlenberg would be sent off late in the second half for a reckless challenge on Adrian Disler.

 

Blues captain Cristiano Ronaldo then bagged a couple of goals either side of half-time to complete a 3-0 win for the rampant visitors. Frankly, if it hadn't been for some fantastic defensive performances from John Forde, Terry Simpson and captain Florian Schneider, we could well have been annihilated.

 

Fulham - 0

Chelsea - 3 (Kahlenberg 8, Cristiano Ronaldo 38,57)

Friendly, Attendance 13,774

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde (Hudson); Gibson (Edwards), Mitchell (Lynch), Ifil, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Weber (Numme), Schneider; Iversen (Márquez), Cooke (Disler), Hall (McIntyre); Devlin (Stewart).

 

Well… that was a cruel reminder of how much work we still had to do.

 

Douglas McNeil could soon look forward to more first-team football. as the teenage forward joined Slough in the Conference on a season-long loan. However, I rejected an offer from newly-promoted Burscough to loan in defender Seán Lynch, as I didn't think their training facilities were good enough to help his development.

 

We then went on a revenge mission to the Memorial Stadium, where Bristol Rovers thrashed us 3-0 in the FA Cup back in January. The Gasheads were now under new management - my opposite number in the home dugout was none other than our former fitness coach Simeon Hodson!

 

31 JULY 2013: Bristol Rovers vs Fulham

Fortunately, there were no hat-trick heroics from Chris Powell this time, as we defended solidly to deny the Welshman and his team-mates any scoring chances. Mind you, Rovers were pretty mean at the back too, and they held firm for 77 minutes before Jerel Ifil's half-volley got the better of goalie Gareth Stewart. The assist came from teenage substitute José Luis Márquez, who then found the net himself and sealed victory.

 

Bristol Rovers - 0

Fulham - 2 (Ifil 77, Márquez 85)

Friendly, Attendance 4,613

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson (Price); Gibson (Friberg), Ifil (Mitchell), Magnusson, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Numme (Heikkinen), Weber (McDonald); Iversen, Disler (Cooke), Hall (Cable); Davey (Márquez). BOOKED: Simpson.

 

Not the most convincing performance by any means, but I'm still seeing plenty of positives. I have a real good feeling about what lies ahead...

[CFuller]

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Arsène Wenger finally concedes that his eyesight isn't what it used to be, retiring as Arsenal manager after nearly 17 years in charge. Rudi Völler leaves Lille to take over the reins at Highbury. His first big signing is Dortmund's England defender Michael Dawson for £12million.
• It's all change at Barcelona as well, as Carlos Bianchi's retirement after 11 years sparks mass grieving amongst the club's supporters... and even bigger celebrations in the dressing room. Bianchi is succeeded at the Nou Camp by Franky van der Elst, who departs Dortmund shortly after completing the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
• BVB aren't the only Bundesliga club to spend over £10million on a new striker this summer. After losing his Dortmund place to Zlatan, Russian meerkat Andrey Arshavin compares the market and makes a "simples" £13.75million move to Hertha BSC, who then sell young Argentine hotshot Julio César to 1.FC Köln for £12.5million. Meanwhile, Leverkusen pay a club-record £14.75million to lure Julius Aghahowa away from Schalke 04.
• Moacir da Rosa becomes Brazil's youngest player at a major tournament since Ronaldo as he takes the Copa América by storm. The 17-year-old Fluminense striker scores twice against Bolivia in the Group Stage, and then bags the winner against hosts Colombia in the Quarter Finals. However, the Seleção are knocked out on penalties at the Semi Finals by Chile, who then lose 3-1 to defending champions Argentina in the Final.
• Despite being relegated from Division 1 with Bristol City, 38-year-old David Beckham decides to extend his career for one more season. Beckham denies claims of 'selling out' as he is unveiled by wealthy Russian Premier League side Rostselmash, who also recruit ex-Chelsea and Stoke striker Rati Aleksidze.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• History is made at Wimbledon, as a brave-hearted Andy Murray overcomes Novak Djokovic to become the first British man to win a singles title at SW19 since 1936. Meanwhile, the unassuming French underdog Marion Bartoli brings her career to a fairytale end by defeating the big-serving German Sabine Lisicki in the women’s singles Final. BBC presenter John Inverdale isn’t impressed.
• Another uprising in Egypt results in a military coup, and Mohamed Morsi is deposed after barely a year as President. There is a rather more peaceful transition of power in Belgium, as King Albert II abdicates the throne after nearly two decades - and his son Philippe is sworn in as the new monarch.
• Meanwhile, a potential new King is born in the United Kingdom. The world's media flock to St Mary's Hospital in central London to catch a first glimpse of the newborn Prince George - the first child of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. The Daily Express imagine what Diana would have been like as a grandmother.
• Former US Army soldier Chelsea Manning is convicted of violating the Espionage Act and is subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison. Manning leaked nearly 750,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in 2010.

Edited February 19 by CFuller

[CFuller]

Fulham squad - Start of 2013/2014 season

 

GOALKEEPERS

1. Wayne Hudson - GK, age 28, English

Hudson has lost the captaincy and his starting place, but not his self-belief. The determined sweeper keeper has a great attitude and will be keen to bounce back.

 

13. John Forde - GK, age 24, Irish [6 caps]

Forde's agility, ball-handling and intelligence makes him a great goalkeeper... when he's happy. Sadly, we had a huge row in March, and he's been eager to leave ever since.

 

DEFENDERS

2. Grant Gibson - D R, age 24, Scottish [capped at Under-21s level]

Academy alumnus Gibson returns to Fulham after four years in his native Scotland. The right-back is brave, has outstanding passing skills, and is defensively responsible.

 

3. Terry Simpson - D L, age 25, English

Simpson is a solid professional, even if he isn't a regular starter for me. The tough-tackling former Kidderminster left-back particularly relishes big games.

 

4. Markus Heikkinen - D/DM C, age 34, Finnish [24 caps, 2 goals]

Heikkinen is in his second and probably last season at the Cottage. This hard-working defensive stalwart may soon be overtaken by younger talents.

 

5. Jerel Ifil - D C, age 31, Saint Lucian [14 caps]

Ifil only made 10 appearances last season because of injuries and erratic form. The big, burly Londoner realises that he needs to step up or ship out.

 

12. Peter Mitchell - D C, age 27, Scottish [capped at Under-21s level]

Mitchell has become an understated but consistent presence in the heart of our defence. No Fulham player started more games than the ball-playing defender last term.

 

15. Arnar Guðmundsson - SW/D/DM RLC, age 24, Icelandic [28 caps, 1 goal]

Guðmundsson was underwhelming last season, providing only two assists. I expect more drive and hunger from this undoubtedly talented wing-back.

 

22. Halldór Magnusson - D LC, age 21, Icelandic [capped at Under-21s level]

I'm afraid Magnusson has also been a disappointment of late. He has plenty of energy and is a brave defender, but his inconsistency is frustrating.

 

26. Thomas Friberg - D RC, age 21, Swedish

Friberg is a clever right-back with potential, but he's been rather slow to show it. I want to see him work on his athleticism to reach that next level.

 

30. Graham Edwards - D R, age 20, English

Local lad Edwards has also shown some promise on the right and is always striving to improve. He's still some way off being a reliable start, but he's getting there.

 

MIDFIELDERS

6. Florian Schneider - DM LC, age 28, German [capped at B level]

Schneider is our defensive midfield rock, and he's only got better since becoming captain. Fulham fans have fallen in love with their set-piece-loving Teutonic knight.

 

7. Atle Iversen - AM RC, age 19, Norwegian

Iversen netted 4 goals in 11 games last term, and a major breakthrough may not be too far. What he lacks in pace, he makes up for with his intelligence and technique.

 

8. Daniel Cooke - AM/F RLC, age 22, English

Cooke joins us permanently after a productive loan from West Ham. He can be an explosive and creative presence anywhere across the attacking positions.

 

11. Jordan Hall - AM/F L, age 29, English

Hall is an unpredictable inside-forward to say the least. His acceleration and silky dribbling are powerful weapons, but can he produce the goods often enough?

 

14. Christian Weber - SW/DM C, age 28, Austrian [1 cap]

I'm intrigued by Weber, who looks like a powerful and skilful libero but is also a rugged ball-winner. Can the former Tirol Innsbruck star settle quickly?

 

16. Adrian Disler - M C, age 21, Swiss [capped at Under-21s level]

Disler is an ambitious midfielder who has impressed in fits and starts. For all the skill he shows on the ball, does he also have the game to unlock stubborn defences?

 

19. Henning Numme - DM C, age 19, Norwegian [capped at Under-21s level]

Numme is well on the way to becoming a top-class midfielder. The flamboyant long-shot lover helped himself to five assists last term, and there's surely more to come.

 

21. Wayne Cable - AM L, age 19, Welsh [capped at Under-21s level]

Despite his tender years, Cable is now part of the Fulham furniture. The left-wing wizard will surely be coveted by bigger clubs if we don't get promoted this season.

 

FORWARDS

9. Peter Devlin - S C, age 25, Irish [capped at B level]

Aggressive frontman Devlin really has turned into a master poacher. His 29 goals last term were the most by a Fulham player in a single season since the 1950s.

 

10. Alan Stewart - F RC, age 29, Scottish [14 caps, 1 goal]

Ex-Livingston goal machine Stewart will admit it took him a while to settle into the Cottage. Thankfully, he now provides regular goal contributions from the right wing.

 

29. Derek McIntyre - F LC, age 18, Scottish

Pacey leftie McIntyre has emerged as one of our brightest young talents. He scored in his first two senior games and is now steadily working towards long-term success.

 

RESERVES

GOALKEEPERS: John Johnson (15), Craig Price (18)

DEFENDERS: Kári Hansen (17), Gary Hogg (19), Seán Lynch (19), Stephen Richardson (22), Dave Taylor (23), Steven Weir (19)

MIDFIELDERS: Chris McDonald (20), Colm Ryan (20), Phil Sturridge (18)

FORWARDS: Jamie Davey (22), José Luis Márquez (19), Douglas McNeil (19, on loan at Slough)

[oche balboa]

Hopefully you will have a good season 

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2013

The new Football League season was barely a week away, and we were still one player short of my ideal squad. I was still in the market for a left-footed central defender.

 

Then, at long last, it seemed that I had found my guy. 34-year-old Neil Clement was a free agent, having just been released by West Brom after making over 500 appearances in 14 years at The Hawthorns. His vast experience at this level would be priceless, so I offered him a two-year contract worth around £12,500 per week. We still faced a fierce battle to secure his signature, as several other clubs were also interested in him, including Rochdale, Macclesfield and top-flight Southampton.

 

While we awaited Clement's decision, we turned our attention to a tricky friendly match against Premiership regulars - and 2011 FA Cup winners - Ipswich. George Burley was about to begin his 20th season as manager of the Tractor Boys.

 

3 AUGUST 2013: Fulham vs Ipswich Town

This match pitted us against arguably the best young goalkeeper in England - Ross Fenton, who was already established as Ipswich's first-choice shotstopper at just 18 years of age. Fenton withstood a couple of shots from Peter Devlin, while his team-mates also had a few attempts at our goal.

 

Then José Luis Márquez came off the bench to once again make his mark. The 19-year-old Spaniard found the net from Daniel Cooke's cross in the 75th minute, only to be flagged offside. Four minutes later, though, Márquez beat Fenton again - and his header from Christian Weber's long ball did count this time! The Tractor Boys had been stopped in their tracks!

 

Fulham - 1 (Márquez 79)

Ipswich Town - 0

Friendly, Attendance 4,421

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde (Hudson); Edwards (Gibson), Ifil (Friberg), Mitchell, Guðmundsson (Simpson); Disler (Heikkinen), Schneider (Weber); Iversen (McIntyre), Cooke, Cable (Hall); Devlin (Márquez). BOOKED: Weber.

 

After two goals in as many friendlies, it looked like José Luis Márquez was emerging as a real star of the future!

 

Of course, it was a concern that neither Peter Devlin nor Alan Stewart had yet scored in pre-season. They would have one more chance to get off the mark when we headed to Essex for a midweek clash with Canvey Island. The Gulls made their Football League debut last season, but finished bottom of Division 3 and were relegated straight back to the Conference.

 

6 AUGUST 2013: Canvey Island vs Fulham

This was more of a struggle than it perhaps should have been. Jordan Hall suffered a thigh strain in the early stages of a frustrating first half in which we had several shots at goal. Only one of them found the net - and that was a fluke from attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke, whose attempted cross to Alan Stewart in the 35th minute flew straight into the net!

 

Peter Devlin opened his account 11 minutes into the second half to double our lead... at least until John Clarke scored an immediate reply for Canvey. Thankfully, reserve Jamie Davey soon put the result beyond doubt with our third goal of the night.

 

Canvey Island - 1 (Clarke 57)

Fulham - 3 (Cooke 35, Devlin 56, Davey 67)

Friendly, Attendance 1,267

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson (Price); Gibson (Edwards), Friberg (Lynch), Ifil, Simpson (Magnusson); Weber (Disler), Heikkinen (Ryan); Stewart, Cooke (Iversen), Hall (Sturridge); Devlin (Davey). BOOKED: Heikkinen.

 

Six games, five wins... and just that one defeat against the reigning Premiership champions. Based purely on results, that is probably the best pre-season campaign I've ever had as a manager!

 

Most of our players looked sharp, fit, and in form. The only two issues were on the left wing, where Jordan Hall was ruled out for 10 days with a thigh injury, and Derek McIntyre was struggling to shift some excess weight he'd put on in the off-season. Lay off the tattie scones, Del boy.

 

Annoyingly, Clement still hadn't made a decision about his future by the weekend. That meant we headed to Deepdale with Peter Mitchell and Jerel Ifil as our starting centrre-backs. I suppose they're both solid defenders, if not consistent ones.

 

I expected a tricky start to the season against Preston, who were among only three teams to beat us at home in the league this season. Indeed, David Moyes' boys had a very strong record against us overall - in six meetings since I became Fulham manager, we had yet to win a single one.

 

10 AUGUST 2013: Preston North End vs Fulham

We couldn't afford a slow start against one of our bogey teams, but that was exactly what happened. Preston came out attacking almost instantly, firing a barrage of shots in towards John Forde. John bravely withstood most of them, including a couple from Jamie Berry, but it was only a matter of time before the Lilywhites broke through.

 

That time was in the 28th minute. Preston's attacking midfielder Mika Väyrynen took full advantage of a momentary lapse in concentration from the Fulham defence, playing a smart ball through to the onrushing Stephen Ferguson, who fired home.

 

We just couldn't get our game up and running in the first half, and things would soon get worse early in the second. Three minutes after the restart, Preston won a corner. Right-back John King's delivery was headed goalwards by winger Dave Marsh, and Forde could only parry it to the feet of Dean Stevens, leaving the hosts' homegrown centre-back with a simple finish.

 

Though Peter Devlin did have two shots on target, it was a frustrating afternoon's work for our number 9, who ended it with a yellow card before being replaced by league debutant José Luis Márquez. Wide forward Alan Stewart also went into the book, and his only shot didn't get anywhere near the goal. The less said about this, the better.

 

Preston North End - 2 (Ferguson 28, Stevens 48)

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 22,060 - POSITIONS: Preston 5th, Fulham 20th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Friberg), Ifil, Mitchell, Guðmundsson; Weber, Schneider; Stewart, Cooke, Cable (Iversen); Devlin (Márquez). BOOKED: Cooke, Devlin, Stewart.

 

That was a difficult opener to watch; we were simply outclassed from start to finish. But that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I persist with John Forde. Even when John is sulking about wanting to leave, he can still turn up and produce a brilliant goalkeeping performance to keep the scoreline respectable.

 

There was more bad news 24 hours later, as Neil Clement informed us that he would not be joining Fulham. After weighing up several offers, the former West Brom defender decided to sign for... er, West Brom.

 

I had a feeling Neil would say no, so I had already lined up an alternative signing. 34-year-old Clint Hill was a veteran of over 500 Football League matches for the likes of Tranmere, Blackburn, Millwall and Birmingham, and the burly Liverpudlian centre-back joined us on a free transfer following his release from Bolton. And yes, he is left-footed!

 

Hill went straight into the starting line-up for our first home game of the season against newly-relegated Nottingham Forest, who'd opened up with a 4-1 towelling of Tottenham. There was also a surprise recall for Wayne Hudson...

 

...and that was because Forde was AWOL from training on Friday morning. John at least had the balls to apologise this time, but his bad behaviour wouldn't be tolerated. Wayne was back in the Fulham goal, ready to make it his own once again.

 

17 AUGUST 2013: Fulham vs Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest had the first scoring opportunity after 13 minutes. Captain Andy Reid played a clever flick-on from Tonton Zola Moukoko's cross, but 18-year-old striker Brian Steer couldn't quite steer it on target. The former Shrewsbury youngster was put under constant pressure by our new man Clint Hill, though Clint later picked up a yellow card for tripping Steer.

 

The first half had been a bit quiet for us on the attacking front, but that all changed six minutes before the break. Henning Numme continued to make a name for himself in defensive midfield as he chipped a long ball to Wayne Cable on the edge of Forest's penalty area. Cable tried an audacious volley from out wide - and it caught goalkeeper Matthew Ramsey completely off guard, breaking the deadlock in style!

 

The second period started badly for the visitors, who lost their centre-back Peter Oakes to an ankle injury in the 54th minute. Though our defence had its own issues in terms of performance, the Tricky Trees could only find the target with two of their 10 shots - and both of those were well saved by Wayne Hudson. Thankfully, Numme and captain Florian Schneider gave our struggling backline just enough protection to keep a clean sheet.

 

Fulham - 1 (Cable 39)

Nottingham Forest - 0

Division 1, Attendance 20,760 - POSITIONS: Fulham 15th, Nottm Forest 9th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Gibson (Edwards), Mitchell, Hill (Heikkinen), Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Cooke (Disler), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Hill.

 

Not the prettiest performance, but an encouraging result against one of the better teams in the league. And with Hudson keeping a clean sheet, Forde had better think twice before he decides to pull another sickie!

 

We then played host to Division 2 mid-tablers Leyton Orient in Round 1 of the League Cup. In each of the last two seasons, we had been taken to penalties by lower-league teams at this stage of the competition - losing once and winning once. Could we make lighter work of Orient this time?

 

20 AUGUST 2013: Fulham vs Leyton Orient

Er... no. We once again struggled to break down weaker, more defensive opposition. It wasn't until the 42nd minute that our Norwegian starlets eventually found a way through, as Henning Numme's incisive pass was headed in by winger Atle Iversen.

 

After the break, though, the pendulum swung Leyton Orient's way. Scottish centre-back Graham Guy gave Wayne Hudson a major scare from long range in the 56th minute. Guy was involved in another great chance in the 77th minute, when his free-kick into the box found Shaun Berry. The substitute striker flicked it past Hudson, and we were pegged back to 1-1.

 

Though Florian Schneider and Arnar Guðmundsson came on to try and inspire us for the closing stages, the match was slipping way from us. The Craven Cottage crowd held their collective breaths when Orient attacked again in stoppage time. Former Sheffield United forward Neil Eaton tried a volley from just inside the penalty area, but Hudson's parry ensured that we would take the game to extra-time.

 

Alan Stewart replaced a misfiring Peter Devlin up front for the next 30 minutes, but a wayward overhead kick was the only shot that the Scot could muster. Then, in the 115th minute, Clint Hill's clumsy challenge on Eaton gave Leyton Orient another free-kick in a dangerous position. Berry scored once again - this time from midfielder James Graham's delivery - and consigned us to yet another humiliating early cup exit.

 

Fulham - 1 (Iversen 42)

Leyton Orient - 2 (Berry 77,115)

[after extra-time]

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 12,127

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg, Ifil, Hill, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Numme (Schneider), Weber; Iversen, Disler, McIntyre; Devlin (Stewart). BOOKED: Simpson, Numme.

 

Meanwhile, reserve defender Seán Lynch went on loan to Cheltenham for the season. The Robins are flying high at the top of the Conference, so the 19-year-old Irishman has clearly joined a good team who can hopefully help him kick on.

 

Next up was an away trip to Reading, who'd recently celebrated back-to-back promotions after winning the Division 2 play-offs. The Royals had started the season with a couple of narrow defeats, but we knew that they had several quality players... including my former Dagenham and Kidderminster midfielder Ryan Carter, who was now 27 and in the prime of his career.

 

24 AUGUST 2013: Reading vs Fulham

After starting the season with three blanks, Peter Devlin was determined to get off the mark at the Madejski Stadium. He first found the net in the 15th minute, but was flagged offside. Two minutes later, though, the flag stayed down as Devlin latched onto Alan Stewart's square ball to break his duck!

 

We almost doubled our lead on 32 minutes, but Wayne Cable's daisy-cutter was brilliantly stopped by Reading keeper James Jowsey. Eight minutes later, the Royals launched a devastating counter-strike. An excellent team move involving seven different outfield players ended with striker and captain Andy Lewis prodding the ball home, and the game was back in the balance.

 

The second half kicked off with a wayward shot in the 49th minute from our attacking midfielder Daniel Cooke, who was struggling to replicate the excellent form he'd shown last season. Devlin still had some rust to shake off too... but 10 minutes from half-time, the Irishman was back to his best. Peter dribbled past Royals midfielder James Jeffrey and left-back Paul Robinson before beating Jowsey to restore our lead.

 

Seven minutes later, victory was secured. Reading playmaker Ryan Carter saw his header intercepted by his old Kidderminster club-mate Terry Simpson, who kicked off a counter-attack that ended with Devlin completing his hat-trick! It was Peter's second league treble for the Cottagers - and I doubt it'll be his last!

 

Reading - 1 (Lewis 40)

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 17,80,87)

Division 1, Attendance 20,832 - POSITIONS: Reading 22nd, Fulham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Ifil, Hill, Guðmundsson; Schneider, Numme (Weber); Stewart, Cooke, Cable (McIntyre); Devlin.

 

Fulham are in the play-off places! That's a sight for sore eyes!

 

Unfortunately, Jerel Ifil was certainly feeling plenty of soreness in his ankle. The experienced centre-back was ruled out for the next three weeks with an ankle sprain, which he picked up in the closing stages.

 

Our last match of the opening month was at home to the team who sat immediately below us in the table. In fact, Grimsby were only outside the top six because of alphabetical order - both teams had the exact same record of 2 wins, 1 loss, 4 goals scored, 3 conceded, and 6 points!

 

26 AUGUST 2013: Fulham vs Grimsby Town

After his hat-trick heroics in Berkshire, Peter Devlin played a support role this time around. 10 minutes into the match, the 25-year-old striker held up the ball brilliantly in Grimsby's penalty area before squaring it to an unmarked Florian Schneider, allowing our captain to open his account for the season!

 

Our joy was short-lived, as Grimsby's captain Jonathan Rowan scored his first goal of the campaign after 23 minutes. The 31-year-old - who was capped once by England when the Mariners were in the Premiership last season - outjumped Clint Hill to head home from left-back Christopher Jackson's whipped free-kick. Incidentally, was Rowan's 200th senior goal for his hometown club - in his 501st appearance.

 

Grimsby never threatened to complete the comeback, as a toe injury to teenage winger Simon Taylor seriously weakened their attacking threat. Roy Evans' side instead switched to a defensive approach - and with Emile Baron making a series of fantastic saves in the Town goal, it looked like it would pay off.

 

Then, in the 64th minute, came the turning point. After receiving a yellow card early in the first half, Mariners right-back John Thompson collected another when he clattered into Daniel Cooke. The Irish international was off, and we now had nearly half an hour to score against men.

 

We would only need nine more minutes. A couple of Scotsmen combined to breach Grimsby's defence for a second time, as Peter Mitchell's long ball was headed in by Alan Stewart, who also got on the scoresheet for the first time this season! Mitchell's assist - along with his consistently brilliant tackling - saw him named 'man of the match', but it was a calm and controlled team performance that got us over the line here.

 

Fulham - 2 (Schneider 10, Stewart 73)

Grimsby Town - 1 (Rowan 23)

Division 1, Attendance 20,743 - POSITIONS: Fulham 5th, Grimsby 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill (Simpson), Guðmundsson (Simpson); Schneider, Weber; Stewart (Iversen), Cooke, Cable (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Hill.

