Englischer Fussball Bund - FM2005! (EFB-05) [*Established Clan*]

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AsherDSSc:

Well you know

On another note, my update will be up later tonight, i'll do it drunk as im off out now so expect plenty of spelling mistakes </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This update had better be up to your legendary status Rick as we have all been waiting for ages now to see it. Don't keep us in suspense man!!!!

[steff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Johnston:

Alright lads, just to let you know I have some bad news for the titties. I have to leave my ass man in charge tonight as I have to work. I'm going to Dublin this weekend so I couldn't get tonight off, which means my chances of promotion are well and truly over. But maybe my new ass man will do a bit better.

Anyway, I'll get my update from Thursday done later and i'll see you all on Thursday. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shambles tbh

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by steff:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Johnston:

Alright lads, just to let you know I have some bad news for the titties. I have to leave my ass man in charge tonight as I have to work. I'm going to Dublin this weekend so I couldn't get tonight off, which means my chances of promotion are well and truly over. But maybe my new ass man will do a bit better.

Anyway, I'll get my update from Thursday done later and i'll see you all on Thursday. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shambles tbh </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Aye poor show Dave boy!!! Get yer finger oot and show those Germans!!!

[Andy H]

******Clan Announcement******

Lads, EFB is cancelled tonight as you know I have broken my ankle and I am away to see a physio tonight. She is gonna drum up a training programme for me for when my ankle starts to get stronger. Plus she is better looking than all of you so she wins hands down!!!

EFB will be back on Monday night.

[steff]

Shambles!!!!!!!!!!!

Aye "shambles" is this weeks cool new word

[AsherDSSc]

Sorry i've not been around lads i've been looking to move house plus a few extra hours at work...

I also spent last night in hospital after being jumped by 6 chavs/scallies/townies/whatever you call em

Normal service should be resumed monday

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AsherDSSc:

Sorry i've not been around lads i've been looking to move house plus a few extra hours at work...

I also spent last night in hospital after being jumped by 6 chavs/scallies/townies/whatever you call em

Normal service should be resumed monday </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hope your alright Rick and I hope you will be ok for tomorrow night. Fecking neds are everywhere!!!! Kill them all!!!!

[Andy H]

The Fulham Festivities – We’re on the march with Heppy’s army!!!!

The New Year is upon us and Fulham still find themselves challenging for a European spot in amongst the big boys of the Premiership. They have been in terrific form and playing some sublime football in the process. The fans are getting right behind Hepburn’s revolution at Fulham and are enjoying what he has done so far at the club. Here is a rundown of the latest games……………..

Premiership

Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham – (A) 15th November 2008

An emotional return to the team that gave Hepburn his first chance in management as Fulham travelled to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday. Hepburn had to have a police escort, as some fans still have not forgiven him for leaving them in the lurch. It was a game Fulham dominated and were rewarded with a good result. The Owls were chasing shadows most of the match as they could not get close to the Fulham players who were playing some great stuff. Van der Vaart gave Fulham the lead right on half time with a terrific shot from the edge of the area. It was more of the same in the second half as Fulham dominated and Earnshaw made it 2-0 on sixty five minutes and then substitute Anelka came off the bench to seal a fine win for Fulham. Hepburn was barracked throughout when he stepped out of the dug out but he didn’t seem phased by it at all. At full time he even went out on the pitch to salute the Fulham fans who had travelled up from London and shouted their hearts out for Hepburn. It was impressive stuff from a Fulham side growing in confidence with every match.

Final Score – Sheffield Wednesday 0 v 3 Fulham

Goals – Fulham – van der Vaart (45), Earnshaw (65), Anelka (74)

Att – 35873

MOM – Rafael van der Vaart (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Southampton – (H) 22nd November 2008

Fulham went from the sublime to the awful in the encounter as they welcomed Southampton to the Cottage. The Saints set out their stall to defend in numbers and try and hit on the break and frustrate Fulham. The game plan worked, as Fulham could not find a way through the defence and were limited to mostly long range efforts. Maresca and van der Vaart tried and tried but just could not find a breakthrough. Teams are starting to do this more and more when they come to the Cottage and Hepburn may have to alter his tactics to break these teams down.

Final Score – Fulham 0 v 0 Southampton

Att – 18449

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Carling Cup Quarter Final

Hull City v Fulham – (A) 26th November 2008

A game that should have been over in forty five minutes went on and on till one hundred and twenty minutes were played. This was mostly due to Fulham’s inept finishing as they passed up chance after chance, while Hepburn was on the sidelines pulling his hair out wondering if they were ever going to score. Against the run of play Hull took the lead with their first real attack of the match, which did not please Hepburn one bit. Mokoena quickly equalised for Fulham and we were expecting the floodgates to open but it never materialised, as their finishing was terrible. Hull were never in the game but did have the odd long range effort but never really troubled Dudek in the Fulham goal. Fulham finally took the lead in extra time and it was that man Mokoena that scored his second of the game. He later added a third and it was really what Fulham deserved as they had dominated the game for the best part of one hundred and twenty minutes. It was a hard slog but eventually they got through to their first semi final.

Final Score – Hull City 1 v 3 Fulham AET

Goals – Hull – Facey (34)

Goals – Fulham – Mokoena (42, 97, 100)

Att – 25341

MOM – Lebohang Mokoena (Fulham)

Premiership

Middlesboro v Fulham – (A) 30th November 2008

Fulham suffered something of a Carling Cup hangover as they were outplayed against a good Boro side. The extra day’s rest didn’t help them as they really look jaded and lethargic and no matter what Hepburn did he couldn’t get his players going. Boro were outstanding throughout and thoroughly deserved their win. Bocanegra equalised for Fulham but could not hold onto that lead for long as Boro went back up the other end and made it 2-1.

Final Score – Middlesboro 3 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Middlesboro – Korzym (7), LuaLua (58), Thompson (86)

Goals – Fulham – Bocanegra (56)

Att – 31701

MOM – Stipe Peltikosa

Premiership

Fulham v Newcastle – (H) 6th December 2008

It was back to the Cottage as they entertained a Newcastle side really struggling to stay in the division. Fulham were wanting to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible and Hepburn sent out his team intent on winning. They started well and quickly got into their passing and moving and Newcastle were getting ran ragged. Mokoena grabbed the opener for Fulham but it should have been more as against chances were missed. Early in the second half Bouma scored another one of those free kicks from thirty five yards. It could have been more than two but it finished 2-0 and Fulham were back to winning ways.

Final Score – Fulham 2 v 0 Newcastle

Goals – Fulham – Mokoena (35), Bouma (47)

Att – 29019

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Arsenal – (H) 14th December 2008

This was quite simply the best performance Hepburn and his men have produced in Hepburn’s time at the club. Everything for once just clicked and what a game to do it in as Fulham welcomed high flying, championship challenging Arsenal to Craven Cottage. The Gunners, were hot favourites going into the game, must have got the shock of their lives when within 20 minutes they found themselves 3-0 down as Fulham overwhelmed them with a start that dreams are made of. Fulham midfielder Claus Jensen, recalled to the starting eleven opened the scoring in six minutes with a great shot from the edge of the area. Ali Muntari got his first goal for Fulham and what a goal it was with a superb effort from thirty yards. Only three minutes later it was three as Bouma converted a penalty after Mokoena was sent tumbling inside the box. The Fulham fans could not believe what was happening and nor could the Arsenal fans. After such a brilliant opening Fulham conserved their energy by just keeping possession and not doing anything stupid as they saw out the remainder of the half. The gunners were shell shocked but started to play a bit in the second half and created a few near openings until David Pizzaro pulled a goal back for Arsenal. Hepburn changed the tactics slightly to counter the Gunners tactics and they went on to score a fourth through Mokoena was is in the middle of a great scoring run. Fulham saw the rest of the game out and the fans were lapping up the football on display. Hepburn could not help but smile after the final whistle, as it was a performance to remember.

Final Score – Fulham 4 v 1 Arsenal

Goals – Fulham – Jensen (6), Muntari (14), Bouma (pen,17), Mokoena (70)

Goals – Arsenal – Pizzaro (68)

Att – 29974

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Tottenham – (H) 17th December 2008

After such a breathtaking performance the Fulham fans were out in force once again as they welcomed yet another London side to the Cottage, this time it was Tottenham. They served up an opening day cracker at White Hart lane but this time it was a tight affair as Tottenham decided to defend in numbers and let high flying Fulham try and break them down. Again Fulham found it tough and were limited to only a couple of real chances throughout the entire match as the Tottenham defence stood firm. What came out of this match was the emergence of Stephen Pearson who picked up yet another man of the match award and he could a future world class player for Fulham. He is only 26 years old as has proved superb back up to the aging Nakamura who has been a revelation at the Cottage.

Final Score – Fulham 0 v 0 Tottenham

Att – 29983

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

QPR v Fulham – (A) 21st December 2008

As Fulham approached the Christmas period the games were starting to come thick and fast and Hepburn was worried his squad may not be equipped to handle so many games in such a short space of time. QPR are this season’s whipping boys and against Fulham they suffered another heavy defeat just like in the home fixture when Fulham were in devastating form. It was another dominating performance where Maresca, Nakamura and van der Vaart were able to control this game. The other star of the game was Nicolas Anelka, not the first choice striker at Fulham these days but has scored some vital goals in the campaign so far. In this game he grabbed a sensational hat trick to remind Hepburn of what he is all about. It could have been seven or eight but in the end a 4-0 win will suit any manager in the Premiership away from home especially.

Final Score – QPR 0 v 4 Fulham

Goals – Fulham – Anelka (20, 40, 52), van der Vaart (27)

Att – 19141

MOM – Nicolas Anelka (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Chelsea – (H) 26th December 2008

Hepburn’s team went into this powerkeg clash against Chelsea on the back of some brilliant results and they were also wanting to give their fans a Christmas gift and a winning end to the year. Chelsea had other ideas as they were in brilliant form and Fulham just had no answer to them. They took an early lead through Drogba and never looked back as they had Fulham under constant pressure and Fulham just could not get out their own half at times. A killer second goal just after half time put paid to any hopes of a Fulham comeback but they equipped themselves better in the second half and had a number of chances to at least pull a goal back but Cech in the Chelsea was in fine form and produced a couple of world class saves to deny Fulham. So Fulham’s unbeaten home record came to an end but things were looking good at the Cottage for next year.

Final Score – Fulham 0 v 2 Chelsea

Goals – Chelsea – Drogba (10), Mutu (47)

Att – 29997

MOM – Bastian Schweinsteiger (Chelsea)

FA Cup 3rd Round

Norwich v Fulham – (A) 3rd January 2009

Fulham started the New Year off with a comprehensive FA cup thrashing at Carrow road. Fulham looked like a team motivated to score, as many goals as possible and unfortunately Norwich were the victims. We know Hepburn does not take to losing too well and he sent his team out to win and win well. His team responded with five goals and a thoroughly good performance as well. All the big guns got on the score sheet as van der Vaart notched a double, Mokoena, Maresca and Anelka all got the goals for Fulham. Norwich had no answer for the pace, flair and power of this Fulham team.

Final Score – Norwich 0 v 5 Fulham

Goals – Fulham – van der Vaart (3, 43), Mokoena (45), Maresca (47), Anelka (70)

Att – 24244

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Carling Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

Fulham v Tottenham - (H) 7th January 2009

Fulham’s first ever cup semi final and their opponents were Tottenham. Much like the league game between the two sides at the Cottage only a couple of week previously Tottenham were intent on defending and trying to escape with a draw. They frustrated Fulham for most of the match with their keeper Roman Weidenfeller in particularly good form, as he always seems to be against Fulham. He kept them out until the eighty second minute when Anelka latched onto a through ball and lashed it past him inside the penalty area. Disaster struck for Fulham in stoppage time as Tottenham got an undeserved equaliser when Andy Griffin turned the ball into his own net to the shock of the Fulham fans. So it ended 1-1 and Fulham had it all to do if they were to get to the final.

Final Score – Fulham 1 v 1 Tottenham

Goals – Fulham – Anelka (82)

Goals – Tottenham – Griffin (og, 90)

Att – 29975

MOM – Rowan Weidenfeller (Tottenham)

Premiership

Fulham v Aston Villa – (H) 10th January 2009

After all the cup action it was back to league business for the first time this year and Fulham welcomed Aston Villa to Craven Cottage. Hepburn and Megson are friends off the pitch but on it they both like to put one over each other. Both sides are challenging for a European spot and all points are vital at this stage of the season. Megson’s Villa have had the upper hand in recent meetings but Hepburn’s Fulham came out on top in this encounter. A brilliant performance saw them out fight Villa in all areas of the pitch as well playing some good football along the way. Both teams had chances but Fulham took their chances as Villa passed up some good opportunities. Rafael van der Vaart opened the scoring for Fulham in the first half and Maresca made it two in the second half to put this match out of Villa’s reach. A real battling performance from Fulham and Hepburn was pleased they came out on top.

Final Score – Fulham 2 v 0 Aston Villa

Goals – Fulham – van der Vaart (25), Maresca (70)

Att – 29963

MOM – Claus Jensen (Fulham)

FA Cup 4th Round

Burnley v Fulham – (A) 17th January 2009

In the fourth round of the FA Cup, Fulham faced a tricky tie away at Championship side Burnley. Two first half goals in the space of three minutes sealed this tie for Fulham although they had most of the game and could have scored a hatful. Stephen Pearson opened the scoring and then Robert Earnshaw made it two. Burnley had a couple of openings but they did not find a breakthrough until ten minutes from time to set up a grand stand finish but it never really materialised and Fulham were safely through to round five.

Final Score – Burnley 1 v 2 Fulham

Goals – Burnley – Coyne (80)

Goals – Fulham – Stephen Pearson (24), Earnshaw (27)

Att – 22566

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Carling Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg

Tottenham v Fulham – (A) 21st January 2009

After the first leg Tottenham went into this game as favourites after getting a priceless away goal at Craven Cottage. Fulham started the match the better side and Marseca gave them an early with a brilliant strike from outside the area. This gave them a lot of confidence and went on to dominate the half with chances and near misses galore and most importantly more goals. Mokoena made it two for Fulham with a great shot from inside the area. It was more of the same in the second half as Hepburn got his tactics spot on. Tottenham had to come out and attack and Fulham simply exploited the gaps left and increased their lead when Mokoena grabbed his second goal of the game and then went on to grab his hat trick minutes later. The tie was beyond Tottenham but they managed to pull two goals back in the final five minutes but it was Fulham who were on their way to Wembley.

Final Score – Tottenham 2 v 4 Fulham

Goals – Tottenham – Keane (85), Papadopoulos (90)

Goals – Fulham – Maresca (7), Mokoena (15, 58, 76)

Att – 36222

MOM – Lebohang Mokoena (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Wigan – (H) 24th January 2009

Hepburn was starting to worry about fatigue setting in to his best players after playing so many matches in such a short space of time. Hepburn decided to rest a couple of his stars so they were fresh for the run in. The replacements that came in did their job and may have given Hepburn a selection headache such was their impact on this game. They entertained Wigan at the Cottage and got off to a brilliant start as Robert Earnshaw put them ahead after only one minute. They went on to dominate most of the game and it was backs to the wall at times for Wigan as they tried to keep the score down. Mokoena grabbed another double in a six minute period in the first half and the game was over. Wigan gave nothing attacking wise as Fulham really tore them apart. Claus Jensen pulling the strings in midfield, Wigan had no answer to him. Super performance.

Final Score – Fulham 3 v 0 Wigan

Goals – Fulham – Earnshaw (1), Mokoena (21, 26)

Att – 21802

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

So it has been a fantastic period for Fulham as they are still in with a chance of a prestigious Champions League spot but more realistically a UEFA Cup spot is in the reckoning. They also have a Carling Cup final to look forward to at Wembley against Man City. Times are good at Craven Cottage and long may they continue!!!!

[rouchie]

Well done Andy, Fulham in Europe? There must be a war!

[Andy H]

Almost mate, only a few games to go and I am in with a great chance of fourth place and into the Champions League!!!

[steff]

So yeah..........today will be Tuesday then?

I sort of got my days mixed up last night

So now I have kicked my glue sniffing habit and I'll be back (and suffering from glue withdrawal) on <STRIKE>Wednesday</STRIKE> Thursday

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by steff:

So yeah..........today will be Tuesday then?

I sort of got my days mixed up last night

So now I have kicked my glue sniffing habit and I'll be back (and suffering from glue withdrawal) on <STRIKE>Wednesday</STRIKE> Thursday </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shambles Steff!!!!!!!

