CFuller

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

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

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Holland make a great start to the Euro 2012 Final, as Inter forward Sander Emanuelson scores against Italy after just six minutes. However, that only makes the Azzurri even more determined to become the first team to successfully defend the Henri Delaunay Trophy. Parma youngster Filippo Sarti draws level just before half-time, and then Agostino Piccolo's 7th goal of the tournament secures yet another major title for Italy. Spain sack their World Cup-winning coach Mario Garai after a disappointing Euros. His successor is the little-known Agustín Elduayen, who recently led Toledo to the Segunda División title. Former France centurion Lilian Thuram is named as Les Bleus' new manager, as Sylvain Legwinski steps down. Meanwhile, Niels Veltman's reward for leading Fortuna to the UEFA Cup Final is to take over the Holland job from Louis van Gaal. Real Madrid legend Raúl makes an emotional return to the Santiago Bernabéu after a single season with Roma... only to be released four weeks later. Real just can't resist spending £7.5million on Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen - and they even complete the transfer without giving him a medical first! Frédéric David also ends a brief stay at Roma, as the 25-year-old France striker returns to Ligue 1 and joins Nantes for £5.5million. David's international team-mate Philippe Mexès makes a surprise £12million move to Barcelona, despite the centre-back winning the Champions League in his only season at VfB Stuttgart. Chelsea decide that the perfect man to replace departed captain John Terry is... Celtic defender Chris Riggott, for £1.6million. Three days later, Jean Tigana has second thoughts... and buys Titus Bramble from Ipswich as well. Meanwhile, England goalkeeper Richard Wright returns to Arsenal after six-and-a-half years at Bolton. IN OTHER NEWS... After a 40-year search, and nearly four years of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, CERN announce they have discovered a particle that might be the Higgs boson - a key particle that can explain how matter attains mass. It is named after the English physicist Peter Higgs - not the former Cheltenham goalkeeper Shane Higgs. Murray wins Wimbledon... no, wait, Marray wins Wimbledon! Before a tearful Andy Murray loses his first men's singles Final at SW19 to the great Roger Federer, his fellow Briton Jonathan Marray takes the men's doubles title alongside Danish partner Frederik Nielsen. There is further British sporting success across the Channel, as Bradley Wiggins becomes the first UK cyclist to win the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. Wiggins’ win inspires children across the country to listen to The Who, wear Fred Perry polos, and beat up rockers. After producing two children in their 14 years together, Johnny Depp packs his bags while Vanessa Paradis makes a call to Joe le Taxi. At least Depp's film relationship with Tim Burton is still strong and successful... er, let's just pretend "Dark Shadows" never existed.

JULY 2012 In the 2010/2011 season, Fulham finished 8th in Division 1 with a healthy 73 points. The following season, we finished seven places and a dozen points worse off. I was now about to begin the third and final season of my original Fulham contract - and I needed to turn our fortunes around sharply. The board were still pre-occupied with simply avoiding relegation, but having sacked three managers in the last five years, I was aware that my job would be on the line if we continued to decline. I had invested heavily in the squad over the summer. Thomas Friberg, Luke Liddle and my former Kidderminster player Terry Simpson would all give us extra depth at full-back, while Jordan Hall and Carlos Edwards were expected to improve our productivity on the wings. Swiss youngster Adrian Disler gave us another attack-minded midfield option, and the permanent signing of Aston Villa striker Peter Devlin after a successful loan spell was sure to excite our fans. Devlin's decision to stay was especially crucial, particularly following the departures of long-time strike partners Paul McVeigh and Brett Ormerod. This would be Fulham's first season without Ormerod in the team since 2001/2002, and with several other stalwarts having also departed, we now needed to look forward rather than back. But couldn't simply achieve a top-six finish just by recruiting better players. I needed to find some tactical consistency. During pre-season, I would test out a new 4-2-3-1 that I felt would play to our defensive strengths while making us more potent on the break. We would use two defensive midfielders to protect the back four - plus two wingers and a central midfielder who would all push up into attack to support our lone striker during breakaways. Despite the board's traditionally low expectations, I was aiming high. After making sweeping changes to an overrated, overpaid and underperforming squad over the past 18 months, I would accept nothing less than a serious play-off challenge. Another finish outside the top six would be considered a failure. The players shared my confidence, and spirits were high as we headed into pre-season. But although we now had over £7million in the bank, our travel budget didn't stretch to a continental tour, so we had to make do with a two-week sojourn in the rugged valleys of south Wales. Tidy. Our first match was in Newport against the second-division club Garw AFC. If there was one thing my teams loved, it was a shock pre-season defeat against a ragtag bunch of minnows... but after working hard on our fitness, I believed we would be sharper from the first whistle. 17 JULY 2012: Garw AFC vs Fulham We dominated possession in the first half - as you would expect - but annoyingly couldn't turn that into goals. It wasn't until reserve striker Jamie Davey replaced the misfiring Peter Devlin that we eventually got our act together. Davey bagged himself a brace - thanks to a couple of assists from fellow youngsters Tom Mølby and Justin Clark - before the more experienced Carlos Edwards secured victory by smashing in a debut goal. Garw AFC - 0 Fulham - 3 (Davey 59,65, C Edwards 74) Friendly, Attendance 1,474 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson (Wilkinson); Liddle (Friberg), Ifil, Unai (Mitchell), Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Núñez (Numme), Schneider; C Edwards (Danns), Disler (Mølby), Hall (Clark); Devlin (Davey). A positive start to pre-season, but I felt we still needed a bit more star quality in the team. I had lined up three more signings for the new season... and the first of them arrived just in time for our next game. Alan Stewart was one of the best strikers to come out of Scotland in recent years, having scored 145 goals in 348 matches since making his Livingston debut in 2004. He was the top scorer in the Scottish Premier League last season, bagging a whopping 23 goals. Despite Stewart's excellent scoring record, Livi had never finished higher than 7th - and at 28 years old, the flamboyant frontman had decided it was time for a new challenge. He was exactly the quality finisher we needed, and I was delighted to sign him to a three-year deal worth £22,500 per week. Our new number 10 hoped to hit the ground running at Cwmbran, who finished a respectable 6th in the Welsh Premier League last season. 21 JULY 2012: Cwmbran Town vs Fulham Adrian Disler didn't need much time to settle into the team, blasting in the opening goal after just seven minutes. Cwmbran then substituted their goalkeeper very early, bringing on a German fella who played like Oliver Kahn for the next hour or so. Volker Krutsch's shotstopping against a persistent Fulham attack would be in vain, however, as teenager Michael Butler served us with a second goal just before full-time. Cwmbran Town - 0 Fulham - 2 (Disler 7, Butler 90) Friendly, Attendance 1,117 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Wilkinson (Hudson); Liddle (G Edwards), Mitchell (Ifil), Unai, Guðmundsson (Simpson); Núñez (Schneider), Numme; C Edwards (Iversen), Disler (Mølby), Cable (Hall); Stewart (Butler). After a 2-0 win that should have been more comfortable, we woke up to news about the League Cup Round 1 draw. Awaiting us next month would be a home tie against Port Vale, who were mid-table in Division 3 last term. Later that day, we announced our next two signings - both familiar signings from my Kidderminster days. The first of them was 33-year-old centre-back and defensive midfielder Markus Heikkinen. The hard-working Finn had just left the Harriers on a free transfer after four seasons at Aggborough, and though Markus' best years were behind him, I felt he could still provide useful defensive cover for the next few years. I also brought in my former Harriers loan star John Forde on a permanent transfer from Newcastle. The 23-year-old goalkeeper was now a senior Republic of Ireland international, though he had been deemed surplus to requirements by the Magpies, who let us have him for just £400,000. Though Forde knew he would initially be just a backup to our first-choice keeper Wayne Hudson, he was still happy to come to Craven Cottage. His arrival meant that there was no longer a place for Jimmy Wilkinson, who was sold to newly-relegated Bradford for £180,000. So long, Jimmy. Forde and Heikkinen both took their places in a largely second-string Fulham team for our last match in Wales. We were in Port Talbot to take on Afan Lido - the semi-professional team who finished rock-bottom of the Welsh Premier League last term. No pressure, lads. 24 JULY 2012: Afan Lido vs Fulham If we thought that last opposition goalkeeper was annoying, we hadn't seen anything until Afan Lido's James Courtnage came along. It had been seven years since Courtnage last played in the Football League for Northwich, but somehow managed to save THREE shots from Scottish Golden Boot winner Alan Stewart. Lido just sat back, soaked up our attacks, and watch Courtnage do everything he could to keep Stewart and co off the scoresheet. Typical. Afan Lido - 0 Fulham - 0 Friendly, Attendance 795 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Forde; Friberg (Liddle), Mitchell, Weir (Richardson), Magnusson; Heikkinen (Numme), Núñez (Schneider); Danns (Iversen), Ryan (Devlin), Cable (Simpson); Stewart. We couldn't go through a pre-season tour without screwing something up somehow, couldn't we? To be fair, that wasn't our strongest line-up. When we hosted Premiership big boy Sheffield Wednesday, I made sure to put out my best players. We were only missing Carlos Edwards and Jerel Ifil, who were off in the Caribbean playing in some poxy World Cup qualifiers... 28 JULY 2012: Fulham vs Sheffield Wednesday Our goalscoring frustrations continued on this Saturday afternoon against Wednesday, who defended as well as you would expect a high-end Premiership team to. This was actually a pretty even game, though we had the slight edge on possession and shots... ...until the 87th minute, when Markus Heikkinen scored the winning goal. Sadly, it was a winning goal for the visiting Owls, as the flying Finn accidentally turned Steve Bates' cross past the otherwise excellent Wayne Hudson. Dammit. Fulham - 0 Sheffield Wednesday - 1 (Heikkinen og87) Friendly, Attendance 4,284 FULHAM LINE-UP (4-2-3-1): Hudson; Liddle (G Edwards), Mitchell (Heikkinen), Unai, Guðmundsson (Magnusson); Numme (Schneider), Núñez; Stewart (Cable), Mølby (Disler), Hall; Devlin (Butler). Maybe the 4-2-3-1 is not the right tactic for us. Or maybe our attacking issues run deeper than I thought they did. Whatever it is, another season of mid-table mediocrity awaits if we cannot sort it out.

