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Forecast Thursday: All I Want for Christmas... is three points against Southampton!
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Gavin looks forward to the festive programme which starts with a clash against rock bottom and managerless Southampton.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Daily Fulham Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. Welcome back everybody to the Daily Fulham Podcast, your home of all things Fulham.
Fulham's Impressive League Performance
00:00:14
Speaker
It's Thursday and today it's a forecast Thursday. My name is Gavin Ruffle and the build up to the Southampton game on Sunday starts right here. More on the Saints to come but we'll start with Fulham, eighth in the league, three points behind Manchester City in fifth and everything's going rather well at the minute, it isn't it? Just the one defeat in eighth and they played some really good teams in that spell.
00:00:37
Speaker
with the last four in particular representing tough fixtures at least on paper but they put in really good performances eighth in the table if you would said that to me before those run of games i would have probably not believed you i would have thought maybe in the bottom half but They've got six points from those four games now and they can be well pleased with those results. And just once again showing that on their day, on any given Sunday, they are a f threat to any team in the league as has been illustrated in the last two games taking points off.
Holiday Fixtures and Past Defeats
00:01:12
Speaker
The two favourites for the league, I know Chelsea are up there as well, but you would to have to sit at this moment in time. Arsenal and Liverpool are still the two hot contenders for the title. It was such a long way to go. We'll see if Chelsea can stay the course, stay consistent. and Three points here against Southampton on the weekend. Well, I guess it is the start of the festive period, isn't it? I think we can say that, with games coming thick and fast every three or four days.
Southampton's Struggles and Managerial Changes
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah so three points here would be the perfect gift for all you Fulham fans just before that special day and it's a game they're expected to win but with that does come some warning we all remember back to that Wolves game a few weeks back where Wolves came to Craven College having not won an away game and they subsequently won that game for one and then we've seen what's happened to them since then not one since and end up sacking their manager so that that result has not aged particularly well. Let's hope it's not a repeat dose of that with Svanton also coming into this game. Having sacked their manager which we'll come on to and having not secured any wins away from home in fact having one point and just five points overall so they are well adrift at the moment
00:02:26
Speaker
Fulham did the double in this fixture last time around when Southampton did get relegated but it is Southampton who who hold the edge. Very narrowly it's quite evenly matched in Premier League meetings with Southampton having won seven, Fulham having won six and there being seven draws so it would be nice if Fulham can notch at home winter. Give it a nice little bit of symmetry there. More on the visitors but first a few words about our sponsors.
Fulham vs Southampton: History and Expectations
00:02:56
Speaker
Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and the AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and r's, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. If you're ready to tell your story, then check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster.
00:03:22
Speaker
Well with Southampton there's only one place to start isn't there and that's with the sacking of Russell Martin. I don't think anyone can be surprised when you see your side ship five goals at home in one half of football then the writing is kind of on the wall isn't it and that's back-to-back league defeats at home with the opposition scoring five. I do feel in the Premier League you should never really be in that position where you're 5-0 down at at home at half time. Sure, there there's going to be difference in quality, but that Spurs game, it just looked like it was men against boys, didn't it?
00:04:00
Speaker
It was a nervous sport. you know he only It was only announced a few hours later after that game that Russell Martin was relieved of his duties. and I'm not in the camp where I like to see managers get sacked, but there does come a point where it is a results-driven business, of course it is.
00:04:15
Speaker
and ultimately they need to do what's best to give them the best opportunity to stay in the Premier League and it looks at all ordered them and no matter who what manager comes in and who they're looking for we might discuss possible candidates to replace Russell Martin but then nine points adrift now can make that an extra point with their goal difference and they've won one game all season so it's been a real struggle and for Russell Martin What were his weaknesses? I think his stubbornness was his weakness and I think initially at the start of the season you commend him for wanting to try and implement that style, implement the style that was successful for him in getting Savantan promoted in the first place and he played that style previously with Swansea but you have to realise that
00:04:58
Speaker
you are going into a ah different kettle of fish going into Premier League. You're not used to winning games week in week out, having that great feeling every week. You're taking a blow here, you're taking a blow there, you're wondering where your next wing can come from and you've got to look at your group of players and realise you don't have the calibre of players that Pep has at Manchester City to implement that style, okay? Pep's not finding it so easy himself at the minute, just shows how tough ah stuff a gig management can be but I think for Russell Martin, i I don't blame him for having a go.