I hope to see you tomorrow night. 8pm sharp.

[Andy H]

The Fulham Festivities – It’s getting better man!!!!!!

As we approach the final stages of the season, Fulham find themselves in with a great chance of claiming a glorious champions league spot from the hands of Chelsea who have been on a slump recently, allowing Fulham to claw back the points. In what can only be described as a spectacular season for Fulham they find themselves sitting pretty in 5th spot, Carling Cup winners and in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Hepburn seems to be loved by everyone connected with the club as he has transformed them into real contenders. What a difference from last season. Here is a run down of the latest games….

Premiership

Fulham v Man Utd – (H) 31st January 2009

This was a huge game for Fulham as they were testing themselves against the best side in the country in Man Utd who had gone forty odd games unbeaten in the league. Confidence was high in the Fulham after they had defeated Arsenal in such spectacular fashion only a few weeks ago. There was a full house inside the Cottage and another ten thousand fans outside the ground such was the demand for this game. Utd started the game the better side and quickly had Fulham under pressure and chances were created and missed. This did not last long as Ruud Van Nistelrooy put Utd ahead with a clinical finish from inside the box. After the Van Nistelrooy goal, Utd had chances to extend their lead but Dudek was in fine form to keep them out. Against the run of play Fulham managed to snatch a priceless equaliser when Mokoena got clear of the Utd defence and fired past Tim Howard. The Fulham fans nearly took the roof off the stadium such was the roar. In the second half Fulham started to grow in confidence and it was Utd who found themselves under a bit of pressure and hanging on a bit. Mokoena went close again but could not find a winner. A draw in the end was about a fair result and both managers had no complaints at the end.

Final Score – Fulham 1 v 1 Man Utd

Goals – Fulham – Mokoena (43)

Goals – Man Utd – Van Nistelrooy (26)

Att – 29980

MOM – Jerzy Dudek (Fulham)

Premiership

Wolves v Fulham – (A) 7th February 2009

Wolves are fast becoming Fulham’s bogey side as yet again they dropped two points against them when they should have had all three wrapped up quite easily. Just like in the home game at Craven Cottage, Fulham dominated the game but Mokoena up front was guilty of passing up some glorious opportunities. Rafael van der Vaart was recalled to the Fulham starting line up after illness and injury and he had Fulham ahead after twenty minutes with a great header from a Stephen Pearson cross. After the goal they did everything but score to extend their lead and it came back to haunt them as Pearson gave away a needless penalty five minutes from the end and David Johnson gave Wolves a point albeit an undeserved point, but that’s football sometimes. Hepburn looked on in disbelief as the referee blew for full time but knew his team had given it their all.

Final Score – Wolves 1 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Wolves – David Johnson (pen 85)

Goals – Fulham – van der Vaart (20)

Att – 26207

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

Bolton v Fulham – (A) 11th February 2009

After the disappoint at Molineux, Hepburn’s men knew they had to be more clinical in front of goal especially away from home. Hepburn had a dilemma with no left back for selection so utility man Knight was given the job and he performed very well as usual. Fulham dominated this game as Bolton struggled to get near this high flying Fulham team. Some great football was on show as van der Vaart was pulling the strings for Fulham and he looked in superb form. It was he who opened the scoring for Fulham with a great strike from twenty yards and from then on they never looked like losing. It was one way traffic as Fulham tore Bolton apart on the wings and in the middle of the park. Van der Vaart’s sensational game was cut short when he was taken off injured in fifty five minutes and Maresca came on as his replacement. He picked up where van der Vaart left off and he started playing his usual classy passes to open up the Bolton defence with ease. They had to wait until the eighty fifth minute for number two as Mokoena drove through the defence and lashed a shot off the post with Maresca following up to put the ball in the empty net. A very good performance from Fulham here.

Final Score – Bolton 0 v 2 Fulham

Goals – Fulham - van der Vaart (15), Maresca (85)

Att – 24926

MOM – Shunsuke Nakamura (Fulham)

Premiership

Birmingham v Fulham – (A) 14th February 2009

A scoreline, which suggests a tight game but in all honesty, it could have been five or six but for the form of Brum goalkeeper Colin Doyle who got man of the match for his performance. Fulham controlled this game for long periods but after scoring one they could not find a way past this goalkeeper. The goal that settled this match was an absolute screamer from Nakamura who cut in from the left and unleashed an unstoppable shot from twenty five yards into the top corner, giving Doyle no chance. Rightly the goal got goal of the month, as it was top quality. Brum did have their chances but Dudek was equal to them and kept Brum out. It was have been undeserved had Brum got an equaliser and Hepburn’s men left with another three points from a difficult game that last season they would have lost or drawn.

Final Score – Birmingham 0 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Fulham – Nakamura (25)

Att – 28651

MOM – Colin Doyle (Birmingham)

Premiership

Man City v Fulham – (A) 18th February 2009

A dress rehearsal for the Carling Cup final only days before the final itself takes place at Wembley and both teams wanted to take a psychological advantage into the final. Muntari got Fulham off to the best possible start with a goal after only thirty three seconds on the clock. City came back strongly and looked the better team throughout the first half and deservedly grabbed an equaliser through Holm and they went in at half time 1-1. In the second half Hepburn changed things slightly to great affect as he pushed Jensen into a more advanced position and it caused City all sorts of problems. A lot more chances for Fulham were created but they could not find a goal from anywhere with Sorensen keeping them out. Hepburn then made an inspired substitution as he brought on Mokoena for Anelka and within three minutes of the substitution Mokoena had Fulham 2-1 up. He then made it 3-1 with only minutes remaining to give Fulham a deserved victory in the end.

Final Score – Man City 1 v 3 Fulham

Goals – Man City – Holm (38)

Goals – Fulham[/b} – Muntari (1), Mokoena (79, 87)

Att – 43177

MOM – Lebohang Mokoena (Fulham)

Carling Cup Final – Wembley Stadium

Fulham v Man City – (N) 22nd February 2009

A fantastic final that saw Fulham thrash a poor Man City side and take home their first ever Carling Cup in front of almost ninety thousand fans at Wembley stadium. The star of the final without a doubt was Mokoena was scored a hat trick and generally caused the City defence all sorts of problems with his pace and movement off the ball. He scored a double against them just days earlier but it seemed the City defence did not take as a warning of what this lad could do. City never really threatened and were restricted to long range efforts that never really went close to troubling Dudek. A terrific first half performance saw Fulham three up and cruising to victory. Two Mokoena goals and a Maresca penalty did the damage to City. In the second half it was cruise control for Fulham who were quite happy passing it about and keeping possession and let City do all the running. Mokoena capped off the victory with his hat trick and Fulham’s fourth to put the icing on the cake. It was a great performance from Fulham who fully deserved their victory.

Final Score – Fulham 4 v 0 Man City

Goals – Fulham - Mokoena (20, 32, 87), Maresca (pen 29)

Att – 89974

MOM – Lebohang Mokoena (Fulham)

FA Cup 5th Round

Fulham v Charlton – (H) 25th February

With half the Fulham team absolutely knackered the last thing they needed was another huge game. This time it was FA Cup against Charlton who were just behind Fulham in the Premiership so Hepburn was expecting a really tough game. Some players thrive on the big occasion and Fulham were running on adrenaline going into this game. Changes were made up front with Mokoena nowhere near fit to play after his heroics on Sunday and van der Vaart was also rested. In came Anelka and Maresca and they were more than adequate replacements. The game turned out to be a one sided affair as Fulham pressed and pressed and Charlton really offered nothing to the game. They seemed quite happy to sit back and encourage Fulham pressure. Fulham went ahead just before half time through Anelka was had earlier missed a couple of glorious opportunities to put his side ahead. In the second half it was more of the same with Fulham keeping possession and controlling the pace of the game. Anelka then made way for Earnshaw who made an instant impact as he scored with his first touch of the ball; it was another masterstroke from Hepburn.

Final Score – Fulham 2 v 0 Charlton

Goals – Fulham – Anelka (42), Earnshaw (71)

Att – 29962

MOM – Claus Jensen (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Blackburn – (H) 28th February 2009

Another game and yet another super performance from Fulham. Blackburn made it difficult and Paul Robinson was in superb form as he kept Fulham out. Blackburn held out until the 81st minute when Nicolas Anelka finally found a way past Robinson to give Fulham the three points. It was a pretty dull first half with Blackburn defending in great numbers but Hepburn pushed more men forward in the second half and they got the goal they deserved. Blackburn offered nothing in attack and deserved to get nothing from the game.

Final Score – Fulham 1 v 0 Blackburn

Goals – Fulham – Anelka (81)

Att – 28572

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

FA Cup 6th Round

Fulham v Bristol City – (H) 6th March 2009

Back to FA Cup action and in the sixth round they took on Dave Johnston’s high flying Bristol City and what an entertaining game it was. It was end to end stuff at times with both goalkeepers’ in superb form, especially the Bristol City goalkeeper to keep Fulham at bay. Bristol City gave as good as they got much to the surprise of Fulham boss Hepburn. Hepburn tried a change of tactics in the second half to try and get that first goal but it only made City play better and a draw was just about a fair result although Hepburn will feel his side did enough to go through to the next round. It should be another action packed game with hopefully the right outcome this time – A Fulham victory!!!!!!

Final Score – Fulham 0 v 0 Bristol City

Att – 29964

MOM – Danny Coles (Bristol City)

So as we approach the end of the season Fulham find themselves in with ending the season with two trophies and the possibility of Champions League football next season.

[AsherDSSc]

Boult Apologises To Fans

Bournemouth F.C have been without there influential manager Rick Boult for the past week with no explanation to his wearabouts. This reporter, however, has tracked down the young yorkshireman who was found at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Reporter : So Rick, how'd you end up in hospital?

Rick : Well, i was walking home on friday night with my bird, Elish Cuthbert, when a bunch of youths in there lare teens ran out of nowhere and jumped me.

Reporter : How many of them were there?

Rick : I don't really remember i was knocked unconcious when my head hit the floor. I'd have said at least 6.

Reporter : So who phoned the ambulance?

Rick : Elisha of course.

Reporter : Well whose the 3rd 'mystery blonde' on the front page of The Sun as you pull up in the ambulance?

Rick : You know me, i'm at it like a rabbit with the Mrs. and sometimes she just can't keep up.

Reporter : Surely that's going to upset all your fans? Not to mention your website followers 'www.RickBoultIsSexy.com'

Rick : They know what i'm like, otherwise they wouldn't be fans.

Reporter : Ok. Back to topic. What were the extent of your injuries?

Rick : Apart from the obvious bruising on my face, i've had 8 stitches in the back of my head from where i hit the ground. A head CT showed no other major damage so Bournemouth fans can expect me back on the touchline in the next week or so.

So with Boult hoping to be back in action sooner rather than later, fans of Bournemouth will be hoping the bang to the head hasn't damaged his undenyable gift of winning football matches.

[Steve R]

Nice to see this is still going as strong as ever. 2009, hell I've never even got that far in a single player game. Good effort one and all.

All the best.

Steve. (Owner of EFB 05's only 100% winning record. )

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve R:

Nice to see this is still going as strong as ever. 2009, hell I've never even got that far in a single player game. Good effort one and all.

All the best.

Steve. (Owner of EFB 05's only 100% winning record. ) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Cheers Steve.

Did you actually play a game in EFB FM? You were prolly unbeaten cause you didn't actually play a game. Only way you would stay unbeaten!!!! Want me to remind you of EFB and those horrible defeats you suffered?

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

Tonight I'll be catching up with some updates for the last couple of sessions, but I'll keep them seperate to avoid doing one huge long post again that nobody will actually read. So here goes.

Starting League Position

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Ipswich | | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 42 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bristol C | | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 19 | +15 | 40 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Portsmouth | | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 38 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

So sitting in 5th place for tonights session, well in with a chance of a playoff spot, and possibly even an automatic promotion. Lets just see how well the players can cope.

The opener for tonight is an important game against 7th place Nottingham Forrest, another team competing for promotion.

Bristol City 1 Nottingham Forrest 1

With Arturo Lupoli resting after suffering a twisted knee Roland Linz is brought back into the starting line up and he is fired up hoping to add to his goal tally. However the game couldn't have started any worse for the titties with Forrest taking the lead after only five minutes with a fantsticly executed couter attack. The rest of the first half belonged to the titties and they finally got their reward after 42 minutes when Nicky Butt got on the end of a cross from Wayne Routledge. The titties also had the majority of the possesion in the second half although neither team was able to add to their first half goal and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Bristol Manager Johnston was happy with the result saying that Forrest are one of the top teams in the league and getting a point from them is always acceptable. Unfortunately due to the other results today Bristol have dropped down to 6th place. Man of the match today was a hard call with nobody really putting on a great display, but in the end it went to Leonardo Pisculichi for his skill on the left wing.

The next match in tonights session is against new boy Rick's Bournemouth who are currently sitting 22nd in the table. An improvement since Rick took over, however he still has a lot of work to do to ensure their survival.

Bristol City 2 Bournemouth 1

With the two managers going face to face today the TV people have decided to show the game to the masses, so a rare appearance on Sky Sports for Bournemouth, and for the Titties they will be looking to move past Rouchie's Crewe by winning today by more than one goal.

The game starts with Bristol going out looking for goals, but unfortunately nobody is able to find the back of the net. We are however creating a number of chances, with most of them hitting the woodwork or drifting wide. That is until the 43rd minute, when Steffen Hofmann finds himself on the left wing. His perfect cross to the front post is met by the head of Roland Linz and his glancing header beats Neil moss in the Bournemouth goal. The second half starts in much the same way as the first with Bristol in control but unable to find the back of the net. However once again that changes in the 77th minute when Nicky Butt sees his shot saved by Moss, but Junior is on hand to pick up the rebound and tap in for 2-0. With the titties heading for a 2-0 win and a spot above Crewe in the league Bournemouth are awarded a free kick on the edge of the area, and with the help of a wicked deflection the free kick is converted to make it 2-1. So a 1 goal win is not above to move above Crewe but still enough to move up to 5th place. Once again the man of the match award goes to Leonardo Pisculichi for his 18 runs made down the left flank.

In a post match interview Johnston had the following to say:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have the utmost respect for Rick for taking on the job at Bournemouth, he has a tough job ahead of him trying to save them from relegation, but I'm sure he's the right man for the job. Having said that though, i am here to win games for the titties and thats exactly what I did today. I am very happy with how things are going at the moment and I am almost certain we will find ourselves competing for promotion come the end of the season.

On another note I'd just like to congratualte Leonardo Pisculichi for setting a new record with his 9th man of the match award today. He has been outstanding recently and I hope he will keep it up for the rest of the season. Roland Linz made his 100th league appearance for the titties today and I'm glad he was able to cap it with a goal. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

On a negative note Bristol's centre half Claude Reiter has reportedly torn his knee ligaments and will likely be out for about a month.

Watford 0 Bristol City 3

An away game against 16th place Watford now and a chance to move up to 3rd place, so hopefully the titties can keep up their good work for today. And it takes only 6 minutes for Bristol to take the lead through Roland Linz. An attempted clearance by the Watford keeper was unable to rise above the head of Linz and he was able to direct his header into the far corner. With 23 minutes on the clock Danny Coles is credited with a goal for the titties however upon closer inspection this one would have to go down as an own goal. The corner was swung in by Michael Keen and met by the head of Coles. His header then came off the Watford defender standing on the near post and looped over the goalkeeper into the far corner. An o.g. in my book. The 3rd and final goal of the match came 4 minutes into the second half when Steffen Hofmann played an inch perfect through ball to the feet of Pisculichi how advanced on the goalkeeper before rifling a shot passed him into the top corner. So an emphatic win for the titties takes them up to 3rd place, promotion is definitely looking possible now. Once again no one player shone in today's match, however Pisculichi's goal and great play down the left was enough to secure him his 10th man of the match award.

Bristol City 1 Leicester 0

A slightly harder game now as 8th place Leicester come to the gate. The titties go all out for a goal in the first half but to no avail, and with Pisculichi being stretchered off injured things are looking bleak. But maybe the second half will be different. Despite some good chances the fans are made to wait until the 89th minute to see Pisculichi's replacement, Radzewicz, latch on to a long through ball from Nicky Butt and slot it past the keeper for the 1-0 win. The man of the match award today was given to the Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel for keep the ball out for 89 minutes of the game.

