CFuller
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of April 2012)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st P Blackburn 45 17 2 4 57 27 9 7 6 45 40 87 2nd Pl West Ham 45 16 5 2 47 17 8 6 8 28 28 83 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Pl Wolves 44 19 2 1 53 20 6 6 10 38 48 83 4th Pl Birmingham 45 15 3 5 56 28 9 5 8 43 43 80 5th Pl Norwich 45 15 4 3 52 36 8 4 11 40 44 77 6th Nottm Forest 45 14 4 5 57 42 8 6 8 35 40 76 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Gillingham 45 13 4 5 43 26 8 6 9 32 37 73 8th Carlisle 45 13 4 5 41 27 8 2 13 26 34 69 9th Charlton 45 10 5 8 40 31 8 8 6 31 26 67 10th Sunderland 45 11 5 6 40 31 8 4 11 44 57 66 11th Man City 44 10 8 4 47 31 7 6 9 44 52 65 12th Preston 45 11 8 4 41 30 5 9 8 33 40 65 13th Huddersfield 45 11 3 9 39 36 8 5 9 35 44 65 14th Notts Co 45 12 7 3 43 22 5 5 13 38 51 63 15th Fulham 45 9 8 6 37 32 6 7 9 26 37 60 16th Chesterfield 45 13 2 8 42 31 4 6 12 35 53 59 17th Sheff Utd 45 8 9 6 46 38 7 3 12 30 40 57 18th W.B.A. 45 10 4 8 41 39 5 3 15 27 44 52 19th Aston Villa 45 9 5 8 38 37 5 5 13 28 44 52 20th Tottenham 45 8 8 6 36 31 4 4 15 31 51 48 21st Swindon 45 8 6 8 45 45 5 2 16 19 41 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Kidderminster 45 8 7 8 28 28 0 5 17 12 41 36 23rd R Macclesfield 45 7 4 11 41 42 2 3 18 18 49 34 24th R Darlington 45 7 4 11 23 26 1 4 18 15 49 32
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Everton win the League Cup for the first time, as Paul Hayes, Kevin Hilton and Pontus Farnerud score the goals in a 3-0 Final thrashing of arch-rivals Liverpool - whose team includes Pontus’ younger brother Alexander. The Toffees board are so delighted with manager Dermot Keely that they sack him 10 days later and give his job to former Atlético Madrid boss Héctor Raúl Cúper.
- After exiting the Champions League to Parma, and falling behind Hibs in the Scottish Premier League title race, the pressure gets too much for Celtic boss John Collins. The 44-year-old leaves Parkhead for a fresh challenge in Spain, replacing Cúper at Atlético. Keely then completes the job-swap triangle by taking the Celtic vacancy.
- Barcelona’s dreams of reaching a fourth straight Champions League Final are left in ruins, as Dirk Kuijt scores a Quarter Final winner for newly-crowned Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart. Juan Roman Riquelme’s extra-time goal for Lazio sees them past Liverpool, but Roma are overwhelmed by the tinkering of Valencia boss Claudio Ranieri.
- Bayern München (remember them?) also endulge in a bit of job-swapping. After their beleaguered manager Vegard Skogheim jumps ship to Deportivo, Bayern decide to hire the coach who had just been sacked by the former La Liga champions. Spanish winger José Antonio Reyes is so shocked and upset by Jim Jefferies’ appointment that he agrees a deal to join Marseille for £10million.
- Despite struggling to stay clear of the Bundesliga relegation zone, HSV look set to win their second UEFA Cup in five seasons. Nicola Ventola scores a decisive double in the first leg of their Semi Final with Porto. Hamburg’s opponents in the Final will be Dutch outsiders Fortuna, who knock out Nantes, Toulouse and Lommel to continue a fairytale run.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- The University Boat Race is halted when an anti-establishment protester swims into the River Thames in front of the competing Oxford and Cambridge boats. The Australian man is arrested by police and asked, "Who do you think you are? David Walliams?"
- 16 years after he was murdered, Tupac Shakur comes back to life at the Coachella festival in California… kind of. Snoop Dogg performs alongside a ‘hologram’ of the legendary West Coast rapper at the end of his set with Dr Dre.
- German supermodel Heidi Klum files for divorce from British soul singer Seal, seven years after they got married. Seal is in a magnanimous mood, conceding that the marriage was never gonna survive unless they got a little crazy.
- Ceremonies are held across the world - including in Southampton and in Halifax, Nova Scotia - to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Céline Dion is explicitly not invited.
1 -
APRIL 2012
Even by our standards, March was a pretty miserable month. Our last seven matches had yielded three defeats, three draws, and a single win against a tragic Kidderminster team who should soon be joining Macclesfield and Darlington on the bus back to Division 2.
While the famously pessimistic Fulham board were "delighted" that we were well clear of relegation, our poor form had killed off any realistic hopes we had of sneaking into the Division 1 play-offs. That meant our final seven games of the season were all about pride... and making plans for the next campaign.
I had big plans to freshen up the Cottagers squad with some new blood from across Europe. That meant there would be a pretty brutal culling of our older players, and I wanted to start it as early as possible.
We currently had six players aged 30 or over, of which only centre-back Unai and striker Anestis Agritis would continue to play regularly. Long-time strike partners Brett Ormerod and Paul McVeigh would get one last run-out together in our final home game of the season. As far as hardman defender Ben Thatcher and injured winger Elbekay Bouchiba were concerned, however, they would never pull on a Fulham jersey again.
Meanwhile, I would take a closer look at those younger players who had the potential to become first-team regulars. Halldór Magnusson and Graham Edwards would get more chances to establish themselves at full-back. Winger Atle Iversen and striker Michael Butler could expect a few more run-outs, while the promising midfield runner Colm Ryan would be integrated into the senior set-up.
Opportunity also knocked for backup goalkeeper Jimmy Wilkinson. The 23-year-old replaced the out-of-form Wayne Hudson in goal when we hosted 9th-placed Huddersfield. This match would also mark a 50th senior appearance for another Cottagers youth graduate - 19-year-old midfielder Michael Gibson.
4 APRIL 2012: Fulham vs Huddersfield Town
Michael Gibson almost marked his half-century with an assist after just four minutes. His corner delivery to Anestis Agritis was well saved by Huddersfield keeper Demba Touray, who also kept out the rebound from Björn Willems.
We struggled to threaten Touray again in the first half, with neither Agritis nor Peter Devlin looking particularly potent in front of goal. Indeed, it was the Terriers who came closest to scoring in the 27th minute, when Graham Francis hit the bar.
By the 60th minute, though, we were back to our best. Willems showed some Dutch courage to take on Huddersfield captain Paul Anthony and take the ball to the bline. He then put in a pinpoint low cross to Devlin, whose hot streak continued with an emphatic finish!
We then spurned several chances to consolidate our lead... and by the 76th minute, it was gone. Francis got his head to a cross from Northern Ireland forward Sean Doherty and powered it past Jimmy Wilkinson to steal one point. The Terriers might even have got away with two more, but a potential 86th-minute winner from Hayden Foxe was kept out only by the post.
Fulham - 1 (Devlin 60)
Huddersfield Town - 1 (Francis 76)
Division 1, Attendance 12,932 - POSITIONS: Fulham 13th, Huddersfield 8th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Wilkinson; Guðmundsson, Ifil, Unai (Edwards), Magnusson; Gibson (Iversen), Danns, Schneider, Willems; Agritis (Butler), Devlin. BOOKED: Unai.
Björn Willems had produced a brilliant assist in that match, so I was disappointed to find out afterwards that he had broken his toe in the process. He was out for three weeks - and with Wayne Cable also on the sidelines, we now found ourselves without a left-winger. Great.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Tom Mølby had damaged his shoulder in the pre-match warm-up, so he too was out for three weeks. Double great.
It seemed like Peter Devlin was the only player in this team capable of scoring consistently. Imagine my delight when he reported for duty on Saturday morning with a bruised jaw, having "run into Ben Thatcher’s fist" on a Friday night out. Naturally, he could not join us on the coach trip to Manchester. Great, great, BLOODY GREAT!
Manchester City were one of only five teams to have beaten us at home this season, and they would be even tougher opposition at Maine Road. The play-off chasers had a significant goal threat in 34-year-old James Beattie, who had bagged 20 goals and 11 assists in 33 league matches.
7 APRIL 2012: Manchester City vs Fulham
Three weeks after finally breaking his Fulham duck, Michael Butler was on target for us again. An excellent solo strike from the 18-year-old in the 7th minute gave us a very early lead over Manchester City... at least until former England striker Matt Jansen pulled them level just two minutes later.
The rest of the first half saw plenty of attacking action, but nothing good enough to turn the tide in either team’s favour. The Citizens probably created more chances before the break, though Butler had the best of ours in the 41st minute, when a powerful left-footer was well stopped by Romania goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont.
Lobont denied Butler again in the 53rd minute, conceding a Fulham corner. Arnar Guðmundsson’s delivery found Florian Schneider, and though Lobont managed to parry the German’s effort, he could not respond quickly enough to the rebound shot. And our goalscoring hero? It was the veteran centre-back Unai, with just his second goal in English football!
Six minutes after restoring our lead, Unai found the net again... only it was our net this time. City’s defensive captain Andreas Schwarz unleashed a fierce strike was blocked by Unai, who accidentally turned it past Wayne Hudson for an unlucky own goal. Our 2-1 advantage was up in smoke, and now the momentum was with the visitors...
By the 69th minute, I was regretting my decision to put Hudson back in the posts. Just four minutes after making a great save to stop Jansen from scoring again, Hudson ruined that good work by reacting far too late to a strike from Israeli attacking midfielder Yossi Benayoun.... or "Benny-Noon", as a certain David Pleat might call him.
Little did I know that I would soon be celebrating a dramatic late goal on the Maine Road pitch, just like Pleat did back in 1983. Okay, so Unai’s equalising goal wasn’t quite as crucial as Raddy Antic’s winner for Luton 29 years ago, but it was still a great moment. Teenage midfielder Colm Ryan marked his senior debut with a fantastic corner assist for our Spanish defender, who completed an unlikely brace and salvaged a draw!
Manchester City - 3 (Jansen 9, Unai og59, Benayoun 69)
Fulham - 3 (Butler 7, Unai 53,81)
Division 1, Attendance 26,382 - POSITIONS: Man City 6th, Fulham 14th
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Unai; Edwards (Magnusson), Guðmundsson; Danns, Schneider; Iversen (Ryan); Agritis (Davey), Butler. BOOKED: Edwards.
Wayne Hudson had now conceded eight goals in his last three games. Our captain wasn’t just experiencing a blip - this was a full-blown crisis in confidence.
This could not go on any longer. I reluctantly dropped Hudson to the reserves for a few weeks and gave Wilkinson an extended run in the team.
Wilko would face a tough challenge in our next home game against league leaders Blackburn, who’d scored 93 goals in 41 games so far. Rising star Ryan got his first senior start, while I decided to try Vicente Núñez out as a right wing-back.
14 APRIL 2012: Fulham vs Blackburn Rovers
Midway through the second half, it seemed that our kids were struggling to handle a rather more experienced Blackburn team. Ex-Scotland midfielder Nick Montgomery headed Rovers into the lead after just 18 minutes, and then played a supporting role in their second goal for Marcus Bent just three minutes later.
If there was any crumb of comfort after such a terrible start, it was that Montgomery soon had to come off with a toe injury, stopping Blackburn’s momentum in its tracks. By the 28th minute, we were back in the contest. Colm Ryan’s trickery drew a foul out of Bent, and the subsequent Florian Schneider free-kick was headed in by Michael Butler for the teenager’s first home goal!
Rovers went back on the offensive after the break, but they found Jimmy Wilkinson to be in top form. Wilko was determined to establish himself as our first-choice goalkeeper, and a couple of brilliant saves from Lee Williams and Dean Wilkinson just before the half-hour certainly gave me much to think about.
As Wilkinson continued to frustrate Blackburn, our youngsters showed more confidence going forward. Three minutes from full-time, defender Halldór Magnusson chipped a long ball ahead of Butler, who could have easily gone for goal himself. Instead, he selflessly squared the ball to substitute Michael Gibson, whose tap-in got him off the mark for this campaign. Another game, another late Fulham leveller!
Fulham - 2 (Butler 28, Gibson 87)
Blackburn Rovers - 2 (Montgomery 18, Bent 21)
Division 1, Attendance 14,576 - POSITIONS: Fulham 14th, Blackburn 1st
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Wilkinson; Mitchell, Magnusson, Unai; Núñez, Guðmundsson (Taylor); Ryan (Numme), Schneider; Iversen (Gibson); Devlin, Butler. BOOKED: Butler.
That comeback was sadly not enough to keep alive our slim mathematical hopes of making it to the play-offs. Results elsewhere meant that, with only four games to play, we were now 13 points behind 6th-placed Gillingham.
The pressure was now off our shoulders... and the same could be said of our next opponents. Darlington’s relegation had already been confirmed by the time we arrived at Feethams to play the basement-dwelling Quakers on Bank Holiday Monday.
16 APRIL 2012: Darlington vs Fulham
Despite an impressive double save from Jimmy Wilkinson in the 22nd minute, some poor defending two minutes later seriously undermined our goalkeeper. Graham Edwards, Henning Numme and Jerel Ifil all tried and failed to close down the Darlington youngster Scott Francis, who dribbled past them with ease before smashing in the opening goal. Did I mention that Francis was a centre-back?
In the 35th minute, the worst team in the league made us look like amateurs again. A through-ball from Scottish midfielder David Scott was confidently drilled in by Irish striker Ciarán Quinn, who left us facing a 2-0 deficit at half-time.
I gave my players both barrels in the dressing room, and to be fair, they did show a bit more fight after the break. 17-year-old winger Atle Iversen rifled a decent shot at goal in the 54th minute but couldn’t quite beat the Quakers keeper Duncan Aitchison. Perhaps it would be up to our more experienced players to get us out of this mess?
Fresh hope came in the 70th minute, as Jerel Iifl scored a fierce rebound shot after Florian Schneider’s free-kick came back off the Darlo wall. Sadly, that would be a false dawn. Save for a tame half-chance from Anestis Agritis in the 89th minute, we hardly gave Aitchison anything to do in the closing stages.
Darlington - 2 (Francis 24, Quinn 35)
Fulham - 1 (Ifil 70)
Division 1, Attendance 8,963 - POSITIONS: Darlington 24th, Fulham 15th
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Wilkinson; Mitchell (Taylor), Ifil, Unai; Edwards, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider; Iversen (Gibson); Devlin (Butler), Agritis.
For heaven’s sake, just end the season now!
Five days later, Craven Cottage opened its doors for the final time this season, welcoming a Preston side who were also mired in mid-table mediocrity. This match would mark a curtain call for Cottagers legends McVeigh and Ormerod, who recreated their famous strike partnership for the final time.
21 APRIL 2012: Fulham vs Preston North End
Anyone who arrived at the Cottage hoping to see Paul McVeigh turn back the clock would leave disappointed. The 34-year-old received an excellent through-ball from Florian Schneider in the 26th minute, but the quality of finish was what you’d expect from someone who hadn’t scored since November.
Two minutes later, Preston gatecrashed our strikers’ big farewell party. Their wing-backs surged effortlessly through our defence before Dave Marsh’s low cross from the left flank was finished from the right by Gareth McGlynn. 1-0 to the Lilywhites was how it stayed at half-time.
Another horrific miss from McVeigh in the 55th minute was followed by another Preston goal in the 59th. Substitute winger Gary McAuley played a clever flick-on to striker Colin Morrison, who was given far too much time and space by our defence and beat Jimmy Wilkinson with ease.
Midfielder Vicente Núñez felt particularly guilty for that, having failed to intercept McAuley’s flick-on. The Spaniard set out to repair the damage six minutes later, feeding an excellent pass for Brett Ormerod to pull one goal back. At least one of our departing veterans was finishing their Craven Cottage career on a high...
Sadly, Brett’s strike could not kick-start another late Fulham fightback. A thigh injury to Jerel Ifil in the 76th minute further weakened an already suspect Fulham defence, which leaked another goal six minutes later. Morrison’s half-volley from Olivier Deschacht’s cross was worthy of winning every game, but Wilkinson’s despairing dive summed up another embarrassing performance from the Cottagers.
Fulham - 1 (Ormerod 65)
Preston North End - 3 (McGlynn 28, Morrison 59,82)
Division 1, Attendance 12,533 - POSITIONS: Fulham 15th, Preston 14th
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Wilkinson; Magnusson, Ifil (Edwards), Unai; Núñez, Guðmundsson; Numme, Schneider (Gibson); Danns; Ormerod, McVeigh. BOOKED: Schneider.
What should have been a celebration of two great Fulham strikers instead ended in a chorus of boos across Craven Cottage. We had now gone 11 games without a win, and for the first time since becoming manager, I was seriously starting to question my future.
If we were to finish the campaign on a positive note, we would surely need to take maximum points in our penultimate game, at Moss Rose. Macclesfield’s league-worst defence had shipped 88 goals en route to an inevitable relegation.
The good news was that both Willems and Cable, with the Dutchman getting the nod on the left wing. Hudson regained his place after Wilkinson’s howlers against Preston, and the Cottagers captain would be desperate to show that his best days weren’t behind him.
28 APRIL 2012: Macclesfield Town vs Fulham
Wayne Hudson came under pressure as early as the 17th minute, when he needed to produce a fantastic fingertip save to deny Ben Ellis a great goal for Macclesfield. It looked like another great save would thwart Michael Rogers six minutes later, but Macc’s midfielder and captain fired the rebound in off the post.
As former Aston Villa striker Darius Vassell spurned a couple of chances to give Macclesfield a 2-0 lead, I struggled to find new words to lambast my team with at half-time. Come the 40th minute, I was staring at a water bottle on the touchline, and wondering if I should use that as a projectile. As I heard a huge roar from the away end, I switched my focus just in time to see Björn Willems finish off a sublime solo goal and draw us level!
Willems’ strike had spared his team-mates from some half-time dodging practice, though it was too late to save the disappointing Neil Danns from being subbed off for Henning Numme. I would have to make another change in the 56th minute, as striker Michael Butler picked up a foot injury and was replaced by Peter Devlin.
Having gone off the boil in recent weeks, Devlin had to deliver the goods again if he was to earn a permanent transfer from Aston Villa. 11 minutes after coming on, the Irishman did exactly that, skilfully dribbling past Silkmen defender James Austin en route to scoring his 10th goal in 17 games!
But just as it seemed as we would hold on for our first victory in 12 games... Macclesfield struck back five minutes before half-time. Rogers provided the assist for Vassell, whose rocket beat a despairing Wayne Hudson in the Fulham goal. We were now heading for a disastrous dozen games without a single win...
...until this match took another late twist in the 88th minute! After finding the net twice in the FA Cup, Numme got his first goal contribution in the league, as the 17-year-old midfielder’s low cross was finished by Devlin! With that, we had finally secured our first win since 7 March - and our first away victory since 23 November last year!
Macclesfield Town - 2 (Rogers 23, Vassell 85)
Fulham - 3 (Willems 40, Devlin 67,88)
Division 1, Attendance 6,211 - POSITIONS: Macclesfield 23rd, Fulham 15th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Mitchell, Unai, Magnusson; Danns (Numme), Núñez, Schneider, Willems (Cable); Mølby; Butler (Devlin). BOOKED: Unai, Danns, Mølby, Numme.
In truth, I was more relieved than delighted when the final whistle blew.
The season was nearly over. Just one more match, and then the summer rebuild could begin in earnest.
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of March 2012)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 39 16 1 3 53 23 8 5 6 39 37 78 2nd Wolves 40 17 2 1 49 19 6 5 9 34 43 76 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd West Ham 40 13 5 2 38 16 8 6 6 26 23 74 4th Birmingham 38 13 3 3 48 22 8 5 6 39 36 71 5th Norwich 39 13 4 2 44 30 7 4 9 36 38 68 6th Gillingham 40 12 4 4 41 24 7 6 7 28 29 67 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Nottm Forest 40 12 4 4 50 37 7 5 8 31 37 66 8th Man City 40 10 7 3 43 26 7 5 8 42 49 63 9th Huddersfield 39 11 3 6 36 27 8 3 8 33 38 63 10th Charlton 40 10 4 6 38 27 6 8 6 26 25 60 11th Carlisle 40 12 3 5 36 23 6 2 12 20 29 59 12th Notts Co 40 11 6 3 36 19 4 4 12 32 45 55 13th Fulham 39 9 6 5 33 26 5 6 8 19 30 54 14th Sunderland 40 9 5 6 35 28 6 4 10 39 52 54 15th Chesterfield 39 11 1 7 34 25 4 5 11 32 47 51 16th Preston 40 9 8 4 36 29 2 9 8 25 37 50 17th Aston Villa 39 8 5 7 35 34 5 3 11 25 38 47 18th Sheff Utd 40 7 7 6 40 34 5 3 12 25 39 46 19th W.B.A. 40 10 4 6 40 33 3 3 14 23 41 46 20th Tottenham 40 7 7 6 30 29 4 4 12 27 43 44 21st Swindon 40 7 6 7 42 43 4 1 15 16 37 40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Kidderminster 40 8 6 6 26 23 0 5 15 9 35 35 23rd Macclesfield 40 6 3 10 35 36 1 3 17 15 46 27 24th Darlington 40 5 4 10 18 23 1 4 16 15 42 26
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Parma’s unbeaten Serie A record is snapped in the 24th match, as Alberto Teixeira’s 37th-minute strike inspires Lazio to victory. As Parma suffer another defeat at Genoa a few weeks later, Lazio reel them in - moving just a point behind with a game in hand. Meanwhile, Juventus sack their manager Bum-Kun Cha and poach Napoli boss Alberto Malesani in a desperate bid to stave off relegation to Serie B.
- Champions League holders Dortmund crash out at the second group stage, after their must-win final game at home to Barcelona ends in a 1-0 defeat. Bundesliga leaders VfB Stuttgart are the last German team standing in the Quarter Finals, with Liverpool and Celtic flying the flag for the UK.
- It’s turning into a sensational season for Hibernian, who go top of the Scottish Premier League and reach the UEFA Cup Quarter Finals. Swedish youngster Denis Adolfsson secures a famous win at the Santiago Bernabéu as Hibs thrash Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in Round 4... only to be knocked out by Belgian side Lommel in the next round.
- The Premiership’s bottom three all replace their managers as the relegation battle heats up. Bradford finally realise that hiring Ryan Giggs was a mistake and appoint Peterborough’s Gary Butterworth as their third manager of the season. Coventry dismiss John Toshack and bring in Steve Bruce from Nottingham Forest, while Mark Hughes takes over at Crystal Palace after Joe Royle quits for a second time.
- There are also big changes in Berlin, where Rafa Benítez is named Hertha BSC’s new manager. For his first experiment, Benítez decides that star striker Júlio Baptista should play as a defensive midfielder against Rostock. Hertha lose 2-0.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- “Kony 2012” - a short documentary about the Ugandan general and war criminal Joseph Kony - goes viral upon its release. Celebrities such as George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey use the film to bring awareness to the abuse and killing of children across East and Central Africa at the hands of Kony.
- Job-swapping doesn’t just happen in football. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin returns to the Kremlin after winning the Russian presidential election by a landslide, while former President Dmitry Medvedev is named as the new PM. Huh.
- After 12 years of subjecting her contestants to withering put-downs and razor-sharp remarks, BBC presenter Anne Robinson says her last goodbye on "The Weakest Link". The battle to replace Robinson as the nastiest gameshow host on British TV ends in a huge fist fight between Alexander Armstrong and Bradley Walsh.
- The Encyclopædia Britannica goes out of print after 244 years, and will only be available online from now on. Or at least that’s what Wikipedia says.
0 -
MARCH 2012
March really was a make-or-break month for Fulham. The next six league matches would go some way to determining whether we could get back into play-off contention - or if we would instead have to contemplate a season of mid-table mediocrity. Oh yes, and let’s not forget we had an FA Cup Quarter Final too!