00:05:30
Speaker
But then after a while, when you see it's not working, you've got to be adaptable. You've got to be flexible. You've got to be willing to change, which I think is why Marco Silva is a brilliant manager as well. And granted, Fulham have better players than Southampton. So it didn't come overnight, but it is possible for teams to come up from the championship and stay there. And it does come with spending money. Whilst you want to be loyal to the players that got you up in the first place, you have to be pragmatic and realize and understand that.
Promotion Strategies: Fulham and Nottingham Forest
00:06:01
Speaker
you're playing against clubs with whole different budgets to you and it's getting the balance right, isn't it? Because I think Fulham, just looking at Fulham as an example, when they came up a few seasons ago, when they spent over 100 million and it was a completely different team than what got them up in the first place,
00:06:22
Speaker
And it didn't work and you take a lot of criticism criticism for doing that and Nottingham Forest a couple of seasons ago when they were signing so many players they took a lot of criticism as well. Ended up getting a a points deduction last season but they're reaping the benefits of that now and they're free promoter teams from the season, Fulham came up last time, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and and Fulham sitting nicely in the top half of the table all chasing European spots.
00:06:46
Speaker
So the gap isn't insurmountable. Everyone says the gap's getting bigger between the championship and the Premier League. I don't always agree with that. yeah You have to get things right. There's off the pitch things you have to get right, and you have to make astute signings. And it's not always necessary the the big money signings. It is Premier League experience.
00:07:06
Speaker
And it is signing the right character of player that knows they're gonna be in in ah in a fight for relegation but can get you out of those tough times and I just look at their squad at the moment and I don't necessarily see them with those tough characters and for Russell Martin yeah I just think he was a little bit naive and A bit like Vincent Company with Burnley last season, but you know, Vincent Company ended up getting the Bayern Munich job. One of the top European sides. It's nice to want to implement that style, but what makes fans the happiest when they're sat in the pub after the game is seeing their team win, whether it's grinding out a 1-0 win with your backs against the wall.
00:07:43
Speaker
or playing beautiful football, scoring some great goals and putting on a show. They're not going to be sat in the pub talking about, do you know what, I'll back forward it. How many times they passed the ball between each other. Wasn't that so great to watch? No, they want to see they want to see goals and they want to see your team winning game and Southampton haven't been winning games and Russell Martin has paid the price for it.
00:08:03
Speaker
and It's a big ask now for whoever does come in. I can see with the bookmakers at this present moment in time that Danny Ruhl, the Sheffield Wednesday manager is the current favourite and he's done a really good job for them, hasn't he? He took over in difficult circumstances when they were towards the bottom end of the championship in a real dogfight to stay up, but and managed to steer them to safety and now they've pushed on since then. They're in the top half of the championship.
00:08:31
Speaker
ah With a chance at the playoffs, Carlos Corbrano again is another name that's been mentioned. He's a guy that's kind of been on the cusp of When teams have been sacking managers, his name always comes up in dispatches with teams towards the bottom end of the table. Again, with West Brom, they're a team that will be eyeing the playoffs. Not once in many games with them recently, a lot of draws, but very tough to beat. And it's what they're looking for really, isn't it? Are they looking for a manager to really arrest this slide and turn things around? Because I don't care what manager comes in there. I mean,
00:09:05
Speaker
it's going It's going to be a tall order with the players they have to overturn that deficit. They do have time. There's 22 games left in the season and nothing's lost just yet. We have seen turnarounds before. Stranger things have happened.