The injury sustained by Pisculichi today was fortunately no more than a gashed leg and he will be back in action in less than 5 days.

2nd Place in Manager of the Month: David Johnston

3rd Place in Player of the Month: Leonardo Pisculichi

1st Place in Young Player of the Month: Michael Keen

The next game sees the titties heading to Andy's old team in the FA Cup 3rd round.

Sheffield Wednesday 1 Bristol City 3

The titties waste no time in showing Premiership opposition that they are ready for a challenge next season. With only 5 minutes on the clock Arturo Lupoli hits a half volley after a cross from Pisculichi and it bursts the net. On the half hour mark a free kick on the edge of the area is converted by defender Charlambous to make it 2-0. However 2 minutes later Wednesday hit one back to show they are not out of it yet. The titties weren't happy about that and went searching for a 3rd goal in the 2nd half. And it comes in the 69th minute through another cross from Pisculichi and volley from Lupoli. So a great victory for the titties to take them into the 4th round of the FA cup where they will be taking on Steff's Preston. The man of the match award today was a close call between the man who set up the goals and the man who scored them. but with Pisculichi already boasting 10 awards for the season today it goes to Arturo Lupoli.

The next game is a big one against high flying Everton who are running away with the league at the moment.

Everton 4 Bristol City 1

No comment. Everton were just too good for us today, and it is clear why they are top of the league. Despite going in only 2-1 down at half time thanks to a goal from Arturo Lupoli, the game was all Everton and they deservedly got their 4 goals. So that defeat takes us down to 4th place in the league but in with a good shot at promotion.

Final League Position

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Everton | | 27 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 65 | 25 | +40 | 62 |

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| 2nd | | Sunderland | | 27 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 61 | 36 | +25 | 54 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Ipswich | | 27 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 45 | 30 | +15 | 51 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Bristol C | | 27 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 50 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Portsmouth | | 27 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 47 | 27 | +20 | 49 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

So moved up to 4th place and progressed to the 4th round of the FA cup, not a bad session, lets look at the players who were responsible for that.

Key Players this Session

Once again Leonardo Pisculichi was on form with a number of top performances, 3 man of the match awards, 3 assists and a goal.

Michael Keen was also able to turn in a few good performances tonight and Arturo Lupoli added 3 to his goal tally.

Top Scorer of the Session

Arturo Lupoli topped the list with 3 goals tonight.

Most Assists of the Session

As per usual Leonardo Pisculichi was the creative vision for the team creating 3 goals tonight.

[Andy H]

Where's the rest of them Johnston your miles behind!!!!!

[David Johnston]

I had to go to work, more to come tomorrow.

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

The next update in the run up to the end of the season, hopefully I'll get them all done before tonights session.

Due to undisclosed reasons Johnston was MIA for this session and left his assistant in charge, and here is what he managed.

Portsmouth (Home) Drew 2-2

Preston (Away) FA Cup 4th round Won 2-1

Hull (Away) Lost 3-0

Gillingham (Home) Drew 0-0

Crystal Palace (Home) Drew 1-1

Ipswich (Away) Won 2-0

So a very poor set of results there from the ass. man. However on a positive note we have progressed to the 5th round of the FA cup after a 2-1 win over Steff's Preston.

Other bad news for the fans in that Marcin Radzewicz has decided to leave the club on a bosman next summer. He has been with Bristol for 3 seasons and put in some top performances. This season he was edged out by Pisculichi and decided he had to move on for first team football. He will be sorely missed though.

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

So Johnston back at the helm for tonights session and he will be hoping to turn things around after the poor performances under his assisstant. We will be starting with an away game against West Ham.

West Ham 1 Bristol City 3

A pretty normal line-up for Bristol today, the only change is the injured starlet Michael Keen being replaced by Marcin Radzewicz. The first half is a relatively dull affair despite a great start for the titties. With only 4 minutes on the clock the titties are awarded a free kick on the right wing. Radzewicz powers it into the box and Charalambous was on hand to head home from close range. After that, despite having the majority of possession, the titties were unable to add to their lead. Into the second half and West Ham pulled level after 52 minutes with a simple tap in after their initial shot was saved. It took Bristol almost 20 minutes to reply, and it came from Danny Fonseca as he shot home from close range after a pass from Roland Linz. With 10 minutes to go the titties sealed the win with Linz scoring from a Routledge cross. Despite staying in 5th place after this win the titties move within 2 points of the second place, so a good chance of an automatic promotion spot. The man of the match for this game was right back Steve Finnan after a good defensive display.

So a break from the promotion race now and Bristol will be visiting the Lane for their 5th round FA Cup tie against Premiership Tottenham.

Tottenham 0 Bristol City 0

Once again the only player missing from this game is the young Michael Keen. And despite playing higher quality opposition Johnston elects to keep his normal attacking formation. The first half shows that Johnston was right to have faith in his defence as they are able to keep Spur's top strike force under control, with Phillips doing his job in goal too, keeping out Tottenham's 4 shots on target. The second half is much the same as the first with the Titties having to withstand a lot of pressure, but they were perhaps saved by Spur's innability to hit the target, with only a third of their shots heading Phillips way. The titties were also able to get a few shots on goal, but not enough to trouble Spurs. Man of the match today was Tittie's goalkeeper Steve Phillips for his clean sheet. So a great away result for the titties and we will be looking forward to the replay at home.

Back to the league action and we will be taking on 10th place Swansea at home.

Bristol City 0 Swansea 0

So once again the titties are unable to score, which perhaps brings to Johnston's attention the need for a new striker who will bang in the goals, with Linz and Lupoli not really topping the top scorers list. The game did belong to the titties with 15 shots to 2 in their favour, but a combination of poor finishing and top goalkeeping saw the game end 0-0 with the Swansea goalkeeper winning the man of the match award.

So a dissapointing home goalless draw and the titties drop down to 6th place. The next game is away at 23rd place Plymouth, a game that the titties should win.

Plymouth 1 Bristol City 1

Johnston decided to stick with the same team that drew with Swansea last week and perhaps now he wishes he had made some changes, with the team really failing to impress. Once again Bristol enjoy the majority of the possession and chances but are unable to convert until the half hour mark, where Danny Fonseca picked up on the ball outside the area and unleashed a 30 yard screamer that finds the top corner. An outstanding strike. With the Playmouth goalie having a great day Bristol are having great difficulty scoring a second and they are caught out with 5 minutes to go when Plymouth manage to get on the end of a cross and head home. A late strike and its very dissapointing for the titties. Once again the man of the match goes to Plymouth's goalkeeper.

So yet another draw and Bristol remain in 6th place, but for now its back to the FA Cup5th round replay. With 3 draws in the last 3 games the titties aren't exactly going into this game on a high, but they will still be going all out for the win.

Bristol City 2 Tottenham 0

A few changes by Johnston for this match in the hope that it might inspire the titties on to victory. The first half however was not very exciting, with very few chances for either side. The second half was slightly more exciting however with midfielder Danny Fonseca getting on the scoresheet once again after 70 minutes with a long bending shot from the edge of the area. With Spurs going all out looking for the equaliser they leave themselves open at the back and Bristol take advantage, with Pisculichi making a run down the left before cutting inside and hitting a low shot past the keeper into the far corner. A great goal. And that is enough to take us into the 6th round and Pisculichi is awarded man of the match.

A fantastic win for the titties against Premiership opposition, a sign perhaps that they may be ready for premiership football next season. As a result of that victory the titties will be taking on Fulham away in the 6th round. So that will be a fiercly competitive game against Andy's high flying Fulham.

Bristol City 1 Crewe 0

A big game now against 8th place Crewe and the titties will be hoping to extend their great result from the FA Cup into the league and perhaps secure a playoff spot. With the strikers unable to really find the net Johnston has decided to go with Hristov for this game, but he lasts only 5 minutes before being stretchered off injured to be replaced by Arturo Lupoli. But before that the player of the moment Danny Fonseca adds to his goal tally after only 3 minutes with a simple tap in after Pisculichi's shot is saved. The rest of the game is a fairly even affair with Crewe looking for the equaliser and the titties looking to finish the game off. With 70 minutes on the clock the titties are awarded a penalty for a push on Pisculichi, however Sennikov is unable to convert, and the game ends 1-0. So Crewe really suffering without Rouchie at the helm. Man of the match today was Leonardo Pisculichi.

Another league win finally and we move up to 5th place, with goal difference the only thing keeping us behind 4th place.

No awards to report this month but some runners up:

3rd in Manager of the Month: David Johnston

2nd in Goal of the Month: Danny Fonseca vs. Plymouth

So on to the final league game of tonights session and we will be taking on 21st place Coventry away from home.

Coventry 0 Bristol City 2

Youngster Michael Keen returns for this game and he will be looking to make an impact with the team failing to impress recently despite getting some decent results. The first half ends goalless however Keen and Pisculichi re-establish their partnership and cause Coventry some problems twith their great skill. Despite the 2 goals for the titties the second half is a very tight affair with the majority of the play taking place in midfield. That is until the 52 minute when Linz takes the ball from Keen on the edge of the area and strikes it past the keeper into the bottom left corner. 15 minutes later and Pisculichi slots a lovely ball through to Linz who once again places his shot past the keeper to make it 2-0. Things got worse for Coventry just 5 minutes later when they lose a player after his second yellow card for arguing with the ref. Pisculichi and Keen were in particularly top form today, but it's Pisculichi who wins man of the match.

Another great win for the titties moves us up to joint 3rd place. Tonights session will end with the FA Cup quarter final against Andy's high flying Fulham.

Fulham 0 Bristol City 0

Not a very exciting game for either team with no goals and very few shots. Possession-wise the game belonged to Fulham with 58% of the play. In terms of the chances the first half was Fulham's, but the titties came back in the second half with a few shots of their own. The one player to pick out from Fulham's team was Shunsuke Nakamura, but the best performances came from the titties with goalkeeper Phillips in particularly top form. The man of the match award however goes to defender Danny Coles for his top tackling.

So a dissapointing end to the night for Andy, but a great end for me. A replay against Fulham in the quarter final of the FA Cup, joint 3rd in the league and with a game in hand.

Final League Position

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Everton | | 38 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 82 | 34 | +48 | 83 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Sunderland | | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 75 | 42 | +33 | 76 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Nottm Forest | | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 66 | 36 | +30 | 69 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Ipswich | | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 72 | 50 | +22 | 67 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bristol C | | 37 | 19 | 10 | 8 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 67 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Portsmouth | | 37 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 60 | 36 | +24 | 64 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Leicester | | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 54 | 36 | +18 | 64 |

Key Players of this Session

With a few disspointing performances tonight there's not much to choose from in terms of the best player, but my choice would have to be Steve Phillips. The goalkeeper has conceded only 2 goals in the 8 games tonight. Other than Phillips, Fonseca should be mentioned for his 4 goals and Finnan for his consistent performances at right back.

Top Scorer of the Session

Goes to Danny Fonseca for his 4 goals. A very dissapoiting session with only 9 goals in total tonight.

Most Assists of the Session

Shared tonight between Marcin Radzewicz and Leonardo Pisculichi with a grand total of 2 each.

[David Johnston]

For those paying attention you will notice the deliberate mistake in the last post. I am actaully joint 4th, with a win against bottom Reading enough to take us to 3rd place.

[Andy H]

Very few shots Dave in our first game? We had about twenty between us!!!! Keep up with the pace Davey boy!!!!

[David Johnston]

Yeah but how many shots on target, about 8 between us the whole match?

[edan217]

oldham-hereford 1-2

the game started great and after 6 minutes it was 1-0 after richardson passed to sigvaldson who scored.

johnson missed twice (33,39)

nilsson missed twice (57,62)

francis scores (75) 1-1

sigvaldson big miss (78)

francis scores (81) after a big mistake by woodhouse .

they has 2 shots the whole game ,they won 2-1 pure ********

scunthorpe-oldham 2-2

sigvaldson to cedreqvist 1-0 (1) great start to the game.

lomas misses(8)

nilsson misses(33)

sigvaldson's header meets the crossbar (38)

holmes scores on there first attack (42) 1-1

we started to press for the winning goal

cedreqvist big miss (58)

simmonds on a great shot from a weird angle (goal of the month)scores 1-2 (81)

just as we were sure the win is in our pockets ,holmes scores in the 92nd minute ,the basterd ruined it for me

oldham-bristol rovers 1-0

redknapp came back after a long injury (a month) and the center of the field looked better

lomas was sent off after 24 minutes for get 2 yellow cards very fast .

even though we were with 10 men ,we pressed for the goal .

forde shot just over the bar (50)

sigvaldson 1 on 1 ,missed (70)

nilsson 1 on 1 ,missed (73)

juliuson (sub)to nilsson(sub)1-0 (75)

johnson big miss(80)

nilsson 1 on 1 missed (83)

warren red card (92)

notts co.-oldham 1-3

vey importent match as we are 1st and they are 4th not far away .

simmonds to cederqvist 0-1 (26)

simmonds to nilsson 0-2 (31)

nilsson shot just wide (44)

simmonds sends nilsson on a 1 on 1 ,nilsson misses (55)

cederqvist to nilsson 0-3(60)

d'sane fouled in the area and he scores from the penalty spot 1-3(75)

juliusion 1 on 1 ,missed (82)

great game away from home ,was all over them and they were lucky with the 3-1 loss.

oldham-chester 2-1

redknapp's corner meets simmonds head 1-0(5)

nilsson's header saved by keeper(17)

johnson misses(23)

nilsson to cederqvist 2-0 (30)

nilsson 1 on 1 big miss (38)

moore header 2-1 (64)

forde shot just over the bar (83)

stockport-oldham 0-3

cederqvist big miss (3)

nilsson fouled in the area ,redknapp scores for the penalty spot 0-1 (6)

simmonds injured (29)

de pedro came in for injured simmonds (29)

de pedro takes a great free kick 0-2 (35)

johnson to cederqvist 0-3 (43)

nilsson big miss(50)

boston utd.-oldham 1-3

simmonds was injured before the game and didnt play .

cederqvist shot save by keeper (6)

johnson over the bar (25)

doherty scores after stealing the ball from de pedro (big mistake)1-0 (33)

cederqvist 1 on 1 with the keeper ,ben futcher tackles the ball but sends the ball into his own net 1-1(42).

johnson big miss (80)

forde sends nilsson who scored 1-2 (84)

cederqvist steals the ball from the defender and scores 1-3(90).

oldham-york 2-1

simmonds back for this game.

simmonds to nilsson ,saved by keeper (5)

taylor to cederqvist 1-0 (14)

nilsson big miss (21)

simmonds to cederqvist ,saved by keeper(42)

johnson to cederqvist 2-0 (45)

cederqvist big miss (62)

simmonds injured (67)

yalcin scores a little to late 2-1 (89)

simmonds injury blow for us a he is injured for 2 months !!!

well after this game we had 6 straight wins and we set a new record for oldham.

oldham -southend 0-0

after a great run of games came the downtrend .

cederqvist,de pedro ,simmonds all injured for this game.

nilsson shot saved by keeper (4)

hall missed 3 great chances(22,33,38)

nilsson misses (48)

terry smith injured (90)

was better but played ver bad.

leyont orient-oldham1-0

gilian and simmonds out for this game.

forde shot saved by keeper (18)

griffin injured (he was gilian's sub)(47)

redknapp big miss (53)

alexander scores 1-0 (69)

an equal game where they had the luck.

oldham-dag&red 0-1

o'conner scores after 7 minutes 0-1 and then the big pressure by us didnt help .

johnson missed twice(20,25)

nilsson injured(30)

redknapp misses (55)

another big blow as nilsson is out for 3 weeks.

rotherham-oldham 1-0

very importent game here .

cederqvist,nilsson,simmonds all out of this game

safri scores (22)1-0

hall misses(40)

de pedro injured (44)

taylor big miss (60)

lost 1-0 here and after setting the record i am now 4 games without a win .

oldham-halifax 2-1

cederqvist back for this game.

robinson scores 0-1(16)

forde misses (33)

taylor to sigvaldson 1-1(43)

taylor to sigvaldson 2-1(46),looks like a duplicate of the first goal.

taylor misses(60)

sigvaldsson misses twice (70,88)

hall makes a penalty but anthony misses it in the 92nd minute (saved by woodhouse).

need a draw in the last game to secure the championship

darlington-oldham 1-1

sigvaldson big miss (12)

cederqvist misses (33)

wood scores on there first attack (67)

juliuson big miss(82)

cederqvist to johnson 1-1(91)

juliuson big miss(93)

was lucky there as a late equalizer gives me the championship !!!

we are the champions ,we are the champions !!!

won league 2 ,finishing with 82 points

same as colchester ,but our goal diffrence was +30,

they had +23

my players of the year :

defender -without a doubt was danny hall

midfielder- was simmonds as he was awesome ,most times he was injured ,we didnt win.

fowerd-nilsson ,great signing ,still very young and has lots of football .

striker-cederqvist 10 goals in 16 matchs ,came in the middle of the season ,but what an impact on the team.

i want to thanks all the supporters for being behind the team all season long .

striker

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Johnston:

Yeah but how many shots on target, about 8 between us the whole match? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It was 11 shots on target between us, I should have won, damn titties keeper!!!