 

Three wins from our first four league games. That's the best start we've had since I took over. Could this be the season we finally get promoted?

Edited March 31 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of August 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Norwich                         4    1    1    0    3    1    2    0    0    5    3    10   
2nd     Macclesfield                    4    2    0    0    5    1    1    0    1    5    3    9    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Wolves                          4    2    0    0    6    3    1    0    1    3    3    9    
4th     Preston                         4    2    0    0    4    1    1    0    1    3    4    9    
5th     Fulham                          4    2    0    0    3    1    1    0    1    3    3    9    
6th     Aston Villa                     4    2    0    0    2    0    1    0    1    3    4    9    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Nottm Forest                    4    1    1    0    4    1    1    0    1    3    1    7    
8th     West Ham                        4    2    0    0    4    0    0    1    1    0    1    7    
9th     Huddersfield                    4    2    0    0    7    3    0    1    1    2    4    7    
10th    Gillingham                      4    2    0    0    5    2    0    1    1    0    1    7    
11th    W.B.A.                          3    1    0    0    2    1    1    0    1    4    5    6    
12th    Grimsby                         4    2    0    0    3    1    0    0    2    2    4    6    
13th    Carlisle                        4    1    0    1    4    4    1    0    1    3    6    6    
14th    Charlton                        4    1    1    0    5    3    0    1    1    4    5    5    
15th    Sunderland                      3    1    1    0    4    3    0    1    0    1    1    5    
16th    Bradford                        4    1    0    1    2    1    0    2    0    1    1    5    
17th    Coventry                        4    0    1    1    3    6    1    1    0    4    3    5    
18th    Birmingham                      4    1    1    0    4    0    0    0    2    1    3    4    
19th    Man City                        4    1    1    0    8    4    0    0    2    4    7    4    
20th    Tottenham                       4    1    0    1    5    5    0    0    2    2    7    3    
21st    Oldham                          4    0    1    1    1    2    0    0    2    0    4    1    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Reading                         4    0    0    2    2    5    0    0    2    3    6    0    
23rd    Chesterfield                    4    0    0    2    2    6    0    0    2    2    5    0    
24th    Rochdale                        4    0    0    2    2    4    0    0    2    0    6    0    

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• France midfielder Francis Leclerc makes an instant impact at Chelsea after joining Jean Tigana's Premiership champions from Nîmes for £7.5million. The 29-year-old sets up two goals for Thomas Kahlenberg in the Blues' 3-0 Community Shield win over Arsenal, with Nihat also on target.
• Former champions Leeds make a slow start to the Premiership campaign, losing their opening three games to Manchester United, Arsenal and Ipswich. The Whites are clearly reeling from the summer departures of Mark van Bommel, Lee Bowyer and Michael Bridges. Not to worry, though, as Peter Ridsdale smashes his piggy bank open and spends a combined £17.75million on West Ham's Dave Nugent and Stoke's Jermain Defoe!
• Serie A holders Lazio announce the £15million signing of 23-year-old Italy striker Salvatore Annunziata, who got 23 goals and 15 assists for Porto last season. Meanwhile, arch-rivals Roma's season gets off to a chaotic start, as goalkeeper Andrea Guidi forgets his gloves before the Giallorossi fall to a 5-3 defeat at Milan!
• Milan miss out on the Champions League group phase, as Spartak Moscow overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit in the qualifiers. Liverpool are knocked out by Belgian Pro League runners-up RWDM, while Aberdeen cannot repeat last season's heroics after losing on away goals to Hajduk Split. The Croatians' victory is inspired by two assists from an unheralded 27-year-old midfielder called Luka Modric.
• Holland are the first European giants to qualify for the World Cup, as Sander Emanuelson's strike in Slovakia ensures that the Oranje easily win their group. 2010 runners-up Wales can now only hope for a play-off place, but they are held to a 0-0 draw in Armenia after Blackburn's teenage full-back Andrew Martin is sent off on his debut.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Former child star Miley Cyrus steals the show at the MTV Video Music Awards. The 20-year-old takes off her clothes and ‘twerks’ her backside towards R&B lothario Robin Thicke while he performs "Blurred Lines". Stay classy.
• That was the life that was. The British TV presenter, journalist, writer and President-botherer Sir David Frost - whose remarkable career lasted over 50 years - dies at the age of 74. Frost suffers a fatal heart attack while on board the MS Queen Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Alex Rodriguez - one of baseball’s biggest stars - is banned for 211 games after obtaining performance-enhancing drugs from the Biogenesis lab. The New York Yankees ace will effectively miss the entire 2014 Major League Baseball season.
• 25,000 students apply to attend the University of Liberia in western Africa… and every single one fails the entrance exam. One unsuccessful applicant says, “This is tougher to get into than the FMS Hall of Fame!”

Edited February 23 by CFuller

[bigmattb28]

On 23/02/2024 at 11:28, CFuller said:

• 25,000 students apply to attend the University of Liberia in western Africa… and every single one fails the entrance exam. One unsuccessful applicant says, “This is tougher to get into than the FMS Hall of Fame!”

You should be put into the FMS hall of fame for this comment alone!

 

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2013

Despite winning three of our first four league matches, it wouldn't be long before our latest promotion challenge hit its first snags.

 

During the international break, skipper Florian Schneider felt a twinge in his calf while doing some exercises on the training ground. The 28-year-old German was found to have suffered a serious strain, which meant he would be out for around three to four weeks - and Arnar Guðmundsson would have to take over the captaincy in his absence.

 

To make matters worse, Alan Stewart bruised his shin while on international duty with Scotland. He too would miss at least our next couple of matches.

 

The first of those was at home to Oldham, who were playing in Division 1 for the first time since the 1996/1997 season. Andy Ritchie's Latics had endured a baptism of fire, picking up only one point and one goal in their opening four matches.

 

7 SEPTEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Oldham Athletic

Peter Devlin's first chance to score came after 10 minutes, when he was denied by a parried save from Oldham's goalkeeping captain Michael Phillips. Devlin had better luck a dozen minutes later, blasting in an excellent left-wing cross by our stand-in skipper Arnar Guðmundsson.

 

Oldham's front two then went on the offensive to try and restore parity. Darren Burgess' 26th-minute header was easily caught by Fulham keeper John Forde, though he did set up an opportunity for his partner Chris Gordon eight minutes later. The man whose 15-goal tally fired the Latics to promotion last season found the net for the first time in this campaign.

 

Oldham were now hoping to head into break with the game still level at 1-1... but we had other ideas. Attacking midfield playmaker Daniel Cooke showed great vision to pick out Devlin in the Latics box, and the Irishman fired home to restore our advantage!

 

We had 67% possession in the first half - and although Oldham enjoyed a fairer share of the ball after the break, we looked more likely to enhance our lead than lose it. Our best chances came midway through the half, when Guðmundsson and Wayne Cable were each denied by Phillips. It was a fairly quiet afternoon for Forde at the other end, and so we held on for a 2-1 win.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 22,45)

Oldham Athletic - 1 (Gordon 34)

Division 1, Attendance 14,035 - POSITIONS: Fulham 1st, Oldham 21st

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Simpson), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Weber; Iversen (Disler), Cooke, McIntyre (Cable); Devlin.

 

While I was a little annoyed that we hadn't won more convincingly, it really didn't matter. For the first time since the 2007/2008 season, Fulham fans could proudly sing that their team was top of Division 1!

 

One player who'd been particularly impressive for us so far was centre-back Peter Mitchell. Premiership leaders Burnley had taken a keen interest in the Scot, offering us £1.4million to sign him. We still had close to £10million in our bank balance, so I felt no pressure to sell Peter.

 

Despite the obvious success our 4-2-3-1 was having, I decided to try a slightly more cautious approach at Chesterfield. It remained to be seen whether the gamble would pay off, as the Spireites were still trying to find their feet under new manager Paul Bracewell after parting company with Bryan Robson late last season.

 

11 SEPTEMBER 2013: Chesterfield vs Fulham

Chesterfield were now captained by my former Kidderminster centre-back Tobias Redhe... but it was one of his defensive colleagues who broke the deadlock after 19 minutes. Saltergate erupted when 19-year-old local lad Simon Piper enhanced his growing reputation by smashing home an inswinging corner from Spireites stalwart Chris Carruthers.

 

There was a sense of negativity in the Fulham team now, and the hosts sensed more blood. Wing-back Michael Cobb had a great chance for 2-0 saved by John Forde in the 35th minute, while Iranian veteran Ali Karimi fired wide another opportunity shortly afterwards. We only trailed by one goal at half-time, but something clearly had to change.

 

After a slow start to the second half, I eventually reverted to our usual 4-2-3-1 formation for the last half-hour. Within moments, Peter Devlin had a shot saved by Chesterfield keeper Jörg Hamann - a missed opportunity that he would rue in the 69th minute. Lars Iver Strand had scored 91 goals in three-and-a-bit seasons at Saltergate, and he delighted the home fans with a curling shot that went in off the bar.

 

At 2-0 down, the game was surely over... and it could well have been if Strand's strike in the 75th minute hadn't clipped the post. Three minutes later, however, it was game on again. A fantastic solo goal from substitute winger Jordan Hall - who started his career at Chesterfield - gave us what appeared to be a way back into the match.

 

Then, with four minutes to go, Hamann made a costly mistake. The 21-year-old German thought he was a sweeper keeper as he carried the ball out of his box and tried to play a through-ball deep into our half. However, Wayne Cable jumped high to intercept it, nodding it on for Daniel Cooke to fire into an unguarded net! From a perilous position, we had somehow clawed a point back!

 

Chesterfield - 2 (Piper 19, Strand 69)

Fulham - 2 (Hall 78, Cooke 86)

Division 1, Attendance 5,976 - POSITIONS: Chesterfield 22nd, Fulham 4th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Weber (Numme); Cooke, Disler (Hall); Iversen (Ryan), Cable; Devlin.

 

Hands up, guys. I got my tactics wrong at the start of the game. If our attackers hadn't turned it on in the closing stages, I would have looked like a proper clown.

 

Despite throwing top spot away, we were still in a good position heading into our next home game against Wolves. Our visitors had started the season well but also had a very leaky defence, which presented Peter Devlin with a great opportunity to add to his goal haul.

 

14 SEPTEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Jordan Hall's goalscoring cameo at Chesterfield was rewarded with a first start of the season. The skilful 29-year-old almost got an assist after just four minutes, but Alan Stewart fired his cross off target.

 

Wolves then gave us a few scares. John Forde had to get his fingertips to a particularly tricky header from striker Markus Kvarneå in the 11th minute. Forde was soundly beaten by a fierce long-ranger from visiting captain Luke Ellis two minutes later, but the winger's shot cannoned off the bar and back into play. Former Bayern München forward Claudio Pizarro also missed a great opportunity for Wanderers.

 

The Wolves crossbar then took a couple of hits in the 34th minute - both from Stewart, who simply couldn't believe that he hadn't scored. Another chance went begging just before half-time, when the Scotsman's header was caught by Wolves number 1 Craig Barnett.

 

There was more end-to-end stuff early in the second half, as Wolves winger Danny Coid and Fulham frontman Peter Devlin were both denied by opposing goalkeepers. Things then died down somewhat, though Frank Yallop's side did have one more chance to silence Craven Cottage 11 minutes from time. Pizarro's speculative shot from 25 yards didn't catch out Forde, whose goalkeeping - combined with some great defending from Clint Hill and Peter Mitchell - kept the scoreline at 0-0.

 

Fulham - 0

Wolverhampton Wanderers - 0

Division 1, Attendance 16,878 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, Wolves 3rd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Grant, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme (Heikkinen), Weber; Stewart (McIntyre), Cooke, Hall (Cable); Devlin. BOOKED: Numme.

 

Guys... I think that was the best goalless draw I've ever watched! We would probably have fallen apart in this situation a year or two ago, so I'll definitely take a point!

 

Meanwhile, another Fulham player was attracting interest, with Charlton making an £800,000 bid for teenage defensive midfielder Henning Numme. [Scoff] Come on, fellas. You know he's worth more than that...

 

Schneider returned to light training a week later, but he wasn't quite fit enough to feature at Moss Rose against Macclesfield. The Silkmen were back in Division 1 after winning the Division 2 title under Geraint Williams (who, incidentally, is now at Charlton). New boss Dave Watson had got off to a decent start, as they sat in 8th place.

 

21 SEPTEMBER 2013: Macclesfield Town vs Fulham

Peter Devlin might not have scored in our previous two games, but our lucky Irish charm wouldn't be denied here. Just five minutes into the game, Devlin used his explosive pace to take Christian Weber's through-ball past Macclesfield defender John Paul Potter before tapping it into the bottom corner.

 

Unfortunately, Arnar Guðmundsson sustained a dead leg in the build-up to Devlin's goal and had to be replaced, with Peter Mitchell taking up the captaincy. Thankfully, that didn't disrupt our rhythm too much. Another brilliant assist from Weber was fired home by winger Jordan Hall, and we were leading 2-0 inside nine minutes!

 

The Silkmen finally woke up at that point, as their ex-Peterborough striker Francis Green drew a difficult save out of John Forde in the 23rd minute. Right-back Grant Gibson then cleared the danger, as we held our nerve to take a two-goal cushion into the break.

 

Two minutes into the second half, we put the result beyond any reasonable doubt. Macc goalkeeper Geoffery Nijs was caught in no man's land as Alan Stewart flicked in a curled cross from Hall. As talented as young Wayne Cable is, he might well struggle to get back in the team if Jordan can keep this form up!

 

Macclesfield threw everything at us to try and at least restore some respectability, if not complete an incredible fightback. They couldn't even get a single goal on the board, as John Forde produced one of his best performances in a Fulham goalkeeper's jersey. Two more saves from Green sent us on our way to another clean sheet... and back to the top of Division 1!

 

Macclesfield Town - 0

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 5, Hall 9, Stewart 47)

Division 1, Attendance 6,206 - POSITIONS: Macclesfield 10th, Fulham 1st

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson (Simpson); Numme, Weber (Heikkinen); Stewart, Iversen, Hall (Cable); Devlin. BOOKED: Hill.

 

Guðmundsson's injury in the opening stages ruled him out of our next match at Aston Villa. Though Schneider was still not quite at 100% fitness, I gambled on him and hoped he would inspire us to another big early-season victory.

 

25 SEPTEMBER 2013: Aston Villa vs Fulham

The atmosphere at Villa Park was electric, and things only heated up in the 19th minute. Aston Villa goalkeeper Mark Goodlad didn't live up to his name when he brought down Alan Stewart in the area, prompting the referee to point to the penalty spot! A mini-scuffle then ensued, in which Fulham defender Clint Hill appeared to kick out at Villa striker Peter Crouch.

 

Once things had calmed down, the referee resisted calls from both teams to bring out the red card - instead issuing yellows to both Goodlad and Hill. Clint's near-namesake Jordan Hall then came forward to take the penalty, and he sent Goodlad the wrong way to score his third goal in four matches!

 

As Villa's other frontman Gary Doherty wasted a couple of equalising chances, Crouch was preoccupied with continuing his feud with Hill. The giraffe-man eventually lost his cool and pushed our Scouse centre-back to the ground, but somehow escaped with only a booking. Fulham midfielder Christian Weber would also see yellow before the end of a feisty first half.

 

The Villans set out to rescue the game early in the second half - and when attacking midfielder Jimmy Moran headed in a left-wing cross from Jeff Smith in the 48th minute, it looked like the momentum had shifted towards then. But barely a minute later, Peter Devlin took the ball upfield and restored our lead in double-quick time!

 

The battle of Villa Park then intensified further, as both teams had penalty claims waved away. The referee also found time to give out a fifth yellow card - this one to our young winger Atle Iversen, who shoved Villans midfielder Stephen Richards in the 56th minute.

 

Iversen was swiftly replaced with Daniel Cooke, who effectively sealed victory for Fulham in the 76th minute. A lobbed ball set up Devlin to put a second goal past his former club, and he revelled in the jeers of those Villa supporters who used to cheer him. While we celebrated another three points, the hosts' miserable afternoon ended with a knee injury to defender James Evans.

 

Aston Villa - 1 (Moran 48)

Fulham - 3 (Hall pen19, Devlin 49,76)

Division 1, Attendance 37,333 - POSITIONS: Aston Villa 8th, Fulham 2nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Simpson (Magnusson); Schneider, Weber (Numme); Stewart, Iversen (Cooke), Hall; Devlin. BOOKED: Hill, Weber, Iversen.

 

That's 8 goals and 2 assists for Devlin already this season! I bet Aston Villa are regretting letting him leave on the cheap now!

 

In other news, reserve right-back Dave Taylor completed a £100,000 transfer to Doncaster. The 23-year-old hadn't kicked on since coming through the Cottagers academy in 2009, so he will be hoping for a fresh start in Yorkshire.

 

We were soon back in London for an intriguing derby match at White Hart Lane. You might remember that Tottenham lost the Playoff Final 3-2 to Notts County, having been 2-0 ahead after just 15 minutes. That horrific collapse seemed to be affecting the Spurs players in the early stages of this season, as they'd won just twice in nine matches.

 

28 SEPTEMBER 2013: Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham

After the first nine minutes of this match, the 'battle of Villa Park' was looking more like a playground fight. The referee at White Hart Lane had to issue three yellow cards early on - two to Spurs players, and one to Clint Hill, whose aggressive tackling once again drew an official's ire. Incredibly, there wouldn't be any more bookings thereafter.

 

John Forde was the busier goalkeeper in the first half, as he produced several saves to frustrate Spurs. He was eventually beaten in the 31st minute, as home captain Ian Stewart drove in a cool low strike after latching onto a flick-on from... Mark Smith, the former Fulham youngster. Yep.

 

Steve McClaren's side slowed down in the second half and tried to protect their narrow lead against a barrage of Fulham attacks. Goalkeeper Johan Koopman and defender Peter Clark resisted as much as they could... but after hitting the crossbar in the 59th minute, Peter Devlin eventually broke through in the 60th. One-all!

 

Tottenham lost their right wing-back Stuart Roberts to a knee injury just before Devlin's equaliser, but they didn't lose hope of restoring their lead. After 65 minutes, Nigeria midfielder Chris Obodo did precisely that, catching Forde off guard with a hopeful shot from distance.

 

Two minutes later, though, we were on level terms once again. Christian Weber's third assist in as many matches was a sublime long ball into the area for Devlin, who volleyed in a landmark goal. Devlin's 10th goal of the season was also the 50th of his Fulham career - and it only took him 76 matches to reach that milestone!

 

Unfortunately, there would be no Devlin hat-trick. There would be no late winner for Fulham either, as a promising header from Alan Stewart in the 81st minute was caught by Koopman. Despite having 13 shots on target compared to Tottenham's 7, we felt a little aggrieved to leave North London with only a 2-2 draw... but hey, at least we didn't lose.

 

Tottenham Hotspur - 2 (Stewart 31, Obodo 65)

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 60,67)

Division 1, Attendance 36,238 - POSITIONS: Tottenham 20th, Fulham 4th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Friberg), Mitchell, Hill, Simpson; Numme (Weber), Schneider; Stewart, Cooke, Hall (Cable); Devlin. BOOKED: Hill.

 

We're now unbeaten in nine league matches since the disappointment of the opening weekend. That is partly down to the determined defending shown by Clint Hill... but the Scouser's aggression has come at a cost. After picking up his fifth booking of the season, Clint will have to serve a one-match ban once we return from the next international break.

 

But to further underline how great our start has been... remember that Preston team who outclassed us 2-0 in that season opener? Well, they're now three points clear at the top of the table!

Edited March 31 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of September 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         10   5    0    0    13   3    3    1    1    9    8    25   
2nd     Man City                        10   5    1    0    17   8    2    0    2    10   8    22   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Nottm Forest                    10   3    2    0    11   3    3    1    1    12   7    21   
4th     Fulham                          10   3    1    0    5    2    3    2    1    13   8    21   
5th     Gillingham                      10   5    0    0    16   5    1    1    3    7    10   19   
6th     Wolves                          10   4    1    0    13   8    1    2    2    7    8    18   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     West Ham                        10   3    0    2    6    3    2    2    1    6    3    17   
8th     Grimsby                         10   4    1    0    10   4    1    0    4    6    7    16   
9th     Macclesfield                    10   3    1    1    12   9    2    0    3    6    7    16   
10th    Aston Villa                     10   4    0    1    8    3    1    1    3    6    9    16   
11th    Charlton                        10   2    2    1    11   7    2    1    2    13   13   15   
12th    Carlisle                        10   3    0    2    9    8    2    0    3    8    15   15   
13th    Huddersfield                    10   3    2    0    12   6    0    3    2    5    9    14   
14th    Birmingham                      10   3    1    1    10   5    1    1    3    6    9    14   
15th    Norwich                         10   2    1    2    8    8    2    0    3    6    9    13   
16th    W.B.A.                          9    2    0    2    4    7    2    0    3    5    7    12   
17th    Bradford                        10   2    0    3    5    5    1    2    2    3    6    11   
18th    Sunderland                      9    3    1    1    10   6    0    1    3    3    11   11   
19th    Coventry                        10   2    1    2    8    10   1    1    3    7    12   11   
20th    Tottenham                       10   2    2    1    10   9    0    0    5    5    15   8    
21st    Oldham                          10   2    1    2    7    7    0    0    5    3    11   7    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Reading                         10   2    0    3    10   9    0    0    5    5    14   6    
23rd    Chesterfield                    10   1    1    3    9    12   0    1    4    4    11   5    
24th    Rochdale                        10   1    1    3    9    10   0    0    5    2    16   4    

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Burnley's decision to sell top scorer Van Linh Tô to Kaiserslautern for just £1.3million turns out surprisingly well. The Clarets record five straight victories - including beating Middlesbrough 5-1 and Leeds 3-2 - to storm to the top of the Premiership. As for their UEFA Cup adventure… they, er, lose 2-0 to Lyon in Round 1.
• Manchester United make their biggest signing for six years, spending £13million on Nürnberg's holding midfielder Michael Essien. The Ghanaian international duly scores twice in a 3-2 comeback win over Crewe, with another recent United signing - England striker Chris Worthington - also finding the net.
• Roma's Champions League campaign is off to a weird start. After Sergio Zani's double sees off Belgian champions Lommel, the Giallorossi are humiliated 5-0 at Hajduk Split - with Mate Bilic scoring a hat-trick for the Croatian underdogs! Roma somehow bounce back to win 2-1 at the Olimpico against pre-tournament favourites Barcelona!
• The new Trond Sollied crew are off to a flyer in the Bundesliga, as 1.FC Köln win five of their first six matches, including a 2-0 victory over champions Dortmund. Local rivals Leverkusen have an even more impressive 100% record... despite being in 14th place! Thanks to European exploits and torrential weather, Die Werkself haven't played any league matches since beating Babelsberg 5-2 on the opening day on 10 August!
• Portuguese giants Sporting are looking for another new manager after Dong-Keun Lee is poached by Botafogo in Brazil. They eventually turn to a suave 50-year-old named José Mourinho, who proclaims himself "a special one" and points out that he won the 2012 Taça de Portugal with Beira-Mar.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Rockstar's action-adventure video game "Grand Theft Auto V" is released worldwide and becomes the fastest-selling entertainment product in history, raking in $1billion in just three days. While GTA 5 receives widespread critical acclaim, it is also criticised for its graphic violence, not to mention its misogynistic portrayal of women.
• Fresh from her antics at the VMAs, Miley Cyrus comes in like a “Wrecking Ball” on her new music video - in which she wears even fewer clothes! Liverpool fans soon start chanting the song in tribute to their new manager Alan Cork.
• Strewth! Australia has its third Prime Minister in the space of three months! Having ousted Julia Gillard as Labor leader in June, Kevin Rudd is himself removed from the premiership when a coalition led by Liberal rival Tony Abbott wins the federal election! Of course, such turmoil would never happen in the UK…
• After a two-year partnership, Microsoft pay over $7billion to buy Nokia’s mobile device business outright. As they might ask in Finland, “Mikä voisi mennä pieleen?”

Edited February 26 by CFuller

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2013

As brilliantly as Fulham had started the season, I felt that our attack was lacking a little bit of star quality. Our newest signing might just bring that to the fold.

