{"id":7566,"date":"2023-03-11T13:28:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T13:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7566"},"modified":"2023-03-12T23:37:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-12T23:37:18","slug":"quiet-please-its-the-celebration-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7566","title":{"rendered":"Quiet Please – It\u2019s The Celebration Police !"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sunday at 2.00pm sees us hop across London to Craven Cottage for the second of four games in a Thursday – Sunday – Thursday – Sunday sequence. This one is sandwiched between the two legs of our Europa League Round of 16 games against Sporting Lisbon, coincidentally the birth place of Fulham\u2019s Portuguese manager, Marco Silva, 45 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was always one of Dave\u2019s favourite grounds to visit, nestling on the banks of the Thames, a mere 1.7 miles by road from the Bus Stop in Fulham, but light years away in terms of culture and respect, and a fair separation in terms of this year\u2019s League positions too. Fulham currently sit in 7th place, behind Liverpool only on goal difference until last weekend\u2019shilarious happenings at Anfield, while Chelsea are 5 points and 3 positions further back in 10th. Long may that continue! After being relegated or promoted in each of their last five seasons, Fulham seem certain to consolidate and build on their Premier League status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things are changing at Craven Cottage. In 2019 the owner, Shahid Khan, signed the deal to develop the Riverside Stand, alongside the Thames, into a new quality venue for bars, cafes, a hotel facility and new stand that would add around 4,000 to their capacity, taking it up to 29,000, in readiness for the season opening in 2022. If you are to be among the travelling faithful this weekend however, you will have to curb your enthusiasm as the original plan has been changed and delayed, and is now due to open for the beginning of the 2023\/24 season. Such changes are not new to Fulham though. Way back in the 1980s it was announced that they were intending to turn Craven Cottage into an all-seater stadium as they had plans to buy a settee!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulham have long standing close rivals in West London, namely QPR and Brentford, from their time playing each other mostly in the lower divisions. The rivalry is fierce, as evidenced in the story about the Fulham fan, the Brentford fan and the QPR fan who were out climbing a mountain together and arguing about who loved his team more. The Brentford fan insisted he was the most loyal. \u201cThis is for BRENTFORD !\u201c, he yelled and threw himself off the side of the mountain. Not to be outdone, the Fulham fan was next to profess his love for his club. \u201cThis is for FULHAM !\u201d, he yelled and threw the QPR fan off the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The History<\/strong>
I have decided North Bank Ned does this kind of thing much better in his previews than I do – and there are other issues I would like to touch on – so I\u2019ve limited the stats to just our Premier League head to head history. Of 31 games Fulham have won just 3, there have been 6 draws and 22 Arsenal wins. Of 9 Premier League games since 2012, Arsenal have won 7 and drawn 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 26 games this season Fulham have W11, D6, L9, GF38, GA34, Pts39. In our 26 games this season Arsenal have W20, D3, L3, GF59, GA25, Pts63.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team News<\/strong>
For Fulham, Cedric Soares is ineligible as he still belongs to us (sigh), Tom Cairney, Layvin Kurzawa and Neeskens Kebano remain out due to a mix of injury and suspension. I have to admit to knowing nothing about any of them so cannot guess whether this will greatly affect their chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As ever, Aleksandar Mitrovic is by far their main threat with 11 goals and 3 assists this season. Bobby Reid and Manor Solomon are next in the rankings with 9 goals and a solitary assist between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Arsenal, Martin \u00d8degaard and Kieran Tierney are both being monitored following their midweek illnesses. Leandro Trossard is apparently doubtful with the groin injury he picked up against Bournemouth, and is more likely to be fit for the return of Sporting Lisbon on Thursday. Eddie Nketiah is also a doubt with an ankle problem. Mikel Arteta continues to tease us with the latest \u201cnews\u201d on Gabriel Jes\u00fas. He is said to be nearing a return from his knee injury but is \u201cunlikely to be rushed back into action\u201d. That\u2019s all clear then! At least I guess he must be guaranteed to rise again at Easter \u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c9mile Smith-Rowe is so obviously a class player, it would be good to see him continue his route to full fitness with some time from the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team selection is becoming a foregone conclusion these days, which must be a credit to either the strength and conditioning staff, or the psychologists, and will almost certainly be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; \u00d8degaard, Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Martinelli, Nelson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Trossard will presumably start in place of Nelson if fit, and I wonder if Arteta might start Vieira and give a tired looking Saka a rest on the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Issues<\/strong>