We opened up the month at White Hart Lane against Tottenham, who were hopping in and out of the relegation places before new manager Steve McClaren pulled them closer to safety. 19-goal striker Mikael Forssell was a particularly potent threat for Spurs, though they were missing their creative star Enzo Maresca through suspension.
We had a couple of selection headaches of our own. Centre-back Jerel Ifil and midfielder Neil Danns were both in the Caribbean, playing in World Cup qualifiers for Saint Lucia and Guyana respectively.
3 MARCH 2012: Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham
Despite being without two regular starters, we looked the better team throughout the first 15 minutes. Peter Devlin and Tom Mølby registered a shot on target each, while Florian Schneider was frustrated by the bar in the 9th. Bearing that in mind, can you guess which team actually broke the deadlock?
That’s right... Tottenham. After 17 minutes, Schneider picked up his customary yellow card - his ninth of the season - and handed Spurs a free-kick about 25 yards from goal. This was a fantastic opportunity for Richard Graham, which the Northern Ireland midfielder snatched with an excellent strike.
Then, in the 33rd minute, it got even worse. Dutch wing-back Danny de Jong whipped in a devastating corner, which former Oxford defender Peter Clark headed in to break his Spurs duck. 2-0 to the hosts.
Graham fired over an opportunity to give Tottenham a 3-0 half-time lead, and then a glimmer of hope came our way just before half-time. Schneider made amends for his earlier error with a clever square ball to Peter Devlin, whose tidy finish halved our deficit to 2-1.
Tottenham made a bright start to the second half, but some fine goalkeeping from Wayne Hudson just about kept us in contention. By the 61st minute, we were more than just in contention - we were back level! Anestis Agritis’ cross was nodded on by Mølby towards the delightfully devilish Devlin, who half-volleyed in his second of the night.
Sadly, the comeback ended there, and there would be no hat-trick for Devlin, who had three other shots saved by Spurs keeper Dean Lewis. Hudson was just as formidable at the other end, and so a match that saw an incredible 30 shots at goal - 18-12 in Spurs’ favour - ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw!
Tottenham Hotspur - 2 (Graham 17, Clark 33)
Fulham - 2 (Devlin 45,61)
Division 1, Attendance 34,893 - POSITIONS: Tottenham 18th, Fulham 12th
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Defensive): Hudson; Mitchell, Thatcher (Cable), Unai; Edwards (Magnusson), Schneider (Núñez), Guðmundsson; Mølby, Numme; Agritis, Devlin. BOOKED: Schneider, Mitchell.
This latest result left us 10 points behind the play-off places, with 11 matches to play. Time was running out.
Next up was a must-win home game against third-from-bottom Kidderminster, who had won just once so far in 2012. If we were to push my old club into deeper trouble, we would need to do it without our suspended wing-back Arnar Guðmundsson.
7 MARCH 2012: Fulham vs Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster had become a rather negative team under Tony Adams in recent months, and their young Dutch sensation Albert Mulder was left rudderless up front. Indeed, the Harriers were so poor that Wayne Hudson didn’t have to make a single save all match long.
At the other end, it was a very different story. Peter Devlin hit the post in the 2nd minute, and then missed the target in the 23rd minute, but the Irishman’s third effort would be the charm. Once he drove in a low cross from Wayne Cable 10 minutes before half-time, we were in complete control.
Devlin’s strike partner Anestis Agritis would not get on the scoreboard, unluckily hitting the woodwork in the 77th minute. Seven minutes before then, however, he had set up the goal that practically secured victory. A clever knockdown was met by a stunning volley from - of all people - our teenage right-back Graham Edwards! Nobody saw that coming, and certainly not Kiddy’s hapless goalkeeper Kent Ivarsson!
Fulham - 2 (Devlin 35, Edwards 70)
Kidderminster Harriers - 0
Division 1, Attendance 12,752 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Kidderminster 22nd
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil, Unai, Magnusson; Danns, Núñez, Schneider, Cable (Willems); Mølby (Agritis); Devlin (Gibson).
After scoring his first goal in senior football, 19-year-old Graham Edwards was duly rewarded... by being dropped for our next game. In fairness to Our Graham, it was a big one.
Having knocked out Newcastle in Round 5, we welcomed Birmingham to Craven Cottage for the FA Cup Quarter Finals. Paul Lambert’s Blues were 3rd in Division 1 and on a two-month unbeaten run, so this would be our toughest challenge yet.
10 MARCH 2012: Fulham vs Birmingham City
This was Florian Schneider’s last match before he would be forced to serve a four-match suspension. The German was eager to make his mark, and he got a great chance after just two minutes, following a foul on Tom Mølby. Schneider loved a close-range free-kick, which he confidently fired beyond Birmingham keeper Matt Bates to break the deadlock.
Incidentally, the player who fouled Mølby for that free-kick was City’s centre-back and captain Domenico Palmieri, who was booked in the 9th minute following another trip on our young Danish playmaker. Palmieri’s Italian compatriot Fabio Campese posed a very different threat at the other end, sending a volley just over the bar in the 35th minute.
Meanwhile, Birmingham’s dirty play yielded a few more Fulham free-kicks, though Schneider could not recreate his earlier magic. Peter Devlin also had a couple of efforts saved by Bates, whose impressive goalkeeping warned us that we couldn’t book our Semi Final tickets just yet.
Birmingham had suffered a major setback just before half-time, when their top assist-maker Grant McCann suffered a shin injury. In McCann’s absence, the role of creator-in-chief fell to the skilful South African Benedict Vilakazi, who set up several equalising chances for the Blues. Even so, our defence held firm and kept us on course for another famous win...
...until the 66th minute. A left-wing cross from Vilakazi was punched away by Wayne Hudson, but only as far as Campese, whose follow-up drive was just too powerful for our goalkeeper. Birmingham had drawn level, which meant we would have to go back to their place to settle this Quarter Final.
Fulham - 1 (Schneider 2)
Birmingham City - 1 (Campese 66)
FA Cup Quarter Final, Attendance 17,043
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Ifil, Unai (Thatcher), Magnusson; Gibson (Danns), Numme, Schneider, Willems; Mølby (Agritis); Devlin.
While it was frustrating that we couldn’t finish Birmingham off in 90 minutes, we would at least have a second bite at the cherry - at St Andrew’s on 21 March. The winner of that match would face Crewe at a neutral venue in the Semi Finals, while Bolton and Blackburn would face off in the other Semi.
Unfortunately, Florian Schneider would now miss the replay - and all our remaining fixtures this month - as the German anchor man started a four-match ban. That run of fixtures began at the County Ground, against a struggling Swindon team.
14 MARCH 2012: Swindon Town vs Fulham
Peter Devlin was fast becoming a new Fulham hero, and his reputation only grew after three minutes. The Irishman met Tom Mølby’s through-ball with a powerful and clinical finish, which should have put us on track for a straightforward win. If only.
Things started to go wrong in the ninth minute, when Vicente Núñez - the man who replaced Florian Schneider in our midfield anchor role - pulled up with a knee injury. That meant 17-year-old Henning Numme had to come on to protect our defence, which went about as well as you’d expect. Swindon were back on level terms by the 27th minute, as ex-Cambridge striker Demba Traore scored a penalty after being knocked down by Graham Edwards.
Swindon now had the advantage in the midfield battles, so we resorted to an all-out attacking strategy. Despite racking up multiple shots on target before half-time, our attackers were constantly denied by some smart saves from Nicky Weaver.
We were now looking rather dishevelled - Edwards especially. The young right-back made another costly foul five minutes into the second half, when he upended Clarence Acuña 20 yards from goal. Graham somehow escaped without a yellow card and lined up in the defensive wall... but Leon Knight punished him again with an excellent direct free-kick. 2-1 to Swindon.
Things only got worse on 69 minutes, with a foot injury to Jerel Ifil further weakening a suspect Fulham defence. Three minutes later, Robins substitute Matt Gray made a mockery of our Schneider-less midfield to set up a fantastic strike for Nigeria wing-back Abiodun Agunbiade. We were now 3-1, and it was surely game over... surely?
Then things got interesting. Weaver had been almost unbeatable in the Swindon goal until he lost focus in the 79th minute, when he strayed from his line and left himself horribly exposed to a Devlin centre, which was headed in by Wayne Cable. Could we now find another late goal to somehow snatch a draw?
The stage was set for Fulham substitute Michael Butler to finally make his mark. The 18-year-old striker had made 28 senior appearances without scoring, and when he hit the crossbar nine minutes from time, it looked like that drought would continue. But Michael got another chance to pop his cherry three minutes later - and when he popped Arnar Guðmundsson’s left-wing cross into the net, the unbridled joy on his face was clear to see! Butler to the rescue!
Swindon Town - 3 (Traore pen27, Knight 50, Agunbiade 72)
Fulham - 3 (Devlin 3, Cable 79, Butler 84)
Division 1, Attendance 11,474 - POSITIONS: Swindon 20th, Fulham 12th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil (Mitchell), Unai, Guðmundsson; Danns, Mølby, Núñez (Numme), Cable; Agritis (Butler), Devlin. BOOKED: Unai.
That was the kind of match which showed how much we relied upon Schneider to protect the defence. To make matters worse, our other defensive midfielder Vicente Núñez was now out for three weeks with strained knee ligaments. Centre-back Jerel Ifil would also face a spell on the sidelines with a damaged heel.
A week later, it was time for Take 2 of our FA Cup Quarter Final. Could the Cottagers finally get past Birmingham and move one step closer to Wembley... or would this be the end of our cup journey?
21 MARCH 2012: Birmingham City vs Fulham
Benedict Vilakazi was our nemesis in the second half of the first meeting - and the South African attacking midfielder haunted us again in the first half of the second game. Vilakazi sent a shot inches wide in the 10th minute... but his talents were best used for creating chances, not taking them. A clever through-ball to Fabio Campese was met by a cool low finish from the young Italian forward, and Birmingham led 1-0.
The Blues moved further ahead in the 40th minute, as Henning Numme’s weaknesses in the ‘Schneider role’ were left horribly exposed. Though the enthusiastic teenager made a fine tackle to dispossess Vilakazi, he left a wide open space for Campese to run the loose ball into. Within moments, Campese’s lay-off to Richard Hughes was finished by Stephen Cooke - a former Aston Villa youth striker who was now thrilling the St Andrew’s faithful.
Mind you, we also had a striker with strong Villa connections. When our on-loan Villan Peter Devlin trapped Wayne Cable’s low cross and thrusted it into the net, he was greeted with a chorus of boos from the Bluenoses in the crowd. More importantly, the travelling Cottagers had been given renewed hope in time for the second half.
Sadly, that hope would be snatched away in the 63rd minute. Despite being injured in the original tie, Grant McCann had recovered quickly enough to reclaim his place in Birmingham’s midfield. The Northern Ireland ace delivered a fantastic cross that right-back Lewis Buxton headed home for his second goal of the season. Yes, his first goal was also against us...
But maybe there were a few more twists to come? Three minutes later, Dutch winger Björn Willems - who replaced a booked and fatigued Cable at half-time - crossed to his fellow loanee Devlin in City’s six-yard box. Bates managed to save Devlin’s initial effort, but not the rebound, which pulled us back to 3-2.
Our hopes were raised even further in the 78th minute, when two quickfire yellow cards led to Hughes’ dismissal - and Birmingham going down to 10 men. Alas, we couldn’t create anything meaningful in what time remained, and so our FA Cup run ended right there. Instead, it was Paul Lambert’s Blues who moved within 90 minutes of Wembley.
Birmingham City - 3 (Campese 26, Cooke 40, Buxton 63)
Fulham - 2 (Devlin 45,66)
FA Cup Quarter Final, Attendance 27,499
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Mitchell, Unai, Magnusson; Danns, Mølby, Numme (Gibson), Cable (Willems); Agritis (Butler), Devlin. BOOKED: Cable.
There was little doubt Birmingham deserved to win the tie, but it felt like a huge opportunity had been missed. This season’s FA Cup had been blown wide open by a number of major shocks, and this could have been Fulham’s best chance to reach a first Final since 1975.
Anyway, we now had to dust ourselves off and focus on getting back in the play-off race before it was too late. Taking maximum points from Brunton Park against Carlisle would be vital to achieving that.
28 MARCH 2012: Carlisle United vs Fulham
The 13th minute was particularly unlucky for us, as a reunion with an old colleague of mine turned sour. Carlisle broke the deadlock nice and early when midfielder Jamie Ingledow lashed home a deft flick-on from teenage striker Stephen Pearce. And yes, that is the same Stephen Pearce who came out of Kidderminster’s youth academy when I was still at Aggborough.
Three minutes later, it was 2-0 to the Cumbrians, as Pearce got on the scoresheet. However, it was Keith Pearce (no relation to Stephen) who made the run from midfield to finish a clever move from the experienced Hayden Mullins. For once, our usually solid goalkeeping captain Wayne Hudson was looking a bit shaky.
Carlisle’s high-tempo attacking game continued to cause problems after the break. In the 53rd minute, captain Jimmy Davis exchanged passes with the talented 17-year-old right-winger Stephen Knight and then got free in the penalty area, where he put a third Cumbrian goal past Hudson.
At that point, Carlisle were so comfortable that manager Nicky Law could afford to sub off his star defender - a certain Roque Júnior. The idea of a former Brazil international wanting to call Brunton Park his home seemed quite amusing to me, but our performance certainly wasn’t. We could only manage a couple of shots at goal in the entire match, and neither Peter Devlin nor Henning Numme got particularly close.
Carlisle United - 3 (Ingledow 13, K Pearce 16, Davis 53)
Fulham - 0
Division 1, Attendance 15,088 - POSITIONS: Carlisle 11th, Fulham 13th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards (Ifil), Mitchell, Unai, Guðmundsson; Iversen (Danns), Mølby, Numme, Willems; Agritis, Devlin (Butler). BOOKED: Ifil.
And with that result, we can probably kiss goodbye to the play-offs...
To finish off yet another frustrating moment in a season which has turned me into a trichotillomaniac, we hosted 10th-placed Charlton at the Cottage. Irish teenagers Seán Lynch and Colm Ryan were both named on the bench as I started to shift my focus towards developing our younger players.
31 MARCH 2012: Fulham vs Charlton Athletic
Speaking of Fulham youngsters, anyone who was hoping to see some magic from a certain Welsh wizard would be left bitterly disappointed. 17-year-old Wayne Cable could only manage six minutes before his knee gave way, forcing me to bring on Björn Willems as a very early substitute.
Once Cable was cut from the game, our confidence seemed to go with it. Charlton’s attackers gave us a few close calls throughout the first half before eventually breaking through on 38 minutes. Peter Devlin was booked for conceding a free-kick, which Addicks defender Colin Burns swung in for striker Richard May to fire home. That was May’s 17th goal of this campaign - as many as the Charlton stalwart had netted in the previous five seasons combined.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time, I decided to shake things up... and took off Devlin. In his place, I brought on our record scorer Paul McVeigh for his first appearance in over a month. Meanwhile, Charlton boss Alan Curbishley gave a run-out to a rather less experienced frontman - 21-year-old Norwegian Frode Vartomten, who was making just his second senior appearance.
One of those substitutes would score the all-important second goal after 56 minutes... and it wasn’t McVeigh. Vartomten was pretty nippy, and he impeccably timed his run to connect with a cross from Addicks captain Tranquillo Barnetta and fire it home. In all fairness, Vartomten’s shot wasn’t great, and Wayne Hudson really should have saved it.
There was more frustration at the other end, as Charlton’s defence resolutely kept out everything we could throw at them. Goalkeeper Paul McDonald and centre-half Damien Delaney were both very impressive, but the ‘man of the match’ award went to Barry Buxton - a 19-year-old left-back who would soon be named Division 1’s Young Player of the Month for a second time. It was hard not to feel jealous about our London rivals’ youth academy...
Fulham - 0
Charlton Athletic - 2 (May 38, Vartomten 56)
Division 1, Attendance 24,910 - POSITIONS: Fulham 13th, Charlton 10th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Guðmundsson (Lynch), Mitchell, Unai, Magnusson; Gibson, Mølby, Numme, Cable (Willems); Agritis, Devlin (McVeigh). BOOKED: Devlin.
In just a few weeks, it has all gone horribly, horribly wrong. We’re out of the FA Cup, our play-off dreams are dead in the water, Wayne Hudson has forgotten how to use his hands... and now Wayne Cable is injured for the next three weeks.
Frankly, I can’t wait until it’s the off-season, so I can tear this team up and start from scratch.
0 -
DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of February 2012)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 33 14 0 3 46 19 7 3 6 35 35 66 2nd West Ham 34 12 3 2 34 14 6 6 5 22 20 63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wolves 33 14 2 1 38 13 4 5 7 27 35 61 4th Norwich 34 11 4 2 40 29 6 4 7 28 29 59 5th Birmingham 33 11 3 3 42 21 6 4 6 30 32 58 6th Gillingham 34 11 4 2 37 19 5 5 7 23 26 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Nottm Forest 34 10 3 4 42 33 6 5 6 26 31 56 8th Charlton 34 9 4 5 36 25 5 6 5 22 20 52 9th Notts Co 34 10 6 1 32 15 4 4 9 29 37 52 10th Man City 34 8 6 2 34 20 6 4 8 37 45 52 11th Huddersfield 33 9 3 5 29 21 6 2 8 28 36 50 12th Fulham 34 8 6 4 31 24 5 4 7 14 22 49 13th Sunderland 34 8 4 5 31 24 5 3 9 35 47 46 14th Chesterfield 34 10 1 6 32 23 3 5 9 28 42 45 15th Carlisle 34 9 2 5 28 22 4 2 12 17 28 43 16th Preston 34 7 7 4 32 28 2 8 6 23 31 42 17th Sheff Utd 34 6 5 6 37 33 5 3 9 24 33 41 18th Aston Villa 34 6 5 6 30 31 5 2 10 24 35 40 19th Tottenham 34 7 5 4 26 22 4 2 12 24 40 40 20th W.B.A. 34 8 4 5 35 28 2 3 12 19 36 37 21st Swindon 34 7 4 5 35 33 4 0 14 16 35 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Kidderminster 34 8 5 5 25 20 0 5 11 8 27 34 23rd Macclesfield 34 5 3 8 32 31 1 3 14 15 41 24 24th Darlington 34 4 3 9 15 20 1 4 13 14 36 22
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- As leaders Arsenal begin to splutter, could Chelsea retain their Premiership title after all? Cristiano Ronaldo scores four goals in a 5-1 thrashing of fellow title challengers Leeds, and then kick-starts a 2-1 comeback win at Manchester United. Ronaldo is already on 30 league goals for the campaign, with an unbelievable average rating of 8.76!
- Underdogs Togo advance to their first African Cup of Nations Final in Casablanca, Morocco. A 98th-minute strike from Palermo striker Mohamed Kader puts Les Éperviers on the brink of a shock victory, but South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena equalises in the 116th to take the game to penalties. Togo duo Thomas Dossevi and Eric Akoto both miss their spot-kicks, as Bafana Bafana romp to a 4-2 shoot-out win - and a record-equalling 4th AFCON title.
- Juventus slump to 12th in Serie A after losing five straight games, including a 3-1 defeat to leaders Parma. Meanwhile, 2nd-placed Lazio pull 12 points clear of Roma, having gone from strength to strength since poaching veteran defender Walter Samuel from their bitter rivals.
- Despite reports that Lionel Messi and Mateja Kezman have both fallen out with manager Carlos Bianchi, Barcelona stretch their La Liga lead on Real Madrid to nine points. Kezman and Messi are particularly impressive in a 4-0 Champions League home win over Milan... who then thrash Barça 4-0 at the San Siro a week later.
- After just 15 days as Montrose manager, David Seaman leaves to become the new head coach at Benfica. The former England boss admits it was a very tough decision to decide whether to stay in the Scottish Highlands or move to Lisbon.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- American superstar singer Whitney Houston tragically drowns in her bathtub at a Beverly Hills hotel, aged just 48. Best-known for hit singles such as "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and "I Will Always Love You", Houston released her comeback album in 2009, following years of drug abuse and a turbulent marriage to Bobby Brown.
- Trayvon Martin - a 17-year-old black teenager - is shot dead by a Hispanic man in Sanford, Florida. George Zimmermann claims that he shot Trayvon in self-defence, but when police decline to arrest him immediately, a huge debate ensues about racial profiling - and Florida’s stand-your-ground law.
- French black-and-white comedy drama “The Artist” wins five Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards, including Best Director (for Michel Hazanavicius) and Best Picture. The film’s cast are speechless.
- “21” by Adele wins Best Album at the Brit Awards, but her acceptance speech is cut short after Blur’s Damon Albarn rambles on for two hours straight. Adele responds by giving the organisers the middle finger, smashing up a load of crockery, and setting fire to the O2 Arena.
2 -
FEBRUARY 2012
Despite making steady progress in the FA Cup, our league form had fallen apart. We had picked up just four points from our last seven matches, leaving us eight points adrift of the Division 1 play-off spots. It was time to make changes before we slipped even further down the table.
To strengthen the third-least prolific attack in the league, I brought in Peter Devlin on loan from Aston Villa until the end of the season. The 24-year-old Irishman wasn’t the most natural finisher, but he was extremely quick, and his off-the-ball intelligence was very good too.
Devlin went straight into the starting XI for a home game against Chesterfield, who were two points and two spots behind us. Spireites striker Lars Iver Strand was the leading scorer in Division 1, with 22 goals and eight assists to his credit.
4 FEBRUARY 2012: Fulham vs Chesterfield
I gave another chance at left-back to Halldór Magnusson... and the 20-year-old Icelander responded by getting his first Fulham assist after just four minutes. Magnusson’s low cross to the far post was stabbed in by the onrushing Neil Danns for an early lead!
Ben Thatcher narrowly escaped a red card in the 12th minute, after apparently swinging an elbow into the face of Chesterfield midfielder Matthew Christensen. Less than a minute later, another Welshman gave the Spireites even more reason to be annoyed. Wayne Cable’s purple patch continued with a fantastic cross to the near post, where Anestis Agritis headed home.
Agritis’ new strike partner Peter Devlin almost joined him on the scoresheet three minutes before half-time, but a pot-shot only found the side netting. While there would be no debut goal for Devlin, Agritis would double his tally five minutes into the second period. The Greek goal machine got his head to another devastating Cable cross, leaving young Marcos López Álvarez helpless in the Chesterfield goal.
We settled for three goals, which as many shots as our visitors had in a very one-sided game. The only one to even trouble Wayne Hudson in the Fulham was an effort from South Korean wing-back Chong-Goog Song midway through the second half. Other than that, Bryan Robson’s team looked every bit the mediocre mid-table team.
Fulham - 3 (Danns 4, Agritis 13,50)
Chesterfield - 0
Division 1, Attendance 17,841 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Chesterfield 15th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Ifil, Thatcher, Magnusson (Mitchell); Danns, Núñez, Schneider, Cable (Bouchiba); Agritis, Devlin (McVeigh). BOOKED: Thatcher, Magnusson.
A clinical performance for once! I didn’t see that coming.
Newcastle defeated Manchester City on penalties in their FA Cup replay in midweek, which meant that Brian Quinn’s Magpies would travel to Craven Cottage for Round 5. That tie would take place after our next away league game.
We arrived at Priestfield fielding exactly the same starting line-up that had so emphatically dismantled Chesterfield. Gillingham would surely provide a much tougher test, as Peter Reid’s side had serious play-off ambitions in their first season back up.
11 FEBRUARY 2012: Gillingham vs Fulham
Gillingham’s attacking threat was obvious from the start. Richard Sadlier’s 2nd-minute volley was well saved by Wayne Hudson, who then watched Inácio Piá’s 7th-minute effort hit the woodwork. Hudson also saved from Veigar Páll Gunnarson in the 10th minute, but the Northern Irish midfielder Gareth Graham blasted in the rebound to break the deadlock.
The Gills continued to pepper shots at goal (without much success) before we launched our first counter-attack in the 29th minute. Young playmaker Vicente Núñez drove an excellent direct ball ahead of Wayne Cable, whose low strike appeared to have given us an equaliser. Unfortunately, an offside flag against Neil Danns said otherwise.