 

I have been tracking Barnsley's attacking midfielder Greg Scott for some time now. The 23-year-old is rapid and has great off-the-ball awareness - and after getting 28 goal contributions in Division 2 last season, he has been making noises about wanting to join a bigger club.

 

I first tried to buy Scott this summer for around £1.5million, but Barnsley wanted much more than that. They must be feeling silly now, as Scott's contract became unprotected last month, which meant we could approach to sign him for just £250,000!

 

During the October international break, we sat down with Greg and his agent, and agreed terms on a four-and-a-half-year contract worth £9,000 per week. The kicker is that he won’t join us until 15 December... but I'm more than happy to wait for one of the Football League's most exciting attacking talents.

 

In other news, we rejected Sheffield Wednesday's £1million offer to sign in-form defender Peter Mitchell. We also rebuffed Division 1 leaders Preston's attempts to nab our backup goalkeeper and former captain Wayne Hudson for £1.3million.

 

Once all the internations were done and dusted, we set out to extend our unbeaten league run into double figures - but that would be a tricky feat against a West Ham team with the best defensive record in Division 1. Centre-back Jerel Ifil made his first appearance since August, filling in for the suspended Clint Hill.

 

12 OCTOBER 2013: Fulham vs West Ham United

After just 11 minutes, things were already looking pretty grim. A foul from Alan Stewart handed West Ham a free-kick, which Dutch sweeper Wim Brunswijk swung deep into our half. Striker Simon Lynch got to the ball ahead of goalie John Forde and headed it home for an early Hammers blow.

 

Forde did redeem himself later in the first half, denying Lynch a second goal as well as parrying a shot from his strike partner Robert Earnshaw. However, it was a concern that we weren't creating anything going forward, and so at half-time, I brought on Wayne Cable to replace Jordan Hall on the left-wing. Would the Welshman make an impact?

 

Well... that Welshman didn't. After 69 minutes, it was the veteran Wales international Earnshaw who doubled West Ham's lead. Forde was once again caught out by a free-kick, as Earnshaw climbed above him to convert a delivery from left-back Barry Gale. And yes, Stewart gave away that free-kick as well...

 

While our poor discipline and weakness from set-pieces had cost us dear, we did at least salvage something from an otherwise miserable home defeat. Jerel Ifil scored a penalty in the final minute after Daniel Cooke was scythed down in the Hammers area by visiting wing-back Scott Richards, though it was just a consolation.

 

Fulham - 1 (Ifil pen90)

West Ham United - 2 (Lynch 11, Earnshaw 69)

Division 1, Attendance 26,406 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, West Ham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Simpson), Mitchell, Ifil, Guðmundsson; Weber (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Cooke, Hall (Cable); Devlin.

 

Typical. That break has taken away all the momentum we had.

 

The board had a few choice things to say to me after that defeat. One of the biggest criticisms was aimed at my insistence on playing John Forde in goal while he was still looking for a transfer. I just said, "He's the best goalkeeper in the league. As long as he's playing well, he stays in the team."

 

I will concede, though, that John didn't play well against West Ham. Another performance like that in our midweek home game against Coventry, and I would surely have to consider his long-term future.

 

The following afternoon, I got a call from Newcastle's manager Billy Davies, offering to sign our 19-year-old wonderkid winger Wayne Cable... for £8million. It was an eyewatering amount of money for a second-division club... but it wasn't enough as far as I was concerned.

 

When Cable heard that I'd turned down Newcastle's offer, he was pretty upset and frustrated. I told him, "You've played 10 games so far, but you've got only one goal - and not a single assist. If you want your big move to the Premiership, you've got to earn it."

 

As further incentive for Cable, I started him on the left wing against Coventry, dropping the in-form Jordan Hall. We were facing a wounded Sky Blues side who had parted company with manager Garry Hill after dropping to 18th place. This was a great opportunity for Wayne to show his best form.

 

15 OCTOBER 2013: Fulham vs Coventry City

I decided to put Adrian Disler in attacking midfielder, but the Swiss youngster could not roll Coventry over. Having fired a dismal shot wide in the 16th minute, Disler then left our defence horribly exposed in the 27th, when he was easily beaten by a mazy dribble from Michael Curtis. The City defender then glided past two more Cottagers before breaking the deadlock, to the delight of caretaker manager Richard Money.

 

Thankfully, Disler did make amends by playing a key role in our equaliser five minutes from half-time. He played a skilful one-two with Alan Stewart, who then crossed low from the right to pick out Peter Devlin. When Devlin has the ball in the penalty box, there is only one outcome - and we were back level just in time for the break!

 

We were now reinvigorated... and five minutes into the second half, we were also leading. Stewart's header drew a difficult fingertip save from the Sky Blues goalkeeper, who was forced to concede a corner. Joel Armstrong was walking alone down the boulevard of broken dreams when Jerel Ifil smashed in Florian Schneider's delivery, making it 2-1 to Fulham!

 

But just eight minutes later, our own dreams were shattered. Coventry's second major attack of the match brought them their second goal, as veteran left-back Kieran McAnespie blasted home from distance after a mistake by our right-back Thomas Friberg.

 

Things got worse for Tommy in the 68th minute. Kenny Miller came off the Cov bench and skinned the young Swede before delivering a devastating cross for one-time England striker Shola Ameobi to head home. Another City shot, another City goal.

 

From 2-1 up, we had now gone 3-2 down... but we didn't lose hope. On 72 minutes, Friberg pumped a long ball up the right flank to Stewart, who provided Devlin with another killer cross to prod home. Unfortunately, Peter was just a smidge offside -and after Wayne Cable headed wide our last equalising opportunity in the 83rd minute, we had to face up to another Craven Cottage defeat.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 40, Ifil 50)

Coventry City - 3 (Curtis 27, McAnespie 58, Ameobi 68)

Division 1, Attendance 16,616 - POSITIONS: Fulham 7th, Coventry 18th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Ifil (Hill), Guðmundsson; Weber, Schneider (Numme); Stewart, Disler (Iversen), Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider, Ifil.

 

We'd now lost back-to-back home games... and I had finally lost my patience with Forde.

 

After watching Forde concede from all three Coventry shots on target, I hurled a water bottle in his direction and screamed, "ARE YOU BLIND, JOHN? Or are you letting these goals in ON PURPOSE? I can't have you in the team if you're gonna keep throwing games away and keep on letting your team-mates down!

 

"The team ALWAYS comes before the individual. I cannot and WILL NOT tolerate your entitled arrogance anymore, John. You are DROPPED!"

 

A deathly silence fell across the dressing room... punctuated only by John's sobs. His team-mates didn't know what to think.

 

Amid all the carnage, Ifil was being strapped up after picking up yet another knee injury - one that would sideline him for the next three weeks. All in all, it was just a regular Wednesday night at Craven Cottage.

 

Four days later, we picked up the pieces and tried to put them together again at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, where we were up against mid-table Huddersfield. With Forde back in the doghouse, Wayne Hudson was back in goal.

 

19 OCTOBER 2013: Huddersfield Town vs Fulham

Most of the early chances went Huddersfield's way. Northern Ireland striker Sean Doherty hit the side netting after an excellent Terriers move in the 9th minute, while Aussie midfielder Vincenzo Grella was thwarted by a great save from Wayne Hudson in the 14th.

 

Then, on 19 minutes, we drew first blood against the run of play. Left-winger Jordan Hall was back in the starting XI and instantly back to his best, laying the ball off for Alan Stewart to finish from the right!

 

It took Huddersfield a little while to recover from that, but when they did, they were devastating. Hudson did well to parry another fierce long-ranger from Grella, but Chris Simpson - an energetic Geordie midfielder whom Town had recently signed from non-league Scarborough - buried the rebound. 1-1 at half-time.

 

Hall was carrying a knock when we returned to the dressing room. I didn't want to take any risks with a player in a purple patch, so Derek McIntyre came on for the second half. The Scottish teenager proved his worth after 61 minutes, superbly setting up Peter Devlin to score his 50th league goal for Fulham!

 

Devlin put us in total control seven minutes later, giving us a 3-1 lead with assistance of our ever-brilliant captain Florian Schneider. Though Lawrie Sanchez's hosts battled valiantly in the final quarter of the game, we would leave West Yorkshire with all three points.

 

Huddersfield Town - 1 (Simpson 40)

Fulham - 3 (Stewart 19, Devlin 61,68)

Division 1, Attendance 12,579 - POSITIONS: Huddersfield 14th, Fulham 4th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg, Mitchell (Gibson), Hill, Simpson; Heikkinen (McDonald), Schneider; Stewart, Disler, Hall (McIntyre); Devlin.

 

Now there's a way to bounce back... but if we really wanted to show that we meant business this season, we would need to do it in front of our increasingly impatient home fans.

 

The next visitors to Craven Cottage were Rochdale, who won there on the final day of last term. However, the Mancunians had won just one league game since then and appeared to be suffering from 'second season syndrome'. The Dale were also without a manager, as the hierarchy believed that sacking Steve Bruce would be the cure to their ailments.

 

23 OCTOBER 2013: Fulham vs Rochdale

It may not surprise you that Division 1's leading goalscorer quite relished playing against the team sitting in last place. Peter Devlin had two great opportunities to break through after 15 and 19 minutes, but on both occasions, Rochdale's keeper Andoni Cantero managed to get across his goal and push the ball away.

 

After 31 minutes, though, it was third time lucky for our Irish beast. A fierce drive from Alan Stewart stung Cantero's palms, and even the athletic Spaniard wasn't quick enough to react to Devlin's rebound. We were 1-0 up, and surely there were even more goals to come?

 

Despite our almost complete dominance of the first half, we wouldn't double our lead until five minutes into the second. Jordan Hall provided the cross from the left... and you can probably guess who provided the finish. For the SEVENTH time already this season, Devlin had a brace to his name!

 

Peter again had to settle for just the two goals, as Cantero denied him a hat-trick in the 59th minute. That was a little disappointing, but the win was never in doubt - not even when the aptly-named 19-year-old Gary Kidd headed in a consolation goal from Rochdale late on.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 31,50)

Rochdale - 1 (Kidd 87)

Division 1, Attendance 13,980 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, Rochdale 24th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg (Gibson), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen (McDonald), Schneider; Stewart (Iversen), Disler, Hall; Devlin.

 

Peter Devlin is now on 15 goals in just 14 league matches. This guy is unstoppable!

 

The Stadium of Light had its anti-Devlin defences on standby three days later, when we paid Sunderland a visit. Another victory here would potentially fire us into the automatic promotion places... but defeat would put our play-off spot at risk.

 

26 OCTOBER 2013: Sunderland vs Fulham

I always expect an intense attacking game when Richard Hill is in the opposition dug-out, and Sunderland certainly sent plenty of attacks our way in the first half. Fulham centre-back Clint Hill needed to be at his strongest to frustrate the Mackems' frontmen Darren Ross and Armann Smári Bjørnsson, while goalie Wayne Hudson produced an excellent fingertip save to deny defender Andrew Henry in the 17th minute.

 

Sunderland's best chance of the first half had come after 31 minutes, when captain Michael Stewart smashed a free-kick against the bar. That free-kick came about after a clumsy foul on Tim Cahill from our vice-captain Arnar Guðmundsson, who went into the book. But while our Iceland international was having a difficult afternoon...

 

...the hosts' own Iceman showed six minutes into the second half that he was ice cool. Bjørnsson might have been a defender/striker, but his skilful volley from Henry's lob into the penalty area was most definitely a striker's finish. Hudson couldn't keep it out, and we were 1-0 behind.

 

Sadly, our fortunes against the Black Cats did not improve. Devlin put in one of his weakest performances of the season, missing the target with his only two shots at goal, and none of our other attackers looked like they could step up. After two wins in a row, this was a disappointing return to our old ways.

 

Sunderland - 1 (Bjørnsson 51)

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 41,911 - POSITIONS: Sunderland 16th, Fulham 5th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg (Gibson), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Schneider; Stewart, Cable (Iversen), McIntyre (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Guðmundsson.

 

It must always be a struggle with Fulham, mustn’t it?

 

We're still inside the top six, but only by the narrowest of margins. If we want to stay in the thick of the promotion hunt, we need everyone at this club be working together on the same page... and that means I have some apologising to do.

Edited March 31 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of October 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         15   6    0    1    17   9    5    1    2    12   11   34   
2nd     Man City                        15   6    1    1    21   9    4    1    2    17   13   32   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Wolves                          15   6    1    0    20   10   3    2    3    15   13   30   
4th     Aston Villa                     15   6    0    1    12   3    3    1    4    9    12   28   
5th     Charlton                        15   4    2    1    13   7    4    1    3    19   17   27   
6th     Fulham                          15   4    1    2    10   8    4    2    2    16   10   27   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     West Ham                        16   5    1    2    8    3    3    2    3    9    7    27   
8th     Macclesfield                    16   5    2    1    18   11   3    1    4    10   13   27   
9th     Grimsby                         15   6    1    0    14   5    2    1    5    10   11   26   
10th    Nottm Forest                    15   3    2    1    13   6    4    1    4    16   12   24   
11th    Huddersfield                    15   6    2    1    19   11   0    4    2    5    9    24   
12th    Coventry                        16   5    1    2    16   14   2    2    4    12   17   24   
13th    Sunderland                      16   5    1    2    14   9    2    2    4    11   19   24   
14th    Norwich                         15   4    2    2    16   12   3    0    4    10   11   23   
15th    Gillingham                      15   5    2    1    19   10   1    1    5    9    14   21   
16th    Carlisle                        15   5    0    3    16   11   2    0    5    10   19   21   
17th    Birmingham                      15   4    1    3    15   10   1    2    4    8    12   18   
18th    W.B.A.                          15   3    1    4    9    14   2    0    5    5    12   16   
19th    Bradford                        15   3    1    4    9    8    1    2    4    5    10   15   
20th    Tottenham                       16   3    4    1    14   12   0    0    8    6    23   13   
21st    Oldham                          16   2    2    4    13   17   1    1    6    9    18   12   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Reading                         15   3    0    4    13   11   0    2    6    9    20   11   
23rd    Rochdale                        16   2    1    5    13   16   1    0    7    5    21   10   
24th    Chesterfield                    16   2    1    5    12   17   0    1    7    6    20   8    

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• With Michael Owen on the sidelines after running over a rabbit, Wayne Rooney scores twice to fire England to a 5-1 home win over Belgium - and secure qualification for the World Cup. France scrape through after Djibril Cissé bags a 90th-minute equaliser against Serbia & Montenegro, while Wales set up a Playoff with Japan.
• Just two years ago, Turkmenistan were ranked 167th in the world. Next year, the Central Asian minnows will make their World Cup debut in Scandinavia, having beaten UAE 2-1 to finish 2nd in their Asian qualifying group! The Karakum Warriors' star men include Feyenoord playmaker Begli Nurmyradow... and pacey striker Yusup Annadurdiyew, who plays for David Beckham's Rostselmash in the Russian Premier League.
• Manchester United smash Arsenal 3-0 at Highbury to go five points clear in the Premiership. But while the Red Devils are back to their best in the league, they crash out of the UEFA Cup at the second hurdle, losing 3-1 to Serie A strugglers Bologna. United fans refuse to eat spaghetti in protest.
• Swedish side Helsingborgs reach the Champions League's second group phase for the first time, recording a shock 2-0 away win to eliminate Toulouse. German debutants Wolfsburg are also in the last 16... but Roma's hopes hang by a thread after Israel forward Guy Levi salvages a 3-3 draw at Lommel, who had recovered from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.
• For once, it appears that Lazio and Roma are not the teams to beat in Italy! Kazuki Harada leads a resurgent and undefeated Juventus team to the top of Serie A, and Russian playmaker Aleksey Eremenko is in scintillating form for 2nd-placed Milan. Meanwhile, Ajax legend Frank Rijkaard rejoins the Eredivisie champions as their new manager, after Luka Peruzovic jumps ship to Brazilian giants Flamengo.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel wins the Indian Grand Prix - his 10th race victory of the season - and secures his fourth Formula 1 Drivers' Championship in a row. What is it with Germans and F1 domination?
• A year after Windows 8 came out to a very negative reception, Microsoft releases its new operating system. Imaginatively named Windows 8.1, it improves on its predecessor by introducing… [gasp] a “Start” button on the taskbar!
• Dave Cameron tries to prove that he is down with the kids by becoming a singer - releasing his debut single “Better In Stereo” on Walt Disney Records. No, wait… that’s Dove Cameron, from the Disney TV series “Liv and Maddie”.
• There are no more perfect days for Lou Reed, as the legendary former Velvet Underground frontman dies of liver disease aged 71. Meanwhile, fans of “The Simpsons” mourn the passing of 70-year-old actress Marcia Wallace, who provided the voice for schoolteacher Edna Krabappel. We’ll really miss you, Mrs K.

[bigmattb28]

On 01/03/2024 at 10:57, CFuller said:

• Dave Cameron tries to prove that he is down with the kids by becoming a singer - releasing his debut single “Better In Stereo” on Walt Disney Records. No, wait… that’s Dove Cameron, from the Disney TV series “Liv and Maddie”.

This made me lol out loud

[CFuller]

31 minutes ago, bigmattb28 said:

This made me lol out loud

It may surprise you that I wrote that line literally about 10 minutes before I posted it here. 

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2013

I begin this month with some disappointing news. Another player has broken club rules - and quite seriously.

 

In mid-October, defender Halldór Magnusson failed to report for training. He had reportedly gone back home to Akranes in Iceland because of a bereavement in the family.

 

On closer investigation, it emerged that all Halldór's close family members were still alive, and that had simply left the country because he was homesick. In other words, he used the Stephen Ireland excuse.

 

Homesickness or not, Halldór had gone absent without leave. I simply didn't have a choice. He had breached the terms of the contract, which meant we were entitled to sack him for minimal compensation. The 21-year-old had surely thrown away the best chance he had of a meaningful career in professional football.

 

Meanwhile, I had another clear-the-air conversation with goalkeeper John Forde. I apologised for being unduly harsh towards him, but also admitted that the Fulham board were putting me under pressure to sell him.

 

At that point, John confessed that he never actually wanted to leave. He had simply been in a bad place mentally after a messy relationship breakup. Now, though, he was ready to fight for his place again - and eager to prove that I was right to call him "the best goalkeeper in Division 1".

 

The first leg of Forde's redemption tour was a home game, against 16th-placed Carlisle. Defensive midfielder Christian Weber and playmaker Daniel Cooke were also back in the team, having missed our last three matches after... well, let's just say they hadn't been particularly happy about the Coventry incident.

 

2 NOVEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Carlisle United

Worryingly, it was Carlisle who made the livelier start. Fulham goalkeeper John Forde was forced into a save by Cumbrians forward Danny Schofield after just three minutes, while fellow returnee Christian Weber also did his sweeping duties by clearing a couple of dangerous opportunities.

 

The tide turned after 23 minutes, as a couple of homegrown Scots put us ahead against the run of play. Derek McIntyre showcased his talents with an excellent run down the left wing before his cross was smashed into the net by right-back Grant Gibson. That was only Gibson's third goal for Fulham, having scored twice in the 2008/2009 season before leaving for Clyde.

 

Meanwhile, Forde continued to show just how brilliant he could be on his day. Schofield, his strike partner Jimmy Davis and left-back Andy Willis all had shots saved by the Irishman just before half-time. Carlisle had been constantly banging at the door throughout the first half, but nothing had opened it.

 

Those fans who'd made the long journey from the north-west were feeling even grimmer midway through the second half. Alan Stewart doubled our lead with a fantastic solo effort on 68 minutes, and that was followed six minutes later by another strike from the unstoppable Peter Devlin. The shot statistics had suggested that this might be a close game, but we ran out comfortable winners by 3 goals to nil!

 

Fulham - 3 (Gibson 23, Stewart 68, Devlin 74)

Carlisle United - 0

Division 1, Attendance 16,420 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, Carlisle 16th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Schneider, Weber (Numme); Stewart, Cooke (Iversen), McIntyre (Cable); Devlin.

 

A truly stunning performance across the pitch. Now just watch us roll over and lose our next game at St Andrew's!

 

To be fair, Birmingham did have a very good recent record against us - especially since Paul Lambert took the reins. We wouldn't let the Blues' lowly position of 18th lull us into a full sense of security.

 

9 NOVEMBER 2013: Birmingham City vs Fulham

I had kept the same starting line-up that had demolished Carlisle... but after just five minutes, I was already forced into a change. A nasty collision with a Birmingham attacker left Grant Gibson on the turf grasping at his right foot, and so the full-back had to be replaced with Thomas Friberg.

 

The other members of our starting back four were keen for retribution. Clint Hill, Peter Mitchell and Arnar Guðmundsson ALL picked up yellow cards later in the first half after three robust challenges - the only fouls that we would commit all game. By contrast, Birmingham were even dirtier and conceded nine fouls, yet escaped with only one yellow card.

 

The Blues were usually so entertaining in front of goal, but their attacking game completely deserted them, as midfielder Benedict Vilakazi and striker Fabio Campese each missed the target twice. It was a rather better afternoon for their goalkeeper Matt Bates, who produced four saves - two apiece from Peter Devlin and Florian Schneider. By full-time, we had every reason to be frustrated that the scoreline was still 0-0.

 

Birmingham City - 0

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 29,540 - POSITIONS: Birmingham 18th, Fulham 4th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Friberg), Mitchell (Numme), Hill, Guðmundsson; Schneider, Weber; Stewart, Cooke, McIntyre (Cable); Devlin. BOOKED: Hill, Mitchell, Guðmundsson.

 

The news around Grant Gibson's injury was not great. A damaged foot put the Scottish right-back out for the next three weeks.

 

There was better news for Peter Devlin, whose record of 45 goals since the start of last season finally earned him a call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad. The 26-year-old made his debut in the closing stages of a 0-0 home draw against Slovakia. Meanwhile, Arnar Guðmundsson earned his 31st cap for Iceland, getting an assist in a 3-3 draw with Slovenia.

 

Back at home, I allowed third-choice goalkeeper Craig Price to go on loan to Farnborough in the Conference. The 19-year-old is set to stay in Hampshire for the rest of the season, but I have told Boro boss Chris Hope that I won't hesitate to recall Craig if he doesn't play.

 

Our next home game was against a low-scoring West Brom side who were 16th in the table. Our last meeting with the Baggies ended in a comprehensive 6-1 win at The Hawthorns back in March, and we were confident of another goal glut.

 

16 NOVEMBER 2013: Fulham vs West Bromwich Albion

The match got off to a slow start, but it all livened up with a fantastic strike from Peter Devlin in the 23rd minute. West Brom's veteran defender Neil Clement was probably regretting turning us down when Devlin raced past his 34-year-old legs and fired the ball into the top corner.

 

During his mazy run towards goal, Devlin also skinned Albion's defensive midfielder Markus Messner... but what the Austrian lacked in speed, he made up for in great technical skill. We had the lead for just five minutes until Messner found some space and sweetly volleyed in a long ball from his fellow midfielder Steven Rogers.

 

Swiss youngster Adrian Disler nearly restored our lead on 30 minutes, unluckily hitting the bar from Florian Schneider's free-kick. It took him another half-hour to produce another effort, which was tipped away by Stefanos Kotsolis. The same Baggies goalie who'd conceded six minutes against us at The Hawthorns was determined to avoid another goal glut.

 

The match then swung back and forth until the 83rd minute... when a misplaced header from right-back Thomas Friberg cost us dear. The loose ball was collected by West Brom striker Neil Mellor, whose shot was punched away by John Forde. However, the Cottagers goalie could only send it as far as Albion's other frontman Dean Shiels, who lashed in what he thought was a winner.

 

West Brom tried to calmly see the game out in their half, but when Messner backed into Alan Stewart in stoppage time, we were handed one last opportunity to snatch a point. Schneider's free-kick into the penalty box was squared low across goal by Peter Devlin to Stewart, who broke clear of the last defender and tapped it home!

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 23, Stewart 90)

West Bromwich Albion - 2 (Messner 28, Shiels 83)

Division 1, Attendance 16,922 - POSITIONS: Fulham 5th, West Brom 16th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell (Heikkinen), Hill, Guðmundsson; Schneider, Weber; Stewart, Disler (Cooke), Cable (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider.

 

Thank heavens for that late Alan Stewart equaliser. He's probably saved his team-mates from another volcanic eruption...