Southampton's Managerial Search and League Focus
00:09:18
Speaker
If Southampton fans have any ideas though or ambitions of glamour names and someone like Graeme Potter or Graeme Potter played for Salant, that's not going to happen. I even saw someone on social media saying they should break the bank for Marco Silva.
00:09:32
Speaker
Yeah, news flash, that definitely won't be happening. He's turned down advances from Saudi Arabia for big bucks, so I don't think whatever Southampton can throw him, he's going to move away from his project the full much is going really well to to to try and stave off relegation, staring staring him it in the face at Southampton. And ultimately, as a manager, you have to deal with the players at the club and When I look at that Southampton squad, do they have the players? I don't think they do. At the start of the season, they were one of my three teams to go down, absolutely. But five points on the board at this stage of the season, I thought they would be more competitive than that and seeing them get whacked in the last couple of home games against Chelsea and Spurs. Yeah, as I said, you know there's ways of getting beaten though, isn't there? Chelsea and Spurs have spent millions on on their squad and they have better players, but
00:10:28
Speaker
you know you should not be 5-0 down at half time to a team in the same league as you. so It was men against boys and they've only scored 11 goals, that one win coming over Everton. I look at their strike force and I was surprised what they did in the summer because Sheffield United went down last season and what do they decide to do they thought the best way of us staying up is to sign their strike force signing Cameron Archer who's been around the block he's had a few loans hasn't he he's still a young player so there is still potential there
00:11:00
Speaker
um but it's asking a lot for him at this stage to rely on goals for him and they've got Brereton Diaz and Adam Armstrong, he seems to be one of those guys, Adam Armstrong, he lights it up in the championship. Whenever he he gets the chance to play in the Premier League, it just looks a bit of a level too high for him.
00:11:20
Speaker
But you never know with players. I mean, the new manager can come in and we've seen it before loads of times. New manager coming just gives that bit of inspiration or a lot of players who maybe would have been on the fringes of Russell Martin. It's a fresh pair of eyes and they'll be chomping at the bit to get in the team. And certainly someone can go on a hot street, but it's what they're after. The Southampton board, do they genuinely see that they have a chance of surviving. So they go more ambitious and break the bank.
00:11:49
Speaker
Or is this more of a longer term project? They are a Pyre manager who more than likely will take them down, rebuild, go straight back up and then try and start again to make sure they're there, that established Premier League that they once were.
00:12:08
Speaker
But yeah, it's ah it's a difficult task if you're looking at the league table for a manager to come in there, click his fingers, pour his magic stardust over it and things to start changing. They certainly win three or four games in a row, it doesn't work like that. There is a long way to go, as I said, so all's not lost, but I wouldn't be backing them to survive at this point.
00:12:29
Speaker
They're also out of the Carabao Cup as well, so there's two sides to that coin, isn't there? You can focus you all your energy on the league now and I guess they've got the FA Cup. But I find that a nice distraction of the Carabao Cup because at least they were winning some games, whether it's extra time or penalties, they had to.
00:12:47
Speaker
somewhat of a good feeling in that competition. So now that now they're out of that, they can focus their energy on the league. And it is a busy period, as I said, best of period with games coming every three or four days, but they need to start picking up points urgently. And yeah the away record doesn't make for good reason with that one solitary point all season.
Fulham's Team Dynamics and Tactical Adjustments
00:13:08
Speaker
Bit more of a thorough preview into this game itself.