Wishing everyone on FMS a Happy New Year - in life and in Football Manager (or Championship Manager for those who still play the older games).

Stop. Stop. Just stop. And think. You have not shown us your tactics even once. Have you not thought for one second that you might be doing something wrong? Look at the average xG of your opponents: Lyngby (0.37 from 2 shots = average: 0.18) FC Kobenhavn (1.11 from 8 shots = average: 0.14) Silkeborg (1.00 from 3 shots = average: 0.33) Silkeborg (1.62 from 7 shots = average: 0.23) Peterborough Sports (0.40 from 3 shots = average: 0.13) Hereford (1.16 from 5 shots = average: 0.23) Boston Utd (0.80 from 8 shots = average: 0.10) King's Lynn (0.34 from 4 shots = average: 0.08) Brackley (1.26 from 9 shots = average: 0.14) Spennymoor (0.77 from 8 shots = average: 0.09) Tamworth (0.63 from 6 shots = average: 0.10) Granada (0.71 from 5 shots = average: 0.14) Vejle (0.55 from 4 shots = average: 0.13) Vejle (1.04 from 8 shots = average: 0.13) Brondby (0.98 from 4 shots = average: 0.25) Hvidovre (1.30 from 5 shots = average: 0.26) OB (0.51 from 5 shots = average: 0.10) Toulouse (2.42 from 7 shots = average: 0.34) Kobenhavn (0.69 from 6 shots = average: 0.11) In most of those cases, you're giving up an average of over 0.1 xG per shot. In several cases, it's over 0.2. From what precious little you have given up, I can probably assume that your tactic is ultra-aggressive, with hardly anyone being left to defend against counter-attacks. Hence the chances you give up are often higher-quality ones that the opposition have at least a decent chance of scoring. You cannot always blame the goalkeeper if there aren't enough defenders back to help him out. I hate to be the one who says "it's your tactics"... but in this case, it could be your tactics. But unless you show us your tactical setup, we cannot say anything for sure.