[Andy H]

The Fulham Festivities - Champions League Football for Fulham!!!!!

Well the season is over and Hepburn has managed the impossible - He has got Fulham into the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. They finished six points ahead of the superstars of Chelsea to secure this historic achievement. That coupled with the Carling Cup win has meant Hepburn has already claimed a place in the Fulham hall of fame and he has big plans for the club next season. Here is a run down of the last games in Fulham's historic season.....

Premiership

Charlton v Fulham - (A) 14th March 2009

After the draw in the Cup at home to Bristol, Fulham faced a tough trip to face Charlton. It was a pretty boring game with not much quality attacking on show as both defences were in stubborn moods. The game was settled by a penalty which Nakamura slotted him expertly. Nothing much else happened during the game to report. Dudek had to be on his toes on a few occasions to keep Chalrton out who were in fairness the better team.

Final Score - Chalrton 0 v 1 Fulham

Goals - Fulham - Nakamura (pen 32)

Att - 27079

MOM - Jerzy Dudek (Fulham)

FA Cup 6th Round Replay

Bristol City v Fulham - (A) 18th March 2009

After the win at Charlton it was onto another huge match against Dave Johnston's Bristol City who had done so well at Craven Cottage to earn a replay. Fulham got off to a great start and had City under pressure from kick off. Mokoena put them ahaed after twenty four minutes and everything was looking good. Fulham then went about increasing their lead and number two came in fifty three minutes when Mokoena scored. It looked as though fulham had secured their place in the semi finals but Johnston had other ideas. A miraculous substitution and before you know the score is two a piece and the game headed into extra time. Hepburn was shocked, his players shocked and even the Bristol City players, staff and fans could not believe what had happened. It shows that anything can happen in football!!! It got worse for Fulham in extra time as Bristol City managed to grab a third goal and send Fulham crashing out of the FA Cup. Credit has to go to Johnston and his team who never gave up at any point and in the end deserved to go through.

Final Score - Bristol City 3 v 2 Fulham AET

Goals - Bristol City - Radzewicz (79, 92), Burke (86)

Goals - Fulham - Mokoena (24, 53)

Att - 21437

MOM - Shunsuke Nakamura (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Leeds - (H) 28th March 2009

After the shock of the cup exit, Hepburn had to pick his side up and get them ready to face Leeds. It was a game where Fulham created a lot of chances but could not hit the target. In ninety minutes they hit the target twice which is just not good enough and Hepburn knew it. This was after Mokoena got them off to a great start when Mokoena scored after only three minutes. The Fulham fans were hoping for a few more but it never materialised. Leeds were never a threat in attack as the Fulham defence were dominant. It was three points in the bag at the end of the day but Hepburn knew his strikers had an off day.

Final Score - Fulham 1 v 0 Leeds

Goals - Fulham - Mokoena (3)

Att - 29287

MOM - Shunsuke Nakamura (Fulham)

Premiership

Liverpool v Fulham - (A) 4th April 2009

Fulham travelled to Anfield to find Liverpool in superb form and were lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat. Liverpool pressed and pressed and Fulham never really got going. They had the odd chance to get back in the game but Liverpool were in total control of this match. Harry Kewell scored the Liverpool goal but it could have been five or six. Jerzy Dudek kept them out on numerous occasions on his return to Anfield but it wasn't enough.

Final Score - Liverpool 1 v 0 Fulham

Goals - Liverpool - Kewell (26)

Att - 53856

MOM - Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Sheffield Wednesday - (H) 11th April 2009

Afte the defeat at New Anfield it was back to the Cottage as Fulham welcomed Hepburn's old club Sheffield Wednesday. A game of mixed emotions for Hepburn who still holds the Owls close to his heart after everything they had done for him. The Owls fans gave him a great reception throughout the game unlike what happened earlier in the season at Hillsborough. Fulham still had a football match to win and they tore the Owls apart with a great performance. Hepburn made one change by bringing in Anelka for Mokoena and it was Anelka who opened the scoring for Fulham with a penalty just before half time. The Owls had a couple of long range efforts but never troubled Dudek. It was more of the same in the second half as Fulham pressed for more goals. Rafael van der Vaart made it 2-0 and then Anelka got his second and Fulham's third to complete a superb victory. At full time Hepburn shook hands with all the Owls players and staff which was a nice touch.

Final Score - Fulham v 3 v 0 Sheffield Wednesday

Goals - Fulham - Anelka (42, pen 75), van der Vaart (67)

Att - 28967

MOM - Enzo Maresca

Premiership

Southampton v Fulham - (A) 18th April 2009

A tough trip to the south coast for Fulham and they went away with all three points in a highly entertaining contest with both teams going at each other. Both sides had early chances but it was Fulham who went ahead on the half hour mark thanks to a great strike from Maresca. Southampton equalised soon after through Prutton as the sides went in level at half time. In the second half Fulham stepped up the pressure and made it 2-1 as Maresca grabbed his second goal of the afternoon. It proved to be the winner but not before Fulham survived a few scares but the managed to hold on to their lead.

Final Score - Southampton 1 v 2 Fulham

Goals - Southampton - Prutton (43)

Goals - Fulham - Maresca (31, 57)

Att - 30151

MOM - Rafael van der Vaart (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Middlesborough (H) 25th April 2009

A fantastic performance against Boro saw fulham run out easy winners in this contest. Boro started the better of the two teams with a couple of early chances before Fulham kicked into gear. With their first real attack of the game they had the ball in the back of the net after a clinical finish from Anelka. From that point on they never looked back and the second half brought two more goals for Fulham. The first was a penalty from Nakamura and then Otsemobor scored his first goal for Fulham with a bullet header from a corner. It could have been more as Fulham pressed and pressed but had to settle for three. Terrific performance for Fulham.

Final Score - Fulham 3 v 0 Middlesborough

Goals - Fulham - Anleka (30), Nakamura (pen 66), Otsemobor (90)

Att - 28942

MOM - Shunsuke Nakamura (Fulham)

Premiership

Newcastle v Fulham - (A) 2nd May 2009

Next up was a trip up north to face Newcastle who have been on the road to recovery after being threatened by relegation earlier in the season. Fulham on the other hand had moved into fourht spot and needed at least a point to stay well clear of Chelsea. The game was quite a scrappy affair with not a lot of flowing football on show as Newcastle piled players into mifield to stop Fulham from playing. Mokoena put Fulham ahead after a great pass from Muntari to put him in the clear. Newcastle came back strongly in the second half although they did not threaten Dudek that much due to some poor finishing. Ameobi equalised for Newcastle late on but neither team could find a winner. Hepburn will feel this was two points dropped as they semed to control much of this match.

Final Score - Newcastle 1 v 1 Fulham

Goals - Newcastle - Ameobi (73)

Goals - Fulham - Mokoena (32)

Att - 46063

MOM - Sulley Ali Muntari (Fulham)

Premiership

Arsenal v Newcastle - (A) 9th May 2009

What a way to finish the season with a game against the Gunners at Highbury. Fourth spot was secured and Fulham could just go out and play football under no pressure at all. That is exactly what they did as they tore Arsenal apart for the best of an hour. This was Arsenal's third game in the space of a week and it showed as they could not get near Fulham. Mokoena had Fulham ahead after only twenty five minutes or so and the gunners fans were stunned as to what they were seeing. The Fulham fans were going crazy after the Mokoena opener. It got better for Fulham as they went two ahead as Mokoena broke clear of the Arsenal defence slotted past Shay Given. It could have been more for Fulham but Given produced some fine saves to keep the score down. Arsenal came out in the second half much more focussed and went about trying to claw back something from this game. Reyes capitalised on some sloppy defending to make it 2-1 and further sloppy defending allowed Patrick Vieira to head home a corner four minutes from time to put Arsenal level. Hepburn did not look too bothered at full time after seeing his team throw away a two goal lead but he knew the season was over and he could look forward to a nice holiday to celebrate his team's superb season.

Final Score - Arsenal 2 v 2 Fulham

Goals - Arsenal - Reyes (62), Vieira (74)

Goals - Fulham - Mokoena (23, 44)

Att - 59968

MOM - Sulley Ali Muntari

It has been a truely memorable season for Fulham as no one expected them to finish fourth in the Premiership and enter the Chmapions League next season for the first time in the club's history. The Carling Cup win was superb and the quarter finals of the FA Cup where they lost to a brilliant performance from Dave Johnston's Bristol City. The stand out players this season for Fulham were Mokoena, Nakamura, van der Vaart, Maresca and Stephen Pearson who were all important parts to the success Fulham have had this season.

So it is onto pre season and planning for next season where Champions League football awaits for Fulham along with a bigger expectation to well domestically. The players are away to relax and get ready for the new season and well Hepburn he is just away on a long holiday to rest after a gruelling season that has taken a lot out of the poor lad. What a season for Fulham football club!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy H]

EFB Zeitung Season five will be up before the end of the week btw!!!! Look out for it as it will be a beauy like the rest of them!!!!

[Andy H]

Clan Announcement

Session tonight lads, make sure your there for 8pm sharp for the long pre season and hopefully we might even get a game or two in before the night is done.

[Andy H]

Breaking News!!!!

In shock transfer news coming from Craven Cottage it has been reported that Fulham manager Andrew Hepburn has accepted a bid of £25 million from Arsenal for his prized assest Lebohang Mokoena.

More to follow on that story as it progresses.

[Andy H]

EFB Zeitung – Season 5

Welcome back folks for another edition of EFB Zeitung and what a season it has been with more play off heartache, survival and a whole lot more. Hope you enjoy the reading the latest edition.

Community Shield

We begin with the season curtain raiser as Premiership champions Man Utd took on FA Cup winners Liverpool. The last time these two teams met it was a bad tempered affair but both teams were on their best behaviour for this encounter. Man Utd dominated the game with a goal either side of half time enough to secure the win for the Red Devils.

Red Devils start as they mean to go on – Winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man Utd 2 v 0 Arsenal

Carling Cup

This years Carling Cup final saw Hepburn’s Fulham side reach the final for the first time in the club’s history and they were up against Man City. It was a very one sided final as Fulham swept aside City with an awesome performance filled with passion, determination and above all else some outstanding football. Mokoena was the star of the final as he grabbed an impressive hat trick on his first ever visit to Wembley and hopefully it won’t be his last.

Hepburn creates history for Fulham!!!!!!

Fulham 4 v 0 Man City

FA Cup

This season’s final saw Dave Johnston’s conquers Arsenal up against Chelsea and all their money. It just shows you money can’t buy success as Chelsea left Wembley empty handed as Arsenal dominated this game and won quite easily in the end. Chelsea got off to a great start as Chevanton put them ahead but Arsenal came back with a goal from Pizzaro. Two goals in the last ten minutes sealed this match for the Gunners as Henry scored a penalty and then Patrick Vieira made it three and sent the trophy back to the Emirates Stadium. Chelsea were reduced to 10 men at the start of the second half and this was the turning point in a pulsating final between two of England’s biggest clubs.

Arsenal fire late to gun down 10 man Chelsea!!!!

Arsenal 3 v 1 Chelsea

LDV Vans Trophy

This year’s final was an all League One affair as Blackpool took on Swindon with Blackpool looking for a successful defence of their trophy. Swindon had other ideas and edged out Blackpool to take the trophy from them. It was a close and very tense match with not many chances but in the end Swindon went home the winners.

Swindon take Pool's crown from them!!!!

Blackpool 1 v 2 Swindon

FA Trophy

This season’s final saw Mansfield take on Margate at a packed Wembley stadium in what was a highly entertaining game. Both sides went at each other from kick off and with the amount of chances created it looked like a high scoring game. It was not to be as both teams struggled to hit the target with Mansfield the biggest sinners and they were made to pay as Margate hit back after a Chris Greenacre goal had put Mansfield ahead. Margate deserved their win in the end.

Poor finishing costs Mansfield the trophy!!!!!!

Mansfield 1 v 2 Margate

The Premiership

It was another action packed season in the Premiership with Man Utd picking up their fourth Premiership title in a row and showing everyone they are the dominant team in England. They almost went through the whole season unbeaten but a loss to Arsenal at Old Trafford of all places put paid tot hat dream. They did go on to win the title but only by two points as Arsenal pushed them all the way. Liverpool finished in third spot and Hepburn’s Fulham finished in fourth place ahead of Chelsea who were six points behind Fulham at the end of the season. It was yet another disappointing season for Chelsea who also lost in the FA Cup final against Arsenal. It was a brilliant effort from Fulham to get themselves in amongst the bigger teams, which no one expected at the start of the season and with the added bonus of Champions League football next season.

It was another successful season for teams such as Aston Villa, Charlton, Birmingham and Blackburn who all finished in the top ten again at the expense of teams such as Newcastle who battled relegation for most of the season. Tottenham and Middlesborough had disappointing seasons for clubs of their stature and financial backing.

At the other end of the table two of the three promoted teams from last season Leeds (rouchie will love that) and QPR went straight back down and had nightmare seasons and Bolton joined them after a poor season by their standards.

Hepburn secures Champions League football next season at the Cottage!!!!!!!

What a season it has been for the men from Craven Cottage as not only did they win the Carling Cup but they also secured Champions League football next season at the Cottage for the first time in the club’s history. So many highs throughout the season as Hepburn bought wisely and boy did it pay off for him and it was those players he brought in who rose to the challenge and helped Fulham achieve the success they had. Next season will be a lot different, as teams will now know what they are capable of along with the higher expectations from the fans. For now though Hepburn and Fulham can enjoy this success and hopefully build on it for next season.

Premiership Champions……………………….Man Utd

Runners Up……………………………………..Liverpool

Relegated to the Championship - Leeds, Bolton and QPR

Premiership Table

The Championship Review

This season in the Championship it was one of the most open title races in recent seasons with Everton, Sunderland and Nottingham Forest all in the hunt till almost the end of the season. Everton eventually ran out winners by eight points ahead of Sunderland who choked at the most vital stage of the season. Having missed out on automatic promotion Forest them suffered more heartache by losing in the play off final to Portsmouth who put out Dave Johnston’s Bristol City in the play off semis. It was Johnston’s first time in the play offs with Bristol City and he will be looking at getting his team back into that position come the end of next season.

Johnston’s Titties burst at the vital stage!!!!!!!!

Bristol City manager Dave Johnston was left devastated at his team’s failure to reach the Premiership. He had done so well all season to get them into that position but his team failed when it mattered most. At one point during the season City were in the hunt for automatic promotion but a bad run of results cost them dearly and in the end they had to settle for a play off spot. They faced a strong Pompey side who in fairness dominated both games and deserved to go through to the final. Johnston’s team made it to the FA Cup semi finals where they were beaten by Arsenal that brought the end of a great cup run for City. It was the disappointment of the play off semis that Johnston will have to get over. Next season I am sure Johnston can get his Bristol City team into the Premiership where they have already shown they can mix it with the best it has to offer, as Hepburn will tell you!!!!!

Browning saves Preston for the dreaded drop!!!!!!

It has been an indifferent season for Preston and manager Steff Browning who has not had a lot of time to bring in his own players and get his own methods across to his team. His squad was not the best before he took over. He has also not had the financial backing to bring in the players he wants to help him improve his squad. He has done well for his first season in charge and will be looking forward to a full pre season with his team to get them into the shape he wants ahead of the new season.

Boult unable to save Bournemouth from the drop!!!!!!

Bournemouth manager Rick Boult said he could save this dire team from the drop but in the end he was unable to do so. Not because he couldn’t but circumstances outside football took over and he was unable to be in the dugout to provide his team with some much needed confidence. It was a tough task but it had started quite well for Boult when he first took over as he got them drawing and winning a couple of games. Then circumstances came into play and he was unable to be in charge for the remainder of the season, leaving his assistant in charge and he could not save them from relegation. In actual fact they almost did manage to avoid relegation and in the end went down on goal difference. The players and everyone else connected with the club hope Boult will be back as soon as possible to help them get back to the Championship as quickly as possible.

