Fulham vs Birmingham City - First match of 2005-2006

Saturday at the Cottage Fulham opens the 2005-2006 season against Birmingham City. The two clubs split last season with the road team winning each time.

Who do you want to see start for Fulham? What are your expectations of this game?

This match will be shown on a same day tape delay basis Saturday at 3PM EDT/2PM CDT. If you want to follow it live, FulhamUSA will have matchday coverage beginning at 9:30AM EDT/8:30 CDT.

 

come on you whites[/quote]

 

Isn't Styles infamous for some bad calls on us or is that someone else?

 

Styles was the ref who called the infamous penalty against Boro last April that was clearly out of the box. Cost us two points and ultimately 500,000 pounds in finishing money.

 

Thanks Tom. I knew he was a bad bad man.

 

Jeez...its started again. After 3 months off, now i'm back to checking the site every 10 minutes, going back and forth from the official site to here to 365 to soccernet

and i'm going to be at the beach this weekend, so no game for me...not even internet so I don't have Jim to fall back on.

 

I will be taping it if you want to check it out. Let me know. I just hope we get the season started on a positive note. It is crucial we start well this season and inject some confidence into the club. A few wins at the beginning of the year can do an awful lot for the mindset of club.

 

I can call you and give you an update...

 

That'd be great mike. I know its on tape delay down in DC, not sure if you guys get it live.

 

If it helps, you are not alone in your addiction. I was without the internet for a few days and feel like I missed out on several interesting threads. Also, Mrs.Jux and I are rushing to upgrade to digital cable so that we can get FSC in order to catch the first four games.

 

I am glad to hear the two of you made this decision. Your Saturday's will not be the same!!

 

And hopefully, I can actually comment on the games I see and not through written match reports...for a change.

In geting back on thread, I am really curious to see if all of the strength and fitness training pays off. It would be great to see a fast, strong team controlling the play of the game. I didn't get to see the final preseason game, so I don't know if this has already begun to surface.

 

From what I understand, the team looked to be in superior physical shape against Panionos at the weekend. It would be nice to see the team outworking and outhustling their opponents all season long.

Brum is a good team. Their strikeforce is a three-headed monster with Emile Heskey, Walter Pandiani and Mikael Forssel. The Fulham defense will have their hands full on Saturday.

 

Not sure if anyone caught it, but a friend of mine who watched the Community Shield yesterday said that both Arsenal and Chelsea looked tired.

When I saw Chelsea a few weeks ago, they were really slow defending the counter attack and a lot of the players were walking in the final 15 minutes or so.

Hopefully this new training will buy us some points and catch some teams off guard early in the season (specifically looking at the Arsenal match on the 24th).

 

I think the team's fitness level will be fine.

I'm still nervous about the current Fulham keeper situation. From what I saw on the BBC site Drobny is out 3-6 weeks. What's the current status of Crossley and how good is Batista?

 

From what I understand, Crossley will be ready for Brum on Saturday. However, he is 36-years old. That is not young. He is nimble and is prone to injuries. That being said, I think Batista could be good.....in a few years time but not right now. He needs a few more years in the reserve team before jumping into the Premiership.

I think Postma would be a good addition on loan. I am quite certain that deal went through Friday as FulhamUSA reported, but I have not heard anything official from Fulham's official website.

 

Rumour has it that the Postma deal fell through because of a failed medical...

 

Please tell me you're joking...

 

Actually, no, I'm not. No official announcement yet.