This has been another emotional year for me, losing the last of my grandparents while also becoming an uncle for a second time. I will cherish this precious time with my family more than ever. Merry Christmas to Mark, Neil, Ben, Sherm, and everyone else in this small but wonderful FMS community.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW: NORWAY 2012 GROUP 1 9 June (Oslo) Norway - 0 Holland - 2 (Andy van der Meyde 9, Sander Emanuelson 16) 11 June (Molde) Austria - 0 Poland - 3 (Tomasz Orlinski 40,52, Marek Kowalski pen55) 14 June (Oslo) Holland - 0 Austria - 1 (Herbert Rauter 61) 16 June (Oslo) Poland - 2 (Pawel Brozek 47, Tomasz Orlinski 61) Norway - 0 19 June (Molde) Holland - 2 (Sander Emanuelson 54, Frans van Adelberg 59) Poland - 1 (Grzegorz Rasiak 50) 19 June (Oslo) Norway - 2 (John Carew 4, Trond Fredrik Ludvigsen 44) Austria - 2 (Roman Wallner 67, Michael Ivanschitz pen80) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Holland 3 2 0 1 4 2 6 2nd Q Poland 3 2 0 1 6 2 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Austria 3 1 1 1 3 5 4 4th Norway 3 0 1 2 2 6 1 GROUP 2 10 June (Stavanger) England - 0 (Rio Ferdinand s/off35) Germany - 1 (Stephan Winter 36) 11 June (Kristiansand) Switzerland - 2 (Alexander Frei 38, Tranquillo Barnetta 43) Finland - 3 (Keijo Huusko 10, Mikael Forssell 24,52) 14 June (Stavanger) Germany - 2 (Stephan Winter 58, Hamit Altintop 86) Switzerland - 0 16 June (Kristiansand) Finland - 1 (Mikael Forssell pen32) England - 2 (Seth Johnson 32, Michael Owen 55) 19 June (Stavanger) Finland - 0 Germany - 2 (Stephan Winter 30,37) 19 June (Kristiansand) Switzerland - 0 England - 4 (Michael Owen 29, Jermain Defoe 69,74,89) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Germany 3 3 0 0 5 0 9 2nd Q England 3 2 0 1 6 2 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Finland 3 1 0 2 4 6 3 4th Switzerland 3 0 0 3 2 9 0 GROUP 3 10 June (Trondheim) France - 2 (Gilles Borbiconi 40, Patrick Vieira 55, Patrice Evra s/off60) Spain - 1 (Alberto Teixeira 77) 12 June (Tromsø) Russia - 2 (Igor Morev 15, Eugeny Trofimov 34) Belgium - 2 (Emile Mpenza 44, Igor de Camargo 56) 15 June (Trondheim) Belgium - 1 (Steed Malbranque 81) France - 3 (Bernard Aristouy 5,13, Djibril Cissé 41) 17 June (Tromsø) Spain - 1 (Francisco Gallardo 81) Russia - 1 (Igor Morev 34) 20 June (Trondheim) France - 1 (Wilfried Dalmat 9) Russia - 2 (Artem Bezrodny 5, Alexandr Kerzhakov 63) 20 June (Tromsø) Spain - 2 (Raúl 62, Francisco David Sousa 83) Belgium - 0 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q France 3 2 0 1 6 4 6 2nd Q Russia 3 1 2 0 5 4 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Spain 3 1 1 1 4 3 4 4th Belgium 3 0 1 2 3 7 1 GROUP 4 10 June (Oslo) Romania - 0 Italy - 2 (Sergio Zani 36, Lorenzo Venturini 81) 12 June (Bergen) Bulgaria - 0 Wales - 3 (Craig Bellamy pen31, Robert Evans 54, Mark Lloyd 85) 15 June (Oslo) Italy - 3 (Sergio Zani 18, Franco Semioli 45, Alberto Gilardino pen67) Bulgaria - 0 17 June (Bergen) Wales - 3 (Craig Bellamy 10, Robert Evans 37,40) Romania - 0 20 June (Bergen) Bulgaria - 1 (Stanimir Zagorcic 18) Romania - 1 (Tiberiu Ghioane 79) 20 June (Oslo) Wales - 3 (Jason Koumas 7, Arron Davies 37, Rob Griffiths 85) Italy - 3 (Agostino Piccolo 18,23, Franco Semioli 25, Giorgio Chiellini s/off65) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Wales 3 2 1 0 9 3 7 2nd Q Italy 3 2 1 0 8 3 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Romania 3 0 1 2 1 6 1 4th Bulgaria 3 0 1 2 1 7 1 QUARTER FINALS 23 June (Stavanger) Germany - 0 Poland - 0 [after extra-time, Poland win 4-1 on penalties] 23 June (Oslo) France - 1 (Sidney Govou 15) Italy - 2 (Agostino Piccolo 78,82) 24 June (Trondheim) Wales - 2 (Paul Roberts 33, Andy Brown 89) Russia - 0 24 June (Molde) Holland - 4 (Kevin Hofland 26, Dirk Kuijt 59, Ton de Vries 85, Rafael van der Vaart pen89) England - 1 (Wayne Rooney 16) SEMI FINALS 27 June (Molde) Holland - 1 (Wilfred Bouma 45) Wales - 0 (Arron Davies s/off76) 27 June (Stavanger) Poland - 0 (Dariusz Grosz s/off51) Italy - 2 (Agostino Piccolo 17,pen52) FINAL 1 July (Oslo) Italy - 2 (Filippo Sarti 35, Agostino Piccolo 73) Holland - 1 (Sander Emanuelson 6) ITALY (4-1-3-2): Gianluigi Buffon; Fernando Zaniratto, Matteo Ferrari, Cristiano Vigano, Giorgio Chiellini; Mauro Capuano; Franco Semioli (Daniele De Rossi), Filippo Sarti (Agostino Piccolo), Francesco Totti [C]; Giacomo Cipriani, Sergio Zani. HOLLAND (4-5-1): Jelle ten Rouwelaar; John Heitinga, Frans van Adelberg, Kevin Hofland, Wilfred Bouma; Dirk Kuijt, Wesley Sneijder, Sander Emanuelson, Rafael van der Vaart [C], Marc Van Roosmalen (Robin Van Persie (Mike Zonneveld)); Ton de Vries. Top Goalscorer - Agostino Piccolo (Italy): 7. Most Assists - Wesley Sneijder (Holland): 4. Highest Average Rating (at least 4 matches) - Wilfred Bouma (Holland): 8.83.

