Before I start, I'd like to give you guys an update with regard to my blog. 2 Days ago I found out I was eligible to apply for Adsense on this blog, which may lead some of you to start getting pissed with me because when I plug any new blogs I'm doing it for the money right? Wrong, When I started this blog in Mid-August I had no intention on doing it for the money- and I still don't. With regard to Adsense its not about the money to me, nor will it ever be. Its about validation. IF the Adsense application goes through it helps validate me as a legitimate blogger- which I had no intention of doing in August; but as my reading audience has expanded & some bigger Twitter accounts have helped me out such as Russ & Cottage Talk, TNA Creative & WhiteNoise1879 Its become a part of my life- and I've somehow become a blogger who gets an average of 40 Reads per blog, which may not sound like much- but for me it is, and some of my blogs getting in excess of 90-100 reads and in the case of my Rotherham blog getting close to 200. That being said money was never my intention going in and it never will be; now on with the blog.
Hello, with the international break I need material so I thought it would be good idea to compare us to the Top 6, which is (from what I can tell) the general consensus of what we should be aiming for come May. This isn't necessarily what I think the Top 6 will be come the end of the season, but now we're roughly a third of the way its a good time to evaluate the situation we're currently in.
6th- Brentford (9 Points Behind)
Results This Season
(COC) W- 1-0
21st November (Away)
3rd April (Home)
Key Statistics (Most of these Stats come from WhoScored)
Average Possession: 51% (Fulham 52%)
Shots per Game: 13.3 (Fulham 14)
Shots on Target per game: 4.8 (Fulham 4.8)
Goal per Game Ratio: 1.41 (Fulham 1.58)
This is something I never thought I'd have to say- Brentford are doing well at the moment, and on balance deserve the position they're currently in, in my opinion. I don't think they will be in the Top 6 come May- but I think any realistic Brentford fan would acknowledge that. With the upcoming game against Brentford we can close the gap between us to 6 Points, but we could also end up 12 Points behind them which is very much possible with Brentford currently on a 3 Game winning streak including a win against Derby. As much as it may pain us to admit it as Fulham fans, we need to be wary of the threat Brentford pose, and acknowledge they're where they are on merit, and will fight tooth and nail to stay there. However out of the current Top 6 Brentford will be the easiest to overtake, which isn't be stating the obvious with regard to there position in the Playoff places- and isn't intended to disrespect Brentford, and is more about crediting the other teams in the Playoff places.
5th- Watford (10 Points Behind)
Results this Season
5th December (Away)
3rd March (Home)
Key Statistics
Average Possession: 49% (Fulham 52%)
Shots per Game: 14.4 (Fulham 14)
Shots on Target per Game: 4.9 (Fulham 4.8)
Goals per Game ratio: 1.76 (Fulham 1.58)
The in house Manager of the Month contests at Watford appear to have resolved themselves and under Slavisa Jokanovic they've experienced a slight dip in their last two games, however before the losses to Ipswich and Birmingham their last loss was in Early September and as such shouldn't be written off just yet. Once again we've got an upcoming game against Watford which can either close the gap between us significantly or give Watford clean air between us, and with every position up for grabs in the Top 6 we can't afford to give them that breathing room. With players like Vydra, Deeney and Tozser at their disposal they will always pose a significant threat to the Top 6. Vydra will of course bring back bad memories for us after the West Brom game last season in which we lost two vital points in our failed attempt at survival and with Tozser being one of the most potent midfielders in the League with the combination of a good foundation with players like Craig Cathcart and Gomes (who I'm looking forward to seeing again after he done so much to help us when he was at Spurs) they will be in and around the Top 6 come May, and we need to make sure we stay in touch- or above them come that time.
4th- Ipswich (11 Points Behind)
Results this Season
L 1-0
14th February (Home)
Key Statistics
Average Possession: 50% (Fulham 52%)
Shots per Game: 14.1 (Fulham 14)
Shots on Targer per Game: 4.5 (Fulham 4.8)
Goals per Game ratio: 1.47 (Fulham 1.58)
Our opponents on the first game back in the Championship have currently only lost 3 Times this season (The Joint Second best in the League) which is very characteristic of a Mick McCarthy team in that they're extremely hard to beat, and will probably piss a lot of people off in doing so because of the style of play they employ in order to achieve this. When we came into the Championship and with Ipswich being our first game the focus was centered on whether McGoldrick would be fit enough, however for the large part Daryl Murphy has outshone him this season, with double his goal tally so far this season- thats not to discredit McGoldrick, as he is still a very good player, and it also highlights the different options Ipswich can employ which makes them very credible candidates for the Top 6. When we played Ipswich in August I wasn't overly impressed with them, we looked very naive in comparison to Ipswich (a reflection on the manager) and we still gave Ipswich a run for their money for large parts of the game, as such I'm slightly surprised Ipswich are where they are at this point of the season. However you have to credit McCarthy for the way he's built the team in order to grind out results. Perhaps most characteristic of this Ipswich team Christophe Berra is the third top scorer for the team, and according to WhoScored he has the highest number of MOTMs in the team. The thing you have to consider is come January Tyrone Mings is likely to leave if the Paper Talk is to be believed and that could greatly handicap Ipswich's promotion bid, however with the resolute nature of Mick McCarthy teams you can't bank on that.
