' MATCH THREAD: CARDIFF CITY v FULHAM ' MATCH THREAD

CARDIFF CITY v FULHAM
Championship
Saturday 25 February, 15:00
Cardiff City Stadium

Untitled.jpg

Todays Team
McGregor, Connolly, Morrison, Bamba, Richards, Ralls, Gunnarsson, K Harris, Noone, Hoilett, Zohore

Subs: Murphy, Bennett, John, Whittingham, Halford, M Harris, Pilkington


' OVER 20,000 FANS ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW TO WATCH CARDIFF GO FOR THEIR FORTH CONSECUTIVE WIN & NEIL WARLOCKS ANNOUNCEMENT HE'S HERE TO MANAGE THE MIGHTY BLUEBIRDS NEXT SEASON '

24/02/17

Injury update...

Neil Warnock:

“No New injuries, the same ones. Rickie is having treatment on his back after seeing a specialist.

“Rhys Healey is got to have an operation in a couple of weeks when everything’s calmed down.

Manga has trained - not fully - and is doing quite well and is not that long looking at him.”


" GREAT VALUE TO WATCH CARDIFF CITY THIS SATURDAY "

" CAN CITY MAKE IT 4 WINS OUT OF 4? LETS TRY AND GET 20k AT THE CCS "


" UPDATED DAILY "

23/02/17

Team News

Rickie Lambert has seen a specialist with his back,but he remains a big doubt.

Brunoe Ecuele-Manga remains out with knee ligament damage.

Lee Peltier will also miss out after undergoing an operation on his ankle last week.

Rhys Healey is set to miss up to nine months due to a ligament injury he suffered last week.



Latest News


Cardiff City fans can pay on the day



Possible Lineups

Cardiff City

1 McGregor
16 Connolly
4 Morrison
14 Bamba
6 Richards
11 Noone
17 Gunnarsson
8 Ralls
24 K Harris
33 Hoilett
26 Zohore


Fulham

1 Bettinelli
4 Odoi
26 Kalas
13 Ream
3 Malone
6 McDonald
14 Johansen
24 Aluko
10 Cairney
11 Ayité
7 Kebano


The Opposition



Fulham

Full name Fulham Football Club
Nickname(s) The Cottagers, The Whites, The Black and White army
Founded 1879; 138 years ago (as Fulham St. Andrews Football & Cricket Club)
Ground Craven Cottage
Capacity 25,700
Owner Shahid Khan
Chairman Shahid Khan
Manager Slaviša Jokanović
League Championship

Fulham Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fulham, Greater London, England. Founded in 1879, they play in the Championship, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2013–14 under Felix Magath, after 13 consecutive seasons in the top-flight. They are the oldest-established football team from London to have played in the Premier League.

The club has spent 25 seasons in English football's top division, the majority of these in two spells during the 1960s and 2000s. The latter spell was associated with former chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, after the club had climbed up from the fourth tier in the 1990s. Fulham have never won a major honour, although they have reached two major finals: in 1975, as a Second Division team, they contested the FA Cup Final for the only time in their history, losing 2–0 to West Ham United, and in 2010 they reached the final of the UEFA Europa League, which they contested with Atlético Madrid in Hamburg, losing 2–1 after extra time.

The club has produced many English greats, including Johnny Haynes, George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and Alan Mullery. They play at Craven Cottage, a ground on the banks of the River Thames in Fulham which has been their home since 1896. Fulham's training ground is located near Motspur Park, where the club's Academy is also situated.


