CFuller

OCTOBER 2012 We need to talk about Vicente Núñez. Again. After 49 matches in nearly two years at Fulham, the 21-year-old Spanish midfielder was still having problems with consistency - and, more importantly, with settling into the English lifestyle. During the October international break, he came into my office and asked to go back home to Pamplona for a fortnight. I sighed and said, "This is the second time now, Vicente. I'll let you go home again if it helps... but we cannot keep doing this over and over again. We've already moved heaven and earth to try and accommodate you - we've signed another Spanish player, paid for your English lessons - but nothing seems to be helping. "You need to be honest with me, Vicente. If you don't like it here in England, please tell me - and I'll try to arrange a permanent transfer." Núñez insisted that he still wanted to play for Fulham, and that he would try to settle down once he had returned from his two-week break. In the meantime, he would miss our next two league games against Sheffield United and West Brom. While one talented young defensive midfielder's Fulham career was in serious doubt, another's was just beginning. 19-year-old Chris McDonald from Northern Ireland joined our reserve team after impressing our youth scout. McDonald is a tireless ball-winner who is pretty tough and strong for his age. Meanwhile, I decided to take a closer look at 16-year-old Justin Clark and 17-year-old Derek McIntyre - two left-footed forwards who had both been in impressive form for our reserves. With first-choice left-winger Wayne Cable still nursing a knee injury, Clark and McIntyre would each get chances in the first-team. Clark had already played once for the senior team, getting an assist in the League Cup against Port Vale. He was in line to make his league debut off the bench when we resumed our campaign at Bramall Lane against an out-of-form Sheffield United team. Jordan Hall got the start on the left wing, where I hoped he would assist Alan Stewart to finally break his league duck. 13 OCTOBER 2012: Sheffield United vs Fulham As if our start to the season couldn’t get more frustrating, Sheffield United stormed into the lead after just five minutes. Fulham keeper John Forde initially made a great save to keep Delroy Facey off the scoresheet, but the agile Dutch midfielder Dick van den Heuvel quickly buried the rebound. In the 30th minute, Dick van den Heuvel comically fell over and picked up an injury. I wasn't exactly laughing, mind you. United had doubled their lead to 2-0 just three minutes earlier, as Grenada striker Facey leapt up to head in a cross from left-winger Tom Strand. The half ended with another Sheffield United goal, as centre-back and captain Per Hissing fired the hosts into a commanding 3-0 lead at the break. Our opponents were hardly breaking sweat, and I was so furious with my team's lifeless performance that I brought on two subs at half-time. Right-back Luke Liddle and striker Peter Devlin came on as the respective replacements for Thomas Friberg and Alan Stewart. Those changes didn't seem to help much, as we didn't even threaten Gordon Ross in the United goal until he saved a tame Devlin shot in the 74th minute. With the game now beyond our reach, I gave Justin Clark his first league run-out - just two days before his 17th birthday. Sheffield United - 3 (van den Heuvel 5, Facey 27, Hissing 33) Fulham - 0 Division 1, Attendance 20,349 - POSITIONS: Sheff Utd 13th, Fulham 17th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Forde; Friberg (Liddle), Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Mølby, Danns; C Edwards, Hall (Clark); Stewart (Devlin). BOOKED: Unai. Thanks to that absolute disgrace of a performance, we found ourselves five points off the play-offs - and only four above the relegation zone. Four players - John Forde, Tom Mølby, Florian Schneider and Hall - received strong written warnings after their particularly poor performances. The heaviest punishment was reserved for Stewart, who was fined a week's wages for yet another toothless display up front. As for the rest of the team, I warned them that I wouldn't be afraid to dive back into the transfer market if they continued to underperform. Every Fulham player - even the newcomers - was now playing for their career. Next up for us was a midweek home game with West Brom - and failure would not be tolerated. The Baggies had won just twice in 11 league matches this term and were struggling to boing out of the drop zone. 16 OCTOBER 2012: Fulham vs West Bromwich Albion 17-year-old Derek McIntyre made his league debut from the start... and the left-winger made a memorable impact after just nine minutes. Alan Stewart curled a first-time cross into the far post, where his pacey Scottish compatriot converted a dream debut goal! Two minutes later, Stewart screwed wide his latest chance to finally get on a Football League scoresheet. It didn't really matter, mind, as a fabulous solo goal from Peter Devlin doubled our lead in the 32nd minute. The Irish hotshot skilfully dribbled past West Brom midfielders Bradley Howe (formerly of Kidderminster) and Wade Elliott before applying a great finish with his 'weaker' left foot! At 2-0 up, we seemed to take our feet off the gas in the second half. By contrast, West Brom were showing plenty of aggression and spirit - they picked up four yellow cards - and had several chances to get back in the game. When Baggies striker Dexter Blackstock smashed in a low cross from Elliott in the 77th minute to make it 2-1, the atmosphere at Craven Cottage grew quite tense. The home fans were holding their breaths when Albion attacked again deep into stoppage time. Fortunately, defender Markus Heikkinen put Neil Mellor under just enough pressure to volley off target, and we held on for a narrow win. Fulham - 2 (McIntyre 9, Devlin 32) West Bromwich Albion - 1 (Blackstock 77) Division 1, Attendance 15,582 - POSITIONS: Fulham 17th, West Brom 23rd FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Liddle, Mitchell, Heikkinen, Simpson (Magnusson); Numme, Schneider (Disler); Stewart, Danns, McIntyre (Mølby); Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider. After the match, West Brom's manager Lawrie Sanchez received the dreaded 'vote of confidence' from his board... which meant that he would almost certainly be sacked sooner or later. As for my Fulham players, they had avoided the axe - for now. Of course, we now needed to follow it up... but doing that at Sunderland wouldn't be easy. The Black Cats were 3rd in the Division 1 table, with just nine goals conceded in a dozen games. Núñez was now back in training and ready to join us on the long journey to the north-east. Vicente was also speaking basic English with a bit more confidence, which told me he was at least attempting to adapt to British life. 20 OCTOBER 2012: Sunderland vs Fulham The dream start to Derek McIntyre's senior career continued after just 13 minutes. Showing the confidence of a much more experienced attacker, Derek weaved his way past a challenge from Sunderland right-back Danny Wells and then smashed in an excellent low strike. Peter Devlin almost gave us another goal in the 18th minute, but he was denied by a strong catch from Sunderland’s Swiss goalkeeper Massimo Nzati. At the other end, John Forde's cat-like reflexes denied Black Cats captain Darren Bent an equaliser in the 33rd minute. Both Devlin and McIntyre were too tired to return to the second half, and neither Jordan Hall nor Alan Stewart could reinvigorate our attack after the break. Stewart certainly wasn't going to score his first Fulham league goal in his unlucky 13th game; the closest he came was with a 55th-minute volley that Nzati pushed away. The Mackems eventually unlocked our defence on 68 minutes, as winger Stephen Beck dribbled past Cottagers skipper Florian Schneider before his cross was headed in by Bent. The visitors then finished the game very strongly, and we only had Forde and Unai to thank for keeping us level at full-time. Sunderland - 1 (Bent 68) Fulham - 1 (McIntyre 13) Division 1, Attendance 41,887 - POSITIONS: Sunderland 3rd, Fulham 16th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Liddle, Mitchell, Unai, Magnusson (Guðmundsson); Heikkinen, Schneider; C Edwards, Mølby, McIntyre (Hall); Devlin (Stewart). BOOKED: Devlin, Magnusson. Two goals in two games for Derek McIntyre! Do Fulham have a new hero? All eyes were on the Scottish starlet ahead of our next home game, against a Chesterfield team who'd recently slumped out of the play-off places into 12th. That being said, Bryan Robson's Spireites were still unbeaten on the road. 23 OCTOBER 2012: Fulham vs Chesterfield Swedish right-back Thomas Friberg was back in the starting line-up... but his game ended after just 10 minutes, thanks to a thigh strain. That was a disappointing start to another frustrating match where nothing seemed to go our way - certainly not on the attacking front. Peter Devlin and Alan Stewart led the attack pretty well, to be fair, but they each had a couple of shots saved by Chesterfield's young goalkeeper Marcos López Álvarez. An equally impressive part of the Spireites' rearguard was their centre-back Christopher Doig, who was seemingly unbeatable in the tackle and in the air. Meanwhile, Florian Schneider - one of three Cottagers to go into the book - protected our defensive line brilliantly alongside Markus Heikkinen. Goalkeeper John Forde did have to produce a few fine saves - most notably from newly-capped Norway striker Lars Iver Strand in the 63rd minute - but the deadlock remained intact. Fulham - 0 Chesterfield - 0 Division 1, Attendance 18,824 - POSITIONS: Fulham 16th, Chesterfield 14th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Liddle), Mitchell, Unai (Núñez), Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Schneider; Iversen, Stewart, McIntyre (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Devlin, Unai, Schneider. After picking up his fifth booking of the season, Unai would soon have to serve a one-match ban. Thomas Friberg had strained his thigh and would miss our final league game of the month. That match was at Huddersfield, whose leaky defence had left them perilously close to the relegation zone. As far as our line-up was concerned, centre-back Jerel Ifil made his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury. Cable was also back in action, replacing McIntyre on the left wing. 27 OCTOBER 2012: Huddersfield Town vs Fulham Huddersfield suffered a potentially fatal setback after just five minutes, when star midfielder Paul Anthony suffered a serious ankle injury. Under-pressure Terriers manager Patsy Freyne would then be given another headache in the 17th minute. After playing a clever one-two with midfielder Adrian Disler, Peter Devlin flicked in the opening goal for Fulham. Devlin's effort remained the difference at the end of an otherwise edgy first half. Things livened up in the 50th minute... particularly for Huddersfield. Fulham goalie John Forde managed to pound the away from Town wideman David Pounder, but midfielder Simon Clist furiously fired the rebound into the top corner. 1-1. The Terriers tormented us again five minutes later. Record scorer Graham Francis appeared to go down softly under a challenge from Unai, but the referee still decided there was enough contact to award Huddersfield a penalty. I was fuming even more when Spanish winger Francisco Ruiz scored the penalty, giving his team a 2-1 lead that they probably didn't deserve. And that was that, as our clueless attackers couldn't even get close to testing Geoffrey Nijs in the Huddersfield goal over the final half-hour. Incidentally, Belgian gloveman Nijs was on loan from nearby Leeds - his EIGHTH loan spell at an eighth different club since moving to Elland Road in 2004. Huddersfield Town - 2 (Clist 50, Ruiz pen55) Fulham - 1 (Devlin 17) Division 1, Attendance 12,586 - POSITIONS: Huddersfield 17th, Fulham 16th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Forde; Liddle, Ifil, Unai, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen; Disler (Danns), Schneider (Numme); Stewart, Cable (McIntyre); Devlin. BOOKED: Schnider, Devlin, McIntyre. After winning just one of our last six league matches, spirits were quite low as we headed into Round 3 of the FA Cup. Frankly, there was more chance of me going on a date with Rachel Riley than there was of us defeating Manchester United's megastars. 31 OCTOBER 2012: Fulham vs Manchester United This was captain Wayne Hudson's first game in the Fulham goal since mid-September... and it couldn't have got off to a worse start. Manchester United roared into the lead in the very first minute, when Brazilian forward Zé Roberto headed in a magnificent cross from the evergreen Joseba Etxeberría. Six minutes later, however, another Brazilian put United's lead in jeopardy. Centre-back Juan mistimed a tackle on Alan Stewart, who lifted the subsequent free-kick into the Red Devils' box. Peter Devlin selflessly played it across to Carlos Edwards, and a fierce strike from the veteran winger got us back on terms! Of course, we expected United to hit back sooner or later. After 21 minutes, left-winger Rodrigo Taddei - the third Samba star in Hélio dos Anjos' starting line-up - hit a 30-yard ball to captain Frank Lampard, whose volley was parried by Hudson. At the other end, Simon Ellis made a similarly fine save to stop Henning Numme from firing us into a surprise 2-1 lead. Meanwhile, the Fulham fans were taking great glee in taunting former Chelsea midfielder Lampard whenever he had the ball. Sadly, 'Fat Frank' would silence them seven minutes from half-time, when he drove the ball home after an excellent assist from... Philip Mulryne? No, I can't believe Philip Mulryne is back at Manchester United either. Some great defensive performances - most notably from midfielder Florian Schneider and left-back Terry Simpson - helped keep our deficit down to a single goal for a while. Unfortunately, Simpson's foul on Etxeberría in the 65th minute would kill our slim hopes of getting back in the game. Lampard doubled his goal tally direct from the free-kick, and the Red Devils ultimately cruised through with a 3-1 win. Fulham - 1 (C Edwards 7) Manchester United - 3 (Zé Roberto 1, Lampard 38,65) League Cup Round 3, Attendance 13,425 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Heikkinen, Simpson; Numme (Núñez), Schneider; C Edwards, Stewart, McIntyre (Hall); Devlin. Our League Cup campaign had met a valiant end, which meant we now had a bit more time to focus on league affairs. It was still too early to rule us out of the promotion reckoning, but we really needed to start scoring regularly again.

