READING v FULHAM Saturday 27th October 2012 - Kick off 3.00 pm Madejski Stadium Premier League Game Introduction: Away fans â if youâre coming to Reading, see our own special Royals Rendezvous Guide for Away fans â Travel and Drinks/Food : http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9220871/1 FORM GUIDE Table Positions: Reading 19th - 3 points (played 7 games) Fulham 8th - 13 points (played 8 games) So, incredibly Fulham hold over four times the points total of Reading! Fulham Recent form: Not a bad season so far for Fulham at all. Perhaps walloping Norwich on the opening day gave them that confidence needed in the premier; despite losing the next two and going out of the League cup theyâve stuck firm, and the last five games read W3 D1 L1. In my opinion Fulham are looking one of the principal âdark horsesâ of the season! Reading Recent form: So itâs 3 draws and 4 defeats from the 7 league games, never more than by a two goal difference, but a victory is very needed. Achieve it against Fulham, and we can look forward to a series of games where we would hope to gain a number of points. Remember we have already beaten QPR away in the League Cup. Lose, and it will make pretty much all of those games very nervy. THE BOSS â the current manager of Fulham: Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16th January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder who currently manages Fulham in the Premier League. Jol played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany, and England, as well as earning three caps with the Dutch national team. He subsequently became a manager and has worked for Roda JC, RKC Waalwijk and Ajax in his homeland, as well as German Bundesliga club Hamburger SV and English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. WEB SITES Official Fulham Club Web Site: http://www.fulhamfc.com Unofficial individual club web sites â daib0âs suggestion: Friends of Fulham OPPOSING FANS SECTION Rivalries, and the Fulham fan base: Chelsea, QPR and Brentford ... Fulham fans consider their main rivals to be Chelsea. Despite this fixture not being played that often in the years preceding Fulham's ascent to the top division, this is a clear local derby as Chelsea's ground, Stamford Bridge, is in Fulham. However, it is only recently that the two teams have been competing in the same league. Chelsea do not consider Fulham as rivals in the same way, they prefer even âbigger fishâ! Fulham consider their secondary rivalries to be with QPR and Brentford. Outside of London, Gillingham are still considered rivals to Fulham hardcore despite the two clubs having played in different divisions for the past eleven years. Fulham and Gillingham have been involved in several high-tempered matches in the lower leagues, including the death of a Fulham supporter outside a game between the two clubs in Kent, in the 1990s. Fulham's fan base has fluctuated over the years with high crowds coinciding with the clubs success in the Premier League but the club now averages in the top twenty best home attendances in the country. Fulham supporters have played a vital role in the clubs long term stay at Craven Cottage. Fulham's more hardcore fans are known to congregate at the back of the Hammersmith end, the traditional home end of Fulham fans. Famous Fans: The following page â the Hammy End Chronicle - has a more complete list than I could ever plan on doing, so here is the link â http://fulhamish.blogspot.com.es/2007/06/famous-fulham-fans.html However, many of the names on this list cannot really be classed as âtrueâ supporters I suspect ... Nicknames and Mascots etc. Cottagers â Term is from the club's ground, Craven Cottage Badgers - From the traditional colours of the strip as well as the club mascot 'Billy the Badger'. Also occasionally Lillywhites - Colour of home strip âTerry Bytesâ is the name of the club mascot, but Fulham has changed mascots during the last decade; letâs see if this sticks! MATCH DAY EXPECTATIONS Attendances: At least Reading are not in relegation places when it comes to attendances; our average 24,076 gives us a modest 17th place, but higher figures than for Swansea, Wigan and QPR. However, if we stay up Anton Zingarevich might look at some sort of stadium extension as he half promised â we are already at 99.5% of current capacity. Although they are playing away, just a note about Fulham too â their average is 25,385 which makes them in 15th place. Unfortunately, there is little hope of them scaling places either in this table as they are already at 99.2% of capacity! Squads and Team News: Not available yet - please add any news in your posts and comments - one of the most important things to add here before kick-off! SCORE PREDICTIONS My own verdict: We desperately need the win, but Fulham are without pressure. So itâll be tight. Iâll go for Reading 3 Fulham 2 ... of course an optimist! What do others say? The Oddschecker site, listing nearly all the major betting companies, shows both sides are roughly on a par to take a victory. Curiously, highest odds are on a draw, although nearly half of the Royals games end in draws â youâll get about 12/5 for this option. FOR THE RECORD Last Encounter 12th April 2008 Premier League Reading 0 Fulham 2 Head-to-head Reading and Fulham Played in total 41 times: 13 Reading wins / 16 Fulham wins / 12 draws Best Reading victory: October 1993 â Reading 3 Fulham 0 Best Fulham victory: March 1970 â Reading 0 Fulham 4 Also interesting: Oct 1931 â Reading 4 Fulham 2 // Feb 1932 â Fulham 3 Reading 3 // Oct 1989 â Reading 3 Fulham 2 THIS DATE in history Reading have âonlyâ played 11 times on this day throughout history, and just as well, itâs a dismal record of W3 D2 L6. Three bad defeats as well: 0-4 v Grimsby (A) in 1928, 0-4 v Bournemouth (H) in 1956, and 1-5 v Lincoln (A) in 1984. Last time out though â in 2007 â we did beat Newcastle Utd at home with goals from Kitson and Long. How do Fulham fare on todayâs date? Pretty good, in 18 games theyâve made a W8 D5 L5 record, but it does include an unfortunate hammering 1-6 v Brighton (A) in 1987. Last match was a 1-1 draw away to Sunderland in the Premier, their goal coming from Davies. For those whoâd like to read a really detailed match presentation please pop over to the specialist Reading FC forum âRoyals Rendezvousâ where you have even more sections covered (this present article is simply a resume) and many a photo up too ⦠http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9742845/1 Hereâs to a good game, all comments welcome! Any snippet copied will be fully credited (and thanked) with your user name and the forum! ... daib0
I think Fulham are improving on last seasons poor away form, but from our perspective, I think we're so desperate for a win that we'll really go at them. I think we'll finally get that first PL win!
Well done tonight guys. Tough game, should really have held on better, but Arseanal had 50% first team and have a lot of strength in depth. I'm sure your guys will be OK/upbeat with this. 8 goals in your last 2 games is great stuff - take that to Loftus road (where they have only scored 2 in 4 games and have a dodgy defence) and you will move up out of the bottom 3. More important game and you'll start your best 11. Good Luck!
Cheers, yep, there's quite a bit of despair on my forum tonight (Royals Rendezvous) but I take your view, we did certain things right to get 5 goals chalked up. But that's now a W0 D0 L19 record against you historically - what do we have to do to NOT lose ?!!!!
