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CFuller

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CFuller last won the day on January 23 2023

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3,723 "These go to eleven"

Biography

  • Biography
    30-something Essex lad who used to like Football Manager. You'll mainly find me on FMS or OTF.

About Me

  • About Me
    https://fullerfm.com/

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  • Interests
    Football (duh), darts, snooker, cats, indie/alternative music

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  • Favourite Team
    Arsenal and Millwall

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  • Currently Managing
    Retired from FM24

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  1. CFuller

    25 Years

    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.
  2. CFuller

    25 Years

    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.
  3. CFuller

    25 Years

    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.
  4. CFuller

    25 Years

    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.
  5. I understand that. I am very much a perfectionist in FM and real-life. But I'm not talking about making radical changes and expecting instant results. I've tried the tweaks suggested above (taking off Counter and Pass Into Space, using a F9 instead of a DLF) and the results have just been utter tripe. Hardly creating anything (less than 0.05 xG per shot) Hardly hitting the target (1 shot on target out of every 10) And a horrible nagging feeling that the opposition will score whenever they get near our goal. I don't want to sound that guy in the Bug Tracker who posts a bug report every time his opponents score 1 goal from 0.04 xG, but this is the first save I've ever had where anything I've tried just feels utterly futile. I'm completely out of my depth, and I'm exhausted.
  6. I appreciate it, @Cloud9, but I've quickly come to the realisation that I just cannot enjoy playing FM24 anymore. Playing this game does my mental health more harm than good, and failing at a team with such high expectations from the start was only making it worse. I've been in very tough situations before and persevered, but this was causing another level of stress that no video game should cause. In truth, I only came on the tactics forum as a last resort - a last chance to save my save before I rage-quitted for the final time.
  7. Thanks to both of you for trying to help, but nothing I've tried is working. Results and performances in the mid-season friendlies and after the winter break have not been good, and for the sake of my insanity, I've now decided to abandon the save. Can a moderator please close this thread? Thank you.
  8. Played two friendlies against non-league teams. Drew 0-0 away, won 1-0 at home. I don't think this is helping.
  9. Góralski is quite short, true, but he's the best we can do right now. I will try to find another DM who's a bit taller to make up for that. I am slightly more comfortable with the 4-3-3. but that issue with Góralski makes me hesitant about committing fully to it as thing stand. Having thought about it a bit more, I'm going to try out a false 9 in the 4-2-3-1 during our mid-season friendlies. Trąbka looks like he has some good attributes to play there - he's only competent at striker, but he has high Flair, Vision and Off The Ball. Jankowski is the better finisher and can be the shadow striker instead.
  10. This is great advice already. Being someone who doesn't usually manage title favourites from the start, counter-attacking football has always come naturally to me. I will turn off Counter and Pass Into Space and see how it goes. Another good point. One of my biggest weaknesses as an FMer is that I play it too safe. Pietrzak and Favorov are both very good full-backs, and I would like to encourage them both to go forward, but I'm worried about us being left too exposed to counter-attacks. Like I said, we don't concede many chances, but when we do, we tend to concede goals quite often. I am tempted to try Pazdan as a BPD (12 Passing, 11 Vision, but his First Touch and Technique are quite low). I'm now in February and have just signed another centre-back who can play in that role too. The AM / striker combination is the one I've had the most headaches about. I really like Jankowski as a DLF (13 goals in 19 league games), but Trąbka is not playing well as a Shadow Striker. Could he be better off as an Attacking Midfielder, or would that not work too well with a DLF? Likewise, I'm open to changing Jankowski's role, but he's not a false 9. Trąbka is also very inconsistent and hates big games - and seeing as he's on such high wages for this level, selling him isn't really an option right now. I also don't know how best to fit Knasmüllner into the team. Slavchev is actually my main SV and has been one of our better performers so far.
  11. Occasional visitor, first-time poster. I hope you can help me out. I have just started a save managing Wieczysta Kraków in the Polish 4th division. My team is the overwhelming favourites to win the division, as we have a number of quality players who are too good for this league (in real-life, they have a millionaire owner who has brought in several Polish internationals and top-flight players). I am covering this save on my FM blog, so I don't want to give away too many details... but the season hasn't started well. After 19 games heading into the winter break, we are 4th with 36 points - nine points off the lead. Only the league champions get promoted, so I'm very worried about losing my job if I can't turn it around in the second half of the season. Our attacking efficiency is not too bad (41 goals, 13% shot conversion). I feel it could be better, especially when it comes to breaking down defensive teams. We started the season quite well, dominating possession and destroying teams 4-0 away from home - but from October onwards, we were struggling to convert chances and were often relying on penalties and set-pieces to secure results. We have already lost five league games, including two at home to our title rivals - 1-2 vs Orlęta, and 0-2 vs Star Starachowice. While our defence doesn't give up many chances, we concede about 25-30% of our opponents' shots on target - which seems a bit high for a team that's supposedly the strongest in the league. One big thing I can think of is that Team Cohesion is still Poor (it was Abysmal when I started the save). I've tried to improve cohesion through pre-season friendlies and training, but there's only so much I can do on that front. I am making a few signings in the winter transfer window, but I'm mindful not to bring in too many new faces too soon, in case it undoes all that work. Morale is pretty good too. I don't have problems with keeping morale high. What I really need is tactical advice. I have never been confident in my tactic-making abilities, much less explaining how I want (or expect) them to work. I have mainly been using a 4-2-3-1 - occasionally switching to the 4-3-3 for tough away games. MY TACTICS: MY BEST PLAYERS: I remember Herne79 helped me out when I was struggling with tactics for my Arsenal save on FM22, so I'm happy to come here directly this time. Feel free to savage my tactics. I want you to be as brutally honest as possible. I can provide more player profiles if needed.
  12. CFuller

    25 Years

    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...
  13. CFuller

    25 Years

    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, 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.
  14. I know you're not looking at UI bugs for FM24 anymore (especially not minor ones), but I hope you'll bear this in mind for FM25. I terminated my goalkeeper Błażej Sapielak's loan spell while in the middle of his second match for the club (he conceded 4 goals from 4 shots on target ). After the match, I get the inbox message "Sapielak loan finishes" which says that "Sapielak made just one appearance during his time at Wieczysta Kraków." Sapielak's stats have correctly counted his second appearance, but the news article does not for some reason. Steps to reproduce: Load the save file CFuller_PreTarnow.fm. Play the match against Unia Tarnów. At any point during the match, open up Sapielak's profile and go to Transfer > Terminate Loan. Then click "Yes". Complete the match, then open up your inbox and look for the "Sapielak loan finishes" inbox message.
  15. Oh, sorry, forgot to provide the save file. It's CFuller_Meeting.fm.
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