Thank you. The struggles are frustrating as a CM player, but they're more fun as a storyteller.

Hellas Verona v Roma 59:50 - Verona's Gunter receives a pass just outside the Roma area, but then appears to back away from the ball. It is intercepted by Paredes, who starts a Roma counter-attack which leads to a goal. Roma v Napoli 41:05 - Roma right-back Kristensen crosses to Belotti, who barely moves as the ball is quickly intercepted by Napoli's Ostigard. CFuller_Hellas Verona v Roma.pkm CFuller_Roma v Napoli.pkm

Roma v Monza 86:50 - A cross from Monza's Vignato is cleared out of the Roma box by N'Dicka, but not before Pellegrini decides to head it for no obvious reason. Roma v Lecce 16:20 - Lecce defender Joan clears the ball out of the penalty area, and Roma forward Zalewski nods it out of touch for no reason. Inter v Roma 33:14 - A shot from Inter's Barella hits the crossbar. That is then followed by three consecutive headers from the Roma players Smalling, Sanches and Dybala, taking the ball from their penalty area to the centre circle. Torino v Roma 71:00 - Roma defender Kristensen heads the ball out of the penalty area, and Belotti decides to put in another header. I think he should clear it with his feet here. Frosinone v Roma 6:20 - Roma defender Mancini intercepts a clearance from Frosinone's Monterisi with a header, pointlessly giving the ball away to an opposition player. Napoli v Roma 50:45 - Goal kick from Roma goalkeeper leads to four consecutive headers around the halfway line from Zielinski (Napoli), Aouar (Roma), Ostigard and Kvaratskhelia (both Napoli). 84:55 - Napoli forward Raspadori scrambles the ball from his penalty area up to his team-mate Kvaratskhelia, who pointlessly heads it out left to no obvious target, leaving Roma with an easy interception. CFuller_Roma v Monza.pkm CFuller_Roma v Lecce.pkm CFuller_Inter v Roma.pkm CFuller_Torino v Roma.pkm CFuller_Frosinone v Roma.pkm CFuller_Napoli v Roma.pkm