00:13:13
Speaker
in just a sec. Before I do that let me give a shout out to GSPN. The Global Sports Podcast Network is changing the face of football podcasts with dedicated daily content for every Premier League team, women's football, fantasy football and a daily Premier League rapid broadcast in five different languages. It's your one stop shop for your daily football fix. Find GSPN wherever you find your usual podcasts. I said this prior to the wars game when they were coming back from an international break. It was important to avoid complacency and they ended up losing that game for one Was that to do with complacency? I mean, I think there was an element of it. Sanderberg was actually missing for that game and we've seen what colossus he's been before then and after then. So maybe it's no coincidence that his ah his absence from the team led to them succumbing to that fall and defeat. There were other reasons as well. for
00:14:07
Speaker
the standard and the quality of Wolves is goals on that game where we're not befitting of a team that was ah in the relegation zone and it's not something we've seen since. Funnily enough they saved it all for that one game and Fulmer obviously down to 10 men as well with Joachim Anderson going off injured for the last 10-15 minutes we haven't seen him since. So that's the wake-up call you need isn't it for when you're heading into a game like this. Having played the teams they have recently all of a high calibre, two of them gunning for the title. Marco Silva going into this game, he's just got to get the players at it, at it for 90 minutes, maintain those levels because
00:14:52
Speaker
You can come a cropper. I know Southampton don't have a great record. Their away form doesn't make for great reading. Although their defensive record, whilst it isn't great, it is better than some teams in the league away from home. Master Aston Villa, for instance, they've conceded more goals on the road than Southampton have, which is probably surprising.
00:15:09
Speaker
And for full them yeah just wanna focus on some of the things they've been good at and some of the things they've been bad at, which is scoring the first goal. and they've They've come out the traps flying even in the last three games they've scored in and around the first 10 minutes.
00:15:26
Speaker
um So scoring the first goal has not been a problem but a problem has been keeping hold of it and the fact that they have scored the first goal on 13 occasions and they've won less than half of those games, you'd have to say is disappointing and then there's this stat that I've seen recently is that they seem to be conceding a lot of goals in the first 15 minutes after half time and I don't know what Marco Silva is saying to them when he gets them into the dressing room for that 15 minute team talk, but whatever he says, it doesn't seem to have the desired effect when they do come out on the pitch. Maybe they just switch off, the intensity levels aren't there. and it's It's hard to put your finger on why that is the case really, because I've spoken about the the goals they have conceded late on, but yeah that will be disappointing for Marco Silva as well, the 15 minutes there. because
00:16:14
Speaker
The 15 minutes at the start of the game are not having any problem. But for some reason, the 15 minutes after the restarts, it's a big problem. In terms of team use for this game, another suspension. It seems like we come into every game now talking about full and player suspended. So I did make sure to have a look at who's next on the list as far as that's concerned. And luckily, there's no one on full booking. So unless someone gets sent off, I don't think anyone's going to be suspended for the game on Boxing Day.
00:16:40
Speaker
against Chelsea but Andreas Pereira is missing half having scored in his last game the outing at Anfield so that's a blow to him having just got back into the team. He played well in that game and I feel like he has acquitted himself well when he has been asked to perform in that role he's more familiar with and Whilst I think at times he has done okay in the centimetre as a number eight, sometimes he also has looked um uncomfortable at times and maybe just having a couple of games out of the team, it's given that kick up the backside that may he may have needed just to show to him that
00:17:17
Speaker
just to show you're not a guaranteed starter every week, as has been the case for the last two seasons. So there could be times where you just, you get a bit complacent as a player. Talk about complacency as a team, get complacent as a player. You're expecting that you're going to be in the team. And what we've seen is Sander Berger and Sassa Lukas, the partnership they put together, albeit against tougher opposition. You wonder if that's partnership that can stand the test of time, and that's the one we'll see going forward. It would have been a really interesting one. we'll We'll never find out what way he would have gone with his midfield, with a game at home to Southampton, where they're going to have ah a lot of chances on goal, you would you would think. you know We know Southampton can keep the ball quite well between their back four, maybe not have the ball in the the key areas of the pitch, but it it is a game
00:18:14
Speaker
at least on paper, you wonder, do you need to have Sasalukic and Sandeburga? But I think with Pereira being absent for this game, I think we will see those two together and we'll see Emil Smith-Rowe back in the team. It might have been that he would have kept Pereira in and just played the same as he did against Liverpool and Smith-Rowe would have but had to make do for a place on the bench again and I think this is an important game for Emil Smith-Rowe. Now I think the honeymoon period is over and he has shown flashes
00:18:49
Speaker
And I've said that what you see him doing at his best is really exciting and I think in the long run he will repay that money that Fulham spent on him. But you've just seen one or two games where he's just not quite at it. and This is a game where I think he can excel in. Marco Silva hasn't necessarily trusted him in those big games away from home at the Etihad, at Anfield, but a game here against Southampton where they're expected to win. They will out well they will have their fair share of the ball and you'd imagine they'd create opportunities to score. And Neil Smith row, you feel he's going to play a key part in that.