I\u2019ve taken the liberty of including some thoughts on some broader matters here, something that was thought by the management to be a good idea a while back. These two issues should certainly spark a bit of debate in the drinks – be quick though, this will all be gone tomorrow as games are coming thicker and faster than Aaron Lennon just now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pierluigi Collina, he of the bald head and staring eyes, scarily ceased refereeing nearly 20 years ago. He is now FIFA Head of Referees. Bizarrely and utterly in keeping with referees\u2019 propensity for inconsistency, he has been questioning Andy Madely\u2019s decision to allow only 3 added minutes in Man Utd\u2019s 7-0 thrashing at the weekend, while also talking about plans to introduce a \u201cmercy\u201d rule in football, whereby if a team is losing heavily at the end of 90 minutes, the officials could decide to end the match without completing the correct, full amount of added time! This seems, in metaphorical terms, like complaining you haven\u2019t got enough cake and then moaning that you don\u2019t want to eat it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implications are no less ridiculous just because they are blindingly obvious. A game is supposed to be 90 minutes long. Some struggling teams already try to waste as much of that 90 as possible to earn or save a point. It\u2019s infuriating when they get away with it and it cheats the paying fans out of the entertainment they have paid to watch. Quite aside from the pure entertainment aspect of this problem, it prevents attacking teams from having as much time as possible to earn as many points and score as many goals as possible – a factor which could be decisive at the end of a season in a league that can be won or lost on Goal Difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a couple of incidental issues related to this apparently bonkers idea. Firstly, who, and at what point in time exactly, decides that proceedings should be brought to a premature end, and what precisely determines that a team is losing heavily enough for the rule to be employed? Our officials can\u2019t apply the present set of rules anything like consistently – I have long since given up pretending to understand what is and isn\u2019t handball anymore – and introducing this bugger’s muddle sounds like a recipe for total anarchy on the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, the more general issue of time wasting. Lying down \u201cinjured\u201d has long been a way of players eating up remaining minutes because they know that despite the actual rules about stopping play for injuries, referees will invariably do so if you hit the deck and stay there. This applies particularly to the new concussion protocols, where stupid players are stretching the rules by feigning head injuries to get play halted immediately. It quickly becomes obvious when players have done this and it should result in an automatic yellow – or red? – card. This rule was implemented for players\u2019 safety and protection and to use it dishonestly is especially objectionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Celebration Police<\/strong>
Oh ffs! Having turned down 3 penalty appeals in our match against Bournemouth, referee Chris Kavanagh was so miffed that we still managed to win that he reported us to the FA for over celebrating. They must have been waiting a long time for this too as the FA have now announced that they will be investigating our celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess the problem is that these people are so convinced that football is now purely a business, that they just don\u2019t understand how players, managers and fans can still get overcome with raw emotions when they win a crucial match with the last kick of the game, but what the hell is the point of it all if you can\u2019t celebrate winning? Those scenes at the end of our game will sell the Premier League to millions more people round the world than any number of adverts for health insurance or mega expensive watches ever could – if that really is the only criterion by which they can get their fat heads round the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years of anti-Arsenal, anti-Wenger feeling, the refereeing bias towards United (unconscious or otherwise) and the refereeing standards we particularly still suffer from today – that\u2019s quite a list – have contributed to the amazing reconnection between club and fans this season, as we finally have a team that can genuinely compete again, a team everyone can get behind with real hope and a chance to settle years of old scores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The treatment of Diaby, Ramsey, Eduardo, Cazorla and the way officials almost allowed it to happen to soft, foreign Arsenal, and the media excusing the culprits as \u201cnot that kind of person\u201d, incensed Arsenal fans and to this day the balance has never been redressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is massive love and pride for this club, and deep anger at the way the club has been treated for a long time. Beating those thuggish players, er, inconsistent officials, media detractors and oligarchs and sheiks who have bought their way past us to the top, is providing us with a release valve to let out all that pent up frustration, quite apart from the joy, excitement and hope of maybe winning the league again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are doing it fairly and with class. But please do it quietly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holic Pound<\/strong>
Typical odds for this one are 5\/1 against a Fulham win; 16\/5 against the draw and 3\/5 on an Arsenal win. Of all our strikers the only two guaranteed fit to start are Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli who are both quoted by betfair at 11\/2 to score first, and 15\/8 to score at any time, if you prefer more generous odds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kick-off is on Sunday 12th March at 14.00 UK time. TV coverage on Sky Sports. Referee is David Coote. VAR is Peter Bankes. The choice of personnel shouldn\u2019t matter but \u2026.. you know \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to relax and enjoy the game – 12 to go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday at 2.00pm sees us hop across London to Craven Cottage for the second of four games in a Thursday – Sunday – Thursday – Sunday sequence. This one is sandwiched between the two legs of our Europa League Round of 16 games against Sporting Lisbon, coincidentally the birth place of Fulham\u2019s Portuguese manager, Marco […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7566"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7577,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7566\/revisions\/7577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}