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Daily Fulham- Tricky test against Tricky Trees
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In this milestone episode, Gavin previews Fulham's return to Premier League action as they meet high-flying Nottingham Forest.
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Transcript
Celebrating 100 Episodes
00:00:05
Speaker
sports podcast network work Hello and welcome back to the Daily Fulham Podcast. My name is Gavin Ruffell and today is Friday. Today is your regular Friday preview. I will be looking forward, looking ahead to the game on a weekend as Fulham take on Nottingham Forest.
Podcast Evolution and Global Audience
00:00:23
Speaker
I'll be talking a little bit about Forest and the season they've had before giving my usual predictions and what we can expect in terms of team news but before I do that I just want to take a moment to mention that today's episode is a special milestone it is the one hundredth episode of the Daily Fulham Podcast and I have been a part of that since day one I have been a part of most of the 100 episodes and whilst I'd like to give myself some credit of course this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't
00:00:53
Speaker
for a couple of people so I'd like to thank Nick and Ken for starting up the Global Sports Podcast Network without them giving me the opportunity I wouldn't be here today I'd also like to thank all of the guests on the crossover episodes my two co-hosts there was two of us to start with then there was three now it's just me doing the solo episodes but I want to thank everyone that's been a part of this journey, everyone who's been on the Daily Fulham podcast for their contribution and hopefully there's many more episodes to come and of course I can't forget the people that listened to this great podcast. If it wasn't for you guys then there probably wouldn't be a podcast in in all honesty and I just want to thank you all for your time you've given whether you've been here from day one or whether you're a recent listener to this podcast
00:01:44
Speaker
You're all equally welcome and thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen to me and some of my terrible musings on Fulham on today's football. um It's extremely appreciated wherever you're tuning in from. I know we get listeners from across the world, all different continents. So this is a moment for me from the bottom of my heart to say thank you. And hopefully you'll tune into many more episodes on The Daily Fulham Podcast.
00:02:08
Speaker
but enough of the sentimental stuff, let's get into
FA Cup Draw: Fulham vs Manchester United
00:02:11
Speaker
it. Well I haven't had a chance to give my reaction to the FA Cup draw, I gave my reaction to the performance against Wigan Athletic but since then we have had the FA Cup draw which has pitted Fulham against Manchester United, lo and behold Manchester United were one of the teams I said Fulham would probably want to avoid, not because Manchester United are ripping up any trees this season but just because they seem to have a really good record against Fulham. No matter where Manchester United are in terms of confidence, in terms of form, they seem to rock up play Fulham. It all goes right for them. They either win with a late goal or a fortunate
The Case for Semi-Automated Offsides
00:02:45
Speaker
deflection. It just seems a fixture that doesn't go so well for Fulham. If we look back on the one a few weeks back, I will typify that kind of din that really, because Manchester United didn't threaten so much. And then Lissandra Martinez pops up with
00:02:58
Speaker
the flukiest goal you'll ever see. Of course it evokes memories doesn't of what happened two seasons ago where four of them were in control of the game one nil up and then they hit the self-destruct button and managed to get three people, save people because the manager was one of them, sent off in the space of a minute and a half so You can't lose to Manchester United three times in the season, can you? Surely not. That's something to look forward to another day, that'll get going at the start of March. Yeah, it's a good opportunity in some ways, the fact that they have lost them twice this season, ah just to get their own back. And hopefully, maybe, fingers crossed, they can lift their first piece of major silverware. What we are going to see in that game is the use of send me automated offsides. And I know less the City fans will be thinking, well, where the hell was that in the last round? Because
00:03:46
Speaker
if that was around in the fourth round then it could be full and play Leicester City as Harry Maguire popped up with a blatant offside winner so just on all semi-automated offsides I'm fully in favour of that I'm actually one of the rare proponents, rare advocates of VAR I think it improves decision making I think the biggest problem with VAR is the officials that use it and that's a problem in this country isn't it the standard of officiating but I think VAR is a good system as long as the people using it are adept at their job, which which as we've seen in the Premier League, finding good officials is is pretty rare. But I think the semi-automated off-size, I think we've seen in in tournaments in the last, what was the last major tournament? Whatever the last major tournament was, they they used it and it seemed to work quite well, it worked quite smoothly.