OTHER LEAGUES FRANCE Ligue 1 Top Three: Lille (1st), Nantes (2nd), Toulouse (3rd). Relegated: Ajaccio AC (18th), Caen (19th), Strasbourg (20th). Promoted from Ligue 2: Rennes (1st), Niort (2nd), Le Havre (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Bordeaux): 25. Most Assists - Damián Manso (St-Etienne), Yaroslav Nehaychik (Bordeaux): 14. Highest Average Rating - Fabio Biagi (Lille), Francisco Salazar (Toulouse), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Bordeaux): 7.89 Coupe de France: Toulouse 2-1 Lille. Coupe de la Ligue: Lille 3-2 Paris-SG (aet). GERMANY 1. Bundesliga Top Three: VfB Stuttgart (1st), VfB Stuttgart (2nd), Nürnberg (3rd). Relegated: Rostock (16th), Unterhaching (17th), SVW Mannheim (18th). Promoted from 2. Bundesliga: Frankfurt (1st), Babelsberg (2nd), Ahlen (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Javier Saviola (VfB Stuttgart): 19. Most Assists - Hossein Kaebi (1.FC Köln): 16. Highest Average Rating - Björn Ackermann (Wolfsburg): 8.18. DFB-Pokal: SC Freiburg 2-1 VfB Stuttgart (aet). DFB-Liga Pokal: Dortmund 2-0 VfB Stuttgart. HOLLAND Eredivisie Top Three: Ajax (1st), Feyenoord (2nd), PSV (3rd). Relegated: NAC (16th), Volendam (17th), Helmond (18th). Promoted from Eerste Divisie: MVV (1st), Willem II (3rd), De Graafschap (10th). Top Goalscorer - Van Linh Tô (Excelsior): 23. Most Assists - Max Houttuin (Sparta): 15. Highest Average Rating - Rob de Haan (Ajax): 7.85. KNVB Beker: PSV 4-0 Fortuna. ITALY Serie A Top Three: Lazio (1st), Roma (2nd), Parma (3rd). Relegated: Palermo (15th, lost play-off), Cosenza (16th), Chievo (17th), Venezia (18th). Promoted from Serie B: Fiorenzuola (1st), Udinese (2nd), Bari (3rd), Perugia (4th, won play-off). Top Goalscorer - Vinicio Espinal (Atalanta), Sergio Zani (Roma): 15. Most Assists - Daniele De Rossi (Atalanta): 11. Highest Average Rating - Didier Drogba (Lazio): 7.90. Coppa Italia: Lazio 3-0 Parma (aggregate). PORTUGAL Primeira Liga Top Three: Porto (1st), Benfica (2nd), Sporting (3rd). Relegated: Barreirense (16th), Belenenses (17th), Ovarense (18th). Promoted from Segunda Liga: Braga (1st), Campomaiorense (2nd), Leiria (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Grafite (Benfica): 24. Most Assists - Hugo Valdir Da Cunha (Benfica): 16. Highest Average Rating - Grafite (Benfica): 8.25. Taça de Portugal: Beira-Mar 2-0 Belenenses. SCOTLAND Premier League Top Three: Hibs (1st), Celtic (2nd), Aberdeen (3rd). Relegated: Dundee (12th). Promoted from Division 1: Inverness CT (1st). Top Goalscorer - Alan Stewart (Livingston): 23. Most Assists - Wesley Hoolahan (Hibs): 15. Highest Average Rating - Gordon Weir (Celtic): 8.03. Scottish Cup: Kilmarnock 2-1 Rangers. League Cup: Rangers 1-0 Dundee Utd. SPAIN La Liga Top Three: Barcelona (1st), Real Madrid (2nd), Zaragoza (3rd). Relegated: Mallorca (18th), Valladolid (19th), Extremadura (20th). Promoted from Segunda División: Toledo (1st), Compostela (2nd), Tenerife (3rd). Top Goalscorer - Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 25. Most Assists - Johnny Andersson (Alavés): 12. Highest Average Rating - Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 8.28. Copa del Rey: Barcelona 2-0 Betis. CONTINENTAL & INTERNATIONAL CLUB Champions League: VfB Stuttgart 1-0 Parma - in London. UEFA Cup: HSV 3-0 Fortuna - in Wien. Super Cup: Dortmund 2-1 Barcelona. Intercontinental Cup: San Lorenzo 1-0 Dortmund. Club World Championship: Barcelona 4-0 Celtic. FIFA World Player of the Year - Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina). World Footballer of the Year - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea & Portugal). African Player of the Year - Didier Drogba (Lazio & Ivory Coast). European Player of the Year - Sergio Zani (Roma & Italy). South American Player of the Year - Guilherme (Corinthians & Brazil). Oceania Player of the Year - Patrick Kisnorbo (Zaragoza & Australia). LEADING TRANSFERS (Premiership) DATE NAME POSITIONS FROM TO FEE 22/06/12 Dean Hutchinson F C Blackburn Crystal Palace £7.75M 26/10/11 Jan Prochazka D/M RC Notts Co Burnley £7.5M 07/07/11 Nicky Hunt D RC Preston Bolton £7.25M 20/08/11 Shola Ameobi S C Wolves Coventry £7.25M 26/09/11 Uche Aikhomogbe AM/F RC Newcastle Burnley £6.75M 11/09/11 Igor de Camargo S C Guarani Man Utd £5.75M 28/06/12 Phil Jagielka D/DM C Newcastle Burnley £5.75M 04/07/11 Elpys José Espinal AM/F RLC Tottenham Bolton £5.25M 09/10/11 Clarke Carlisle D C Blackburn Southampton £4.8M 16/11/11 Liam Ridgewell D C Notts Co Sheff Wed £4.7M LEADING TRANSFERS (not including Premiership) DATE NAME POSITIONS FROM TO FEE 08/07/11 Joaquín AM R Mallorca Celtic £17.5M 15/12/11 Joe Cole AM RLC Leverkusen HSV £16.75M 09/08/11 Pablo Aimar AM C Hertha BSC Barcelona £14M 26/09/11 Fernando Zaniratto D RC Barcelona Roma £13.75M 15/12/11 Ashley Cole D LC Roma Barcelona £13.75M 01/06/12 Rob de Haan AM/F LC Ajax Porto £12.5M 19/08/11 Franck Ribéry AM RLC Marseille Rangers £12.25M 18/08/11 Roque Santa Cruz F C FC Bayern Werder Bremen £11.5M 01/07/11 Gianluigi Buffon GK Liverpool Lazio £11.25M 24/12/11 Fikret Özer F RC Bursaspor Ankaragücü £11.25M

