2007–08 Fulham F.C. season

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Fulham F.C.
2007–08 season
Manager Lawrie Sanchez (until December)
Roy Hodgson (from December)
Premier League 17th
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Third round
Top goalscorer League:
Clint Dempsey (6)
All:
Clint Dempsey, David Healy, Diomansy Kamara and Danny Murphy (6)
Highest home attendance 25,357 (vs. Chelsea, 1 January)
Lowest home attendance 10,500 (vs. Bolton Wanderers, 26 September)
Home colours
Away colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Fulham F.C.'s 7th consecutive season in the Premier League. Lawrie Sanchez was in charge of the club for the first few months of the season after taking charge at the end of the previous campaign, but left the club by mutual consent in December 2007 after a string of poor results had sent Fulham sliding towards the relegation zone. He was replaced by ex-Finland coach Roy Hodgson, who had previously been in charge of fellow Premier League side Blackburn Rovers amongst many other clubs around Europe. Fulham managed to save themselves from relegation to the Championship with a 1–0 away win against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, their third straight away victory, despite wins for relegation rivals Reading and Birmingham City, staying up on goal difference.[1]

Season review

August

Fulham almost started the season off perfectly when they went ahead against Arsenal through a David Healy goal after 1 minute during the first weekend of the season, but Arsenal won the game in the last 10 minutes with goals from Robin Van Persie and Alexander Hleb. Fulham, though, did win their first home match of the season in a midweek match against Bolton Wanderers with goals from Healy and Alexei Smertin (later confirmed as a Gerald Cid own goal), having come from behind after ex-Fulham striker Heiðar Helguson's early goal. It would be several months before Fulham would experience another league victory.

In their third game of the season, Fulham again experienced a turnaround, but this time the scoreline went against them. They were 1-0 up against Middlesbrough - Brian McBride scoring before being carried off injured - but they could not hold on to their lead and lost 2-1. There was controversy about the result because, in the last minute, Healy had a clear goal not given as the referee or linesman could not see that the ball had crossed the line. The final league game of the month was against Aston Villa; for a fourth game in succession, the team scoring the first goal failed to win. Fulham scored through Healy after six minutes, but two second half goals from former Fulham defender Zat Knight and Shaun Maloney gave Villa victory.

September

After three agonising defeats in their first four games, Fulham felt that they deserved some luck; this came in the first game of September against Tottenham. Younes Kaboul and Dimitar Berbatov had put Tottenham in cruise control with two first goals before Dempsey replied for Fulham just before half-time. Gareth Bale extended Tottenham's lead on 61 minutes to 3-1 but Fulham amazingly managed to snatch a draw. Alexei Smertin's 77th-minute goal (also confirmed as an own goal, this time by Ricardo Rocha) and Kamara's bicycle kick in stoppage time gave Fulham a 3-3 draw.

In the next game away to Wigan Athletic it was the opposition that rescued the game late on. Dempsey gave Fulham the lead but Jason Koumas scored a penalty 10 minutes from time after Bouazza's foul on Mario Melchiot to give Wigan a point. Another two draws followed in September: firstly a 3-3 draw against Manchester City, throwing away a lead twice before having to eventually come from behind (Bouazza, Davies and Murphy scoring for Fulham, with the Manchester City goals from Martin Petrov and Emile Mpenza). They followed that up by holding Chelsea to a 0-0 at Stamford Bridge.

In the League Cup, Fulham suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Bolton.

October

Fulham started October with a home defeat against Portsmouth, through deflected strikes by Benjani Mwaruwari and Hermann Hreiðarsson. A week later, against Derby County, Fulham had their second goalless draw of the season in a game of few chances, although in truth Derby could have snatched the win.

The final game of the month saw Fulham throw away yet another lead with a 1-1 draw against Sunderland. Davies gave Fulham the lead in the first half and they held out until the 86th minute, when Kenwyne Jones was in the right place to score an equaliser for Sunderland.