00:04:36
Speaker
I think one of the problems, one of the bugbears for fans, particularly match-going fans is when they're sat there, there's often a long wait, two or three minutes waiting for them to put the lines up and to decide whether it's offside or not. So the fact that we can get those decisions made quicker just makes the process a lot more smoother. And I think you want the right decisions, don't you, first and foremost? And if you can quicken the process up, then I'm all in favour of it. That's something that He's going to be trolled for the 5th round and it's something there's talk about it being implemented towards the end of the season.
00:05:07
Speaker
Yeah, i'm fully ah I'm fully on board with that. us A tick and a box for me definitely is a step in the right direction introducing that.
Fulham vs Nottingham Forest Preview
00:05:15
Speaker
But back to the league action and Fulham do take on Nottingham Forest this weekend. Nottingham Forest are having an incredible season and I'll talk a little bit more about Forest in the second part. But if you can cast your mind back to the game earlier in the season,
00:05:31
Speaker
ah where Fulham 1-0 they'll be looking to do the double over Notting Forest this season, become I believe the first team to do that. yeah if you look at the encounter at the city ground it was a pretty low key affair very boring game to put it bluntly not much happened Raul Jimenez scored a second half penalty luckily for him I think Andreas Pereira was off the pitch at that time otherwise there might have been a squabble over and he might have ended up taking it and they wouldn't have won the game but they did win that game 1-0 one of very few not in the forest defeats this season so
00:06:07
Speaker
Hopefully for Fulham they can look to do the double. If you look at this fixture Lassie's, and this was an incredible performance, incredible result, where Fulham won 5-0. I think the most eye-catching goal was a Real Jimenez's back heel, and that was during the period, if you can recall, where Fulham had back-to-back games at Craven Cottage and they won 5-0. They won that game, and there was subsequent noise about Steve Cooper and his position at the club. He ended up leaving,
00:06:34
Speaker
less than two weeks later and then they follow that up beating West Ham. 5-0 as well. Before the fun ended, New Castle won't rattle him and has decided to stick his backside in someone's face. But sir hey, that was last season and Fulham have written the wrongs of New Castle from last season as they've done the double over them so they'll try and make it another game where they can do the double over a team but ah it certainly won't be easy given the way Forest have been playing. Given the side that Nuno Espirito Santo has built and made them a formidable team in the Premier League. More on that formidable team in the second part. But before then, let me just tell you a little bit about our sponsors. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zen Castor came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and rs
00:07:28
Speaker
It's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. If you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster. on to notdenham forest now then and they've exceeded everyone's expectations haven't they foodd in the league three points behind the Arsenal, ten points behind Liverpool, but there's 14 games left to go in the season and they have a realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League. We don't know at this stage, it's pretty likely that there will be five teams that go into next year's Champions League, so there's every chance that Northern Forest can stay there despite pressure coming from Chelsea and Manchester City, Newcastle behind them. They're still in a good position to achieve that goal and even if they are to fall short then there's always the chance of
00:08:12
Speaker
Europa League there's always a chance of Europa conference league and that would still be deemed a successful season for them because when I was given my predictions for what this season had in store I believe I had not in the forest down there getting relegated just based on what we kind of seen the last couple of seasons and there are parallels between these two clubs and the fact that they came up at the same time and not in the forest they had that kind of scatter gun approach in the transfer window where they were spending a lot of money on players that probably weren't deemed necessarily were kind of luxury players maybe not spending the money on the right areas and investing in the squad in the wisest possible way but whatever way you look at it
00:08:53
Speaker
they've reaped the rewards from that approach despite the points deduction last season and incurring the wrath of PSR if you were ever to get a points deduction than last season was probably the season to do it because the three teams that got relegated were a long way short weren't they so just based on what I kind of seen in the last two seasons I thought this would be another tricky season for the tricky trees but it's proved anything. but as ah You can't help but be impressed by the form they've shown. They had that streak a little while back where they won five or six games in a row and there was even talk potentially going into that Liverpool game if they could turn Liverpool over that they might even as ridiculous as it sounds of being title contenders and I don't think they're in the running for the title but
00:09:39
Speaker
is no doubt that they're bang in the mix for Champions League and given the defeat against Bournemouth there probably would have been a lot of talk about well this is the time they stumbled this is where they drop off now the bubbles burst and we'll see them revert to type almost sort of thing they kind of run their race but they dispelled that theory emphatically in the next game when they completely tore Brighton apart then they beat an m7 there or so ah shows the strength of character within that set of players that they can react from setbacks from disappointments going down 5-0 and then a week later they can completely flip it on its head and it shows that they've got some coners for want of a ah better term in that dressing room and Nuno Espirito Santo was
00:10:27
Speaker
built a really good Premier League squad now hasn't he and very much like Fulham they had a quiet January like a lot of teams in the Premier League and I always feel that if you do a lot of spending in January it's probably indicative of the formal clubs in this indicative of the position where you are in a league the fact that not in Forest of overachieve this season meant they were quite happy they were quite satisfied to continue with what they have for the remainder of the season and i think you've got to respect that haven't you and there's always a willingness from fans to want you to sign players but not always for the right reason i'm sure nuno if there were players there that could improve the squad that could genuinely add something
00:11:09
Speaker
whilst being in a reasonable price range then I'm sure he would have looked at doing that but as it stands I think he feels he has a squad there that can for his sake stay the course and really challenge the upper echelon of teams in the Premier League and possibly do the unthinkable which would be qualifying for the Champions League.