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of September 2012) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Notts Co 10 4 0 1 9 3 3 1 1 7 7 22 2nd Newcastle 10 4 0 1 8 3 2 2 1 8 6 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd West Ham 10 1 4 0 4 3 4 0 1 10 5 19 4th Birmingham 10 3 1 1 14 9 2 2 1 6 4 18 5th Sunderland 10 3 2 0 8 1 1 2 2 6 7 16 6th Chesterfield 10 2 1 2 8 9 2 3 0 11 8 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Man City 10 2 3 0 10 7 2 1 2 7 11 16 8th Norwich 10 3 0 2 7 6 1 3 1 9 9 15 9th Tottenham 10 3 0 2 9 7 1 2 2 9 9 14 10th Gillingham 10 3 1 1 9 4 1 1 3 6 9 14 11th Coventry 10 2 2 1 10 7 2 0 3 5 8 14 12th Carlisle 9 2 1 2 9 7 2 0 2 7 6 13 13th Rochdale 10 3 0 2 8 6 0 4 1 5 6 13 14th Fulham 10 3 1 1 5 4 0 3 2 6 8 13 15th Charlton 10 2 3 0 9 6 0 3 2 4 7 12 16th Sheff Utd 10 3 0 2 11 8 1 0 4 5 10 12 17th Swindon 10 3 1 1 11 7 0 2 3 5 12 12 18th Bradford 10 1 2 2 3 5 2 1 2 4 6 12 19th Huddersfield 10 2 2 1 9 10 1 0 4 5 11 11 20th Aston Villa 10 1 3 1 8 8 1 0 4 2 6 9 21st W.B.A. 10 1 3 1 9 9 1 0 4 4 10 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Blackpool 9 1 2 1 8 7 0 3 2 5 8 8 23rd Preston 10 1 2 2 3 5 0 2 3 4 8 7 24th Bristol City 10 1 1 3 4 7 1 0 4 8 12 7 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... England make a terrible start to the 2014 World Cup qualifiers - and almost lose to Azerbaijan! The Three Lions play the second half with 10 men after Arsenal midfielder Craig Ward commits a professional foul on Anatolij Ponomarev, who scored the opener in Baku. Sammy Lee's side are only saved by an 89th-minute equaliser from Michael Owen, whose 43rd England goal puts him just six behind Sir Bobby Charlton's record. Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 50th goal in 70 Portugal caps during a 2-1 win in Iceland. He carries this form into the Champions League, scoring two goals in each of Chelsea's opening group games - against Nantes, Basel and Nürnberg! Meanwhile, Aberdeen bring back memories of 1983, as a Michael Lamey goal stuns Real Madrid at Pittodrie! Lionel Messi also cannot stop scoring, as an imperious Barcelona team make perfect starts to their La Liga and Champions League campaigns. Over in Italy, Milan's new coach Bernd Krauss puts his old Rangers allegiances aside and signs Celtic winger Joaquín for £11.25million. However, the Rossoneri struggle to keep up with Serie A pacesetters Parma, who look better than ever after luring Andrea Pirlo from the San Siro. The Neville brothers have mixed fortunes on the managerial front. Gary is sacked by Fortuna Köln but falls into a better job at Belgian giants Club Brugge, while younger sibling Phil begins his managerial career at Division 2 strugglers Kidderminster. Meanwhile, Scottish Premier League strugglers Clyde unveil Oliver Kahn as their new manager. After just two games and two weeks as PSV manager, Raúl decides that Eindhoven isn't exotic enough for his tastes. The 35-year-old moves to São Paulo to take on his THIRD coaching job of the summer - at Guarani, who are bottom of the Brasileirão. He is greeted at the airport by left-winger Júlio César, striker Júlio César, and chief scout Júlio César. IN OTHER NEWS... Just weeks after his Wimbledon heartache, Andy Murray defeats Novak Djokovic to win the US Open at Flushing Meadows. Murray is the first Briton to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977, and the first British men's champion since Fred Perry in 1936. Of course, we'll start calling him 'Scottish' again when he starts losing again... Europe retain golf’s Ryder Cup after an incredible comeback to beat the USA. Trailing 10-6 going into the final day’s play, the European team win eight of the final 12 games and prevail 14½-13½. A win for Martin Kaymer - and a draw for Francesco Molinari against Tiger Woods - secure the crucial points to complete the ‘Miracle of Medinah’. Excavators claim to have found the remains of King Richard III, who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. The monarch’s skeleton is discovered underneath a car park in Leicester, along with an old scroll that predicts a momentous event for the city in 2016.