November

Fulham started November with a 3-1 home victory against Reading. Davies put Fulham in front after 18 minutes. Kevin Doyle equalised ten minutes after the break, but Fulham struck back with goals from Dempsey and Healy. Elliott Omozusi was sent off in injury time, in only his second appearance, for a second yellow card.[2] Fulham were unlucky to lose in their next game away at Liverpool as Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both scored in the last 10 minutes for a 2-0 victory. It was very harsh on Fulham, who had resisted the Liverpool pressure for the majority of the game.[3]

After the international break, Fulham drew 2-2 with Blackburn, having twice been in front through goals from Murphy and Kamara, only to be pegged back by Brett Emerton and Stephen Warnock.[4]

December

December was a busy month, with matches crammed together at the end of the month. It turned out to be a very unsuccessful period for Fulham, as they took just two points from a possible 18.

January

A very bad start to the new year saw Fulham defeated by close rivals Chelsea 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

February

March

April

April started with a 3-1 defeat at home against Sunderland with second half goals from Danny Collins, Michael Chopra and Kenwyne Jones, even though Fulham had equalised through a brilliant David Healy goal from 30 yards out. Things improved the next week though as Fulham finally recorded their first away win since beating Newcastle in September 2006, against Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Brian McBride and Erik Nevland scored the goals. It came as some relief to the long-suffering away support and put Fulham's survival bid back on track. However, Fulham then suffered a home defeat against an under-strength Liverpool side, Jermaine Pennant and Peter Crouch scoring for Liverpool. This defeat meant for most Fulham fans that relegation was looking almost certain - if results would not go their way the following week, then they could be relegated.

The following week, Fulham gained a priceless three points away to Manchester City to record their second successive away victory. After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, Fulham fought back from mathematical relegation to score three goals in the last twenty minutes, culminating with a 92nd-minute goal by Diomansy Kamara, his second of the game.

May

On 3 May Fulham were able to pull themselves out of the drop zone as Reading lost to Tottenham, and Fulham earned a vital three points with a win against Birmingham, one point above Fulham in the league table. This sent Birmingham to 19th position and Reading to 18th position, as Fulham leapfrogged both to 17th position on goal difference. Fulham's Premier League survival was in their own hands going into the last game of the season - both Reading and Birmingham registered big wins, but Fulham survived on goal difference with a 1-0 victory away to Portsmouth.

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 United States GK Kasey Keller
2 Germany DF Moritz Volz
3 United States DF Carlos Bocanegra
4 England DF Paul Konchesky
5 France DF Philippe Christanval
6 Serbia DF Dejan Stefanović
7 South Korea MF Seol Ki-Hyeon
8 Russia MF Alexey Smertin
9 Northern Ireland FW David Healy
10 Finland FW Jari Litmanen
11 Senegal FW Diomansy Kamara[5]
12 Trinidad and Tobago GK Tony Warner[6]
13 Portugal GK Ricardo Batista
14 United States FW Eddie Johnson
15 Norway FW Erik Nevland
16 Republic of Ireland MF Michael Timlin[7]
17 Canada DF Paul Stalteri (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
18 Northern Ireland DF Aaron Hughes
No. Position Player
20 United States FW Brian McBride (captain)
21 England MF Jimmy Bullard
22 England DF Elliott Omozusi
23 United States MF Clint Dempsey
24 Algeria FW Hameur Bouazza[8]
25 Wales MF Simon Davies
26 Denmark MF Leon Andreasen
27 England MF Danny Murphy
28 England MF Robert Milsom
29 Finland GK Antti Niemi
31 England DF Adam Watts
32 Norway DF Brede Hangeland[9]
33 Finland DF Toni Kallio
34 Northern Ireland DF Chris Baird
35 New Zealand MF Simon Elliott
37 Australia DF Adrian Leijer
Netherlands FW Collins John[10]