2016/17 Results

Cardiff

SAT 18 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Cardiff City 5 - 0 Rotherham
TUE 14 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Derby County 3 - 4 Cardiff City
SAT 11 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Leeds United 0 - 2 Cardiff City
SAT 4 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Cardiff City 0 - 1 Norwich City


Fulham

TUE 14 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Fulham 3 - 2 Nottingham Forest
SAT 11 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Fulham 3 - 2 Wigan Athletic
SAT 4 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham City 1 - 0 Fulham
WED 1 FEB 2017 - CHAMPIONSHIP Burton Albion 0 - 2 Fulham



Recent meetings

30 Aug 2014 Fulham v Cardiff City D 1-1 League Championship
10 Jan 2015 Cardiff City v Fulham W 1-0 League Championship
08 Aug 2015 Cardiff City v Fulham D 1-1 League Championship
09 Apr 2016 Fulham v Cardiff City L 2-1 League Championship
20 Aug 2016 Fulham v Cardiff City D 2-2 League Championship
08 Jan 2017 Cardiff City v Fulham L 1-2 FA Cup


Previous Highlights




Match Odds

Cardiff 8/5
Draw 12/5
Fulham 6/4


Tickets


Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCS Ticket Office situated in the Grandstand, next to Corporate Entrance 2.

Alternatively, you can call the Stadium Ticket Office on 0845 345 1400. The Ticket Office is open from 9am to 5:30pm on Monday to Friday, and 9am to 3pm on non match-day Saturdays.

The easiest way is to book online - http://www.eticketing.co.uk/cardiffcity


Guess the Score / Attendance

Post your predicted score/attendance below

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

3-1 City!

City 4 Fulham 2

" THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME OF THE SEASON SO FAR "

Media Wales

Monday 20th Feb 2017

Cardiff v Fulham to be a bumper gate at Cardiff City Stadium this Saturday 3pm.

After three victories on the trot, a feel-good factor not seen since the Malky Mackay promotion days and a real test looming versus Fulham, the Cardiff hierarchy could have anticipated a 25,000 gate.

Whatever Saturday's crowd figure, those who do go to the football ahead of watching the rugby shouldn't under-estimate the significance of the 90 minutes that will be unfolding before them.

It is the most important game Cardiff will play since the win or bust clash with Sheffield Wednesday 10 months ago, when Russell Slade's side saw their hopes of leapfrogging the Owls into sixth spot dashed by a 3-0 Hillsborough hammering.

Why the significance of it? For mind-set, as much as anything else.



Championship pundits strongly tip Fulham (8th) and Norwich (7th) to gatecrash the top six come the end of the season. Cardiff understandably don't even merit a mention, other than from Bluebirds legend Blakey.

Yet overcome the Cottagers in the Welsh capital on Saturday afternoon and Warnock's men will be just a point behind them and potentially only three off Norwich.

It should be emphasised that Fulham have a couple of games in hand, yet get that close to one of your direct rivals and suddenly the impossible dream may just become the most outside of possibilities.

Isn't it nice just to be able to talk like this, though? Three months ago Cardiff's immediate rivals were Rotherham, Burton and Wigan.

Neil Warnock gave Cardiff City's 'secret weapon' Kenneth Zohore a brutal ultimatum after branding striker a 'disgrace'



Suddenly, we're talking about the prospect of hauling in Norwich and Fulham.

Of course, we haven't even discussed the rather more significant matter of Sheffield Wednesday in sixth place. They ensured the 13-point gap between themselves and the Bluebirds remained courtesy of a 2-1 victory at Nottingham Forest.

The other sides currently occupying the play-off spots are Leeds, Reading and Huddersfield, with Newcastle and Brighton likely to make the top two.

But Norwich and Fulham firmly expect to break in there by May. So if they are thinking that way, and Cardiff overcome Fulham to close the gap right down, maybe Blakey's words are more prophetic than we realise.

They say there are no easy games in the Championship, although Rotherham are the exception to the rule given the Bluebirds' 5-0 thumping of them.

But once Fulham is out of the way, Cardiff have a sequence of matches in March that are reasonably favourable.

Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham and Ipswich - three mid-table sides for whom the play-off dream is too much - as well as second from bottom Blackburn.



As we have already seen since Warnock took over Cardiff, string a few wins together in this league and the table suddenly tells a very different story.





' Making it now to the play-offs '

"It may only be a kind of joke to start with, something like 'Don't go booking your summer holidays just yet', but at least that gets minds thinking," said Blakey.


Neil Warnock watches on as his Cardiff City side are knocked out of the FA Cup (Photo: Getty Images)
A win over Fulham, which would see the gap between them and the Bluebirds cut to a single point, and perhaps the message from Morrison and Bamba could be just a little louder.