3rd- Middlesborough (12 Points Behind)
Results this Season
L 2-0
25th April (Home)
Key Statistics
Average Possession: 50% (Fulham 52%)
Shots per Game: 15.6 (Fulham 14)
Shots on Target per Game: 4.4 (Fulham 4.8)
Goal per Game Ratio: 1.52 (Fulham 1.58)
Middlesborough are the team to hand us our last League defeat and that should speak to the way Aitor Karanka has gotten his team to play. When we played them I knew it'd be a very tough game, and thought we'd do very well to get something from the game- as such we didn't, but the 2 Goal winning margin did flatter to deceive and on a different day, with the Goal Machine Tim Hoogland getting his header an inch lower who knows what could have been. However in recent blogs- specifically Huddersfield and Norwich I've highlighted the need for a degree of luck, and I'm not using this to discredit their promotion credentials as I've said when I've talked about all of the previous teams in this blog. A Regular frequenter of my August blogs Albert Adomah hasn't been the stand out performer in this Boro teams, but he has been of them- and with attacking threats like Kike Boro will always be a very dangerous team, and as said previously will be in and around the Top 6 come May. They also have the best defence in the League, and by a clear margin. Dani Ayala and George Friend have particularly impressed me when it comes to their defensive situation, and as I've said in previous blogs about Fulham a strong defensive foundation will be the key to any promotion bid we, and by association any other team puts together.
2nd- Bournemouth (12 Points Behind)
Results this Season
26th December (Away)
7th March (Home)
Key Statistics
Average Possession: 54% (Fulham 52%)
Shots per Game: 15.2 (Fulham 14)
Shots on Target per Game: 5.5 (Fulham 4.8)
Goal per Game Ratio: 1.94 (Fulham 1.58)
I think it was Football Manager 2009 when I saw Bournemouth with a 17 Point Deduction in League 2 and used them as a challenge to myself, and of course because its a game I was able to get Bournemouth to the Premier League within 7 Seasons so if you see Hyde in the Premier League by 2022 you're welcome. The thing is, you never expect the rag-to-riches Game stories to actually become a reality as has happened with Bouremouth. Eddie Howe is a manager who I've always respected, but I thought when he was relatively mediocre- in comparison to what he had been doing at Bournemouth before. I started underestimating him, last season Bournemouth should have gotten to the Playoffs but they stumbled on the one of the last hurdles and didn't make it last time around. This time around I thought they'd be in and around the Playoffs with the proviso that they kept Matt Ritchie in a Bournemouth shirt, and he stayed healthy, and with his assist tally being the only one thats bettering Ross McCormacks this season I was right to an extent. With the emergence of Callum Wilson as a potent Championship goalscorer in the Championship they've gotten close to a perfect storm which has led them to where they are. At the end of August when it became apparent Fraser Forster was Koemans first choice, and before Bettinelli properly established himself as our Number One (or Forty) I thought we should have looked at getting in Boruc on loan, as such he went to Bournemouth and has immediately established himself as one of the best Keepers in the Division. Will this run last for Bournemouth? Who knows, one thing you can say for certain is that Bournemouth fans deserve everything success they get- and out of the teams in the division they're the team I would have wished finish 2nd behind us this season.
1st- Derby (13 Points Behind)
Results this Season
L 5-1
(COC) L 5-2
28th February (Home)
Key Statistics
Average Possession: 56% (Fulham 52%)
Shots per Game: 14.2 (Fulham 14)
Shots on Target per Game: 5 (Fulham 4.8)
Goal per Game Ratio: 1.94 (Fulham 1.58)- Derby conveniently had the same number of goals as Bournemouth which made this calculation so much easier.
I honestly don't know what to say with regard to Derby this season. If it weren't for a certain Zamora we wouldn't even looking at Derby this season as a competitor, but as such we are and they're top. But on the same notion they haven't been remarkable in the majority of games this season in my opinion. In fact they only time in their first eight games they won by more than a one goal margin was "that" game against us. They've recently lost to an Uwe Rosler Wigan side at Home, and a good Brentford team, and also been run close in terms of outcome against the likes of Huddersfield, the problem is just when you thought it was safe to go back in the Water- they go and pull out a result such as a 5-0 against a very good Wolves team. I didn't see all of the game because I had to leave to go to the Huddersfield game, but they made a good Wolves team look like a Sunday League Team by comparison. Derby have always been somewhat of a bogey team for us- or at least from my perspective. When we were in the Great Escape season Derby were a guaranteed 3 Points for everyone, except us. 2 Draws in the Great Escape season, and if I looked far enough back I'm sure there would be more instances to support the argument of Derby being a bogey team for us. With the way they were screwed last season against the other lot down the road in the Playoff Final I certainly won't begrudge Derby going up- however I'm honestly not sold on them being Top Promotion Candidates despite them being Top.
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked this different type of blog- obviously with the International Break spanning this weekend I needed to approach the blog from a different angle. As always I appreciate any feedback on these blogs and thanks again for reading. Remember this is by no means who I think the Top 6 will be come the end of the season, this is purely from a current standing perspective.
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