Transfers

Summer

In

Date Pos. Name From Fee
27 June 2007 DF Northern Ireland Aaron Hughes England Aston Villa £1,000,000[11]
5 July 2007 MF Northern Ireland Steven Davis England Aston Villa £4,000,000[12]
9 July 2007 FW Senegal Diomansy Kamara England West Bromwich Albion £6,000,000[13]
12 July 2007 DF Northern Ireland Chris Baird England Southampton £3,035,000[14]
13 July 2007 FW Northern Ireland David Healy England Leeds United £1,500,000[15]
13 July 2007 DF England Paul Konchesky England West Ham £3,250,000[16]
19 July 2007 MF England Lee Cook England QPR £2,500,000[17]
4 August 2007 MF Australia Adrian Leijer Australia Melbourne Victory Undisclosed[18]
8 August 2007 DF Algeria Hameur Bouazza England Watford £3,000,000
23 August 2007 GK United States Kasey Keller Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach Free[19]
30 August 2007 DF England Nathan Ashton Unattached Free[20]
31 August 2007 FW Finland Shefki Kuqi England Crystal Palace Loan[21]
31 August 2007 MF England Danny Murphy England Tottenham Hotspur Loan
31 August 2007 MF South Korea Seol Ki-Hyeon England Reading Undisclosed[22]
31 August 2007 DF Serbia Dejan Stefanovic England Portsmouth £1,000,000[23]

Out

Date Pos. Name To Fee
14 June 2007 GK Wales Mark Crossley England Oldham Athletic Free[24]
1 July 2007 MF England Matthew Collins Wales Swansea City Free
23 July 2007 FW Iceland Heiðar Helguson England Bolton Wanderers Undisclosed[25]
31 July 2007 MF England Michael Brown England Wigan Athletic Undisclosed[26]
3 August 2007 DF France Franck Queudrue England Birmingham £2,000,000[27]
29 August 2007 DF England Zat Knight England Aston Villa £3,500,000[28]
31 August 2007 MF Senegal Papa Bouba Diop England Portsmouth Undisclosed[29]
31 August 2007 DF England Liam Rosenior England Reading Undisclosed

Winter

In

Date Pos. Name From Fee
18 January 2008 DF Norway Brede Hangeland Denmark Copenhagen Undisclosed[30]
22 January 2008 DF Denmark Leon Andreasen Germany Werder Bremen Undisclosed[31]
23 January 2008 FW United States Eddie Johnson United States Kansas City Wizards Undisclosed[32]
31 January 2008 DF Finland Toni Kallio Switzerland Young Boys Undisclosed[33]
31 January 2008 FW Finland Jari Litmanen Sweden Malmo Free
31 January 2008 DF Canada Paul Stalteri England Tottenham Hotspur Loan

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
12 Trinidad and Tobago GK Tony Warner (on loan to Barnsley)
16 Republic of Ireland MF Michael Timlin (on loan to Swindon)
19 England DF Ian Pearce (on loan to Southampton)
28 England MF Robert Milsom (on loan to Brentford)
30 England MF Wayne Brown (on loan to Brentford)
38 England MF Nathan Ashton (on loan to Crystal Palace)
No. Position Player
England DF TJ Moncur (on loan to Bradford City)
Democratic Republic of the Congo DF Gabriel Zakuani (on loan to Stoke City)
England MF Lee Cook (on loan to Charlton Athletic)
Northern Ireland MF Steven Davis (on loan to Rangers)
France FW Ismael Ehui (on loan to Carshalton Athletic)
Sweden FW Björn Runström (on loan to Kaiserslautern)

Club

Management

Position Staff
Manager England Roy Hodgson
First-team coach England Ray Lewington
Goalkeeping coach England Mike Kelly
Reserve team coach Scotland Billy McKinlay
Academy coach England Gary Brazil
Head of youth development England John Murtough
Physiotherapist Australia Jason Palmer
Club doctor England Steve Nance
Chief scout England John Marshall