Nottingham Forest's Premier League Journey
00:11:29
Speaker
There is the talk at the moment is there about the gap widening potentially from the championship to the Premier League how we saw the free promoter teams go straight back down last season how it could be the same again and I think for the the sake of the league the healthiness of the league you don't want that to be happening you don't want that gap to be widening so the fact that these two sides came up together back in 2022
00:11:56
Speaker
And along with Bournemouth are cemented in the top half. It shows what you can achieve. Not as far as had a little bit of a different approach. As I said, they were more aggressive with their spending. Ryan Yates is the sole survivor from that promotion winning campaigns. But there's more than one way to skin a cat, isn't it? And they are reaping the rewards from that approach. One of the players they have brought in who's just put pen to paper on a new deal is Chris Wood. And he's been an absolute revelation this season.
00:12:25
Speaker
I say revelation. Some people might deem that as being patronised and I don't see it that way at all. I think Chris Wood is probably not the most eye-catching, glamorous of names but he's forged a really successful career and shown that he can be an effective striker at this level when there are probably weird doubts about him in the past. If you look back to his time at Burnley and a team in Burnley that are going to be towards the bottom end of the table most seasons they're not going to have a lot of the ball they're not going to create a lot of chances he managed to get double figures Premier League goals for four seasons in a row went to Newcastle at ah an interesting time just when they had the Saudi ownership and I think a lot of Newcastle fans eyebrows were raised at that sign and because they were expecting money to be spent on more glamour names but the big key we he's just gone from strength to strength for now
00:13:19
Speaker
The other side are 30 and he's playing the best football of his career. He seems to have found a real good home. It's a real good fit for him. And his form, he's continued it. and We talk about not in the forests. Bob will be in burst as a sidewall. Chris Wood has just carried on that form throughout the season and there's no signs of him stopping. and When Forest fans heard the news about him signing the new contract then that would have been music to their ears just as it was when Murillo signed his new contract. Murillo a different end of the spectrum because he's just on the start of his journey, he's only 22 years of age. He's put pen to paper I believe until summer of 2029 whether or not he stays at Nottingham Forest for the length of his contract.
00:14:02
Speaker
remains to be seen and I suppose it depends where not in the forest are as a football club whether this season is a one off or whether this is a sign of things to come and it can mean that they are challenging at the top end of the table consistently looking at getting into Europe then I'm sure you'll be committed to the project but if that isn't going to be the case then he'll have his suitors from elsewhere because he is a really talented footballer and he would fit into a lot of top teams. Talking about Chris Wood, this being the perfect fit for him, well it certainly applies to the manager doesn't it because
00:14:35
Speaker
He had his time at Wolves and he took them from the Championship up into the Premier League and they became an established top half Premier League side and Wolves have not quite rekindled that sort of form since his departure ah where they finished seventh back-to-back seasons with playing in in European competition. He's found his home now after a brief time at Spurs where things went well to begin with.
00:14:58
Speaker
they suddenly start to subside and when you're taking charge of a side that's that so-called big six where the expectations the scrutiny is that bit greater any dipping form is heightened because of that and there's the pressure from within there's a pressure from outside as well so he's found a home at Nottingham Forest now where the expectations are lesser but he's achieving more. And if the Premier League were to end now, what would happen in terms of manager of the season? It would go to an honest slot because it always goes to the Premier League winning manager 99% of the time. But if you're asking me who I think should be manager of the season, undoubtedly should be Nuno.