SEPTEMBER 2012 There were mixed feelings about the start of our season. On the plus side, we had played five matches and were still undefeated. On the other hand, our only victory within 90 minutes had come on the opening day against Tottenham. Since then, we had drawn three league games and barely scraped past Port Vale on penalties in the League Cup. While our players' early performances had been solid - especially from Peter Devlin, who'd scored three goals in four games - we knew we had to do better at closing out matches and finishing off opponents. I was also hoping to get more out of marquee signing Alan Stewart, whose first four league games had produced no goals or assists. In fairness, the Scotland forward had been mainly used out of position on the right wing, as Carlos Edwards had been out with a groin injury. But with Carlos now returning to fitness, Alan would soon get to play a more central role - literally - in our promotion challenge. Nonetheless, spirits were high in the Fulham camp as the full squad reconvened after the international break. Vice-captain Arnar Guðmundsson was looking especially bright, having scored his first goal for Iceland in a World Cup qualifier against Portugal. Unfortunately, our other Icelandic left-back Halldór Magnusson suffered a serious ankle injury on Under-21s duty and wouldn't play again for a month. Our first game back was a Friday-nighter at 4th-placed Coventry, who opened their season with three straight wins before slipping up against Newcastle. This wouldn't be our only trip to Highfield Road this month, as we would shortly visit the Sky Blues again in the League Cup. 7 SEPTEMBER 2012: Coventry City vs Fulham Coventry didn't take long to get going. Just six minutes after the kick-off, young left-back Paul Rowland drilled a low cross to the near post, where former England Under-21s striker Lomana Lua-Lua hit a finish that was so good, they named him twice. The somersault celebration wasn’t bad either, to be fair. The Sky Blues struck again just four minutes later. This time, the cross came from Patrick Zoundi on the right wing, and Lua-Lua's Scottish strike partner Kenny Miller headed it home. Two shots, two goals - not a great start for Wayne Hudson in the Fulham goal. We needed to re-gather our thoughts after those early set-backs, though it took us until the end of the first half to come up with a meaningful response. Coventry midfielder Adam Howell mistimed a tackle on Peter Devlin to concede a free-kick in a promising position for Florian Schneider. The German set-piece specialist floated it past the wall and into Dennis den Ouden's net, halving our deficit just in time for the interval! Carlos Edwards came on for the second half to try and inject some extra energy into our attacks. Unfortunately, we couldn't really get going at all after the break - with our best chance coming when Wayne Cable was denied by den Ouden right at the end. At least Hudson had regained enough composure to save several Cov shots (including two more from Miller) to keep the final score down to a respectable 2-1. Coventry City - 2 (Lua-Lua 6, Miller 10) Fulham - 1 (Schneider 45) Division 1, Attendance 8,990 - POSITIONS: Coventry 2nd, Fulham 11th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Núñez (Heikkinen), Schneider; Stewart, Mølby (C Edwards), Cable; Devlin (Butler). BOOKED: Mølby, Heikkinen, Unai. Our first defeat of the season - and honestly, we probably deserved it. At least I had a better weekend than Tony Adams. My successor as Kidderminster manager was finally sacked after a 2-2 draw with Darlington left the Harriers 15th in Division 2. I'm sure they'd love to have me back at Aggborough... but maybe now's not the time. I decided to shake things up for our next home game against Gillingham. Leading scorer Devlin was relegated to the bench, as Stewart went up front, Carlos got his first start on the right wing - and attacking midfielder Neil Danns featured for the first time this term. This was only Neil's third full season at the club, but he was now one of our longest-serving players! 12 SEPTEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Gillingham Alan Stewart's wait for a first Football League goal continued in the 11th minute, when he skewered a shot way off target after being played through by Neil Danns. Four minutes later, though, left-winger Wayne Cable did open his account for the season - doing so with a deft header from Carlos Edwards' right-wing cross. After that strong opening, we should have utterly dominated Gillingham, whose defence looked as structurally sound as tissue paper. Naturally, their goalkeeper Simon Mason played out of his skin to stop us from running riot. Mason would keep out two more shots from Stewart - plus one from Edwards - to ensure that we couldn't add to our lead. At the other end, Gillingham had just no luck going forward. Record scorer Richard Sadlier was replaced in the 57th minute by Veigar Páll Gunnarson... who immediately sprained his ankle and had to be substituted himself! It was another sub - winger Jon-Paul McGovern - who registered the Gills' only shot on target in the 70th minute, but Wayne Hudson's magnificent fingertip save secured us a shutout win. Fulham - 1 (Cable 15) Gillingham - 0 Division 1, Attendance 20,592 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Gillingham 7th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen (Núñez), Schneider; C Edwards, Danns (Devlin), Cable (Disler); Stewart. After a welcome return to winning ways, attention quickly turned to The Valley. We won on our previous visit last season, and we were quietly optimistic about a repeat result against a Charlton team who were down in 17th. 15 SEPTEMBER 2012: Charlton Athletic vs Fulham In the first half of this match, I felt like I was watching a repeat of our last away game against Coventry. Charlton scored from each of their first two shots on target - and it was a brace for Scotland striker Graeme McCulloch, whose 11th-minute header was followed by a fierce 23rd-minute drive. Wayne Hudson, what the hell were you doing? And just like in the Midlands, we pulled back a goal just before half-time. In fact, Alan Stewart got his first league goal... contribution, when his low cross was driven in by the prolific Peter Devlin. Having once again pegged our opponents back to 2-1, could we launch a second-half comeback this time? Not on the Addicks' watch. Their defence was brilliant to a man - Damien Delaney was unbeatable in the air, Barry Buxton looked every bit a future England left-back, and Shaun Goodall was unbelievable in goal - at 17 years old! Goodall made two especially good stops to deny Schneider in the 80th minute and Devlin in the 90th, as we faced back-to-back away defeats. Charlton Athletic - 2 (McCulloch 11,23) Fulham - 1 (Devlin 40) Division 1, Attendance 22,810 - POSITIONS: Charlton 13th, Fulham 14th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Núñez (Numme), Schneider; Stewart, Danns (Mølby), Cable (Hall); Devlin. I think we might need to take a different approach to away games, because the 4-2-3-1 just isn't doing it for us right now... For our second match at Highfield Road in the space of a fortnight, I reverted to a more cautious 4-3-3 - with Guðmundsson taking on the captaincy in a rotated Fulham team. Could we exact swift revenge on Coventry and secure a place in Round 3 of the League Cup? 19 SEPTEMBER 2012: Coventry City vs Fulham We went on the attack almost instantly and won a penalty after just two minutes! Coventry captain Steve Cole got carried away with a two-footed lunge on Alan Stewart in the box and was rightly shown the red card. Up stepped Jordan Hall to take his second penalty already this season - and this one was as successful as his first! Already a goal and a man down, Steve Bruce's Sky Blues were now facing a real uphill battle. Dutch goalkeeper Dennis den Ouden bravely resisted a number of chances to double our lead, but the on-loan Sheffield Wednesday youngster would eventually be beaten again. A first Fulham goal from midfielder Adrian Disler after 41 minutes put us in a commanding position at the break. Disler then helped another midfielder to get on the scoresheet two minutes into the second half. 18-year-old Henning Numme breezed past his City counterpart Ian Herring to latch onto Adrian's flick-on and drive home his third goal for the club - all in cup competitions! Another Disler assist four minutes later earned Hall his first Cottagers goal from open play, giving us an insurmountable 4-0 advantage. With our place in Round 3 safely wrapped up, I decided to bring on three teenage talents for the closing stages. Winger Atle Iversen - who scored against Port Vale in Round 1 - got another run-out, along with midfielder Colm Ryan and striker Michael Butler. Coventry City - 0 Fulham - 4 (Hall pen2,51, Disler 41, Numme 47) League Cup Round 2, Attendance 7,901 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Forde; Guðmundsson, Friberg, Heikkinen, Simpson; Schneider (Ryan); Disler, Numme; C Edwards (Iversen), Hall; Stewart (Butler). Yeah... that'll do! While we eagerly awaited the Round 3 draw, we planned for what was sure to be another high-scoring thriller against 8th-placed Birmingham. This was our first meeting with the Blues since they broke our hearts in the FA Cup back in March. 22 SEPTEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Birmingham City Grant McCann fired an early warning shot for Birmingham, skimming the crossbar after just six minutes. Fulham captain Wayne Hudson clearly needed to be on high alert, and he certainly was in the 23rd minute, parrying away a great chance from Blues playmaker Benedict Vilakazi. A few more Birmingham attacks followed before they eventually broke through on 34 minutes. Long-serving forward Tom Youngs sent in a corner that found Jamaica centre-back Claude Davis, who outjumped a shaky Luke Liddle to head it home. Liddle's nightmare continued in the 40th minute. The right-back was skinned by South African star Vilakazi, who blasted in a brilliant shot that Wayne Hudson had no hope of getting a glove onto. After Peter Devlin scooped over a shot late in the first half, our slim chances of getting back into the game evaporated 13 minutes into the second half. It was another Youngs corner that did the damage, with Blues captain Lewis Buxton skilfully flicking it beyond Hudson's reach. By the way, that was Buxton's fifth goal for Birmingham - his THIRD against Fulham. Craven Cottage emptied quickly over the next half-hour as we slowly succumbed to a 3-0 defeat - my heaviest home loss as Fulham boss. It was a miserable display all round, with the only saving grace being that Schneider's robust tackling had almost certainly prevented Birmingham from scoring even more goals. Fulham - 0 Birmingham City - 3 (Davis 34, Vilakazi 40, Buxton 58) Division 1, Attendance 14,499 - POSITIONS: Fulham 17th, Birmingham 5th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle (Friberg), Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; C Edwards, Stewart (Mølby), Hall (Cable); Devlin. BOOKED: Numme. [Sigh] Games like this make me worry that this Fulham team may never be good enough to go up. On their day, Birmingham are a class above us - and they're probably not favourites for promotion either. I was now having serious doubts over whether Wayne Hudson should be our first-choice goalkeeper, let alone our captain. The number 1 had ended last season quite poorly, and his recent form hadn't exactly convinced me that he was back to his best. I decided to drop Hudson to the bench for a few weeks, with John Forde being given the chance to establish himself as a regular starter. Meanwhile, Guðmundsson would share captaincy duties with holding midfielder Florian Schneider, whose average rating of 7.56 had highlighted his inspirational leadership. Norwich were the next visitors to Craven Cottage - and despite a very strong start to the campaign, they arrived on a three-game winless streak. This was a match that had a very 'make-or-break' feel to it. 26 SEPTEMBER 2012: Fulham vs Norwich City The Craven Cottage faithful were getting restless, so scoring the first goal was vital. After 19 minutes, veteran winger Carlos Edwards gave the home fans exactly what they were after, as a brilliant diving header from Florian Schneider's cross broke his Fulham duck! Alan Stewart had missed the target twice before then, though Edwards' opener should have given him a bit more confidence. Three of the Scotsman's next four shots were on target... but Norwich goalkeeper Nicky Reynolds somehow managed to save them all. Poor Alan felt like he was cursed! Reynolds' brilliant shotstopping efforts were more than making up for a slow Canaries defence who just couldn't keep up with a pacey Fulham frontline. The fastest of them all was Peter Devlin, who came off the bench to volley in the game-clinching second goal after 72 minutes. Schneider had set up both our goals, but his defensive intelligence was just as crucial to our victory. Norwich couldn't create many scoring chances against a well-protected Cottagers backline - and even when they did, league debutant John Forde had no problems keeping them out. A few more games like that, and Wayne Hudson might never get back in goal! Fulham - 2 (C Edwards 19, Devlin 72) Norwich City - 0 Division 1, Attendance 13,143 - POSITIONS: Fulham 14th, Norwich 6th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Unai (Liddle), Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Schneider (Disler); C Edwards, Mølby (Devlin), Cable; Stewart. BOOKED: Unai. Even after such a dominant performance, I still couldn't believe how many chances we'd missed to win even more comfortably. Scoring just two goals from nine shots on target just isn't good enough. And for all the hype about him being the top scorer in the SPL last season, Stewart had now played nine English league matches for Fulham without scoring. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep faith in him, especially with Devlin in such fine form. The following afternoon, we finally got word of who we would be facing in Round 3 of the League Cup. We were drawn at home... against a little provincial club called Manchester United. That should be fun! More immediately, we were concerned about a rather less glamorous club from the north-west. Young Swiss midfielder Adrian Disler made his first league start as we went to Preston, who began the weekend in the relegation zone. 30 SEPTEMBER 2012: Preston North End vs Fulham I'd be lying if I said this was a classic. Preston's former Kidderminster striker Jamie Berry had a hopeful shot saved by John Forde in the 9th minute, but that was as close as the Lilywhites would come to breaching our defence. From then onwards, Berry and his partner David Healy were expertly man-marked by Fulham centre-backs Unai and Peter Mitchell respectively. Right-back Thomas Friberg also had a great game - indeed, the young Swede would be named 'man of the match'. That £20,000 we'd paid for Friberg was now looking like an enormous bargain compared to the £1.4million we spent on Luke Liddle! I wish I could be so enthusiastic as our attack. It was a particularly frustrating afternoon for left-winger Wayne Cable, who could hardly create anything before injuring his knee on the stroke of half-time. We couldn't muster a single shot on goal - Peter Devlin missed the target twice, and substitute Jordan Hall's only effort fared no better. 0-0 it was, then... Preston North End - 0 Fulham - 0 Division 1, Attendance 20,741 - POSITIONS: Preston 23rd, Fulham 14th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Forde; Friberg, Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Disler (Núñez), Danns; C Edwards, Cable (Hall); Devlin (Stewart). BOOKED: Schneider. Unfortunately, the news about Wayne Cable's injury was not great. The Welsh sensation was out for the next three weeks with strained knee ligaments. If we weren't heading straight into an international break, and if Jordan Hall hadn't started the season so positively, he would have been a big miss.