 

Devlin had now scored 17 goals. Only one other player in Division 1 had found the net more often - Manchester City's Darren Reid, who had 18. Can you guess where we were heading next?

 

Yep... we were heading to Maine Road. 3rd vs 5th. Manchester City vs Fulham. Reid vs Devlin...

 

...except, no, it wasn't! Reid had suffered a knee ligament injury when City beat Southampton in the League Cup in midweek, and this meant he would miss the next few games of their promotion challenge, including this one! We had to take advantage.

 

23 NOVEMBER 2013: Manchester City vs Fulham

After their late heroics in the previous game, Peter Devlin and Alan Stewart combined again to give us the lead after just two minutes at Maine Road. Stewart repaid his colleague's assist by returning the favour to Devlin, whose volley got us off to the best possible start!

 

Unfortunately, Manchester City also scored from their first attack. Their captain - and one-time Fulham loanee - David Fox outfoxed us with an excellent through-ball to 18-year-old local lad Paul Naylor, who scored just the second goal of his fledgling career. Fox almost added another goal four minutes later but was denied by a fine save from John Forde.

 

At the other end of the pitch, we presented several tests for City's young goalkeeper Pavels Stepanovs, who already had 33 caps for Latvia at the age of just 22. Stepanovs was a strong and stocky guy, but he was a bit on the short side. Six minutes before half-time, our centre-back Clint Hill - hardly a giant himself at exactly 6ft - climbed above Stepanovs to head in Stewart's free-kick and restore our lead with his first Fulham goal.

 

Cottagers captain Florian Schneider had been booked early in the first half. Knowing that the German loved a crunching tackle, I considered substituting him early in the second period... and at pretty much that exact moment, Florian wiped Naylor out in our penalty area. The referee awarded City a penalty, and then showed Schneider a second yellow, followed by a red!

 

Henning Numme came off the bench to fill Schneider's place in midfield, with winger Wayne Cable the man to be sacrificed. The pressure on Numme grew instantly, as Oman defender Khalifa Ayil Al-Naufali confidently scored the penalty to draw Fulham level after 57 minutes.

 

For the next half-hour, we faced a major battle to preserve a 2-2 draw with only 10 men. It didn't feel like we were a man down, however, as Forde was once again playing like we had two goalkeepers. Whatever City fired towards our Irish shotstopper was easily repelled, as we remained on course for one point...

 

...until the 87th minute, when we stole two more! The Citizens got sloppy and gave away a free-kick, which our stand-in captain Arnar Guðmundsson whipped into their penalty area. Stewart's header on goal was parried by Stepanovs, but the Scot fired in the rebound, sealing an incredible 3-2 victory for the Cottagers!

 

Manchester City - 2 (Naylor 6, Al-Naufali pen57)

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 2, Hill 39, Stewart 87)

Division 1, Attendance 27,811 - POSITIONS: Man City 3rd, Fulham 4th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Edwards), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Schneider, Weber; Stewart, Cooke (Iversen), Cable (Numme); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider, Weber. SENT OFF: Schneider.

 

The third red card of Florian Schneider's Fulham career earned him a one-match ban, which he would serve. I understood that bookings were a working hazard with a player of his nature, but I still decided to issue him with a formal warning.

 

Meanwhile, Devlin's form was now proving irresistible as far as Premiership strugglers Stoke were concerned. The Potters offered £8million - but just like with Wayne Cable when Blackburn came calling a few months ago, I was holding out for much more. I certainly wasn't selling a player who had scored more than half our goals this season for just £8million!

 

It was then back to Craven Cottage for a meeting with mid-table Gillingham. Schneider kept his place despite the red card, but centre-back Peter Mitchell lost his spot after a recent dip in form.

 

27 NOVEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Gillingham

Four days after seeing red in Manchester, Fulham's captain wasted little time in redeeming himself. A 20th-minute foul from Gillingham midfielder Simon Rusk gave away a free-kick 25 yards from goal - a distance that perfectly suited Florian Schneider, who hammered it straight into the top corner!

 

Barely three minutes later, though, Gillingham were attacking us hard. John Forde came under pressure as he parried a fierce strike from midfielder Leon Britton, then pushed Rusk's rebound behind from a corner. Rusk then rushed to the corner and drifted a quick delivery to defender John O'Shea, whose pinpoint header restored parity.

 

An incredible spell of play ended with a third goal in the space of just seven minutes! Swiss midfielder Adrian Disler was on hand to restore our advantage, pouncing on the rebound after Alan Stewart's strike had been blocked by Justin Bray in the Gills goal.

 

Though we were still 2-1 up at the break, Gillingham had ended the first half strongly and looked increasingly likely to equalise again. Noting a hint of fragility in defence, I replaced right-back Graham Edwards and defensive midfielder Henning Numme at half-time, replacing them with Terry Simpson and Christian Weber respectively.

 

Weber's introduction in particular made a huge difference. As well as making as more solid at the back, the Austrian midfielder showed that he had great technical skills in the 61st minute. Weber latched onto a deft header from winger Wayne Cable and skipped past a challenge from Gills defender Ramuel Grosvenor before blasting in his first Fulham goal! 3-1 to the Cottagers!

 

That third goal was a fateful blow for Gillingham, who had already lost Rusk to injury early in the second period. Right-back Hannu Haarala also ended the game injured, prompting manager Peter Reid to resort to damage limitation for the closing stages.

 

Fulham - 3 (Schneider 20, Disler 26, Weber 61)

Gillingham - 1 (O'Shea 23)

Division 1, Attendance 22,993 - POSITIONS: Fulham 3rd, Gillingham

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Edwards (Simpson), Ifil, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme (Weber), Schneider; Stewart (Cooke), Disler, Cable; Devlin. BOOKED: Stewart, Ifil.

 

With a second straight win, we were now up to 3rd. Our erratic recent results - combined with the relentless form of Wolves and Preston - meant we remained seven points adrift of the promotion places, but a play-off spot was now looking more secure.

 

We stayed at home for our next match, against another team flying high in the top six. Inspired by their rapid Icelandic attacking midfielder Stefan Jónsson, Norwich had won three league matches in a row - and five of their last six.

 

30 NOVEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Norwich City

Norwich's impressive recent form was no thanks to a shaky defence, which made a costly mistake after just seven minutes. A wayward header from centre-back Steven Fenwick was collected by our captain Florian Schneider, and the German's subsequent cross was expertly finished by... who else? Peter Devlin.

 

The Canaries' heads could have dropped after that, but they stayed cool and gradually rebuilt their confidence. Captain Darren Kelly had their first shot on target just before half-time, which was repelled by John Forde. Kelly and dangerman Stefan Jónsson also had a couple of promising efforts after the break.

 

Mind you, it would have taken something truly special from Norwich to get them level. Not only was Forde on form, but Clint Hill was hardly missing a tackle, showing at age 35 that he was back to the top of his game.

 

Indeed, the only other player to outshine Forde and Hill was the Canaries' own goalkeeper Dembo Touray, who made two magnificent saves to deny Devlin a potential hat-trick. Even after the loss of centre-back Guy Branston to an ankle injury, Touray and his City colleagues limited us to just one goal... but one goal would be all we needed.

 

Fulham - 1 (Devlin 7)

Norwich City - 0

Division 1, Attendance 16,060 - POSITIONS: Fulham 3rd, Norwich 7th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Ifil, Hill, Guðmundsson; Weber, Schneider; Stewart (Iversen), Cooke, Hall (McIntyre); Devlin.

 

Preston won again, but Wolves were surprisingly beaten 3-0 at home by Reading. That leaves us four points adrift of 2nd place... and six points clear of Norwich in 7th.

 

Of course, despite going unbeaten throughout November, I didn't win the Manager of the Month award. That honour went to Frank Yallop at Wolves. Bloody Canadians.

Edited March 31 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of November 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         21   8    1    1    25   13   7    2    2    15   12   48   
2nd     Wolves                          21   9    1    1    33   16   5    2    3    19   15   45   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Fulham                          21   7    2    2    19   11   5    3    2    19   12   41   
4th     Aston Villa                     21   9    0    2    19   7    3    1    6    11   16   37   
5th     Nottm Forest                    21   6    2    2    19   9    5    1    5    20   17   36   
6th     Charlton                        21   6    3    1    22   12   4    2    5    21   21   35   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Norwich                         21   5    2    3    19   13   6    0    5    22   19   35   
8th     Man City                        21   7    1    2    25   13   4    1    6    23   27   35   
9th     West Ham                        21   7    2    2    12   5    3    2    5    11   11   34   
10th    Huddersfield                    21   7    2    2    23   14   2    5    3    15   18   34   
11th    Sunderland                      21   7    1    2    18   10   3    2    6    18   26   33   
12th    Grimsby                         20   7    3    1    16   8    2    1    6    10   12   31   
13th    Macclesfield                    21   6    2    3    24   18   3    1    6    11   17   30   
14th    Coventry                        21   7    1    3    21   21   2    2    6    13   21   30   
15th    Gillingham                      21   6    2    2    22   12   2    1    8    13   21   27   
16th    Carlisle                        21   6    0    5    22   18   3    0    7    13   25   27   
17th    Birmingham                      21   4    2    4    16   12   3    3    5    14   20   26   
18th    Bradford                        21   5    1    4    12   9    2    3    6    7    15   25   
19th    W.B.A.                          21   4    1    5    12   18   3    1    7    12   22   23   
20th    Reading                         21   5    0    5    21   18   1    3    7    15   24   21   
21st    Oldham                          21   3    3    5    19   22   1    3    6    10   19   18   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Rochdale                        21   2    2    6    17   23   3    0    8    15   27   17   
23rd    Tottenham                       21   3    6    2    19   18   0    1    9    9    29   16   
24th    Chesterfield                    20   2    1    7    16   24   0    1    9    8    25   8    

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Despite winning 2-0 in Roma, Hajduk Split top their Champions League group and go through to the last 16 alongside the Italian giants. Barcelona blow several opportunities to beat Lommel and are relegated to the UEFA Cup for the first time in nine years, prompting fans to wave their hankies at manager Franky Van der Elst.
• Van der Elst's former club Dortmund also exit the Champions League after Mido scores twice for Celtic in a 3-0 home win. Despite that, Andreas Brehme leads them back to the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-2 comeback win at Leverkusen. Incredibly, BVB haven't had a single goalkeeper under contract since Gábor Király moved to Chemnitz last summer!
• The Premiership title race takes another twist when Manchester United's winning streak is halted by champions Chelsea. Cristiano Ronaldo shows off his six-pack after scoring both goals in a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. Everton boss Fabio Cannavaro and Stoke chief Guðjón Þórðarson are both sacked as their teams battle relegation... but newcomers Notts County keep faith in Jimmy Sandison, despite picking up just two points and five goals in their first 16 games!
• Wales secure one of the last tickets to the World Cup, as Torquay forward Craig Fowler scores a hat-trick in a 7-0 aggregate win over Japan. Belgium also qualify through the play-offs, coming from behind to beat Romania on away goals. Romania striker Marius Stan is so upset that he puts his wife in the boot of his car and drives off a bridge.
• After an incredible 14 months as manager of Guarani, Raúl leaves the Brazilian second tier to take on his next managerial challenge - replacing Javier Zanetti at Ligue 1 strugglers Nîmes. Elsewhere in France's top flight, holders Marseille extend their unbeaten start and build a five-point lead, thanks to Arjen Robben's 90th-minute winner in a 3-2 thriller at Lyon.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• "Fast & Furious" actor Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas are killed in a single-vehicle accident in California. Rodas' Porsche crashes at high speed into a lamp post and then strikes two trees before catching fire. Filming for "Furious 7", which 40-year-old Walker had been working on prior to his death, is delayed indefinitely.
• India’s Sachin Tendulkar - regarded as one of the greatest batters in cricket history - plays his 200th and final Test match against the West Indies in Mumbai. The 40-year-old ‘Little Master’ brings to an end an incredible career that began all the way back in 1989, and saw him achieve 15,921 runs in Tests and 18,426 in One Day Internationals - both records.
• Another Indian king - Viswanathan Anand - loses the World Chess Championship in Chennai. Anand is defeated by Norwegian former child prodigy Magnus Carlsen, who reaches the pinnacle of the chess world before his 23rd birthday.
• After getting lucky with Daft Punk earlier this year, Pharrell Williams feels like a room without a roof on his next hit single “Happy”. Meanwhile, scores of little girls are ecstatic to see Disney’s animated fantasy film “Frozen” in cinemas.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2013

I'd now been manager at Fulham for three years... and at long last, it seemed our promotion plan was coming together. Having won our last three matches and gone unbeaten in our last six, we were comfortably inside the Division 1 play-off spots.

 

However, we now had a very tricky run of fixtures to round off 2013. Three of our next four matches were against Charlton, Preston and Nottingham Forest - all of whom were also in the top six. Ahead of that, we travelled to Valley Parade to take on a defensively resilient Bradford side, who were without a manager after Gary Butterworth was poached by Everton.

 

Our task in Yorkshire was complicated further by the absence of our suspended captain Florian Schneider. Florian's place in defensive midfield would be filled by highly-coveted teenager Henning Numme, for whom we had just rejected an £825,000 bid from Charlton.

 

7 DECEMBER 2013: Bradford City vs Fulham

Bradford came out attacking and found the net after just nine minutes. On-loan Crystal Palace right-back Mauro Melis thought he had scored his first senior goal until the offside flag went up. Patrick Agyemang then went very close for the Bantams four minutes later, when his shot was cleared off the line by Fulham captain Arnar Guðmundsson.

 

Then, in the 33rd minute, Bradford got an even bigger boost. Their Scottish midfielder John Rankin tried to take a photograph of Clint Hill, who lost his temper, smashed his camera, and kicked him in the shins! Unsurprisingly, Hill was sent off, and the centre-back was still heading down the tunnel when Peter Devlin fired wide our only shot of the first half just moments later.

 

Unfortunately, we would lose our other starting centre-half early in the second period. Jerel Ifil pulled up clutching his thigh, which meant substitutes Thomas Friberg and Markus Heikkinen would have to come together and help protect John Forde's goal.

 

Despite being a man up against a makeshift defence, Bradford couldn't deliver a knockout blow. Their best effort of the second half came on 53 minutes, when commentator's nightmare Danny Shittu saw his header pushed away by the consistently excellent Forde. Though we created few scoring opportunities of our own, we did at least hold firm to take one point home.

 

Bradford City - 0

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 13,300 - POSITIONS: Bradford 18th, Fulham 3rd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Ifil (Heikkinen), Hill, Guðmundsson; Weber, Numme; Stewart, Cooke (Friberg), Cable (Hall); Devlin. SENT OFF: Hill.

 

A thigh strain was the latest addition to Jerel Ifil's growing injury list, and he was ruled out for a fortnight. Clint Hill also faced a spell on the sidelines after being suspended for three matches - though it was effectively a four-game ban, as I dropped the Scouse psychopath for our next fixture.

 

The next time Fulham fans would see Hill at Craven Cottage would probably be in FA Cup Round 3 in the new year. We had been drawn at home to Telford, who currently sat 15th in Division 3.

 

Slightly further down the league pyramid were Maidenhead, who took our young defensive midfielder Chris McDonald on loan until the end of the season. The Berkshire side wanted to loan in Adrian Disler as well, but I didn't think that dropping down to the Conference would do the Swiss playmaker's career any good.

 

Though Disler had not enjoyed a great season yet, I gave him another chance in attacking midfield when we hosted 5th-placed Charlton. Peter Mitchell and Thomas Friberg came into the centre of our defence, replacing Hill and Ifil.

 

14 DECEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Charlton Athletic

Charlton should have broken the deadlock after just 12 minutes. A close-range header from Richard May drew a difficult save from John Forde, and the ball fell invitingly to Kevin McKenna - a centre-back who was doubling up as a centre-forward here. Fortunately, our right-back Grant Gibson came in with a great last-ditch tackle to stop the Canadian Dion Dublin in his tracks.

 

That was a sign of things to come, as we barely left our half in an opening 45 minutes that the Addicks dominated. Charlton captain Tranquillo Barnetta unleashed a particularly great half-volley just before half-time that hit the bar, but not the net-ta.

 

We faced a real battle to get anything out of this game, especially after winger Wayne Cable was struck down with a knee injury late in the first half. His replacement Derek McIntyre couldn't get our attack going in the second period, and neither could Daniel Cooke, who replaced the ineffective Adrian Disler in the hole.

 

Indeed, we were so utterly dismal that we wouldn't muster a single shot at goal, let alone on target! It was only thanks to some wasteful Charlton shooting that we came away with another goalless draw, extending our unbeaten run to eight games.

 

Fulham - 0

Charlton Athletic - 0

Division 1, Attendance 29,659 - POSITIONS: Fulham 3rd, Charlton 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Simpson), Friberg, Mitchell, Guðmundsson; Weber, Schneider; Stewart, Disler (Cooke), Cable (McIntyre); Devlin.

 

I'd given Disler one more chance, and he had blown it. He was just not the creative force we needed in that attacking midfield slot... but I was hopeful that our latest signing would be.

 

Two months after signing a pre-contract agreement with us, Greg Scott officially completed his £250,000 transfer from Barnsley. The 23-year-old speed demon had delivered 19 goals/assists in as many Division 2 matches for the Tykes this season. If he could carry that form over from south Yorkshire to west London, he would probably be one of the biggest bargains in this club's history!

 

Scott was given a warm welcome to Craven Cottage in our last match before Christmas - a huge promotion battle with league leaders Preston. The Lilywhites ran out comfortable winners at Deepdale on the opening day, but with Greg in tow, we felt confident we could give David Moyes' boys a much tougher game.

 

21 DECEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Preston North End

To paraphrase Sir Bruce Forsyth, we were so much better than last week... at least in the sense we actually tested the opposition keeper this time. Peter Devlin was still struggling to recapture his early-season form, but Alan Stewart did threaten a breakthrough in the 38th minute, when his fierce strike from the right wing was stopped by Preston goalie Martin Kelly.

 

In the 43rd minute, however, Stewart displayed the wrong kind of aggression. A mindless two-footed lunge on Preston's attacking midfielder Mika Väyrynen left the referee with no choice but to send Alan off.

 

That moment of stupidity had handed all the momentum to our opponents. Barely a minute later, Lilywhites left-back Christos Skrekas skipped past our midfield debutant Greg Scott and drove a threatening shot goalwards. John Forde tried to repel the shot but could only parry it to midfielder John Murray, and the league leaders were 1-0 up.

 

We effectively lost the match in the closing stages of that first half. Though Devlin did get a couple of shots on target after the break, we hardly ever looked like getting back level until Preston killed us off in the 88th minute. 23-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday striker Mike Downes headed in the goal that completed our third home league defeat of the season.

 

Fulham - 0

Preston North End - 2 (Murray 44, Downes 88)

Division 1, Attendance 17,521 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, Preston 1st

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Simpson), Friberg, Mitchell, Guðmundsson; Weber, Schneider; Stewart, Scott, Hall (McIntyre); Devlin. SENT OFF: Stewart.

 

In our last three games, we'd scored no goals and picked up two red cards. What the hell were we doing?!

 

Alan Stewart was handed a three-match ban, which would start early in the new year. He was among several players who were dropped for the Boxing Day trip to Nottingham Forest. Our hosts had also hit a slump and were now outside the play-off places, but they couldn't be written off easily.

 

26 DECEMBER 2013: Nottingham Forest vs Fulham

Both goalkeepers were kept busy throughout the first half. In the Fulham goal, John Forde bravely resisted a couple of dangerous efforts from home left-back Hjálmar Jónsson and striker René Kaiser. Across the pitch, Forest keeper turned away chances for Greg Scott to score his first Fulham goal ever, and for winger Atle Iversen to net his first in the league this season.

 

There was a decisive shift in the 36th minute, when Forest playmaker Eugen Bopp was bopped in our penalty area by a clumsy Peter Mitchell. The referee pointed to the spot, from which midfield workhorse Gareth Roberts - who helped Leyton Orient knock us out of the League Cup earlier this season - fired his new club into a 1-0 lead.

 

Mitchell seemed pretty cut up by his mistake, and it got worse just before the break. The Scottish centre-back lost track of Kaiser, whose shot was parried to Roberts for another home goal. Mitchell, Iversen and defensive midfielder Christian Weber would all be sacrificed at half-time, as I made all three substitutions before the second half.

 

One of those players who came on was Henning Numme, who died a much better job of protecting our defence alongside captain Florian Schneider than Weber had done. Forest would not add to their lead, though Roberts' double was still enough to move them up to 7th place - just two points behind us.

 

From a Fulham perspective, another disappointing result did at least end on a positive. After failing to score in over seven hours of football, we finally had something to cheer about in the 81st minute, when Scott's low cross was driven home for Derek McIntyre's first goal of the season. Was Scott's assist an indicator of better things to come?

 

Nottingham Forest - 2 (Roberts pen36,45)

Fulham - 1 (McIntyre 81)

Division 1, Attendance 9,974 - POSITIONS: Nottm Forest 7th, Fulham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Edwards, Mitchell (Heikkinen), Friberg, Simpson; Weber (Numme), Schneider; Iversen (Disler), Scott, McIntyre; Devlin. BOOKED: Weber.

 

It's funny how much can change in just a few weeks. Having looked like we were looking like we could crack the top two, we were now potentially another defeat away from slipping out of the top six.

 

Actually… that's not very funny, is it?

 

Our last chance to save anything from a disastrous month came 48 hours later, at home to a Reading team who were battling relegation. As Schneider was too tired to start, and Arnar Guðmundsson was out of form, I decided to give the captaincy to... goalkeeper John Forde! Yeah, who could have seen that coming two months ago?

 

28 DECEMBER 2013: Fulham vs Reading

Jerel Ifil was back in the Fulham defence after three weeks out... but his comeback lasted just 20 minutes until his troublesome knee gave way once again. The Saint Lucia centre-back was stretchered off, which should have given a boost to a Reading team who had looked the more aggressive side in those opening stages.

 

Ifil's injury actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as his replacement Peter Mitchell gave us the lead just 10 minutes later. Mitchell used his head to flick in an impressive free-kick delivery from Henning Numme - the free-kick having been awarded after Reading midfielder Ryan Carter hacked down our right-winger Daniel Cooke.

 

Carter almost made amends for Reading just before half-time, setting up a chance that his midfield colleague Leon Bell drove wide. That miss would come back to haunt the Royals nine minutes into the second period, as Florian Schneider came off the Fulham bench and doubled our lead!

 

Then, after 63 minutes, we secured all three points with a third goal. The move began with a throw-in deep in Royals territory, which Numme threw to Peter Devlin in the penalty area. Though Devlin finished this month without a goal, he did at least notch up an assist, putting in a low cross for Greg Scott to score his first Cottagers goal! The first of many?

 

Fulham - 3 (Mitchell 30, Schneider 54, Scott 63)

Reading - 0

Division 1, Attendance 13,674 - POSITIONS: Fulham 6th, Reading 18th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Ifil (Mitchell), Friberg, Simpson; Weber (Schneider), Numme; Cooke, Scott (Disler), McIntyre; Devlin. BOOKED: Friberg.

 

After four games without a victory, we had ended 2013 on a winning note. All was well at Craven Cottage again... right?

 

Not exactly. Ifil had suffered a recurrence of his persistent knee injury, and it had got to the point where he would need intense physiotherapy to save his career. It's unlikely we'll see Jerel again until March at the earliest, if at all.

 

We'll certainly be seeing plenty more of Numme, who won Division 1's Young Player of the Month award for the second time this year. Could 2014 be the year in which the Norwegian talent establishes himself as a regular starter?

