I Cottagers nella Championship 2014-15

Sta per cominciare la Championship, uno dei campionati più belli del mondo.
Peccato che quest'anno ci sia anche il Fulham, ne avremo fatto volentieri a meno, ma seguiamolo per quello che speriamo sia solo una breve, e magari divertente, parentesi.
Tutto questo è assolutamente fulhamish.

Ecco le previsioni stagionali.


Season Preview: Fulham

Fulham

Last Season:
Having come close on a couple of occasions since they were promoted over a decade ago the 2013-14 season was the one that finally saw Fulham drop out of the Premierleague. It was a disappointing campaign from start to finish that exposed the lack of football knowledge in the owners of the club. It had been evident for the past couple of seasons that Fulham's squad was aging. However manager Martin Jol did not address the problem over the summer and the signs of a difficult season were there for all to see. They started the season ok, but six straight defeats during November saw Jol sacked as manager and the team marooned in the bottom three. The new coaching team lead by Rene Meulensteen, his first managers job, did little to improve the situation, despite winning three games in his short tenure. He was removed in February following a 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool. Experienced German manager Felix Magath was thrown in to save the situation with 12 games to go but he could do nothing to reverse the situation and the club were relegated finally finishing in 19th. Their home form at Craven Cottage which had been the backbone of all their recent success deserted them and the team looked older than ever.

The Manager
Although he has never worked in English football Felix Magath is an extremely experienced coach having worked in a number of situations during his 19-year managerial career in Germany, including managing Bayern Munich between 2004-2007. Many expected that Magath would walk away from the Fulham job once relegation last season had been confirmed but instead it was announced that he was staying to try and return the club to the Premiership at the first opportunity. His experience will be pivotal in Fulham's promotion bid.

Transfers

In: Shaun Hutchinson (Motherwell), Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets), Tim Hoogland (Schalke 04), Kay Voser (FC Basel), Ross McCormack (Leeds Utd), Adil Chihi (FC Cologne), Thomas Eisfeld (Arsenal), Nikolay Bodurov (Litex Lovech)

Loans In: Konstantinos Stafylidis (Bayer Leverkusen)

Out: Steve Sidwell (Stoke City), Damien Duff (Melbourne City), Sascha Reither (SC Freiburg), Pajtim Kasami (Olympiakos), Kieran Richardson (Aston Villa), David Stockdale (Brighton), Ashkan Dejagah (Al-Arabi), Brede Hangeland (Crystal Palace), Matthew Briggs (Millwall), John Arne Riise, Jonny Heitinga (Released)

This Season
Whilst Fulham will be able to count of the experience of manager Felix Magath the Championship will still be alien to most of the squad. Having been established in the Premiership for so long they have very few players with experience of second tier football. The majority of their summer signings have also come from abroad. In what is likely to be a more competitive promotion race than ever, any ground lost while players are bedding in could prove costly come the end of season shake up.



Read more: http://www.watford.vitalfootball.co.uk/sit...2#ixzz39e0LJk8k

Il debutto del Fulham in Championship avviene in uno stadio prestigioso, il Portman Road di Ipswich, contro i Tractor Boys di Mick Mc Carthy.
C'è fiducia intorno ai Cottagers, che da 5 stagioni non perdono alla prima, ma è difficile fare previsioni visto che la squadra e tutta nuova.

BBC STATS AND PREVIEWS

Venue: Portman Road Date: Saturday, 9 August Kick-off: 17:15 BST
Coverage: Watch highlights on The Football League Show; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website

TEAM NEWS

Ipswich will be without Cameron Stewart (fractured jaw) in their season opener against Fulham.
David McGoldrick (knee) could return from injury, but Stephen Hunt is sidelined and Jonathan Parr, Tommy Smith and Paul Anderson are all doubts for Mick McCarthy's side.
Fulham boss Felix Magath could hand a debut to £11m signing Ross McCormack.
New signings Tim Hoogland, Kay Voser, Thomas Eisfeld and Konstantinos Stafylidis could also be involved.

Mick McCarthy has called for a blue "wall of colour" from the Ipswich fans

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Ipswich won the last meeting 1-0 at Portman Road in the Premier League in January 2002.
Town are unbeaten in the last nine meetings in all competitions, winning five. Fulham's last win was 10-1 at Craven Cottage in the old Division One on Boxing Day 1963 - their biggest-ever win and Ipswich's joint-heaviest defeat.
Ipswich have won the last five meetings at Portman Road in all competitions. Fulham's last win there was 1-0 in the old Division One in March 1963.