Votes sent and claimed.

Agreed. If you want your team to be defensively solid, then your most defensive-minded midfielder should never be a ball-winner. Also, having two wing-backs can't be helping matters if they're both on Attack duties. At least I hope they're not both on Attack duties. That would basically leave just TWO outfield players staying back to deal with counter-attacks. No wonder the opposition scores so often from so few opportunities. I can't give any more tactical advice until the OP shows their tactic in full - with roles, duties and instructions. Even then, they are probably better off posting it in the Tactics forum, so that more folks over there can help them figure out what's going wrong.

Roma v Milan 68:20 - After Calabria clears the ball towards touch, Roma forward Dybala tries to keep the ball in play with a header, which is then - I think - cleared behind by another unnecessary header from another Milan player. I wish I could explain this in more detail, but the highlight keeps cutting out whenever I try to review it. CFuller_Roma v Milan.pkm

Oh, and there's one more I should add right now... FC Kobenhavn v Roma 57:35 - Just before Cornelius scores Kobenhavn's third goal, the Roma full-back Zeki Celik goes through the Kobenhavn forward Elias while making a tackle, CFuller_FC København v Roma.pkm

Roma v Milan 44:15 - Milan goalkeeper Maignan steps behind and through his right-hand goal post after making a catch. Roma v Genoa 68:25 - Genoa goalkeeper Martínez dives through his right-hand post and side netting after making a save. CFuller_Roma v Milan.pkm CFuller_Roma v Genoa.pkm

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of August 2012) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Notts Co 4 2 0 0 5 0 2 0 0 2 0 12 2nd Norwich 4 2 0 0 4 1 1 1 0 5 3 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Newcastle 4 2 0 0 4 0 1 1 0 2 1 10 4th Coventry 4 1 0 1 3 1 2 0 0 2 0 9 5th Rochdale 4 2 0 0 7 1 0 1 1 3 4 7 6th Sunderland 4 2 0 0 4 0 0 1 1 1 2 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Birmingham 4 2 0 0 6 2 0 1 1 1 3 7 8th Gillingham 4 2 0 0 4 1 0 1 1 3 5 7 9th Carlisle 3 2 0 0 6 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 10th Tottenham 4 1 0 1 2 2 1 0 1 5 4 6 11th Fulham 4 1 1 0 2 1 0 2 0 4 4 6 12th West Ham 4 0 2 0 3 3 1 0 1 4 2 5 13th Charlton 4 1 1 0 5 3 0 1 1 2 4 5 14th Chesterfield 4 1 0 1 4 4 0 2 0 2 2 5 15th Aston Villa 4 1 1 0 5 4 0 0 2 1 4 4 16th Bristol City 4 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 2 3 8 4 17th Man City 4 1 1 0 5 3 0 0 2 0 7 4 18th Blackpool 3 1 0 0 4 2 0 0 2 2 5 3 19th Sheff Utd 4 1 0 1 3 2 0 0 2 1 5 3 20th Swindon 4 1 0 1 4 4 0 0 2 1 7 3 21st Bradford 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd W.B.A. 4 0 2 0 5 5 0 0 2 2 7 2 23rd Preston 4 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 2 2 4 1 24th Huddersfield 4 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 2 0 4 1 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Leeds lift the Community Shield at Wembley, as Robbie Keane scores the winning penalty after a 0-0 bore draw against Bolton. The Premiership champions then open their campaign with shock defeats at Southampton and Stoke, prompting the media to speculate that this ageing United team has now peaked. Manchester United are busy in the transfer market once again, signing veteran Lazio midfielder Barry Ferguson on a Bosman before spending £6.75million on Burnley wonderkid Matt Harvey. The 19-year-old scores just six minutes into his Old Trafford debut, in a 3-0 win over... Burnley. Chelsea decide to raid Rangers, signing winger Franck Ribéry and striker Nihat for a combined £15.5million. The Gers get one-time England striker Marcus Tudgay in return... but new manager Trond Sollied isn't exactly thrilled. VfB Stuttgart's Bundesliga defence gets off to an inauspicious start, as they lose 1-0 at home to 10-man Kaiserslautern... and then fall to a 2-1 defeat at Werder Bremen. Head coach Felix Magath immediately takes away his players' boots and forces them to run 400 miles barefoot back home to Stuttgart. After an ill-fated return to Real Madrid, Raúl moves to Japan and becomes the new player-manager of J-League 2 side Purple Sanga. The Spaniard lasts just two games and two matches before he is on the move AGAIN - and takes charge of Dutch giants PSV. In unrelated news, Raúl hires ex-Argentina striker Ariel Ortega as his agent. IN OTHER NEWS... The Summer Olympics take place in Rome, and it's a surprisingly successful Games for the Great Britain team. Heptathlete Jessica Ennis, long-distance runner Mo Farah and long-jumper Greg Rutherford are among the British gold medallists on 'Super Saturday', when you could be mistaken for thinking they were actually competing in London! Australian-born activist Julian Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador, two months after taking refuge in their London embassy. The WikiLeaks founder has been the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2010, in relation to alleged sexual offences committed in Sweden. Neil Armstrong - the first man to take one small step on the Moon - makes one giant leap to the other side. The American astronaut, who was the commander of the historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, passes away aged 82. Film director Tony Scott - whose works included “Top Gun” and “Beverly Hills Cop II” - takes his life after jumping off a bridge in Los Angeles. The Northumberland-born 68-year-old was the younger brother of fellow director Sir Ridley Scott.