Another big chance came our way three minutes before half-time. Gillingham defender Trevor Sinclair (no, not that one) jumped unfairly with Anestis Agritis in the penalty area, and the referee awarded us a spot-kick. Our main penalty taker Jerel Ifil ran confidently to the spot... but Colin Hunwick’s goalkeeping was spot-on, and we remained behind at the break.
Speaking of Hunwick, do you guys remember when he was a reserve at Kidderminster and I called him "a non-league keeper at best"? Well, I sure looked like a right mug when Colin continued to frustrate us in the second half, saving a couple of strikes from Agritis and Peter Devlin. Agritis then headed a Brett Ormerod cross against the bar in the 69th minute, summing up a disastrous night in front of goal.
Ormerod would create one more chance for our other frontman in the 81st minute. A first-time delivery into the box found Devlin, and the Irish loanee volleyed past Hunwick to break his Cottagers duck! What a goal to save us a point!
Gillingham - 1 (Graham 10)
Fulham - 1 (Devlin 81)
Division 1, Attendance 5,555 - POSITIONS: Gillingham 7th, Fulham 12th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Ifil (Mitchell), Thatcher, Magnusson; Danns, Núñez, Schneider, Cable (Ormerod); Agritis (Bouchiba), Devlin. BOOKED: Thatcher.
Following another episode of "The Late Late Fulham Show", the curtain came down on Walter Piccolo’s Cottagers career. The out-of-favour Italian centre-back was sold to Sheffield United for £1.1million, after making 122 appearances in five-and-a-half years.
Would our FA Cup adventure also be drawing to a close? Newcastle’s recent form heading into our Round 5 meeting might not have been great, but their counter-attacking abilities could not be underestimated.
18 FEBRUARY 2012: Fulham vs Newcastle United
Newcastle had two chances to assert their authority over us within the first three minutes. England forward Tommy Smith volleyed a shot against the post before Shunsuke Nakamura’s free-kick forced a save out of Wayne Hudson.
Somehow, we held on through the difficult early stages... and then, in the 24th minute, we put the cat amongst the Magpies. A fantastic Fulham team move ended with Arnar Guðmundsson curling a first-time cross through the Newcastle box for Neil Danns to finish.
We then looked to double our lead in the 31st minute, after Paul McVeigh was pushed by his former Northern Ireland team-mate Aaron Hughes on the edge of Newcastle’s area. Florian Schneider elected to take the free-kick, even though he hadn’t yet scored for Fulham... or at least he hadn’t until he blasted in an unstoppable 20-yarder! 2-0 Fulham!
By the 41st minute, we were in dreamland. Thousands of Cottagers were doing the ‘Numme, Numme’ dance after 17-year-old Henning Numme dribbled past three United players and rocketed a screamer into the top corner! The Norwegian sensation who had got us past Hereford in Round 4 had now put us on the brink of an FA Cup Quarter Final!
Newcastle were now in utter disarray, no more so than when an attempt to pull a goal back in the 68th minute went horribly wrong... or horribly right, if you’re a Fulham fan. Smith’s close-range half-volley was blocked off the line by Jerel Ifil, and Numme hoofed it deep into the Newcastle half, where Agritis had only the goalkeeper to beat. Sven Winter was right on the edge of his own penalty area, so Agritis audaciously lobbed the ball over the German and into an empty net! FULHAM 4, NEWCASTLE 0!
Magpies boss Brian Quinn was so discontent with Winter’s performance that he subbed him off, with backup Paul Brown going in goal for the closing stages. His team’s FA Cup adventure did end on a somewhat bright note, with Switzerland striker Marcel Ceccaroni scoring an 87th-minute penalty after Ifil fouled Smith. We then lost winger Elbekay Bouchiba to a serious groin injury, though neither of those events mattered very much once the full-time whistle blew.
Fulham - 4 (Danns 24, Schneider 32, Numme 41, Agritis 68)
Newcastle United - 1 (Ceccaroni pen87)
FA Cup Round 5, Attendance 13,726
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil, Thatcher (Mitchell), Guðmundsson; Danns, Numme, Schneider, Cable (Bouchiba); McVeigh (Devlin), Agritis. BOOKED: Thatcher, Cable, Bouchiba.
No, you read that correctly. Fulham were in the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup!
Having made it all the way to the last eight, we now believed that anything was possible, especially after the Round 6 draw was made. Once again, we were drawn at home - and once again, we would have to wait to learn who we would face. Either our play-off rivals Birmingham or Division 2 strugglers Millwall would be heading to the Cottage next month.
Unfortunately, there was a sad epilogue to an extraordinary result. A scan on Elbekay Bouchiba’s groin the following afternoon confirmed a muscle tear, which would need three months to heal. Bouchiba’s season was all but over - and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, he had almost certainly made his last appearance for the club.
We now needed another left-winger to provide competition for Wayne Cable, so I brought in another Dutchman to replace Bouchiba. A deal was agreed with Arsenal to take 25-year-old Björn Willems on loan for the rest of the season.
We also added some more depth at centre-back, signing 35-year-old Spaniard Unai from my old club Kidderminster for £35,000. This obviously wasn’t a long-term deal - only running until the summer of 2013 - but I brought him in mainly to help his compatriot Vicente Núñez settle into the British lifestyle.
In midweek, we travelled to the Stadium of Light, for what was sure to be a thrilling rematch with a Sunderland team who beat us 4-3 back in September. Could we continue our resurgence and claim another big north-east scalp?
21 FEBRUARY 2012: Sunderland vs Fulham
Sunderland goalkeeper James Jowsey was a busy man early on, thwarting a couple of efforts from Neil Danns. While Neil wouldn’t score his third goal in four games, another in-form midfielder fared better in the 12th minute. Jowsey’s awkward save from Anestis Agritis’ header fell invitingly to the German Florian Schneider, who efficiently converted his second goal in back-to-back matches!
We had benefitted from a slight goalkeeping mishap... but 15 minutes later, it was Sunderland’s turn to profit from one. Wayne Hudson could not make a clean catch from Michael Stewart’s volley, and that allowed another Mackems midfielder - the much-travelled Ben Rix - to score the rebound.
A couple more Jowsey saves just before half-time frustrated our efforts to get back in front. While we clearly looked flustered in the second half, our hosts gradually grew more confident. By the 61st minute, it was the Black Cats who held a 2-1 lead, courtesy of Rix’s header from a brilliant cross by captain Gareth Barry.
Jowsey’s continued heroics in the Sunderland goal were bettered only by some resilient defending from centre-half Barry - a 33-cap England international who had no business being down in Division 1. Fittingly, it was Barry who secured victory for the hosts in the 89th minute, converting a penalty after being fouled by Vicente Núñez.
Sunderland - 3 (Rix 27,61, Barry pen89)
Fulham - 1 (Schneider 12)
Division 1, Attendance 41,978 - POSITIONS: Sunderland 12th, Fulham 13th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Danns (Gibson), Mølby (Núñez), Schneider, Cable; Devlin (McVeigh), Agritis. BOOKED: Guðmundsson.
Same old wasteful Fulham. We had now slipped into the bottom half - 10 points adrift of the play-offs. Arnar Guðmundsson had also picked up his 5th booking of the season, which meant one of our top performers would have to miss the home game against Kidderminster next month.
To make matters worse, Paul McVeigh suffered a groin strain in training and was ruled out for several weeks. I know he hadn’t scored in ages, but he was still a useful team player whose experience was invaluable.
Four days after the Sunderland defeat, we faced a tricky London derby at home to 2nd-placed West Ham. Willems made his Cottagers debut after missing the trip to Wearside with a gashed head.
25 FEBRUARY 2012: Fulham vs West Ham United
Wayne Hudson was called into action in the very first minute, saving a header from West Ham striker Simon Lynch. He wouldn’t be so fortunate against the Hammers’ other frontman Dave Nugent in the 9th minute. 36-year-old Ben Thatcher’s lack of pace was horribly exposed by the pacey Scouser, who brushed past the defender and then blasted home.
West Ham continued to pile pressure on us throughout the opening half-hour. However, the momentum shifted significantly when their veteran midfielder - and former Cottagers favourite - Luis Boa Morte was forced to come off with a thigh injury. Without Boa Morte’s creativity and skill, the Hammers lacked that extra spark they needed to take control of the game.
Then, just before half-time, we struck back. Tom Mølby played a clever one-two with Peter Devlin before flicking the ball on to our newest goalscoring sensation - Florian Schneider, who netted for the third match in a row!
West Ham’s goalkeeper Shay Given was so annoyed at conceding that equaliser that he was on a mission for the second half. Pretty much every shot we had after the break was stopped by Given, who made even the most unlikely save look routine. Schneider was denied twice, while Agritis and substitute Henning Numme were also left wondering what they had to do to beat the Irishman.
After all those chances, it would have been really galling had West Ham scored a late winner. Homegrown youngster Daniel Cooke blazed a shot over the bar in the 85th minute, but Lynch got much closer in stoppage time, nodding left-back Barry Kelly’s flick-on against the bar. Had that been a few inches lower, our poor home record would have got even worse...
Fulham - 1 (Schneider 45)
West Ham United - 1 (Nugent 9)
Division 1, Attendance 22,175 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, West Ham 2nd
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Mitchell, Thatcher (Unai), Magnusson; Danns, Mølby, Schneider, Willems (Numme); Agritis, Devlin (Butler).
It’s so infuriating when your attackers frequently make opposition goalkeepers look like Gordon Banks. At least defensive midfielder Florian Schneider had found the target for the third time in three games, having been goalless in his first 28 matches!
February ended with the rarest of spectacles - a Leap Day fixture. We received a visit from 17th-placed Sheffield United, who were looking to make a giant step towards safety.
29 FEBRUARY 2012: Fulham vs Sheffield United
Sheffield United struck the first blow after just three minutes. Blades left-back Mike Holland lifted an indirect free-kick into our penalty area, where striker Billy Paynter rose high above Jerel Ifil to head in the opener.
In the 15th minute, though, we levelled through a set-piece of our own. Tom Mølby whipped in a corner to loanee Peter Devlin, who flicked in his first home goal for the Cottagers!
A bright start to the match then got even better for us, with Neil Danns bagging TWO goals within the next 11 minutes. The Guyana midfielder got on the scoreboard in the 18th minute, converting the rebound after United goalkeeper Mark Goodlad had parried a header from Anestis Agritis. Goodlad certainly wasn’t good enough to keep out a long-range strike from Danns eight minutes later.
We were now in a 3-1 lead... at least until the 33rd minute, when Raffaele Mazzocco got the Blades back in contention. The silky-smooth Italian attacker skinned Peter Mitchell and Graham Edwards in the Fulham defence before a skilful left-footed shot halved our advantage.
Neither goalkeeper had covered themselves in glory in the first half, but Wayne Hudson looked much more alert in the second half. The Cottagers captain made a brilliant fingertip save in the 52nd minute to prevent Mazzocco from getting Sheffield United back on level terms.
Things then got a bit spicy between the 66th and 82nd minutes, when the referee dished out SIX yellow cards - including TWO to the same player. This was Walter Piccolo’s first match back at Craven Cottage since his sale to United, and the Italian defender was a bit too eager to make an impression. After tripping Devlin for one yellow card in the 71st minute, Piccolo then dove in two-footed on Danns just a couple of minutes later. The second yellow card preceded the red, and Walter was walking!
Piccolo wasn’t the only player to see red. As the game went into stoppage time, Paynter surged through our defence to go one-on-one with Hudson... or at least he would’ve had our anchor man Florian Schneider not pushed him over. It was a cynical foul AND Schneider was the last man, so there was no doubt - Florian had to go as well!
Schneider’s sending-off levelled the scores in terms of players, but Sheffield United now had one last opportunity to get an even more important equaliser. Mazzocco lined up a free-kick about 25 yards from the Fulham goal, went straight for it... and fired well wide. Our 3-2 half-time lead had stayed intact at the final whistle, but only just.
Fulham - 3 (Devlin 15, Danns 18,26)
Sheffield United - 2 (Paynter 3, Mazzocco 33)
Division 1, Attendance 13,179 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Sheff Utd 17th
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Hudson; Mitchell (Thatcher), Ifil, Unai; Edwards, Guðmundsson; Danns, Schneider; Mølby (Cable); Agritis, Devlin (Núñez). BOOKED: Mitchell. SENT OFF: Schneider.
...and breathe.
Schneider’s red card was his second of the season, and it meant he would have to serve a FOUR-match ban from 14 March. If we didn’t have Núñez and Henning Numme on hand to provide adequate cover in defensive midfield, we would be right royally screwed.
Meanwhile, Birmingham battled past a brave Millwall team to book an FA Cup Quarter Final date with us on 10 March. Schneider will be available for that, which is just as well, considering all the attacking riches that the Blues have! If only we could - ahem - borrow some of those riches...
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56 minutes ago, oche balboa said:
Do you run every league?
I have loaded every league except the Swedish lower divisions, which crash the game on the database I'm using.
Most competitions are still running well 10 years into the save, but some leagues and cups (notably in Australia and Ireland) were broken early on. The Confederations Cup 3rd-placed play-off also bugged out in 2009, so that competition doesn't get scheduled anymore either.
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of January 2012)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 29 12 0 3 42 18 6 3 5 32 30 57 2nd Nottm Forest 29 10 3 2 39 28 6 4 4 24 26 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wolves 29 12 2 1 32 13 4 4 6 24 29 54 4th Norwich 29 9 3 2 34 25 6 4 5 27 25 52 5th West Ham 28 10 3 2 28 13 4 5 4 16 15 50 6th Gillingham 29 9 3 2 31 18 5 4 6 22 23 49 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Birmingham 29 10 2 3 37 18 4 4 6 26 30 48 8th Charlton 29 8 2 5 27 20 5 5 4 22 18 46 9th Man City 29 7 5 2 31 20 6 2 7 29 36 46 10th Notts Co 29 8 5 1 25 11 4 4 7 27 31 45 11th Fulham 29 6 5 4 24 21 5 3 6 12 18 41 12th Huddersfield 29 7 3 5 25 20 5 1 8 23 32 40 13th Chesterfield 29 8 1 6 28 22 3 5 6 27 35 39 14th Sheff Utd 29 6 4 5 36 31 5 2 7 19 26 39 15th Sunderland 29 7 3 4 26 20 4 2 9 31 44 38 16th Preston 29 6 6 3 26 22 2 7 5 22 28 37 17th Carlisle 29 7 2 5 22 20 4 2 9 14 20 37 18th Swindon 29 6 4 4 31 30 4 0 11 14 27 34 19th Aston Villa 29 4 4 6 23 26 5 2 8 24 31 33 20th Tottenham 29 6 5 3 23 18 3 1 11 19 35 33 21st Kidderminster 29 7 4 4 21 17 0 5 9 8 22 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd W.B.A. 29 6 4 4 28 24 1 3 11 16 32 28 23rd Macclesfield 29 4 3 7 27 27 1 3 11 14 33 21 24th Darlington 28 2 2 9 11 19 0 3 12 9 31 11
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- After just four months as Bradford manager, Ryan Giggs is already on the brink of the sack. The Bantams fall 16 points adrift of Premiership safety after losing 5-1 to Sheffield Wednesday, 4-0 at Everton and 5-0 to leaders Arsenal... and also suffer a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of non-league Hereford. Giggs is also accused of cheating on his wife with his brother’s missus, which sounds tame by comparison.
- As Parma continue their march towards the Serie A scudetto, Lazio decide that they need another striker to compete. Joining Djibril Cissé, Didier Drogba and young Spain superstar Alberto Teixeira at the Olimpico is Romanian veteran Adrian Mutu, who completes his £4.1million transfer from HSV... and immediately fails a drugs test.
- With 16 La Liga goals apiece, the three superstars competing for the Pichichi award this season are Lionel Messi, Mateja Kezman and... Andrew Mukasa?! Zaragoza’s 31-year-old Ugandan striker draws level with the Barcelona duo after scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 thrashing of Celta, which lifts Los Maños up to 4th.
- Mark Hughes resigns as Montrose manager after three-and-a-half years to concentrate on his Wales international duties. The Scottish Division 1 side bring in another big name, luring David Seaman back into management after a stint on Dortmund’s coaching staff.
- David O’Leary’s disastrous reign at Sporting ends in a humiliating Taça de Portugal defeat to second-tier Covilhã. After leaving the Leões 13 points behind Porto in the Primeira Liga, O’Leary phones up his former Leeds striker Mark Viduka - now player-manager of Stranraer - and tearfully grovels for forgiveness.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- The Costa Concordia cruise liner runs aground off the coast of Tuscany in Italy and capsizes, killing 33 people. Captain Francesco Schettino abandons his ship and - going against the orders of a very angry coast guard - refuses to turn back. The cowardly shipmaster is subsequently charged with manslaughter.
- Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka claims her first Grand Slam tennis singles title, defeating Russia’s Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open. There is so much grunting and screaming that the match can only be broadcast after the watershed.
- There really is no money left. UK government debt rises to £1trillion for the first time in history, prompting Chancellor George Osborne to consider more… austere measures to cut it down.
- R&B singer Etta James dies from pneumonia in California. The 73-year-old - real name Jamesetta Hawkins - was known for her deep and powerful voice, showcased on the 1960s hit singles “At Last”, “I Just Want To Make Love To You” and “I’d Rather Go Blind”.
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JANUARY 2012
The new year began with me struggling to work out why this talented Fulham team was still struggling to launch a play-off challenge. As I looked at the league table and the player statistics, I came to a startling revelation.
Despite being 11th in the Division 1 table on points, and despite having the 2nd-best defensive record after West Ham, we also had scored the 3rd-fewest goals in the division - just 32 goals from 26 matches. Only rock-bottom Darlington and my former club Kidderminster had found the net less frequently.
The goalscorers list also made for uncomfortable meeting. There were 23 players had scored at least 10 goals in the division, but none of them played for Fulham. Our top three scorers Anestis Agritis, Paul McVeigh and Brett Ormerod had netted just 19 goals between them - three fewer than Chesterfield’s Lars Iver Strand had scored on his own!
McVeigh and Ormerod were now 34 and 35 years old respectively. This long-standing Fulham strike duo - with 210 league goals between them - had sadly passed its peak, and both men would be allowed to leave when their £30,000-per-week contracts expired in the summer.
There were question marks over Agritis too. At 30 years old, the Greek international was no spring chicken either, and his current deal ran until the end of next season. Considering that Agritis’ blistering early-season form had petered out, and that he was still annoyed about not being an automatic starter, his future was also up in the air.
This ageing Fulham frontline needed fresh blood. Our most exciting young striker - 18-year-old Michael Butler - was unfortunately struggling with a recurring knee injury, but Jamie Davey’s recent scoring record for the reserves was promising. The energetic 20-year-old forward was promoted to the senior set-up, so that I could have a closer look at him.
Having finished 2011 with a frustrating home draw against Nottingham Forest, we kicked off 2012 with an away trip to their city rivals. Notts County were only ahead of us on goal difference, having tumbled down the table after winning just one of their last 12 matches.
4 JANUARY 2012: Notts County vs Fulham
Walter Smith’s hosts were determined to get an early goal early on... but Wayne Hudson was just as determined to stop them. A couple of strong saves in the first 15 minutes kept Argentine striker Sebastián Cobelli and Scottish cult icon Mark Kerr off the scoresheet. Hudson also narrowly averted what would’ve been a humiliating own goal from Florian Schneider.
The Magpies’ attacking game slowed down after half an hour, allowing us to launch a couple of counter-attacks just before the break. A stunning half-volley from Tom Mølby in the 34th minute needed a fingertip save from County keeper Mark Heath. Four minutes later, Anestis Agritis miscued a shot that he would have easily fired home back in the autumn.
The second half saw plenty more shots at both ends, though it was Notts County who looked most likely to come out on top. Had it not been for even more classic goalkeeping from Hudson, we would surely have faced back-to-back away defeats. Sadly, with none of our strikers managing a single shot on target between them, the best we could hope for was a 0-0 draw.
Notts County - 0
Fulham - 0
Division 1, Attendance 9,528 - POSITIONS: Notts County 10th, Fulham 11th
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Piccolo; Guðmundsson, Cable (Edwards); Mølby (Gibson), Schneider, Danns; Agritis, McVeigh (Davey). BOOKED: Guðmundsson.
That was our fifth straight game without a win. Three days later, we were desperate to bring that barren run to an end.
Football League newcomers Morecambe arrived at Craven Cottage looking to bridge a two-division gap in the pyramid. Paul Merson led the Shrimps to the Conference title last season, and they were on course to retain their Division 3 status, sitting 12 points clear of danger in 18th place.
Merse was certainly in a confident mood before kick-off, randomly crowing that he could win the Greek league with Olympiakos. To be fair, Olympiakos have won the Greek league every year since 2007…
Anyway, I fielded a strong line-up against Morecambe, but also gave opportunities to a few fringe players. One of these was centre-back Curtis Davies, who made his first appearance since mid-October. Backup goalkeeper Jimmy Wilkinson featured for just the second time this season.
7 JANUARY 2012: Fulham vs Morecambe
With Wayne Cable having taken his place in our regular starting line-up, veteran winger Elbekay Bouchiba came out with a point to prove. In the 16th minute, the flying Dutchman’s cross was headed against the bar by an unfortunate Tom Mølby. Five minutes later, Bouchiba managed to hit the target, breaking the deadlock with a direct free-kick which he had won off Morecambe midfielder David Gardner.
Despite falling behind, Morecambe didn’t give up easily. Mark Nicholls - the former Torquay and Bradford striker who was now their player/assistant manager - headed a Nathan Edwards cross over the bar just before half-time.
We clearly needed another goal to settle us, and Brett Ormerod obliged three minutes into the second half. The 35-year-old was quickest to Bouchiba’s corner delivery, which he flicked home for 2-0. Morecambe’s goalkeeper Michael Bingham then made a couple of saves to stop us running into an even more commanding lead.
The Shrimps did pull one goal back in the 63rd minute, courtesy of a close-range header from striker Darren Burgess. They also finished the match strongly, and they thought they should’ve had the chance to force a replay when Neil Danns scythed Gardner down in our penalty area. Thankfully, the ref waved their protests away, and then called full-time to send us through.
Fulham - 2 (Bouchiba 21, Ormerod 48)
Morecambe - 1 (Burgess 63)
FA Cup Round 3, Attendance 6,415
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Wilkinson; Edwards, Davies, Thatcher (Magnusson), Guðmundsson; Gibson, Piccolo (Danns), Núñez, Bouchiba; Mølby; Ormerod (Davey). BOOKED: Mølby.
After barely beating Morecambe’s part-timers, our ‘reward’ was a Round 4 tie at home to either Premiership side Bradford or Conference side Hereford. No prizes for guessing which team I was hoping for.
Vicente Núñez had played in that last match, but I sensed that something wasn’t right with the 21-year-old Spanish midfielder. Even after a full year in England, he was still struggling to communicate with his team-mates or get to grips with the British lifestyle.
Later in the week, I had a long chat with Núñez, who revealed through a translator that he was feeling homesick. Vicente was a very talented defensive midfielder that I really didn’t want to lose, so I allowed him to return home to Spain for a fortnight. Hopefully some time away from the club would ease his mind.
In terms of easing my mind, a home win over Wolves in our next league match would do wonders. If we could rediscover our golden touch against the amber-clad Wanderers, we could potentially move within two points of the play-offs.
14 JANUARY 2012: Fulham vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Michael Gibson could have fired us into the lead after just nine minutes, when an excellent free-kick unfortunately came back off the crossbar. That narrow miss would come back to haunt us just two minutes later. Wolves striker Chris Worthington played an incisive cross perfectly for the onrushing midfielder John Perkins, whose fierce drive broke the deadlock for the visitors.
Pretty much nothing went our way after that early setback. Another Gibson free-kick in the 18th minute was even further off target, while Anestis Agritis’ point-blank header was caught by Wolves goalie Alistair White in the 22nd. Agritis did find the net a minute later from Arnar Guðmundsson’s free-kick... but not before Tom Mølby had strayed into an offside position.
