[Amelia Chaffinch]

He's back, we're back, game on!

The Terriers v The Cottagers
at the John Smith's
on Saturday 14th August 2021
at 3pm

The borough of Fulham is home to two football clubs; Fulham and Chelsea which, although a wealthy area, neither can afford to add a United, Orient or Spurs to their name.

~

Fulham is also home to an exclusive polo, golf and croquet club called The Hurlingham. There's a 15 year waiting list so better get our names down now. When finally offered membership I'm guessing there'll be a unanimous cry of "How much?!" If none of that puts you off I'll just point out that Jeffrey Archer is a member.

~

There are a couple of songs that refer to Fulham Broadway tube station. I think one was Jethro Tull. I didn't recognise it. I can't even be sure it was by them ... it was yesterday when I was looking and I've lived since then.

The other I do know is What A Waste from Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

~

~

Talking of what a waste, Scott Malone played for both. A bit of nuisance versus us but didn't seem to be able to do the same for us.

Terence Kongolo whose chant that you'll never get past him was, if we're honest, a little exaggerated. He went on loan to Fulham and then signed permanently. However, this allegedly magic player appears to be beleaguered by injury at present.

There was Dale Tempest who started his senior career at Fulham before tranferring to us is 1984.

Finally, Len Quested who had lengthy spells at Fulham and Town. According to wiki, he appears to have started playing (for a team anyway) in the Navy.

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~

With just one game played, there's obviously not a lot of form to talk about. Their first fixture with Middlesbrough at home on Sunday was a 1-1 draw. Their goal came from Harry Wilson, a new signing from Liverpool. He never made a league appearance for Liverpool but is well known to us for his loans at Championship clubs Derby and Cardiff. We're 11th, they're 17th for alphabetical reasons but especially because drawing away trumps drawing at home, apparently.

~

Head to head league stats favour Fulham. We've won 23 to their 28 with 15 draws. Our last 2 meetings were in the 2019/20 season. Unfortunately, we lost both.

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Scott Parker left at the end of last season and is now at Bournemouth. New manager Marco Silva (formerly at Everton until 2019) arrived on the 1st of July.

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That will have to do. My computer won't let me do spacing hence the use of ~ at regular intervals. I'll leave you with The Boys Are Back In TOWN.

~

[jjamez]

First game back in over 15 months... And I'm playing cricket so will be giving it a miss this week... Although I am now injured but needs must, I'll only be able to get to the Preston game, or it was looking that way until we drew Everton at home, so I might make that too

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Didn't Ollie driftwood play for Fulham on loan one season? I didn't overly rate him at town but he's gone on to forge a decent career for himself.

Malone was a shocker for us, but another that has had a decent career elsewhere, maybe we should have kept him and Ince instead of wasting money that second prem season. I reckon both would have been solid for us after we got relegated

[Lord Snooty]

Nice one, Chaffers. You can't get a better start to a thread than a picture of Michael Hefele.

Malone was better than a lot of players we've had before and since. He was up against Lowe though, so a lot of fans thought he was cack.

I always rated him myself. 

[theo_luddite]

Nice one AmChaff- short and sweet and to the point.

I hope I'm not describing Snoots there, but what the heck.

Bugsy wasn't the least worst we've ever had, had he tucked a few chances away for us like he frequently did against us I'm sure things would have turned out different, well for him anyway.

We're going to have to keep tabs on Wilson this weekend in addition to Mitrovic if they both play, that's for sure. Not sure why we couldn't find a starting place on the pitch for last season's leading scorer last week when the two we did start hadn't scored more than him put together. Would like to see that put right this weekend.

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Some decent beers might be available too - for a price in certain outlets.

[Lord Snooty]

I think they said Koroma had had covid and wasn't fully fit yet. Hence the half a game in the cup and on the bench at Direby.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

[theo_luddite]

Translation?

[Lord Snooty]

Translation? 

Huddersfield Town Head Coach Carlos Corberán is prepared to face a strong Fulham side at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday 14 August 2021.

Town go into the game off the back of a 1-1 draw against Derby County in their Sky Bet Championship opener on Saturday 7 August 2021.

Although Carlos had to isolate, he still followed the game and interacted with his First Team coaches.

“I was following the game, the only difference is that I was a minute behind.

“I had full contact with my assistants, so it didn’t change a lot.

“For me, the team started really well.

“We dominated the game and tried to create chances, but then we did have moments where we started to share the control with Derby County.

“In one of those they created a corner from which they could score their goal, but it was very positive to see the reaction of the team.

“The team finished the half with a lot of mentality and in the second half we were closer to scoring a goal, which we were unfortunate not to do.”

Looking ahead to Fulham, Town’s Head Coach says he knows the Cottagers will be tough opponents.

“Fulham have a very good squad.

“They will be one of the strongest teams that we face.

“We are completely focusing on all our possibilities to try and show our best level in what will be a difficult game.”

The Spaniard also provided the latest team news, including an update on the four First Team players who also had to isolate.

“The medical protocol with the players is different to that of the coaches.

“We know that after they’ve had the normal 10 days of quarantine, they need to follow a process that involves blood analysis and physical values.

“This will allow the medical team to decide when they are allowed to train.

“They are allowed to train with the squad first of all, they need to do three days of progressive work before they can start to work with the team.

“Pipa was doing one day of training and then resting the next day.

“Tomorrow he will have a medical consultation to see how he’s managing the pain that he still has.

“We will see after this meeting what is going to be the right process to follow.

“Rolando Aarons was training yesterday with the team.

“I hope that he is managing the pain that he has in his knee well.

“We are going to see how he reacts to yesterday’s training.

“Aaron Rowe is a little bit different because he couldn’t be with the team yet.

“He’s a little bit further behind Rolando and Pipa.”

[theo_luddite]

Kin 'ell Snoots you wrote that up quick

[ritchiebaby]

You know I like an anagram, so here's one - steep malted. I got it first, so I win the point!

I'm off on a wee holiday for the next week, but don't worry, I'll be back.