AUGUST 2012 August began with some big news. 18-year-old reserve right-back Seán Lynch was going on a season-long loan to Runcorn in the Conference. Oh, and our new star winger Carlos Edwards strained his groin in training and would miss the first month of the season. Great news! [Sigh] Carlos had to stay behind when we went to Division 3 Northampton for our next pre-season friendly. The 4-2-3-1 was not producing the high-scoring football I hoped it would, so I once again turned to my usual 4-3-3 formation - or '4-1-4-1 Attacking', if you prefer. 1 AUGUST 2012: Northampton Town vs Fulham This was yet another game where the goalkeepers were on to. It was our own John Forde who played the starring role, saving twice from Kevin Richards and once from Andy Kirk to keep a clean sheet. At the other end, Northampton defender Warren Kenna was sent off for a professional foul on Tom Mølby in the 55th minute. But despite playing almost the whole second half against 10 men, we still couldn't break through, thanks to Wayne Henderson. The Cobblers keeper is married to a former contestant from "The Apprentice"... and quite frankly, I wish I could have told him, "You're fired!" at full-time. Northampton Town - 0 Fulham - 0 Friendly, Attendance 3,940 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Forde (Hudson); Friberg (G Edwards), Mitchell (Unai), Ifil, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Schneider (Núñez); Mølby (Disler), Numme; Danns (Stewart), Cable (Hall); Butler (Devlin). What is wrong with this team? WHY CAN'T WE SCORE?!?! After somehow failing to beat bloody Northampton, I didn't hold much hope going into our last friendly of pre-season. We were at home to Southampton - probably the most mid-table of mid-table Premiership teams. 4 AUGUST 2012: Fulham vs Southampton Naturally, after waiting over 270 minutes to see a Fulham goal, Alan Stewart set up TWO goals for Peter Devlin inside the first nine minutes. They came either side of a bizarre cross-shot goal from Southampton striker Rune Rasmussen Lind in what was an insane start to this match! Devlin then thought he'd completed a hat-trick in the 22nd minute, but the referee had blown up for a foul from Unai. The Saints marched to a second equaliser just before half-time, when Rasmussen Lind's cross was headed home by former Nottingham Forest forward Beli Moumouni Dagano. That only fired up Devlin even more, and he would indeed seal his treble from a Jordan Hall cross nine minutes into the second half. And instead of blowing a lead for a third time, Michael Butler came off the bench to double it - completing an incredible 4-2 win over Bob Bradley's visitors! Fulham - 4 (Devlin 6,9,54, Butler 71) Southampton - 2 (Rasmussen Lind 8, Dagano 43) Friendly, Attendance 4,263 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson (Forde); Liddle, Ifil (Friberg), Unai, Simpson (Guðmundsson); Núñez (Numme), Schneider (Disler); Stewart, Danns (Mølby), Cable (Hall); Devlin (Butler). My players are a bunch of hoots, I tell you. We got three straight games without scoring - and then we put FOUR goals past a Premiership team! What wasn't such a laughing matter was the injury to Jerel Ifil. A scan revealed a torn groin muscle, and our best central defender wouldn't play again until November at the earliest. In more positive news, we welcomed a promising 17-year-old youth player to the reserve team. Phil Sturridge is athletic, brave and a great team player. Though he is naturally a left or central midfielder, I reckon his defensive abilities could lead to him being retrained as a left-back. Focus soon turned to our opening match of the Division 1 season. We kicked off at Craven Cottage against Tottenham, who barely escaped relegation last term under Steve McClaren. It was a balmy 34 degrees Celsius in west London, where the heat was literally on from the first whistle. 11 AUGUST 2012: Fulham vs Tottenham Hotspur Both teams' main men up front had chances to break through early on. Tottenham’s captain Mikael Forssell was the first to have a pop, driving a 30-yarder just over the bar in the 3rd minute. Six minutes later, it was our own Peter Devlin’s turn to go close. Devlin hit the crossbar just moments after Florian Schneider had smacked the post. We then had a THIRD opportunity through Wayne Cable, but the teenager's hopeful effort was parried by Spurs keeper John O'Dowd. We continued to put the visitors under pressure until the 20th minute, when we eventually found a way past O'Dowd. Alan Stewart's centre from the right wing was knocked down by left-winger Cable into the path of our attacking midfielder Tom Mølby, who swivelled on the ball before blasting home. The Dane's great strike was countered just four minutes later. Finnish veteran Forssell got free in our penalty area, and a cool low strike from winger Paul McAreavey's flick-on got Tottenham back level. Indeed, that was his 50th goal for Spurs in just two-and-a-half years. The scoreline remained 1-1 at half-time, though both teams missed chances to edge in front. Then, five minutes into the second half, came the game's defining moment. Schneider picked up the ball deep in Tottenham territory and hit the ball into the box, where Devlin's deft diving header restored our advantage! And 2-1 was how it stayed. Schneider's sterling work in defensive midfield helped prevent Spurs from getting another sniff at our goal, while Wayne Hudson was dependable in goal whenever the visitors did threaten to score again. After losing last season's opener to Wolves, we were delighted to be off the mark straight away! Fulham - 2 (Mølby 20, Devlin 50) Tottenham Hotspur - 1 (Forssell 24) Division 1, Attendance 16,592 - POSITIONS: Fulham 7th, Tottenham 17th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson (Simpson); Núñez (Heikkinen), Schneider; Stewart, Mølby, Cable (Hall); Devlin. As our players celebrated a winning start to the season, another reserve defender went out on loan. Right-back Dave Taylor would spend the season at Harrow Borough, who were one of the better teams in the Conference. Another London derby was next on the agenda, as we headed east to West Ham. The Hammers started their season with an impressive 4-1 win at Huddersfield, in which Dave Nugent and Simon Lynch scored twice apiece. We would need to be careful. 18 AUGUST 2012: West Ham United vs Fulham Wayne Hudson showed in the opening stages why he deserved to be our official number 1. Between the 13th and 14th minutes, captain Hudson made THREE saves - two from West Ham striker Simon Lynch, and then another from the hosts' former Leeds and Dagenham & Redbridge midfielder Nunzio Pepe. After surviving the Hammers' early blows, we put together a counter-attack in the 37th minute. Wayne Cable's long ball from the left wing sent Peter Devlin clean through on goal, and after the Irishman's first shot was parried by goalkeeper Darren Trigg, the rebound was expertly tucked away. Sadly, we couldn't quite take that lead into the interval. After winger Benjamin De Ceulaer hit the post in the 39th minute, Pepe went a step better on the stroke of half-time. The skilful Italian volleyed in a lofted ball from midfield playmaker John Nicol, and now all the momentum was with Steve Bull's Hammers. By the 57th minute, the match had been turned on its head. Lynch got ahead of our left-back Arnar Guðmundsson to head in a right-wing cross from De Ceulaer, and we were now facing a 2-1 defeat. We struggled to get back in the game until I replaced a tiring Cable with new signing Jordan Hall in the 76th minute. Five minutes later, the former Oxford winger got his big opportunity, after Devlin was fouled in West Ham's penalty area by their captain Vangelis Nastos. Hall certainly had his oats, as Jordan confidently dispatched the penalty past Trigg and saved us a precious point! West Ham United - 2 (Pepe 45, Lynch 57) Fulham - 2 (Devlin 37, Hall pen81) Division 1, Attendance 34,959 - POSITIONS: West Ham 3rd, Fulham 7th FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle (Friberg), Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Heikkinen, Schneider; Stewart, Mølby (Disler), Cable (Hall); Devlin. BOOKED: Unai. Four points from two games - against two of the biggest clubs in the division. Not a bad start, eh? In fact, this was the first time Fulham had avoided defeat in their opening two matches of a league season since 2000! Could we keep that good run going in the League Cup? I named a rotated line-up for our Round 1 tie at home to Port Vale, who were bottom of Division 3. 