http://www.fulhamusa.com/ FulhamUSA - USA Supporters Club of English Premier League team Fulham FC en-us http://www.fulhamusa.com/images/logo.gif http://www.fulhamusa.com/ fulhamusa@fulhamusa.com http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=719 Am I the only one who is still in a state of shock that Fulham is staying in the Premier League? Over the course of the last two months I have written countless articles writing off the Cottagers only to eat my words on Sunday when Danny Murphy became a Fulham legend when he headed home the 42 million pound goal to keep Fulham in the Premier League when all seemed done and dusted a few weeks ago. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=718 It's been a very tense week here where tolerance levels for fellow road users, shop assistants, general assorted relatives and Manure fans hit an all time low. Not that Manure fans South of Birmingham don't deserve everything they get. Came the weekend and Keefy was in the South of France and I was beginning to notice a pattern. He was away for Reading, Citeh, Birmingham and Portsmouth but came home for Liverpool and there is a growing movement within the family for not letting him renew his season ticket. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=717 Just over one month ago bookmakers in England had Fulham at 50-1 odds to stave off relegation. If anyone took that bet he/she is a rich person today as Fulham came back against all the odds to stave off relegation after Sunday's 1-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=716 One month ago it seemed highly unlikely that Fulham would be able to avoid relegation. However, the Cottagers have won three of their last four matches to vault up to 17th in the Premier League table with one match remaining at Portsmouth on Sunday afternoon. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=715 If someone would have told me one month ago that Fulham was going to reel off three wins out of four and be out of the relegation zone with one match to play I would have thought the person was having a laugh. In fact, when i find out I was going to Craven Cottage for the Birmingham City match I figured we would already be relegated by now and it would be a rather sad day at the Cottage. My was I wrong. The Cottage was rocking and rolling all afternoon long and with it left me many fond memories of the match, the club and the many wonderful people I met on that glorious Saturday in southwest London. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=713 Fulham struck twice after the break to edge towards Premier League safety and leave Birmingham facing the drop. Brian McBride headed home Jimmy Bullard's free-kick after 52 minutes to set Fulham on the way to victory. Radhi Jaidi headed wide from Birmingham's best chance with five minutes left before Erik Nevland broke clear to add Fulham's second. Fulham move out of the bottom three and Birmingham are under huge pressure in their last home game against Blackburn. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=712 Just three weeks ago it was hard to imagine how Fulham would be able to avoid relegation. After a draw at Derby and a disappointing home loss to Sunderland, the writing was on the wall that the Cottagers were going down. However, in two of the past three weeks, Fulham has won two road matches and been given a lifeline to avoid the drop. On Saturday it will all come to a head at Craven Cottage when Fulham takes on Birmingham City in what has turned out to be a do or die relegation match for both sides. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=711 Do Fulham supporters believe in miracles? After Saturday's amazing come from behind 3-2 win over Manchester City, confidence is sky high that the Cottagers might be able to pull themselves out of the relegation zone in the final two matches of the 2007-2008 season. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=710 You can hardly blame the travelling few for having a wobble in faith. It was going to be very hard to have a better day than Reading and two successive away wins (especially with a battering from Plod to fill the sandwich) would be hard to imagine. Statistically it would be our first double in four and a half years. I wavered all week whether to give away my ticket and my place on the coach with Wendy and Brian. Keefy is still travelling and everyone else was blowing hot and cold as well. Then Mikey's parents arrived in the UK and, bless them, they were in no doubt at all. An away trip to see Fulham was top of their list with the Imperial War Museum and the V&A firmly in second and third places. We carefully described the frozen North, the awfulness of the British Motorway (especially the catering) and quoted the stats but nothing could abate Joe's determination to travel with the Fulham faithful. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=708 Fulham staged a remarkable comeback to keep their Premier League hopes alive in a dramatic see-saw match. City opened a 2-0 lead thanks to a brilliant curler from Stephen Ireland and Benjani's side-foot finish. Diomansy Kamara put Fulham back into it with 20 minutes left by drilling a shot through 'keeper Joe Hart's legs. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=707 Well, it appears as if Fulham’s extended flirtation with the big boys of the English Premier Leauge is well and truly at an end. On a rainy, windy, gloomy Saturday afternoon in Southwest London, the gap of talent in the league was never more obvious. On a day where they rested Gerrard, Carragher, Torres, and Xabi Alonso, Liverpool still had plenty of class on display to dismiss Fulham 2-0 and, in the process, kick open the trap door to the Coca Cola Championship. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=706 Four games remain in the 2007-2008 season for Fulham Football Club. To avoid relegation the club is probably going to have to earn 10 points out of a possible 12. That will not be an easy task as the first contest will be this Saturday at Craven Cottage against a powerful Liverpool team. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=705 Firstly, no photos from this one I'm afraid... Reading are by far the worst club I know of for finding cameras and refusing entry, and I don't want the hassle. Anyway, marvellous day all round. As you may know I live in Reading, quite centrally, and am constantly bemused at the "andReading" syndrome which pervades the place. With a few very decent exceptions (more on them later) everyone seems to be "ArsenalandReading" or "ChelseaandReading" or in one memorable case (a lad who was taking the piss last year on Putney Bridge station, and who I interrogated to find his "ands") ArsenalandWycombeandReading. When I worked in the town there were season ticket holders whose desks would be adorned with Liverpool stuff. The day after Man United won the Chumps League you couldn't move for clouds of smug from various characters who I'd previously thought were Loyal Royals. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=704 It actually started last Saturday in the Golden Lion. After the commiseration, beer and despair the singing started. This was not football singing as most of us know it - this was a cross between the marching troops of WW2 and a gospel choir with Chutzpah. Certainly nothing that ever sang itself out of the Welsh hills could compete with it. The volume was high in both decibels and soul and we left the pub to a rendition of 'the Chelsea bombers' which could detach several layers of skin from any eardrum and rend the hearts of Fulham fans for a twenty mile radius. The Fulham family aren't going down with a whimper. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=703 In the sunshine, rain, hail, and gloom of Madjeski Stadium, Fulham ended their 34-match long winless road streak with a 2-0 thumping of a spirited, but mostly toothless Reading side. After several weeks of seeming aimlessness, the Whites produced 94 minutes of exciting, attacking football, and kept a clean sheet into the bargain. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=702 Mathematically Fulham is still alive in the race to avoid relegation. However, it will take close to a miracle to pull the club out of its current position and reach safety. Saturday, the Cottagers will try to start that impossible climb at the Madejski Stadium against Reading. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=701 Now that relegation is all but certain for our favorite team, what's a Fulham Fan to do? Especially a Fulham fan in the US? That's the question pondered by several dozen more vocal supporters both on FulhamUSA and the Offal. For one thing we speculate on what players will stay and which will go. That's already the grist on this thread. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=700 With its back against the wall in front of its home fans one would think that Fulham Football Club would come out and play its best match of the season. Unfortunately, the opposite happened as the Cottagers fell 3-1 to Sunderland in what surely is one of the final nails in Fulham's Premier League coffin. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=699 With six matches remaining in the 2007-2008 season chances are becoming fewer and fewer for Fulham to pick up points and fight its way out of the relegation zone. It is believed that Fulham will need to win four of six or even five of six to survive the drop. That improbable quest will begin on Saturday at Craven Cottage when Fulham will play host to Sunderland. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=698 For a mere two minutes on Saturday morning I had hope and belief that Fulham could avoid relegation. After trailing by a goal early on, the Cottagers battled back to take the lead in the 78th minute. Unfortunately, that lead and my optimism lasted just 120 seconds as Derby came back to equalize and shatter any thoughts or aspirations of a miracle Fulham escape this season as the match ended in a 2-2 draw. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=697 Away trips haven't been fun for some time, not being one for spreading misery I abstained from reporting the desperation and unrest. Sadly after Boro' I gave away my tickets more often than I used them and limited my support to the Cottage. There has been a change however. Not that we are doing any better in the tables, not that results have changed and not that the officials have let up in their relentless campaign to send us down (thanks a lot for the non-penalty at Brum by the way). There's a new mood though - Hodgson's disease seems to be contagious. Simply put - we are playing very well and the happiness of the players is spilling over into the crowd. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=696 After taking a 2-1 lead in the 78th minute through a Hameur Bouazza deflected goal, Fulham did what has hampered the team all season long, they squandered a second half lead and gave up an equalizing goal to Emanuel Villa in a well played, exciting 2-2 draw at Pride Park against Derby County. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=695 All Fulham fans traveling from Southewest Trains to St. Pancras should be aware that the entire Victoria line will be closed in both directions. Those traveling on South West Trains should continue on through Vauxhall and go all the way to Waterloo, then take the Northern Line to St. Pancras. For more inforation: Victoria Line Closure PDF http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=694 With seven matches remaining in league play for Fulham it is do or die for the Cottagers if they have any aspirations of getting themselves out of the relegation zone. They will have a great opportunity to pick up three points on Saturday when they invade Pride Park to take on cellar dwellers Derby County in a vital Premier League tie for the Cottagers. http://www.fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=693 Fulham's hopes of fighting off relegation were dealt a blow when Newcastle United scored an early sixth minute goal through Mark Viduka to give the Magpies an early lead. Michael Owen would add a second in the second half to give Kevin Keegan his first win at Newcastle and more importantly gives the Magpies their first league win since December 15th.