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Turning Back The Clock: Fulham Story In the 2013/14 season, Fulham finished second bottom and were relegated from the British Premier League. Despite the signing of players like World Cup silver medallist Maarten Stekelenburg and Greek goal machine Kostas Mitroglou, the team never gelled and Bundesliga winning manager Felix Magath came in too late to save them. But what if the board realised that Martin Jol was losing his touch and replaced him at the start? Pre-Season (2013/14) Fulham fan Seth Common’s appointment might have come as a surprise to most football fans, considering he got the job over Rene Meulensteen and the favourite Luis Boa Morte, but he soon signed the two as youth coach and head scout. Change soon came- Seth allowed talented youth product Dan Burn leave for 7.75 M, in hope of tempting Doria to Craven Cottage with the new cash. Doria’s club Botafogo was certainly aware of Fulham’s defensive needs and put a 20.8 M release clause on the Brazilian. L However, an Argentine saviour was not far away… Guillermo Burdisso, fed up of the comparisons to his brother Nicolas, wanted to prove himself in the Premier League. After Boa Morte heard this, he agreed terms with Boca Juniors and GB is our first signing at just 1.7 M! Burdisso will fit nicely with Hangeland and Amorebieta in a three-man defence. Fulham’s around the world scouting goes to Romania, where Common and Boa Morte persuaded Steaua to let Nicosor Stanciu join Fulham. The Romanians strongly resisted, but a 3.5 M deal was eventually too attractive and the one-cap, one-goal Romanian international will be a superb long-term replacement for Spurs loanee Lewis Holtby. Tactics Despite making a net profit, also breezing past MK Dons and Brentford in Friendly matches, the Cottagers were unable to find a good Defensive/Central Midfielder to plug the hole in midfield. Despite this, Fulham went into their first match at the Emirates with a 3-5-1-1 formation, relying on new boy Stanciu’s versatility to retain possession against a powerful opponent. The team is set to press and harry Arsenal’s more technical players. August 2013/14 Arsenal (A) Against Arsenal, Fulham shocked everyone as Alex Kacaniklic made it 1-0 after 4 minutes… but Kostas Mitroglou was offside and the goal won’t stand. After that, the normal resumed as Theo Walcott punished Fulham for lacking ambition with a quick goal. Fulham then used shorter but more ambitious passing, but from a quick counter attack Walcott made it 2-0. After the break Pajtim Kasami replaced Stanciu. Kasami immediately took a shot- and it was 2-1 just like that! Unbelievable football that woke up our main man Mitroglou, who then headed in a corner to equalise! We could even have won, but a hard earned draw is a superb result for us. Sums up the Gunners season in a nutshell, doesn’t it? Result(Score): D(2-2) West Ham (H) It was an unchanged lineup, but we were more dominant against West Ham. Finishing was harder- until Sascha Riether, playing as a right wide midfielder surprisingly scored. West Ham had no initiative in attack, so Lewis Holtby made it safe with a free kick. Result(Score): W(2-0) Man City (H) Against the ‘Noisy Neighbours’ I decided to field Johnny Heitinga instead of the unfit Scott Parker, and it backfired. BBM Fernandinho easily ran through our defence after 3 minutes for an easy goal. At the other end, Joe Hart was unbeatable against Mitroglou, who was too direct.. Another BBM James Milner scored a similar goal to make it 2-0. Kvist, who played in his ‘natural’ position rather than DM, got a 5/10. When did FMH introduce the ability to hallucinate? Result(Score): L(0-2) Carling Cup- Northampton (H) Lasse Vigen, Patrick Roberts and Moussa Dembele- the kids came out to play. Dembele quickly gave Fulham the lead. After continued attacking didn’t have any effect at both goals, we went for a balanced style- and Northampton equalised. Despite bringing on the likes of William Kvist and Nicosor Stanciu, Northampton GK beat away at least 20 Fulham SOTs to bring us to penalties. Cillessen might as well have been in goal for us after that, magic Maarten saving zero out of six penalties. Poor Matthew Briggs then skied his penalty- and Fulham’s cup curse continues. Result(Score): L(5-6p,1-1aet) NEW SIGNING ALERT Manchester United was next, but we finally secure a decent CM- Prince Oniangue. Our third and final signing this window, the Reims man looks like an absolute beast at just 2.9 M. Hopefully we can get a draw at Old Trafford, like in real life… Man United (A) At least we’re consistent in the league, finding ourselves 0-2 down within 10 minutes. That man RVP shows us why you shouldn’t ‘betray’ the Red Devils (But they are still my 2nd favourites!) Then suddenly, that man Prince Oniangue scores on his debut! It was an unbelievable goal that too, from 30 yards, unfortunately FMH does not allow replays. What a crisis at Old Trafford! It’s RVP to save the day again, finishing his hat trick and finishing Fulham. (*whispers*Holtby had a goal disallowed too at 0-0…) Result(Score): L(1-3) Verdict Mid-table, here we come! Expectations are not high this month, so 12th is an OK start. The 3-5-1-1 started well, but really not good enough against the top teams. Off the pitch, I’m happy with my signings, even Stanciu, who struggled a lot this month. On the outs, Dan Burn is a nice FM defender but he costs almost as much as our 3 signings combined. http://i.imgur.com/Z4ulZn3.png Player Of The Month Guillermo Burdisso 20 Tackling, 20 Positioning, 18 Heading, all for just 1.7 million. Nicolas's little bro has the board singing my praises.

Greetings one and all, I'm Seth from Singapore, and on the rare occasions I get on the pitch, I play as a Limited Defender. Feel free to call me "Seth Boa Morte" though. ^_^ My favorite club is definitely Fulham, having followed them since 2004. Before that, like many others my team was Manchester United, but I've never looked back since turning to the peaceful London side. Came for Van Der Sar/ Saha, stayed for the Thames, Boa Morte, Deuce (Clint Dempsey) among various reasons. We have slumped recently, no doubt due to incompetent transfers, but I will forever be a proud Fulham kit wearer amongst the Liverpools, Manchesters, Arsenals and Bayerns. "Anacondas" was a Facebook name I randomly coined, but my favourite player Luis Boa Morte has always been in my subconcious. His passion and determination for the Cottagers can never be replicated. FM 2014 is the best $12.99 (Singaporean Currency) I've ever spent, and with that I'm looking forward to share my wonderful experiences of the game.