After being thwarted at one end by one White, it was another White who heaped further misery on Fulham’s men in white five minutes from half-time. Ex-Sunderland midfielder Keith White doubled Wolves’ lead with a powerful strike from Craig Strachan’s through-ball. Strachan’s assist will no doubt have brought a smile to the face of his dad Gordon, who was sacked as Hull’s manager just three days earlier.
17-year-olds Wayne Cable and Henning Numme came on at half-time to freshen up an out-of-sorts Cottagers team. It seemed to work, as a magnificent strike from Agritis in the 64th minute pulled us back to 2-1.
Sadly, there would be no Fulham fightback. Florian Schneider’s holding foul on Worthington in the 78th minute cost him a booking, and us another goal. Steven Rogers’ short free-kick to Perkins set up a powerful strike which was deflected in off Jerel Ifil, whose former club left the Cottage with a 3-1 victory.
Fulham - 1 (Agritis 64)
Wolverhampton Wanderers - 3 (Perkins 11, K White 40, Ifil og78)
Division 1, Attendance 14,587 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Wolves 3rd
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Hudson; Edwards (Mitchell), Ifil, Davies, Guðmundsson; Gibson, Danns (Numme), Schneider, Bouchiba (Cable); Mølby; Agritis. BOOKED: Schneider.
Embarrassing. I completely lost my temper with my team at full-time. Wayne Hudson and Neil Danns had infuriated me so much that they were each fined a week’s wages and dropped from our next game at Norwich.
I was still in a pretty foul mood by the time Bradford travelled to Hereford for their FA Cup replay, which would decide who would face us in Round 4. I fully expected Ryan Giggs’ Premiership strugglers to crush Hereford before steamrollering over us.
Imagine my surprise, then, when Hereford ran out 2-1 winners - becoming the first non-league team to knock a top-flight club out of the FA Cup since Sutton United scalped Coventry in 1989! That meant the Bulls would travel to Craven Cottage on 28 January.
Before that, though, we had Norwich to worry about. While we had not won any of our last six league matches, the Canaries were undefeated in their last eight. Surely there would only be one outcome at Carrow Road?
21 JANUARY 2012: Norwich City vs Fulham
After just nine minutes, Anestis Agritis was getting ready to tear up the form book. The Greek god’s 10th goal of the season came from a fantastic cross by Elbekay Bouchiba, which Agritis thundered past a stranded Lee Pike in the Norwich goal.
Within seven minutes, however, the whole complexion of the match had changed. Canaries captain Darren Kelly volleyed in an excellent equaliser in the 13th minute, which caused our frustrated player to lose their cool. Florian Schneider and Jerel Ifil both picked up yellow cards... and Jerel paid an even bigger price for tripping Kelly, whose stunning free-kick put Norwich 2-1 up after 16 minutes.
After a groin injury accounted for our attacking midfielder Tom Mølby in the 24th minute, our afternoon lurched from bad to wrose in the 29th. Goalkeeper Jimmy Wilkinson looked incredibly rusty in his first league match of the season, as he fumbled a tame shot from Norwich midfielder Gavin McCann and then watched defender Mike Simpkins score the rebound. 3-1 to City.
I was so frustrated with Wilkinson that I subbed our official number 1 off at half-time - and gave another chance to our actual first-choice keeper. Wayne Hudson’s first meaningful task was to try and save a 53rd-minute penalty from Isaiah Rankin, who was upended in the area by a naive Graham Edwards. Hudson could not do it, as Rankin extended the hosts’ lead to 4-1. No photographs, please.
At the same time that I hooked Wilkinson for Hudson, I also replaced Ifil at centre-half with Peter Mitchell. The 25-year-old Scotsman hadn’t enjoyed a great start to his second stay at Fulham, but there was a moment to remember after 56 minutes. Mitchell gave us renewed hope by scoring from Michael Gibson’s deflected corner kick, getting his first goal of the season.
We looked a totally different team over the last half-hour. Teenage midfielder Henning Numme almost got his name on the scoreboard after 66 minutes, only being denied by the crossbar. Then, in the 81st minute, Agritis scored his second goal of the afternoon - again from a Bouchiba cross - to pull it back to 4-3. But I’m afraid our second-half revival ended right there, as we still left Norfolk with no points.
Norwich City - 4 (Kelly 13,16, Simpkins 29, Rankin pen53)
Fulham - 3 (Agritis 9,81, Mitchell 56)
Division 1, Attendance 19,013 - POSITIONS: Norwich 4th, Fulham 11th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Wilkinson (Hudson); Edwards, Ifil (Mitchell), Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Gibson, Numme, Schneider, Bouchiba; Mølby (Ormerod); Agritis. BOOKED: Schneider, Ifil.
Eight points off the play-offs, seven games without a league win, and Tom Mølby out for three weeks with a groin strain. Brilliant.
24 hours after our latest defeat, Davies packed his bags and headed to Bristol City on a free transfer. I could probably have got a reasonable fee for a player of Curtis’ defensive capabilities, but his moaning and entitled attitude was stinking the place out, and I just wanted him gone.
On the positive side, I was pleased to see Núñez return to Fulham after his leave of absence. The 21-year-old returned to the starting line-up for our FA Cup Round 4 tie against Hereford, in which young left-back Halldór Magnusson made his first start of the season. Could we avoid the same humiliating fate as Bradford and make it through to the last 16?
28 JANUARY 2012: Fulham vs Hereford United
We immediately took the game to Hereford, with Norwegian teenagers Atle Iversen and Henning Numme each getting shots on target in the first 16 minutes. Sadly, neither could beat Hereford’s goalkeeper Steven Gray... and Iversen would not get another chance, as a dead leg ended his match shortly afterwards.
We then had a brief scare, with Ben Eaton hitting the woodwork for Hereford after 24 minutes. Gray’s goal frame was even less forgiving, as Paul McVeigh struck the post in the 28th minute AND the bar in the 39th. McVeigh had only scored one goal in the past three months, and the 34-year-old’s killer touch showed no sign of coming back.
For all their bravery, Hereford’s defence was barely holding on... and the Bulls’ task got even tougher three minutes from half-time. Centre-half Michael McNaughton denied Anestis Agritis a clean run on goal by pulling on the back of the Greek’s shirt collar - and his cynical actions deserved a straight red card.
Paul Sturrock’s underdogs now had to play the entire second half with 10 men... but two of those men were particularly determined to keep us at bay. There was James Dawson - the 22-year-old homegrown right-back whose aggressive tackling frequently frustrated Wayne Cable. Then there was Gray, whose constant run of magnificent saves belied the fact that he spent four years rusting in Carlisle’s reserve team before Sturrock saved him from the scrapheap!
With Gray putting in the kind of world-class performance that had shocked Bradford just 10 days earlier, we knew that it would take something special to break Hereford’s resistance. Midway through the first half, Numme took it upon himself to create that magical moment, dribbling at the Bulls backline before arrowing a 20-yarder beyond Gray’s despairing dive!
Hereford’s defence might have finally been breached, but they toughened up and kept the outcome up in the air right up until the final whistle. Numme also had a couple more chances to double our lead. In the end, his maiden competitive goal for Fulham would be the one that fired the Cottagers into Round 5 for the first time since 2006.
Fulham - 1 (Numme 69)
Hereford United - 0
FA Cup Round 4, Attendance 11,789
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Guðmundsson, Ifil, Thatcher (Mitchell), Magnusson; Iversen (Ormerod), Numme, Núñez, Cable (Bouchiba); McVeigh, Agritis.
Despite making heavy weather of it (again), our FA Cup dream was still alive. The cup gods gave us another home tie in Round 5, though we would need to get past either Manchester City or Newcastle to reach the Quarter Finals.
But once again, questions have to be asked about our lack of firepower, and it’s not something I can live with any longer. It’s time to delve back into the transfer market...
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of December 2011)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 26 11 0 3 38 18 6 2 4 29 25 53 2nd Nottm Forest 26 9 2 2 34 25 6 3 4 22 24 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wolves 26 11 1 1 27 10 3 4 6 21 28 47 4th Birmingham 26 10 1 2 35 14 4 3 6 24 28 46 5th West Ham 26 9 3 2 26 12 4 4 4 15 14 46 6th Gillingham 26 8 2 2 26 15 5 4 5 22 22 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Norwich 26 7 3 2 27 21 5 4 5 25 24 43 8th Charlton 26 7 2 5 26 20 5 4 3 18 13 42 9th Man City 26 6 4 2 28 18 6 2 6 28 34 42 10th Notts Co 26 8 4 1 25 11 3 3 7 22 27 40 11th Fulham 26 6 5 3 23 18 5 2 5 9 14 40 12th Sunderland 26 7 3 2 25 16 4 2 8 30 41 38 13th Chesterfield 26 8 0 6 28 22 2 5 5 23 31 35 14th Preston 26 5 6 3 23 21 2 6 4 20 25 33 15th Sheff Utd 26 5 4 5 32 30 4 2 6 17 23 33 16th Swindon 26 6 3 3 27 25 4 0 10 14 23 33 17th Carlisle 26 6 2 4 20 17 3 2 9 13 20 31 18th Huddersfield 26 6 3 5 22 18 3 1 8 19 32 31 19th Kidderminster 26 7 4 3 21 16 0 4 8 7 20 29 20th W.B.A. 26 6 3 4 25 21 1 3 9 13 25 27 21st Aston Villa 26 4 4 5 22 24 3 2 8 20 30 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Tottenham 26 4 5 3 18 16 3 1 10 17 32 27 23rd Macclesfield 26 4 2 6 26 25 1 2 11 14 33 19 24th Darlington 26 2 2 8 11 17 0 3 11 8 27 11
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Chelsea forward Cristiano Ronaldo storms to the top of the Premiership’s Golden Boot race with 12 goals in December, including FOUR at Middlesbrough. Even so, the champions cannot keep up with Arsenal, who seal a hat-trick of three-goal home wins over Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Coventry... and also lose 4-1 at David Beckham’s Ipswich.
- A last-minute winner from Javier Saviola earns VfB Stuttgart a 2-1 comeback win over HSV and extends their lead at the top of the Bundesliga. Joe Cole opens the scoring for Hamburg after completing a club-record £16.75million transfer from Leverkusen. Perhaps Cole doesn’t realise that ‘Die Rothosen’ are battling against relegation.
- Joe’s England namesake Ashley Cole is also on the move, ending his five-year stay at Roma to join Barcelona for £13.75million. It’s fair to say that Barça’s players aren’t thrilled to see a former Real Madrid player in their ranks. Ashley is awkwardly ostracised in the team photo before making his debut in a 1-1 home draw against... Real Madrid.
- As Marseille’s bid to regain their Ligue 1 title flounders, under-pressure manager Terry Yorath jumps to Serie A side Venezia before he is pushed. The Welshman is succeeded at the Stade Vélodrome by Edgardo Bauza, who recently led former Champions League semi-finalists Club Brugge into the Belgian Pro League’s relegation zone. That’s a good omen.
- Parma go four points clear in Serie A, as substitute Danilo Mancini’s winning goal against champions Roma extends their unbeaten start. However, the Gialloblu remain in a huge financial crisis and are forced to sell their Ferrari - that’s Italy defender Matteo Ferrari - to Milan for £6.5million.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- North Korea’s totalitarian supreme leader Kim Jong-Il is taken ill on a train, and is later pronounced Kim Jong-Dead from a massive heart attack. The 69-year-old - who had ruled the secretive communist state since the death of his father Kim Il-Sung in 1994 - is succeeded by his son Kim Jong-Un.
- Jade, Jessy, Leigh-Anne and Perrie - aka Little Mix - become the first group to win ITV talent show “The X Factor”. In unrelated news, the Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice is brutally murdered on British national television.
- Manx cyclist Mark Cavendish - who won the green jersey at this year’s Tour de France - is voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, beating golfer Darren Clarke and athlete Mo Farah. Imagine if a Brit wins the yellow jersey in 2012!
- The Pacific island territories of Samoa and Tokelau move from the east of the International Date Line to the west, for trading reasons. This means they move straight forward from 29 December to New Year’s Eve - skipping 30 December entirely! Meanwhile, Boston in Lincolnshire decides to go back in time - to 1973.
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DECEMBER 2011
20 games into the Division 1 campaign, the various league tables showed just how weird our season had been so far. We had the 3rd-best away record (behind only Manchester City and leaders Blackburn)... but in terms of home form, we were 18th.
If a strong home record was the backbone to success for most promotion-winning teams, we looked like invertebrates. Witnessing four wins, three draws and three defeats at Craven Cottage was not something that would encourage Fulham fans - and neither would the fact that only one of those victories had been by more than a single goal.
Turning the Cottage into a fortress was my priority in December, as four of our remaining six matches this year would be in the familiar surroundings of SW6.
The first of those was against Aston Villa, who kicked off the month sitting just above the drop zone. If Villa’s appointment of ex-England centre-back Chris Perry as manager was supposed to have fixed the holes in their defence, it wasn’t working, as their 46 goals conceded was the highest in the league. Brett Ormerod and Paul McVeigh were already licking their lips.
3 DECEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Aston Villa
The opening goal came midway through a very cagey first half. Just three days before his 34th birthday, Paul McVeigh showed enough pace and skill to get past long-time Aston Villa left-back Jlloyd Samuel and deliver a cross to the near post. Wayne Cable then came forward and headed in his second goal of the season!
Villa’s latest relegation battle was turning even their most placid players crazy. Five minutes later, giant striker Peter Crouch - who had recently rejoined the Villans after a year away from football - inexplicably stuck a finger in Arnar Guðmundsson’s eyeball! He was very lucky to escape with only a yellow card.
Meanwhile, Cable continued to put in an outstanding, confident attacking display that belied his 17 years. An impressive dribble up the left flank ended with his cross being powered home by Brett Ormerod, which gave us a 2-0 lead at half-time. The second half should have plain sailing, right?
Turns out that Villa had a nippy left-winger of their own. Steve Sutton’s fancy footwork made a mug out of Florian Schneider in the 50th minute, and he then drilled the ball across our half for his more experienced right-wing counterpart Ryan Williams to finish. Incidentally, that was William’s 50th goal for the visitors.
That goal made the rest of the match nervier than it should have been. Villa’s finishing deserted them when they had a couple of chances to equalise, while their goalkeeper John Reed pulled off some quality saves to stop McVeigh and Ormerod from restoring our two-goal cushion. In the end, though, a one-goal lead was indeed enough.
Fulham - 2 (Cable 23, Ormerod 33)
Aston Villa - 1 (Williams 50)
Division 1, Attendance 15,265 - POSITIONS: Fulham 10th, Aston Villa 22nd
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil, Thatcher (Mitchell), Guðmundsson; Danns, Mølby (Numme), Schneider, Cable; McVeigh (Agritis), Ormerod. BOOKED: Thatcher.
This felt like a coming-of-age performance from 17-year-old Wayne Cable. A goal and an assist showed that the winger - who had recently made his Wales Under-21s debut - was ready to establish himself as a regular starter at club level.
The emergence of another exciting talent in 18-year-old right-back Graham Edwards was bad news for a former regular. After a season-and-a-half at Craven Cottage, Graham Bowater packed his bags and headed off to Luton in a £475,000 transfer.
One player I did not want to sell was goalkeeper Wayne Hudson. Our captain played for Sheffield Wednesday earlier in his career, and under-pressure Owls boss Martin O’Neill offered me £2.6million to take him back to Hillsborough. I couldn’t hang up the phone fast enough.
Next on the agenda was another home game against another team battling relegation. Division 1 newcomers Macclesfield were second-from-bottom, but they had a surprisingly good record against teams fielding a 4-4-2 formation - as we found out to our cost in last season’s FA Cup. I therefore switched to a 3-5-2, with Cable and Arnar Guðmundsson playing as attacking wing-backs.
10 DECEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Macclesfield Town
We’d recently made a habit of starting matches slowly, and this wasn’t much different. Luckily for us, captain Wayne Hudson was wide awake in the 15th minute, brilliantly saving a fierce shot from Macclesfield skipper Stephen O’Neill. Five minutes later, Hudson produced another vital save, this time to deny striker Ben Ellis.
By the half-hour mark, the rest of the Fulham team had woken up. Vicente Núñez had not enjoyed the best of seasons, but the young Spanish midfielder managed to play a superb square ball to Anestis Agritis, who lost his marker and broke the deadlock!
The introduction of veteran Dutch striker Dennis Schulp midway through the second half briefly put a bit more zip in Macclesfield’s attacks, but the Silkmen struggled to break through a resilient Fulham defence. One of our top performers was centre-back Jerel Ifil, whose game was sadly ended after 70 minutes, when he suffered a knee injury.
Despite losing Ifil, victory was never really in doubt - certainly not after the 78th minute. Brett Ormerod’s initial header from Arnar Guðmundsson’s cross might have been well saved by Macc goalie Russell Howarth, but our experienced frontman made light work of the rebound. 2-0, game over!
Fulham - 2 (Agritis 30, Ormerod 78)
Macclesfield Town - 0
Division 1, Attendance 10,640 - POSITIONS: Fulham 9th, Macclesfield 23rd
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2): Hudson; Ifil (Piccolo), Mitchell, Thatcher; Guðmundsson, Cable (Saler); Danns, Schneider, Núñez (Mølby); Agritis, Ormerod. BOOKED: Schneider, Núñez, Thatcher.
After back-to-back home wins, we were now only two points off the play-offs. Unfortunately, centre-back Jerel Ifil had twisted his knee and would be sidelined until after Christmas. Meanwhile, midfielder Florian Schneider’s fifth booking of the season earned him a suspension for our Boxing Day match at West Brom.
The FA Cup Round 3 draw took place the following afternoon, and we were again given a home tie against lower-league opposition. This time, our would-be upsetters were Paul Merson’s Morecambe, who were enjoying their first ever season in the Football League.
Lancastrian opposition would also be on our minds the following weekend, as we faced mid-table Preston at Deepdale. David Moyes’ Lilywhites had drawn more matches than any other team in the division, but they had also lost only once in the last three months.
17 DECEMBER 2011: Preston North End vs Fulham
The opening six minutes set the tone for a match which Preston almost completely dominated. A couple of early speculative strikes from attacking midfielders John Murray and Dave Marsh both needed top-quality saves from Wayne Hudson, who would be given few moments to breathe by a relentless Lilywhites attack.
Peter Mitchell had recently moved back into centre-half after a failed experimentation as a right-back, but the Scot looked a shaky presence in our defence. Fortunately, any slip-ups from Mitchell were spared either by Hudson or by the crossbar, which kept out shots from David Healy and Murray just before half-time.
That’s not to say it was a quiet afternoon for Preston’s goalkeeper/captain Stephen Bywater. The 30-year-old saved three Fulham shots - all of which came from Brett Ormerod, which was perhaps a sign of how one-dimensional and predictable our attacks were. Suffice to say, we wouldn’t get on the scoresheet...
...and neither would North End. Hudson was as unbeatable in the second half as he was in the first period, and he saved perhaps his best stop for last. The young Welsh striker Gareth Evans outjumped Mitchell to win a point-blank header, which Hudson somehow managed to turn away to save us a point.
Preston North End - 0
Fulham - 0
Division 1, Attendance 21,565 - POSITIONS: Preston 15th, Fulham 10th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Mitchell, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Danns, Mølby (Núñez), Schneider, Cable (Piccolo); Agritis, Ormerod (McVeigh). BOOKED: Guðmundsson, Mitchell.
Though we lost a little ground on the top six, I was happy with the result - and also our defensive resilience.
Our last match before Christmas was a big one in the play-off race - at home to a high-scoring Birmingham team who were three points ahead of us in 5th. Midfielder Michael Gibson returned from a month-long injury lay-off and was eager to get himself an early present on the night before his 19th birthday.
21 DECEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Birmingham City
We made an unusually nippy start, with Paul McVeigh almost heading home the opening goal in the 8th minute. Indeed, we would only have to wait a few more moments to break the deadlock. Birmingham defender Domenico Palmieri might have brilliantly cleared Neil Danns’ strike off the goalline, but he was powerless to stop Wayne Cable’s follow-upf rom finding the net.
Cable nearly doubled his tally in the 30th minute, when his half-volley from Arnar Guðmundsson’s long ball hit the woodwork. By then, Birmingham had been rocked by an injury to Tom Youngs, who was now their main goal threat following Andy Johnson’s £1.1million move to Leeds last month. Youngs was replaced by the Norwegian international winger Håvar Valved.
The Blues would have to look to their midfield for an equaliser. Nine minutes before half-time, Grant McCann played an impressive assist for Richard Murphy, whose blistering 20-yarder was too much even for Wayne Hudson.
Two fingertips from City goalkeeper Matt Bates either side of half-time stopped Paul McVeigh and Michael Gibson from reinstating our lead, but a certain Welsh teenager would soon get the better of him again. Cable’s outstanding form continued in the 57th minute, when his header from Danns’ cross put him on the cusp of a hat-trick.
Before Cable got a chance to secure the match ball, though, Birmingham struck back once again. Valved’s header from a 65th-minute McCann corner fell to right-back and captain Lewis Buxton, who levelled the scores with his first Blues goal!
In the 87th minute, though, Buxton went from hero to zero. He was already on a yellow card when he shoved Gibson, leading to a second yellow, followed by a red! City had already lost Valved to another injury by then, so any aspirations they had of stealing all three points had to make way for preserving a draw.
As full-time neared, we went all-out to try and score a decisive third goal. A rapid counter-attack deep into stoppage led to a great chance for Danish substitute Tom Mølby, but the 20-year-old’s drive was pushed behind by Bates. McCann then cleared Gibson’s whipped corner, at which point the ref called time on a 2-2 thriller!
Fulham - 2 (Cable 8,57)
Birmingham City - 2 (Murphy 36, Buxton 65)
Division 1, Attendance 13,727 - POSITIONS: Fulham 10th, Birmingham 5th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Mitchell, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Danns, Gibson, Schneider (Mølby), Cable (Bouchiba); Agritis (Ormerod), McVeigh. BOOKED: Thatcher.
Ben Thatcher was the latest Cottager to pick up a suspension after picking up too many bookings. The former Wales defender would sit out our first match of 2012, away to Notts County on 4 January.
Schneider’s suspension came into effect for our Boxing Day fixture away to West Brom, who’d slipped into the relegation zone after four straight defeats. 17-year-old midfielder Henning Numme and loanee right-back Markus Saler both made their first Fulham starts.
26 DECEMBER 2011: West Bromwich Albion vs Fulham
We gave West Brom’s defence a real scare after just seven minutes. Replacing an exhausted Wayne Cable on the left wing was the experienced Elbekay Bouchiba, whose cross to Paul McVeigh was flicked on towards Neil Danns at the far post. Unluckily, Danns’ desperate slide to turn the ball home ended in narrow failure.
On that one moment, the whole match shifted. A relieved West Brom went on the attack for the next half-hour before eventually breaking through in the 37th minute. Midfielder Mark Wilson’s chip was met by a delicate flick-on from Wade Elliott, and then a ruthless finish from Danny Webber. Things could only get better for us in the second half, surely?
No, they couldn’t. Webber followed up his late first-half goal with an even better assist just three minutes into the second. The former Manchester United and Blackpool striker found the young Norwegian attacking midfielder Bjarne Strand in space, and Wayne Hudson was left Strand-ed in the Fulham goal.
A 2-0 lead to the Baggies increased to 3-0 just after the half-hour mark. Defensive midfielder Ross Lee’s half-volley put an end to any slim hopes we had of salvaging anything from the game. Lee was fast becoming a nemesis of mine - that was only his third goal in senior football, with his first two coming for Coventry against my Kidderminster team almost exactly two years ago!
The whole Fulham defence was in disarray, and loanee right-back Markus Saler looked utterly hopeless in the 81st minute. Saler failed to close Wilson down before he delivered a devastating cross, which Neil Mellor flicked on for Italian substitute Luigi Fioretti to complete a 4-0 demolition.