Championship Winners……………………………..Everton

Runners Up…………………………………………..........Sunderland

Play Off Winners……………………………………......Portsmouth

Relegated to League One – Bournemouth, Reading and Plymouth

Championship Table

Play Off Final - Portsmouth 4 v 2 Notts Forest (aet)

League One Review

This season in League Cardiff City were the dominating side as the won the league by four points from runners up Blackpool. Cardiff were top for most of the second half of the season and they just did not seem to lose. Not the best season for Blackpool who had earlier lost the LDV Vans trophy to Swindon. They did gain promotion as they proved there is life after Edan Waldman who had left them toward the end of last season. It was the first time the had gained promotion to the Championship in over thirty years so that in itself was an achievement for all those involved at Blackpool. Burnley also managed to gain promotion back to the Championship as they won in the play off final against Huddersfield whom they destroyed in the final at Wembley.

League One Champions…………………………Cardiff City

Runners Up………………………………………........Blackpool

Play Off Winners…………………………………....Burnley

Relegated to League Two – Walsall, Doncaster, Torquay and Cambridge

League One Table

Play Off Final - Burnley 3 v 1 Huddersfield

League Two Review

In what was an unbelievable finish to the League Two season, Oldham, managed by Edan Waldman managed to go win the title on goal difference from Colchester. Oldham had led for much of the season but a poor run of form when it mattered most almost cost them the title. A draw on the last day of the season saw them win the title by seven goals!!!! Waldman said afterwards his heart could not take another season of that but in the end they won the title and deserved it. Rotherham joined both Oldham and Colchester in gaining automatic promotion and surprise package Burton managed to gain promotion through the lottery of the play offs. No one expected them to do it but it also proves anything can happen in football.

Waldman celebrates a title win!!!!!

It was damn close in the end but Edan Waldman had secured the League Two title for the first time in the club’s history. The board said they would build a statue in his honour outside the ground for bringing the title back to Boundary Park. His team had led for most of the season but almost threw it away in the last few games as a dreadful run of form or nerves hit at the wrong time. An early exit from the LDV Vans trophy may have helped Oldham clinch the title but they were very impressive throughout the season. Now Waldman must look ahead to the new season in League One and he knows it will be tough to gain back to back promotions with the lack of money and financial backing at the club. Can Waldman bring more success to this once famous club?

League Two Champions………………………….Oldham

Runners Up…………………………………………........Colchester

Third Place………………………………………….......Rotherham

Play Off winners……………………………………....Burton

Relegated to the Conference – York & Stockport

League Two Table

Burton 1 v 0 Notts County

National Conference Review

It was another thrilling season the conference as Bury blew their title chances in the last two games of the season allowing Kidderminster to win the title. Bury had been impressive throughout the season and sat top of the table for weeks but Kidderminster stuck with them and when Bury slipped up Kidderminster took full advantage, held their nerve and stole the title from under Bury’s noses. It was thrilling stuff for the fans in different ways. Elation for the Kidderminster fans and heartbreak and shock for the Bury fans who could not believe what happened to their team. Forest Green looked to be having a great season and hit top spot in the early parts of the season but their challenge faltered and could not keep pace with both Bury and eventual champions Kidderminster.

Bury made up for the disappointment of throwing the title away by gaining promotion via the play offs where they took all their frustration out on Lincoln who they 2-1 in the final.

National Conference Champions…………………Kidderminster

Play Off Winners…………………………………….........Bury

Relegated to Conference North/South – Stafford Rangers, Kingstonian & Hyde

National Conference Table

Play Off Final - Bury 2 v 1 Lincoln

Conference North Review

In the Conference North this season it was a similar scenario to the finish of the National Conference season although it was even closer in the Conference North. The two teams involved in the dramatic finish were Northwich and Scarborough who had pushed each other all the way to the final game of the season. Scarborough had been in top spot for most of the second half of the season only to throw it away and let Northwich take the title. Who would be a football fan!!!!!!! Scarborough then suffered more heartache as they lost in the play off semi final to Blyth and their fans had to suffer even more heartache as promotion slipped threw their fingers right at the death. Most people in football were surprised at Blyth’s play of victory but all credit has to go to them for their promotion to the Conference.

Conference North Champions…………………………............Northwich

Play Off Winners and Promotion to the Conference…..Blyth

Relegated – Alferton, Vauxhall Motors & Wakefield

Conference North Table

Play Off Final - Blyth 2 v 0 Southport

Conference South Review

In the Conference South this year Grays were the team that dominated the league and deserved won the league albeit by three points from runners up Farnborough. Grays had sat at the top of the league from about half way through the season and just kept on winning and the teams below kept losing at vital stages in the season. Woking looked to be the team that would challenge Grays all the way but their season faltered badly and they finished in a disappointing fifth position. Farnborough really came from nowhere to finish second, which they secured on the final day of the season. A fantastic effort for all those involved at the club but it proved fruitless when they missed out on promotion to the Conference.

Conference South Champions……………………………Grays

Runners Up…………………………………………………...........Farnborough

Relegated - Basingstoke, Bishop's Stortford & Weston-super-Mare

Conference South Table

Play Off Final - Hendon 0 v 1 Newport County

The European Scene

The Champions League

For the first time in five seasons an Italian club were not in the final of club football’s most prestigious competition. This season’s final was an all English affair as Liverpool took on Man Utd and it was a one sided final as Utd dominated from the start of the game and proved not only were they the best team in England but Europe as well. With this victory they had also done the double after winning the Premiership with ease earlier in the season. Edu, Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy were the goalscorers for Utd with Harry Kewell getting Liverpool’s goal. This could well be the start of Utd’s domination of this competition for a few years’ as they have the squad to do so. In the semi finals they put out Milan with ease so this maybe a sign of things to come.

Red Devils brush Liverpool aside to secure the Champions League!!!!!!

Liverpool 1 v 3 Man Utd

UEFA Cup

This season’s UEFA Cup final saw another English team reach the final in Arsenal as they took on Athletico Madrid at Old Trafford. Arsenal must have felt right at home as it was them who ended Utd’s incredible unbeaten run in the Premiership here at Old Trafford earlier in the season. They dominated this final and Madrid had no answer to the Gunner’s passing, moving and one touch football. It was fantastic to watch and really Madrid were handed a footballing lessons. Arsenal’s win here made it a cup double for them as they went on to win the FA Cup days later and to end the season on a terrific high.

Gunners hand out footballing lesson to Madrid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Athletico Madrid 0 v 1 Arsenal

European Super Cup

As the showcase match after the Champions League draw was made Milan certainly put on a good show to show what their intentions are in Europe. They dominated Dortmund from the first whistle to the last whistle with a performance typical of the Italian teams in Europe of the past few seasons. They were solid as a rock in defence and their attacking was sometimes on a different level to normal teams. It could have been a lot more than the scoreline suggests but goals from Miccoli and Torres were enough to secure yet another European Super Cup for Milan.

Milan too good for Dortmund!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milan 2 v 0 Dortmund

So there you have it folks it has been one hell of a season for all those involved in EFB one way or another and now we look forward to season six to see what that brings us all. Hope you enjoyed the read and look out for EFB Zeitung season six for more action packed reading about the goings on in EFB.

[chef]

another good EFB Zeitung update andy

[Andy H]

Cheers Pete. Your clan's doing pretty well right now so kutgw.

[chef]

thanx andy and yours goes from strength to strength

[steff]

It has been a troublesome time around Deepdale over the last 6 months.

The manager has been found to have a glue sniffing addiction.

The assistant manager with forced to admit that he was a binge drinker.

With these problems within the club its been little wonder that no one has been avaliable to come and talk to the media about the results.

So for the first time in over 6months I have decided to come and the face the light and talk to you about our results over the last 6 months.

Yeah and that binge drinker Sam Ellis was in charge for many of these games while I was off battling my own demons.

So I kicked him out

Anyways onto the report, Its long so bear with me.

Saturday 22nd November 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Norwich v Preston : 1-0 Win

It looked like Norwich had done enough to hold Preston off here as we pounded their goal looking to find the break through.

A combination of woeful finishing and great goalkeeping looked like keeping this match at 0-0 until Kevin Foley popped up in the 72nd minute and score the only goal of the game.

Fully deserved 3 points for us , Norwich will probably feel a little hard done by though.

Saturday 29th November 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Sheff Utd : 4-1 win

It took Craig Beattie only 3 mins to cut open Sheff Utd's defence, this was as long as this game lasted in terms of a contest.

After the first goal went in Utd looked deflated and 6mins later their misery was futher compounded as Charley Hearn grabbed Preston's 2nd of the game.

Young striker Tony Ross got in on the scoring act with his first goal of the season (as far as I can remember).

Craig Beattie completed the rout in the 61st minute.

The only downside for Preston was whe Beattie went off Injured in the 66th minute.

Saturday 6th December 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Nottm Forest v Preston : 4-1 loss

Confidence was high here after our dismanteling of Sheff Utd in our previous game.

The lesson we learned here was the over confidence can kill

Forest started the game the more lively side and we tried our best to keep them out but it was obvious to even the blind fans sitting the main stand that we werent going to hold out.

The opening goal came from Magne Hoseth in the 22nd minute.

Carlton Cole hit a double (26, 53) and Gylain Ndumbu-Nsungu (65) finished the game off.

Kevin Foley got our consolation goal in the 76th minute.

Tuesday 9th December 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Bournemouth : 1-0 loss

Even though we where crushed in our previous game we fancied our chances here against one of the relegation favourites.

Like I said before , over confidence kills

Try as we did, nothing was getting by the Bournemouth defence and then came the sickener.Daniel Nardiello chased onto a long ball a rifled a shot past the helpless keeper in the 62nd minute .

I have now come to realise that I hate my team.

Saturday 13th December 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Watford : 0-0 draw

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

11550 people turned up to watch this match , they now wish they hadn't bothered and went shopping with the wife instead.

On the plus side though , we got a point

Saturday 20th December 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Leicester v Preston : 1-0 loss

Failed here to take anything even though we had enough chances (Strikers Im looking at you here )

Bret Ormerod scored the only goal of the game in the 78th minute, and Peter Canero was sent off for Leicester in the 91st for being stupid.

Friday 26th December 2008 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Everton : 2-0 loss

We knew we would be up against it here as the league leaders came to Deepdale and believe it or not we didn't actually play badly here it's just that Everton played better

Chelsea reject Mikael Forssell opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and Li Tie doubled Everton's tally in the 48th minute.

Still it was a good performance from us , maybe we won't get relegated after all

Saturday 3rd of January 2009 : FA Cup 3rd Round : Preston V Bradford City : 3-0 win

The greatest cup competition in the world (I always thought this was the Champions League/ European cup, call it what you want but you get the idea).

Bradford never really got going we bided our time and took adventage.

Philip Mulryne opened the scoring with 32nd minute penalty.

He doubled his tally in the 79th minute and Arjan Van Norel killed the game off with Preston's third in the 89th minute.

Some Bradford player got sent off somewhere in there but the question is does anyone really care?

Wednesday 7th January 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Portsmouth v Preston : 3-0 loss

What was finely balanced match for 78mins then the roof fell in

After creating more than enough chances we had the chance to be 5-0 up.

Still after 77 minutes and still at 0-0 a point looked good

Bruno Cheyrou had other ideas though as he put Portsmouth in the lead.

Still with 12mins to go we had enough to time to grab a late goal and still get our point.

Valery Mezague put pay to that idea as he added Portsmouth 2nd in the 87minute.

Gary O'Neil rubbed salt in the wound with a goal in the 90th minute.

LIFE IS SO UNFAIR

Saturday 10th January 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Hull : 1-1 draw

Two Old Firm rejects were the stars of the show here.

Rangers reject Steven Thompson opened the scoring for Hull in the 17th minute.

This looked to be enough to secure all 3 points for Hull until Ex Celtic player Craig Beattie levelled for Preston in the 87th minute.

Saturday 17th January 2009 : FA Cup 4th Round : Preston v Bristol City : 2-1 loss

The FA cup came back to Deepdale once again with Preston looking to advance by knocking out a very good Bristol City side.

Arturo Lupoli opened the scoring in the 27th minute , Bristol could only hold the lead for 3mins before Daniel Huss levelled for Preston.

Peter Kopteff had the chance to put Bristol City ahead again with a penalty in the 30th minute, but he missed \o/

Arturo Lupoli booked Bristol City's place in the next round with a 67th minute strike.

Tuesday 20th January 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Gillingham v Preston : 1-1 draw

Another point for Preston

Andy Gray on his day off from Sky gave Gillingham the lead in the 24th minute.

Daniel Huss cancelled out Gillingham's lead with a strike in the 57minute.

Apart from that not alot else happened in this match.

Saturday 24th January 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v West Ham : 2-1 loss

Both teams were evenly match over the course of this match with Nigel Reo-Coker giving West Ham the lead in the 10th minute. Sean Gregan pulled Preston level on the 28minute mark before a Bobby Zamora coverted the world's dodgiest penatly in the 56th minute to give West Ham all three points.

Robbery

Saturday 31st January 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Ipswich : 4-3 win

A cracking match here as Preston discovered the fighting spirit that had been missing from most of their season to date.

The game exploded to life in the 22nd when Dean Bowditch fired Ipswich into the lead.

That looked to be enough to give Ipswich a half time lead but Craig Beattie fired Preston level right on the stroke of half time.

Lennart Van Den Berg put Preston into the lead in the 59th minute. Darrent Bent levelled the game once again in the 68th minute.

Daniel Huss hit a double (71,80) to put the game beyond Ipswich before Tommy Miller tried inspired an Ipswich comeback when he scored in the 88th minute but it was too little too late.

Saturday 7th February 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Swansea v Preston : 5-2 loss

For the second time in a week Preston found themselves involved in a seven goal thriller , although this time there was no happy ending as they were roundly gubbed 5-2 by Swansea City.

Keigan Parker give the welsh side the lead in the 3rd minute.

Barely a minute later Daniel Huss had pulled us level.

Craig Beattie gave Preston teh lead in the 12th minute.

Two minutes later it was all level again as Mcbeth Ntuthuko Sibaya (what a cool name ) netted for Swansea.

Jesper Gronkjaer started the downward spiral for us with an own goal in the 34th minute.

Keigan Parker got his second and Swansea's fourth on the hour mark.

Lee Trundle twisted the knife even futher by grabbing a fifth 3 mins later.

Tuesday 10th Febuary 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Crystal Palace v Preston : 5-1 loss

Meh we got fecking hammered here.

Got what we deserved ......nothing.

Things started so well when Daniel Huss gave us the lead in the 14th minute.

Then the roof fell in

James Dayton (18)

Philip Mulryne own goal (68)

Marlon Harewood (73)

Aaron Brown (80)

Aki Riihilahti (85)

At the end of this match I comment to the press that I hate my defender , now some of them are worried they may be become surplus to requirements, "that they may?" I think going by recent preformances not one of my back four will hold a start place next season should I still have a job.

Saturday 14th February 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Plymouth : 2-0 win

Not a very happy Valentines day for Plymouth as we finally managed to get our act together and hold it together for the full 90 mins

Craig Beattie opened the scoring in the 13th minute.

Jesper Gronkjaer added a second on 24mins.

Plymouth never managed anything of note in this match except for having a man sent off in the 71st minute, but most people had given up paying attention by this point, including me.

Saturday 21st February 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Crewe v Preston : 4-0 win

Crewe are a side supposedly gunning for promotion this season ?

Not on the strength of this performance.

Philip Mulryne opend the scoring after only 3minutes and added a second in 21mins , Sean Gregan got the third in the 25th minute.

Andrew Lonergan finished the fun off in 68mins.

Saturday 28th February 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Coventry : 1-0 win

A dull dull dull game

Bored everyone to tears....

BUT!

We still managed to get 3points

Daniel Huss grabbed teh only goal in the 50th minute then everyone went back to sleep.

Tuesday 3rd March 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Reading v Preston : 1-1 draw

This match never really had any life about it until the 73minute when Gabriel Agboniahor gave reading the lead , 3 minutes later Richard Cresswell scored for Preston ,Christoffer Andersson was sent off for Reading in the 83rd minute but it was too late for Preston to take advantage of thier numerical advantage.

