Fulham away to Reading

Was going to send this to Heather to put on the front page, but something tells me that she is a just a wee bit busy in bringing a new life into the world. Thoughts and prayers go out to DCH, her family, and a hearty congratulations to her and her husband. Plus a big :text-welcomeconfetti: to the newest Fulham fan.



Fulham travel the short distance west of the SW6 (approximately 35 miles) to the city of Reading to take on the Royals at the Madejski Stadium. The traveling support will certainly be close to the large number that went to Southampton, so hopefully the Whites feed off the energy that the away contingent will provide.

Reading has not had the start of the season that the newly promoted side was hoping for and currently sit in 19th place on 3 points from 8 matches. However, they do have a better Goal Differential (-6) than five other teams and will be thinking that their first win of the Premier League campaign is for the taking this Saturday. The name most Fulham fans will think of in connection with the current Reading squad is Pavel Pogrebnyak. Pog was a major contributor for Fulham last season and became an instant hero in his short time with the Whites. His goal scoring really eased the tension felt upon the selling of Bobby Zamora. Pogrebnyak was in the midst of negotiating a new contract with Fulham when Reading's new Russian owner Anton Zingrevich swooped in and made an offer he couldn't pass on. Currently Pog has two goals and is tied with Noel Hunt for the team lead. The Royals were a major surprise last season and aren't filled with a bunch of household names, but Brian McDermott's bunch is well organized and hard working, so Fulham better match Reading's intensity.

The last time these two clubs met was in April of 2008, in a very meaningful and memorable clash. All that is needed to do is youtube 'Fulham Great Escape' and the highlights of that match are prominently featured. Fulham was able to break a 33 winless road match streak at the expense of Reading in a 2-0 victory. SImon 'Digger" Davies crossed it for a sliding Brian McBride for the first and after the team hit the woodwork 3 times, Davies sprung reserve Erik Nevland for the insurance goal late on. The 3 points were mandatory for Fulham and helped in catching and ultimately dooming Reading to relegation (the teams would end up tied on points, but Fulham were saved with a better GD).

Prediction; As DaveNearDC pointed out earlier this week, this is a unique opportunity for Fulham. The club is currently sitting in 8th place in the Prem, and with the early return of Mahamadou Diarra and the array of attacking options, optimism is rising. However, the term "Fulhamish" wasn't created without reason, and it would shock no one if a listless away performance occurs on Saturday. However, Berbatov is the kind of player and has shown with his quality and work rate that he can put the squad on his shoulders. A win would even the team's away record which stands at 1-2-1, and serve notice that the club has it's sites set high. Never an easy proposition to predict a road win, but Berba and Duffers to tally in route to a 2-1 victory to give the Fulham faithful a great day out. COYW!!!!

 

Nice preview, thanks, SCJ.

And congratulations to DCH and her family!!

 

Great preview Joe. For the first time, perhaps ever, I find myself this season with some optimisim heading into away matches, especially against clubs like Reading. I say 1-0 good guys.

And here's to one more Fulham fan out there! Congrats Heather and family!

 

Bottom line, winnable away game against less than stellar freshly promoted club. I share the optimism...1-2 good guys with a brace for Berba. And my congrats to the Senator and brood as well!

COYW!

 

Is this game on tv anywhere? I see it's not on Fox Soccer, so is there anywhere else I might be able to catch it?

 

The only way to see it will be on an internet feed I'm afraid. The radio voice of Fulham aka Gentleman Jim will also be available.

 

Live on FS+, I believe

 

You're right Tim, Fox Soccer Plus has it.

Nevland discussing the '08 victory from the Offal

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/octob ... i-memories

 

Thanks, Joe, and congratulations to Heather and family!!! Just hope the boys "bring it hard" today! I like jk's call for Berba with a brace...

 

Congrats Heather! I hope you and the little one are doing well.

I will miss this one and the chatroom. Off to the Season Finale Soccer Tournament - what a name, heh.

COYWs

 

Congrats to Heather on a beautiful child.

As far as today goes, we lose two points. Hopefully we have not lose Bairdinho to injury and it's just a slight knock.

 

Five points dropped in the last four games in the last few minutes of those games. Absolutely unacceptable. We could be right up there with the big clubs and we're still lingering around mid table because we can't hold onto a lead. Would have taken a draw at halftime, but there's no way I could be happy after leading twice against the second worst team in the league and losing the lead both times.

 

Been sick all week and this match almost feels like that set me back.

We were plodding and static in the first half and went in down 1-0. Bringing on Ruiz and Dejegah opened things up, we had movement all across the front, and we pumped in 3 goals.

Unfortunately, our achilles heel got us again. We are dismal at set pc defense. Dismal!

Good chat at least. And congrats again to Heather on a beautiful baby girl. Shame her first Fulham match had to be....Fulhamish. But it is fitting sadly.

 

I think Jol found out man to play with Berba. Ruiz was absolutely amazing and had a great goal to show for it. Rodallega had two great header chances and they both went right to the keeper. He doesn't finish well and doesn't provide anywhere near the same amount of creativity as somebody like Ruiz.

I would have rather had Richardson come off for Dejagah and move Duff over. I lost count on how many times he was released and he put in a shit cross into the box. He had one good cross that went to Duff, but that was about all he did. I don't mind him, but I like Kaca far more.

The lack of creativity in midfield really hurt us for most of the game. We had so much possession and literally went nowhere with it in the first half. Had some chances, but not nearly as many as we should with that kind of possession. Bringing on Ruiz helped, but we can't sit there with two sitting midfielders in the middle as it really hurts us going forward. Bringing in a creative central midfielder should be our top priority in the transfer window.

 

Justin said pretty much everything I would've. Thought Richardson had an especially bad game. Too soon to entirely eat my (past) words on Ruiz, but he looked fantastic today. I think we can tidy up our defense; that's a matter of concentration and discipline. If we can find a good Captain Danny replacement in January, we're off to the races.

 

..........F@ck

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... ib?cc=5901

 

Jol mentioned during the press conference that. Sounds like one. Huge loss