West Bromwich Albion - 4 (Webber 37, Strand 48, Lee 61, Fioretti 81)
Fulham - 0
Division 1, Attendance 15,574 - POSITIONS: West Brom 21st, Fulham 11th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Saler, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Danns (Agritis), Gibson, Numme, Bouchiba (Mølby); Ormerod, McVeigh. BOOKED: Gibson.
Well, that was a Boxing Day disaster. In fact, Saler’s performance was so disastrous that his first Fulham start would also be his last. The Austrian teenager was sent straight back to Manchester City with his tail between his legs.
Another defender left the club soon after, as reserve Nigel Proffitt went on loan to Division 2 strugglers Northampton until the end of the season. The 19-year-old had made 28 career appearances for Fulham so far, but had not yet featured this season.
After three matches without a win, we were desperate to finish 2011 on a high by taking maximum points on New Year’s Eve. That would not be easy, as Nottingham Forest arrived at Craven Cottage with a five-game unbeaten run that had propelled them into an automatic promotion berth.
31 DECEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Nottingham Forest
The first half was all about the goalkeepers. Nottingham Forest’s shotstopper Matthew Ramsey was especially impressive, keeping Paul McVeigh, Neil Danns and Anestis Agritis off the scoresheet. At the other end, there were a couple of fine stops from Wayne Hudson, who had well and truly put his West Brom woes behind him.
Four minutes into the first half, though, the deadlock was broken. Forest midfielder Tonton Zola Moukoko’s slide tackle on Wayne Cable succeeded only in knocking the ball on to Danns, who perfectly weighted a long ball into the Albion box. On the other end was Tom Mølby, whose header put us 1-0 up.
But having made heavy weather of nearly all our victories this season, and having failed to win our last three games, we never looked confident about killing off the game. Agritis skied a couple of efforts well off target and was eventually replaced with Brett Ormerod, who hardly fared any better.
With Jerel Ifil delivering a defensive masterclass for the ages, we should have at least held on for a 1-0 win... but when Ben Thatcher carelessly lost possession in the 85th minute, the victory went with it. Moukoko took control of the loose ball and then floated in a cross that was headed home by René Kaiser.
I would have predicted a riot at Craven Cottage if Forest scored another goal. Everyone connected with Fulham held their breaths when Moukoko played another excellent delivery in stoppage time... but winger Bernard Hofstede’s shot clipped the outside of Hudson’s left-hand post. But for a few inches, we would have lost at home for the fourth time already this season.
Fulham - 1 (Mølby 49)
Nottingham Forest - 1 (Kaiser 85)
Division 1, Attendance 14,853 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Nottm Forest 2nd
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Thatcher; Guðmundsson, Cable (Edwards); Mølby, Schneider (Gibson), Danns; Agritis (Ormerod), McVeigh. BOOKED: Schneider.
For goodness sake! Why do we always make life so difficult for ourselves?!
Cable’s fantastic performances throughout December rightly earned him the Division 1 Young Player of the Month award, but it was hard to find any other positives in another frustrating month.
If we were to challenge for promotion this season, I would need to have a long, hard look at this team early in the new year - and I would need to make some very difficult decisions.
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of November 2011)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 20 9 0 1 30 11 6 0 4 25 21 45 2nd Wolves 20 9 0 1 24 10 2 4 4 18 21 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Gillingham 20 7 1 2 23 13 4 3 3 17 17 37 4th Man City 20 5 3 2 23 16 6 1 3 21 21 37 5th West Ham 20 6 3 1 13 7 4 3 3 13 11 36 6th Nottm Forest 20 6 2 2 21 19 5 1 4 15 18 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Birmingham 20 8 0 2 27 11 3 1 6 20 25 34 8th Charlton 20 7 0 3 21 12 3 4 3 12 11 34 9th Notts Co 20 7 2 1 19 6 3 1 6 19 21 33 10th Norwich 20 5 3 2 22 19 4 1 5 17 17 31 11th Fulham 20 4 3 3 16 14 5 1 4 9 10 31 12th Sunderland 20 6 3 1 20 13 3 1 6 20 29 31 13th Sheff Utd 20 5 2 3 28 21 4 1 5 15 19 30 14th Carlisle 20 6 1 3 17 13 1 2 7 8 16 24 15th Preston 20 3 4 3 17 18 2 5 3 18 22 24 16th Swindon 20 4 3 3 21 22 3 0 7 11 16 24 17th Chesterfield 20 6 0 4 23 17 0 5 5 18 28 23 18th W.B.A. 20 4 3 3 18 16 1 3 6 11 18 21 19th Kidderminster 20 5 3 2 17 13 0 3 7 6 16 21 20th Huddersfield 20 3 2 5 8 10 3 1 6 16 26 21 21st Aston Villa 20 3 2 5 18 22 2 2 6 15 24 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Tottenham 20 4 4 2 16 13 1 0 9 7 23 19 23rd Macclesfield 20 3 1 6 19 21 1 2 7 13 23 15 24th Darlington 20 2 2 6 10 14 0 2 8 7 18 10
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- La Liga leaders Real Madrid suffer a shock early exit from the Champions League, after losing their decisive group game 1-0 at Dortmund - Samuel Eto’o scoring the winner from Andrés Iniesta’s assist. Real drop into the UEFA Cup and battle to a 1-1 home draw with ÖIS, who won the Allsvenskan in 2010... and then finished bottom of Sweden’s top division 12 months later!
- Arsenal lose their unbeaten Premiership record to bogey team Bolton but continue their march towards another title. A midfield masterclass from Craig Ward secures an impressive 2-0 win over Leeds. There’s also plenty of praise for 17-year-old Robbie Lynch, who after some early wobbles is now established as the Gunners’ first-choice goalkeeper.
- Rangers slump to 4th in the Scottish Premier League and are soundly beaten 3-1 by Serie A leaders Parma in the second group phase of the Champions League. Things only get worse when Gers captain Arjen Robben breaks his leg in a robust challenge on Motherwell left-back Paul Konchesky.
- Denmark - who reached the Quarter Finals of the 2010 World Cup - won’t be at Euro 2012. The Danes suffer an agonising Playoff defeat to Russia, for whom Alexandr Kerzhakov scores a 90th-minute winner in Copenhagen. Greece also endure late heartbreak, as Leverkusen’s Dimitar Berbatov scores deep into extra-time to send Bulgaria into their first tournament for 12 years.
- Portugal’s failure to qualify for the Euros costs head coach Augusto Inácio his job, as he is replaced with Jorge Costa - most recently manager of German third-tier side Hannover 96. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland finally dismiss Mick McCarthy and replace him with his old mate Roy Keane, who was recently sacked by Tottenham.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier dies from liver cancer aged 67. Smokin’ Joe was the first pugilist to defeat the great Muhammad Ali, but he is also remembered for losing to Ali in the legendary ‘Thrilla In Manila’ in 1975.
- Amid an economic decline, Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy for a third (and probably final) time. The media tycoon vows to spend even more time at the San Siro, prompting Andrea Pirlo to reconsider his future at Milan.
- Swedish indie developer Mojang Studios officially releases its first video game “Minecraft” - a charming title where you can build pretty much anything you want. And who knows, maybe you will meet the love of your life as well…
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NOVEMBER 2011
This coming month would mark my first anniversary as Fulham manager, but it was hard to see whether the team had made any meaningful progress. The Cottagers were 11th in Division 1 when I took over on 22 November 2010... but as we rolled into November 2011, we actually found ourselves two places worse off.
While being in mid-table was a positive for a Fulham board who’d become used to overseeing relegation dogfights, I was not satisfied.
The attacking 4-1-4-1 I’d been using for the first few months this season was not working as well as I’d expected. At Craven Cottage, we had won only three of our eight matches and were conceding far too many goals. Confusingly, we had the opposite problems away from home, where we were rather more solid at the back but struggled to hit the target.
I thought back to my first few months at the Cottage, when we were flying so high that we were briefly dreaming of automatic promotion to the Premiership. I was using several variations of a 4-4-2 back then, and I wondered if it was worth going back to the basic principles that had served us so well last winter.
For the time being, I tried something a bit less dramatic, dropping the two wingers back to form a standard 4-1-4-1. It was this tactic which I took into the London derby at Upton Park, against 9th-placed West Ham.
2 NOVEMBER 2011: West Ham United vs Fulham
West Ham’s recent form was arguably just as inconsistent as ours, but they were certainly not erratic here. Striker Simon Lynch flicked a very early header just over the bar, while defender John Wilson hit the woodwork in the 34th minute.
Then, five minutes from half-time, the Hammers finally managed to nail in their opener. Former Celtic forward Lynch dribbled past our holding midfielder Florian Schneider and then skinned defender Ben Thatcher to leave him one-on-one with Wayne Hudson. As good as our goalkeeping captain was, he had no hope of keeping out Lynch’s drive.
And that was the match there and then. We never looked like getting an equaliser until Paul McVeigh came off the bench in the closing stages, and almost immediately hit a fantastic low shot that stung Shay Given’s palms. The long-time Hammers keeper had precious little else to do during what in the end was a routine West Ham win.
West Ham United - 1 (Lynch 40)
Fulham - 0
Division 1, Attendance 33,725 - POSITIONS: West Ham 8th, Fulham 16th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Iversen (Gibson), Danns, Schneider, Bouchiba (Cable); Ormerod (McVeigh); Agritis. BOOKED: Iversen.
The points between us and the play-off places was now into double figures. The alarm bells were now ringing very loudly... and we know what that means.
It means... they’re just jealous, ‘cos they’ll never do the things they wish that they could do so well. No, obviously, it means I’m switching back to the 4-4-2. Razorlight haven’t been relevant since 2006, for goodness sake.
Fireworks were expected on Guy Fawkes Night, when we visited a Blackburn team who were top of the table - with a 100% record at Ewood Park. Much of their success was credited to their 22-goal strike partnership of Marcus Bent and Shehab Ahmed Al-Olaqi, though I was relieved to see that the so-called ‘Prince of Dubai’ had been dropped to the bench. (That’s Al-Olaqi, not Bent.)
5 NOVEMBER 2011: Blackburn Rovers vs Fulham
Of course, we had our own fearsome front two in Paul McVeigh and Anestis Agritis - but that duo would also be split up. Anestis didn’t quite make it to the 20-minute mark before a searing pain in the groin forced him off. I’ll need to have a word with Mrs Agritis about that.
Brett Ormerod came on to replace our joint-top scorer, but it was Blackburn who looked the most likely team to score in the first half. Marcus Bent’s pot-shot forced Wayne Hudson into an important save after just three minutes, while German left-back Michael Kümmerle came close about half an hour later. By half-time, I was simply relieved to see that the scoreboard still read 0-0.
The beneficiary of Blackburn boss Danny Wilson’s surprise decision to drop Shehab Ahmed Al-Olaqi was a 23-year-old Geordie forward named Dean Hutchinson. Wilson’s faith in him paid off seven minutes into the second half, after Wayne Cable conceded a free-kick 25 yards from our goal. Hutchinson clearly loved a set-piece, as the former Newcastle and England Under-21s starlet rocketed it over our wall and beyond a perplexed Hudson.
Blackburn were 1-0 up, and once Al-Olaqi came into play, the outcome looked a foregone conclusion. But then, after 69 minutes, Fulham’s old guard gave us renewed hope. McVeigh played the ball out left to Elbekay Bouchiba, teeing up the Dutch winger to curl a cross into the Rovers area. Ormerod then outjumped home captain James Collins to head in an equaliser!
After our recent poor form, I was happy just to take a point away from Ewood Park, so I soon subbed off McVeigh for a defensive midfielder in Vicente Núñez. Four minutes from full-time, that conservative substitution almost backfired. Blackburn pushed to regain their lead as Bent crossed to Hutchinson, who flicked the ball against the crossbar. The rebound then fell invitingly to substitute midfielder Mark Rees... but Hudson kept out the follow-up.
But the drama didn’t end there! As the game ticked into stoppage time, we went for the ultimate smash and grab. Michael Gibson picked up the ball from Ormerod’s flick-on, took it up the right flank, and then looked to find a red shirt in a packed Blackburn box. He found midfielder Neil Danns, whose volley stunned the home fans - and completed ANOTHER late Cottagers comeback!
Blackburn Rovers - 1 (Hutchinson 52)
Fulham - 2 (Ormerod 69, Danns 90)
Division 1, Attendance 28,006 - POSITIONS: Blackburn 1st, Fulham 14th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Gibson, Danns, Schneider, Cable (Bouchiba); McVeigh (Núñez), Agritis (Ormerod).
WOW! Where did THAT come from?!
As Neil Danns and his team-mates celebrated a potentially season-changing result, my thoughts turned towards Anestis Agritis. The Greek striker had been ruled out for the next three weeks with a groin strain.
Agritis’ injury meant that 18-year-old striker Michael Butler was promoted to the squad for a Friday night home game against Carlisle. We would leapfrog the Cumbrians in the table with a victory, but that would not be a simple task; in our last meeting, Nicky Law’s side put FOUR goals past us in the first half-hour!
11 NOVEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Carlisle United
This match pitted us against our former goalkeeper Mike Edwards, who had now established himself as Carlisle’s number 1. Edwards tipped away a low drive by his old team-mate Brett Ormerod in the 36th minute, and then watched Ormerod send a rather less impressive effort wide a minute later.
This would not be Brett’s night, but the other old fella leading Fulham’s attack fared better six minutes into the second half. Paul McVeigh received a cross from our Ewood hero Neil Danns, which he headed past Edwards for his eighth goal of the season!
Five minutes later, it was 2-0 to the Cottagers. Holding midfielder Florian Schneider made a swift impact after coming off the bench, striking a brilliant effort that deflected in off Carlisle counterpart Hayden Mullins. Schneider’s wait for his first Fulham goal wasn’t quite over, though he was happy to take at least some credit for this one.
We then started to lose our discipline, with Ormerod and Schneider both going into the book before Jimmy Davis pulled a goal back for Carlisle in the 69th minute. Davis almost struck again in the 80th, but Wayne Hudson’s goalkeeping once again atoned for some shaky defending. Following that narrow escape, we just about clung onto another win.
Fulham - 2 (McVeigh 51, Mullins og56)
Carlisle United - 1 (Davis 69)
Division 1, Attendance 13,192 - POSITIONS: Fulham 12th, Carlisle 13th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Gibson (Schneider), Danns, Núñez, Bouchiba; Ormerod (Butler), McVeigh (Piccolo). BOOKED: Ormerod, Schneider, Thatcher.
Just for once, I’d like to see us win a match without making it look like coding a complex sports simulation video game! Is that too much to ask, fellas?
Things got even more complicated over the next few days, when Michael Gibson twisted his ankle and Peter Mitchell did the same to his knee. Gibson was ruled out for a month... and Mitchell was sidelined for two weeks, which meant I called off a deal to sell our other right-back Graham Bowater to Swindon.
Meanwhile, reserve defender Stephen Richardson went out on loan to Conference side Farnborough until the end of the season. I also rejected a couple of £150,000 offers from Manchester City and Torquay to sign goalkeeper Craig Price and right-back Graham Edwards respectively.
Edwards was rated particularly highly by our reserve coaches, and the 19-year-old joined the squad for the short trip to 2nd-placed Charlton. Hey, if we could defeat the league leaders on their own ground, why not these guys?
19 NOVEMBER 2011: Charlton Athletic vs Fulham
Graham Bowater could have been heading to Swindon, but an even worse fate awaited the right-back after just 14 minutes. A mistimed tackle ended with Bowater twisted his knee and being stretchered off for treatment, which meant young Graham Edwards had to come on much earlier than expected.
There was very nearly a double whammy, as only the woodwork prevented Glenn Crowe from giving Charlton the lead just moments after Bowater’s exit. We would then benefit from some luck at the other end four minutes from half-time. Addicks goalkeeper Paul McDonald made a fantastic save to stop Brett Ormerod from heading home, but a deflection off a defender ricocheted the ball towards Jerel Ifil, who thundered in his first Fulham goal!
Alan Curbishley would be an even more frustrated man in the Charlton dugout just before half-time. Ben Thatcher clearly sent the home midfielder Craig Saunders crashing to the turf with a cynical challenge in our penalty area... but the referee waved it away! Having previously been a victim of some terrible refereeing at The Valley when I was managing Kidderminster, it was quite strange to be benefitting from a bad decision at the same ground.
The Addicks tried to channel their anger more effectively after the break. Scottish forward Ross Gallacher had a couple of promising shots saved by Wayne Hudson, who also did very well to stop 18-year-old midfielder John Ross from equalising late on. Nothing was getting past Hudson, though Ifil also put in some vital tackles to make sure he was our hero at both ends.
Charlton Athletic - 0
Fulham - 1 (Ifil 41)
Division 1, Attendance 26,467 - POSITIONS: Charlton 3rd, Fulham 12th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Bowater (Edwards), Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Danns, Mølby (Brough), Schneider, Bouchiba; Ormerod, McVeigh (Magnusson). BOOKED: Mølby.
With our third straight win, we had cut the deficit between us and the play-off spots from 11 points to a more respectable 6. Our goal difference was back level too.
It wasn’t all great news, as Bowater’s twisted knee ruled him out for the next fortnight. I was impressed enough with Edwards to start the teenager in the next game, but we were still short of quality options.
Fortunately, Manchester City were happy to loan us their Austria Under-21s right-back Markus Saler until the end of the season. The tough-tackling 19-year-old was tall, pacey, and could also play on the right wing if required.
Saler’s versatility would come in handy, especially after Scott Brough to sold to Sunderland for £650,000. The enigmatic 28-year-old winger had produced plenty of goal contributions during my first few months at Fulham, but he had not been the same force since breaking his leg in March.
A day after officially celebrating my first anniversary as Fulham manager, I took my Cottagers up to West Yorkshire to face 18th-placed Huddersfield. The Terriers were without a manager after parting company with Glenn Hoddle the previous weekend.
23 NOVEMBER 2011: Huddersfield Town vs Fulham
Huddersfield’s caretaker boss Joe Jordan gave a professional debut to 20-year-old keeper Darren Carter. By half-time, it looked like Carter would emulate Gordon Banks and David Seaman by becoming Yorkshire’s next great goalie. Fulham midfielders Neil Danns and Tom Mølby each had shots saved in the first period, as did Ifil, who narrowly missed out on scoring in back-to-back games.
Then came a familiar sight in the 42nd minute, as a right-back went down injured. It wasn’t our right-back, for once. George Blay had picked up a groin strain, and as one of Huddersfield’s top performers this season, the Ghanaian international’s influence would be a huge miss in the second half.
After another frustrating first half, things picked up for us in the 62nd minute. Carter showed his first signs of inexperience when a cross from Florian Schneider slipped through his hands, leaving Wayne Cable with the easiest of tap-ins. That was the 17-year-old Welshman’s second senior goal... but would it be the winner?
With Ben Thatcher looking surprisingly shaky in our defence, I had my doubts. The veteran gave away a potentially costly free-kick in dangerous territory after 87 minutes. Terriers centre-back Hayden Foxe fired a powerful set-piece against the Cottagers’ wall, and the deflection looped gratefully into Wayne Hudson’s hands. I wish our victories weren’t always this tense, but I was still happy to take them however they came.
Huddersfield Town - 0
Fulham - 1 (Cable 62)
Division 1, Attendance 11,179 - POSITIONS: Huddersfield 18th, Fulham 11th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Danns (Saler), Mølby, Schneider, Cable (Magnusson); Ormerod, McVeigh (Butler). BOOKED: Guðmundsson, Thatcher.
Three away wins on the spin! Who could have imagined that a few weeks ago?
Of course, we also needed to be better at Craven Cottage, which meant that beating rock-bottom Darlington was a must if we were serious about making the play-offs.
26 NOVEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Darlington
Graham Edwards had shown plenty of potential in his first two senior outings this season... and his third would see a major breakthrough in the 19-year-old’s career. Just before the half-hour mark, Edwards latched onto Florian Schneider’s long ball and then delivered the cross that delivered his first senior assist. I doubt Graham expected it to be for his opposite full-back Arnar Guðmundsson, whose powerful diving header opened the Icelander’s Fulham account!
We now had the freedom to attack Darlington and blow them away... or at least that was the plan. Paul McVeigh and Schneider both sent efforts wide just before the break, but perhaps they were just getting warmed up?
Three minutes after the restart, our need to warm up became a tad more urgent. Neil Danns lost his cool when he pushed Darlo forward Thijs Sluijter and conceded a close-range free-kick, which was blasted home by Sluijter’s strike partner Delapo Olaoye. That was one Quaker who definitely had his oats!
Having let our lead slip, there was now a nagging fear that we would soon be the victims of Darlington’s first away league victory this season. Nordic midfielders Tom Mølby and Henning Numme each tried to allay those fears, only to see their shots saved by visiting keeper Stefan Postma. Incidentally, 17-year-old Numme was a substitute for a substitute, as Markus Saler’s cameo was cut short by a gashed leg after just 15 minutes.
There would be no last-gasp Fulham winner this time. Indeed, after 82 minutes, it seemed that Darlington would pull off a shock result. Olaoye’s strike from just outside the area was blasted wide, thus sparing us from defeat, but I was certainly not a relieved man at full-time.
Fulham - 1 (Guðmundsson 29)
Darlington - 1 (Olaoye 48)
Division 1, Attendance 12,069 - POSITIONS: Fulham 11th, Darlington 24th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Hudson; Edwards, Ifil, Piccolo, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Danns (Saler (Numme)), Mølby, Núñez (Ormerod), Bouchiba; McVeigh. BOOKED: Danns.
All that momentum we built up from beating two of the best teams in the league, and we threw it away with a tepid performance against the worst team. Fulham Football Club, ladies and gentlemen.
Despite that, we finish the month just five points adrift of 6th-placed Nottingham Forest... and 2nd-placed Wolves are only one further point ahead. The race for promotion is hotting up, and we are determined to play our part.
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3 hours ago, Navelgazer said:
Lovely to see Spurs heading towards Division Two, even if it is early days
I have to agree. It is hilarious.
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of October 2011)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 14 7 0 0 21 6 4 0 3 16 13 33 2nd Notts Co 14 7 1 0 17 3 3 1 2 13 8 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Charlton 14 6 0 2 20 11 3 2 1 10 7 29 4th Norwich 14 5 2 1 19 13 3 1 2 10 8 27 5th Gillingham 14 5 1 2 19 12 3 1 2 12 11 26 6th Man City 15 3 2 2 16 11 5 0 3 19 20 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Nottm Forest 14 4 1 1 11 7 4 1 3 10 12 26 8th Sunderland 14 6 1 1 17 10 2 0 4 10 15 25 9th West Ham 14 4 1 1 9 6 3 2 3 8 9 24 10th Wolves 14 5 0 1 11 4 2 2 4 14 17 23 11th Birmingham 14 5 0 1 17 6 2 0 6 14 20 21 12th Carlisle 15 5 1 2 12 8 1 1 5 6 12 20 13th Fulham 14 3 2 3 13 12 2 1 3 5 8 18 14th Swindon 15 2 3 2 14 17 3 0 5 10 12 18 15th Sheff Utd 15 2 2 3 20 19 3 0 5 11 16 17 16th Huddersfield 14 3 1 3 8 8 2 1 4 10 18 17 17th Kidderminster 14 4 2 1 12 8 0 2 5 6 14 16 18th Chesterfield 15 4 0 3 14 10 0 4 4 16 25 16 19th Preston 15 2 3 3 14 16 1 4 2 12 15 16 20th Aston Villa 15 3 2 3 14 16 1 1 5 12 19 15 21st W.B.A. 14 3 2 3 14 14 0 3 3 6 11 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Tottenham 15 4 1 2 11 8 0 0 8 4 18 13 23rd Darlington 14 2 1 3 8 8 0 1 7 5 15 8 24th Macclesfield 14 0 1 5 10 17 1 2 5 11 18 6
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Falcao and Francis Jeffers continue to rip up the Premiership as Arsenal storm to an eight-point lead. With Manchester United suffering a shock 5-1 defeat at Liverpool, and Chelsea also struggling to keep up the pace, it is newly-promoted Grimsby who emerge as surprise title challengers. It must be all the fishfingers...