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of December 2013)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         26   10   1    1    29   15   9    3    2    22   15   61   
2nd     Wolves                          26   11   2    1    41   20   5    2    5    21   21   52   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Aston Villa                     26   11   0    2    24   8    5    2    6    18   19   50   
4th     Charlton                        26   8    3    1    29   15   5    4    5    24   21   46   
5th     Man City                        26   8    2    2    30   15   6    2    6    31   31   46   
6th     Fulham                          26   8    3    3    22   13   5    4    3    20   14   46   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Sunderland                      26   10   1    3    26   16   3    3    6    20   28   43   
8th     Nottm Forest                    26   7    3    2    22   11   5    2    7    22   22   41   
9th     West Ham                        26   9    3    2    16   6    3    2    7    12   14   41   
10th    Norwich                         26   6    2    4    22   17   7    0    7    26   25   41   
11th    Huddersfield                    26   8    2    4    26   20   3    5    4    19   24   40   
12th    Birmingham                      26   7    2    4    24   14   4    3    6    17   23   38   
13th    Macclesfield                    26   7    3    4    29   24   3    3    6    14   20   36   
14th    Carlisle                        26   8    0    6    25   21   4    0    8    18   30   36   
15th    Coventry                        26   8    2    4    28   27   2    2    8    15   28   34   
16th    Grimsby                         26   7    4    1    18   10   2    2    10   13   21   33   
17th    Gillingham                      26   8    2    4    28   20   2    1    9    15   25   33   
18th    Reading                         26   6    0    6    25   21   2    3    9    19   31   27   
19th    Bradford                        26   5    3    4    14   11   2    3    9    8    20   27   
20th    Oldham                          26   4    4    5    24   24   2    4    7    15   26   26   
21st    Rochdale                        26   4    2    7    23   27   3    1    9    15   28   24   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    W.B.A.                          26   4    2    6    13   21   3    1    10   12   25   24   
23rd    Tottenham                       26   4    7    3    21   20   1    1    10   13   33   23   
24th    Chesterfield                    26   4    1    7    21   25   0    1    13   12   36   14   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Manchester United slip off the top of the Premiership after going four games without a win. Amid reports of board asset-stripping and squad in-fighting, Hélio dos Anjos resigns and takes over Alavés in the bottom half of La Liga. The Red Devils bring in Greek disciplinarian Giannis Kirastas from PSV to try and restore some order to Old Trafford.
• Barcelona stay on track for another La Liga title after Lionel Messi's 62nd-minute winner against arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Nou Camp. Real's octogenarians are booed off by the Madridistas, who chant for "no more old men". Florentino Perez only hears part of their chants, and signs 32-year-old Paraguay defender Celso Esquivel from Roma.
• AC Milan exit the UEFA Cup at Round 3 after a shock 3-0 home defeat to Sparta. Local rivals Inter are also eliminated, losing to Porto on the away goals rule, but the Nerazzurri do at least finish the year top of Serie A. Meanwhile, Lazio defeat Copa Libertadores holders Internacional 2-0 to win the first edition of FIFA's Club World Cup... which, er, is just the Intercontinental Cup with a new name and a new paint job.
• Kaiserslautern propel themselves into the Bundesliga title hunt as Van Linh Tô scores FOUR goals in a 5-0 thrashing of struggling HSV. It's a chastening experience for Hamburg's new player/manager Gianluigi Buffon, who witnesses René Nikolic's horror show and wishes that he had a better goalkeeper on the bench.
• 1.FC Köln's title hopes take a significant hit when top scorer Alexandr Kerzhakov is sold to manager Trond Sollied's former club Rangers for £16million. Another Russian striker moves to the Bundesliga when mid-table Nürnberg bring in Igor Morev from Napoli for £12million. It's seen as a last throw of the dice from under-pressure Nürnberg boss Ralf Rangnick.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Nelson Mandela passes away at the grand old age of 95. Mandela was jailed in 1962 for conspiring to overthrow South Africa’s white-only apartheid government. He was released in 1990 and began the long walk to freedom, which ended in his election as the first President of a democratic South Africa four years later.
• Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher suffers a serious head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps. The 44-year-old German - who had been skiing with his teenage son Mick - is airlifted to Grenoble Hospital and undergoes emergency surgery before being placed into an induced coma.
• Martin Scorsese's new film "The Wolf of Wall Street" - which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a New York stockbroker and Margot Robbie as his wife - makes its premiere. It sets a new world record for most profanities in a motion picture, averaging a ***** 2.8 ****s per ****ing minute. But who the **** gives a ****ing ****? *******.

Edited March 8 by CFuller

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2014

New year, new hope? Fulham went into 2014 sitting just inside the Division 1 play-off places, and Cottagers fans were starting to believe that this year would end with their team playing Premiership football once again.

 

Our promotion challenge continued in Lincolnshire, against 16th-placed Grimsby. It seemed that we were playing a lot of managerless teams lately, and the Mariners were now looking for new leadership themselves. A miserable year at Blundell Park had ended with Roy Evans effectively being forced into early retirement.

 

Grimsby were up against an unusual Fulham team... because for the first time this season, Peter Devlin did not start. Devlin had been dropped to the bench after a goalless December and was replaced up front by Alan Stewart, who played his last match before a three-game ban. Centre-back Clint Hill also returned to the XI, having just completed a lengthy suspension himself.

 

1 JANUARY 2014: Grimsby Town vs Fulham

Grimsby midfielder Marcus Barrett hit the post in the 16th minute, while striker Jonathan Rowan had a better chance saved by John Forde in the 17th. By the 18th, though, the Mariners had caught a big one. It was captain Rowan who made the breakthrough, heading in an incisive pass from Italian ball-playing defender Francesco Mauro.

 

We struggled to hit the target with our first few attempts on goal, though we did equalise just before half-time. Playing on the right wing, Daniel Cooke got his head to a long ball from right-winger Thomas Friberg. Grimsby goalie John Levin could only parry Cooke's effort into the path of Greg Scott, who levelled the scores from the rebound.

 

The hosts struggled a fair bit throughout the second half; losing veteran midfielder Grant McCann to a knee injury early on was a blow they never really recovered from. Unfortunately, we couldn't take advantage, as a late half-volley from Alan Stewart was caught well by Levin. Come full-time, a 1-1 draw was perhaps the fairest result.

 

Grimsby Town - 1 (Rowan 18)

Fulham - 1 (Scott 45)

Division 1, Attendance 6,501 - POSITIONS: Grimsby 15th, Fulham 1st

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme (Weber), Schneider (Disler); Cooke, Scott, McIntyre (Devlin); Stewart. BOOKED: Schneider, Mitchell, Weber.

 

Though we moved up one place after that draw, we also had our advantage on 7th place cut down to a single point. We would also be without Florian Schneider for our next away game, following his fifth booking of the season.

 

These were anxious times - and given our tendency to make lower-league teams look like Barcelona, I was rather apprehensive when we kicked off our FA Cup adventure at home to Telford. My opposite number Chris Turner was about to celebrate a decade as manager of the Bucks, whom he had established as a solid Division 3 team.

 

4 JANUARY 2014: Fulham vs Telford United

Having put Telford on the back foot from the first whistle, it took us only 12 minutes to open the scoring. Right-back Grant Gibson got his first assist since returning to Craven Cottage, as his header into the penalty area was finished by winger Daniel Cooke.

 

Save for a wayward piledriver from Adrian Disler in the 35th minute, we couldn't create anything else before the break. After it, though, Cooke's game was sadly ended by a serious-looking ankle injury. With Daniel gone, we never looked like enhancing our lead.

 

In truth, we didn't have to worry about scoring again, as the only shot on target Telford could muster was an ambitious long-range strike from winger Danny Maye that was easily caught by Wayne Hudson. Some of our brightest young talents - including 18-year-old debutant midfielder Phil Sturridge - came on during the second half to help us see out the win.

 

Fulham - 1 (Cooke 12)

Telford United - 0

FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 6,395

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Simpson; Weber, Schneider (Ryan); Cooke (Márquez), Disler, McIntyre (Sturridge); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider.

 

Hardly a performance for the ages, but it was enough to get us a Round 4 tie at Rochdale. Unfortunately, our cup hero Daniel Cooke would miss the trip to Spotland with strained ankle ligaments.

 

While we were deprived of another attacking midfielder, Wayne Cable made a timely return when we hosted in-form Aston Villa a week later. The Villans had won seven of their last eight games to leapfrog Midlands rivals Wolves into 2nd place.

 

11 JANUARY 2014: Fulham vs Aston Villa

Craven Cottage was silenced after just four minutes, as Aston Villa took the lead with an absolute fluke. Gary Doherty had tried to cross the ball to his strike partner Peter Crouch, but the delivery somehow evaded both Crouch and our goalkeeper John Forde before dipping into the net!

 

Christian Weber almost levelled instantly, but his long-range drive was pushed away by Rune Almenning Jarstein in the Villa goal. Things didn't get any better for the Austrian midfielder later on, as he frequently lost possession and mistimed his tackle. Having produced his worst performance in a Fulham jersey so far, Weber was eventually subbed midway through the second half.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the Cottagers teams endured 90 minutes of utter frustration. We had seven shots at goal (including two apiece from Peter Devlin and Greg Scott) - and all seven were saved by Almenning Jarstein! The 29-year-old Norwegian had only recently been promoted to Villa's first-choice goalkeeper, displacing Mark Goodlad, but it wasn't hard to understand why our opponents were flying up the table.

 

Not even a late injury to midfielder Stephen Richards could weaken Villa's resolve in the closing stages. Dean Blackwell's visitors held firm to secure an eighth win in nine league games - and inflict our FOURTH home league defeat of the season. We only lost three league games at the Cottage last season.

 

Fulham - 0

Aston Villa - 1 (Doherty 4)

Division 1, Attendance 17,259 - POSITIONS: Fulham 6th, Aston Villa 2nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Friberg), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Weber (Numme), Schneider; Iversen, Scott, Cable (Hall); Devlin.

 

We've lost our nerve. Devlin's lost his scoring touch. And I'm losing my patience with this whole God-forsaken team.

 

To remind our misfiring attackers that their jobs were at risk if they didn't shape up, I brought in 30-year-old Paul Hayes on loan from Everton for the rest of the season. Hayes is an energetic and versatile forward who won the League Cup with the Toffees two years ago.

 

I also had one eye on the future with my next free signing. 16-year-old Keith McGuire is a pacey and agile right-winger who could be the latest Scottish youngster to make his name at Craven Cottage.

 

There was also one player leaving the Cottage, as right-back Graham Edwards headed to Birmingham for £250,000. I'd been waiting some time for the 21-year-old local lad to blossom into a regular starter, but his development on the training field - and more importantly, on the pitch - had stalled.

 

After winning just one of our last seven games, we now hoped to rebound at Boundary Park - and we would have to do it without the suspended Schneider. Our hosts were Oldham, who were hovering just above the relegation places.

 

18 JANUARY 2014: Oldham Athletic vs Fulham

It didn't take long to put the Villa disappointment behind us. The 13th minute was a lucky one for winger Jordan Hall, who celebrated his first start since Christmas by heading home a free-kick from captain Arnar Guðmundsson.

 

Oldham's defence was looking old hat when we doubled our lead in the 36th minute from a counter-attack. Goalkeeper John Forde made light work of a tame free-kick from Latics winger Orlando Hall, then pumped it long to Greg Scott. A deft header by the young playmaker sent Paul Hayes racing through on goal, and the debutant blasted it confidently into the net.

 

Mind you, it wasn't all plain sailing before half-time. We gifted Oldham a goal in the 41st minute, when Zambian wing-back Gift Kampamba's through-ball was finished by young poacher Chris Gordon. Having pulled it back to 2-1, could Andy Ritchie's side now complete the comeback in the second half?

 

Wayne Cable put that thought to bed just six minutes after the restart. The 19-year-old winger had come on at half-time to replace the booked Atle Iversen, and he made a quick impact by heading Christian Weber's cross in off the underside of the bar. That was only Wayne's second goal of what had been a frustrating season for the Welsh teenager.

 

Oldham battled hard to try and get back in the game, but another substitute killed them off by setting up a last-minute goal to make it 4-1. Peter Devlin's goal drought continued for another week, but he did at least tee up a second debut goal for Hayes.

 

Oldham Athletic - 1 (Gordon 42)

Fulham - 4 (Hall 13, Hayes 36,90, Cable 51)

Division 1, Attendance 11,767 - POSITIONS: Oldham 21st, Fulham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Friberg), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Weber, Numme; Iversen (Cable), Scott, Hall (Devlin); Hayes. BOOKED: Iversen.

 

Welcome to Fulham, Paul Hayes... and farewell, Adrian Disler. After just 18 months at Craven Cottage, the young Swiss midfielder was on his way to Sheffield Wednesday in a £1million deal. I'm sure Adrian will develop into a fine player, but I'm afraid he was never really a great fit for this Cottagers team.

 

We were soon back in the north-west, hoping to continue our FA Cup run by knocking out Rochdale. Our previous three clashes with the Dale had all ended in 2-1 scorelines, but this was our first meeting since Garry Hill returned to Spotland for a second spell as manager.

 

25 JANUARY 2014: Rochdale vs Fulham

Having scored from the bench in our last game, Wayne Cable returned to the starting line-up - and almost returned to the scoresheet after only 12 minutes. Unfortunately, Cable could only head Alan Stewart's floated cross against the post, and Paul Hayes' follow-up was saved by Rochdale keeper Andoni Cantero.

 

Cantero kept out another Hayes effort in the 14th minute, but their next confrontation in the 34th minute had a different outcome. Stewart celebrated his return from suspension with an excellent assist for our new loanee, who lost his man and unleashed a savage strike that gave us the lead...

 

...for three minutes. Dale didn't hesitate to get back on level terms, as Michael Yates raced past 35-year-old Fulham defender Clint Hill before firing past John Forde. To be fair to Clint, he was considerably older than Yates... by, er, one year.

 

The second half began with a barrage of Fulham shots, most of which were repelled by Cantero. Then, in the 65th minute, another Rochdale veteran struck against the run of play. Northern Irish centre-half Darren Kelly (no relation to the Norwich striker) headed in a cross from his compatriot left-back John Hill, who had also assisted Yates' equaliser.

 

Rochdale led 2-1, and if our previous meetings suggested anything, they would surely enjoy a safe passage to Round 5. Then things took a surprising turn in the 73rd minute. Dale substitute Adam Sheppard knocked Hayes to the ground with a cynical tackle, and the referee showed the midfielder a straight red card!

 

A minutes later, a couple of Fulham subs made the most of our man advantage. Henning Numme picked out Derek McIntyre with a lovely ball into the danger zone, and the Scottish starlet powered a shot in off the bar. 2-2!

 

We dominated the final quarter-hour, in which we had several chances to finish Rochdale off. Unfortunately, Cable hit the bar again in the 84th minute, and a lower effort three minutes later was easily caught by Cantero. Despite outshooting our opponents 14-3, our wastefulness meant we would have to settle this cup tie on another day.

 

Rochdale - 2 (Yates 37, Kelly 65)

Fulham - 2 (Hayes 34, McIntyre 74)

FA Cup Round 4, Attendance 7,510

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Weber (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Cable, Hall (McIntyre); Hayes (Devlin). BOOKED: Weber.

 

I long for the day when we can consistently turn good chances into good goals. At least we were still in the FA Cup - and if we can win the replay at Craven Cottage, we'll go to Middlesbrough in Round 5.

 

We're also still in the play-off places... but only by a single point. After two iffy months (and no Devlin goals), February could be make or break.

Edited March 31 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of January 2014)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         29   10   2    2    31   19   9    4    2    22   15   63   
2nd     Wolves                          29   12   2    1    44   20   6    2    6    23   24   58   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Aston Villa                     29   12   1    2    27   9    6    2    6    19   19   57   
4th     Charlton                        29   10   3    1    34   17   5    5    5    24   21   53   
5th     Nottm Forest                    29   9    3    2    29   12   6    2    7    23   22   50   
6th     Fulham                          29   8    3    4    22   14   6    5    3    25   16   50   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Sunderland                      29   10   1    4    26   17   5    3    6    24   29   49   
8th     Man City                        29   8    3    3    34   21   6    3    6    34   34   48   
9th     Norwich                         29   7    2    5    28   22   7    0    8    26   28   44   
10th    Huddersfield                    29   8    3    4    28   22   4    5    5    22   26   44   
11th    West Ham                        29   9    3    3    17   8    3    4    7    13   15   43   
12th    Birmingham                      29   7    3    4    24   14   4    5    6    21   27   41   
13th    Grimsby                         29   8    5    1    22   12   2    3    10   15   23   38   
14th    Macclesfield                    29   7    3    4    29   24   3    4    8    15   26   37   
15th    Carlisle                        29   8    1    6    25   21   4    0    10   21   36   37   
16th    Coventry                        29   9    2    4    31   29   2    2    10   16   35   37   
17th    Gillingham                      29   8    3    4    29   21   2    3    9    19   29   36   
18th    Bradford                        29   6    5    4    21   15   2    3    9    8    20   32   
19th    Reading                         29   7    0    7    26   22   2    3    10   20   33   30   
20th    Rochdale                        29   5    2    7    25   28   4    1    10   19   33   30   
21st    Oldham                          29   5    4    6    27   28   2    4    8    16   28   29   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Tottenham                       29   5    7    3    23   21   1    3    10   16   36   28   
23rd    W.B.A.                          29   4    4    6    17   25   3    1    11   13   28   26   
24th    Chesterfield                    29   4    3    7    23   27   0    1    14   14   39   16   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 23rd Premiership goal of the season on New Year's Day, as leaders Chelsea make light work of a resurgent Everton. However, despite signing a new £90,000, four-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge before Christmas, the Portuguese megastar falls out with Blues boss Jean Tigana.
• Ronaldo might not even be the top scorer in a major European league this season. Marseille captain José Luis Fernández Pérez takes his tally to 22 goals in just 19 Ligue 1 matches, as the 26-year-old bags a hat-trick against Nîmes in a 5-0 thrashing. Nîmes boss Raúl considers applying for the vacancy at Dundee United... but decides that he's suffered enough.
• As Lazio return to the top of Serie A, their scudetto rivals spend big to try and keep up. Inter pay mid-table Atalanta £12.25million to recruit Colombia forward John Jairo Yepes, whose former club Juventus poach left-footed Israeli magician Guy Levi for £15.75million.
• Espanyol right-back Carlos Diogo heads to Milan for £14.75million, blissfully unaware of all the chaos about to unfold at the San Siro. First, the Rossoneri sack manager Bernd Krauss after a 2-0 defeat at Roma pushes them down to 7th. Then, Milan's star striker Hugo da Silvera tears his ACL in a 2-2 draw with Atalanta. And finally, former Celtic winger Joaquín announces he will leave the club this summer to sign for... er, Rangers.
• Gianluigi Buffon has an early mid-life crisis and quits HSV after just six weeks in charge, saying that German women aren't pretty enough for him. He hopes to find more success in Spain, taking charge of Málaga in the Segunda División.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Ariel Sharon - the former Prime Minister of Israel - passes away at the age of 85. Sharon was in office from 2001 until he was incapacitated by a stroke in 2006. He had been in a vegetative state for the last eight years of his life.
• Portugal mourns arguably its greatest ever footballer, as Eusébio dies from heart failure aged 71. The Mozambique-born striker - nicknamed the 'Black Pearl' - netted over 300 league goals for Benfica, won the Ballon d'Or in 1965, and was the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup.
• The new year starts with winds of change, as Cyclone Anne causes much disruption - and €75million worth of damage - across western Europe and the British Isles. A UKIP councillor in Oxfordshire blames the weather on the government angering God by legalising gay marriage… and is promptly suspended for being too liberal.
• Peter Wright (a Scotsman with multicoloured hair) takes on Michael van Gerwen (a Dutchman with no hair) in the Final of the PDC World Darts Championship. It's the bald one who prevails, as 24-year-old van Gerwen wins his first world championship by 7 sets to 3. Mighty Mike indeed...

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2014

As of the end of January 2014, Fulham had the 2nd-best away record in Division 1. In terms of our home record, we were 12th. Only West Brom, West Ham and West Yorkshire (aka Bradford) had scored fewer goals at their home ground this season than we had at ours.

 

The torrent of goals Fulham fans had watched us score earlier in the season had turned into a trickle... and I wasn't just talking about Peter Devlin. The whole team needed to shake off their home-day anxieties and become more clinical at Craven Cottage, otherwise we wouldn't be promoted this season - and I would be out of a job!

 

Our first match of February gave us the perfect opportunity to put all that right. The latest visitors to the Cottage were Chesterfield, who had an away record of: Played 15, Lost 14, Drawn 1, Goals Conceded 39.

 

The Spireites were bottom of the table by 10 points, so they were hardly great at Saltergate either, but all their away trips seemed to end in utter humiliation... which probably meant we would lose 4-0.

 

1 FEBRUARY 2014: Fulham vs Chesterfield

Chesterfield went on the offensive after just two minutes, when winger Otis Bowrin's header was tipped behind by John Forde. Five minutes later, we dealt a major blow on the counter, as captain Florian Schneider floated a magnificent strike into the top corner. As Paul Young used to sing, now I know what made Otis blue.

 

Otis and his fellow Spireites were feeling very blue by the 20th minute. Two minutes after setting up our second goal for in-form loanee Paul Hayes, attacking midfield sensation Greg Scott fired us into a 3-0 lead. Schneider supplied a low cross, and Scott did the rest!

 

Come half-time, Lawrie Sanchez's side looked mentally broken. When even their leading scorer Lars Iver Strand couldn't beat Forde from close range just before the break, any travelling fans from Derbyshire could have been forgiven for losing all hope. They would be right in doing so, as Forde didn't have to make a single save in the second half.

 

We put Chesterfield out of their misery by adding one more goal midway through the second period. Arnar Guðmundsson supplied a devastating cross from the left wing, which allowed the fast-improving Henning Numme to drive home his first goal of the season - and then indulge his love for Moldovan dance-pop.

 

Fulham - 4 (Schneider 7, Hayes 18, Scott 20, Numme 67)

Chesterfield - 0

Division 1, Attendance 20,451 - POSITIONS: Fulham 5th, Chesterfield 24th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson (Heikkinen); Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Scott, Cable (McIntyre); Hayes (Devlin). BOOKED: Guðmundsson.

 

We had been incredibly clinical, scoring four goals from eight shots. Even more incredibly, one newspaper gave Chesterfield's goalkeeper John Reid a match rating of 8/10! Were they watching the same game that I was?

 

Attacking midfielder Greg Scott had made a remarkable impact in his first seven games for Fulham, notching up three goals and three assists. But having played for Barnsley in the early rounds of the FA Cup, he would be missed when we continued our cup campaign in midweek.

 

After a 2-2 draw at Rochdale last month, we replayed our FA Cup Round 4 tie at Craven Cottage. There had to be a winner this time - and whoever did prevail could look forward to a Round 5 trip to Middlesbrough.

 

5 FEBRUARY 2014: Fulham vs Rochdale

We might have been clinical against Chesterfield, but we were very far from ruthless against Rochdale. A wayward strike from Alan Stewart in the 2nd minute was a sign of struggles to come. A great chance also opened up for Wayne Cable in the 20th, but the Welsh winger fired Terry Simpson's lob against the post.

 

Rochdale's man on the left wing was rather more lethal in front of goal. Former Manchester City youngster Tom Andrews might have been a wing-back, but he had the finishing ability of a centre-forward, as he showed when he drove Emmerson Boyce's right-wing cross into the net five minutes before half-time. Advantage Dale at half-time.

 

With us desperately chasing an equaliser in the second half, Paul Hayes came off the bench to go up front alongside Peter Devlin. Then again, we could have had peak Brett Ormerod and Paul McVeigh in attack as well, and we still wouldn't have beaten the Rochdale Casillas. Andoni Cantero had saved several Fulham chances in the original tie, and he really did look unstoppable in the replay.

 

We were still wondering how to beat Cantero when Dale rendered the discussion moot in the 80th minute. Visiting striker Sam Parkin outjumped our substitute defender Markus Heikkinen to flick home a cross from midfielder David Clarke. With that second goal, our cup dreams were dashed for another year.

 

Fulham - 0

Rochdale - 2 (Andrews 40, Parkin 80)

FA Cup Round 4 Replay, Attendance 10,035

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill (Heikkinen), Simpson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Cable (Cooke), McIntyre (Hayes); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider, Friberg.

 

What a pathetic way to whimper out of the FA Cup. I now had to question the long-term futures of some of my players, including defenders Terry Simpson and Markus Heikkinen.

 

Simpson was especially vulnerable at left-back. 20-year-old Gary Hogg had made great strides in the reserves over recent months, and after signing a new long-term contract, he was now ready for a crack at senior football.

 

Hogg was in line to make his debut from the bench when we went to Wolves, who were battling for automatic promotion. Devlin was in such poor form that he didn't even make it into the matchday squad, with Paul Hayes starting up front instead. Defensive midfielder Christian Weber also stayed at home due to a suspension.