Last updated: 21 Sep 2007
Source: Fulham FC

Other information

Chairman Egypt Mohamed Al Fayed
Managing director Scotland David McNally
Technical director England Les Reed
Director Egypt Omar Fayed
Director Egypt Karim Fayed
Director England Mark Collins
Director England Stuart Benson
Commercial manager England Olly Dale
Commercial manager England Mark Maunders
Secretary England Zoe Ward
Ground (capacity and dimensions) Craven Cottage (26,600 / 112x72 yards)

Source: Fulham article on 15 Aug 2007

Competitions

Overall

Competition Started round Current
position / round		 Final
position / round		 First match Last match
Premier League — — 17 12 Aug 2007 11 May 2008
Football League Cup 2nd round — 2nd round 28 Aug 2007 26 September 2007
FA Cup 3rd round — 3rd round 6 Jan 2008 22 January 2008

Last updated: 11 May 2008
Source: Competitions

Premier League

Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
 Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 38 27 6 5 80 22 +58 87 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Chelsea 38 25 10 3 65 26 +39 85
3 Arsenal 38 24 11 3 74 31 +43 83 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
4 Liverpool 38 21 13 4 67 28 +39 76
5 Everton 38 19 8 11 55 33 +22 65 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round
6 Aston Villa 38 16 12 10 71 51 +20 60 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round
7 Blackburn Rovers 38 15 13 10 50 48 +2 58
8 Portsmouth 38 16 9 13 48 40 +8 57 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round
9 Manchester City 38 15 10 13 45 53 −8 55 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup First round
10 West Ham United 38 13 10 15 42 50 −8 49
11 Tottenham Hotspur 38 11 13 14 66 61 +5 46 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round
12 Newcastle United 38 11 10 17 45 65 −20 43
13 Middlesbrough 38 10 12 16 43 53 −10 42
14 Wigan Athletic 38 10 10 18 34 51 −17 40
15 Sunderland 38 11 6 21 36 59 −23 39
16 Bolton Wanderers 38 9 10 19 36 54 −18 37
17 Fulham 38 8 12 18 38 60 −22 36
18 Reading 38 10 6 22 41 66 −25 36 Relegation to League Championship
19 Birmingham City 38 8 11 19 46 62 −16 35
20 Derby County 38 1 8 29 20 85 −65 11

Updated to games played on 5 May 2008.
Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
More about European qualification:
a. The 6th-placed team will qualify for the UEFA Cup if Portsmouth beat Cardiff City in the FA Cup Final and finish 5th;
b. The highest-placed team who applies for the Intertoto Cup and does not finish in an automatic UEFA Cup spot will be awarded with a place in the Intertoto Cup. Everton, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City are the applicants for the Intertoto Cup;[34]
c. A further place in the UEFA Cup is available via the Premiership Fair Play League. The winner is placed into a draw with the winners of Fair Play leagues in other countries which score an average of over eight in Uefa Fair Play League except the top one will automatically receive one of the UEFA Cup berths. The representatives from the two countries that come out of the hat first are given a place in the UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round. If the team who finishes top of the Premiership Fair Play League has already qualified for Europe via the league, their place in the draw will be awarded to the next highest placed team in the Fair Play League who hasn't qualified for Europe;[35]
For further information on European qualification see Premier League - Competition.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
38 8 12 18 38 60  −22 36 5 5 9 22 31  −9 3 7 9 16 29  −13

Last updated: 11 May 2008.
Source: Barclays Premier League

Results by round

Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Ground A H H A H A H A H H A H A H A A H H A A H A A H A A H H A H A A H A H A H A
Result L W L L D D D D L D D W L D L L L D L D L L L D W L L L D W L D L W L W W W

Last updated: 11 May 2008.
Source: Competitive Matches
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Matches