21 AUGUST 2012: Fulham vs Port Vale There looked to be a huge gulf between the teams in the first half, when we enjoyed 67% possession and could have easily steamrollered over Port Vale. Our youngsters opened the scoring after 18 minutes, when Michael Butler's selfless chip to Atle Iversen ended with the 18-year-old winger scoring his first competitive Fulham goal. The visitors could have rolled over at that point... but in the 36th minute, they lived up to their Valiants nickname. Manager John Gregory made two very early substitutions - one of whom was the 23-year-old Northern Irish forward Paul Stevenson. 'Stevo' dribbled past three Cottagers before blasting an excellent strike beyond our debutant keeper John Forde. Port Vale were later forced into their final substitution because of an injury to defensive midfielder Andy Gerrard, but they were undeterred. A strong start to the second half resulted in them taking a surprise lead in the 56th minute, when teenage forward Danny Gray's cross was volleyed home by the more experienced striker Robert Gill. Just before Gill's stunner, I had brought on both Vicente Núñez and Alan Stewart to try and inspire us. Immediately after that goal, I had to make my final change, as winger Jordan Hall pulled up with strained knee ligaments. That meant an unexpected appearance for 16-year-old youth graduate Justin Clark, who made his senior debut under serious pressure. That pressure only increased in the 59th minute, after Núñez tripped Gill about 25 yards from our goal. Left-back Cédric Kaissi powered in a magnificent free-kick, and we were now two goals behind - against a team two divisions below us! Was this to be yet another early cup exit? Ten minutes later, however, we were back in the game - thanks to three summer signings. Left-back Terry Simpson's cross was flicked on by midfielder Adrian Disler into the path of Stewart, who broke his Fulham duck with a skilful lob over Vale keeper Duncan Aitchison! Alan was off the mark, and he struck again in the 79th minute. Stewart's initial header from Disler's cross was saved by Aitchison, but the Scot made no mistake from the rebound. The game was now tied at 3-3, and a couple of late saves from Forde ensured that it would go on for at least another 30 minutes. Extra-time failed to produce a winner, so it all came down to penalties, which was where Derby knocked us at this round last year. For a while, it looked like we would avoid a repeat, as Port Vale wasted two of their first three penalties. Adrian Disler could have given us a 4-3 win from our fifth penalty... but it was stopped by Aitchison, who then kept out another potential winner from Iversen after Vale missed again. Port Vale got their first match point when Alan O'Hare scored their seventh penalty, but Peter Mitchell held our nerve to keep our hopes alive. 19-year-old right-back Mark Lowe then bravely stepped up for the Valiants... but Forde saved to give us our third winning opportunity. That was when Núñez finally ended our agony by sending Aitchison the wrong way - and sending a relieved Fulham team into Round 2! Fulham - 3 (Iversen 18, Stewart 69,79) Port Vale - 3 (Stevenson 36, Gill 56, Kaissi 59) [after extra-time, Fulham win 5-4 on penalties] League Cup Round 1, Attendance 5,729 PENALTY SHOOT-OUT (Port Vale, Fulham): Jarju 0-1, Stewart 1-1, Kaissi saved, Heikkinen 2-1, Stevenson missed, Simpson saved, Gill 2-2, Friberg 3-2, Gray 3-3, Disler saved, Price saved, Iversen saved, O'Hare 3-4, Mitchell 4-4, Lowe saved, Núñez 5-4. FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; G Edwards, Friberg, Mitchell, Simpson; Numme (Núñez), Heikkinen; Iversen, Disler, Hall (Clark); Butler (Stewart). BOOKED: Simpson. Can you PLEASE not cut it so fine next time, lads? I'm sick of us making meals out of lower-league opponents in cup competitions. Anyway, we got away with a win... and awaiting us in Round 2 was an away trip to Coventry. Fresh from scoring his first two goals for Fulham, Alan Stewart was among the big boys returning to our starting line-up when we hosted Bradford. After being relegated with the worst record in Premiership history, the Bantams' decline had continued with defeats in their first two games back in Division 1. 25 AUGUST 2012: Fulham vs Bradford City This match looked like it was ours for the taking... but with our former keeper Jimmy Wilkinson in the Bradford goal, things wouldn't be quite so easy. Wilko was eager to make an impression back at Craven Cottage, and he certainly made a couple of impressive saves, thwarting Arnar Guðmundsson and Alan Stewart at either end of the first half. Otherwise, the first half was a scrappy affair, with Peter Mitchell and Wayne Cable among the three players to go into the referee's book. Things calmed down in the second period, though Bradford looked more concerned with keeping a clean sheet rather than aggressively going for an away win. Wilkinson's game was cut short in the 60th minute by a groin injury... but his replacement Mattias Berglund turned out to be even better. The man who conceded 28 goals in 13 Premiership matches last season played out of his skin for the final half-hour, beating away several great efforts from Stewart and Peter Devlin. In fact, Berglund's heroics would see him named 'man of the match' at the end of a frustrating stalemate. Fulham - 0 Bradford City - 0 Division 1, Attendance 14,389 - POSITIONS: Fulham 7th, Bradford 22nd FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle, Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Núñez, Schneider; Stewart, Mølby (Disler), Cable (Butler); Devlin. BOOKED: Mitchell, Cable. A disappointing draw, but we were still unbeaten... for another 48 hours at least. On Bank Holiday Monday, we visited a Manchester City team who were already looking for a new manager, having sacked Graeme Souness after a slow start. Our last trip to Maine Road ended in a breathless 3-3 draw. 27 AUGUST 2012: Manchester City vs Fulham All our senior wingers were either tired or injured, so I switched to a 3-5-2 for this match. The tactical change paid off after just 15 minutes, when wing-back Arnar Guðmundsson stormed up the left flank and cut the ball across Manchester City's penalty area. That was where Peter Devlin popped up and drove in his third goal in four games! It took City eight minutes - and a barrage of shots - to produce a response. Fulham captain Wayne Hudson bravely kept out back-to-back strikes from Citizens strikers Graham Marchant and Darren Reid, but then Marchant made it third time lucky. Despite losing our lead, our wing-backs continued to torment the hosts. Guðmundsson almost got another assist from the left on 26 minutes, but his cross was met by a poor diving header from striker Michael Butler. Ten minutes after this, Luke Liddle charged forward from the right flank to blast in a loose ball - and score just his fourth goal in 125 senior matches! Luke's laser sent us into the interval with a 2-1 advantage, but City came out for the second half with renewed energy. Marchant fired a ferocious shot over the bar in the 53rd minute after being pressured by Liddle. His next effort on 61 minutes fared rather better, as he evaded challenges from our Nordic duo Markus Heikkinen and Henning Numme before driving in his second equaliser. This was a thrilling contest, which both teams could have won later on. Midfielder Florian Schneider almost gave us the lead once again on 66 minutes, but his free-kick was saved by Citizens goalie Bogdan Lobont. At the other end in the 76th minute, Wayne Hudson brilliantly held onto a long-range drive from substitute Darius Vassell - a save which ultimately secured us a third consecutive league draw. Manchester City - 2 (Marchant 23,61) Fulham - 2 (Devlin 15, Liddle 36) Division 1, Attendance 25,426 - POSITIONS: Man City 17th, Fulham 11th FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Defensive): Hudson; Mitchell, Heikkinen, Unai; Liddle, Schneider, Guðmundsson; Mølby, Núñez (Numme); Butler (Stewart), Devlin. That was another missed opportunity to claim a win, but there are still plenty of positives to take from this month. This team is starting to gel together, and goalscoring doesn't seem to be such an issue anymore. I'm cautiously optimistic about what lies ahead...