00:15:43
Speaker
given where he's taken this not in the forest team potentially getting relegated last season to being on the verge on the cusp of european football with a real shout of getting into the champions league and I think what he's done well is he's not tried to turn the players into something they're not. They don't necessarily play the most expansive free-flowing football. He knows the level of the players and he has played to their strengths and they've proven a really tough nut to crack. So he deserves a lot of credit for where he's taken this not on the far side and where it ends up. Well, that's anyone's guess.
Nuno Espirito Santo's Impact on Forest
00:16:20
Speaker
There's still many games to go. There's still many obstacles in the way.
00:16:25
Speaker
But the prospect of success in the FA Cup, coupled with the league success, not in the forest, they're having an amazing season. And as a neutral, it's always good to see, first and foremost, a club outside your traditional big six, playing the role of spoilers, trying to gate crash that, and also not in the forest are a massive club. They've won back-to-back European Cups, would you know? I don't know if anyone's ever heard of that, but they have done that. so For them to be back on that stage again would just be an incredible achievement for them and one that I kind of hope they they manage to do because it just gives hope to everyone then that there's always a chance you can break in, you can break that monopoly and ah I think the established Big Six is becoming a myth now and teams like Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth we've seen have punched above their weight this season and shown to everyone what is achievable.
00:17:22
Speaker
So that's a bit of an in-depth look there at Nottingham Forest and the success they're enjoying this season. Will that success continue into the weekend and beyond? In the final part I will give a little bit of a preview to this game, predictions for what we might see unfold and who we are likely to see in both 11s but before I come on to that let me draw your attention to GSPN.
00:17:49
Speaker
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.
00:18:09
Speaker
After a mixed bag in January Fulham have certainly started February in a lot more promising fashion with two victories on the road. Can they make it a third consecutive win? Well it's probably a bit more challenging considering their home form and it's quite concerning. Is it alarming? We're probably not at that stage yet. It is difficult to figure out why Fulham's form at home has been so indifferent and why some of their performances at home have been quite insipid and lacklustre not winning at Craven Cottage in the league since Brighton in early December and in that run they've had fixtures on paper where they would have fancied their chances of collecting a decent point haul.
00:18:50
Speaker
We are likely to see a lot of changes from the last outing in the f FA Cup, where they made several changes. They made more than I had anticipated. I thought it would have been a mix of his first choice 11, coupled with players that probably needed a run-out, needed some minutes as it was. Timothy Castaneda was the only player that played in that game that also plays in the victory at St James's Park. So you can probably expect another 10 changes for this one. ah Rodrigo Meniz, his form is encouraging coming off the bench scoring the winner against Newcastle. So he'll be pushing hard for a start but I feel like the form of both strikers has been good, Raoul Jimenez.
00:19:28
Speaker
excelled in this fixture last season scoring a couple. He also scored the winner earlier on in the season so he'll be chomping at the bit and he's just one goal shy of recording 10 Premier League goals which will be a very good haul for him considering where he was when he left Wolves and a lot of doubts about whether he would return to the form when he was playing under Nuno Spirito Sando funnily enough.
00:19:52
Speaker
In terms of the team, I would expect it to be the exact same team as we saw against Newcastle. Thankfully, there's no new injuries, just the long-term ones we're well aware of. We know we're not going to see Kenny Tettie, Harry Wilson for a couple of months. Reece Nelson, I'm not quite sure it's moment in time, the news regarding that, but obviously a new injury setback. So he's going to be on the sidelines for a continued length of time.
00:20:21
Speaker
As far as not, and as far as you're likely to see the same as well, they've had less of a recovery due to playing on Tuesday. But again, they played largely their second string, although their first teamers did have to come on in the end to rescue an embarrassment, rescue a shot cup exit. So there'll be clumps of changes for both sides.
00:20:44
Speaker
you'll see Chris Wood come back into the fold, you'll see Gibbs White. One of the things that surprised me earlier on in the season and when the two sides met is how Nuno set up in that game and it was very defensive.