 

8 FEBRUARY 2014: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Fulham

Greg Scott was back in the team after his enforced absence from the FA Cup... but he wasn't quite back to his best. Our playmaking star was booked after just eight minutes for a holding foul on Wolves winger John Fowler. Scott then launched what would be his only shot of the game in the 19th minute, but that was saved by Craig Barnett.

 

Another chance did come our way seven minutes later. Paul Hayes was upended 25 yards from the Wolves goal by home midfielder Eddie Mooney, giving us a free-kick in a promising position. After a brief debate, captain Florian Schneider allowed Wayne Cable to take it - and the young Welshman delivered a beauty right into the postage stamp!

 

Wayne's wondrous talent was on full display again in the 40th minute, as Cable connected an excellent delivery to Hayes, who doubled our advantage. The half then ended with a third Fulham goal - and the second to come from a Schneider set-piece. Clint proved he was king of the Hills when he beat Wolves namesake Shaun to our skipper's corner delivery, giving us a commanding 3-0 half-time lead!

 

A scorching half-volley from Cable almost put us even further ahead three minutes into the second half. That could well have been a costly miss, as the wounded Wolves were soon on the prowl. Finnish striker Mikael Forssell headed in a 55th-minute left-wing cross from his fellow countryman Kari Arkivuo, pegging us back to 3-1.

 

After wasting chances to restore our three-goal cushion over the next half-hour, we decided to protect what remained of our advantage. But Wolves scored again through captain Adam Tann in the 87th minute, we were suddenly looking very shaky.

 

The noise levels at Molineux went up a few notches in the 90th minute, as Wanderers went on the hunt for an incredible equaliser. Forssell ran with the ball past our left-back Arnar Guðmundsson and had just two more Cottagers to beat. Fortunately, Clint Hill made a vital block to divert the shot away from John Forde's goal and behind for a corner... which Wolves didn't have enough time to take.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers - 2 (Forssell 55, Tann 87)

Fulham - 3 (Cable 26, Hayes 40, Hill 44)

Division 1, Attendance 15,357 - POSITIONS: Wolves 4th, Fulham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson (Hogg), Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Scott (McIntyre), Cable (Cooke); Hayes. BOOKED: Scott.

 

We were now four points clear in the play-off places, and just four off the automatic promotion spots!

 

Devlin now had a real battle to regain his starting place - but despite having not scored since November, he was still drawing interest from the Premiership. Crewe offered us £3.4million, which was a frankly derisory moment for a striker of his ability.

 

For our next match at Gillingham, I kept the same starting XI that had outclassed Wolves (in the first half, anyway). Gillingham had been in play-off contention during the early stages of this season, but Peter Reid's Gills had fallen away quite dramatically and were now in 17th place.

 

15 FEBRUARY 2014: Gillingham vs Fulham

Former Rangers goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen was between the post for Gillingham, and that was bad news for our attackers. After making light work of a tame long-ranger from Alan Stewart in the 14th minute, the Danish international went on to save pretty much everything we could fire at him.

 

Christiansen's biggest scare came in the 36th minute, when a great shot from Paul Hayes unfortunately hit the woodwork. Seven minutes later, we had even worse luck at the other end. Peter Mitchell tried to get in the way of a drive from Gills winger James Coppinger, but the Scottish defender accidentally turned it into his own net.

 

Having suffered a cruel blow just before half-time, we faced an even bigger set-back six minutes into the second half. Coppinger went on the offensive again, and when his cross was headed in by midfielder Leon Britton, Gillingham moved 2-0 ahead. Though I brought on three substitutes immediately after that second goal, none of them could do enough to get us back in the game.

 

Gillingham - 2 (Mitchell og43, Britton 51)

Fulham - 0

Division 1, Attendance 5,001 - POSITIONS: Gillingham 14th, Fulham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell (Friberg), Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider (Weber); Stewart, Scott, Cable; Hayes (Devlin).

 

After another shocking performance, I made sweeping changes for the midweek game at 9th-placed West Ham. I switched to a narrow 4-4-2 diamond and hoped that playing up front with Hayes would reignite Devlin's spark.

 

18 FEBRUARY 2014: West Ham United vs Fulham

After a couple of unconvincing performances, the spotlight was once again on John Forde. Fortunately, Fulham's first-choice goalkeeper was back in peak form for this London derby. The West Ham trio of winger Phil Porter, striker Simon Lynch, and midfielders Adam Cole and Jimmy Reid all had shots saved by the Irishman in an opening half-hour that the hosts dominated.

 

Hammers goalie George Forsyth was first called into action in the 34th minute, when a Fulham counter-attack ended with Christian Weber going through on goal. Forsyth tried to strictly come dancing with the Austrian midfielder, but clumsily brought him down in the area instead. Grant Gibson then dispatched the resulting penalty, grabbing us a 1-0 lead out of nowhere!

 

West Ham went looking for an equaliser in injury time, and they came mighty close. Lynch outjumped Cottagers defender Clint Hill to head Cole's cross goalwards, hitting the crossbar. The Scottish forward was inches away from stabbing in the rebound when Florian Schneider's pinpoint interception removed the danger just in time!

 

Having come within a whisker of losing our lead, we were eager to strengthen it early in the second period. After just four minutes, Paul Hayes obliged, rifling in a half-volley from Arnar Guðmundsson's knock-down.

 

Peter Devlin sadly did not join his strike partner on the scoresheet; his only strike in the 56th minute was snatched so horribly wide that it showed how low his confidence was. Nonetheless, another Fulham favourite did find the net in the 81st minute, as Alan Stewart rounded off an astonishing 3-0 away win.

 

West Ham United - 0

Fulham - 3 (Gibson pen34, Hayes 49, Stewart 81)

Division 1, Attendance 34,986 - POSITIONS: West Ham 10th, Fulham 6th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Gibson, Friberg, Hill (Mitchell), Guðmundsson (Hogg); Schneider; Numme, Weber; Scott (Stewart); Devlin, Hayes. BOOKED: Hill, Friberg.

 

Awful one match, brilliant the next. I love you, guys.

 

So, what on Earth would happen in our next match at home to Macclesfield, who had lost their last three games? Could we produce another ruthless goal glut - like we did at Moss Rose in September - or would we suddenly forget where the back of the net was again?

 

22 FEBRUARY 2014: Fulham vs Macclesfield Town

It took us just 10 minutes to find out the answer. Macclesfield's five-man defence folded like a house of cards as Paul Hayes glided through on goal before coolly stroking the ball home with his weaker left foot.

 

Another 10 minutes passed, and then Hayes showed he could score with his head as well. Greg Scott's eagle-eyed vision helped him pick out the 30-year-old striker with a fantastic lob over the defence, which was then nodded past Silkmen keeper Geoffery Nijs.

 

Hayes almost wrapped up a hat-trick in the 26th minute - and a perfect hat-trick at that - when a right-footed shot from Henning Numme's through-ball unluckily hit the side netting. Nijs then put up some resistance five minutes later, producing a fingertip save from Stewart. Would we be regretting those missed opportunities in the second half?

 

Not one bit of it. By the 71st minute, Hayes finally had his treble. It sadly wasn't a perfect hat-trick, as that third goal came from his head rather than his right foot. That said, his headed finish from Florian Schneider's free-kick was as good as you'll ever see. At that point, Paul came off the Craven Cottage turf to a standing ovation - and to huge sighs of relief from a beleaguered Macclesfield defence.

 

Peter Devlin was brought on to replace Hayes. Obviously, our leading goalscorer still couldn't shoot a fish in a barrel, but Devlin did prove his worth with another late assist in the 90th minute. And just like at Upton Park four days earlier, it was Alan Stewart who applied the coup de grâce to our vanquished opponents. I'm so sorry, Macclesfield...

 

Fulham - 4 (Hayes 10,20,71, Stewart 90)

Macclesfield Town - 0

Division 1, Attendance 12,295 - POSITIONS: Fulham 5th, Macclesfield 17th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Friberg, Hill, Guðmundsson (Hogg); Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Scott, Cable (Cooke); Hayes (Devlin).

 

With a dozen matches to go, we're looking firmly on course to at least reach the play-offs, so long as nothing goes catastrophically wrong in the next few...

 

...wait, I've just been handed this report from our physio. Alan Stewart has strained his groin and will not be able to play next month. Lovely.

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of February 2014)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         34   10   2    4    33   23   12   4    2    32   18   72   
2nd     Charlton                        34   12   3    1    37   17   8    5    5    32   23   68   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Nottm Forest                    35   12   3    2    36   12   8    2    8    26   25   65   
4th     Wolves                          34   13   2    2    47   23   7    3    7    27   30   65   
5th     Aston Villa                     34   14   1    2    34   9    6    2    9    20   23   63   
6th     Fulham                          34   10   3    4    30   14   8    5    4    31   20   62   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Norwich                         35   10   2    5    36   26   7    1    10   27   33   54   
8th     Sunderland                      34   10   2    6    29   22   6    4    6    30   34   54   
9th     West Ham                        34   10   3    4    18   11   4    6    7    19   19   51   
10th    Man City                        34   8    5    4    36   26   6    3    8    36   40   50   
11th    Grimsby                         34   9    6    1    25   13   4    4    10   21   26   49   
12th    Huddersfield                    34   9    4    5    31   25   4    5    7    25   33   48   
13th    Birmingham                      34   7    5    5    26   17   5    5    7    23   31   46   
14th    Carlisle                        34   11   1    6    33   24   4    0    12   23   41   46   
15th    Coventry                        34   11   2    5    33   32   3    2    11   18   37   46   
16th    Gillingham                      34   10   4    4    37   24   2    4    10   22   33   44   
17th    Macclesfield                    34   8    3    6    32   29   3    4    10   15   31   40   
18th    Bradford                        34   7    5    5    25   18   3    4    10   10   23   39   
19th    Reading                         34   9    0    7    32   23   2    4    12   22   37   37   
20th    Rochdale                        34   7    2    8    31   32   4    2    11   20   37   37   
21st    Oldham                          34   6    4    7    31   32   2    5    10   19   34   33   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    Tottenham                       34   5    8    5    27   28   2    3    11   18   41   32   
23rd    W.B.A.                          34   4    5    8    21   32   3    1    13   13   31   27   
24th    Chesterfield                    34   5    4    7    30   33   0    1    17   16   50   20   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Roma lose their first four matches in the Champions League second group phase, ending their continental ambitions for this season. Chelsea and Marseille are the first teams into the Quarter Finals, though the French champions suffer a huge blow when defensive midfielder Yaya Touré is ruled out for the season after tearing his ankle ligaments.
• Chelsea have their sights set on even more silverware. The Blues recover from an early 2-0 deficit at Blackburn to win 3-2, with Frank Lampard's late screamer giving them an eight-point lead in the Premiership. Jean Tigana's side follow that by sweeping past Liverpool to set up a League Cup Final showdown with Manchester United next month.
• Juventus' dreams of a first Serie A scudetto since 1998 appear to evaporate after a winless February, in which they draw three matches and lose 2-0 at Lazio. Goals from Russia midfielder Eugeny Trofimov and Spain striker Alberto Teixeira pull the Biancocelesti further clear as they eye a third straight title. Meanwhile, Oviedo boss Manuel Pellegrini arrives in Milan to be handed the poisoned chalice by Rossoneri owner Silvio Berlusconi.
• Ex-Milan coach Bernd Krauss falls into another big job, taking the reins at Bayern München after they part with Ramón Diaz. Krauss is far from impressed when defender Bojan Radosavljevic is sent off in a 3-0 home defeat to 1.FC Köln. Leverkusen also have a new manger after appointing Monaco's Héctor Raúl Cuper to replace Vlado Petrovic.
• Celtic's four-year wait for another Scottish Premier League title might soon be over. Mexican striker Jorge Pérez delights Celtic Park with an 88th-minute winning penalty against Rangers. This gives the Bhoys a 12-point lead over 2nd-placed St Mirren, whose watertight defence puts them on course for their best ever season in the top flight.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Everything is awesome! Especially “The Lego Movie”, which stars Chris Pratt and Will Ferrell. But what’s next - an episode of “The Simpsons” made with Lego?
• In much less awesome movie news, the Oscar-winning “Capote” actor Philip Seymour Hoffman dies suddenly from a drug overdose. The 46-year-old is eulogised as “the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation”.
• The Russian city of Sochi hosts the 22nd Winter Olympic Games. The bad news is that everybody has to listen to Vladimir Putin at the opening ceremony. The good news from a British perspective is that Lizzy Yarnold wins gold for sliding very fast down an ice track on a tea tray.
• 67-year-old David Bowie makes history at the BRIT Awards, becoming the oldest winner of the British Male Solo Artist accolade. Bowie misses the ceremony because he is belatedly celebrating Valentine’s Day, but model Kate Moss accepts the award on his behalf.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2014

Fulham were set for a top-quarter finish heading into the final quarter of the Division 1 season... but I didn't want to just settle for the play-offs. After winning five of our last six league matches (and scoring 18 goals in the process), I believed that we could finish the campaign strongly and have a crack at automatic promotion to the Premiership.

 

Unfortunately, we would be missing one of our key players for a big chunk of that run-in. A groin strain had sidelined Alan Stewart for around a month, depriving us of a right-wing wizard who had 14 goal contributions in 28 league games so far this season.

 

We did at least still have Paul Hayes, who had found the net 8 times in just 6 league games since arriving on loan from Everton. Many spectators at Craven Cottage were expecting the 30-year-old Londoner to continue his hot streak in our last home derby of the regular season.

 

This had been another miserable season for Tottenham - and as an Arsenal fan, I was taking plenty of glee in their plight. Spurs had been rooted to the bottom three since Alan Curbishley succeeded Steve McClaren as manager in January. Barring a late turnaround, it looked like they would be playing in Division 2 next term...

 

1 MARCH 2014: Fulham vs Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham came out attacking and put us under pressure after just six minutes, when a low shot from midfielder Paul McAreavey clipped the post. McAreavey and his Northern Ireland team-mate Jonathan Black each got some more promising shots on target later on, but neither could beat our southern Irish goalkeeper John Forde.

 

After 33 minutes, though, we hit Spurs against the run of play. Thomas Friberg crossed from right-back and found the head of Paul Hayes, who flicked in his 10th goal for Fulham - only NINE matches into his loan spell.

 

Clint Hill picked up a yellow card early in the first half, so when Florian Schneider also went into the book just after the second period kicked off, I worried that we might be losing our discipline. There was a sense of frustration across the team, as opposing keeper Derek Bruce made several fantastic saves on his Tottenham debut, having joined from Sunderland just days earlier.

 

I soon decided to throw on a second striker, with Peter Devlin taking his place up front alongside Hayes. After 63 minutes, the gamble paid off. A clumsy foul on Schneider earned us a close-range free-kick, and Hayes swiftly whipped in an excellent delivery for Devlin to fire home his 20th goal of the season - three months after he'd scored his 19th!

 

Devlin's drought was finally over... and just like London buses, a second goal arrived almost immediately! Barely a minute after Spurs had resumed play, we were back in their penalty box, where Devlin confidently finished Wayne Cable's left-wing cross for 3-0! Spurs' spuds were pushed deeper into relegation danger, and we celebrated a third successive clean-sheet win!

 

Fulham - 3 (Hayes 33, Devlin 64,65)

Tottenham Hotspur - 0

Division 1, Attendance 17,760 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, Tottenham 22nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Friberg, Hill (Mitchell), Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider (Weber); Cooke (Devlin), Scott, Cable; Hayes. BOOKED: Hill, Schneider.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Devlin is back!

 

We were now 10 points clear of 7th-placed Sunderland... but next up was a meeting with an old nemesis. You probably still remember all the carnage that unfolded after Coventry beat us 3-2 at Craven Cottage five months ago, so we had a point to prove against the Sky Blues in the return fixture at Highfield Road.

 

5 MARCH 2014: Coventry City vs Fulham

It took Coventry just five minutes to end our run of shut-outs. John Forde got his fingertips to a dangerous half-volley from City forward Lomana Lua-Lua, whose Aussie strike partner Ricky Diaco picked up the rebound. Diaco then moved the ball out right to winger Billy McDermott, whose first-time cross was headed home by midfielder Dave Wills.

 

Nine minutes later, our right-winger Daniel Cooke responded with an assist of his own. His low cross picked out Peter Devlin, who jinked past a couple of sky-blue shirts before an emphatic drive continued his resurgence!

 

The rest of the first half was scrappy but competitive, though our greater class didn't really show until after the break. A barrage of Fulham chances early in the second period ended after 52 minutes, when an unmarked Greg Scott ran through some space to head in a lobbed pass from Devlin. We were now 2-1 up, but could Coventry bounce back?

 

Unfortunately, yes. Our ongoing issues with defending set-pieces reared their heads again in the 66th minute, as Coventry midfielder Michael Roberts came off the bench to convert a McDermott free-kick. Maybe we'll learn our lesson one day...

 

However, there was still time for the match to take one more decisive turn. Devlin was alert to a weak goal kick from Sky Blues keeper Joel Armstrong, and after a quick interception, he ran clean through to score another late Fulham winner. If anyone thought the Tottenham game was a false dawn, this was the clearest evidence yet that Devlin was back to his best!

 

Coventry City - 2 (Wills 5, Roberts 66)

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 14,79, Scott 52)

Division 1, Attendance 11,623 - POSITIONS: Coventry 16th, Fulham 4th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Friberg, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme (Weber), Schneider; Cooke, Scott, Hall (Cable); Devlin.

 

This victory moved us to within just three points of 2nd-placed Charlton, who had lost 2-0 at home to Reading. Leaders Preston had also slipped - losing 3-0 at Norwich - and were now only five points clear of us.

 

We aimed to record a fifth win on the spin when we entertained Huddersfield at the Cottage. Florian Schneider was low on form and having some personal issues unrelated to football, so I dropped him to the bench. Goalkeeper John Forde took the captaincy instead, getting the nod ahead of left-back Arnar Guðmundsson.

 

8 MARCH 2014: Fulham vs Huddersfield Town

It won't surprise you that Peter Devlin was hungry for even more goals. Huddersfield goalkeeper Ronni Lund might have denied him twice in quick succession in the 27th minute, but Peter made the most of his next opportunity just nine minutes later. Not a single Terriers defender could keep up with the number 9, as he stroked in a square ball from left-back Arnar Guðmundsson.

 

The men from Iceland and Ireland combined superbly again three minutes before half-time. Guðmundsson easily skinned Huddersfield's ageing right-back George Blay and put in a cross to Devlin, whose half-volley made it 2-0! In the space of barely a week, our star striker's goal tally for the season had jumped up from 19 to 25!

 

The Terriers tried to lessen the damage in the second half, when further saves from Lund denied Devlin his hat-trick as well as keeping Henning Numme and striker Paul Hayes off the scoresheet. No Huddersfield players would get there either, as typically robust defending from Clint Hill and Christian Weber in particular helped us on our way to another clean sheet.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 36,42)

Huddersfield Town - 0

Division 1, Attendance 15,531 - POSITIONS: Fulham 4th, Huddersfield 13th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell (Friberg), Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Weber; Iversen, Scott, Cable (Cooke); Devlin (Hayes). BOOKED: Weber.

 

Funny, isn't it? Devlin goes three months without scoring - and then he hits six goals in three matches! All of a sudden, he's back on track for another Division 1 Golden Boot!

 

Preston and Charlton each drew their matches, leaving us within touching distance of the top two. I was trying not to get too excited, as was usually the point in the season where we would lose our heads...

 

Things certainly had the potential to go very wrong 10 days later. We were in gusty, rainy Cumbria for what was sure to be a gruelling battle with mid-table Carlisle, who had not lost at home for nearly three months.

 

18 MARCH 2014: Carlisle United vs Fulham

Carlisle coped with the adverse weather conditions better than we did... in the opening stages, anyway. Icelandic midfielder Daði Helgason looked particularly threatening for the Cumbrians, forcing John Forde into a couple of tricky saves. Andy Kirk also came close to scoring in the 24th minute, grazing the bar.

 

Any hopes we had of playing attractive football soon went out of the window. We had to hold firm, withstand the Carlisle assaults, then hit them with some direct counter-attacks. This route-one approach paid dividends just before half-time, when Forde hoofed a goal kick deep into Carlisle's half... and Peter Devlin raced through a wide-open Cumbrian defence before blasting in the opener!

 

Though Carlisle started the second half brightly as well, they fell victim to another counter-punch in the 59th minute. This time, the attack began with a great defensive interception from Clint Hill, and ended about 15 seconds later with Greg Scott flighting Wayne Cable's square ball into the net.

 

Cable's crossing ability wreaked further damage in the 66th minute. The Welshman's delivery from the byline caught out all United's defender, presenting Devlin with an easy finish. That completed Devlin's fourth double in four consecutive matches, after which he was substituted to a round of rapturous applause from our travelling supporters.

 

The home fans did have something to cheer about in the 76th minute. At the grand age of 37, journeyman midfielder Alan Pouton showed that he still had some fight left in him when he scored from a cross by left-back Andy Willis. It was a consolation goal for Carlisle, but nothing more.

 

Carlisle United - 1 (Pouton 76)

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 45,66, Scott 59)

Division 1, Attendance 16,428 - POSITIONS: Carlisle 17th, Fulham 1st

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider (Weber); Cooke, Scott, Cable (McIntyre); Devlin (Hayes). BOOKED: Schneider.

 

With Devlin's latest brace, we flew to the top of the Division 1 table... at least until Charlton and Preston met at The Valley 24 hours later. Preston won 1-0 to restore their three-point lead, with Charlton now two points behind us.

 

Unfortunately, Schneider was now into double figures for yellow cards. He would have to sit out two matches at the start of April.

 

We still had two more games to get through in March... but before them came another international break. Devlin was back in the Republic of Ireland squad, though he didn't play in their 0-0 draw with Finland. But when you consider that Ireland's usual front two consists of Robbie Keane and Joe O'Shea, you can perhaps understand how hard it is for any other strikers to get a game.

 

Had that brief interlude disrupted our momentum? We would find out when we hosted Sunderland, who had drifted out of play-off contention after failing to win any of their last nine games.

 

26 MARCH 2014: Fulham vs Sunderland

Over two months after his last start, Atle Iversen was back on the right wing for Fulham. This 19-year-old Norwegian hadn't yet become a first-team regular like our other one had, but Atle did set up an excellent opener for Henning Numme after just nine minutes. Iversen did well to keep his footing on a rain-soaked Craven Cottage pitch before his cross was thundered in by Numme.

 

Tim Cahill sought a quick riposte for Sunderland in the 13th minute, when he flicked a header inches over the bar. A quarter-hour later, the aggressive Australian was punching the corner flag again... but not in frustration. A low left-footed strike put the 34-year-old midfielder on the scoresheet, and the Mackems back on level terms.

 

Of course, with Peter Devlin still in unstoppable form, we didn't have to worry too long about regaining our advantage. Devlin could have continued his scoring streak in the 45th minute, when Wayne Cable found him on the edge of Sunderland's six-yard box... but he selflessly set up a half-volley for Greg Scott instead.

 

It then looked like we would be going 3-1 ahead after 61 minutes. Sunderland sweeper Andrew Henry was penalised for a holding foul on Iversen, who elected to take the penalty himself. Unfortunately, it was too close to goalkeeper Massimo Nzati, who pushed it clear.

 

Two minutes later, however, Iversen got another chance from the spot! The referee awarded our second penalty after a clean-through Devlin was brought down by Nzati, who was lucky to escape with only a yellow card. Nzati had correctly guessed last time around that Iversen would fire to his left-hand side, so he changed approach and dived to his right... but Iversen went left again. At the second time of asking, Atle had doubled our lead!

 

Speaking of second chances... Arnar Guðmundsson was made to take a Fulham free-kick twice in the 80th minute. After Devlin won a free-kick 25 yards from goal, Guðmundsson lifted it over the wall and into the top corner of Nzati's net! However, the ref had noted an infringement from one of our other players, so he ordered a retake. Arnar cheekily lifted the free-kick over the wall again... and scored again, this time for real!

 

Guðmundsson's goal completed another fantastic Fulham performance, and a 4-1 win. Sunderland tried their best to grab a second goal, but French striker Sébastien Meslien made a mess of two late chances.