Udinese v Roma 9:35 - N'Dicka heads the ball out of Roma's penalty area. Udinese forward Thauvin - who is just outside the area - runs away from the ball, which hits him on the head. He then turns around, takes the ball, and fires in the opening goal. I appreciate that some of these incidents are perhaps more animation-related than AI-related, but they are becoming quite frequent and annoying now. Are you still investigating these, @Zachary Whyte? Do you need more PKMs? CFuller_Udinese v Roma.pkm

Triestina v Roma 67:00 - Roma left-back Spinazzola crosses into the Triestina box, where the home left-back Anzolin runs away from the ball until it hits him on the head. It then falls to the Roma midfielder Guerrero, who scores from just inside the box. CFuller_Triestina v Roma.pkm

Okay... here are some screenshots from my save. Sarkic isn't a great goalkeeper by any means ("decent EFL Championship") but he performed well for me in my save, preventing 4 more goals than 'expected'. It also helps that I had a solid backline, protected by an actual defensive midfielder (a half-back or a DM, not a ball-winning midfielder). In most games, we didn't give up too many good opportunities - rarely more than 0.15 xG per shot. Though we did have the odd battering, we still finished the season with a respectable 56 goals conceded in 46 league games, and an opposition conversion rate of less than 12%. At the other end, our shot conversion rate was just over 15%, which ruins the popular narrative that the AI needs fewer chances to score than you do. I won't deny that goalkeepers - AI-managed or human-managed - are perhaps not as reliable on FM24 as they could be. But if you're conceding from about 1 in 5 shots (if not more), and most of the chances you're giving up are higher-quality chances, then you need to take a closer look at your tactics. I'm NOT saying it is definitely your tactics, but you cannot just dismiss that possibility out of hand.

Fulham squad - Start of 2012/2013 season GOALKEEPERS 1. Wayne Hudson - GK, age 27, English Captain Hudson is a determined and strong shotstopper who is usually incredibly reliable. I'm hoping his dip in form last season was just a minor blip. 13. John Forde - GK, age 23, Irish [6 caps] I know all about Forde's agility and ball-handling skills from our time at Kidderminster. The former Newcastle trainee has a great future ahead of him. DEFENDERS 2. Unai - SW/D C, age 35, Spanish [1 cap] Unai helped tighten up our defence after joining from Kidderminster in February. The veteran Basque sweeper is brave and aggressive, but obviously isn't the fastest. 3. Terry Simpson - D L, age 24, English Simpson is another Kidderminster alumnus who moved to the Cottage this summer. I've always admired the left-back for his robust tackling and expert positional awareness. 4. Markus Heikkinen - D/DM C, age 33, Finnish [22 caps, 2 goals] The last of my ex-Harriers, Heikkinen comes to Fulham with so much experience. The strong central defender will mainly be used as defensive midfielder in my current system. 5. Jerel Ifil - D C, age 30, Saint Lucian [13 caps] Ifil's aerial prowess and technical skills have never been in question. Unfortunately, I have some issues with his inconsistency and poor anticipation. 12. Peter Mitchell - D C, age 26, Scottish [capped at Under-21s level] My attempts to retrain Mitchell as a right-back ended in failure. The former Arsenal star is now attempting to establish himself as a ball-playing centre-back. 15. Arnar Guðmundsson - SW/D/DM RLC, age 23, Icelandic [19 caps] Vice-captain Guðmundsson was a revelation last season, grabbing 10 assists from wing-back. My only issue with the pacey and versatile youngster is his lax attitude to training. 20. Luke Liddle - D RC, age 26, English Yorkshireman Liddle comes in from Dagenham & Redbridge as our new right-back. He is a committed team player with a great tactical mind. 26. Thomas Friberg - D RC, age 20, Swedish Friberg was a £20,000 signing from the Swedish lower leagues. If this strong man-marker can work on his athleticism and technique, he could be worth so much more. 30. Graham Edwards - D R, age 19, English Edwards was a regular at right-back last season before his form nosedived. Though he still has a lot to learn tactically, he works hard in training and looks to have a bright future. 33. Halldór Magnusson - D LC, age 20, Icelandic [capped at Under-21s level] Magnusson has also had plenty of senior opportunities, either at left-back or centre-half. I would like to send the energetic youngster out on loan if I can. MIDFIELDERS 6. Florian Schneider - DM LC, age 27, German [capped at B level] Defensive midfielder Schneider is an almost guaranteed starter when available. The tough-tackling destroyer picks up a lot of bookings but protects our backline incredibly well. 7. Carlos Edwards - AM R, age 33, Trinbagonian [47 caps, 1 goal] Right-wing was a weakness last season, but Edwards could change that. The Trinidad & Tobago star showed plenty of flair and creativity during a decade at Bolton. 8. Neil Danns - AM RC, age 28, Guyanese [22 caps, 2 goals] Danns is a useful backup midfielder who can also play on the right wing if needed. But does he have the incisive quality passing game that we need in his position? 11. Jordan Hall - AM/F L, age 28, English Hall is a right-footed left-winger with exceptional dribbling and crossing skills. He was playing non-league football at Enfield before breaking into the professional game with Oxford. 16. Adrian Disler - M C, age 20, Swiss [capped at Under-21s level] Disler may be pretty tall, but he's more of an attacking midfielder than a defensive one. Our new signing from Sion is very skilful, agile and hard-working. 18. Tom Mølby - AM C, age 20, Danish Mølby has the talent to be a real star if he is prepared to work for it. The Danish playmaker got five goals and six assists last season, but his off-the-ball intelligence is... not great. 19. Henning Numme - DM C, age 18, Norwegian I've got high hopes for Numme, who's an energetic box-to-box player. The long-shot specialist bagged a couple of screamers in the FA Cup last season. 21. Wayne Cable - AM L, age 18, Welsh [capped at Under-21s level] Cable showcased his incredible talents with 15 goal contributions last season. I'm expecting even more from this explosive, flamboyant winger as he becomes a regular starter. 22. Vicente Núñez - DM RC, age 21, Spanish Núñez has the potential to be an exceptional deep-lying playmaker. Sadly, his struggles to settle into British life off the pitch have hampered his performances on it. FORWARDS 9. Peter Devlin - S C, age 24, Irish [capped at B level] Devlin reinvigorated our attack last season, scoring 11 times while on loan from Aston Villa. The rapid Irishman striker is now staying at SW6 and ready to become the next Paul McVeigh. 10. Alan Stewart - F RC, age 28, Scottish [9 caps, 1 goal] Stewart is an intelligent right-winger and centre-forward with a great all-round game. I have no doubt that the SPL Golden Boot winner can be a success in England. 17. Michael Butler - S C, age 18, English Butler ended his long wait for a first senior goal last season and could really kick on now. That said, he is much more of a burly target man rather than a pacey poacher. RESERVES GOALKEEPER: Craig Price (17) DEFENDERS: Gary Hogg (18), Seán Lynch (18), Nigel Proffitt (19), Stephen Richardson (21), Dave Taylor (22), Steven Weir (18) MIDFIELDERS: Justin Clark (16), Atle Iversen (18), Colm Ryan (19) FORWARDS: Jamie Davey (21), Derek McIntyre (17), Douglas McNeil (18)