Fulham's Strategy Against Nottingham Forest
00:20:54
Speaker
He is a manager that is on the more cautious side but his selection surprised me on that day because he left his two wingers out in a Langer and Hudson and Doy and we know there's some question marks about Hudson and Doy's fitness whether he'll be available for this game but if he is available I think he would be within his best interest to start them both because i feel like they can certainly hurt Fulham and not in the forest this season are a side that have been used to scoring the first goal doing it on an incredible 19 occasions and we've seen defensively how hard they can be to break down so
00:21:26
Speaker
I think that'll be their game plan here again and whilst they do score the first goal, they do have that counter-attacking threat with Hudson and Doy and Alanga when opposition having to commit more bodies forward, they can exploit that space in behind and that's been a hallmark of their success this season and why they've done as well as they have.
00:21:45
Speaker
I would expect him to set up differently from what was a cagey game earlier on in the season, and in a game where he was looking to stop Fulham, first and foremost, rather than look at his attacking players and and what they can contribute in terms of affecting the game.
00:22:02
Speaker
and we have seen Fulham have struggled to break teams down that set up in a similar way to not in forest and i would imagine Fulham would have a large amount of the ball in this game not in forest ranked low down i think they're lowest in fact in terms of possession across all the teams in the league so that's not an unfamiliar situation for them and I expect that pattern to continue on the weekend for them to have upwards possibly of 60% possession 60-65% possession but that won't bother not as far as they have a good shape to them defensively they've been really solid that Bournemouth game aside
00:22:37
Speaker
And if they do score the first goal, then it's going to be a real test of Fulham. And my concern is Fulham's inability in the last period, last little period of being able to break teams down that set up in that low block. Teams of less quality than this not on the far side. And just recently, they just seem to have started games almost in first gear at home, not taking their game to the opposition and getting on the front foot right from the whistle.
00:23:04
Speaker
So that's an element of the game you would want to see improve as we come into the last few months of the season and get back to winning games at Craven Cottage. So based on the game earlier in the season, am I expecting something similar? I would expect it to be more open. Am I expecting an entertaining, high-scoring thriller?
00:23:29
Speaker
No, probably not. I feel like the first goal is important in this game and if Not in the Forest do what they've done so successfully this season then we all know how hard it is to break them down and how that seems to suit them. So I feel like the first goal is important for Fulham then it can bring Not in the Forest out of their shell and then maybe they can be the ones to pick them apart and have the joy.
00:23:52
Speaker
Not quite to the extent that Bournemouth had, but be able to get a result against him. Also, just like to see them be a bit more resolute defensively. I think at home they've struggled to keep clean sheets and Anderson's form has been concerning of late. Tim if he could stand here as well, although I do feel he had a better second off display against Newcastle. That being said, do I expect them to keep a clean sheet on the weekend?
00:24:18
Speaker
No, do I expect them to return to Winways at Creme Cottage? I
Match Prediction: Fulham vs Nottingham Forest
00:24:22
Speaker
do think it is going to be a cagey game up until the first goal, but I feel like the first goal will spring this game into life. I'm going to go for a one-all draw and how Fulham fans would view that one I guess on the grand scheme of things the way Not in the Forest have been playing the way they've been performing this season would a point against them be a bad result to go along with the three points they took at their ground during the season no it probably wouldn't be but
00:24:52
Speaker
There will still be Fulham fans that feel that they can haul in the teams above them. I'm less optimistic on that front, just based on what I've seen. I feel like Fulham would just lack that something extra, which is ultimately why they're 9th on the table and not higher. and Marco Silva will say it in this press conference every week they should have more points than they do but they don't and there's reasons for that it's not just bad luck is it it's not being ruthless at enough in games defensively it's just not being switched on at all times in contrast not in force it probably have been a bit more ruthless in front of goal and defensively they've been excellent as a unit
00:25:27
Speaker
I see this one ending up as a 1-0 draw and I'm going to go for Raoul Jimenez to notch another a goal against Notton Forest to go with the one he had earlier in the season and that will bring up double figures as far as league goals go in the Premier League. What do you guys think? it Is 1-1 a bit of a negative outlook? Do you feel like Fulham can return to winning ways at Craven Cottage?
00:25:49
Speaker
All those answers will soon become clear. That'll do it folks for today's Friday episode for our preview to the Not on Forest game on the weekend. Just to reiterate, this is our 100th episode on the daily full-on podcast. So thank you to each and every one of you that have tuned in. Hope you can stick around for the foreseeable future as we begin the charge to 200. I've been Gavin Ruffle, have a good weekend and I'll catch you next time.
00:26:18
Speaker
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