- World Cup finalists Spain and Wales both secure their places at Euro 2012, but an injured Cristiano Ronaldo is in tears as Portugal fail to qualify. A 5-0 win over Latvia kept alive the Seleção’s slim hopes of finishing 2nd in their group behind Switzerland and reaching the play-offs... but they also needed Denmark to lose to a Malta team ranked 204th in the world. You can probably guess how that turned out.
- Silvio Berlusconi’s policy of sending his Milan players to a brothel every time they win a Champions League game proves detrimental to their league form. While the Rossoneri qualify from the second group phase in the CL, they lose six straight Serie A games and fall into relegation danger... until captain Andrea Pirlo inspires them to a 2-1 derby win over Inter.
- After just 81 days at Wycombe, and having led the Chairboys to the giddy heights of 18th in Division 3, Gary Neville leaves Adams Park for a new challenge in Germany. The former England right-back is poached by 2. Bundesliga club Fortuna Köln - and instantly inspires his new team to a 3-2 comeback win over Stuttgarter Kickers.
- Barcelona’s pursuit of yet another La Liga title hits its first bump, as their dream team lose 1-0 at home to Sporting Gijón - with Peru forward Pedro Ascoy scoring from the visitors’ only shot. Meanwhile, David O’Leary works his usual magic at Sporting CP, who slip to 7th in the Primeira Liga after being towelled 4-0 by champions Porto.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Libya’s deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi is captured and killed by rebel forces in Sirte. Gaddafi is shot several times and his body dragged through the streets as a brutal eight-month civil war comes to an end. Barack Obama calls it a "momentous day", but warns that the north African nation "has a long and winding road towards full democracy".
- Occupy Wall Street inspires another anti-capitalist movement in London, as over 500 protestors set up camp outside St Paul’s. The cathedral is forced to close its doors to visitors for the first time since World War II.
- 24 years after winning the first Rugby World Cup, New Zealand are on top of the world once again. Richie McCaw captains the All Blacks to a nervy 8-7 win over France in the Final match at Eden Park, Auckland.
- Apple founder and chairman Steve Jobs passes away in California aged 56. Jobs battled pancreatic cancer for eight years, but sought alternative medicine instead of conventional treatment. The charismatic entrepreneur oversaw the creation of the iPhone and the iPad, and transformed Apple from near-bankruptcy into a billion-dollar empire.
1 -
OCTOBER 2011
After September passed by with four defeats in five matches, October had become a crucial month for my tenure as Fulham manager. If we didn’t fix our defensive issues or become more potent on the counter, our slide down the Division 1 table would continue - and Fulham would be plunged into yet another relegation battle.
Cottagers fans had suffered so much misery over the past five seasons, so I knew that they could easily turn against me if the slump continued. That made avoiding a third straight home defeat even more critical when we welcomed Swindon, who reached the play-offs last season and were looking like challengers again.
1 OCTOBER 2011: Fulham vs Swindon Town
We didn’t have much luck in front of goal in the first half. Florian Schneider’s diving header in the fifth minute glanced just wide, while Anestis Agritis’ effort in the 23rd minute was stopped by Swindon keeper Calle Nyman. Agritis appeared to twist his ankle while attempting another shot 15 minutes later, ending his game just before half-time.
After a goalless first period, it was Swindon who looked most likely to break the deadlock in the second. Captain Alex Revell volleyed just over the bar in the 50th minute, though Leon Knight was rather less accurate in the 72nd. The Robins team also included former Newcastle and Atlético Madrid midfielder Clarence Acuña, who was booked for a clumsy challenge on Schneider.
As a goalless draw loomed, I decided to freshen up our midfield and replace youngster Vicente Núñez with the more experienced Neil Danns. That change paid dividends after 78 minutes, when Danns’ ball into the Swindon area was half-volleyed home by teenager Tom Mølby!
Having finally broken the deadlock, we grew in confidence - and then doubled our lead in stoppage time. Having taken around an hour to warm up after replacing the injured Agritis, Paul McVeigh caught fire, dribbling past two Swindon defenders before blasting in an excellent left-footed finish!
Fulham - 2 (Mølby 78, McVeigh 90)
Swindon Town - 0
Division 1, Attendance 10,757 - POSITIONS: Fulham 15th, Swindon 12th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Ifil, Davies (Mitchell), Thatcher; Schneider; Mølby, Núñez (Danns); Ormerod, Bouchiba; Agritis (McVeigh).
This team is so frustrating right now. Even when we win matches, we make very hard work of it.
Fortunately, Anestis Agritis’ ankle injury wasn’t as bad as it was first feared. The Greek goal machine would still miss at least our first two matches following the international break, but club legend Paul McVeigh was more than capable of filling the void.
Meanwhile, our promising 18-year-old midfielder Michael Gibson was attracting interest from Premiership clubs. Chris Kamara had offered me £400,000 - and then £500,000 - to add Gibson to a Torquay team who were battling bravely in their first ever top-flight season. It would take a lot more than that to convince me to sell.
Our next game was at home to Gillingham, who won the Division 2 title last season and were now flying high in 10th. The Gills’ rise was even more impressive, seeing as they were reportedly in huge debt and on the brink of bankruptcy. Still, any team which has Peter Reid as its manager and Kevin Muscat as a coach is sure to show plenty of fighting spirit.
Despite keeping a clean sheet last time out, I decided to reshuffle my defence, with left-back Arnar Guðmundsson returning form injury, and Peter Mitchell making his first Fulham start at right-back. I also gave another start at right wing to Brett Ormerod, who was about to turn 35, and who needed to show that his best years weren’t yet behind him.
15 OCTOBER 2011: Fulham vs Gillingham
Gillingham’s intense attacking game put us on the back foot during the first half-hour. Gills midfielder Hugh Davidson might have failed in his attempt to chip Wayne Hudson in the 20th minute, but he did set up the opening goal seven minutes later. A slide-rule pass was expertly finished by attacking midfielder Inácio Piá - a former Italy Under-21s international of Brazilian descent.
And then it got worse. Just two minutes after Gillingham took the lead, they went 2-0 up courtesy of Richard Sadlier. The Republic of Ireland striker outjumped the hopeless Jerel Ifil to head in a cross from his fellow frontman Veigar Páll Gunnarson.
At the other end, a point-blank save from Gills captain Colin Hunwick denied Neil Danns the chance to halve our deficit before half-time. Facing a heavy home loss at the break, I made two substitutions on the right flank. Peter Mitchell was struggling at full-back and was replaced by Graham Bowater, while 17-year-old winger Atle Iversen made just his second appearance in place of Brett Ormerod.
15 minutes into the second half, the comeback was on. Florian Schneider’s long ball into the area found left-winger Elbekay Bouchiba, who knocked it down for Paul McVeigh to finish!
But just nine minutes after playing an important role in that goal, Schneider’s game was over. The German got into an argument with Gillingham substitute midfielder Graham Finnegan, who’d just been booked for tripping Tom Mølby. Finnegan lashed out at Schneider, who then shoved Simon Colosimo out of the way when the Gills defender tried to break them up. The referee then intervened - red-carding both Finnegan and Schneider, and reducing both teams to 10 men!
The game then began to open up, as substitute Wayne Cable had a couple of chances to get us back level. However, it was another young winged wonder who would make the difference in the 84th minute, as Iversen’s killer cross was headed in by McVeigh to make it 2-2! Our penchant for late goals had saved us yet another point!
Fulham - 2 (McVeigh 60,84)
Gillingham - 2 (Inácio Piá 27, Sadlier 29)
Division 1, Attendance 13,965 - POSITIONS: Fulham 14th, Gillingham 10th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Mitchell (Bowater), Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Mølby, Danns; Ormerod (Iversen), Bouchiba (Cable); McVeigh. SENT OFF: Schneider.
Despite a great comeback, I was far from happy with Florian Schneider losing his temper. The German defensive midfielder was fined two weeks’ wages and banned for our home game against Manchester City on 29 October. He would also play no part in our next away fixture.
In midweek, we travelled to my old Aggborough stomping ground to take on a much-changed Kidderminster team. Despite their shocking end to last season, Tony Adams’ Harriers had so far stayed clear of relegation and were only behind us by a single goal.
18 OCTOBER 2011: Kidderminster Harriers vs Fulham
David Collins’ status as a Kidderminster legend was exemplified just three minutes after kick-off. The evergreen 31-year-old - who’d recently been promoted to captain by Tony Adams - lost his marker Curtis Davies to fire in a landmark goal from Billy Berntsson’s right-wing cross. That was Collins’ 100th goal for the Harriers, scored in just his sixth season at Aggborough!
Since our last meeting, Adams had finally concluded that Kent Ivarsson was... ahem, not a very good goalkeeper. He had now replaced him with Jamaican international Donovan Ricketts, who looked much more assured between the sticks. Ricketts kept out a couple of dangerous efforts from wingers Elbekay Bouchiba and Kent Iversen to preserve Kidderminster’s lead at the break.
Though Albert Mulder had not turned into the heavy scorer Kidderminster fans were probably expecting when I bought him last year, the Dutch youngster had still delivered 11 goal contributions in 14 matches this season. Mulder put a 65th-minute free-kick just over the crossbar after his Italian team-mate Nunzio Pepe had been felled by Neil Danns.
Norwegian midfielder Henning Numme had come on to make his league debut at half-time, while compatriot Iversen was replaced with Mark Smith midway through the second period. But with six minutes to go, and Fulham still trailing 1-0, I went for broke. On his 35th birthday, Cottagers legend Brett Ormerod got the call to come on for the closing stages and grab us an equaliser.
Barely a minute later, it seemed that Brett had read and rehearsed the script perfectly. Though he wasn’t as quick as he used to be, he found some space in the Kiddy box and perfectly timed his run onto Arnar Guðmundsson’s left-wing cross. A tidy finish delivered his 100th league goal for Fulham - and, more importantly, earned us yet another late point!
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 3)
Fulham - 1 (Ormerod 85)
Division 1, Attendance 7,215 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 15th, Fulham 14th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Davies, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Piccolo (Numme); Mølby, Danns (Ormerod); Iversen (Smith), Bouchiba; McVeigh.
While birthday boy Ormerod was being congratulated on becoming our latest league centurion, another player’s Fulham future was coming under serious threat.
Curtis Davies’ mistake for Kidderminster’s opener was the latest that the centre-back had made in a disastrous season, in which he had posted an average rating of just 6.33 across nine matches. It seemed that Curtis’ new contract had gone to his head, so he was banished to the reserves until he sorted out his attitude.
Reserve winger Mark Smith - who came on as a substitute at Aggborough - was soon heading out on loan again. The Welsh youngster would spend the rest of the season on loan at mid-table Conference side Harrow Borough, and I made it clear that he needed to deliver the good there if he had a long-term future with us.
We were now eight points adrift of the top six, so our next home fixture against fallen giants Tottenham really was ‘must-win’. New manager Roy Keane seemed determined to relegate another club, as Spurs had already lost eight of their first 12 league matches - including all seven of their away games!
22 OCTOBER 2011: Fulham vs Tottenham Hotspur
Brett Ormerod’s late equaliser at Kidderminster was rewarded with a start, partnering Paul McVeigh in front of a midfield diamond. The oldest player in our first-team was on target after 21 minutes, thanks to a fabulous assist by our youngest. Iversen showcased his prodigious talent once again with a perfectly-lofted ball to Ormerod, who did the rest.
Tottenham couldn’t muster an equaliser before half-time, so they resorted to the kind of dirty tactics their manager was renowned for in his playing days. Northern Ireland stopper Mark Clyde was especially rough, copping a yellow card for knocking Ormerod to the ground in the 40th minute. In fairness, Clyde would not mistime another tackle, and his rock-solid defending was perhaps the biggest reason why we wouldn’t add to our lead.
The second half was a scrappy affair, in which Spurs also struggled to hit the target. Their best effort - from Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca in the 49th minute - was brilliantly turned away by Wayne Hudson, who didn’t have that much to do otherwise. Remarkably, this would be our first victory this season in which we didn’t need to score in the final 15 minutes!
Fulham - 1 (Ormerod 21)
Tottenham Hotspur - 0
Division 1, Attendance 16,901 - POSITIONS: Fulham 13th, Tottenham 22nd
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Schneider; Gibson, Danns (Numme); Iversen; Ormerod, McVeigh (Agritis).
After his second goal in as many games, Ormerod was suddenly in demand. Division 2 Oldham had made a £45,000 offer to bring the veteran back to his native Lancashire, but you can probably understand why I wasn’t ready to see him leave just yet.
We finished off the month with yet another match at Craven Cottage - this time against Manchester City. The Citizens sacked Trevor Francis after being relegated from the Premiership in May and appointed Graeme Souness, who led Crewe to the Division 1 title. Souness was perhaps having some regrets about that, as City were leaking goals left, right and centre and had recently fallen out of the play-off places.
Having set up Brett’s winner against Spurs, winger Atle Iversen was rewarded with another start, while fellow Nordic teenager Tom Mølby returned after being too tired to play in that last game. Schneider served his one-match suspension, which meant another chance in defensive midfield for Walter Piccolo.
29 OCTOBER 2011: Fulham vs Manchester City
In the early stages, our defence seemed to be confused about how to deal with Manchester City’s similarly-named striker Matt Jansen and midfielder Damien Johnson. Jansen scooped Johnson’s through-ball over the bar in the 11th minute, but Johnson fared better just two minutes later to head in the opening goal.
City almost doubled their lead on the half-hour mark, with Wayne Hudson needing to make two shots in two minutes to thwart both Johnson and the visitors’ other striker James Beattie. We then got a chance to draw level in the 42nd minute, after a foul from the Sky Blues’ anchor man Andreas Schwarz gave us a free-kick 20 yards from goal. This was the perfect range for set-piece specialist Tom Mølby, who curled it past the wall and keeper Bogdan Lobont to level the scores!
Graeme Souness clearly fired up his team in the dressing room, as they looked much meaner after the break. It was our Nordic youngsters who bore the brunt of their aggression. Johnson was booked in the 49th minute for a holding foul on winger Atle Iversen, who was so unnerved that he was subbed shortly afterwards. Mølby would not finish the game either - the Danish playmaker being carried off with a knee injury on 66 minutes.
City then resorted to aggression of a different kind, and despite Hudson’s best efforts to keep the scores level, the visitors won the game 15 minutes from half-time. Jerel Ifil’s attempt to clear away Johnson’s whipped corner only went as far as Cameroon midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba, whose chip over Hudson was so good that they named him twice. Drat, drat.
Fulham - 1 (Mølby 42)
Manchester City - 2 (Johnson 13, Djemba-Djemba 75)
Division 1, Attendance 20,705 - POSITIONS: Fulham 13th, Man City 6th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Mitchell, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Piccolo; Mølby (McVeigh), Danns; Iversen (Gibson), Bouchiba (Cable); Ormerod. BOOKED: Ifil.
Unfortunately, Mølby would now miss the next two weeks with a twisted knee. The Danish starlet would be a major loss, having produced four goals in 12 matches so far this term.
But as we enter the middle part of the season, it’s clear that the team as a whole is not fulfilling its potential - certainly not at the Cottage, where we’ve already lost three times so far. Perhaps another change of tactic is needed?
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of September 2011)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 9 4 0 0 13 2 3 0 2 10 8 21 2nd Charlton 9 3 0 1 9 5 3 2 0 9 4 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Man City 9 2 2 1 13 8 3 0 1 12 12 17 4th Notts Co 8 3 0 0 8 1 2 1 2 9 5 16 5th Wolves 9 4 0 1 9 3 1 1 2 8 10 16 6th West Ham 9 2 1 1 5 4 3 0 2 6 5 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Nottm Forest 9 4 0 1 9 5 1 1 2 4 8 16 8th Birmingham 10 4 0 1 13 4 1 0 4 8 13 15 9th Swindon 9 1 3 1 11 12 3 0 1 9 4 15 10th Sheff Utd 9 2 2 1 16 12 2 0 2 8 8 14 11th Norwich 9 2 1 1 9 7 2 1 2 8 7 14 12th Carlisle 9 3 1 1 6 4 1 1 2 3 5 14 13th W.B.A. 9 3 1 0 9 3 0 3 2 4 7 13 14th Gillingham 9 2 1 2 8 9 2 0 2 7 8 13 15th Huddersfield 9 2 1 1 6 5 2 0 3 7 14 13 16th Aston Villa 10 2 1 2 8 10 1 1 3 11 15 11 17th Fulham 9 1 1 2 7 8 2 0 3 4 7 10 18th Kidderminster 9 3 0 1 8 6 0 1 4 3 10 10 19th Sunderland 9 2 1 1 8 7 1 0 4 7 14 10 20th Tottenham 9 3 0 2 10 8 0 0 4 2 8 9 21st Darlington 9 2 1 2 7 6 0 1 3 4 8 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Chesterfield 9 2 0 3 9 9 0 2 2 7 13 8 23rd Preston 8 1 0 3 5 9 0 2 2 6 10 5 24th Macclesfield 9 0 1 4 7 13 0 1 3 4 10 2
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Arsenal start their Premiership campaign in ominous fashion, scoring 19 goals to win their first six matches. Francis Jeffers and his new strike partner Falcao get 11 goals between them, including three in an impressive 4-2 comeback win at Torquay. And with no European football to distract them, who’s to say the Gunners can’t regain their title?
- Europe certainly proves to be a distraction for Nigel Winterburn’s Liverpool. Despite outclassing the mighty ÖIS and Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League group phase, the Reds lose their first four Premiership matches - and then chuck away a win at Coventry after notorious hotheads Xabi Alonso and Michael Owen are both sent off.
- Ryan Giggs is sacked as Nice manager after they lose five of their first six Ligue 2 matches, scoring just one goal. Amazingly, Giggs’ disastrous 11-month reign in France doesn’t deter the Premiership’s bottom side Bradford, who appoint the former Welsh wizard to replace Garry Hill - apparently after a strong recommendation from Roy Keane.
- Roma suffer surprise defeats to both Werder Bremen and Leeds in the Champions League, but bitter rivals Lazio are much more convincing as they win their first seven games in all competitions. The Biancocelesti strengthen their squad even further by spending £10.5million on Marseille midfielder Sebastian Deisler, which might be bad news for Barry Ferguson.
- Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart look set to contest the Bundesliga crown once again, each boasting 100% records after their first five matches. Stuttgart are especially potent after scoring 20 goals - including six from Brazilian forward Robinho, who signed for Felix Magath’s side last Christmas.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Thousands of protestors occupy Wall Street in New York City, as part of a movement called… Occupy Wall Street. Using the slogan “We are the 99%”, they campaign against economic inequality and political corruption. Their encampment will last for two months.
- Former “Canadian Idol” contestant Carly Rae Jepsen meets a hot, half-naked guy and gives him her phone number, then says, “Call Me Maybe”. Sadly, the fella isn’t interested in her. At least Carly will get a big worldwide hit single out of it...
- After a glittering 30-year career, alternative rock legends R.E.M. all go back to where they belong and announce their separation. Fronted by Michael Stipe, the Georgia four-piece enjoyed their greatest successes in the early 1990s, with hit singles such as "Losing My Religion", "Shiny Happy People" and "Everybody Hurts".
- As Britons become obsessed with Scandinavian crime dramas such as “The Killing”, another Nordic noir series makes its debut. “The Bridge” stars Sofia Helin as Saga Norén - an autistic Swedish murder detective who works with her Danish counterparts when a body is found on the Øresund Bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen. “Passera popcornen.”
0 -
SEPTEMBER 2011
Fulham’s youth academy has produced a few gems in recent years… and it looks like two more young talents might be about to emerge.
The first of our two new promotees to the reserve team was Seán Lynch - a 17-year-old Irishman who could play anywhere across the defensive line. With his pace, crossing ability and work rate, his long-term future would most likely be as a right-back.
Hopes are also high for Douglas McNeil - another 17-year-old who can play in attacking midfield or up front. The Scotsman is quick, hard-working and has exceptional passing ability.
Meanwhile, a star of Fulham’s present was getting a little irritated. Anestis Agritis had started the season well with four goals in five games, though he’d only started twice. Ahead of our home game against struggling Sunderland, the 30-year-old Greek wanted to know why he wasn’t starting regularly.
Agritis was undoubtedly a class striker with a keen eye for goal, but during my first nine months as Fulham manager, he had been overshadowed by a resurgent Paul McVeigh. Paul had not exactly slowed down in the early stages of this campaign - scoring an impressive brace to beat West Brom - but Anestis’ form was hard to ignore.
I therefore decided to give Agritis an extended run in the starting XI, beginning with the visit of Sunderland. The Mackems narrowly avoided back-to-back relegations last season, but new manager David Mitchell had thus far won only one league game at the helm. Perhaps he was pining for Robert Webb?
10 SEPTEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Sunderland
The first 20 minutes were no laughing matter for yours truly. After watching Brett Ormerod head over an early chance to put Fulham behind, we fell behind to Sunderland’s first shot of the match. Jochen Berger swung in a near-post cross, which journeyman midfielder Michael Stewart easily gobbled up.
Sunderland captain Darren Bent nearly doubled their lead in the 33rd minute, when his header was met by a strong fingertip save from Cottagers skipper Wayne Hudson. Bent had another moment to forget on 41 minutes. The striker was easily beaten for pace by our left-back Arnar Guðmundsson, whose cross was flicked in by Anestis Agritis for a timely equaliser!
Three minutes later, Guð turned bad, as Arnar fouled Berger dangerously close to our penalty area. The Icelander then watched his compatriot Armann Smári Bjørnsson whip in a free-kick to Sunderland forward Michael Dunwell, whose header restored the visitors’ lead just before half-time.
I switched to a 4-4-2 for the second half, bringing on Paul McVeigh and Michael Gibson for Ormerod and the booked Florian Schneider respectively. That did us a fat load of good, as the Black Cats benefited from a huge stroke of luck seven minutes into the second half. Gavin Mahon’s free-kick delivery to Dunwell was passed on towards, and although our right-back Graham Bowater managed to intercept the pass, he succeeded only in diverting it into his own net. 3-1 to Sunderland.
After Agritis spurned a couple of chances to get us back in contention, Dunwell killed off the contest in the 75th minute. Guðmundsson gave away yet another free-kick - this time copping a yellow card for pushing Bent. Mahon’s free-kick found the head of Dunwell, who outjumped Vicente Núñez and condemned us to a 4-1 deficit.
McVeigh did pull a goal back in the 80th minute, converting a killer cross from substitute right-back Peter Mitchell. The Ulsterman was denied a second goal six minutes later by Mackems keeper James Jowsey, though youngster Tom Mølby stabbed in the rebound to make it 4-3. Unfortunately, we had left it too late to launch a proper comeback.
Fulham - 3 (Agritis 41, McVeigh 80, Mølby 86)
Sunderland - 4 (Stewart 20, Dunwell 44,75, Bowater og52)
Division 1, Attendance 16,013 - POSITIONS: Fulham 13th, Sunderland 17th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater (Mitchell), Piccolo, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Schneider (McVeigh); Mølby, Núñez; Ormerod (Gibson), Cable; Agritis. BOOKED: Schneider, Guðmundsson.
I’m struggling to think of another game where we were so shocking defensively. Heads had to roll after such a shambolic display - and I singled out Walter Piccolo for his inability to assert himself aerially. If anyone offered us £1million for the Italian stopper, I would take the money in a heartbeat.
Another player who’d massively disappointed me was 17-year-old winger Wayne Cable, who turned up late for training the next morning and obviously looked like he’d had a pint or two. He received a strong warning about his conduct and was dropped from the squad that travelled to Chesterfield in midweek.
In a more positive development, we finally welcomed right-winger Scott Brough back into the fold, over five months after he broke his leg in training. The 28-year-old was obviously too short of match fitness to start straight away, so he took his place on the bench as 18-year-old Michael Gibson got another chance to shine.
14 SEPTEMBER 2011: Chesterfield vs Fulham
After finding the net in four straight games, this game marked the end of Anestis Agritis’ scoring streak. The Greek god pounced on a poor goal kick by Chesterfield skipper David Lucas in the third minute but could only thunder it against the bar. He would not have another shot at goal before he picked up a yellow card and was substituted at half-time.