00:19:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's time for him to you get get back to the form. we We kind of saw early on in the season and the glimpses and the flashes. We just want to see that on a more consistent basis because it is a little bit up and down at the minute. As far as the other changes, what can we see happening? Or can he tell they limped off in the at-and field? Kastana coming on to replace him. For this game,
00:19:50
Speaker
I don't think that's a massive concern if Tete does miss it. You'd rather him play, but if he is ruled out, then you know Kostanya can come in and do a a really adequate job. He's ah a very experienced Premier League defender, so no concerns there. You'd think Calvin Bassi would come straight back into the team. qua acquitted himself pretty well apart from the jotter goal which which he got turned and for he'd be probably disappointed in himself there but I would imagine that Calvin Bassey would come back into the team but that outing for Cuenca at Anfield I'm sure Marco Silva would have been pleased with that because now he knows that if something does happen with Bassey then he's got Cuenca that can fill in and he's confident that he can perform his role adequately
00:20:43
Speaker
For Southampton, where in lies the threat for them? Well, there's a lot of talk about their young lad Tyler Dibbling at the minute isn't there, but there's a lot of onus ah on him now, isn't there? And probably more expectation, so people soon get wise to that. Yeah, it's a lot on his shoulders having to try and be that talismanic figure that can steer a team out of out of relegation and i think for santtas sake I hope for their sake that if they do go down that he stays there and continues to develop with them because I think at times we see we see this a lot where young players who are given big raps, big reputation, they go to
00:21:24
Speaker
so-called bigger clubs and it's just a bit too much too soon I think that would be the case with Tyler Diblin because if he went to a bigger club he's he's just not going to play he's not going to play is he so um he's put he playing week in week out here in the Premier League so I think a season in the championship where he is the focal point where he is the central figure where he is the the danger
Match Predictions and Conclusion
00:21:49
Speaker
man. I just think they'll stand him in good stead and will just help his progression rather than hinder it going to one of those bigger clubs at too early stage. As we've seen seen the case with with a lot of players over the years, that big move's materialised and then it's just been to the detriment of their career. And we'll just finish with a score prediction for this game.
00:22:11
Speaker
I'm going to go for a full and win. It's hard to see a way where they don't win this. And I think the Wolves game a few weeks few weeks back probably used the reality check they needed if there was any overconfidence or thinking this game has is already won. ah Marco Silva won't allow that complacency to creep in again for this game. Full and have better players. Southampton don't have a manager at the moment and I'd imagine whether if they do make an appointment in the next 24 to 48 hours, it's important they do get that sorted as quickly as possible so you don't want an ongoing situation when the caretaker manages in charge for the next two or three games with games coming in quick succession. But yeah, all signs point to a full and win here and I'm not going for any ridiculous scorelines given Southampton's beatings in the last week or two. I think i think it'll be a 2-0 win, but I'm really hoping that Emil Smith row can shine in this game and
00:23:08
Speaker
show why Marco Silva wanted him. Basically why Fulham wanted him and yeah I think this will be a comfortable afternoon for Fulham. A 2-0 win here which would be the perfect tonic for Christmas heading into that Boxing Day fixture against Chelsea.
00:23:30
Speaker
That's it for today's preview. Thanks again for listening. The build-up continues with our crossover with the Daily Southampton team and we will have that for you tomorrow. So do check that out. See you next time.
00:23:48
Speaker
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