"They reckon they'll be in the play-offs, so why can't we go for it too?"

That is why Cardiff versus Fulham suddenly becomes a massive match. It'll help define the rest of the Bluebirds' season.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

' CARDIFF CITY IN SEVENTH HEAVEN/FANS NOW TO TURN UP '
Link
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=182416

3-1 city

3 -1 City

3-2

1-0 to us

2-1 City, revenge for the cup defeat.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=182460

2-2.

Match Day Officials v Fulham (25/2/17)

Match Day Officials v Fulham (25/2/17)
The Football League have now announced the Match Day officials that will take charge of the game against Fulham this Saturday.

Cardiff City host Fulham on Saturday February 25 for the game at the Cardiff City Stadium and the match carries a 3pm kick off.

Referee: Scott Duncan
Linesmen: Akil Howson and Adam Crysell
Fourth Official: Adam Bromley

Match Day referee Duncan has officiated 25 games so far in 2016/17 with a return of 79 yellow cards and nine red cards.

His highest card count this season was seven yellows in the game between Brighton and Brentford.

He took charge of 37 matches last season and in those games, across all competitions and football divisions, he handed out a total of 97 yellow cards and four red cards.

He was most card happy in the match between Mansfield Town and Accrington Stanley with seven yellows being shown. Prior to that Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City in August saw five yellows being shown and that matched his first game of the season between Coventry and Wigan where the same number of yellows appeared.

Duncan started his career as an EFL referee in 2012/13, taking charge of Port Vale versus Barnet. Since then he has refereed more than 100 matches, including both League One and League Two Play-Off semi-finals and a Southern Area Final of the EFL Trophy.

Team News

Rickie Lambert has seen a specialist with his back,but he remains a big doubt.

Brunoe Ecuele-Manga remains out with knee ligament damage.

Lee Peltier will also miss out after undergoing an operation on his ankle last week.

Rhys Healey is set to miss up to nine months due to a ligament injury he suffered last week.

Cardiff City welcome play-off chasing Fulham to South Wales on Saturday afternoon as they look to make it four wins on the bounce.

By Jamie Kemble


Neil Warnock and his men continued their good form with a thrilling victory against Rotherham United last weekend and this week they welcome tougher opposition in Fulham.

Slavisa Jokanovic’s men travel to South Wales in high spirits following a win over relegation-threatened Bristol City to move up to seventh spot, just six points outside the play-off positions with a game in-hand.

The win means both Cardiff and Fulham head into the fixture on the back of three consecutive league wins.

The Bluebirds are on cloud nine themselves after three superb wins which has seen them score 11 goals and defeating promotion hopefuls Leeds United and Derby County away from home.

Cardiff currently sit 12th in the Championship, 15 points clear of the drop zone and 13 points from the top six which remains possible, however Neil Warnock is adamant it’s out of reach this season.

The teams have met twice this season thanks to the FA Cup when the Bluebirds were defeated 2-1 at home, despite taking a first-half lead.

The two sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage in the early stages of the season. Cardiff managed to come back from a goal behind to take the lead thanks to stunning goals from Joe Ralls and Anthony Pilkington, but Fulham pulled themselves level at the death.

CARDIFF CITY FOR THE SECOND WEEK RUNING SEND OUT 60,000 emails/texts and are hoping for a bumper crowd

Can we make it 4 wins in a row? Cardiff City v Fulham, Sat at 3pm. Tickets from £19 Adults/£5 U16. Visit http://www.eticketing.co.uk/cardiffcity"

LETS GET THE STADIUM ROCKING

NEIL WARNOCKS BLUE & WHITE ARMY

CARDIFF CITY DESERVE BIGGER CROWDS

You can pay on the day

Anyone know how many tickets we've sold for tomorrow? Surely after the recent results and the club sending out emails etc it's got to be 20k?

Great to see everyone so positive but I am surprised at how many predicted a relatively easy win !!

Fulham are in form and in 7th place with a much more realistic chance of the play-offs.