SEASON REVIEW 2011/2012 ENGLAND NOTE: All goals and assist records relate to league matches only. PREMIERSHIP Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Leeds 38 17 1 1 47 10 7 5 7 22 25 78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Chelsea 38 13 4 2 46 13 9 6 4 40 30 76 3rd Man Utd 38 15 3 1 43 6 8 4 7 32 34 76 4th Arsenal 38 14 3 2 45 15 8 2 9 36 35 71 5th Sheff Wed 38 13 5 1 38 14 6 6 7 26 29 68 6th Bolton 38 14 1 4 30 12 4 9 6 16 19 64 7th Liverpool 38 12 5 2 33 13 6 3 10 26 29 62 8th Grimsby 38 11 3 5 29 17 5 3 11 22 34 54 9th Middlesbrough 38 8 7 4 32 25 6 4 9 29 41 53 10th Southampton 38 12 2 5 45 29 4 3 12 15 37 53 11th Crystal Palace 38 9 6 4 33 26 5 3 11 24 40 51 12th Crewe 38 12 5 2 46 27 2 3 14 17 44 50 13th Stoke 38 10 3 6 35 25 3 3 13 17 38 45 14th Everton 38 9 5 5 39 26 2 6 11 24 37 44 15th Burnley 38 8 7 4 41 31 2 7 10 21 33 44 16th Ipswich 38 9 6 4 28 21 1 6 12 20 41 42 17th Torquay 38 8 5 6 31 28 3 4 12 20 40 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R Newcastle 38 9 3 7 28 25 2 5 12 18 38 41 19th R Coventry 38 5 6 8 28 38 2 2 15 9 35 29 20th R Bradford 38 2 5 12 14 41 0 1 18 8 52 12 Top Goalscorer - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea): 37. Most Assists - Matthew Turner (Sheff Wed): 14. Highest Average Rating - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea): 8.77. PFA Player of the Year - Cristiano Ronaldo (Chelsea). PFA Young Player of the Year - not awarded. DIVISION 1 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Wolves 46 20 2 1 55 20 7 6 10 40 48 89 2nd P Blackburn 46 17 2 4 57 27 9 8 6 47 42 88 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd West Ham 46 16 5 2 47 17 9 6 8 30 28 86 4th Birmingham 46 15 3 5 56 28 9 5 9 44 46 80 5th P Nottm Forest 46 14 4 5 57 42 9 6 8 39 43 79 6th Norwich 46 15 5 3 54 38 8 4 11 40 44 78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Gillingham 46 14 4 5 45 27 8 6 9 32 37 76 8th Charlton 46 10 5 8 40 31 9 8 6 32 26 70 9th Carlisle 46 13 5 5 43 29 8 2 13 26 34 70 10th Sunderland 46 12 5 6 42 32 8 4 11 44 57 69 11th Man City 46 10 8 5 50 35 7 6 10 44 54 65 12th Preston 46 11 8 4 41 30 5 9 9 35 43 65 13th Huddersfield 46 11 3 9 39 36 8 5 10 36 46 65 14th Notts Co 46 12 7 4 43 23 5 5 13 38 51 63 15th Fulham 46 9 8 6 37 32 6 8 9 29 40 61 16th Sheff Utd 46 8 9 6 46 38 8 3 12 34 42 60 17th Chesterfield 46 13 2 8 42 31 4 7 12 37 55 60 18th W.B.A. 46 11 4 8 44 41 5 3 15 27 44 55 19th Aston Villa 46 9 6 8 41 40 5 5 13 28 44 53 20th Tottenham 46 8 8 7 38 35 4 4 15 31 51 48 21st Swindon 46 8 6 9 45 47 5 2 16 19 41 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Macclesfield 46 8 4 11 44 43 2 3 18 18 49 37 23rd R Kidderminster 46 8 7 8 28 28 0 5 18 13 43 36 24th R Darlington 46 7 4 12 23 28 1 4 18 15 49 32 DIVISION 2 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Bristol City 46 16 6 1 51 23 15 4 4 51 35 103 2nd P Rochdale 46 17 3 3 55 26 10 6 7 45 39 90 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Luton 46 16 6 1 39 15 8 10 5 31 26 88 4th P Blackpool 46 11 6 6 44 35 10 4 9 40 44 73 5th Oldham 46 15 6 2 38 17 4 9 10 19 25 72 6th Derby 46 17 1 5 52 28 5 3 15 25 50 70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Dag & Red 46 11 8 4 33 19 6 8 9 34 38 67 8th Barnsley 46 9 8 6 44 33 8 6 9 31 39 65 9th Leyton Orient 46 14 4 5 45 24 5 4 14 22 40 65 10th Doncaster 46 12 2 9 45 42 8 2 13 24 35 64 11th Tranmere 46 11 9 3 31 12 3 12 8 16 26 63 12th Millwall 46 10 6 7 39 31 7 4 12 35 36 61 13th Leicester 46 14 3 6 42 31 3 7 13 24 43 61 14th Oxford 46 14 6 3 46 24 3 3 17 17 42 60 15th Hull 46 16 2 5 43 24 2 3 18 23 60 59 16th Peterborough 46 10 7 6 30 18 4 8 11 18 29 57 17th Cambridge Utd 46 11 9 3 36 23 3 4 16 23 48 55 18th Wigan 46 10 5 8 31 21 4 7 12 17 30 54 19th Shrewsbury 46 11 3 9 30 25 4 5 14 20 39 53 20th Wrexham 46 14 4 5 47 25 2 1 20 15 53 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st R Rotherham 46 11 7 5 37 32 2 6 15 18 52 52 22nd R Cardiff 46 8 9 6 25 19 4 5 14 28 40 50 23rd R Northampton 46 9 5 9 32 34 3 6 14 19 45 47 24th R Northwich Vics 46 11 4 8 48 36 2 2 19 22 49 45 DIVISION 3 Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Brentford 46 18 2 3 50 23 16 3 4 52 27 107 2nd P Stalybridge 46 17 4 2 44 20 8 7 8 29 34 86 3rd P Reading 46 15 3 5 50 34 11 3 9 46 44 84 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th Wycombe 46 15 4 4 51 29 9 5 9 46 38 81 5th Q.P.R. 46 17 4 2 57 28 7 5 11 45 55 81 6th P Bristol Rovers 46 17 2 4 51 28 7 4 12 39 50 78 7th Bury 46 12 4 7 42 33 11 4 8 34 36 77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Mansfield 46 10 6 7 30 34 11 6 6 33 26 75 9th Hartlepool 46 13 5 5 39 20 8 5 10 23 34 73 10th Scunthorpe 46 13 2 8 46 35 8 5 10 41 51 70 11th Stockport 46 13 3 7 51 39 7 6 10 40 43 69 12th Bournemouth 46 11 8 4 23 14 4 7 12 19 29 60 13th Colchester 46 8 5 10 32 40 8 7 8 30 30 60 14th Watford 46 10 7 6 48 43 6 3 14 33 48 58 15th Port Vale 46 7 9 7 32 29 6 7 10 26 34 55 16th Plymouth 46 11 5 7 32 22 4 5 14 16 32 55 17th Rushden 46 11 5 7 39 30 3 6 14 24 43 53 18th Morecambe 46 9 4 10 37 39 5 6 12 33 38 52 19th Swansea 46 10 7 6 36 27 3 5 15 30 53 51 20th Telford 46 7 7 9 16 19 4 9 10 10 18 49 21st Portsmouth 46 8 7 8 34 29 3 5 15 18 40 45 22nd Exeter 46 5 9 9 25 32 4 5 14 12 28 41 23rd Walsall 46 8 8 7 31 27 2 1 20 12 47 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th R Scarborough 46 6 4 13 22 34 2 5 16 17 40 33 CONFERENCE Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Canvey Island 42 14 3 4 47 23 12 6 3 40 27 87 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Cheltenham 42 15 3 3 46 22 11 6 4 35 26 87 3rd Hereford 42 14 4 3 40 13 9 5 7 26 27 78 4th Boston Utd 42 11 5 5 34 17 11 6 4 48 25 77 5th Lincoln 42 8 11 2 33 25 13 3 5 27 20 77 6th Nuneaton Borough 42 13 4 4 41 21 9 3 9 39 39 73 7th Harrow Borough 42 9 4 8 30 24 10 5 6 33 27 66 8th Wimbledon 42 11 8 2 49 31 6 7 8 27 37 66 9th Bath City 42 10 4 7 38 30 7 8 6 35 29 63 10th Worksop 42 8 6 7 30 27 8 9 4 31 25 63 11th Slough 42 12 5 4 47 34 5 7 9 31 39 63 12th Brighton 42 9 6 6 33 25 7 5 9 19 31 59 13th Burton Albion 42 9 3 9 35 32 7 6 8 28 28 57 14th Clevedon 42 9 7 5 26 17 5 4 12 27 36 53 15th Merthyr Tydfil 42 7 8 6 26 24 4 7 10 23 34 48 16th Barnet 42 10 3 8 35 37 3 5 13 25 53 47 17th Salisbury 42 8 7 6 26 24 3 4 14 20 31 44 18th Farnborough 42 5 11 5 33 30 3 5 13 20 38 40 19th Runcorn 42 9 3 9 29 29 1 3 17 14 37 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20th R Kingstonian 42 8 2 11 29 35 1 6 14 23 46 35 21st R Yeovil 42 5 3 13 30 50 3 3 15 28 54 30 22nd R Margate 42 2 4 15 24 51 4 1 16 22 52 23 Promoted to Conference: Billericay, Dorchester, Gainsborough. FA Cup: Bolton 2-1 Crewe. League Cup: Everton 3-0 Liverpool. Community Shield: Chelsea 3-1 Ipswich. Football League Trophy: Hull 3-2 Brentford.

ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Benfica players are confused when Chelsea captain John Terry shows up at their end-of-season party, dressed in a full red-and-white Águias kit. Head coach David Seaman shrugs, "Might as well sign him now," and pays £11million for the England defender, who will play with Paulo Ferreira, Maniche and Raúl Meireles at the Estádio da Luz next term. Euro 2012 takes place in Norway, where the hosts whimper out without winning a game... but at least they’ll get another chance when they co-host the 2014 World Cup with Sweden. Current world champions Spain also exit early, as a 2-1 defeat to France and a 1-1 draw with Russia mean that victory over Belgium isn’t enough to get them out of the group. The thing about Spain is that they always try and walk it in... England and Wales both survive the group phase, only to fall short in the knockout rounds. Everton’s Wayne Rooney gives England an early lead before Holland blow them away 4-1 in the Quarter Final. Wales battle past Russia to reach another Semi Final, where they too are downed by the Dutch, courtesy of Wilfred Bouma’s first-half free-kick. Holland’s last destination will be a repeat of the Euro 2008 Final against their old nemeses Italy. At his first tournament, 25-year-old Bologna poacher Agostino Piccolo scores three consecutive braces against Wales, France and underdogs Poland as the Azzurri storm through to their FOURTH European Championship decider in a row. Gary Neville officially retires from playing to concentrate on managing Fortuna Köln. The 37-year-old finishes on 124 England caps - one shy of Peter Shilton’s national record. Former Italy right-back Gianluca Zambrotta and ex-Liverpool midfielder Ludovic Giuly also hang up their boots. IN OTHER NEWS... The United Kingdom celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, marking her 60 years on the throne. The celebrations include a huge boat pageant on the River Thames, and a concert outside Buckingham Palace organised by Gary Barlow. Looks like LeBron James’ decision to "take [his] talents to South Beach" in 2010 has paid off! LeBron wins his first NBA championship as the superstar forward inspires Miami Heat to defeat Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1 in the NBA Finals. Lonesome George - the last living Pinta Island tortoise - dies at the Galápagos National Park in Ecuador, at just over 100 years old. One of the most heartfelt tributes comes from Sir David Attenborough, who first met George as a hatchling when David was 27. Another big-name Hollywood couple splits up, as Katie Holmes divorces from Tom Cruise. It is stated that Holmes wants to protect their daughter Suri from the Scientology cult - and that she is also fed up with Cruise constantly jumping on the furniture.