Pre-season

Premier League

League Cup

FA Cup

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Yellow card.svg Red card.svg
1 GK United States Kasey Keller 12 0 0 0 1 0 13 0 0 0
2 DF Germany Moritz Volz 5 (4) 0 2 0 1 0 8 (4) 0 1 1
3 DF United States Carlos Bocanegra 18 (4) 1 2 0 2 0 22 (4) 0 5 0
4 DF England Paul Konchesky 32 0 2 0 2 0 36 0 5 1
5 DF France Philippe Christanval 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 0
6 DF England Zat Knight ** 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
6 DF Serbia Dejan Stefanovic 13 0 2 0 0 0 15 0 4 1
7 MF South Korea Seol Ki-Hyeon 4 (8) 0 0 (2) 0 0 (1) 0 4 (11) 0 0 0
8 MF Russia Alexey Smertin 11 (4) 0 1 0 1 0 13 (4) 0 2 0
9 FW Northern Ireland David Healy 15 (15) 4 2 1 1 (1) 1 18 (16) 6 4 0
10 MF Northern Ireland Steven Davis * 22 0 0 (1) 0 2 0 24 (1) 0 2 0
11 FW Senegal Diomansy Kamara 16 (11) 5 0 0 1 (1) 1 17 (12) 6 7 0
12 GK Trinidad and Tobago Tony Warner * 3 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 1 0
14 MF Senegal Papa Bouba Diop 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (2) 0 0 0
14 FW Finland Shefki Kuqi ** 3 (7) 0 0 0 0 0 3 (7) 0 0 0
14 FW United States Eddie Johnson 4 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 4 (2) 0 0 0
15 FW Netherlands Collins John * 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (3) 0 0 0
15 FW Norway Erik Nevland 2 (5) 2 0 0 0 0 2 (5) 2 1 0
17 DF Canada Paul Stalteri 12 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 3 0
18 DF Northern Ireland Aaron Hughes 28 (1) 0 1 0 1 0 30 (1) 0 0 0
19 DF England Ian Pearce * 0 (1) 0 0 0 1 0 1 (1) 0 1 0
20 FW United States Brian McBride (c) 13 (3) 4 0 0 0 0 13 (3) 4 1 0
21 MF England Jimmy Bullard 14 (2) 2 1 0 0 0 15 (2) 2 0 0
22 DF England Elliott Omozusi 8 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 8 (1) 0 0 0
23 MF United States Clint Dempsey 28 (6) 6 2 0 2 0 32 (6) 6 4 0
24 MF Algeria Hameur Bouazza 15 (5) 1 1 0 1 0 17 (5) 1 1 1
25 MF Wales Simon Davies 35 (1) 5 1 0 2 0 38 (1) 5 6 0
26 MF Denmark Leon Andreasen 9 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 9 (3) 0 2 1
27 MF England Danny Murphy 27 (5) 4 1 1 1 0 29 (5) 5 5 0
29 GK Finland Antti Niemi 22 0 1 0 0 0 23 0 0 0
30 MF England Wayne Brown * 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
32 DF Norway Brede Hangeland 14 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 1 0
34 DF Northern Ireland Chris Baird 17 (1) 0 1 (1) 0 1 0 19 (2) 0 2 1
38 DF England Nathan Ashton * 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

As of 5 May 2008

  • * Player is out on loan
  • ** Player has left club

References

  1. ↑ Premier League Final Day Archived March 4, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Fulham 3-1 Reading
  3. ↑ Liverpool 2-0 Fulham
  4. ↑ Fulham 2-2 Blackburn
  5. ↑ Kamara was born in Paris, France.
  6. ↑ Warner was born in Liverpool, England.
  7. ↑ Timlin was born in Southwark, England.
  8. ↑ Bouazza was born in Évry, France.
  9. ↑ Hangeland was born in Houston, Texas, United States.
  10. ↑ John was born in Zwedru, Liberia.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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