As the game went on, Chesterfield looked the more likely team to break the deadlock. Despite some brave defending from our German anchor man Florian Schneider, the Spireites would muster four shots on target - two each from striker Lars Iver Strand and midfielder Chris Carruthers. Wayne Hudson remained resolute in the Fulham goal, saving everything that was fired his way.
While Hudson was on his way to just a second clean sheet this season, we launched a counter-attack in second-half stoppage time. Chesterfield’s defence had been weakened by an 80th-minute injury to left-back Paul Boertien, and our two half-time subs took full advantage. Midfielder Neil Danns’ through-ball picked out Paul McVeigh, who swept past teenage sweeper Simon Piper and then rifled in yet another late Fulham winner!
Chesterfield - 0
Fulham - 1 (McVeigh 90)
Division 1, Attendance 5,972 - POSITIONS: Chesterfield 20th, Fulham 9th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Davies, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Mølby, Núñez (Danns); Gibson (Brough), Bouchiba; Agritis (McVeigh). BOOKED: Agritis, Schneider.
That was our third win of the season - and in all of them, we’d scored the final goal in the last 10 minutes! Can you not leave it so late next time, lads? I don’t think my ticker can take the stress!
Fellow mid-tablers Norwich were the next team to visit Craven Cottage, doing so off the back of a four-game winless run. Could we take advantage of their poor form and register another win - ideally with time to spare?
17 SEPTEMBER 2011: Fulham vs Norwich City
We might have been brilliant at finishing matches, but we clearly weren’t so hot when it came to starting them. After just two minutes, Norwich striker Darren Kelly stung the palms of Wayne Hudson with a blistering volley. Hudson’s best efforts to keep it out were in vain, as former England midfielder Gavin McCann broke the deadlock from the rebound.
That early setback shook us into life, and we created several equalising chances throughout the first half. Paul McVeigh’s attacking instinct got him into some great scoring positions, but he was consistently frustrated by some brave goalkeeping from Norwich’s 20-year-old shotstopper Lee Pike. McVeigh could have had even more chances if Canaries centre-back Wayne Thomas hadn’t been so imperious in the air and won countless headers.
While we struggled to figure out just how to break open this rock-solid Norwich defence, Tim Breacker’s visitors broke through again in the 61st minute. Two more Canaries youngsters delivered the goods, as Iceland forward Stefan Jónsson’s cross was finished by a well-crafted strike from Scotland Under-21s midfielder Thomas Sinclair.
Then, in the 69th minute, it looked like we would fall THREE goals behind for the second home game in a row. Only Florian Schneider’s goal-line clearance stopped Phil Porter from making it 3-0 Norwich. Florian’s midfield colleague Neil Danns then initiated a Cottagers counter-strike, hoofing the ball up for substitute Anestis Agritis to break away and drive it past Pike!
At only 2-1 down, the game was alive and kicking again, with Agritis and McVeigh teaming up to try and get us back level. Anestis’ cross in the 73rd minute was met by a strong header from Paul... and an even better save by Pike, who was determined to preserve City’s lead. Agritis then spurned one more chance to save a point in the 87th minute as we slumped to another narrow defeat.
Fulham - 1 (Agritis 69)
Norwich City - 2 (McCann 2, Sinclair 61)
Division 1, Attendance 12,343 - POSITIONS: Fulham 10th, Norwich 8th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Hudson; Bowater (Mitchell), Davies, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Brough (Gibson), Mølby (Agritis), Danns, Bouchiba; McVeigh.
Back-to-back home defeats suggested that we still had serious problems to address. You can’t expect to win many matches if you give away eight shots on target on your home ground against a team of similar quality.
I certainly wasn’t going to blame Wayne Hudson for our defensive frailties. Our goalkeeping captain had recently asked me for a new contract, and I was happy to reward his recent form with a hefty pay rise - £10,000 per week until the summer of 2016.
After sitting out the last two games, Cable returned to the starting line-up when we visited 6th-placed Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Centre-half Jerel Ifil was also back after recovering from a knee injury, but left-back Arnar Guðmundsson was ruled out with a sprained ankle.
24 SEPTEMBER 2011: Sheffield United vs Fulham
The early stages showed that Sheffield United had established themselves as one of the most dangerous attacking teams in Division 1. Wing-back Danny Butterfield was denied a 3rd-minute opener by the post, and striker Mark McCormick got a shot on target in the 13th. The Blades’ breakthrough came in the 16th, when playmaker Willie Howie blasted home after Fulham right-back Graham Bowater had miscontrolled the ball on the edge of our area.
Following Howie’s opener, another Scot inflicted misery on us at the other end. Midway through the first half, goalkeeper Derek Bruce kept out a series of headers from Anestis Agritis, Curtis Davies and even Wayne Cable. We might have had better luck if we’d kept the ball on the ground, but ah well.
Cable showed great endeavour to try and set up an equaliser in the 58th minute. However, his ambitious long ball towards substitute Paul McVeigh was brilliantly intercepted by United defender Indriði Sigurðsson. The Iceland international then played the ball up to the marauding Italian left-back Raffaele Mazzocco, who drove in the hosts’ second goal.
We then started to put up more of a fight, with Agritis furiously hammering in a goal back just three minutes later - his fifth goal in six matches, by the way. Sadly, McVeigh didn’t look quite so potent, never coming close to adding to his 103 Fulham league goals.
Sheffield United secured victory 10 minutes from full-time, and the Bramall Lane faithful got the chance to salute a centurion of their own. Billy Paynter’s header from a Scott Hughes cross was his 100th league strike for United since signing from Portsmouth in 2005. All those goals had come in Division 1, but who’s to say that Paynter and his Blades comrades won’t be playing Premiership football next term?
Sheffield United - 3 (Howie 16, Mazzocco 58, Paynter 80)
Fulham - 1 (Agritis 61)
Division 1, Attendance 21,248 - POSITIONS: Sheff Utd 4th, Fulham 16th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater (Mitchell), Davies, Ifil, Thatcher; Schneider; Mølby, Danns (McVeigh); Gibson (Brough), Cable; Agritis. BOOKED: Mitchell.
Eight games into the new season, and already our promotion challenge was falling apart at the seams.
Drastic action needed to be taken before we went to Nottingham Forest for our final match of the month. Agritis and Paul McVeigh played up front together for the first time this season as I switched to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond - with Cable playing as a makeshift attacking left-back.
28 SEPTEMBER 2011: Nottingham Forest vs Fulham
Anestis Agritis was particularly determined to continue his latest goalscoring run. His 5th-minute volley might have been kept out by Forest goalkeeper Matthew Ramsey, but he went much closer a few moments later. Agritis latched onto a flick-on from winger Michael Gibson, and then unleashed a powerful strike that home defender Scott Wilson could only divert into his own goal.
There was a hint of good fortune about our lead, so it probably wasn’t that surprising that it didn’t last long. Nottingham Forest were back level by the 8th minute, courtesy of a header from striker Beli Moumouni Dagano. The assist came from 19-year-old midfielder Wayne Tucker, who was actually making his Football League debut after signing from non-league Wimbledon just 24 hours earlier!
Despite his inexperience, Tucker ran the midfield like a grizzled general, and the hosts went from strength to strength. Then, five minutes from half-time, Forest’s overlapping wing-backs combined to give them the lead, as 18-year-old Johnny Henriksson’s left-wing cross was scored by the more experienced Jamie Smith.
Facing a fourth defeat in five games, I must confess that my mind turned to soup in the second half. I tried every act of tactical desperation to try and spark a fightback - switching to John Beck-style long-ball tactics, bringing on Brett Ormerod as a third striker, even playing Scott Brough as a right-back!
As the match neared its end, we unsurprisingly looked like a complete mess - and we once again had to rely on Wayne Hudson just to keep the scoreline down to 2-1. There was a loud chorus of boos from the visiting Fulham fans at full-time... and I’m pretty sure one or two of them were calling for a new manager as well. Uh-oh.
Nottingham Forest - 2 (Dagano 8, J Smith 40)
Fulham - 1 (Wilson og5)
Division 1, Attendance 7,021 - POSITIONS: Nottm Forest 7th, Fulham 16th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Hudson; Bowater (Brough), Davies, Ifil, Cable; Schneider (Piccolo); Gibson, Núñez; Mølby (Ormerod); McVeigh, Agritis. BOOKED: Agritis.
Six points adrift of the play-off zone... and just two above the relegation zone. This was not in the script at the start of the season.
I needed to turn around our fortunes quickly, otherwise the next head to roll would be mine.
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On 08/11/2023 at 19:33, Rob 396 said:
Excellent work again.
One thing to note for ETCH.
FCSB (ID 1513) and Steaua (ID 57141891) have an ongoing dispute about club history, latest ruling was that FCSB have the club history from 1947-2003, Steaua have it from 1947-1998
So I would recommend they share the same European Team Cup History until 1998, when they diverge
It was a real headache for me to figure all this out in my History Revision file, basically that's what I did - share and duplicate all titles and cup wins until 1998, so they both won the European Cup in 1986 etc.
It's something that's just not reflected in-game because it's an ongoing dispute
Anyway, totally up to you - just thought I'd raise it as a point of interest (if someone can find this kind of thing interesting)
Apologies for the late response. It's a very complicated case, and I don't envy you trying to get your head around it for your file.
For the time being, I'm going to stick with assigning all records until 2002/2003 to CSA Steaua, and all records from 2003/2004 onwards to FCSB (this seems to be how it's treated in the Romanian competition histories in-game).
I would rather not duplicate entries and have two different teams share the exact same record for a particular year (or years). Likewise, I will only apply Czechoslovakia's competition results to Czechia (but not to Slovakia as well), though this is obviously a very different case.
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DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of August 2011)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Blackburn 4 2 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 5 1 12 2nd Man City 4 1 1 0 5 3 2 0 0 7 5 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wolves 4 2 0 0 4 1 1 0 1 4 5 9 4th Nottm Forest 4 2 0 0 4 1 1 0 1 2 4 9 5th Norwich 4 1 1 0 4 2 1 1 0 3 1 8 6th Notts Co 3 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 4 1 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Swindon 4 0 1 1 3 5 2 0 0 5 1 7 8th Gillingham 4 1 1 0 3 1 1 0 1 3 3 7 9th Fulham 4 1 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 1 2 7 10th Birmingham 4 1 0 1 3 1 1 0 1 4 4 6 11th Carlisle 4 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 2 2 6 12th West Ham 4 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 6 13th Chesterfield 4 1 0 1 4 4 0 2 0 6 6 5 14th Charlton 4 1 0 1 3 3 0 2 0 2 2 5 15th Sheff Utd 4 0 1 1 6 7 1 0 1 3 3 4 16th Kidderminster 4 1 0 1 4 4 0 1 1 3 4 4 17th W.B.A. 4 1 1 0 5 3 0 0 2 1 4 4 18th Darlington 4 1 0 1 4 3 0 0 2 1 3 3 19th Tottenham 4 1 0 1 4 3 0 0 2 1 3 3 20th Aston Villa 4 1 0 1 3 3 0 0 2 3 7 3 21st Sunderland 4 1 0 1 5 5 0 0 2 1 5 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd Huddersfield 4 1 0 1 2 4 0 0 2 2 6 3 23rd Macclesfield 4 0 1 1 5 6 0 1 1 3 4 2 24th Preston 3 0 0 2 0 5 0 0 1 2 4 0
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Barcelona’s dream team becomes even more formidable with the signings of Hertha BSC midfielder Pablo Aimar and PSV striker Mateja Kezman for a combined £20.5million. Kezman makes an instant impact, as the Serbian and his Croatian strike partner Ivica Olic each score twice to destroy Celtic 4-0 in the Club World Championship Final in Istanbul.
- Ipswich are beaten 3-1 by Chelsea in the season-opening Community Shield... but the mood at Portman Road is soon lifted by a new signing. 36-year-old England centurion David Beckham signs a season-long deal with the Tractor Boys after leaving Leeds. Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham pursues a new career making designer overalls for farmers.
- Manchester United lose 3-0 at Panathinaikos in the Champions League qualifiers, and face a humiliating demotion to the UEFA Cup. That is until the return leg at Old Trafford, where two Frank Lampard penalties and a Thierry Henry hat-trick send United through with a 7-0 win! By full-time, PAO’s goalkeeping captain Antonis Nikopolidis is looking more like George Galloway than George Clooney!
- Sulking striker Djibril Cissé leaves Old Trafford and joins Lazio for £5.75million. Another French international on the move is winger Franck Ribéry, who swaps Marseille for Glasgow in an £11.75million transfer to Rangers. Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic makes a slow start at Ibrox, being outscored by Gers team-mates Alan Smith and Daniel Bierofka.
- Ex-Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy - now 35 - scores five goals in five games as Bordeaux race to the top of Ligue 1 under new coach Tom Prahl. Prahl isn’t the only Swede to captivate France’s top flight, as 24-year-old striker Carl Shkulqi also opens the season with five goals for 2nd-placed Lille, including two against former club St-Etienne.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Six months into Libya’s civil war, rebel forces take control of the capital city Tripoli and overthrow Muammar Gaddafi’s government. Colonel Gaddafi and his family flee east to his home city of Sirte, which remains loyal to him.
- Mark Duggan - a 29-year-old black man - is shot dead by police in Tottenham. His death triggers days of violent clashes and rioting across London (and subsequently other English cities), leading to five deaths and £200million worth of property damage.
- Cher Lloyd - the 18-year-old X Factor reject and Cheryl Cole knock-off - has her first (and hopefully only) UK Number 1 single with “Swagger Jagger”. A couple of weeks later, “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera cracks the top three. In completely unrelated news, The Rolling Stones consider going on yet another world tour.
- Is there life on Mars? We still don’t know, but NASA says that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has photographed what appears to be liquid water on the red planet…
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AUGUST 2011
Our early pre-season results had shown plenty of promise... at least on the defensive side of things. We had yet to concede a goal in three matches, though I was more concerned that we had only scored two at the other end - both against Elgin City.
While our new 4-1-4-1 system was clearly making us more defensively stable, I wanted to show a bit more ambition and look at alternatives. For the short trip to Division 3 side Watford, I went back to a 4-4-2 - with Paul McVeigh and Brett Ormerod continuing their long-time strike partnership.
2 AUGUST 2011: Watford vs Fulham
Okay, so maybe 4-4-2 isn’t the answer to our prayers. We needed to talk about Kevins in the 12th minute, when journeyman winger Kevin McLeod volleyed in a cross from striker Kevin Russell to give Watford a surprise lead. We narrowly avoided falling further behind and eventually drew level 11 minutes into the second half. Tom Mølby played a one-two with Paul McVeigh and then stung the Hornets with a lovely curler, but it wasn’t enough to spark a full-on comeback.
Watford - 1 (McLeod 12)
Fulham - 1 (Mølby 56)
Friendly, Attendance 8,171
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-2): Wilkinson; Bowater (Mitchell), Piccolo, Ifil (Davies), Magnusson (Guðmundsson); Gibson (Danns), Núñez (Mølby), Schneider (Numme), Bouchiba (Cable); Ormerod (Agritis), McVeigh. BOOKED: Schneider.
Good grief. If we’re this blunt in competitive games, there’s no chance we’re going up!
While I considered bolstering my attacking options even further, we looked ahead to our penultimate friendly - at home to a Crystal Palace team who finished 11th in the Premiership last season.
6 AUGUST 2011: Fulham vs Crystal Palace
Youth and experience combined with devastating effect in the 4th minute, when a fresh-faced Wayne Cable crossed for an evergreen Paul McVeigh to head home. Crystal Palace never recovered from that, as our high-intensity attacking game meant that they could never take it easy.
Joe Royle’s family got another kick up the proverbial three minutes into the second half, when a dropped catch from goalie Patrik Eklund allowed McVeigh to score again. Rounding off a dominant Fulham display was 17-year-old midfielder Atle Iversen, who came off the bench and headed in the third and final goal.
Fulham - 3 (McVeigh 4,48, Iversen 73)
Crystal Palace - 0
Friendly, Attendance 13,183
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Mitchell (Bowater), Davies, Thatcher (Ifil), Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Schneider (Núñez); Mølby (Iversen), Danns; Ormerod (Gibson), Cable (Bouchiba); McVeigh (Agritis).
Huh. Well, that shut me up!
Okay, so we could do it against Crystal Palace, but could we also hack it on a cold Tuesday night in Nottinghamshire? Our final warm-up match for the new season was at Field Mill, as we faced a Mansfield team who were recently relegated to Division 3.
9 AUGUST 2011: Mansfield Town vs Fulham
This was a miserable game, as play frequently got bogged down in midfield, resulting in both teams managing just a single shot apiece. Ours from Michael Gibson in the 13th minute was not very lucky, deflecting off the Mansfield wall and going wide. By contrast, Stags striker Richard Fenton unleashed a perfect shot on the hour mark, soundly beating Jimmy Wilkinson with the hosts’ only effort of the game. Typi-bloody-cal.
Mansfield Town - 1 (R Fenton 60)
Fulham - 0
Friendly, Attendance 2,949
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Wilkinson (Price); Mitchell (Bowater), Ifil (Piccolo), Thatcher, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Núñez (Schneider); Mølby (Iversen), Danns (Ormerod); Gibson, Cable (Bouchiba); Agritis (Butler).
[Sigh] I don’t know what to expect from us anymore.
So that’s six games played, six goals scored, two goals conceded. We only deliver the finest entertainment in this corner of west London.
That disastrous result against Mansfield probably didn’t bode well for the new season. Our first five competitive matches of the new campaign would all be against teams from the Midlands.
First up, we headed deep into the Black Country... and into the Wolves’ lair at Molineux. The Wanderers conceded 96 goals en route to another Premiership relegation last season, but in one-cap England striker Shola Ameobi, they had a bona fide goal machine who could tear up Division 1. This would not be an easy start to my first full season at Fulham.
13 AUGUST 2011: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Fulham
Both goalkeepers were called into action in the first 10 minutes. Wolves goalie Michael Phillips - once of Manchester United - caught a very early header from Wayne Cable shortly after kick-off. Fulham counterpart Wayne Hudson then denied home striker Emmanuel Olisadebe - erstwhile of Northampton - in the 8th minute.
After an open start to this match, it was Wolves who edged in front. Former England Under-21s midfielder James Edge knocked the ball down for defender Dave Duffy, who made an unexpected run towards goal and then fired home. It was only the 26-year-old centre-back’s second senior goal, because of course it bloody was.
Things almost got worse for us in the 28th minute, when our new German midfielder Florian Schneider narrowly avoided a debut red card for a dangerous two-footer on Poland international Olisadebe. Schneider escaped with just a yellow, but he returned for the second half... and almost got an assist in the 52nd minute. Unfortunately, Brett Ormerod could only fire Florian’s cross into Phillips’ hands.
Shola Ameobi then had three chances to secure victory for Wanderers. The first two of these were saved by Hudson, but there was nothing Wayne could do about the third. With 15 minutes to go, Ameobi skipped past Ormerod, Ben Thatcher and then Tom Mølby before blasting a stunner into the top corner - a strike worthy of winning any match.
Wolverhampton Wanderers - 2 (Duffy 16, Ameobi 75)
Fulham - 0
Division 1, Attendance 13,238 - POSITIONS: Wolves 8th, Fulham 20th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Davies (Mitchell), Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Schneider (Núñez); Mølby, Danns; Ormerod, Cable; McVeigh (Agritis). BOOKED: Schneider.
I never expected much from that game, but the fact we never looked competitive was a major concern. Could we actually rely on 19-year-old Tom Mølby to be our playmaker this season, or was he not ready for such a big responsibility?
Mølby was one of three players who were dropped from the starting XI for our first home league game of the season against West Brom, who also lost 2-0 on the opening day (against Notts County). Curtis Davies and Brett Ormerod also made way, with Jerel Ifil, Michael Gibson and 21-year-old winger Mark Smith all coming into the side.
Smith had reached a pivotal point in his Fulham career. The Wales Under-21s international had already made 54 appearances for the Cottagers after coming through the academy, but his development had stalled and he spent the second half of last season on loan at Farnborough in the Conference. If Mark was ever to become a regular starter at Craven Cottage, he needed to show it now.
20 AUGUST 2011: Fulham vs West Bromwich Albion
Though West Brom tried to attack from the outset, they barely troubled Wayne Hudson in the first 20 minutes. Indeed, the deadlock would be broken at the other end in the 23rd minute, when Paul McVeigh unleashed a fierce and accurate shot from just outside Albion’s penalty area. 1-0 to Fulham!
Four minutes later, however, the Baggies found their bounce. Midfield maestro Wade Elliott escaped from Florian Schneider to deliver a killer cross to striker Neil Mellor, whose lethal header levelled the scores.
The momentum was now with West Brom, but with Hudson between the sticks, we didn’t have too much to worry about. Captain Wayne turned away a couple of efforts from Elliott either side of half-time and remained as resolute as ever, also thwarting my former Kidderminster midfielder Danny Gould.
Our own attacks were far from convincing, so a 1-1 draw looked to be on the cards... until substitute winger Elbekay Bouchiba won a corner off West Brom keeper Daryl Maughan in the 90th minute. Another sub - Spanish midfielder Vicente Núñez - floated a fantastic delivery into the box, and McVeigh outjumped Maughan to head in a dramatic winner! The Northern Irishman’s 100th league goal for Fulham couldn’t have come at a much more critical time!
Fulham - 2 (McVeigh 23,90)
West Bromwich Albion - 1 (Mellor 27)
Division 1, Attendance 14,252 - POSITIONS: Fulham 15th, West Brom 21st
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Ifil, Thatcher, Guðmundsson; Schneider (Agritis); Gibson (Núñez), Danns; Smith, Cable (Bouchiba); McVeigh.
Our league campaign was underway, but how far would we go in the League Cup? A tough test awaited us in Round 1, when we went to Pride Park to face a resurgent Derby side who had already stormed to the top of Division 2.
At risk of almost guaranteeing another cup upset, I tried another tactical experiment - and returned to an attack-minded 5-3-2 system that had served me well at my previous clubs.
23 AUGUST 2011: Derby County vs Fulham
Playing in an attacking midfield role seemed to suit Tom Mølby to the ground, as the Danish teenager opened the scoring from Arnar Guðmundsson’s cross after just seven minutes. With Wayne Hudson getting the night off, Arnar was wearing the captain’s armband - and even though the Icelander was only 23, he was already showing great leadership qualities.
Taking Hudson’s place in goal was the equally reliable Jimmy Wilkinson, who kept out a couple of potential quick equalisers from left-back Matthew Taylor and striker Michael Symes. Unfortunately, Jimmy could do little to stop a powerful header from right-back Darren Way, which drew Derby level in the 13th minute.
The next half-hour was action-packed, with both teams producing chances to move 2-1 ahead. Come the half-time whistle, however, Derby boss Steve McClaren was in a happier mood than I was. A mistake from Fulham midfielder Michael Gibson gave the ball away to his Rams counterpart Jimmy O’Connor, and the 20-year-old Scot took full advantage to put the hosts in front two minutes before half-time.
Thankfully, Gibson went from zero to hero just six minutes into the second half. Michael’s hanging-ball corner was headed in by Greek frontman Anestis Agritis, and the scores were back level... until Derby’s attacking midfielder Craig Disley restored their advantage in the 67th minute.
County’s second lead was even shorter-lived than their first, lasting just a couple of minutes. Guðmundsson chipped in a second assist, Agritis volleyed in his second goal, and now it was 3-3! But a crazy game then took ANOTHER turn in the 78th minute, when Taylor thundered in a free-kick after a foul from Walter Piccolo, putting Derby back ahead for a THIRD time!
With captain Rudi Coleano and the rest of the Rams backline defending deep, it would take a big effort for us to equalise once again. Our last chance to save our League Cup skins came deep into injury time, when Vicente Núñez nodded a Gibson corner goalwards. Derby keeper Norbert Ernst tried to deflect the ball away... but Ben Thatcher thrashed in the rebound with as much aggression as one of his trademark tackles! FOUR-FOUR!