JUNE 2012 With the 2011/2012 season coming to a disappointing end, I only afforded myself a short break before returning to my office at Craven Cottage. I was planning a major rebuild of the Fulham squad, and time could not wait. I retained all our backroom staff from last season, with assistant manager Peter Grant among those to sign new contracts. My current contract would expire next summer, which meant I had one last chance to build a team that could win promotion to the Premiership... or at least finish in the play-off places. Those plans would, of course, not involve either Paul McVeigh or Brett Ormerod. Despite scoring a combined 226 goals (112 for Paul, 114 for Brett), our veteran strikers were the first players to leave us this summer. McVeigh - our top league goalscorer this century - headed north to play for Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League. Ormerod - our record scorer across all competitions in the modern era - ended his decade-long stay at Craven Cottage to join my old club in the West Midlands. The 35-year-old’s next challenge was to try and get Kidderminster back into Division 1 at the first attempt. Welsh hardman Ben Thatcher also moved on a free transfer to another of my old clubs, joining a Dagenham & Redbridge team who just missed out on the Division 2 play-offs. Another departing veteran was Dutch winger Elbekay Bouchiba, who stayed in Division 1 and signed for Manchester City. After scoring six goals on loan at Harrow Borough, Mark Smith’s next move from Fulham was a permanent one. The former Wales Under-21s winger was sold to Tottenham for £100,000. Fellow right-wing youth product James Hughes had his contract terminated, after making only seven senior appearances in eight years. We also allowed 19-year-old midfielder Michael Gibson to leave the nest. Despite playing 54 games in just two years, and despite all his athleticism and finishing ability, I wasn’t sure he would ever develop the technique or the tactical game to reach the top level. Middlesbrough boss Alan Cork perhaps thought otherwise, bringing Gibson to the Riverside for £425,000 plus a 10% sell-on fee. Lastly, we bade a sad farewell to the 2011/2012 Fulham Fans’ Player of the Year. Anestis Agritis’ contract was now unprotected, and he was unwilling to renew it, so we cashed in on a man who netted 14 goals in 40 matches for us this term. FA Cup winners Bolton took a punt on the 31-year-old Greek international, paying up £900,000 in compensation. One player I did not want to lose was goalkeeper and captain Wayne Hudson. ‘Big’ Sam Allardyce was so desperate to bring Hudson to Burnley that he made three offers for his services. The last offer went up to £1.9million, which was still a pittance as far as I was concerned. Hudson wasn’t going anywhere. Those sales, combined with an influx of TV money, left me with a transfer budget of around £6million. Steven Weir - an 18-year-old Scottish defender who can play at right-back or centre-half - joined our reserve team on a free transfer. 16-year-old local boy Justin Clark was promoted from the youth team, and he looks like he has the pace and technique to become our next left-wing sensation. In the short term, we needed to find a winger who could be as effective on the right flank as Wayne Cable is on the left. I eventually plumped for the vast experience of Carlos Edwards, who made 324 Premiership appearances during his decade-long service for Bolton. At 33, Edwards is perhaps past his top-flight prime. Even so, he is still very quick on his feet and can use either of them equally well. The Trinidad & Tobago international also has the flair and creative spark that our team perhaps lacked this season. Meanwhile, we signed left-winger Jordan Hall from Division 2 side Oxford for £60,000. Hall is 28 and maybe lacks the star quality of a super talent like Cable, but he has exceptional crossing and dribbling abilities, and his tendency to cut inside on his right foot could give our attacks an extra dimension. Further afield, our scouts found a couple of talented young Swiss midfielders who caught my eye. The one I was most desperate to sign was the 19-year-old defensive midfield wünderkind Reto Minder, but Luzern would not let him go under any circumstances - not even for £2million. Thankfully, Sion were more willing to part with their 20-year-old central midfielder Adrian Disler. We only needed to pay £200,000 for Disler, who is more attack-minded than Minder and possesses a silky-smooth first touch. Up front, there was only one target I really wanted... and you know who he was. After 11 goals and two assists in 18 matches, I’m delighted to announce that Peter Devlin is staying at the Cottage - for good! We paid Aston Villa £550,000 to convert the 24-year-old striker’s loan into a long-term deal, which runs until June 2018. Perhaps Devlin could follow in the footsteps of McVeigh and George McCartney, and become Fulham’s next Irish stalwart... Lastly, we come to one of our problem positions this season. I brought in THREE full-backs to provide stiffer competition from vice-captain Arnar Guðmundsson, who had excelled on both the left and right flanks since joining last summer. Arnar mainly plays on the left, and his new backup there will be an old friend of mine. Terry Simpson was itching to leave Kidderminster following their relegation, and I was reunited with the intelligent 24-year-old for a cut-price £325,000. Though Terry’s form hasn’t been great since my departure from Aggborough, I’d like to think I can get the best out of him. Swedish right-back Thomas Friberg arrived from his hometown club Rasta - the 20-year-old costing just £20,000. Friberg is a consistent performer and a strong man-marker, and he might well be a better RB prospect than Graham Edwards, who faded badly in the final weeks of last season. Neither Friberg nor Edwards were ready to be our starting right-back for the new season. I needed someone with rather more experience and quality - and after scouring several options, I eventually went all-in on Dagenham & Redbridge’s Luke Liddle. For me, the 26-year-old Yorkshireman had that dream combination of athleticism, teamwork and defensive intelligence. The Daggers clearly didn’t want to let him go on the cheap - and following weeks of back-and-forth negotiations, we eventually agreed on a fee of £1.4million. That was clearly no small price to pay, so let’s hope Liddle makes a big impact at the Cottage. So that’s seven new additions to the first-team, with perhaps one or two more to come. And with the old guard now gone, Fulham fans can finally look forward to a brighter, younger future...

Derby v Millwall 6:45 - Derby winger Taylor-Hart is running up the left wing deep in Millwall's half until he suddenly steps away from the ball, leaving Hansen-Aaroen to easily intercept the ball for Millwall. CFuller_Derby v Millwall.pkm

Derby v Millwall 17:10 - Millwall defender Cooper intercepts a cross around his six-yard box, but then plays an incredibly risky backheel pass that is intercepted by Scarlett. The Derby striker is only denied an easy goal because of a great save. CFuller_Derby v Millwall.pkm

Do you need more examples? Have a look at the Millwall goalkeeper Kelly's animation for the Luton free-kick at 85:20. Kelly turns to his right to save the free-kick but pushes it behind him, falls through his own side netting, and leaves Ndiaye with an incredibly easy tap-in. Kelly2.mp4 CFuller_Luton v Millwall.pkm

FULHAM PLAYER STATISTICS (2011/2012) Goalkeepers Apps Con Asts Yel Red MoM Av R ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 Hudson, Wayne 45 (1) 66 0 0 0 2 7.22 1 Wilkinson, Jimmy 7 16 0 0 0 0 6.71 Outfield Players Apps Gls Asts Yel Red MoM Av R ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Agritis, Anestis 31 (9) 14 1 2 0 5 7.15 20 Bouchiba, Elbekay 15 (7) 1 4 1 0 1 6.91 * Bowater, Graham 13 (1) 0 0 1 0 0 6.71 * Brough, Scott 1 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 6.40 17 Butler, Michael 3 (8) 3 1 1 0 1 6.91 21 Cable, Wayne 24 (8) 7 6 2 0 4 7.19 8 Danns, Neil 38 (5) 5 7 2 0 0 6.91 27 Davey, Jamie 0 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 * Davies, Curtis 11 0 0 1 0 0 6.55 18 Devlin, Peter 16 (2) 11 2 1 0 2 7.22 30 Edwards, Graham 18 (5) 1 1 1 0 0 6.74 13 Gibson, Michael 18 (12) 2 4 1 0 0 6.60 15 Guðmundsson, Arnar 48 1 10 5 0 1 7.31 5 Ifil, Jerel 33 (1) 2 1 3 0 3 6.88 35 Iversen, Atle 10 (2) 0 2 1 0 0 6.33 38 Lynch, Seán 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 33 Magnusson, Halldór 13 (7) 0 1 1 0 0 6.85 9 McVeigh, Paul 21 (10) 8 1 0 0 4 7.16 12 Mitchell, Peter 22 (14) 1 1 4 0 1 6.83 28 Mølby, Tom 34 (3) 5 6 3 0 1 6.84 34 Numme, Henning 11 (9) 2 1 1 0 0 7.00 22 Núñez, Vicente 17 (10) 0 3 1 0 0 6.59 11 Ormerod, Brett 18 (9) 7 1 1 0 1 6.85 * Piccolo, Walter 9 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 6.69 36 Ryan, Colm 1 (1) 0 1 0 0 0 6.00 * Saler, Markus 1 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 6.25 19 Schneider, Florian 41 (1) 4 4 10 2 2 7.14 6 Smith, Mark 4 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 23 Taylor, Dave 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 3 Thatcher, Ben 32 (2) 1 0 8 0 0 6.85 2 Unai 15 (1) 2 0 4 0 0 6.88 7 Willems, Björn 5 (4) 1 2 0 0 0 7.11 * [Player not currently at club]

