Welcome to the Fulham v Newcastle United preview.
Sunday 24th May and a 4pm kick-off.
Newcastle United draw a line under the season this Sunday afternoon when travelling to Craven Cottage for a televised dead rubber with Fulham.
A guaranteed mid-table finish is far from what fans were expecting at the start of the season and a big rebuilding operation will need to be underway if the Toon are to be challenging at the right end of the table in twelve months time.
The final Premier League table will see Newcastle United finish anywhere between ninth and fourteenth.
Form
Newcastle have won two, drawn one and lost three of their past six matches but are unbeaten in their most recent three. Defeats to Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Arsenal were followed by a win over Brighton, a draw at Forest and a win against West Ham. We’ve scored nine goals in these matches and conceded eight.
Fulham have lost three, drawn two and won one of their past six league matches. Defeats have come against Liverpool, Arsenal and Bournemouth whilst they’ve drawn with Brentford and Wolves and beaten Aston Villa. They’ve scored two goals in these matches and conceded seven. The five points gained have them thirteenth in the league with the opportunity to leapfrog Newcastle should they sign off their campaign with a win.
Last time out
The Toon gave their fans something to shout about last weekend with a fairly comfortable 3-1 win over West Ham United. Attacking the hammers from the off, United were ahead on fifteen minutes when great work from Barnes allowed Woltemade the chance to volley home at the Leazes End. A few minutes later things got even better for the black and whites when some superb one-touch passing played Osula in on goal and he made no mistake when putting us 2-0 up. This was a great strike from the in-form striker, less impressive was the celebration which involved wearing a white glove and indulging in some Michael Jackson dance moves that would wow the punters of the Bigg Market on a Saturday night! Thankfully he celebrated his second and our third goal of the match in a rather more restrained manner despite the fact this put the match to bed and guaranteed three points for the Toon. West Ham finally woke up and scored the goal of the game soon after but 3-1 didn’t flatter Newcastle, who were able to win the final home game of the season and send supporters home happy despite a deeply disappointing league campaign.
Fulham travelled to already relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers and had to be content with a 1-1 draw after falling behind to an early goal. The Cottagers were able to equalise from a penalty at the end of the first half but struggled to create chances to win the match despite dominating possession. It was actually Wolves who had the better chances and the draw was not well received by either set of supporters as Fulham’s hopes of European qualification slipped away.
Stat attack!
-This is the third time in eight years that Newcastle have played Fulham away in the last match of the season.
-The Toon have won five of their past six matches away at Fulham in all competitions.
-NUFC have found the net in each of their last six visits to Craven cottage, racking up an impressive fourteen goals.
Memorable match
In 2018/19 Rafa Benitez had done a sterling job under the tyranny of Mike Ashley to almost single-handedly drag the Toon from the Championship to the safety of Premier League mid-table. Amid much speculation about his future, Rafa took his black and whites to Fulham for the final game of the season. This was something of a stroll in the sunshine for NUFC who scored twice in quick succession through Shelvey and Perez and took a two-goal lead after just eleven minutes. With Fulham, managed by former Toon captain Scott Parker, never looking likely to stage a comeback, the away end was in party mood. This carnival atmosphere continued into the second half with goals from Fabian Schar and Salomon Rondon heartily celebrated before Benitez was given a tremendous reception from the travelling fans in an emphatic show of support for the manager. Unfortunately, this was the last we’d see of our inspirational leader due to yet more stupidity from Mike Ashley. What a waste.
Fulham 0-4 Newcastle.
Played for both
Philippe Albert is an absolute legend for those of us lucky enough to grow up in the mid-nineties. Signed by Kevin Keegan after a number of impressive performances at the 1994 World Cup, Albert soon proved that there was so much more than just defending to his game. Never afraid to bomb forward, he was often found at the other end of the pitch to good effect scoring a number of important goals. Although he’s best remembered for his sublime chip to end the scoring in a famous 5-0 victory over Man United, a personal favourite memory of mine is when he galloped forward to volley home an equally special effort in a 3-3 draw against Man City the previous season. Keegan was so impressed by Albert at Newcastle that he signed him again for Fulham in 1998 and was rewarded with two goals as the cottagers gained promotion from division two.
Louis Saha played on loan at Newcastle under Ruud Gullit in 1999 but managed only a handful of games. His only league strike came in a 4-1 home win against Coventry. He also netted a cracker away at Blackburn in the fifth round of the FA Cup. His winning goal set up a quarter-final tie with Everton as the Toon marched on to the Wembley final. He signed for Fulham in 2000 and scored over fifty league goals for the club, he was top scorer in the promotion campaign of 00/01 and was named in the PFA team of the year. He spent four years at Craven Cottage before moving on to Man United.
Danny Guthrie signed for the Toon in 2008 and spent four years on Tyneside enduring the low of relegation in 2009 to the high of a top five Premier League finish in 2012. He was an integral part of our promotion in 2010, netting five goals and providing thirteen assists as we won the championship. He played for Fulham on loan in 2015 but failed to find the net in six league appearances.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 3-1 win over West Ham: “It was a strong performance from us. I was really pleased with a lot of aspects of our game today. Our attitude to the game – it would have been easy for people to look at this and say Newcastle had nothing to play for – but we have a duty to be at our very best and I’m pleased with how we went about it. We have a lot of players who play with pride and would never want to let the club down. It wasn’t the perfect game from us but it was very good in phases, especially in the first half. I thought we were excellent with the ball, really creative. I think we’ve seen real progression in the last few weeks. A much better performance. We’re showing signs we’re beginning to re-find our form. One or two players can define an era. It has almost been the end of one type of Newcastle team when Alexander left, a new team was forming. Kieran Trippier was an iconic full-back and starts that again. That is the nature of football, it is changing and evolving all the time, it changes so quickly, sometimes it has changed slowly and our team has changed slowly after the past couple of years. This summer we might see a change of speed. It is about coming out stronger but it may well be different, but it still needs to be effective. It’s a big summer for us, a huge summer for the football club. The results how you finish the season give hope for the next and that is what we are trying to do. You never know what can happen. It does feel it has the potential to be that summer for us, but regardless of big change or not we have to come out of that transfer window stronger.”
Marco Silva after a 1-1 draw away at Wolves: “We equalised from a penalty and we had a good first half, however the second half was not at the level. When you don’t play at the level to create chances, you are not able to win games. Of course, for us to think about other things, we have to win our game and we didn’t. We tried everything. We freshened up nearly all of the front line, and our substitutions were always to try to give something else to the team. They were all players with an offensive mindset.”
Charity
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
It is always hard to predict the last game of the season, especially when there’s very little to play for. The Toon looked good last week and here’s hoping for a repeat performance as we finish a disappointing season on a high note.
Fulham 0-2 Newcastle.
That’s it for another season. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these match previews as much as I have writing them. Here’s wishing all Toon fans a happy and restful summer ahead of another huge season next time out. Have a good one
Cheers. TAF