Having played through over 90 minutes of breathtaking football, both teams looked out on their feet before extra-time, let alone half an hour later! A gruelling game eventually took its toll on one of our players, with professional hardman Thatcher coming off six minutes from the end because he’d stubbed his toe. The 35-year-old Welshman would play no part in the penalty shoot-out that would decide the outcome of this League Cup epic.
After the first four rounds of penalties, the scoreline in the shoot-out was exactly the same as it was in regulation time - 4-4. Sadly, this unblemished record ended when an anxious Mølby screwed his penalty wide, giving Derby the chance to secure victory. Norwegian midfielder Ole Talberg stepped forward... and then blazed the ball over Wilkinson’s crossbar! Sudden death!
Following Mølby’s let-off, another teenager took our sixth penalty. Alas, Cable’s effort was no match for Ernst, who put the Rams on the brink of victory once again. This time, Taylor made no mistakes, and Pride Park erupted with joy as our League Cup exploits came to an agonising end.
Derby County - 4 (Way 13, J O’Connor 42, Disley 67, Taylor 78)
Fulham - 4 (Mølby 7, Agritis 51,69, Thatcher 90)
[after extra-time, Derby County win 5-4 on penalties]
League Cup Round 1, Attendance 17,389
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT (Fulham, Derby): Gibson 0-1, Mair 1-1, Agritis 1-2, Elliott 2-2, Núñez 2-3, J O’Connor 3-3, Davey 3-4, S O’Connor 4-4, Mølby missed, Talberg missed, Cable saved, Taylor 5-4.
FULHAM LINE-UP (3-5-2 Attacking): Wilkinson; Piccolo, Davies (Magnusson), Thatcher; Bowater, Guðmundsson (Cable); Gibson, Núñez; Mølby; Ormerod (Davey), Agritis. BOOKED: Bowater.
It really was the worst outcome. We were out of the League Cup, and several key players were knackered for our next two league games, which Ben Thatcher would definitely miss with a stubbed toe.
Birmingham’s entertainers were next up for us at St Andrew’s. Wayne Cable was still a little cut up after his crucial penalty miss against Derby, so the more experienced left-winger Elbekay Bouchiba made his first start of the season. I also gave a competitive debut to 17-year-old Atle Iversen on the right wing.
27 AUGUST 2011: Birmingham City vs Fulham
I knew all about Birmingham’s firepower, so I absolutely feared the worst when they found the net after just nine minutes. Grant McCann wheeled away in delight after flicking home defensive midfielder Richard Murphy’s through-ball, but the Northern Ireland star’s celebrations were cut short when an offside flag was raised against striker Andy Johnson.
Nonetheless, the tone was set for a match that the Blues pretty much dominated. They frequently carved our defence open and had NINE shots on target, including SIX from Johnson, who found the net 26 times last season. However, the hosts were consistently kept at bay by Wayne Hudson, who even by his ridiculously high standards was goalkeeping out of his skin! No prizes for guessing who the Man of the Match was!
That said, Birmingham’s keeper Matt Bates was no slouch either, twice keeping Paul McVeigh off the scoresheet. I eventually replaced him with Anestis Agritis - another substitution that would pay huge dividends late on. With eight minutes to go, left-back Arnar Guðmundsson sent a free-kick into City’s box, where Agritis produced a stunning header to silence St Andrew’s!
Immediately after Agritis’ strike, I brought on Vicente Núñez for fellow midfielder Neil Danns. Núñez was my third and final sub... and with impeccable timing, centre-back Jerel Ifil went down clutching his knee just two minutes later. Having to defend a slender lead with 10 men against a striker of Johnson’s quality was a daunting task, but we somehow managed to hold on.
Birmingham City - 0
Fulham - 1 (Agritis 82)
Division 1, Attendance 23,355 - POSITIONS: Birmingham 14th, Fulham 6th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Ifil, Piccolo, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Mølby, Danns (Núñez); Iversen (Smith), Bouchiba; McVeigh (Agritis).
Another league win... but another injury to a defender. Ifil’s twisted knee kept the Saint Lucia international on the sidelines for our Bank Holiday Monday match, at home to a mighty Notts County team. Walter Smith’s Magpies were not only undefeated; they had not yet conceded a goal in their opening fixtures.
29 AUGUST 2011: Fulham vs Notts County
Wayne Hudson immediately carried on from where he left off, tipping away a first-minute header from Notts County striker Sebastián Cobelli. The one-time Argentina international tried again in the 34th minute, only to be denied once again. Nobody else would come close to scoring in an otherwise mediocre first half.
We certainly never looked like opening the scoring - so when we did just that six minutes into the second half, it was very much against the run of play. Making just his 11th senior appearance, 17-year-old winger Wayne Cable skilfully dribbled past the experienced Magpies right-back Kevin McNaughton and then crossed into the box. Anestis Agritis then showed why he deserved to start ahead of Paul McVeigh, nodding in his fourth goal in as many games - and giving Wayne his first senior assist!
Walter Smith urged his team to push forward relentlessly for the final half-hour. Cobelli had a third shot saved by Hudson, who also frustrated Notts County’s attacking midfield substitute Ilias Androutsos. The pressure eventually paid off on 87 minutes, when a header from veteran striker Neil Harris gave us a taste of our late-goal medicine - and took a point back to the Midlands.
Fulham - 1 (Agritis 51)
Notts County - 1 (Harris 87)
Division 1, Attendance 12,691 - POSITIONS: Fulham 9th, Notts County 6th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson; Bowater, Davies (Mitchell), Piccolo, Guðmundsson; Schneider; Gibson (Núñez), Danns; Ormerod (Smith), Cable; Agritis. BOOKED: Davies.
A cruel way for our month to end, but I’m quietly confident about what’s to come. If we can come out of our shell and counter-attack with more confidence, we have the makings of a very good team.
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Fulham squad - Start of 2011/2012 season
GOALKEEPERS
1. Jimmy Wilkinson - GK, age 22, English
A product of Fulham’s academy, Wilkinson is a brave, consistent and competent goalie. Unfortunately, he is overshadowed by an even better one.
14. Wayne Hudson - GK, age 26, English
Nobody at this club deserves the captaincy more than Hudson. He is an exceptional and almost undroppable shotstopper who always comes big when it matters.
DEFENDERS
2. Graham Bowater - D R, age 27, English
Former Peterborough right-back Bowater was one of last season’s surprise packages. Though he isn’t great technically, he is very solid defensively.
3. Ben Thatcher - D LC, age 35, Welsh [33 caps, 3 goals]
Thatcher’s experience is unrivalled at Fulham, with over 600 senior games to his name. The hot-headed stopper loves a crunching tackle but is also strong in the air.
4. Walter Piccolo - SW/D C, age 23, Italian
I’m starting to think that Piccolo is not a centre-back. The technically-gifted sweeper is being retrained as a holding midfield to atone for his lack of height.
5. Jerel Ifil - D C, age 29, Saint Lucian [4 caps]
Ifil is brave and authoritative in the air, which should make our defence tougher to beat. The former Watford and Wolves ace also has a positive attitude.
12. Peter Mitchell - D C, age 25, Scottish [capped at Under-21s level]
Mitchell arrives from Arsenal for a second spell at Fulham. Though he is reliable enough at centre-half, his crossing ability could be more useful at right-back.
15. Arnar Guðmundsson - SW/D/DM RLC, age 22, Icelandic [14 caps]
Guðmundsson is my most expensive signing so far at £1.5million. The Icelander is quick, strong, two-footed, and surely destined to be a top-class wing-back.
18. Curtis Davies - D C, age 26, Sierra Leonean [3 caps]
Davies signed a new contract this summer but question marks remain over him. Can the energetic and intelligent centre-back be relied upon in aerial challenges?
31. Nigel Proffitt - D LC, age 18, English
Left-back Proffitt works hard, is strong in the tackle, and made 12 appearances last season. That said, he probably needs to go out on loan to reach the next level.
MIDFIELDERS
6. Mark Smith - AM/F RC, age 21, Welsh
Despite playing over 50 games for Fulham already, Smith is still not established at Fulham. The pacey winger might benefit from another loan.
7. Scott Brough - AM RLC, age 28, English
Brough is a versatile winger who showed plenty of technique and creativity at points last season. Sadly, he broke his leg in March and a return is still some way off.
8. Neil Danns - AM RC, age 27, Guyanese [18 caps, 2 goals]
Danns isn’t the most gifted midfielder, but he’s a handy and committed team player. The Liverpudlian’s best attributes are his pace, stamina and creative vision.
13. Michael Gibson - M RC, age 18, English
Gibson looks to have a bright future as either a right-winger or central midfielder. The set-piece specialist is looking to kick on after a promising debut season.
19. Florian Schneider - DM LC, age 26, German [capped at B level]
Schneider is the no-nonsense midfield general this team lacked last season. He is strong, defensively responsible, and blessed with fine technique on both feet.
20. Elbekay Bouchiba - M L, age 32, Dutch
Bouchiba got 4 goals and 10 assists last season after arriving from Dagenham & Redbridge. The flying Dutch-Moroccan’s contract expires next summer.
21. Wayne Cable - AM L, age 17, Welsh
Speedy trickster Cable is the latest left-wing sensation to come out of Wales. He showed glimpses of his talent last term but is he ready for regular senior football?
22. Vicente Núñez - DM RC, age 20, Spanish
Núñez is a tireless midfielder whose all-round skills could take him to the top. My first Fulham signing has already played 14 times since joining the team in December.
28. Tom Mølby - AM C, age 19, Danish
Mølby made a huge breakthrough under my leadership, getting 3 goals and 6 assists. The classy attacking midfielder has the world at his feet if he can become more consistent.
FORWARDS
9. Paul McVeigh - S C, age 33, Northern Irish [9 caps, 1 goal]
The evergreen McVeigh had his best-ever season last term, bagging 26 goals in 44 games. He is now the club’s all-time top scorer, and hopefully there’s still more to come.
10. Anestis Agritis - S C, age 30, Greek [2 caps]
Explosive striker Agritis tends to get frustrated at not being a regular starter. But he does take his chances when they come, scoring 11 times in his first Fulham season.
11. Brett Ormerod - F RC, age 34, English
Ormerod’s 10th season at the Cottage will surely be his last. After 107 goals in 362 games, can the popular and hard-working marksman sign off in style?
17. Michael Butler - S C, age 17, English
Butler is a quick, tall and selfless forward, but he needs to be more clinical to make the grade. The youth graduate is still waiting for a first senior goal after 25 games.
RESERVES
GOALKEEPER: Craig Price (16)
DEFENDERS: Graham Edwards (18), Gary Hogg (17), Halldór Magnusson (19), Stephen Richardson (20), Dave Taylor (21)
MIDFIELDERS: James Hughes (23), Atle Iversen (17), Henning Numme (17), Colm Ryan (18)
FORWARDS: Jamie Davey (20), Derek McIntyre (16)
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ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Having led Southampton to their first top-five finish in 36 years, Guus Hiddink shaves off his moustache and retires from management aged 64. Hiddink is succeeded by ex-Ajax boss Bob Bradley, who becomes the second American to coach a Premiership club - following in the footsteps of Newcastle's Brian Quinn.
- Manchester United add even more experience to an ageing team, as they sign Porto striker Miroslav Klose and Blackburn goalkeeper Alex Manninger. 34-year-old Phil Neville also returns from Celtic to be reunited with his older brother... until Gary leaves to become Wycombe's new player-manager a few weeks later. Phil is gutted.
- After winning zero trophies in nine years, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's ego grows too big for Newcastle - and Rangers' new manager Bernd Krauss brings him to Ibrox for £10.75million. Meanwhile, bitter rivals Celtic smash their transfer record with the £17.5million purchase of Spain and Mallorca winger Joaquín.
- Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon ends an eight-year spell at Liverpool and returns home in an £11.25million transfer to Lazio. Across the eternal city, Roma focus on strengthening their frontline, poaching Real Madrid legend Raúl and Toulouse's French goal machine Frédéric David on Bosman free transfers.
- Argentina win their first Copa America title since 2003, overcoming holders Brazil 2-1 in the Final in Asunción, Paraguay. Hertha BSC midfielder Pablo Aimar scores the winner in the 80th minute, after captain Gabriel Milito's early opener is cancelled out by Brazil defender Ricardo.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Norway is rocked by two terrorist attacks on 22 July. Eight people are killed by a car bomb in central Oslo, before another 67 are shot dead at a youth summer camp on the island of Utøya. A 32-year-old far-right extremist is arrested in connection with the attacks.
- One of Britain's best-loved musicians dies suddenly at a tragically young age, leaving their legions of fans distraught. Rest in peace, Würzel - guitarist of heavy metal legends Motörhead.
- It is reported that journalists from “News of the World” - the Sunday tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International - hacked the phones of British soldiers’ relatives, 7/7 London bombing victims, and murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The scandal quickly leads to the paper’s closure, after 168 years in print.
- There isn't a dry eye in the clubhouse at Royal St George's when Darren Clarke wins his first major golf title at the Open Championship. This had been the 20th attempt at winning the Open for the popular Northern Irishman, who lost his wife Heather to cancer five years ago.
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JULY 2011
My first full season at Fulham was on the horizon, and I had a good feeling about this one. Having taken the Cottagers to within a couple of points of the Division 1 play-offs, I believed that we could now go a step further.
The Fulham board didn't fancy our chances quite so much. Their expectations were simply to "stay clear of relegation", having finished in 21st place in each of the three campaigns prior to my mid-season arrival last November. That negative mindset was something I would look to change over the coming months.
Ahead of the new campaign, I had started to build a team that I believed could realistically challenge for promotion to the Premiership. The new defensive trio of wing-back Arnar Guðmundsson and centre-halves Jerel Ifil and Peter Mitchell would strengthen a rather shaky Cottagers backline that had been significantly weakened by captain George McCartney's shock departure to Arsenal.
Defensive midfielder Florian Schneider was the only other major addition to the squad, though I did bring in a handful of young prospects. These included a couple of Norwegian talents, who arrived just before we began our pre-season training camp in northern Scotland.
The skilful 16-year-old attacking midfielder Atle Iversen signed on a free transfer, having recently been released by Lillestrøm. We then paid an initial £150,000 to second-division side Clausenengen for Henning Numme - a 17-year-old holding midfielder who had coveted interest from Lyon in Ligue 1.
Meanwhile, backup goalkeeper Mike Edwards was sold for £230,000 to Carlisle. Edwards had spent part of the previous campaign on loan at Hartlepool in Division 3, and although the 28-year-old was a pretty capable shotstopper, he was not quite of the same quality as first-teamers Wayne Hudson and Jimmy Wilkinson.
I was now pretty happy with my squad and was in an optimistic mood when we arrived in the Highlands for our opening two friendlies. The first of them was against Scottish Division 2 side Elgin City, who were managed by a certain former Fulham boss. Yes, unbelievably, Kevin Keegan was still in charge at Borrough Briggs, and had been for almost a decade now!
For this match, I decided to try out a new variation of the 4-1-4-1 - with the two wingers pushed up into the attacking midfield strata to provide more support for the lone striker. I would love it if this tactical switch worked... LOVE IT!
19 JULY 2011: Elgin City vs Fulham
Though some sloppy passing gave Elgin far more possession than we would have liked, we were still far too strong for the hosts. Anestis Agritis opened the scoring with a 17th-minute scorcher after some good build-up play from midfielder Neil Danns.
Two debutant midfielders then linked up to double our lead early in the second half. Florian Schneider's free-kick was finished by a header from 17-year-old Henning Numme, who celebrated his first Fulham goal by dancing to a cheesy Moldovan pop song. Kevin Keegan did not love it.
Elgin City - 0
Fulham - 2 (Agritis 17, Numme 56)
Friendly, Attendance 2,611
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson (Price); Mitchell (Edwards), Davies, Piccolo (Ifil), Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Schneider (Núñez); Danns (Gibson), Numme; Iversen (Smith), Cable (McIntyre); Agritis (McVeigh). BOOKED: Guðmundsson.
While our pre-season was off to a good start, the smile was wiped off my face the next morning... when Mitchell was absent from training. I eventually found the Scottish defender fast asleep in his hotel after a night of heavy drinking. Furious, I sent him home - and warned him that any further misconduct would not be tolerated.
A few days later, we faced Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who finished 2nd in Division 1 last season - narrowly missing out on a first-ever promotion to the Scottish Premier League.
23 JULY 2011: Inverness Caledonian Thistle vs Fulham
I'll be honest with you - this match was absolute garbage. Neither team could string together more than a few passes at a time, and the only shot on target was a very tame free-kick from Fulham winger Michael Gibson late on. Those poor souls at the Caledonian Stadium all deserved a refund after sitting through 90 minutes of misery.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle - 0
Fulham - 0
Friendly, Attendance 2,115
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Wilkinson (Hudson); Bowater (Edwards), Richardson, Thatcher (Piccolo), Magnusson (Guðmundsson); Schneider (Smith); Mølby (Núñez), Numme (Gibson); Ormerod, Bouchiba (Cable); Butler (McVeigh).
That match was quickly forgotten, and focus turned towards our next friendly match away to Derby. Then the League Cup Round 1 draw took place, and we were drawn away to... erm, Derby.
While it was tempting to use this friendly match as a dress rehearsal for the cup game, I spoke with Derby's manager Steve McClaren, and we agreed that it didn't make sense to go ahead. The friendly was cancelled, and we instead had a full week of training to prepare for our first home fixture of pre-season.
The first visitors to Craven Cottage this summer were the back-to-back League Cup holders Bolton. How would our new-look 4-1-4-1 look up against Bruce Grobbelaar's low-block defence?
30 JULY 2011: Fulham vs Bolton Wanderers
This was slightly livelier than our last game. Bolton forward Jermaine Johnson forced three very good saves out of our goalkeeper Wayne Hudson, while the rest of our defence did a great job of frustrating the Trotters to keep another clean sheet. Things didn't look so good, as playmaker Tom Mølby had a 32nd-minute goal disallowed, and our attackers struggled to find the target for the next hour. Another bore draw.
Fulham - 0
Bolton Wanderers - 0
Friendly, Attendance 4,180
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-1-4-1 Attacking): Hudson (Wilkinson); Mitchell (Bowater), Davies, Ifil (Thatcher), Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Schneider (Núñez); Mølby (Gibson), Danns; Ormerod (Hughes), Bouchiba (Cable); Agritis (McVeigh). BOOKED: Schneider.
Good news... we've worked out how to defend! Hudson was inspirational in goal once again, and there was no doubt that someone with his consistency and leadership was the right man to take over the Fulham captaincy full-time.
Now... if we could figure out how to start scoring again, that would be great!
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25 Years
in FM Stories
Posted
MAY 2012
Going into the final day of the Division 1 season, the race to secure promotion to the Premiership was still on... but Fulham were nowhere to be seen.
Blackburn’s promotion had already been confirmed, and they would go up with automatically with either West Ham and Wolves. Whoever missed out would have to contest the play-offs with Birmingham, Norwich, and either Nottingham Forest or Gillingham. At the other end of the table, Division 2 already beckoned for Darlington, Macclesfield and [sigh] Kidderminster.
We went into the final day down in 15th place, and the best we could hope for was 14th. A dramatic 3-2 victory at Macclesfield on the previous weekend had snapped an eight-game winless run in the league, which had destroyed any slim hopes we had of getting into the play-offs.
That meant we had nothing riding on our final game of the season - away to an Aston Villa side who were well clear of relegation in 19th place. Chris Perry had not enjoyed a great first full season at Villa Park, though his team’s fortunes had slightly improved since he drafted in former England team-mate Robbie Fowler as his assistant manager.
We had our own Fowler-esque goal machine in the form of Peter Devlin, who was on loan from Aston Villa. The Football League didn’t have any rules stopping loanees from playing aginst their parent clubs, so Devlin would face the Villans in his final match for the Cottagers... for the time being, at least.
6 MAY 2012: Aston Villa vs Fulham
It was Aston Villa who made the more positive start to this dead rubber, taking the lead within three minutes. After forcing Wayne Hudson into a very early save, beanpole target man Peter Crouch set up the opening goal with an impressive cross that was headed in by Irish defender Clive Clarke.
Five minutes later, though, Villa’s lead was put in jeopardy by one of their own. Peter Devlin’s run into the box was halted by a crunching tackle from his... er... ‘team-mate’ Indriði Sigurðsson, and the referee awarded Fulham a penalty. Michael Gibson’s spot-kick sent goalkeeper John Reed the wrong way, and we were back level!
The next half-hour saw plenty of excitement at both ends, but it was the hosts who made the next breakthrough. After 31 minutes, Crouch used his head to knock a weak Unai clearance back into our penalty area, where Wales Under-21s midfielder Gareth Davies smashed in his first senior goal.
Three minutes later, Gibson’s clumsy trip on Crouch won Aston Villa a free-kick 20 yards from goal. Sigurðsson struck the free-kick over the wall and forced a great fingertip save out of Hudson... but the ref ordered a retake because of encroachment from Tom Mølby. At the second attempt, Sigurðsson drove a shot through the wall, catching Hudson unawares to give Villa a 3-1 lead!
Despite that, we would have the last laugh just before half-time. Neil Danns’ far-post cross was headed in by winger Wayne Cable, and so we ‘only’ trailed 3-2 at the break. Could we now go on and launch yet another comeback in the second half?
Seven minutes after the restart, things were looking good. Cable headed in another goal, this time outjumping Villans midfielder James Graham to get a connection to Gibson’s corner delivery and flick it past Reed. Wayne wouldn’t celebrate his 18th birthday until the end of the month, and he finished his first full senior season with 13 goal contributions in 32 games.
That would also be the final goal of our season. Devlin could not find the net against his employers, though current Villa striker Adam Muller almost won the game for them in the 87th minute. Muller rifled in a half-volley from Graham’s cross, but another fine Hudson save ensured that we signed off with a 3-3 away draw - just like 12 months ago!
Aston Villa - 3 (Clarke 3, Davies 31, Sigurðsson 34)
Fulham - 3 (Gibson pen8, Cable 45,52)
Division 1, Attendance 37,159 - POSITIONS: Aston Villa 19th, Fulham 15th
FULHAM LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Hudson; Edwards (Lynch), Magnusson, Unai, Guðmundsson; Gibson, Danns, Schneider, Cable (Willems); Mølby (Núñez); Devlin.
Despite producing another Fulham fightback, it was hard to deny that our end to the season had been a bitter anti-climax. In our final 10 matches, we took just eight points - and just one narrow victory against a poor Macclesfield team. That is relegation form.
There were several reasons why our play-off challenge had fallen apart at the seams. First and foremost was our form at Craven Cottage; you cannot expect to be promoted if you only win nine home games out of 23. We also scored only 37 goals at home - a worse tally than everyone else in the division except Kidderminster and Darlington.
Goals were very hard to come by in general, with only the bottom four failing to outscore our 66 league goals. That was four fewer than we managed last season.
To further underline our profligacy, not a single Fulham player cracked the top 40 of the Division 1 goal charts. Anestis Agritis was bubbling under in joint-41st with just 11 league goals (he also scored another three in the cups). Devlin scored nine league goals and two FA Cup goals after arriving on loan from Aston Villa in January - he was the only other Cottager to hit double figures in all competitions.
Though our defence shipped significantly more goals than last season, it was still relatively solid - our 72 goals conceded was actually the 8th-best record in Division 1. Even so, we finished the season with a negative goal difference - yet another sign of a team that cannot realistically strive for promotion.
You really couldn’t put much blame on Wayne Hudson, who despite his late-season dip still had the best average rating among Division 1 goalkeepers (7.19). Our captain will remain a vital part of this Fulham team going into next season, but he needs stronger protection in the defence.
My constant chopping and changing of tactics can’t have helped much either. It’s probably my biggest weakness as a manager that I tend to switch between formations whenever things go wrong, and that is no doubt a big reason behind our consistency (or lack thereof).
My goals for the summer are to ship out the dead wood, bring in some fresh blood, find a tactic that produces more attacking output... and, most importantly, stick with that tactic. Not a lot, really.
After a promising first year at Fulham was followed by a second-season slump, I know full well that I HAVE to get it right at the third time of asking.