Match Day Thread Fulham FC v Sunderland AFC - Saturday 22nd November 2025 - KO 15:00

I find myself being carried along on a wave of optimism and to be honest I like it. It has been a long time since our supporters have felt this energised and the eye test tells me they have a right to feel this way. 11 Clubs so far this season have tried to work out how to play against RLB side and to a varying degree some have been successful but the team and the manager have shown great adaptability and resourcefulness on and off the pitch to suggest we are not as one dimensional as some other teams in the league.
I get the whole premise of waiting for the cliff edge, that a lot of our fans waiting for, but we are not lemmings looking for a cliff and we should be sticking our chest out and approaching every game with confidence and expectation (after all its what this game is all about) with a realisation that even if we are not favourites we will fight, scrap and battle our way to a result.
We may lose games and we may draw or win them but at this moment in time my feelings are that we will fear nobody and just do what we do. That wave can continue carrying me forward on a crest of optimism, as no matter how the rest of the season pans out my pride in what has already been achieved in the last 14 games we have played (Including playoffs) can not be diminished.

 

Thanks for the thread @RTB

On the fence between an away win and a draw with this one. I think we've got enough to win it but I'd settle for a draw.

Enjoyed the day out at Fulham last time I went. It's a decent away day.

 

I’m increasingly puzzled by this notion that ‘a point at Fulham will keep us ticking along’. Is that really the limit of our expectations after the massive investment and start we’ve had …

… it’s not even true, with the next few games we have upcoming, it could the start of a very thin haul of points.

If we can’t attack this game, against a team in rotten form and deep in trouble, I’d have to reconsider how serious we are about finishing outside of a struggle let alone top half. We may not win, that's football, but I’ll be expecting to and expecting the players to believe they will.

This is a pivotal game in my opinion, ha’way the Lads!!!

 

Agree in principle, but an away point ye prem, even more so against an established side is a good result imo.Went into Man U & Burnley games full of.”should win this” and that ended badly. I’m like @becs , on the fence but wouldn’t be unhappy with a draw

 

Well said Marcus, we all want a win, and a draw is the next best ting .

 

Your crazy you lad lol

 

Nothing at all wrong with this mindset. My viewpoint of it is if we go for it but end up with a draw I won't be too dissapointed. If we park the bus and end up with a 0-0 but show no ambition I'll be a bit upset.

It's 100% a game we should be aiming to win but if we end up with a draw it won't be a bad outcome.

 

Press Conference in 5 minutes

 

Regis Le Bris:

What do you think of being compared to Arsene Wenger - I think it's positive to be compared to him but I have to be myself.
AFCON starts on Dec 21st - It's not clear when the players will be released, we want to have the players available for the club, we have a clear and direct communication with coaching staff
Diarra - rehab is on track, we don't want to take risks, we will see
Too early for Cirkin, Mundle & Hjelde but they are making good progress.
Fulham are a good side, not sure why their away form is so poor.
We are analysing our performance over the last few games to look at strengths and eliminate weaknesses.
Alderete can react quickly to events, he missed the opportunity to get minutes with his national team.
We still have connections with new players but nothing is certain yet.
Brobbey is getting better he feels sharp and is close to his best level.
We want to face the best sides in the league and see how things turn out.
The staff and squad are getting better, every experience can have an effect and the quality is improving.
We are working step by step after every game to integrate the other players, they will have their opportunity in the next few weeks, we have experience within the setup.
Before the season I didn't have a specific target except to stay in the league, now that we are 4th, it doesn't really mean anything ath this stage except that we already have 19 points (from the 40 target)
If we are more consistent, don't concede turnovers, we can be more effective in the final third.
With the data and video analysis available now you can identify strengths and weaknesses for every team, it's the same for all teams.

 

Yep, bang on.

 

RLB comes over with so much intelligence all the time. I couldn't be more happy with my club at the minute.

 

We've not seen any evidence so far of parking the bus!

 

05:30am leave for the lads on Saturday. Can’t wait now

 

But Arsenal said we did so we must have….

 

Good guy, intelligent, insightful and communicates well. Couldn't have fallen on our feet any better after (luckily) missing out on Will Still.

Love how tactically savvy we are compared to managers/set ups gone by. Huge well done to RLB, the other coaches and the data analysis team. We won't get the tactics right every game but do go over what went wrong and keep evolving.

 

Just can't agree mate.

Fulham have lost 6 of the last 7 and have only beaten a ten man Wolves team recently.

I don't believe Newcastle, as poor as they've been away, would see a point against Fulham as a good result, and know for a fact, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Brighton and others wouldn't either. If we can't expect to beat a team as poor as Fulham who can we target as three points. If not them there's only Wolves, possibly Leeds, perhaps West Ham.

Fulham are only 'established' because they spent money and relied on the promoted teams being crap ...

... they've lost that belief now and are just as likely to go down as Wolves imo.

I'll be gutted if we don't go out to win this game and I fully expect us to.

 

I asked Regis Le Bris about the new lettering at the Stadium of Light and if he could understand why it’s so important to the #SAFC fans:

️ “Yeah I think it’s a big part of the identity of the club. At home we’ve had success so far - the atmosphere is so important for us. We feel our fans behind us.

“This little detail can help the players - we don’t know how or when but it’s really important.”

 

We didn’t roll over, play dead and hope they only.scored 3 or 4! This = cheating, parking the bus and sorts of vodoo according to some! **** em!

 

Brilliant thread again RTB. Thank You!

I think we've got an outstanding chance of picking up another 6 points before the end of the month. That's not me getting carried away, it's more based on the fact that Fulham couldn't handle Everton's physicality, so will be blown away by ours and secondly, that I fancy us against anyone at the SOL and Bournemouth are coming off the back of a heavy away defeat.

Can't decide whether we'll win 2-0 or 2-1 on Saturday, but confident that we'll win. Fancy Isidor to score, with the other goal from a set piece.

The Premier League is back. Sunderland are back. What a great time to be alive!

 

I am with @Smug in Boots on this one, we should be looking to win this and have the confidence to do it.

With the games coming up and the AFON only a couple of weeks away, we need to be looking to win the next two games, get 6 points on the board before two tough away games at City and Liverpool, followed by a small team just to the north of us. Then the Christmas fixtures.