 

Fulham - 4 (Numme 9, Scott 45, Iversen pen63, Guðmundsson 80)

Sunderland - 1 (Cahill 28)

Division 1, Attendance 19,625 - POSITIONS: Fulham 2nd, Sunderland 12th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill (Friberg), Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider (Weber); Iversen, Scott, Cable (Cooke); Devlin. BOOKED: Scott.

 

Seven wins in a row - that's officially my longest ever winning streak! And just look at the top of the Division 1 table!

 

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st     Preston                         39   11   4    4    39   28   13   4    3    33   21   80  

2nd     Fulham                          39   13   3    4    39   15   10   5    4    37   23   77  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd     Nottm Forest                    39   13   4    2    39   13   9    2    9    30   28   72  

4th     Aston Villa                     39   15   3    2    39   11   7    3    9    23   25   72  

5th     Charlton                        39   13   3    3    38   20   8    6    6    33   26   72  

6th     Wolves                          39   15   2    3    54   26   7    4    8    30   36   72  

 

Five points clear in 2nd!

 

That table would surely look even better if we could complete a perfect month with another perfect result. In stark contrast to us, Rochdale had lost all five of their matches in March, so our FA Cup nemeses would be desperate to right that wrong at a rainy Spotland.

 

28 MARCH 2014: Rochdale vs Fulham

The 13th minute was not a lucky one for John Forde. Though we were now quite used to playing in adverse weather, our goalkeeper was still caught out by a hard low shot from Rochdale midfielder Jimmy O'Connor, which skimmed towards goal and then bobbled over the line.

 

Paul Hayes delivered a strong reply by finding the net in the 23rd minute... but the striker had strayed offside by the time left-winger Jordan Hall sent him running through on goal. Hayes made sure to keep himself on the right side of the invisible line five minutes later, when he blasted in a low right-wing cross from Daniel Cooke to draw level.

 

It may surprise you to learn that Andoni Cantero was not in goal for Rochdale. Over recent weeks, Dale boss Garry Hill had decided to try out Peter Schmitz - a German rookie, but one who turned out to be an even more agile shotstopper than Cantero! Schmitz showcased his talents by denying Hayes a second goal just before half-time, and then frustrating Wayne Cable just after the resumption.

 

Sadly, nobody could help us extend our winning streak to eight matches - not even Peter Devlin, who regretfully came on too late to make a meaningful impact. Our best chance came six minutes from full-time, when Greg Scott half-volleyed a close-range effort against the bar. Sweeper Gary MacDonald then cleared the danger to help Rochdale preserve a 1-1 draw.

 

Rochdale - 1 (O'Connor 13)

Fulham - 1 (Hayes 28)

Division 1, Attendance 7,833 - POSITIONS: Rochdale 21st, Fulham 2nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme (Weber), Schneider; Cooke, Cable (Scott), Hall (Devlin); Hayes.

 

No win this time, but still a satisfactory result to round off a magnificent March. It was the third time this season that we'd gone unbeaten in a calendar month, so it felt long overdue when the Football League presented me with my first Manager of the Month award since December 2010.

 

We will head into the final six games of the season with a top-six finish all but secured - and a three-point lead on 3rd place. Whisper it quietly, folks... but I think our long wait for promotion might soon be over.

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of March 2014)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st     Preston                         40   11   4    4    39   28   14   4    3    34   21   83   
2nd     Fulham                          40   13   3    4    39   15   10   6    4    38   24   78   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Aston Villa                     40   15   3    2    39   11   8    3    9    25   26   75   
4th     Charlton                        40   14   3    3    39   20   8    6    6    33   26   75   
5th     Wolves                          40   15   2    3    54   26   7    5    8    31   37   73   
6th     Nottm Forest                    40   13   4    3    39   14   9    2    9    30   28   72   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     West Ham                        40   13   3    4    26   11   6    7    7    23   21   67   
8th     Norwich                         40   12   2    6    43   29   8    1    11   31   36   63   
9th     Grimsby                         40   12   6    1    32   16   4    6    11   23   29   60   
10th    Man City                        40   10   5    5    42   29   7    4    9    39   44   60   
11th    Sunderland                      40   10   4    7    30   24   6    5    8    32   40   57   
12th    Birmingham                      40   9    5    6    34   20   6    6    8    25   34   56   
13th    Gillingham                      40   13   4    4    47   26   2    5    12   22   36   54   
14th    Huddersfield                    40   10   5    5    35   28   4    7    9    29   41   54   
15th    Carlisle                        40   12   2    7    39   31   4    1    14   25   50   51   
16th    Macclesfield                    40   9    5    6    35   31   4    5    11   19   35   49   
17th    Reading                         40   11   2    7    37   25   3    4    13   25   39   48   
18th    Coventry                        40   11   3    6    36   36   3    2    15   22   49   47   
19th    Bradford                        40   7    7    6    28   23   3    7    10   16   29   44   
20th    Oldham                          40   8    4    8    36   35   3    5    12   21   41   42   
21st    Rochdale                        40   7    3    10   33   36   4    2    14   21   44   38   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    W.B.A.                          40   6    6    8    28   34   4    1    15   17   37   37   
23rd    Tottenham                       40   6    9    5    32   32   2    4    14   19   48   37   
24th    Chesterfield                    40   5    5    9    31   37   0    1    20   17   58   21   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Chelsea secure the first part of what they hope will be an unprecedented quadruple. Gilles Borbiconi gives Manchester United the lead just nine minutes into the League Cup Final, but the Blues rally to win 4-1 at Wembley. Cristiano Ronaldo, Thomas Kahlenberg and French youngster Vincent Mercier are all on target as United concede all three shots on target, as well as an own goal from captain Wes Brown.
• Chelsea are also the last English team left in the Champions League - and they face a Quarter Final showdown with Celtic, who edge out Parma on goal difference. Arsenal and Rangers both drop out after the second group phase, while Hajduk are finally Split from their European dream.
• With a fifth straight La Liga title almost secured, Barcelona shift their focus to the UEFA Cup. Goals from Lionel Messi and Alejandro Domínguez are enough to eliminate Sparta and tee up a Semi Final tie against Hibs, who come through an all-Scottish Quarter Final with Aberdeen. Former runners-up Bologna are surprisingly knocked out by Danish side Brøndby, who will meet Porto in the other Semi.
• The Serie A title race turns into a Lazio procession, as victories over Parma, Roma and Milan propel them 12 points clear at the summit. The Biancocelesti also close in on a second domestic double in three years, with Andrea Barzagli and Salvatore Annunziata giving them a 2-0 lead over Inter after the first leg of the Coppa Italia Final.
• Nürnberg go on a four-game winning streak that pulls them away from relegation danger, but it's not enough to save Ralf Rangnick's job. Rangnick is sacked after midfielder Keijo Huusko and defender Matjaz Lunder are both sent off in a 2-0 home defeat to Hertha BSC. Incidentally, that result also saves Hertha boss Nigel Winterburn from the sack.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Russia invades and annexes the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. The international community responds with anger, as Russia are kicked out of the G8... and replaced with Paul Gascoigne.
• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears from radar while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. It starts the most expensive search in aviation history.
• “12 Years A Slave” - a biographical drama about the African American abolitionist Solomon Northup - wins three Oscars at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Its British director Steve McQueen is the first black man to receive the Best Picture statuette in the ceremony’s 86-year history.
• Britian's first same-sex weddings take place after gay marriage is officially legalised in England and Wales. One couple celebrates by staging a musical wedding on Channel 4 - featuring Stephen Fry, Boy George, and Erasure’s Andy Bell.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2014

After three-and-a-half years, my project to get Fulham promoted to the Premiership was entering its closing stages.

 

With just six matches remaining, the Cottagers were 2nd in the Division 1 table behind Preston. We were three points clear of Aston Villa and Charlton, five ahead of Wolves… and six ahead of Nottingham Forest. Below them, West Ham and Norwich were the only teams who had any real hope of gatecrashing the play-offs.

 

For once, everything seemed to be in our favour. We were unbeaten in our last eight games, taking 22 points out of a possible 24. Our run-in also looked quite attractive on paper, even if each match got progressively tougher:

 

5 April: vs Bradford (H, 19th)

11 April: vs West Brom (A, 22nd)

14 April: vs Birmingham (H, 12th)

19 April: vs Norwich (A, 8th)

26 April: vs Manchester City (H, 10th)

4 May: vs Charlton (A, 4th)

 

To secure a play-off place at worst, we only needed a maximum of eight points from those final games. But I did not agree to stay at Fulham for a fourth season just so we could sneak into the Premiership through the play-offs. I wanted us to win automatic promotion.

 

The run-in began with what in theory should have been our easiest game. We had won our last five league matches at Craven Cottage, while Bradford had failed to win any of their last five matches on the road. The Bantams were also battling to avoid another relegation, just two years after falling out of the Premiership in humiliating fashion.

 

After missing the whole of March with a groin injury, we welcomed Alan Stewart back to the Fulham team at right wing. However, we were without our captain Florian Schneider, who began a two-match ban after picking up too many yellow cards. Winger Wayne Cable and right-back Thomas Friberg were also absent through injury.

 

5 APRIL 2014: Fulham vs Bradford City

Bradford's goalkeeper Andy Bryant had been in mediocre form… so naturally, he decided to produce his best performance of the season at Craven Cottage. The tone of this match was set in the first 20 minutes, when the former Everton man stopped a couple of excellent efforts from Peter Devlin and Alan Stewart - the first of TEN saves he would make.

 

There was some controversy in the 24th minute. Bradford defender Danny Shittu had clearly wiped out Derek McIntyre with a crunching tackle, but the referee nonetheless allowed play to continue!

 

Thankfully, another big decision did go in our favour in the 35th minute. Experienced forward Patrick Agyemang thought he had volleyed the Bantams into the lead against the run of play, but the referee's assistant had flagged him offside.

 

Bryant made another incredible save to deny Stewart just before half-time, but Alan was determined to get his way shortly after the interval. On 55 minutes, Devlin dribbled into the City area and then played the ball through to Stewart, who finally made the breakthrough!

 

Though Bryant's brilliance prevented us from scoring again, that single goal would be enough to take victory. The closest Bradford had come to equalising was in the 78th minute, when substitute Stephen McPhee's shot was dropped by John Forde, only for defender Peter Mitchell to hack it clear.

 

Fulham - 1 (Stewart 55)

Bradford City - 0

Division 1, Attendance 17,049 - POSITIONS: Fulham 2nd, Bradford 19th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Weber; Stewart, Scott (Ryan), McIntyre (Cooke); Devlin (Hayes).

 

That might not have been the prettiest win, but we were now just one more away from securing a top-six finish...

 

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  Pl Preston                         41   11   4    4    39   28   15   4    3    37   23   86   
2nd     Fulham                          41   14   3    4    40   15   10   6    4    38   24   81   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Charlton                        41   14   3    3    39   20   9    6    6    37   27   78   
4th     Aston Villa                     41   15   4    2    40   12   8    3    9    25   26   76   
5th     Wolves                          41   15   2    4    55   30   7    5    8    31   37   73   
6th     Nottm Forest                    41   13   4    3    39   14   9    2    10   31   31   72   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     West Ham                        41   13   3    5    27   13   6    7    7    23   21   67   
8th     Norwich                         41   12   2    6    43   29   9    1    11   33   37   66   

 

The PFA held its annual awards ceremony a week later. It was a night to remember for goalkeeper John Forde, defender Clint Hill and top scorer Peter Devlin, who were all named in the Division 1 Select XI. Nottingham Forest and Norwich were the only other clubs to have more than one player in the XI - but leaders Preston didn't have any!

 

Next up was a Friday night to The Hawthorns, where we famously put six goals past West Brom last season. If we could batter the struggling Baggies again, we would be safely through to the play-offs.

 

11 APRIL 2014: West Bromwich Albion vs Fulham

Just like in that 6-1 demolition last year, Stefanos Kotsolis was keeping goal for West Brom. The experienced Greek had a rather less stressful day this time around, as we mustered just the five shots on target. The first of them - from Peter Devlin in the 4th minute - was confidently pushed away.

 

It was a case of second time lucky for the Cottagers. Alan Stewart broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, heading in Greg Scott's cross to notch up his 10th goal of the season. Having lost their playmaker John Newton to a knee injury just moments before that goal, the odds were now well and truly stacked against Albion.

 

We had three more shots in the second half - two from Devlin, and one from substitute Daniel Cooke - but Kotsolis resisted them all. Once again, though, one goal was all we needed. John Forde's only save was from a deflected Zatyiah Knight free-kick in the 51st minute. Our only other scare came seven minutes from the end, when young Baggies midfielder Bradley Howe headed against the woodwork.

 

West Bromwich Albion - 0

Fulham - 1 (Stewart 33)

Division 1, Attendance 26,227 - POSITIONS: West Brom 21st, Fulham 2nd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Weber (Heikkinen); Stewart, Scott (Cooke), Hall (Hayes); Devlin. BOOKED: Hill.

 

That was the first objective completed. Now we could everything into securing automatic promotion. Of course, it would help a lot if the teams below us slipped up over the weekend...

 

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  Pl Preston                         42   12   4    4    42   29   15   4    3    37   23   89   
2nd  Pl Fulham                          42   14   3    4    40   15   11   6    4    39   24   84   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd     Charlton                        42   15   3    3    41   21   9    6    6    37   27   81   
4th     Aston Villa                     42   15   4    2    40   12   8    3    10   26   28   76   
5th     Nottm Forest                    42   14   4    3    42   15   9    2    10   31   31   75   
6th     Wolves                          42   15   2    4    55   30   7    5    9    32   39   73   

 

Charlton didn't. It looked like they were the only team who could realistically bump us out of the top two. It could well all come down to that final-day showdown at The Valley...

 

Our next home game was on Easter Monday against our bogey team Birmingham, who needed a win to have any chance of staying in the play-off hunt. Schneider and Cable were both back in the Fulham starting line-up, while Paul Hayes went up front at the expense of Devlin.

 

14 APRIL 2014: Fulham vs Birmingham City

I'm afraid was a day to forget for Paul Hayes. After having two shots saved in the first 19 minutes, the 30-year-old loanee went down with what looked like a serious knee injury. Hayes was stretchered off, and Devlin was given another chance to rediscover his scoring touch.

 

It wasn't a great afternoon for Devlin either, as a rock-solid Birmingham defence didn't even let him have a sniff at goal. At the other end, the Blues' Italian hotshot Fabio Campese had a couple of chances to put them ahead before the break. One of them forced John Forde into an awkward save, but Peter Mitchell once again defended superbly to spare his colleague's blushes.

 

Mitchell wasn't going to let us down... but after 59 minutes, another of our back four did. Our usually placid left-back Arnar Guðmundsson was the last person I expected to pick up a red card, so I had no idea what he was thinking when he lunged two-footed on Birmingham's teenage winger Douglas Ryan. Arnar's first career red card left us having to play the final half-hour with only 10 men.

 

We switched our focus from chasing victory to avoiding defeat, with attacking midfielder Greg Scott coming off so that Terry Simpson could fill the left-back vacancy. The plan worked, as we battled hard to secure a 0-0 draw - and Simpson defended so well during his half-hour cameo that he was named 'man of the match'!

 

Fulham - 0

Birmingham City - 0

Division 1, Attendance 16,861 - POSITIONS: Fulham 2nd, Birmingham 11th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Schneider, Weber (Numme); Stewart, Scott (Simpson), Cable; Hayes (Devlin). BOOKED: Simpson. SENT OFF: Guðmundsson.

 

And so the great Fulham collapse begins. Hayes' knee injury was worse than first feared, and it was unlikely he would play for us again. As for Arnar Guðmundsson, his three-match ban ruled him out of our potential promotion decider at The Valley, as well as both legs of a potential play-off Semi Final.

 

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  Pl Preston                         43   12   5    4    43   30   15   4    3    37   23   90   
2nd  Pl Fulham                          43   14   4    4    40   15   11   6    4    39   24   85   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  Pl Charlton                        43   15   3    3    41   21   10   6    6    40   27   84   
4th     Nottm Forest                    43   14   4    3    42   15   10   2    10   33   32   78   
5th     Aston Villa                     43   15   4    3    40   13   8    3    10   26   28   76   
6th     Wolves                          43   15   3    4    58   33   7    5    9    32   39   74   

 

And Charlton won 3-0 at Oldham. The Addicks were now just one point behind us.

 

Guðmundsson's moment of madness did impress at least one person, as Southampton made an offer worth £2.1million for the Icelandic left-back later in the week. As annoyed as I was with Arnar, he was still an important player in my eyes, so I told Mark Hughes to spark off... or words to that effect.

 

We then moved on to Norwich, facing a Canaries team who were still battling hard to gatecrash the play-off places. They had a pretty mean attack, so if anyone could disrupt our run of clean sheets, it would probably be them.

 

19 APRIL 2014: Norwich City vs Fulham

After a bright start to proceedings, we opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Peter Devlin was back on target after five goalless games in a row, heading in a well-taken free-kick from captain Florian Schneider.

 

Our early lead would only last for a dozen minutes. The Canaries were singing again when midfielder Lee Brown struck a sweet left-footed volley from a magnificent Stefan Jónsson cross. That left the match nicely poised heading into the second half...

 

...and then Norwich struck again. Their first goal had come from the left side of their midfield, but the second came from the right. Former Newcastle midfielder Mark Lloyd - already an established Wales international at only 20 years old - played a first-time ball to experienced winger Danny Pugh, who powered City into a 2-1 lead.

 

Having witnessed one moment of brilliance from a Welsh youngster, the Carrow Road crowd saw another in the 69th minute. Fulham wonderkid Wayne Cable showed why he was once dubbed 'the next Ryan Giggs' with an incredible solo goal, dribbling past several Canaries before firing into the top corner... and with his 'weaker' right foot too! The scores were level once again!

 

But after 80 minutes, this incredible match saw yet another momentum shift. Norwich captain Darren Kelly won a corner after his fierce strike was pushed behind by John Forde. We struggled to clear the danger after left-back Steven Fenwick delivered the set-piece, and within moments, Brown had restored City's lead with his second goal of the night.

 

That looked to have secured Norwich all three points... until a Fulham substitute served up the game's third and final equaliser in the dying moments. Jordan Hall might not have featured all that often lately, but the 30-year-old winger showed great trickery to nutmeg Pugh before powering home for 3-3!

 

In fact, there was still just enough injury time for us to try and win the game! A handball from Pugh gave us a free-kick in a promising free-kick, but Florian Schneider's effort was tipped behind by Canaries keeper Dembo Touray. The referee then blew his final whistle, ending a breathtaking six-goal thriller!

 

Norwich City - 3 (Brown 23,80, Pugh 46)

Fulham - 3 (Devlin 11, Cable 69, Hall 90)

Division 1, Attendance 20,876 - POSITIONS: Norwich 8th, Fulham 3rd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Schneider, Weber (Numme); Stewart, Cable, Cooke (Hall); Devlin.

 

Despite Jordan Hall's late equaliser, there were lots of miserable faces in the away dressing room at full-time - and with good reason. Charlton had continued their relentless form with a fifth straight win, putting three goals past Macclesfield without replay. And that meant...

 

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  Pl Preston                         44   12   6    4    45   32   15   4    3    37   23   91   
2nd  Pl Charlton                        44   16   3    3    44   21   10   6    6    40   27   87   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  Pl Fulham                          44   14   4    4    40   15   11   7    4    42   27   86   
4th     Nottm Forest                    44   14   5    3    43   16   10   2    10   33   32   79   

 

...Charlton had leapfrogged us into 2nd place by one point.

 

Now there really was a whole bunch of pressure on our penultimate game against Manchester City. A win or even a draw would take this promotion battle all the way to The Valley... but defeat would potentially give Charlton the chance to secure promotion by beating West Ham.

 

Before that, we had another midweek international break. Guðmundsson (Iceland) and Stewart (Scotland) were the only Cottagers to add to their senior caps, though Peter Mitchell did make his Scotland B debut, and winger Atle Iversen joined Henning Numme in the Norway Under-21s squad.

 

Then Saturday came, and Craven Cottage opened its doors for what would hopefully be the last time this season. Expectations were high against Sam Allardyce's Citizens, who could no longer win promotion despite being the second-highest scorers in the division.

 

For most of the season, Devlin had been in a personal duel with City's Darren Reid for the Division 1 Golden Boot. Devlin was now up to 28 league goals - even with that three-month drought - but Reid was 'only' on 24 after also hitting a second-half slump. Reid had missed our previous meeting at Maine Road due to injury, but he was fit to play in this one.

 

26 APRIL 2014: Fulham vs Manchester City

In this long-awaited battle between Devlin and Reid, the first great scoring opportunity fell to... Wayne Cable. The Welsh starlet - now back on the left wing after playing in attacking midfield at Norwich - was only denied a 6th-minute opener when his excellent shot hit the crossbar.

 

While we were battling for an opener, we got word that Robert Earnshaw's 9th-minute penalty had given West Ham an early 1-0 lead against Charlton. We were now set to go above the Addicks on goal difference - but if we could break the deadlock, we would go two points ahead.

 

After 33 minutes, the deadlock was indeed broken at Craven Cottage... by Manchester City. A clumsy foul from Florian Schneider copped our captain a yellow card and gave away a dangerous free-kick, which German playmaker Andreas Eller swung in for Darren Reid to head home his 25th league goal this season.

 

The half-time scoreline remained at Reid 1 Devlin 0, as Peter Devlin put a swerving effort well over the crossbar in the 41st minute. By the time we returned to the dressing room, Tranquillo Barnetta had scored an equaliser for Charlton at West Ham. If the Addicks could score again in the second half, and if we didn't get back on terms in our game, the promotion race would be all over.

 

Three minutes after the break, it went from bad to worse. John Forde might have done well to push behind a strike from City wing-back Tommy Wirtanen, but he could not keep out Eller's header from the subsequent Alan Shields corner. We were now 2-0 behind, and our fans in west London were hoping for our claret friends in east London to do us a favour.

 

With Charlton in ruthless form, we did not expect West Ham to hold onto a draw at Upton Park. We had to do anything we could to peg City back - so in the 51st minute, our centre-backs decided to turn into centre-forwards. Clint Hill's fierce left-footed strike was blocked by a Citizens defender, but Peter Mitchell thundered in the rebound to give us fresh hope.

 

But after 62 minutes, disaster struck. A crunching tackle had left Greg Scott writhing in agony and unable to continue. Atle Iversen came on to replace our stricken playmaker - and while I was at it, I brought on young holding midfielder Colm Ryan to replace Schneider, with Forde taking over the captaincy.

 

Five minutes after that setback, we were back on the offensive. Wayne Cable tried an ambitious volley from out wide, which left City goalkeeper Michael Hill having to make a difficult save. The Citizens defence were slow to react... but Iversen wasn't. His vicious strike had pulled us level from 2-0 down!

 

Unfortunately, that was as far as our comeback got. Devlin didn't get another sniff at goal, though he did get a yellow card in the 68th minute for a mistimed challenge on visiting midfielder Derek Boateng. Reid was unable to restore City's lead either, and so another fierce contest ended in a draw.

 

Fulham - 2 (Mitchell 51, Iversen 67)

Manchester City - 2 (Reid 33, Eller 48)

Division 1, Attendance 19,133 - POSITIONS: Fulham 3rd, Man City 9th

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider (Ryan); Stewart, Scott (Iversen), Cable (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider, Hill, Devlin.

 

So there we have it. Our final match of the season will be a promotion decider.

 

Charlton drew 1-1 at West Ham, but it wouldn't have mattered if they'd won, as the scenario would still have been the same. Charlton only need a draw at home to go straight up alongside Division 1 champions Preston. Only an away win will be enough for Fulham, otherwise we're heading into the play-offs.

 

Naturally, there was a sense of disappointment that we'd only drawn our last three games, especially considering that we had chances to win them. If we had, we would have already secured automatic promotion... but at least our fate was still in our own hands.

 

Now... about Greg Scott's injury. He's only gone and torn a groin muscle. We will head into the most important game(s) of our season without one of our most important creators.