DIVISION 1 TABLE (End of 2011/2012 season) Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Wolves 46 20 2 1 55 20 7 6 10 40 48 89 2nd P Blackburn 46 17 2 4 57 27 9 8 6 47 42 88 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd West Ham 46 16 5 2 47 17 9 6 8 30 28 86 4th Birmingham 46 15 3 5 56 28 9 5 9 44 46 80 5th P Nottm Forest 46 14 4 5 57 42 9 6 8 39 43 79 6th Norwich 46 15 5 3 54 38 8 4 11 40 44 78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Gillingham 46 14 4 5 45 27 8 6 9 32 37 76 8th Charlton 46 10 5 8 40 31 9 8 6 32 26 70 9th Carlisle 46 13 5 5 43 29 8 2 13 26 34 70 10th Sunderland 46 12 5 6 42 32 8 4 11 44 57 69 11th Man City 46 10 8 5 50 35 7 6 10 44 54 65 12th Preston 46 11 8 4 41 30 5 9 9 35 43 65 13th Huddersfield 46 11 3 9 39 36 8 5 10 36 46 65 14th Notts Co 46 12 7 4 43 23 5 5 13 38 51 63 15th Fulham 46 9 8 6 37 32 6 8 9 29 40 61 16th Sheff Utd 46 8 9 6 46 38 8 3 12 34 42 60 17th Chesterfield 46 13 2 8 42 31 4 7 12 37 55 60 18th W.B.A. 46 11 4 8 44 41 5 3 15 27 44 55 19th Aston Villa 46 9 6 8 41 40 5 5 13 28 44 53 20th Tottenham 46 8 8 7 38 35 4 4 15 31 51 48 21st Swindon 46 8 6 9 45 47 5 2 16 19 41 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Macclesfield 46 8 4 11 44 43 2 3 18 18 49 37 23rd R Kidderminster 46 8 7 8 28 28 0 5 18 13 43 36 24th R Darlington 46 7 4 12 23 28 1 4 18 15 49 32 ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL... Leeds are crowned champions of England for the first time in 20 years. Captain Rio Ferdinand lifts the Premiership trophy at Elland Road, after a late-season surge sees Alex McLeish’s Whites finish two points clear of Chelsea and Manchester United. Bolton win their first FA Cup since 1958, as Thorsten Helstad’s double at Wembley sees off Crewe. Chris Kamara’s Torquay complete an unbelievable Premiership debut by winning their final two home games to avoid relegation. After 19-year-old winger Tony Flynn bags a late winner against Manchester United, midfielder Kevin Allan scores a 34th-minute screamer against Newcastle that ultimately sends the Magpies down. Coventry are also relegated, while Bradford’s bantamweights finish with a pitiful 12 points and a goal difference of -71. There are wild celebrations in the green half of Edinburgh, as a 1-0 win at Dundee United sees Hibernian win their first Scottish league championship for exactly 60 years. Celtic have to settle for 2nd, while Rangers limp home in 4th behind Aberdeen. Gers boss Bernd Krauss flees to Milan, pursued by a mob of angry teddy bears. Both major European trophies are on their way to Germany. VfB Stuttgart follow up their Bundesliga triumph by beating Lazio in the Champions League Semi Finals, and then beating Parma 1-0 at Wembley. Javier Saviola’s 42nd-minute strike secures a famous triumph for Felix Magath and ‘Die Roten’. Meanwhile, HSV brush Fortuna 3-0 aside in the UEFA Cup Final, thanks to goals from Lincoln, Joe Cole and American defender Kelly Gray. Parma’s Champions League heartache comes after a shocking collapse in Serie A, as they fall to 3rd place (behind Roma on head-to-head) and finish 10 points adrift of Lazio, who cruise to their 7th scudetto in 11 years. Lille regain the Ligue 1 title after a six-year wait, while Ajax retake the Eredivisie in Javier Zanetti’s first season as manager. Barcelona prove that some things never change - and win La Liga once again. IN OTHER NEWS... Nicolas Sarkozy is ousted as France’s president, losing the election to his socialist rival François Hollande. It is clear that the French public want a competent and popular leader whose love life won’t make the tabloid headlines. There’s a feeling of "Euphoria" across Sweden when Loreen storms to victory at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. 76-year-old Engelbert Humperdinck is wheeled out to represent the United Kingdom, but ‘The Hump’ suffers the humiliation of being outvoted by Irish twins Jedward. It’s an otherwise sad month for popular music, as three hugely influential performers lose their battles with cancer. Disco diva Donna Summer passes away aged 63, while Robin Gibb - one-third of the Bee Gees - was 62, and Beastie Boys rapper Adam ‘MCA’ Rauch was just 47.

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.

I'm in the January window right now, and while this doesn't happen with every AI loan offer, it is happening quite often. I want to offer out two of my Under-21s players - Seanan Nethercott and Marvin Procter - on loan for 50% wage contribution and an agreed playing time of Regular Starter. After continuing for a couple of days, I eventually receive these offers. South Shields want Nethercott, but only as a Fringe Player and with 0% wage contribution. I negotiate to Important Player, and it takes three attempts before South Shields finally agree. A while later, I get four more silly offers for Nethercott, which I negotiate to 50% wage contribution and Important Player APT. Gillingham and Raith Rovers take three attempts before they agree to any wage contribution and a Regular Starter APT. Burton are happy with a high wage contribution but will not budge past Fringe Player. Wycombe will not budge at all. Five silly offers for Procter - the ones you see above, plus another offer from Wycombe. Same negotiations as with Nethercott. Port Vale take three attempts before they agree to a wage contribution and Regular Starter. Doncaster and Gillingham agree to Important Player but no wage contribution. Wigan and Wycombe will not budge at all. Files uploaded to OwnCloud: CFuller_FringePlayer.fm