Saturday 7th March 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v West Brom : 2-1 loss

With the number of games left in the season slowly decreasing Preston need to start taking points to secure their place in the Championship for next season.

Sadly they didnt get that idea during this game

Damien Francis opened the scoring in the 23rd minute

Craig Beattie grabbed a goal in the 71th minute and this looked to have done enough to secure a point but someone forgot to tell that to Michael Chopra this and he scored teh goal that gave West Brom all three points in the 84th minute.

Saturday 15th March 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Stoke v Preston : 3-0 loss

Our quest for three points here lasted for a mere 17 minutes when Paul Heffernan gave Stoke the lead.

Steve Kabba added another on the stroke of half time.

Gifton Noel-Williams got another on the final whistle.

Crap

Saturday 28th March 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Sunderland v Preston : 1-0

Another dull match (no surprises there then seeing as it involved us) one chance in the entire game and it fell to Sunderland's Aranda in the 71st he never missed , we lost , they won.

The end.

Saturday 4th April 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Norwich v Preston : 2-1 win

Yay! My players have finally realised that if we don't win games we will get relegated!

Daniel Huss was the first to get this idea into his head opening the scoring in the 19th minute.

Craig Beattie doubled the advantage in the 28th minute.

Supat Rungratsamee () pulled one back for Norwich in the 75th minute but it wasn't enough in the end.

Saturday 11th April 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Bristol City : 5-2 loss

So yeah.....We opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and look like we were going to go on and win comfortably ......aye right

Marcin Radzewicz scored in the 16th minute 1-1 , he was at it again in the 24 minute, 2-1 down.

Daniel Huss got his and Preston's 2nd in the 28th minute before we caved in........again

Steven Wilson got a double (39,53) before Radzewicz completed his hattrick in the 76th minute.

Dave I hate you

Tuesday 14th April 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Millwall v Preston : 3-2 loss

We took the lead twice here only to have Millwall pull it back and eventually win the game.

Daniel Huss opened the scoring in the 21st minute.

Ingemar Teever levelled for Millwall in the 49th minute.

A Daniel Carvalho own goal gave Preston the lead again in the 53rd minute.

Before a Kevin Braniff double (62, 88) gave Millwall all three points.

Saturday 18th April 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Sheff Utd v Preston : 3-0 loss

With only a couple of games left in the season Preston need wins to stave off relegation but no one seemed to have told the players this.

Chris Coupe got his brace (27,37) and Jack Lester added the 3rd in the 75th minute.

I can see the board lining up my p45 right now

Saturday 25th April 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Nottm Forest : 5-2 loss

So we got humped \o/

But with results elsewhere going our way we avoided relegation \o/

For anyone that acutally cares :

Forest goals scored by :

Andrew Lonergan own goal (15)

Dave Kitson (29)

Juanfran (25)

Pablo Sebastian Melgar (pen 41)

Filipe Oliveira (64)

Tim Bowler got both of Preston's goal (13,46)

We aren't going down \o/

Sunday 3rd of May 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Bournemouth v Preston : 3-2 loss

I had buggered off on holiday after the stress that was this season leaving my (soon to be sacked) assistant manager in charge.

Bournemouth shot into 2-0 lead through

Atli johannsson (15)

Daniel Nardiello (27)

Preston pulled one back through Craig Beattie in the 45th minute.

James Frayne put Bournemouth 3-1 up before Daniel Huss pulled another back for us in the 50th minute.

Try as we might we couldn't find the third goal

But meh they got relegated and we didn't \o/

Season over

Sam Ellis was on his way out of the club due to rejecting a new contract, this left me on the look out for a new assistant manager.

Michael Reiziger moved up from his coaching role to take over the vacant position and now we both turned to the task of rebuilding this rather poor squad in the hope of achieving a more respectable position in the Championship next season.

The players we kicked out

Alan McCormack To Burnley for a massive 95k

Ryan Taylor Free Transfer

Markus Schopp Free Transfer

Mo Camara Free Transfer

Michael Brown Free Transfer

Darren Ward Free Transfer

Players we signed

Phil Gray from Wrexham 575k (No idea why)

Lars Kristian Eriksen from Pashcing on a free

Alan Hutton free transfer , oddly enough on a free

Andreas Ivanschitz from Rapid Vienna on a free.

Players we loaned

Lasse Qvist from Man Utd until the end of the season.

So with a pre season games arranged I left my assistant manager in charge as I went searching for new players on the continent.

So stupid clearner put the notes of the pre season friendlies in the bin, so no reports of them, they were crap anyway

So...............

Onto the new season, COME ONE PRESTON NORTH END

Saturday 1st August 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Ipswich : 2-1 win

A new season and a new dawn for Preston?

Well it certainly looked like here ,we played some great stuff and were reward with a victory.

Charley Hearn opend the scoring in the 8th minute.

New signing Andreas Ivanschitz scored on his debut in the 43rd minute.

Darren Bent got Ipswich's goal in the 57th minute.

Tuesday 4th August 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Leicester v Preston : 2-1 win

It was another new Preston signing that took center stage here after the dazzling display by Andreas Ivanschitz the previous week, this week it was the turn of Lasse Qvist the on load striker from Man Utd, he grabbed a double (16,36) which was enough for give us the three points.

Richard Stearman got the goal for Leicester (82) but it was too little too late.

Saturday 8th August 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Millwall v Preston : 2-1 loss

Millwall shot into a 12th minute lead through goals from Tomi Petrescu (7) and Kevin Braniff (12).

Charley Hearn pulled a goal back with a penalty in the 43rd minute after a few tactical changes , we looked good even when we were behind and where perhaps a little unlucky not to take anything from the game.

Anyway thats my little story

Here is how the league now stands after the first 3 games of the season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Nottm Forest | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 9 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Millwall | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Cardiff | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Hull | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Crewe | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Gillingham | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Preston | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Coventry | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Norwich | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Bolton | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 4 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Leicester | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Sheff Utd | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Leeds | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Watford | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Burnley | | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | West Brom | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 3 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Stoke | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 3 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Q.P.R. | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Swansea | | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 2 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | West Ham | | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Bristol C | | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 1 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Blackpool | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Crystal Palace | | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Ipswich | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 0 |

</pre>

Behold 7th!

Best positon yet

*Mental note to self* Do not leave writing your report this long again or I will put a lit cigarette out in your eye, typing 30 odd games out is no fun *end note*

And if this is litterd with spelling mistakes i dont care

[David Johnston]

Just to let everyone know, I don't think I will be there tonight, if I am then it will be later on. Also I think I might have to work on Thursday night and I know that I have to work next Monday night, damn people booking huge groups in the pub. So it looks like I'll be leaving the ass man in charge to take us to the bottom of the league. Mind you after the start I made to the season he can't really be much worse.

[Andy H]

Aye well Dave looks like promotion is gone for another year for you.

Steff brilliant update mate, I don't care if it is littered with spelling mistakes as long as you do them i don't care. keep it up mate.

[Andy H]

The Fulham Festivities - A long hot pre season with new faces!!!

After the celebrations had stopped, Hepburn was keen to build on last season's success and silence any snipers who said his team were one sesaon wonders. Hepburn firstly took a long holiday somewhere in the Caribean with his many girlfriends that have came from his success as Fulham manager. Then it was down to business of building a squad capable of challenging on all four fronts next season in Hepburn's quest for more silverware.

He scoured the continent for talent and he managed to bring in a few players to bolster his already talented squad. here is who Hepburn managed to snap up during the teansfer window:

Michael Essien AMRC - Free transfer from Lyon - Highly regarded throughout europe as one of the most sought after players. Hepburn managed to snap him for free. Will add some more power to the Fulham midfield. Can play on the right or through the middle giving Hepburn more options.

Patrick Flynn DR - Free Transfer from Wolves - Brought in as back up for whoever will become Hepburn's first choice right back and may challenge for an automatic first team spot if he performs as Hepburn knows he can.

Jean-Alain Boumsong DC - Free Transfer from Rangers - Experienced centre half who adds a bit more competition to the centre half positions. Played many times for France and is a cool composed defender who can pick a pass.

Peter Enckelman GK - £1.9 million from Sheffield Wednesday - Hepburn has brought Enckelman to the club as back for Jerzy Dudek who was outstanding at times for Fulham last year.

Christian Schulz D/DML - £5.25 million from Bolton - Hepburn has been tracking this guy for years and has tried on numerous occasions to bring him to his old club Sheffield WEdnesday and he has now got his man. Hepburn has said he wanted an attacking left back and in Schulz he has just that. He can defend but has a lot of energy to get up and down the flank. Will be a good addition to the Fulham back four.

Andreas Hinkel D/DMR - Free Transfer from Chelsea - Hepburn simply could not turn down the chance to sign one of the best right backs in the world today. Bags of experience playing in Europe and at international level with Germany. Will be a sensational player for Fulham. Incidently he turned down offers from Milan and Man Utd to join Fulham which is a great coup for Fulham.

Leonardo Ponzio DMC - Free Transfer from Zaragoza - Hepburn bought this man to challenge Muntari for for starting place and he adds a lot of steel and agression to midfield much like Muntari. Will be a good battle throughout the season between the two to see who gts the nod from Hepburn for a starting place.

Johan Vonlanthen SC - Free transfer from Ajax - One of the up and coming strikers in Europe and is widely regarded by many. Should provide some power, pace and strength up front for Fulham.

So the signing were brought in and the hard work for the players was only just beginning as Hepburn put them through their paces in a bid to get them match fit and ready for the new season. During pre season Hepburn took Fulham on a tour of Denmark and here is how it turned out for them:

Pre Season Friendlies

Korup v Fulham (A) 13th July 2009

Final Score - Korup 0 v 2 Fulham

Koge v Fulham - (A) 16th July 2009

Final Score - Koge 1 v 0 Fulham

AGF v Fulham - (A) - 19th July 2009

Final Score - AGF 1 v 1 Fulham

Silkeborg v Fulham - (A) 22nd July 2009

Final Score - Silkeborg 0 v 2 Fulham

A mixed bag of results for Fulham but Hepburn was pleased with how his players were progressing and with the qualifying round of the Champions League coming up he was looking forward to that as his team pit their wits against the best in Europe.

Champions League Third Qualifying round Draw

In the breaking news from the Champions League Draw in Monaco, Fulham, not seeded in the draw have been paired with Scottish Champions Celtic with the first leg at Celtic Park. Here is how Hepburn reacted to the draw,

" I am extremely pleased with the draw as it could have been alot worse with teams such as Real madrid in that draw, no disrespect to Celtic of course. I am a proud Celtic fan, my family are all Celtic daft and no doubt they will be on the phone asking me for tickets...oh wait a minute. My emotions will be all over the place as I am good friend of Martin O'Neill and with most of the Celtic squad but first and foremost I will be trying to get Fulham into the Champions League even if I have to put my beloved out of it."

So there you have it folks what a game we will have between Celtic and Fulham and what a start to the season Fulham will have!!!!!

[steff]

Preston's yo-yo form continued over recent weeks as they dropped like a stone down the Championship table

Sunday 16th August 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Bolton : 3-0 loss

We had been looking to build on our good start to the season here but alas it wasn't to be

We never really got going here and it took only 2mins before Amdy Moustapha Faye gave Bolton the lead.

Lee Miller made it 2-0 in 26mins.

Then to make matters worse for us Andreas Ivanschitz went off injured in the 30th minute.

Kevin Davies completed teh walkover the in 88th minute.

Wednesday 19th August 2009 : Carling Cup 1st Round : Preston v Bristol City : 2-1 win

Phil Gray was on good form for Preston grabbing a superb double (4,49) Ronland Linz pulled one back for Bristol City but it wasn't enough to keep Bristol in the cup

Dave you may now hate me

Saturday 22nd August 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Cardiff v Preston : 3-1 loss

We are quite cleary struggling to figure out what formation best suits the players we have here at Preston.

Cardiff took advantage of my tactical cluelessness here , Kevin Lisbie gave the bluebirds the lead in the 15th minute.

Lasse (Run Lasse run!) Qvist pulled us level in the 41st minute.

Paul Hart converted a penalty just after the hour mark to give Cardiff a 2-1 lead and the misery was completed by cristian Pecci scored an own goal three minutes from time.

Tuesday 25th August 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Swansea : 1-1 draw

So aye a 4-4-1-1 formation doesn't really work well for us either

The conclusion here is that 1) My players suck really bad or 2) I suck really bad.

I'll leave everyone else to draw their own conclusions from that

Anyways onto the match.

Lasse Qvist gave us the lead in the 29th minute.

Things actually looked quite good at this point.

Try as we might we couldn't add to our lead.

Cristian Pecci went off injured after 52mins.

And Keigan Parker grabbed a point for Swansea with his 76th minute goal.

First choice keeper not up to the job, replacement with funny name signed on loan until the end of the season

Since our beloved goalkeeper has been selling goals since the season started I decided to bring in someone who was up to the job and this week we landed Newcastle's young goalkeeper Stef Doedee on loan until the end of the season.

Saturday 5th September 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Hull v Preston : 2-1 loss

Another three points lost here

Although Phil Gray proved to be the most dependable striker at Deepdale at the moment scoring yet again in this game.

Stuart Elliott gave Hull the lead in the 22nd minute.

Gray levelled in the 26th minute before Nigel Quashie sealed the game from Hull in the 79th minute.

Saturday 12th September 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v Crystal Palace 3-2 win

Lennart Van Den Berg is a player with a big future ahead of him (well according to my coaches anyway), he opened the scoring in the 10th minute.

Phil Gray grabbed the second in the 23rd minute continuing his good scoring run since joining the club in the close season.

Goals from Ryan Smith (39) and Aki Riihailahti (45)pulled Palace level before the half time whistle.

It was that man Gray again who popped up in the 72nd minute to take all three (totally deserved) points for Preston.

We've struggled a bit in recent weeks but seem to have now (touch wood) found the right balance in the side.

Here be the league table.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Bolton | | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 17 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Millwall | | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 17 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Crewe | | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 15 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Hull | | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 15 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Leeds | | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 15 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | West Brom | | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 14 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Nottm Forest | | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 13 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Leicester | | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 12 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | West Ham | | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 12 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Sheff Utd | | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 11 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Stoke | | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 11 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Cardiff | | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Gillingham | | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 10 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Coventry | | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 10 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Ipswich | | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 10 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Preston | | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 10 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Swansea | | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 9 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Norwich | | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 8 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Q.P.R. | | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 8 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Bristol C | | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Watford | | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 7 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Burnley | | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 6 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Crystal Palace | | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 5 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Blackpool | | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 4 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

16th

Only 7 points off the top , I'll still win it

[Andy H]

Steff if you win the league then I will emm....shocked and stunned. My face would go like this

Hope you change your formation or the instructions within your formation for Thursday, you never know you might do better.

[steff]

Wednesday 16th September 2009 : Carling Cup 2nd Round : Preston v Sunderland : 3-0 loss

Preston los the plot and their discipline here as they crashed out of the Carling cup to Sunderland.

Sean Davies gave Sunderland the lead in the 38th minute.

John Middleton doubled the advantage in the 43rd minute.

Preston adjusted tactics and went all out of pull themselves back into the match.

Then the roof fell in Andreas Ivanschitz was sent off in the 52nd minute and he was followed by Philip Mulryne 4mins later.

Louis Saha completed the scoring with an 87th minute penalty.

Saturday 19th September 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Leeds v Preston : 2-0 loss

Preston had been looking to move up in the Championship here with a win over Leeds Untied but the Yorkshire outfit had other ideas.

Sam Parkin gave Leeds the lead in the 15th minute before on loan Chris Hunter added the 2nd in the 25th minute.

Preston have nothing to offering the way of offence for the next 65mins.

Saturday 26th September 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Gillingham v Preston : 1-0 loss

Both teams created good chances to take all three points here sadly for Preston the only person capable of finishing one of those chances was Kevin Kyle in the 51st minute.

We suck badly

Saturday 10th October 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Preston v West Brom : 1-1 draw

Lasse Qvist gave Preston a 26th minute lead.

Michael Chopra levelled for West Brom in the 38th minute.

Both teams had chances to go on and win the game,the best falling to Preston's Tony Ross in the 89th minute but he fired his shot wide of Gehard Tremmel's left hand post.

Saturday 17th October 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Coventry v Preston : 0-0 draw

We were the better side here although this isn't saying very much as most of our shots came from a long way out.

Pretty dull and not much more to be said.

