Fulham vs. Newcastle United

Allow me the honor of getting the new season's first match thread started.
Many are predicting the Magpies will rejoin the Premiership immediately. I don't know about that. As we begin our third season in the second tier, I think they'll find it much harder than it appears. Yes, they kept their manager and a fair chunk of their squad, but I'm not sold on them yet. But on paper, they are better than us. Which was the case most of the time when WE were in the PL. Matches are not played on paper. Even though the rosters are not settled, I think we'll show well and get a result, based on our preseason performances and familiarity with the type of conditions in this league. We've historically done well against Newcastle at CC, although that means exactly squat Friday night, but sometimes trends are just that for no apparent reason. Here's hoping it continues. As for who starts? I think it depends largely upon whether or not Ross McCormack is still a White. Betts seems to be above Button right now in net. Cairney is the only shoe-in for midfield, although Christensen seems healthy and they still love Parker. Can't imagine they brought Kevin McDonald in without planning to start him. Both Aluko and Ayite have been impressive, but gotta believe we'll go with Smith and Woodrow if Ross is gone. Since Aluko seems to prefer to play behind the primary forward, he might sneak in there in any case. The only defensive certainty is Madl, I think. Again, don't think they brought in Kalas and Odoi to sit, especially since Fredericks is out for 3 months. I think we'll see Ream with Madl. After that, who knows? Stearman was a disappointment last season, not sure if Joka wants to keep him. Grimmer? Scott Malone? I don't know. Gonna be interesting, that's for sure. If we get off to another slow start, all bets are off.

 

Time to get back on that horse, yeee hawww!!! Have kept myself rather distanced from news on off-season moves and I am now ready to jump back into the deep end. COYW! Squad numbers listed below (I'll need it for the first couple of weeks).

Full list of Fulham squad numbers
1. Marcus Bettinelli

2. Ryan Fredericks

3. Scott Malone

4. Denis Odoi

5. Richard Stearman

6. Kevin McDonald

8. Scott Parker

9. Matt Smith

10. Tom Cairney

11.Floyd Ayité

13. Tim Ream

15. Michael Madl

16. Cauley Woodrow

19. Ryan Tunnicliffe

21. Lasse Vigen Christensen

24. Sone Aluko

26. Tomas Kalas

27. David Button

30. Ryan Sessegnon

41. Jesse Joronen

42. Marek Rodak

44. Ross McCormack

 

Even with McCormack apparently leaving, I'm still feeling positive about our season - and I kind of hate that because the past few seasons have given me no reason to feel that way! I felt good about the start of last season too and that didn't go quite as hoped. Frankly, we could have been a mid-table team without the managerial circus mid-season. So if this team is better than last year (I think it is) then we should at least look forward to a finish above 12th.

As for Friday, my guess on the starting lineup is that we'll have Bettinelli, with Odoi, Madl, and Kalas on the back line, but at left back it seems fuzzy - Malone maybe. In the midfield (of a 4-2-3-1) it seems like McDonald, Aluko, Ayite, and Carney would start, but I'm not sure about would would partner with McDonald - Tunnicliffe? I'd love to see Woodrow start, but we've seen a lot of Matt Smith too in the pre-season. Woodrow had the best goal-to-minutes ratio last year, so I say give him a shot.

It feels like everyone is expecting Newcastle to breeze through this match on their way back to the Premiere League. I hope we give them a shocking welcome to the Championship instead with a 2-0 win for the home team. COYW!

 

Was gonna post this from youtube.com, but the club beat me to it. Probably my favorite Fulham match since becoming a supporter. Forgot how good a passer Bobby Z was until I watched this again. Clint's only Premier League hat trick (I believe he got one against Charlton a couple of weeks prior in an FA Cup tie). http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/august/03/newcastle-united-flashback

 

Now that McCormack's departure is all but done, and we've lost his and Dembele's goals (40 combined, I believe, in all competitions last season), where are the goals coming from THIS season? By my count we have four forwards now: Matt Smith, Cauley Woodrow, Floyd Ayite and Sone Aluko. Not exactly Murderer's Row. Who starts against Newcastle Friday night? I'm rethinking my Smith/Woodrow combo, but the bottom line is, it's going to be really strange not seeing 44 out there, knowing he probably has at least one in him at any moment. I hope whoever Joka puts up front can defend set pieces better than Dembele. He was horrible in that regard.

 

Assuming we pick up a another forward before the window closes, I hope the person can bring some of what McCormack could do on free kicks. I thought that was where he brought the most value.

Although we've lost the guys who scored 55% of our goals, I'm not too worried about it. The two teams that also scored 66 goals last season (Derby and Wednesday) both had 15 goals for their top scorers, so we don't have to find someone can score 21 goals in a season. Last season Fulham had 64% of the goals scored by forwards but Wednesday had 53% and Derby only had 47%. If we get our midfield and defense scoring just a little more we can take some of the pressure of the guys up front - and it certainly seems like Odoi and Fredericks (when healthy) can help boost scoring from the back. We can be competitive without McCormack if we diversify our attack.

 

Have been totally out of the loop, and defer to Micah's optimism. 5 league games before the close of the window, and let's be honest there should be a few changes by the time Sept. 1st rolls around. The Geordies look to be 'all-in' for the bounce backup, so playing them early isn't a bad thing. Biggest hope for the season (besides the obvious), is more consistent performances for 90, instead of one half Jekyll one half Hyde. COYW!!!!

 

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
– Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

A new unblemished season is upon us and with it comes the rekindled hope of a fan for a bright future.

 

Well, our best keeper is apparently out for the opener. Not good.

 

Let's hope the position is Buttoned down and in good hands.

 

Wow. Lots of new faces. Let's see what happens...

 

Two players from this match started in last year's opener (Cairney and Smith), last year we had just one (McCormack) from the prior opener, and our first year in the Championship we didn't have anyone who appeared in the prior opener, so I guess things are stabilizing? Regardless, I'm excited to see how things turn out.

 

HD, where are you able to watch it?

 

Great start to the season. I was only able to tune in to Gentleman Jim halfway through the second half. It sounded like Newcastle had most of the ball. How does our attack look going forward? Assuming, that is, we can't bring in anybody in the next month.

 

First place!

 

@lanhux5 I could only listen to GJ while working, but it sounded like we had more possession and were more attacking in the first half. I'll defer to those who actually watched the match.

That wasn't a very "Fulhamish" result! I fully expected a goal from Newcastle in the 86th minute so that we could do exactly what we did in last season's opener. And then the calls went in our favor! And we got a clean sheet! What team is this?!

 

I was equally as baffled. I was bracing for the inevitable late collapse, but it never came. Here's to hoping clean sheets become a regular thing this season!

 

You can't go wrong starting the season with a clean sheet. Glad to read Fulham winning points off a corner kick.

 

Woo Hoo!!!!!!