Ipswich Town
Ipswich have lost just one of their last four games on the opening day, winning two and drawing one. Their only defeat since 2009 was 2-1 at Reading in the Championship last season.
They won only one of their final four games of last season in the Championship. Their only win was 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday at home on the final day.

Fulham
Fulham are unbeaten in their last five games on the opening day, winning three. Their last defeat was 2-1 at Hull in the Premier League in August 2008.
The Cottagers did not win any of their final four games of last season in the Premier League, losing two. Their last win was 1-0 against Norwich at home on 12 April.
The Whtes conceded 85 league goals last season - the most in the Premier League.

Mentre Felicetto Magath non si preoccupa di rendersi ridicolo sostenendo che Ross Mc Cornack, l'acquisto più oneroso della storia della Championship (11 milioni di £) is not fit, battendo la squadra più odiosa di Inghilterra il Fulham potrebbe anche far dimenticare la battuta d'arresto con l'Ipswich.

BBC STATS AND PREVIEWS

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
Venue: Craven Cottage Date: Saturday, 16 August Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Coverage: Watch highlights on The Football League Show; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website

TEAM NEWS

Fulham boss Felix Magath will make a decision on whether to start striker Ross McCormack for the visit of Millwall.
The striker, who signed for £11m from Leeds in the summer, was substituted one hour into the defeat by Ipswich last weekend, with Magath saying he was not fully fit.
Millwall full-back Matthew Briggs will miss the game against his former side.
Briggs has a rib injury, but Justin Hoyte (hamstring) is close to a return.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Fulham won the last meeting 4-1 at Craven Cottage in the old Division Two in April 1999.
Fulham have won the last two meetings. Millwall's last win was 2-1 at Craven Cottage in th e old Division Two in March 1998.
Fulham have won only one of the last five meetings at Craven Cottage, drawing two and losing two.

Fulham
Fulham lost their first game of the season 2-1 at Ipswich last Saturday.
They have not won any of their last five games either side of the summer break. Their last win was 1-0 against Norwich at home in the Premier League on 12 April.
Fulham conceded 85 league goals last season - the most in the Premier League.

Millwall
Millwall have won both games of the season so far in all competitions. They won 2-0 against Leeds at home last Saturday and won 1-0 against Wycombe at home in the Capital One Cup first round on Tuesday.
They are unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions either side of the summer break, winning six. Their last defeat was 3-2 against Birmingham at home in the Championship on 25 March.
Millwall conceded 74 league goals last season - only relegated Barnsley and Yeovil lost more in the Championship.

Buona partita Mr Ciociar, may you be a lucky charm. . .

Con i Wolves terza e spero ultima chiamata per Felicetto Magath.
Che scusa troverà per non schierare Ross Mc Cormack stavolta?

BBC STATS AND PREVIEWS

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
Venue: Craven Cottage Date: Wednesday, 20 August Kick-off: 20.00 BST
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website

TEAM NEWS

Striker Ross McCormack, a substitute on Saturday, is set to start as Fulham look for their first win of the season.
Shaun Hutchinson, Chris David and striker Cauley Woodrow could also start, although forward Adam Taggart is still out with an ankle injury.
Wolves have no fresh injury worries but Tommy Rowe is not yet ready to make a debut following a broken toe.
The former Peterborough midfielder played for 45 minutes in an under-21 game on Monday night.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
The last meeting between the two came in the Premier League in March 2012, Fulham winning 5-0 as Wolves headed for relegation.
Wolves' last win at Craven Cottage came in October, 1999.

Fulham
Fulham have made a losing start to life in the Championship with defeats at Ipswich and at home to Millwall so far.
They have not won at home in their last three attempts with their most recent success a 1-0 win over Norwich in April.
Their last home win at this level was against Wolves - a 2-0 victory in April 2001.

Wolves
Wolves have had a mixed start to their Championship return with a win against Norwich and a defeat by Rotherham.
Kenny Jackett's side went out of the League Cup to League Two Northampton Town.
Their next game is also against a side relegated from the Premier League in Cardiff City.