This is a massive test as to how far we've come and even a draw would be a solid result.

I'd love a win but it's a big ask. Really looking forward to this one.

Injury update...

Neil Warnock:

“No New injuries, the same ones. Rickie is having treatment on his back after seeing a specialist.

“Rhys Healey is got to have an operation in a couple of weeks when everything’s calmed down.

Manga has trained - not fully - and is doing quite well and is not that long looking at him.”

Warnock on the last time Cardiff City faced Fulham

The last time Fulham came to the Cardiff City Stadium, the FA Cup tie kicked off at 11:30am, there was a small crowd and Warnock rested half of his first team...

NEIL WARNOCK:

“It’s the only time on the touchline as Cardiff manager when I knew we would get beat, but we couldn’t risk two or three lads at that moment, that will be different next season.
“I love the FA Cup and I’d like a go, but we had to get away from the bottom.
“I told the manager then I hope to give you a better game in a few weeks time. We can do that against anyone in the league. Fulham are a good team but our lads are flying.”

' Neil Warnocks Wife & Why Neil Warnock '
Link
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=182503
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=182503

' OVER 20,000 FANS ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW TO WATCH CARDIFF GO FOR THEIR FORTH CONSECUTIVE WIN & NEIL WARLOCKS ANNOUNCEMENT HE'S HERE TO MANAGE THE MIGHTY BLUEBIRDS NEXT SEASON '

Cardiff City fans have already been boosted by the news that Neil Warnock is set to stay with the club next season, with the boss targeting a promotion push.

But for now, it's the tricky obstacle of Fulham. Slavisa Jokanovic has recently signed a new deal himself at Craven Cottage and his side are hunting down the play-offs. A victory for either side today could open the door for a possible top six surge.

Anthony Pilkington, Rickie Lambert, Rhys Healey and Lee Peltier are all expected to miss the game through injury, with Junior Hoilett in contention for a recall.

Cardiff City 4 Fulham 2

:bluebird: ' OVER 20,000 FANS ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW TO WATCH CARDIFF GO FOR THEIR FORTH CONSECUTIVE WIN & NEIL WARLOCKS ANNOUNCEMENT HE'S HERE TO MANAGE THE MIGHTY BLUEBIRDS NEXT SEASON '

20K

I'll go for 15.7K

:bluebird: ' OVER 20,000 FANS ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW TO WATCH CARDIFF GO FOR THEIR FORTH CONSECUTIVE WIN & NEIL WARLOCKS ANNOUNCEMENT HE'S HERE TO MANAGE THE MIGHTY BLUEBIRDS NEXT SEASON '

Where has that 20,000 figure come from, Annie? Anyone official? Just seems odd we'd get an extra 5,000 in after winning a game 5-0, when we've not been able to get that turnaround in fans for 3 years or so. Plus the rugby, etc.?

Gutted to miss today, but doctors orders are doctors orders. Hope the boys can bag the three points, but if not, we've definitely got enough about us to secure a draw.

Todays Team
McGregor, Connolly, Morrison, Bamba, Richards, Ralls, Gunnarsson, K Harris, Noone, Hoilett, Zohore

Subs: Murphy, Bennett, John, Whittingham, Halford, M Harris, Pilkington

Team news is in. Here's your FFC side, in association with @Coral, that will take on Cardiff City this afternoon.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Neil Warnock has made just one change to his Cardiff City starting XI for the clash with Fulham at Cardiff City Stadium as the Bluebirds go in search of a fourth straight league win for the first time in over four years.

Junior Hoilett comes in for youngster Rhys Healey up front. The 22-year-old striker suffered a horrible injury against Rotherham last week and is now expected to be out of action for at least nine months after tearing his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments.

Warnock continues with a back four of Matt Connolly, Sean Morrison, Sol Bamba and Jazz Richards. With Ralls and Gunnarsson in the centre of the park and Hoilett and in the in form Kadeem Harris providing the width.

Good start from CardiffCity. @KadeemHarris27's ball across the face of goal is cleared by Malone. (0-0)