[/b]Saturday 24th October 2009 : Coca Cola Championship : Norwich v Preston : 2-2 draw[/b]

Javi gave Norwich an early lead in the 7th minute.

It was soon added to by Jordi Hoogsrate in the 11th minute.

Lasse Qvist pulled one back in the 37th minute.

Second half substitute Lennart Van Den Berg grabbed the equaliser in the 62nd minute.

Nice fight back for once

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Holders - Everton

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Millwall | | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 26 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Crewe | | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 13 | +8 | 25 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Hull | | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 24 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Leeds | | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 23 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Bolton | | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 13 | +12 | 21 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | West Ham | | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 18 | +2 | 21 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Gillingham | | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 21 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Nottm Forest | | 13 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 20 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Cardiff | | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 19 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Ipswich | | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 19 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | West Brom | | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 18 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Q.P.R. | | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 18 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Stoke | | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 18 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Leicester | | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 17 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Coventry | | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 17 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Sheff Utd | | 13 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 16 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Bristol C | | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 16 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Norwich | | 13 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 14 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Watford | | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 14 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Preston | | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 13 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Swansea | | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 11 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Crystal Palace | | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 8 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Burnley | | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 18 | -11 | 8 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Blackpool | | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 25 | -19 | 6 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

Slipping futher down the table here

Hopefully with a one or two new players comming in over the next few weeks I can halt the slide

Preston have confirmed the signing of Leeds reserve Striker Adriano today for a fee rumour to be around 50k.

Preston are also thought to have made a bid for Man City's 19 year old striker Ashley Elliott.

Although rumours are circulating that Preston may be about to withdraw from the Elliott deal.

[steff]

Ok as I may or may not have told some, all or none of you the other night, My son went into hospital today for some minor (but serious enough) surgery, My stress levels have been pushed today and to be honest I just don't feel like playing FM tonight.

If my mood changes between now and the game starting I'll show up

Just don't expect me.

Oh and where are all these updates you all promised?

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by steff:

Ok as I may or may not have told some, all or none of you the other night, My son went into hospital today for some minor (but serious enough) surgery, My stress levels have been pushed today and to be honest I just don't feel like playing FM tonight.

If my mood changes between now and the game starting I'll show up

Just don't expect me.

Oh and where are all these updates you all promised? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry to hear that Steff regarding your son. Hope he recovers and everything is alright.

Mine is done but I have just not put it up for everyone to see yet. Will be done by tomorrow night I promise. Don't know where Edan's is or Dave's although Dave is working alot at the moment.

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

I've been lazy and not done an update for a while, now I've gone and lost all the notes I had made, so instead of going all the way back to the end of last season I'll just start with this seasons pre-season signings and first set of games.

Well to end the season the board announced that we would be given a transfer budget of only 575k to try and boost the squad in the coming season, so that will be one player and some more free transfers.

Transfers In

Sol Campbell DC FREE

Jonathan Grounds SC FREE

Kevin Thomson AMRC LOAN from Chelsea

Nick Walker SC LOAN from Man U

Filipe Oliviera FC FREE

Friendly Results

LOST 1-0 against Cambridge Away

WON 2-0 against Stevenage Away

WON 1-0 against Hereford Away

LOST 2-0 against Walsall Away

Drew 1-1 against Bristol Rovers Away

Won 3-0 against Aylesbury Away

So despite some relatively lower class opposition still some positives to take from the game, such as only 4 goals conceded, and a few of the new signings have put in some good performances. Sol Campbell held the defence together well with his experience and Filipe Oliviera put the ball in the back of the net a few times to show he actually learned a few things at Chelsea.

Title Odds

With the titties putting in a good season last year and only just missing out due to a drop in form at the important time, the bookies have predicted that we will go all the way this year by making us 7-4 favourites to win promotion come the end of the season. However it remains to be seen whether Johnston can in fact boost his squad with such a modest budget.

So its on to the league campaign and the game reports will follow.

[edan217]

well after last season championship ,my board and the fans expect me to get a mid-table spot for division 1 .

well my board wont give me no money ,i am almost bankrupt and cant offer more then 925k a week for a contract .so very hard signing players .with this in mind i tried my best but only manged to sign 1 player

stephen grant mc for 22k

after not being able to sign no one ,it will be a hard task this year even though i still have a good but small squad.

i think i have a little chance getting the playoffs with some luck

northampton-oldham 2-1

well i guess the players were in shock of there first game in division 1 .

nilsson misses (28)

singh scores a nice shot 1-0(66)

ansell scores 2-0(71)

redknapp to cederqvist 2-1 (92)

oldham-barnsley 0-1

well my first home game in division 1 and my players played really good in this game but couldnt score .

pidgely(gk) own goal(6)

nilsson misses from 3 meters agianst the empty net (24)

cederqvist big miss(32)

nilsson 1 on 1 missed(38)

simmonds header saved off the line(76)

hartlepool-oldham 0-0

really boring game here ,we had 7 shots 0 on target that sais it all .

oldham-brighton 4-1

simmonds to nilsson 1-0(4)

nilsson misses(6)

hill scores after a mistake by pidgely 1-1(13)

cederqvist shot saved by keeper nilsson scores on the rebound 2-1(19)

johnson to grant 3-1(26)

johnson to nilsson 4-1(69)

after some poor matches a good game by oldham .

oldham-nott forrest league cup 0-1

gilan foules kitson in the area ,kitson scores from the penalty spot 0-1 (3)

nilsson misses(7,22)

grant shot just wide(70)

another bad game by oldham.

oldham-swindon 0-3

sigvaldson to grant ,grant with a great shot from 18 meters 0-1(8)

johnson 1 on 1 misses(11)

simmonds to johnson 0-2(40)

sigvaldson big miss (45)

johnson to grant 3-0(47)

oldham-grimsby 0-0

nilsson fouled in the area ,richardson takes a bad penalty and its saved by keeper (7)still 0-0

nilsson hits the bar in the 90th minute .not to many chances here but still we should have won .

derby-oldham 0-1

cederqvist big miss (17)

nilsson 1 on 1 missed (75)

smith to nilsson who shots from 20 meters and scores a great shot (81).0-1

derby were the better side here but we were lucky to steal the game.

oldham-hartlepool 0-1 vans thropy

well this was a very poor match ,1 chance for hartlepool and they win the match .

bircham scores in the 15th minute 0-1.

it looks like we aint intersted in any cup matches..

chesterfield-oldham 1-0

redknapp's free kick hits the crossbar (18)

smith scores 1-0(37)

nilsson 1 on 1 misses(60)

mk dons -oldham 0-1

weird game here there was nothing the whole game mk dons were a little better .

in the 89th minute there keepers kicks the ball ,the ball hits cederqvist and goes in 0-1 ,very funny and very lucky goal .

oldham-huddersfield 2-1

sigvaldsson misses (38,43)

shaw scores from penalty spot 0-1(50)

gilian to johnson 1-1(58)

johnson to sigvaldson 2-1(67)

shaw red card (83)

great come back .

oldham-rochdale 2-0

nilsson big miss (19)

grant with a great ball to nilsson 1-0(54)

simmonds to grant ,grant to nilsson 2-0(88)

bradford-oldham 2-1

nilsson big miss (20,28)

cederqvist big miss (29)

simmonds to nilsson 0-1(34)

murhead scores 1-1(43)

emanual scores on a great free kick 2-1 (58)

sigvaldson big miss (72)

this time we were unlucky to loose.

steff i hope everything is ok with your son .

andy i might be a little late tonight.

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

So here we find ourselves at the begining of a new campaign and the titties will be hoping to build upon their success from last season, with Sol Campbell brought in to add some experience to the defence hopefully less goals will be conceded this time around.

The campaign starts with a tricky game away at Leeds.

Leeds 2 Bristol City 0

The titties line up with a very familiar looking line up to last season. Notable additions are Sol Campbell in defence and Filipe Oliviera up front.

The titties couldn't have imagined a worse start however, with Leeds playing some fantastic one touch football ending with Mbayo finding himself in front of goal with a free shot which he buries. This all happening after only 3 minutes. The rest of the game passed slowly by with both teams sharing a handful of chances until the 81st minute when Leeds sealed the win with a very similar goal to the first, this time Parkin slots it home.

Johnston was unavailable to comment after the game, however shouts could be heard eminating from the dressing room, with everyone but Sennikov at left back being criticised for their performance.

Next the titties will be given a chance to show what they can do at home with Coventry the visitors.

Bristol City 0 Coventry 1

With Johnston learning from the last game a few more of the new signings have been brought into the first team.

It seems to have had no affect though, as it takes Coventry only 54 seconds to take the lead through Frank Le Gall. In this game the titties actaully had more of the possession and will be very frustrated at not being able to find the net for the rest of the game. Perhaps Coventry were only saved by a great performance by their keeper but it doesn't matter we still lost and I'm not happy.

Yet another loss and the titties are sitting very close to the bottom of the league. Through request Andy extended the session to allow me to play one more game in the hope that I wouldn't leave so dissapointed.

Norwich 2 Bristol City 2

Once again Johnston changes things about in the hope of finding a better combination that can match the performances of last season. And this time it seems to have worked with only 3 minutes on the clock Filipe Oliviera finds himself just outside a crowded box and unleashes a fierce strike that soars into the top corner. The Titties first goal of the new season and a cracker at that. Hopefully there's more to come. With 21 minutes gone and the Titties down to 10 men with Pisculichi on the sidelines receiving treatment Norwich are able to get a shot on goal which is saved by Phillips, but the rebound falls to Ryan jarvis who taps the ball into the net. In the second half and the titties step up a gear and begin to bombard the Norwich net with shots. And on the hour mark Wayne Routeledge makes a run from the right wing and finds himself in front of goal and a nice shot from the edge of the box finds its way past the keeper and into the back of the net. With it looking as though the titties were heading towards their first win of the season some poor defending allowed Norwich to grab the equaliser with only 5 minutes remaining. So 1 point is all we will get today. However with some better performances today things are looking brighter for the season. Oliviera and Michael Keen in particular had some good games, with Oliviera winning man of the match.

So the session ends with 1 point from 9 for the titties. Very dissapointing.

[Andy H]

Feck me, I leave this thread for a couple of hours and I see reports!!! good updates lads and mine will be up tomorrow.

[Andy H]

The Fulham Festivities – It’s getting better man!!!!

After quite a poor start to the season, Fulham have settled into their usual rhythm of fluent passing football and a dogged determination and it has seen them into the Champions League main draw and Fulham have managed to get into 4th position in the league. Hepburn ironed out early season problems quickly and the lack of goals seems to have gone and Fulham are gaining momentum as we reach an important of the season. Fulham are mixing it with the big boys again and boy do we love them for it!! Here is a run down of Fulham’s fixtures so far this season……………..

Champions League 3rd round qualifier 1st leg

Celtic v Fulham – (A) 5th August 2009

Fulham’s first ever champions league qualifier and it was away at Celtic Park into a huge arena with 60,000 screaming Celtic fans. Hepburn warned his players about the atmosphere and prepared them beforehand so none of them froze when they set foot out there. It was a game of mixed emotions for Hepburn as he set foot on his beloved’s hallowed turf. The match itself Fulham dominated but they could not find a way through and there was the usual bout of terrible shooting from the Fulham strike force. Against the run of play Celtic took the lead through Jerome Rothen and it looked as if they were going to take that lead to Craven Cottage as Fulham kept passing up some glorious opportunities. Essien in his first game in Fulham colours managed to get himself sent off five minutes from time as his frustration boiled over. With only two minutes to go Fulham midfielder Maresca managed to pull his side level after getting to a rebound first and slamming home from close range. It was more than deserved as they had run Celtic ragged throughout the match.

Final Score – Celtic 1 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Celtic – Rothen (52)

Goals – Fulham – Maresca (88)

Att – 53408

MOM – Enzo Maresca (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Southampton – (H) 8th August 2009

Fulham’s Premiership opener was at home against Southampton and a game Hepburn was looking to win quite easily to get his side off to a great start. They had much of the play but again the finishing with nothing short of woeful at times. Chances were made and chances were passed up much to Hepburn’s frustration. They finally made their pressure count in twenty five minutes when new signing Vonlanthen collected a through ball from Essien and slammed it home. The fans were now expecting Fulham to click into gear and maybe get a few more but that just was not the case. They had created enough chances but just could not finish them. They were made to pay for the missed chances when Southampton broke clear and Rodger Singh put the ball in the back of the net. Southampton held on bravely for a point and Hepburn and his team were left wondering how they had drawn that match.

Final Score – Fulham 1 v 1 Southampton

Goals – Fulham – Vonlanthen (25)

Goals – Southampton – Singh (59)

Att – 25934

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

Charlton v Fulham – (A) 15th August 2009

Next up for Fulham was a trip to the Valley to take on Charlton. Games against Charlton were always tight and Hepburn was expecting no difference there. Fulham started very poorly indeed and found themselves two down inside half an hour due to some terrible defending from new signing Boumsong. On both occasions he was far to casual in his marking and let the players he was supposed to be marking free to score. Hepburn was furious with his new signing and took him off at half time. His replacement was Hofland who had been superb last season and could feel slightly aggrieved he had lost his place in the team to this calamity. It was a more assured second half performance from Fulham but they could not find a way through a stubborn and well organised Charlton defence.

Final Score – Charlton 2 v 0 Fulham

Goals – Charlton – Guerk (13), Biscan (27)

Att – 27080

MOM – Stefan Klos (Charlton)

Champions League 3rd round qualifier 2nd leg

Fulham v Celtic – (H) 19th August 2009

After a poor performance at Charlton Hepburn dropped Boumsong for his horrendous errors and started with Hofland beside Bouma in defence. Fulham started like an express train and had Celtic under all sorts of pressure but could not find a way past Marshall in the Celtic goal. Celtic needing a goal to get through offered nothing in an attacking sense, as it was all Fulham. The break through finally came early in the second half from an unlikely source in Muntari but Hepburn was not caring. It was a beautifully taken goal from Muntari who slammed it home from the edge of the box. Fulham looked to build on their lead but Marshall was single handedly denying them a second goal to make it a little more comfortable for the home team. The fans were starting to get nervous as the minutes ticked away and Fulham were getting closer to the champions league proper. The players didn’t seem bothered as they bombarded the Celtic goal and they finally got their second five minutes from the end through van der Vaart and Fulham could look forward to the champions league and all the huge names they could draw.

Final Score – Fulham 2 v 0 Celtic

Goals – Fulham – Muntari (48), van der Vaart (85)

Att – 29970

MOM – Enzo Maresca (Fulham)

Champions League Draw

Fulham entered the champions league draw for the first time ever and Al Fayed the Fulham chairman along with Hepburn were present at the draw in Monaco. Both were excited to be here mixing with representatives from the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus and many more famous clubs. Here is the group and the teams they have been drawn against:

GROUP E

Fulham

Paris St Germain

Rosenborg

CSKA Moscow

Hepburn was delighted with that draw and commented,

“ Well we have been handed a favourable draw here in our first ever champions league as we have managed to avoid the real big guns and I think we have a chance of progressing to the knock out stages of this competition and that would be a huge achievement for us. For now though the champions league is out of our minds as we have a huge game on Monday night at Spurs so my players are totally focussed on that gameâ€.

Premiership

Tottenham v Fulham – (A) 24th August 2009

After all the excitement of the champions league draw it was back to league business for Hepburn and his team when they made the short journey across London to take Tottenham. Fulham had beaten them convincingly the last time the teams met and Hepburn was looking for more of the same. Fulham started brightly and gained quick control of the match with Maresca pulling the strings in the middle of the park. He has been sensational so far this season and today was no different. Fulham went ahead via the penalty spot as Nakamura slotted that home with ease. Tottenham seemed in a generous mood as they gave away another penalty right on half time, which Christian Schulz slammed home for his first goal for Fulham. They deserved their half time lead as they had all the possession and creation of chances. Early in the second half it was three as Vonlanthen scored his second goal for Fulham. Fulham then took their foot off the gas and soaked up everything Tottenham had and in the end it was a comprehensible victory for Fulham.