Edited March 31 by CFuller

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of April 2014)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Preston                         45   12   6    4    45   32   15   5    3    37   23   92   
2nd  Pl Charlton                        45   16   3    3    44   21   10   7    6    41   28   88   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  Pl Fulham                          45   14   5    4    42   17   11   7    4    42   27   87   
4th  Pl Nottm Forest                    45   14   5    3    43   16   10   3    10   34   33   80   
5th     Aston Villa                     45   15   5    3    40   13   8    4    10   27   29   78   
6th     West Ham                        45   14   4    5    30   15   7    8    7    27   23   75   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     Wolves                          45   15   4    4    59   34   7    5    10   32   42   75   
8th     Norwich                         45   13   3    6    48   33   10   2    11   38   41   74   
9th     Man City                        45   11   6    5    46   32   8    5    10   43   49   68   
10th    Sunderland                      45   11   5    7    32   25   7    7    8    37   44   66   
11th    Birmingham                      45   10   6    6    38   23   7    8    8    29   36   65   
12th    Grimsby                         45   13   7    2    37   21   4    6    13   25   34   64   
13th    Huddersfield                    45   13   5    5    43   30   4    8    10   31   44   64   
14th    Gillingham                      45   14   5    4    52   28   2    8    12   25   39   61   
15th    Reading                         45   13   2    7    43   26   4    5    14   28   42   58   
16th    Macclesfield                    45   11   5    7    40   33   4    5    13   20   40   55   
17th    Carlisle                        45   12   4    7    42   34   4    1    17   27   58   53   
18th    Bradford                        45   7    7    8    29   27   5    7    11   19   30   50   
19th    Oldham                          45   10   4    9    41   40   3    6    13   24   46   49   
20th    Coventry                        45   11   3    9    37   42   3    2    17   23   54   47   
21st    Rochdale                        45   9    3    10   38   37   4    4    15   24   48   46   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd    W.B.A.                          45   7    6    9    30   36   5    1    17   21   44   43   
23rd R  Tottenham                       45   6    10   7    36   38   3    4    15   22   51   41   
24th R  Chesterfield                    45   5    6    11   33   42   0    1    22   19   63   22   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Chelsea see off a brave Celtic team in the Champions League Semi Finals. They then move to the brink of retaining the Premiership when Cristiano Ronaldo's 51st goal this season secures a late 2-1 win over Southampton. However, their quadruple dreams are shattered in the FA Cup Semi Finals by Middlesbrough, whose 17-year-old striker David Robinson sends the Boro through to a Wembley date with Everton.
• Arsenal and Leeds will both miss out on Europe next season after slipping into the bottom half of the Premiership. Leeds' 2012 title-winning manager Alex McLeish is unceremoniously sacked by chairman Peter Ridsdale, who makes some frantic phone calls to his financial advisers.
• Lazio successfully defend the Serie A scudetto again, and move a step closer to doing likewise in the Champions League. A spirited 0-0 draw at Real Madrid follows a 2-0 home win and takes the Biancocelesti into a Semi Final with Chelsea. VfB Stuttgart and Wolfsburg will meet in the other Semi, as they battle past Marseille and Lille respectively.
• There are no shocks in the UEFA Cup Semi Finals. Two goals from Maxi López fire Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Hibs, while Porto battle back from 3-2 down at Brøndby to win 5-3. After securing their fourth straight Primeira Liga title a few days later, Porto boss Pedro Reis gloats at his Sporting counterpart José Mourinho, "Who's the special one now?"
• It's business as usual across most of the major European leagues. Marseille stave off Monaco to retain the Ligue 1 title, PSV win their third Eredivisie in four years, and Barcelona ensure they will win La Liga once again by at least 15 points. At least Stuttgart's battle with Werder Bremen for the Bundesliga might go down to the final day...

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Bob Geldof says he is "beyond pain" after his 25-year-old daughter Peaches is found dead at her home in Kent. An inquest finds that the tragic TV personality passed away after a heroin overdose, which was exactly how her mother Paula Yates died 14 years ago.
• The most famous streak in professional wrestling is over. After winning 21 consecutive matches at WWE's annual Wrestlemania showpiece since 1991, The Undertaker is finally beaten by Brock Lesnar at this year's event in New Orleans.
• Welcome, welcome, welcome! “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” - a new comedy talk show hosted by the British-born funnyman - makes its premiere on American network HBO. Donald Trump is very excited.
• Just over 20 years after Kurt Cobain’s death, Nirvana are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other inductees include Peter Gabriel, who promises that his next album “I/O” will be released “very, very soon”.

[CFuller]

MAY 2014

Back in May 2006, my Dagenham & Redbridge faced off against Port Vale in a promotion decider on the final day of the Division 2 season. The Daggers won 2-1 and got an automatic ticket to Division 1 - one of my biggest achievements in management so far.

 

Eight years on, that momentous win over the Valiants is now sadly a distant memory for the Daggers, who have just been relegated to Division 3. But incredibly, I had found myself in almost the same position with my current club Fulham.

 

The 2013/2014 Division 1 season reached its big climax at The Valley, where my Cottagers entertained Geraint Williams' Charlton for the right to join league champions Preston in the Premiership next season.

 

Charlton were one point clear and only needed a draw to secure automatic promotion. Fulham needed to win.

 

As the bookmakers saw it, this match was far too close to call. Charlton had won five of their last six matches, but we were unbeaten in our last 13. The Addicks had the best home record in the division, but we had the second-best away record. Only three teams had scored more goals than Charlton, but only two had conceded fewer than us.

 

If the hosts did have the edge in one department, it was that they had virtually their whole squad to choose from - only their right-back James Austin was injured. By contrast, we were missing three regulars - striker Paul Hayes and playmaker Greg Scott were injured for the season, and left-back Arnar Guðmundsson was starting a three-match ban.

 

All Fulham eyes were once again on Peter Devlin, who had netted 27 league goals this season and was almost certain to finish as Division 1's top scorer for a second season in a row. Could our Irish hero fire us back into the top tier of English football... or would we have to battle through the play-offs?

 

4 MAY 2014: Charlton Athletic vs Fulham

Wayne Cable and Peter Devlin both posed a major threat to the Charlton defence in the opening stages. After just three minutes, Devlin delivered an excellent right-wing cross to the near post, which Cable unluckily headed the ball against.

 

Four minutes later, though, the pair had rather better luck from their next attack. Cable's weighted pass played Devlin through on goal, and though Addicks goalkeeper Shaun Goodall managed to stop the first shot, he couldn't keep out the rebound. Would Peter's 29th goal of the season be the one that secured us automatic promotion to the Premiership?

 

No, it wasn't. Don't be silly. In the 18th minute, Charlton midfielder Scott Douglas had a header saved by John Forde. The loose ball fell to Ross Gallacher, but the Addicks' leading scorer couldn't find the space to shoot, so he instead laid it back to Douglas, who powered past a despairing Forde. 1-1.

 

After a lull in proceedings, the first half ended with a flurry of Charlton attacks. The hosts got plenty of joy down the flanks, where our full-backs Terry Simpson and Thomas Friberg were both struggling. In front of goal, however, they lacked the killer touch as several Forde saves kept us level at the break.

 

Of course, a 1-1 draw would not be enough for us, so we had to go on the attack in the second half. That was easier said than done, as Charlton's tough-tackling centre-back Paul Davis was in excellent form. In the 47th minute, Davis made a vital interception to stop Cable from flicking Alan Stewart's free-kick on to Peter Mitchell, who was wide open in the Athletic box.

 

Davis' partner at the heart of the Charlton defence was also a formidable force. In the 58th minute, Damien Delaney charged forward to beat our defenders to a corner delivery from winger Kevin Hughes - and blast in his sixth goal of the season! Charlton were 2-1 up, which meant we now needed TWO more goals to go up automatically!

 

As we chased those two goals, I decided to throw half-time substitute Derek McIntyre up front alongside Devlin. Sadly, the 19-year-old didn't get a sniff at goal before he went down clutching his thigh. The sub had to be subbed off, and Atle Iversen came on in a final act of desperation.

 

It wasn't to be, however, as we barely threatened Charlton in the closing stages. Clint Hill had our best chance after 84 minutes, when the centre-back's header from Cable's corner grazed the crossbar.

 

At the other end, Addicks duo Gareth Jeffries and striker Richard May also hit the woodwork in their attempts to kill the game off. They needn't have worried, as the final whistle sent them - and over 20,000 home fans - into ecstasy. Charlton's eight-year sabbatical from the Premiership was over, but our nine-year absence would continue... hopefully for only a few more weeks.

 

Charlton Athletic - 2 (Douglas 18, Delaney 58)

Fulham - 1 (Devlin 7)

Division 1, Attendance 26,487 - POSITIONS: Charlton 2nd, Fulham 3rd

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Hill, Simpson (Hogg); Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Cable, Hall (McIntyre (Iversen)); Devlin.

 

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Preston                         46   13   6    4    47   33   15   5    3    37   23   95   
2nd  P  Charlton                        46   17   3    3    46   22   10   7    6    41   28   91   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  Pl Fulham                          46   14   5    4    42   17   11   7    5    43   29   87   
4th  Pl Nottm Forest                    46   15   5    3    45   16   10   3    10   34   33   83   
5th  Pl Aston Villa                     46   15   5    3    40   13   8    4    11   27   31   78   
6th  Pl Norwich                         46   14   3    6    53   34   10   2    11   38   41   77   

 

We had blown it. Automatic promotion would have been ours if we had just held our nerve at The Valley... or even in any of the three games before this.

 

But we couldn't wallow in self-pity or let our heads drop. We still had one more chance to go up through the play-offs - my final chance to prove that I could take this great club back into the promised land.

 

The Playoff Semi Finals pitted us against Norwich, who won four of their final six games to sneak through in 6th place - and who almost defeated us as well during that run-in! Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa would meet in the other Semi after finishing 4th and 5th respectively.

 

Unlike in Divisions 2 and 3, where the lower-ranked teams always play at home in the first leg, the order of the Division 1 playoff legs is determined randomly. That meant that despite being the higher seeds, we would host Norwich in the first leg on 10 May, putting us under even more pressure to get a result before heading to Carrow Road four days later.

 

Injured forward Derek McIntyre joined Guðmundsson, Scott and Hayes on the list of absentees, but all our other stars were thankfully available.

 

10 MAY 2014: Fulham vs Norwich City

The game's first talking point arose after just two minutes. Fulham defender Peter Mitchell got a firm tackle in from behind to dispossess Norwich forward Stefan Jónsson in the penalty area. Jónsson went to ground, but the referee waved away City's penalty appeals.

 

The Canaries were feeling even more annoyed by the 13th minute. Peter Devlin dribbled skilfully past three Norwich defenders, and then rounded off a superb solo goal with an ice-cool low finish. The Irish beast had finally hit the 30-goal milestone in this campaign, having fallen just one goal short last season!

 

An ambitious overhead kick from Alan Stewart went high over the bar in the 17th minute, but the super Scot made a more significant impact when we next attacked in the 33rd. Stewart intercepted a header from Norwich midfielder Lee Brown deep in their half, and he then swung in a right-wing cross that Wayne Cable nodded over the line for a 2-0 lead!

 

Norwich pushed hard to peg at least one goal back before the break, only to be met by some stubborn Fulham resistance. This continued not long after the break, as Forde's fingertips kept out a dangerous header from Brown. The 28-year-old midfielder might have netted twice against us last month, but he wasn't having any luck this time around.

 

Canaries captain Darren Kelly was also struggling in front of goal. Kelly had three shots at goal, but two missed the target completely, and the other one after 75 minutes cannoned off the bar before falling into Forde's hands. Forde was then called into action twice more over the next minute, brilliantly denying Wales midfielder Mark Lloyd and substitute defender Billy Nicol.

 

Thanks once again to our rock-solid defence, we preserved our clean sheet and took a decent lead into the second leg. Mind you, we did finish the first leg a man light, as substitute forward Jordan Hall came off injured just moments after young midfielder Colm Ryan had replaced Florian Schneider as our final sub.

 

Fulham - 2 (Devlin 13, Cable 33)

Norwich City - 0

Division 1 Playoff Semi Final Leg 1, Attendance 27,580

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Simpson; Numme, Schneider (Ryan); Stewart (Iversen), Cable, Cooke (Hall); Devlin.

 

It was advantage Fulham after a nervy first leg, but Jordan Hall missed the return fixture in Norfolk after gashing his leg. Despite that, the 11 players who'd started for us at Craven Cottage all kept their places at Carrow Road four days later.

 

So... could we now finish off the Canaries and book a season-defining date at Wembley? Or would my Fulham tenure end in one more horrific collapse?

 

14 MAY 2014: Norwich City vs Fulham

All the onus was on Norwich to strike first, and they didn't waste much time before going on the offensive. Captain Darren Kelly had their first shot after eight minutes, but John Forde parried it behind. Kelly's strike partner Stefan Jónsson also came close to scoring from the subsequent corner, only being denied by a vital block from our left-back Terry Simpson.

 

Meanwhile, Peter Devlin was determined to strengthen our lead. He tried a couple of ambitious shots from distance at around the quarter-hour mark, but neither of them got particularly close. Devlin also looked a yard slower than usual, as Norwich goalkeeper Dembo Touray easily beat him to claim Grant Gibson's right-wing cross in the 44th minute.

 

After enduring more frustration in front of goal late in the first half, Norwich started getting more desperate in the second. Midfielder Lee Brown stretched hard to try and turn a through-ball past Forde in the 49th minute, but John once again showed his brilliance to tip the ball away.

 

Tensions then started to boil over in the 62nd minute, after Devlin had a counter-attacking shot saved by Touray. City defender Richard Sinclair argued that Devlin had barged into him while running towards goal - and retaliated with a petulant kick at our striker! Despite our players' protests for a red card, the referee decided to issue Sinclair with only a yellow.

 

From our perspective, Clint Hill and Florian Schneider also went into the book later on, following on from Simpson's caution just before half-time. Schneider in particular had a reputation for overstepping the mark - but this time, the captain led by example and kept himself on the pitch until full-time.

 

Having created a bevy of scoring chances without success, the Canaries' wings fell off in tn the closing stages, and this Playoff Semi Final ended in a bit of an anti-climax. Not that I was complaining, mind! We had followed up an impressive home win with a hard-fought away draw... and we were now on our way to Wembley!

 

Norwich City - 0

Fulham - 0

[Fulham win 2-0 on aggregate]

Division 1 Playoff Semi Final Leg 2, Attendance 21,052

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill (Friberg), Simpson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart (Weber), Cable (Iversen), Cooke; Devlin. BOOKED: Simpson, Hill, Schneider.

 

Job done. Just like in 2009, I was taking a team to a Playoff Final at Wembley - and just like with my Kidderminster team of five years ago, John Forde took a lot of the credit!

 

Fulham were now just 90 minutes away from returning to the Premiership for the first time since 2005... and our opponents would be a team who had graced the top flight as recently as last season. Nottingham Forest had won the first leg of their play-off 2-0 at Aston Villa, before seeing out a 1-1 draw at the City Ground to join us at Wembley.

 

Despite drawing a blank at Carrow Road, Peter Devlin had enjoyed the season of his life, producing 30 goals and 10 assists in 51 matches - with potentially more to come. The Irishman's excellent form was rewarded with a new four-year, £12,500-per-week contract, ensuring that he would stay at the Cottage for some time to come.

 

There was also a new contract on the table for Wayne Cable. Having already made 109 Fulham appearances before his 20th birthday, the Welsh winger agreed to a long-term deal worth £17,500 per week. Only Alan Stewart on £22,500 per week was now earning more than Cable.

 

Whether I would also sign a new deal at Fulham would hinge on the outcome of the Final. If we failed to win, my 184th match in charge of the Cottagers would also be my last.

 

Remarkably, Nottingham Forest were already looking for a new manager by the time we crossed swords on Monday 26 May. Shortly after seeing off his former club Aston Villa, manager Brian Little agreed a deal to take over the vacant job at Rangers. The Forest board were so incensed that they sacked Little on the spot, with his assistant Ian Bowyer being placed in caretaker charge for the big day.

 

The Tricky Trees were missing two of their biggest attacking threats. Teenage striker Brian Steer had picked up a shoulder injury in training, while the mercurial playmaker Tonton Zola Moukoko had been out since November after tearing his ACL.

 

As far as we were concerned, we were still without Scott and Hayes, while Hall failed a late fitness test. However, I did make one change to the starting line-up that had seen us past Norwich, as Guðmundsson returned from suspension to replace the unfortunate Simpson at left-back. The man who'd scored Kidderminster's winning goal in their 2009 Playoff Final would have to watch this one from the sidelines.

 

So here it was... the richest match in English football. By the end of it, either Fulham would be in the Premiership... or I would be out of work.

 

26 MAY 2014: Nottingham Forest vs Fulham

During my pre-match team talk, I urged my players to attack from the first whistle and not allow Nottingham Forest any space to breathe. After just eight minutes, they responded with the perfect start.

 

Captain Florian Schneider carved the Forest defence open with a through-ball to Peter Devlin, who curled a first-time cross to Daniel Cooke on the left wing. The ambipedal attacking midfielder skilfully controlled the ball with his left foot, then shimmied past a Forest defender before blasting it home with his right! 1-0 Fulham!

 

From that point, Nottingham Forest struggled to get themselves back in the game. A promising move from captain Andy Reid in the 11th minute fizzled out when his low cross was intercepted by Cottagers defender Clint Hill. And despite having a team stuffed full of quality midfielders, none of them could get any service to lone striker Kent Clausen, who looked a forlorn presence for the first half-hour.

 

Our opponents looked rudderless on the pitch... and things were even worse on it. Caretaker manager Ian Bowyer didn't seem to have a coherent gameplan or any confidence in his starting line-up, as he had already made two tactical substitutions by the 31st minute. He even replaced Clausen with veteran defender Mike Simpkins, leaving Forest without a single recognised striker!

 

Unsurprisingly, we dominated the rest of the first period - and that dominance translated into a second goal just before the interval. Devlin won a free-kick 20 yards from goal after being tripped by Simpkins, who was booked for his troubles. Cottagers captain Florian Schneider had not been overflowing with confidence in recent weeks, but he still managed to float a lovely free-kick beyond goalkeeper Andreas Högström for a 2-0 lead!

 

I'll admit it was surprising to see Högström in the Forest goal, rather than the more experienced and more established Matthew Ramsey. Even so, the 20-year-old Swede still looked worthy of gracing the Wembley turf. One particularly impressive save from a Devlin volley in the 59th minute showed Högström's desire to spare his team from utter humiliation.

 

I use the word 'humiliation', as that must have been what the Forest fans were feeling. Their 'attackers' looked so utterly clueless that John Forde broke hardly any sweat in the Fulham goal. By contrast, Högström's jersey was virtually soaked come the 74th minute, when he produced another fantastic save to stop Alan Stewart adding a third and surely decisive goal to our tally.

 

After 82 minutes, though, it really was all over. Schneider delivered another fantastic free-kick, from which Stewart cushioned a header to a criminally unmarked Peter Devlin. The Irishman lashed in the 31st and final goal of his best ever season, and Fulham had an insurmountable 3-0 lead!

 

The army of Cottagers fans who'd made the short trip across west London could now start the party early. Just over nine minutes later, Fulham's nine-year wait to return to the top division was finally ended by the referee's final whistle! WE WERE GOING UP!

 

Nottingham Forest - 0

Fulham - 3 (Cooke 8, Schneider 45, Devlin 82)

Division 1 Playoff Final, Attendance 81,987

FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Gibson, Mitchell, Hill, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; Stewart, Cable (Weber), Cooke (McIntyre); Devlin (Iversen).

 

Wow. We did it. WE BLOODY DID IT!!

 

You know just how much flak I've given this team over the last four years or so, but that was literally THE perfect performance. 10 shots on target, no shots allowed, 57% possession. We didn't just beat Nottingham Forest - we destroyed them!

 

Patience had paid off. The rebuild had reaped the rewards. Fulham will be playing Premiership football in 2014/2015 - and I will be delighted to lead them there!

[CFuller]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of 2013/2014 season)

Pos     Team                            Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st  C  Preston                         46   13   6    4    47   33   15   5    3    37   23   95   
2nd  P  Charlton                        46   17   3    3    46   22   10   7    6    41   28   91   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd  P  Fulham                          46   14   5    4    42   17   11   7    5    43   29   87   
4th     Nottm Forest                    46   15   5    3    45   16   10   3    10   34   33   83   
5th     Aston Villa                     46   15   5    3    40   13   8    4    11   27   31   78   
6th     Norwich                         46   14   3    6    53   34   10   2    11   38   41   77   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7th     West Ham                        46   14   4    5    30   15   7    9    7    27   23   76   
8th     Wolves                          46   15   4    4    59   34   7    5    11   33   44   75   
9th     Man City                        46   12   6    5    50   33   8    5    10   43   49   71   
10th    Birmingham                      46   11   6    6    40   23   7    8    8    29   36   68   
11th    Grimsby                         46   14   7    2    39   21   4    6    13   25   34   67   
12th    Sunderland                      46   11   5    7    32   25   7    7    9    37   46   66   
13th    Huddersfield                    46   13   5    5    43   30   4    8    11   32   46   64   
14th    Gillingham                      46   14   5    4    52   28   2    9    12   27   41   62   
15th    Reading                         46   13   3    7    43   26   4    5    14   28   42   59   
16th    Macclesfield                    46   11   5    7    40   33   4    5    14   20   42   55   
17th    Bradford                        46   8    7    8    31   28   5    7    11   19   30   53   
18th    Carlisle                        46   12   4    7    42   34   4    1    18   28   60   53   
19th    Oldham                          46   10   4    9    41   40   3    6    14   24   48   49   
20th    Rochdale                        46   9    4    10   40   39   4    4    15   24   48   47   
21st    Coventry                        46   11   3    9    37   42   3    2    18   24   59   47   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22nd R  W.B.A.                          46   8    6    9    32   37   5    1    17   21   44   46   
23rd R  Tottenham                       46   6    10   7    36   38   3    4    16   23   55   41   
24th R  Chesterfield                    46   6    6    11   35   42   0    1    22   19   63   25   

 

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...

• Chelsea are confirmed as Premiership champions with two games to spare, as Cristiano Ronaldo finishes the season on 33 league goals - and 55 in all competitions. Burnley finish runners-up and will make their Champions League debut next season alongside 3rd-placed Crewe. Phil Neville's Middlesbrough are also celebrating, as penalties from Shola Ameobi and Alexander Farnerud clinch their second FA Cup at the expense of Everton.
• Chelsea and Wolfsburg battle it out at Wembley in their maiden Champions League Finals, after overcoming first-leg deficits to beat Lazio and VfB Stuttgart respectively in the Semi Finals. Titus Bramble's 3rd-minute opener for the Blues is quickly cancelled out by Duaij Naser Abdulla, but further strikes from Franck Ribéry and Nihat secure Chelsea a 3-1 win - making them the first London club to lift the European Cup.
• Newcastle and Stoke are relegated from the Premiership on the final day, following an awful Notts County team who scored a record-low 15 goals. Mainz fare even worse in the Bundesliga and finish with just SEVEN points... which is at least one more than they managed in 2008/2009. VfB Stuttgart regain the German title by winning their final four games, including a 6-1 demolition at Bayern München in which Søren Larsen scores FIVE goals!
• Barcelona finish 19 points clear of surprise La Liga runners-up Levante, as they join Chelsea in completing a memorable treble. Captain Mikel Arteta's 32nd-minute strike wins them the UEFA Cup in Copenhagen against Porto, before an extra-time strike by Lionel Messi secures the Copa del Rey against Alavés.
• After Celtic storm to their first Scottish Premier League title since 2010, manager Dermot Keely is poached by Leeds. Bhoys fans are shocked when Keely's successor at Parkhead is unveiled as ex-Rangers chief Alex McLeish... who was sacked by Leeds last month! Brian Little takes the reins at Rangers following Rafa Benítez's defection to Zaragoza.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

• Dutch country singers and Polish milkmaids take to the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen... but Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst rises like a phoenix to defeat them all. Conchita's win is Austria's first at Eurovision since 1966, ending 48 years of hurt. Is that a positive omen for England at the World Cup?
• Rahul Gandhi - son of Rajiv, and grandson of Indira - is defeated in his bid to become the next Prime Minister of India. The general election is won by Narendra Modi - a right-wing Hindu nationalist.
• Former England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson retires from rugby union in style. The 2003 World Cup winner scores 11 points as his French club Toulon defeats Saracens 23-6 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to lift the Heineken Cup - union's equivalent of the Champions League.