Final Score – Tottenham 0 v 3 Fulham

Goals – Fulham - Nakamura (pen, 32), Schulz (pen, 45), Vonlanthen (47)

Att – 36214

MOM – Enzo Maresca (Fulham)

Champions League Group E

Fulham v Rosenborg – (H) 9th September 2009

So the opening of the Champions league was upon us and the fans did not know what to expect as Rosenborg were a classy European side with loads of experience in this competition. For Fulham well it was their first ever match in the competition and were bound to be feeling nervous. When the game got underway Fulham started with the intent of scoring goals and immediately had Rosenborg on the back foot. Rosenborg looked in shock as Fulham passed their way through them with ease and were quickly one up through van der Vaart who was the real star of this game as he went on to grab a sensational hat trick. A few players in the Fulham side did have champions league experience and they showed it. It was a fantastic showing from Fulham and the fans were cheering everything Fulham did. In between the van der Vaart hat trick Vonlanthen also got his first champions league goal for Fulham. Everything seemed to be going Fulham’s way and when Anelka came on he grabbed two goals in the last ten minutes to put the icing on the cake for Fulham. Rosenborg trooped off at the end in disbelief while Fulham left to a standing ovation.

Final Score – Fulham 6 v 0 Rosenborg

Goals – Fulham – van der Vaart (12, 21, 56), Vonlanthen (56), Anelka (81, 89)

Att – 25226

MOM – Rafael van der Vaart (Fulham)

Premiership

Wolves v Fulham – (A) 12th September 2009

After the highs of the Champions league it was back to Premiership business again and trying to beat a team they have not beaten under Hepburn so far in his managerial career at Fulham. Again they dominated this match but yet again only came away with a point and left Hepburn wondering what his team have to do to actually beat Wolves. His side created numerous chances but Matt Murray produced an inspired display to keep them out. It was yet another two points dropped for Fulham who may be feeling a little hard done by so far in the Premiership this season.

Final Score – Wolves 0 v 0 Fulham

Att – 26231

MOM – Matt Murray (Wolves)

Premiership

Fulham v Aston Villa – (H) 16th September 2009

After the disappointment at Wolves, Fulham had Aston Villa next, another team that are hard to beat at the Cottage. It was another match where poor finishing cost Fulham a priceless victory. They had most of the game with Maresca in great form picking out passes at will but time after time the Fulham strike force passed up these glorious opportunities. In fact it was Maresca himself who opened the scoring with a superb strike from outside the area. Fulham could not build on that lead and it cost them dearly as with only eight minutes to go a deflected cross into the box fell right onto the head of Atouba and Villa were suddenly level. Hepburn threw everything at Villa in the closing minutes but it wasn’t enough to get a winner. After the game Hepburn declared to the media another striker will be brought in to help boost the striking department as he was fed up with all the missed chances costing them games.

Final Score – Fulham 1 v 1 Aston Villa

Goals – Fulham – Maresca (30)

Goals – Aston Villa – Atouba (82)

Att – 29985

MOM – Espen Johnson (Aston Villa)

Premiership

Man Utd v Fulham – (A) 19th September 2009

When your team is low on confidence the last thing you need is a trip to take on Premiership champions and champions league winners Man Utd. Fulham got off to the worst possible start when they fell behind after only twenty five seconds through Darren Fletcher. To their credit the players didn’t let their heads drop and actually went on to create a few chances but Howard was equal to them with some good saves. Utd were not creating much and Hepburn was happy with how things were going but he knew his team would have to take their chances. In the second half things got worse for Fulham as they fell two behind through Martin Petrov but yet again they kept fighting and again Howard came to Utd’s rescue on several occasions. They finally got a goal back in the 90th minute through the penalty spot when Anelka slammed the ball home. Anelka then had another glorious chance in injury time to salvage a point but he fired over the bar when it looked easier to score. Hepburn held his head in his hands much like most of the Fulham fans and then the referee blew for full time. Fulham had come so close to a sensational comeback and they matched Utd all the way here that Hepburn was very pleased about.

Final Score – Man Utd 2 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Man Utd – Fletcher (1), Petrov (69)

Goals – Fulham – Anelka (pen, 90)

Att – 66795

MOM – Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)

Champions League – Group E

CSKA Moscow v Fulham – (A) 22nd September 2009

This difficult opening to the season for Fulham was not getting any easier as they travelled to Moscow to take on CSKA. It was Fulham’s first ever game away from home and Hepburn knew this was going to be a really tough match. Fulham started the game very well indeed and were really positive and took the game to CSKA and had them under pressure very early on. They were keeping the ball well and creating openings and gave CSKA a real fright. Fulham eventually took the lead through Jermaine Pennant and the confidence started to flow this Fulham side and they went on to dominate the rest of the game. It could have been more than one had the CSKA keeper not been in fantastic form. It was a real team effort as everyone was working for each other and they never let CSKA into the game. Hepburn was hoping after this performance his team would go on a good run and start picking up some wins in the Premiership.

Final Score – CSKA Moscow 0 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Fulham – Pennant (22)

Att – 23582

MOM – Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)

Premiership

Fulham v Sunderland – (H) 26th September 2009

Hepburn was looking for a big performance in this game at home to Sunderland after such a great result and performance in midweek. His players delivered that performance and a few goals at last in the Premiership. They dominated this game with ease and could have scored a few more than the three they got but they took the foot off the gas in the second half but were still in total control. First half goals from Pearson, Vonlanthen and Jensen were enough to secure this relatively easy victory for Fulham. With Maresca rested Jensen came in and played his role very well and that is good news for Hepburn if his star man Maresca ever gets injured. Good win for Fulham.

Final Score – Fulham 3 v 0 Sunderland

Goals – Fulham - Pearson (26), Vonlanthen (31), Jensen (45)

Att – 19978

MOM – Stephen Pearson (Fulham)

Premiership

Middlesborough v Fulham – (A) 30th September 2009

After that great win at the Cottage, Fulham travelled to the Riverside to take on Middlesborough who tore them apart here last season. Again Hepburn was looking for another good performance, as he knew this would be really tough game after what happened here last season. A really tight game ensued with few chances for either side but Fulham took the chances that were presented to them and deservedly won this tight game. The big guns for Fulham were recalled in Maresca, Nakamura and van der Vaart and it was van der Vaart who opened the scoring with a superb goal. Vonlanthen scored number two or Fulham and Fulham were cruising from then on in. Boro pulled a goal back in the second half but they never really troubled Fulham after their and it was yet another important three points for Fulham as they pushed their way up the table.

Final Score – Middlesborough 1 v 2 Fulham

Goals – Boro – Mendieta (60)

Goals – Fulham – van der Vaart (15), Vonlanthen (29)

Att – 31748

MOM – Enzo Maresca (Fulham)

Premiership

Fulham v Sheffield Wednesday – (H) 10th October 2009

After a nice lay off for international duty it was time for Hepburn’s old club Sheffield Wednesday to come to the Cottage. As ever Hepburn has mixed emotions whenever they play the Owls, as he still loves the club that gave him his chance in football. He saw his current side Fulham start very sluggishly and was quickly out on the touchline demanding more from his players. The first goal was a scrappy affair but Hepburn was not complaining as his team settled after they went ahead. It was the unfortunate Les Brady who put the ball in his own net to give Fulham the lead. Fulham settled and started to dominate but the Owls held firm and created a couple of openings that Dudek had to clean up. The Owls went further behind when Essien made it two and from then on Fulham were coasting. In the second half Fulham could have added to their lead but in the end had to settle for a 2-0 victory.

Final Score – Fulham 2 v 0 Sheffield Wednesday

Goals – Fulham- Les Brady (og, 27), Michael Essien (33)

Att – 21515

MOM – Shunsuke Nakamura (Fulham)

Champions League Group E

Paris St Germain v Fulham – (A) 13th October 2009

Fulham faced possibly their toughest assignment yet in the champions league when they travelled to Paris to take on Paris St Germain in the famous Parc des Princes. PSG have been in this tournament for years and have a wealth of experience. Fulham got off to the best possible start when Maresca put them ahead after only two minutes to the shock of PSG. Fulham went on to create a few more chances and were controlling the game. PSG came back into the game and grabbed an equaliser right on half time through Reinaldo with a great header. Early in the second half PSG had Mendy sent off and handed the initiative back to Fulham who failed to capitalise against the ten men of PSG for the remainder of the game. A great performance against one of the best teams in Europe for the last few years, Hepburn was ecsastic at the result.

Final Score – PSG 1 v 1 Fulham

Goals – PSG – Reinaldo (44)

Goals – Fulham – Maresca (2)

Att – 42877

MOM – Mickael Imbert (PSG)

Premiership

Blackburn v Fulham – (A) 17th October 2009

Another tough game for Fulham here as they travelled to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn who had started the season brilliantly. It was a packed house inside Ewood Park as the home fans expected after their good start to the season. Fulham started the better of the two teams and quickly got control of the game putting Blackburn on the back foot and creating some half chances. Michael Essien broke the deadlock after twenty two minutes with a superb run and shot from inside the area. This seemed to settle Fulham even more and they started creating chances at will and Blackburn did well to keep the score at 1-0. Right on half time Enzo Maresca made it two with a superb goal. Blackburn could not get close to Fulham at all and were limited to long range efforts that never troubled Dudek and Fulham really controlled the second half without really creating too many chances. They seemed content on just passing the ball and retaining possession. In the end it was an easy victory for Fulham and three more points.

Final Score – Blackburn 0 v 2 Fulham

Goals – Fulham – Essien (22), Maresca (45)

Att – 28556

MOM – Johan Vonlanthen (Fulham)

Carling Cup 3rd round

Man City v Fulham – (A) 21st October

Hepburn rang the changes for this cup tie and boy did they pay for those errors as they travelled to the City of Manchester stadium in a replay of last season’s final. Fulham found City to be on top form and City made Fulham pay as they tore them apart with ease and looked as if they would score with every chance they created. The Fulham defence was all over the place and were chasing shadows for most of the match. Hepburn was left raging at a completely inept performance by his team albeit with a few changes but he felt they should have performed a lot better than they did. Vonlanthen grabbed the Fulham goal that was a mere consolation. So Fulham the cup holders out at the first hurdle but maybe this could be seen as a blessing in disguise if Fulham were to progress to the latter rounds of the champions league.

Final Score – Man City 4 v 1 Fulham

Goals – Man City – Gerard (13, 90), Rommedahl (38), Aliadiere (74)

Goals – Fulham – Vonlanthen (64)

Att – 35661

MOM – Gerard (Man City)

Premiership

Fulham v Wigan – (H) 24th October 2009

After the horror show in the last game Hepburn threw his best players back into the team to restore some confidence to the side and keep their Premiership run going. Hepburn demanded a big performance from all his players and they started this game like a team on a mission. They got stuck in and really took the game by the scruff of the neck. They created chance after chance but could not convert any of them and the fans held their heads in their hands time after time. The goals finally came in the second half as Wigan’s stubborn defence was breached; firstly by Maresca via the penalty spot and then Anelka sealed the victory with a goal eight minutes from time. A great performance from Fulham and three deserved points.

Final Score – Fulham 2 v 0 Wigan

Goals – Fulham – Maresca (pen, 61), Anelka (82)

Att – 23551

MOM – Shunsuke Nakamura (Fulham)

It has been a super start to the season so far for Fulham sees them sitting nicely in fourth position in the Premiership and top of their group in the champions league surprisingly ahead of PSG. The only blip was the Carling Cup exit but they can be forgiven for one shocking performance during the season.

Transfer News

In a shock move Fulham have paid Atalanta a fee of £16 million for Italian striker Gianpaolo Pazzini. The striker will be moving to the Cottage in January to help boost the Fulham attack.

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

First of all I'll update my transfer news with the ones I missed at the start.

Transfers In

Dave Bentley DC 1.1m from West Ham (don't know how it went through with only 500k transfer budget)

Neil Winstanley DC FREE

Transfers Out

Nicky Butt to Watford on a FREE

Radzewicz to Stoke on a FREE

Joseph Desire-Job to Derby on a FREE

Figueroa FREE (no new work permit granted)

NICK SHAW to BRIGHTON 1M

Now on to the real stuff, but unfortunately I had to leave the ass man in charge for these games and here is what he managed:

Results

BLACKPOOL (H) WON 4-0 Kopteff, Oliviera, Thomson, Linz

Preston (A) League Cup 1st Round Lost 2-1 Linz

LEICESTER (H) Lost 1-0

Crewe (A) Drew 1-1 Pisculichi

SHEFF UTD (H) Drew 0-0

Notts Forrest (A) Drew 0-0

So another dissapointing performance from the ass man as we find ourselves knocked out of the league cup early on after a defeat to Steff's Preston and only 1 win in the league. RUBBISH.

[David Johnston]

Titties Update

Last Weeks update. So, with the transfer season pretty much over its time to focus on the league campaign. And this time there is no ass man in charge, just me, and I'm no ass .

A nice easy game to start with Watford the visitors to Ashton Gate.

Bristol City 2 Watford 0

With the titties struggling to find a real goal scorer up front they have opted for long serving Roland Linz in this game. However it remains to be seen whether the goals will still come from the midfield area.

The game gets off to a flier for the Titties as Pisculichi makes a stunning run down the left flank before crossing to Keen in the centre who heads into the far corner. 1-0 after only 8 minutes. A couple of minutes later the goal creator Pisculichi is booked for diving. And after that, nothing until the 40th minute when once again Pisculichi was shown a yellow card for holding a player back, so he's off, a big loss for the titties. Into the second half and it is just as uneventful as the first. That is until the 80th minute when a few passes from back to forward sees Wayne Routledge in front of goal and he slots it past the keeper to make it 2-0. With the game over there was no real great performances from the titties and nothing to report.

So a good start with a 2-0 home win, but not a very convincing performance. So next its on to Stoke, at home again.

Bristol City 2 Stoke 0

New signing Jonathan Grounds takes his place up front in the hope of grabbing a few extra goals. And once again the titties go out strong from the start and it takes only 2 minutes for Grounds to make his mark. With Pisculichi suspended Darren Duncan takes his place on the left wing and his run is able to set up Grounds whos shot from the edge of the box hits the post and goes in. But once again the game dies off and neither team is able to create many chances for the rest of the first half. Into the second half and with 65 minutes on the clock Routledge makes a run down the right before switching to the left where Duncan volleys home to make it 2-0. So another 2-0 win for the titties despite a poor performance. This time however Wayne Routledge is able to gain the man of the match award for his performance.

So onwards and upwards for the titties with yet another 2-0 win and no goals conceded. Now its on to an away game with West Ham.

West Ham 2 Bristol City 0

So another 2-0 result but this time its not so good for the titties. This first half ends goalless with the titties having slightly more of the possession, but nobody really shining. Into the second half and West Ham just step up a gear and are able to brush the titties aside. 56 minutes and the hammers exploit a hole in the titties defence which allows them to take the lead. West Ham remain in control for the rest of the match and finally secure the win in the 90th minute. Yet another hole in the defence allow the hammers to win. Despite all this the only decent player for the titties today was centre back Sol Campbell.

Yet another poor performance and this time we were caught out. So its not looking good as we go into another away game this time against Burnley.

Burnley 0 Bristol City 3

The Titties seem to be up and down like a yoyo at the moment. But one thing that is consistent is that we certainly like to try and kill the game off early. And this time it takes only 13 seconds for Michael Keen to score. The kick off is taken and with about 5 passes Keen finds himself on the edge of the area and unleashes a shot that hits the back of the net. Despite having the majority of the possession it just wasn't Burnley's day. And with 20 minutes gone Duncan on the left wing sets up Oliviera in front of goal to make it 2-0. Everything seems to be going right for the titties until the 80th minute when Sol Campbell is shown his second yellow. But only 2 minutes later a long ball finds Linz through on goal and he doesn't fail. 3-0. A much better performance from the titties today with Michael Keen in particularly great form and deservedly wins the man of the match award.

So a great away win for the titties and this time a good performance to match. Now on to the last game of the night and its QPR at home.

Bristol City 0 QPR 2

Well, after all the good work in the last game its back downhill for the titties. Another poor poor performance and its worse for Routledge as he scores an own goal after 35 minutes to make it 1-0. Into the second half and in 52 minutes QPR add to the scoreline and make it 2-0. So despite having the majority of the possession the titties make it another home defeat and another poor performance.

So there we have it, 3 wins and 2 defeats. Another interesting fact is that the losing side never scored a goal. Hmmmm. Very interesting.

Top Goalscorer

With the goals coming from all over the park the only person to score 2 tonight was Michael Keen.

Top Assists

As with the goals there is only 1 player to achieve more than 1 assist and that was Duncan with 2.

Player of the Session

NONE. Nobody deserves to be awarded the player of the session. Despite the wins the team was very incosistent and poor.